Such is the Life of an Adventurer

Before the Halloween posts out there start, I wanted to take a moment to talk about Hilda.

A while ago I wrote about how there are no stories for girls. Stories for a younger audience involve teenagers, older characters than ones their own age. It may seem that TV has caught up with a flurry of shows featuring a younger cast or have a boy(s) at the centre. Film is lagging behind with offerings every so often with stories like ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ but these are few and far between, which is why my inner child was very excited to see a new show appear on Netflix called Hilda. 

Hilda lives in the forest with her graphic designer mum in a house her grandfather built. She is a friend to all creatures, likes to sketch and go on adventures with her deer-fox, Twig. After moving to Trollberg city, Hilda joins the Sparrow Scouts makes friends with the ultra organised Frida and sometimes scaredy-cat David. It's a simple concept with mountains worth of potential.

Hilda is a primary school aged adventurer who loves the wilderness and is always out exploring with her friends. The trailer was delightful, fun  and had the promise of creatures from Scandinavian and British folklore and myth. It’s been ages since I’ve seen a show that fantastically animated, encouraging outdoor excursions as well including scenes in libraries! Libraries! 

Throughout the series there is no sign of the internet, no iPads, no kids’s stuck to their phones. The show is not explicitly set in a particular time so I’m not even sure if this is meant to be set before technology took over. But the best thing about this is that the stories and adventures are so enthralling that you don’t realise there’s no technology prominently being used until you’ve finished the whole series! I of course watched the entire series over 2 days, but before I did that, I found the books.

Created by British cartoonist Luke Pearson, Hilda first appeared in graphic novel form. There are currently 5 books (with another on the way next year) and a book based on Pearson’s work, written by Stephen Davies. The books explore mainly Scandinavian folklore and folktales, featuring creatures we all know such as trolls, forest giants and elves to ones less known, such as Maras, Salt Lions and Vittra.

Just like to point out that this picture shows our heroine in a similar pose to another adventurer and reporter from Brussels. You should know I'm a huge fan of Tinin (comics, TV show, films, the whole shabang) and this is partly why I was so excited to discover the show and books.

As soon as I saw the trailer, I went in search of the books. One by one I was absorbed into the world of Hilda and co. The art from each book changes slightly but is always so beautifully created and the story no less thrilling. I have literally told everyone I can about this amazing series that is for children AND adults alike. It encourages children to explore and be more adventurous, go outside and have fun. For adults, its for their inner child and just for the fun aspect of the whole series.

So get your hot coco and curl up with the comics or watch the show. Appreciate the cosiness because Hilda is here to stay, with more books on the way AND a second series of the show coming to Netflix.

Favourites of the Fest

Last year's festival was superb BUT I saw far less films and was literally obsessed and in awe of 'Call Me By Your Name', which was my favourite film of last year. This year, I was immersed in the festival as I was in a position to attend as many screenings as possible which meant I got to see films I wouldn't have considered and films I didn't buy tickets to as I knew I could see them at press screenings. Last year, I had a clear cut top five films and even top ten at a push, but having seen 26 films I am finding it harder to pick my favourites. However, I wouldn't be writing up this post if I hadn't made an effort.

Not all the films I've seen have posts yet, still got a few to catch up on, particularly Buster Scruggs, which I intend to go on about.

Capernaum is definitely the best film I've seen at the festival. I had been very excited to see Nadine Labaki's third feature, waiting years to see what she'd so and she delivered a truly amazing film, no exaggerations. She and the film got a standing ovation at Cannes and it was the same at the opening night of the film in London. The audience were in tears, it was and is an inspiring film, with two of the most amazing central performances, two young children, one barely a toddler. In all honesty, I've held off writing about the film because I want to get it right. Labaki was present at the screening and stayed to do a Q&A as I think everyone knew it was needed. She is a brilliant filmmaker and deserves all the credit and applause.

The surprises in this line up for me are definitely 'Assassination Nation' which switches genres, includes a massive warning at the start and turns into a witch hunt of four girls, but this was also a revenge film that I enjoyed very much, it also had core friendship which wasn't shattered or torn apart, they are loyal, which in some ways, is refreshing to me. 'Vox Lux' also unexpectedly got into my top picks. A familiar story with narrative taken from or inspired by real events used as context to portrait story, featuring music written by Sia (I like some of her pop tunes) would seem like a hard sell BUT I actually found it fascinating. I found it hard to read the room after this one so I'm guessing it will have a divided opinion.

I was always going to love 'The Breaker Upperers' from the moment I saw the trailer back in New Zealand in April. Loved the trailer, the humour, Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek, it was just great. I actually loved it so much, I saw it twice. Same goes for the Coen Brothers anthology film, I was always going to love it, 6 Coen films in one? Who's complaining? But more on this in a later post. Having fallen in love with Yorgos Lanthimos's 'The Lobster' a few years back, I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this historical odd ball comedy about Sarah Churchill and her cousin Abigail Masham fighting for the attention of Queen Anne. Three fantastic central female characters, played perfectly by three great actresses, particularly Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman.

There are some notable mentions, again, not all posts are up; Girl, The Fight, Sorry to Bother You and Girls of the Sun.


This year was intense and at times stressful, but I had an amazing time, here's to next year!

Ladyworld - London Film Festival

Mysterious event resulting in 8 girls being trapped in a house. Fighting for survival and their sanity, with water and food running out, how will they cope in such claustrophobic conditions?


Previously published on Vulturehound HERE.

There are some stories that need to be told. From the urgency the writer writes dialogue, from the vivid tone of the film, from the atmospheric feel of the film and so. There are also some stories that don’t need to be told, or rather aren’t sure whether they are a story or not. ‘Ladyworld’ is such a film.

 
After a literal earth shattering event, resulting in a house being buried underground, eight teenage girls are left trapped. With limited amount of food and no water, no electricity and little hope, they fend for themselves. Descending into chaos, they all start to loose their minds.

 
Usually a film with eight female protagonists would be something to celebrate but instead of a story with great characters, we are treated to a serious lack of plot and characters that don’t seem to know what they’re doing, playing up to one adjective and nothing else. The girls at first try to create order and simple rules to stay alive, voting a leader, Olivia, who suggests that they keep the phone batteries going, check the fuse box regularly and find water. None of this happens as another girl, Piper, the very obvious antagonist from the start, thwarts these rules in favour of ridiculous speeches, war paint (bad make up) and making her followers do whatever she says. The groups are clear and its rather predictable what will happen next, in a general sense. The groups claim a room each, Piper’s crazy faction getting worse by the minute, while Olivia’s group, the sensible Blake and the hysterical Dolly who is VERY attached to her doll, camp out in the living room, patiently waiting. The hysteria hightens every time one of the girls claims to have seen the ‘man’ in the house. At first it seems like the ‘man’ is a delusion, later tactic but the answer is revealed near the end and seems anticlimactic.

 
Taking place in one location, the house the girls are trapped in, its not quite clear why. The house looks barely lived in, apart from furniture and a few pieces of art on the wall. It is assumed they are all there for a party, a birthday for Eden, who mysteriously disappears near the start after saying she saw the ‘man’. But as not all the girls seem to know each other, its frustratingly unclear how they ended up there. The lack of clarity distracts from whatever the story is with these girls, who later say they are women with Piper leading a disturbing song ‘Ladies of the Canyon’, but they act like crazed children. While the rest of the girls harp on their basic characters, only Ariela Barer as Olivia feels like she is actually playing a character that is more than two dimensional. She is the realistic one of the group but when even she starts to let the cabin fever set in, its believable and actually really stressful.

 
Directed and co-written by Amanda Kramer, it would be interesting to know what Kramer was aiming for or what she was hoping to portray with ‘Ladyworld’. One way to look at this film is as very loose interpretations ‘Lord of the Flies’ but this is a thin analysis of a film that just shows the worst of girls. It could be taken as damaging portrayal of young women, reducing us, them to nasty and incapable of surviving without help. I’m hoping that there is a method behind the madness, but there is a fear that this would not be obvious to everyone.

The Sisters Brothers - London Film Festival

Based on the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt, the Sisters Brothers isn’t the typical western. Directed by Jacques Audiard, his keen eye for unexpected tender moments amid a trail of blood and money, makes the story and characters more humane than the standard hired guns. 

Eli and Charlie Sisters are hitmen who work for their wealthy proprietor, the Commodore. When they are sent after Hermann’s Warm, a prospector who is accused of stealing a formula, the job turns into more than they bargained for. 

A late edition to the JOURNEY strand of the festival, among the person and literal journeys taken by characters, ‘The Sisters Brothers’ although an actual journey from Oregon to California in the old west, the brothers, Eli and Charlie, go on an emotional journey of their own. While Eli wants this to be their last job for their boss, the infamous Commodore, and Charlie is very happy to continue ‘doing what they were made for’, they each travel a different path. Eli believes he is still a good man who is only there to protect his younger violent, often drunk brother. Charlie believes that its in their blood to be killers, so may as well get paid to do it. John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix complement each other. Both brilliant actors, Phoenix is the master craftsman able to play out a display of emotions with a slight change of expression and Reilly, underrated, his filmography muddied with mediocre frat pack comedies so much that his better roles are buried. 

The events of the past weigh heavy on Eli whereas Charlie has chosen the bottle, possibles to numb any feeling at all. The brothers have a few emotional moments but none as affecting as the other duo in the story. Warm and John Morris meet while the latter is meant to be keeping him for the Sisters brothers, the two form a friendship on the road and share a passion for a better world. Riz Ahmed and Jake Gyllenhaal unexpectedly become the heart of the film, while the brothers are the muscle. As secondary characters they don’t have as much screen time, but after a tragic incident, there are hints at their deep friendship their a painful few words.

Going against the what is expected of a western, the brothers’ journey takes a turn in an undramatic way, continuing on to the end where a short but sweet cameo from Carol Kane wraps up the story. There is a feeling that you don’t have to go ‘big’, you can just go home and this too makes for a satisfying ending.  Audiard’s film isn’t about greed, despite gold being an incentive, its not about killing people, although the brothers’ history of violence makes them behave in different ways, its not just about brothers and unexpected friendships, it doesn’t even go downhill when the fateful words ‘our last job’ are uttered. ‘The Sisters Brothers’ is a difficult tone to pin down so perhaps it is all about the journey than the destination and who’s with you through it all.

Vox Lux - London Film Festival

A story of two halves about infamous singer songwriter popstar Celeste about where it all began, with a tragic incident and heartfelt song. To decades later where she has become bitter, part of the system and loosing touch with her loved ones.

Previously published at Vulturehound HERE.

Sometimes someone’s story is far more interesting and valuable than what they create. In the case of Celeste, its all about the singer rather than her songs. Named as a 20th Century portrait, this doesn’t explore what it means to be in the last century but merely when its set. The story of Celeste, of how she overcame a tragedy, how to rose to fame and how fame had treated her over the years.

 
Celeste is a severely injured after a student guns down her teacher and entire class. She escapes with spinal injury and has to learn how to walk again. At a memorial, as one of the survivors she is asked to speak but instead writes and performs a song with her sister. She is talent spotted and is swiftly turned into a pop icon. Decades later an older, bitter, moulder to the industry Celeste is distant from her daughter and no longer has a close relationship with her sister. She is also loosely linked to a terrorist attack when the terrorists wear masks from one of her music videos, the day she is about to perform in her home town.

 
Even though ‘Vox Lux’ is only his second feature, writer director Brady Corbet has a distinct style. Like his debut, ‘The Childhood of a Leader’, the film is split into chapters, breaking up the tension and giving the audience to digest what they have just seen. Syncing between the chapters is William Dafoe’s voice narrating insightful comments about the characters which otherwise would not have been mentioned through dialogue. Both these devices make the film feel like you’re watching a novel, a literally story unfold in front of you. The close shots, sometimes so close and intrusive you can feel the characters breathe. The film challenges intimacy in that the audience is close to who they’re watching, hanging on Celeste’s weird words of wisdom and equal notions of grandeur. The lack of intimacy is also felt as the years go by, people have grown apart, they have changed, not for the better.

 
Music is the blood of the film and perhaps even its poison. In both ‘Vox Lux’ and ‘The Childhood of a Leader’, music is used to intrude a situation, heightening a slight sense of pain, discomfort and joy. Celeste writes pop songs because, as she says, she doesn’t want to make people think, she wants them to have fun. With songs written by Sia, they are indeed catchy and have a great beat but they are barely skin deep, which is opposite to Celeste herself. By the time Celeste has grown up, with years in the industry, misdemeanours still linger in her past and her pain from the attack when she was young is still visible. There is far more to her but she won’t let that ruin her music.

 
As a film of two halves depicting teenage Celeste and older Celeste, fiction and reality are blurred as Raffey Cassidy plays both teen Celeste and older Celeste’s daughter. Cassidy is understated and has an unusual presence, seemingly wise beyond her years, knowing exactly what she wants and how to achieve it. Natalie Portman is on form, portraying the woman worn down by years on the road, moulder by industry, a living comment on modern celebrity culture. The two weave together a woman who is more than she wants to show.

 
A difficult at times to watch film, especially the scenes of violence in the school and on the beach resort, used probably as only context, still seem really fresh in everyone’s minds which might put some viewers off. But Corbet follows his strong disturbing debut with shock and awe, with another great soundtrack. It’s not all about the song, the singer has far more to say.

Girl - London Film Festival

An intimate story about a ballet dancer who is going through hormone therapy while trying to catch up in her classes as she adjusts to the new way of dancing. The film has a positive portrayal of a supportive family and network to help Lara through her transition, but the day to day pressures and the impatience to be her self lead her to desperation.

Previously published at Vulturehound HERE.

Transgender men and women have been the topic of conversation for quite a while now. Concerning rights, what to call them and commenting on how they are portrayed in the media. Pushing all this aside, ‘Girl’ is an intermittent portrait of a girl who wants to dance and be the girl she is. 

Lara is fifteen, a ballet dancer and lives with her younger brother and her father. Having been excepted into a prestigious dance school, her family move closer so she is able to attend. Lara is transgender and in the process of taking hormones in the lead up to her operation. She has to cope with her personal issues which at times are too much, despite having a very supportive family. 

Throughout the entire film, we experienced everything Lara does. With the camera rarely away from her face and body, we feel everything she does. It’s refreshing to watch a story about a transgender woman who has is surrounded by a loving family and supportive doctors who worry about her wellbeing and mental state. Lara even has no problems with her classmates at school, that is until at a girls only sleepover party, she is given a separate room. She is also confronted by the girls, asking to see her genitals, claiming that she’s seen theirs in the changing room so why can’t they see hers. This invasion of privacy is a moment that we realise that no matter how much love and support you have, there will always be obstacles on the way to acceptance. 

As Lara is a teenager, she had been taking medication to delay pubity and doesn’t think about anything other than ballet. When Lara starts taking the hormones she becomes desperate, taking too many pills, weakening her body and even drastic measures to ensure she gets to be the woman she wants to be. Ballet is known for its discipline and and punishment to the body, Lara punishes herself, working to the bone to catch up, having learnt first as a boy and now as a girl. Ballet serves a symbol for change and sets her up for what she will have to cope with later on. 

There is the question about the actor who portrays Lara, Victor Polster and why he was chosen to portray a transgender woman, but this seems like it will always be a questions of why, which is a shame. At first ‘Girl’ is a positive outlook but soon shows its tragic undertones. Lukas Dhont gives an intimate story with what feels like a positive and realistic experience.

In the Aisles - London Film Festival

Love can be found in a hopeless place (as the song goes) and nothing is more hopeless than the place where ‘In the Aisles’ is set. Who’d have thought that a supermarket would be the setting of a delicate and innocent love story. 

Christian starts work at a supermarket as part of the night team, stocking shelves in the bottles department. He works with veteran worker Bruno, forming a quiet bond of friendship. He falls in love with Marion, a colleague in the sweets section, sharing moments of mutual affection even after he finds out she’s married. Christian lives alone and seems lonely but not in a hurry to create a connection.

Loneliness is ironically the connection between the characters. Bruno is isolated, living on a farm not far from the supermarket. He yearns for his trucker days and the comfort he found in knowing landmarks signalling he was almost home. Marion is married but isn’t happy, at least this is what everyone tells Christian.  Christian himself lives alone, avoid his old rowdy friends and doesn’t seem to go anywhere apart from work and his flat. Their conversations are all work related, although sometimes the barrier of silence is broken down and we learn about Bruno’s wife and Christian’s previous job and his days of being in prison as a minor. The images of the individual buildings, looming in the distance and up close, as well as frequent shot of the motorways, exaggerating just how isolated the supermarket is. It feels as if it isn’t really part of the real world. The supermarket has its own little village, helping each other and working as a team. The environment suits Christian who isn’t a talker, he is the definition of the strong silent archetype. 

The innocent love story that gently unfolds between Christian and Marion also serves as the lifeblood of the supermarket as various colleagues are aware of both their feelings for each other despite nothing being said with words. Their long looks, stolen glances and small kind gestures make the world of the supermarket bearable and a little brighter.

As a gentle love story and ode an ode to supermarkets, director Thomas Stuber makes the the place of unflattering lighting a beautiful place to be, especially at night. The best scene in the entire film is when Christian, who is learning to drive the forklift, elegantly moves between the empty aisles, at peace and obviously happy and even content in this moment. Not everyone can create such magic in a supermarket.

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In Fabric - London Film Festival

A dress that's haunted, a life of its own, with destruction and death on it's mind...if it has a mind to think with.

Previous published at Vulturehound HERE.

An intriguing story about a haunted garment that causes destruction and death to whoever wears it sounds like it could be this year’s ‘Rubber’ but with a Peter Strickland twist that won’t be to everyone’s taste.

With an enticing sale on at Dentley & Soper’s Trusted Department Store, bank clerk Shelia buys a red dress to wear on a date. But after a disappointing time, she finds a strange rash on her chest. The dress later finds its way to soon to be married couple, Reg and Babs after the former is made to wear the dress on his stag do. After both wearing it, the couple also find a strange rash on their chests. The mystery surrounding the garment isn’t quite revealed but hinted at by the strange attendants at the department store who seem to know the powers the dress possess.

 
The mysterious red dress that literally has a life of its own, hinted to be haunted by the model who wore it in the store catalogue before she died, is disturbing force. It eerily crawls across the ground, looking for its next victim or hovers in mid air watching over the latest owner. The dress is treated like a lucky/unlucky talisman, like the rabbit’s foot or the monkey’s paw, leaning over the edge towards horror despite the film’s oddball humour. Essentially moving from victim to victim or owner to owner, depending on how you decipher the situation, the dress and its past are not revealed. The more interesting story to follow would be the store attendants who all dress in old-fashioned costumes, wearing stiff wigs and elaborate make up. One in particular, the one who tries very hard and succeeds in letting the dress out of the store, near the start, she climbs into a dumbwaiter in the store and we don’t see where it leads until the end where she is accompanied by a mannequin. The story doesn’t take us here though; it merely ends on another mystery.

 
The mystery isn’t enough to make ‘In Fabric’ an intriguing story. With the mixture of horror genre tropes and comedy, the plot thickens but comes across as wooden dialogue, which is a shame when great-underrated actresses such as Marianne Jean-Baptiste are a wasted talent. The somewhat disturbing and ridiculous imagery used at points in the film are just jarring and come across as mish-mash of styles. With such a promising premise that could have been strange but alluring, you’re left with a confused and irritating feeling that nothing really made sense.

The Fight - London Film Festival

Written and directed by Jessica Hynes who has several different fights going in throughout the story. A drama that portrays a rarely seen family dynamic (between mother and daughter) that I believe needs to be seen more.

Published previously at Vulturehound HERE.

Bullying is a subject rarely tackled from the point of view of the bully. Stories about people growing up and coming to terms with what they did at school and realisation that they were in the wrong is usually framed as characters with delusion and they never really get over what happened when they were teenager. With pent up angst, long term suffering abuse from a parent and trying to raise her own family, Jessica Hynes’ Tina is trying to get past her own demons.

When Tina’s eldest daughter is bullied by her so called friends, old wounds open when she finds out the bully’s mum is someone she hurt when they were at school. Tina tries to do what’s best for her family while trying to come to term with what happened to her when she was growing up.

Tina, mother of three, care worker and amateur boxer wants something more. But this isn’t about escape, she loves her children and her husband, even though he works nights and isn’t always around, she dodges calls from her exasperating mother and cares for her quiet father, but she seems free when she goes for a run and when she boxes. Her pent up anger is released with every punch. She needs this time to wind down and breathe. It seems that Tina hasn’t been given any time to process her own issues. This takes an unexpected turn back to her parents and not as the title would suggest, with her old school pal.

The abuse that Tina suffered, which is suggested through talks with her father and the behaviour of her mother, is the key to Tina accepting herself, only then is she able to really start caring for everyone around her, including herself. Along the way her family experience small victories which adds to the feeling that no one is alone, they are a family, they don’t give up on each other.

Soni - London Film Festival

Two police officers try to bring down those who bring violence against women have to deal with their own personal issues first before they can made a difference. But they'll keep on fighting, one operation at a time.

Previous Published at Vulturehound HERE.

Crime dramas usually start with a dead body or conspiracy. There is a partnership that is challenged, words exchanged, heated moments and the case gets solved. Crime dramas rarely focus on the day to day in the life of a police officer or delve deeper into a smaller case or incident. ‘Soni’ takes time to explore the relationship between two dedicated police officers that happen to be women.

In present day Dehli, two police officers, working the night shift, Soni, a hotheaded officer and her superior Kalpana are trying to fight crimes against women, one operation at a time, but Soni’s reckless behavior, somewhat fueled by difficulties in her personal life, may cause damage to her career.

Director and co-writer Ivan Ayr chooses very carefully what is shown about his two leads’ lives. Kalpana, the wealthier of the two lives with her husband, a higher-ranking police officer and dotes on her niece who she has a close bond. Soni, living alone, as her husband makes the odd appearance wanting to see his wife and beg forgiveness for a tragedy that is unknown to the audience. With these fragments of their personal and professional lives, piece-by-piece we are expected to determine what has happened to these women. The cases/operations they are left to resolve are a mixture of petty quarrels to catching two fellow officers blackmailing students after dark. The running theme of incidents is how women are treated; catcalling, perverse comments on the phone in the control center and being beaten in a restaurant bathroom. Both Soni and Kalpana want to fight these crimes but each have their own way of trying to resolve issues. Soni makes snap judgments, not always good ones and Kalpana wants to try and win every fight by the book. Somehow these two women manage to work together knowing it will be difficulty but not impossible to catch the wrong doers and still feel that they’ve done the right thing.

More all the film’s merits, there is still a feeling that the subject matter, regarding women whether is about crimes against them or how they are perceived in society, the film doesn’t delve deep enough but rather scratches the surface of a the two leads’ experiences. Further context to the women’s lives or their other operations may have added more to the story.

As a first feature film, Ayr has created an interesting to start to an on-going conversation, one that needs and should be extended outside one’s own country and comfort zone. Soni and Kalpana are team and there is hope that their work continues and hopefully inspires others.

Joy - London Film Festival

Sex trafficking is a hard subject to watch. A film about women who are forced into this life and left in a never ending cycle you know what to expect. It may be called 'Joy' but there is none to be had.

Previously published over at Vulturehound HERE.

The need and want for a better life is something everyone craves. Some will do almost anything for what they believe is a better. But after getting to where you want to be, sometimes it’s hard to admit, the grass is always greener. Director Sudabeh Mortezai focuses on the sex trafficking in Europe, a never-ending cycle of the grim life these women face.

 
Joy is a prostitute working in Vienna. She has to work to pay of the debt she owes the ‘Madame’ who runs her house of Nigerian women who have come to Europe for a better life and to make money to send home. She is saves money to send home and to keep her child safe away from the house. When she is put in charge of teaching the newly arrived Precious who causes some problems and doesn’t want to work the streets, Joy can’t get involved and has to keep focused on her own goals.

 
For a film called ‘joy’ there isn’t any in the story. The only time Joy ever smiles in the entire film is when she sees her daughter. Joy knows how to act, how to dress, how to behave. The impression is given that she has been doing her job for a long time. She is weary, near emotionless, her expression of an almost broken woman. Making good money, she obediently pays her debt back week by week, sends money home to her family and pays the nanny who looks after her daughter. She is driven my money, as are all the other women who pay the ‘Madame’. She is paid for her services, given money by her ‘boyfriend’, has money asked of her from her family back home, always asking for more. She is uncaring towards the new arrival, Precious, who doesn’t quite understand or accepts how things work. But Joy isn’t completely unfeeling, as she is in contact with the police about the illegal people trafficking and illegal sex workers controlled by the ‘Madame’. She wants to prevent any more girls going through what she had to.

 
With rarely a happy moment, the only one being where all the women (except Joy) in the house dance to music on TV, the story is difficult to get through. Joy’s struggle to try and make her life work outside the house of other women brings her right back to what she was doing on the streets but in a nicer set up. Nothing seems to change for Joy, all she seems to do is suffer. As she struggles with doing what she believes is for her family and against her human rights, Joy is not shown any sign that that she will be free again.

 
The subject of the film is bleak and with it the frightening realistic performances from the cast there is a sense there is no hope in sight and that these women will continue to suffer is hard to watch, particularly a scene near the beginning where the camera focuses on reactions to an act taking place off camera. By the end of the film you’re left with an uncomfortable empty feeling that there is no hope and the cycle continues, which is bleak indeed but just shows devastating the subject of the film is.

Sorry to Bother You - London Film Festival

Satirical comedic gem about the oppressed lives of those living in the USA. Trust me on this one, its funny as well as through provoking and disturbing, well at least the last bit is.

 Previously published at Vulturehound HERE.

Ever wondered what would happen if you could change your voice to be more appealing to those on the other end of the phone? That is just one element to Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, the Sundance hit. A comedy that poses questions about the state of living, what art can be AND what a ‘white voice’ sounds like.

 
Cassius Green lives in his uncle’s garage with his experimental/performance artist girlfriend Detroit. He takes a basic job in telemarketing selling encyclopaedias and struggles to make any commission. He openly questions the meaning of life and how the sun will one day explode but he also really just needs to make money. He’s given a tip by his co-worker, if he wants to make any money at his job, he needs to use his ‘white voice’. He soon becomes a top seller and in the midst of a strike is promoted to be ‘Power Caller’. This opens up a whole new world for him but at the cost of his friendships, girlfriend, morals and dignity. But there is something even more disturbing and shady behind the corrupt company that sells slavery as life long contracts.

 
As part of the ‘LAUGH’ strand at the London Film Festival, it is of course a comedy first and foremost BUT it hangs on the edge of social and body horror. The latter genre may only be those who is adverse to seeing such films. But through it all, Riley is commentating on social issues, ridiculing and some exaggerations, all for comedic purposes. But for every joke, realism creeps through, making parts of the story all too real. There are so many comments on life in America right now and maybe even the future that at times, its difficult to catch up to what we should be paying attention to. Detroit’s gallery of wooden pieces of art representing Africa and her performance where she dons her own ‘white voice’ while she asks audience members to through bullets and blood at her is bizarre. Or the Power Caller offices and set up, to the ridiculous party hosted by manic CEO Steve Lift who literally forces Cassius to watch his ‘evil’ ludicrous plan in animated film form are all hilarious elements of a film that exposes the insane amount of wealth a few people have compared to the artists and activists that are fighting the power through protests and social media clips that go way beyond what they were actually meant for.

The cast are fantastic; each effortlessly fitting into the universe Riley has created. Lakeith Stanfield is perfect as the trouble minded Cassius, playing the character the right side of comedic and vulnerable. Tessa Thompson as the artist/activist also stands out as Detroit, someone who knows how things work and fighting for the right cause. Her earrings also deserve a special mention, as they are truly superb.

In creating a world that isn’t quite the same, as we know, the slight but alternative universe brings further to light issues that are taking place now allowing the satirical story to flow easily through to the rather strange and illuminating end. This is a film where you can most definitely believe the hype.

If You Go Down To The Woods Tonight...

...You're sure of a big surprise.

 

Cult films used to be honoured over time and thus given the status of being ‘a cult hit’. But the trend in aiming to make a film that already demands to be ‘a cult film’ has increased in the last decade, films usually involving blood, gore, killer soundtrack and a thin plot. But ‘Mandy’ is different, it has a not so subtle or secret weapon, it has Nicolas Cage.

Set in 1983, Logger Red lives in the middle of a forest with his fantasy artist girlfriend Mandy. They are content with their quiet reclusive lives until they are attacked by A sinister deformed LSD hooked biker gang and an evil hippie cult who’s leader, Jeremiah, who has become obsessed with Mandy after seeing her in the woods. After Mandy is brutally murdered, Red, left for dead, gathers weapons and goes out on a blood soaked rampage into the forest, seeking revenge on the cult and the biker gang.

  

The film exudes an unsettling atmosphere throughout and never really leaves you, not even after the film ends. The use of glowing red and purple light creates the sense that what you’re seeing, isn’t real, it’s a fantastical world where evil things happen. The use of demonic imagery grounded in reality, such as the bikers, stretches the idea that high doses of LSD made them this way when really daily doses of a high concentrated version of the drug would surely kill you. But in this fantastical world, evil creatures like the bikers exist alongside the outwardly human cult members. The feels like a novel, split into chapters with clear-cut good and evil characters. Its fantasy elements also prelude to later events, with a smell of magic in the air. The final shot of the film even resembles a cover of a book of that genre. Fierce orange toned moons looming over the desolate forest, it sends chills down your spine.

 

Nicolas Cage is on top form and has several new scenes he can add to that screaming show reel on Youtube. The character of Red is a perfect role for him to play with. With less dialogue than characters such as Jeremiah, Red is a man of few words and his actions speak volumes more than anything he says. The bloody violence is also something a grizzled actor like Cage can handle and he wields his homemade axe well. Although Andrea Riseborough’s Mandy is the film’s namesake, she only really appears in the first half of the film but with unearthly present, long hair and jet black eyes, she leaves a lasting image with Red as well as us, the audience. 

Co-written and directed by Panos Cosmatos, the film at times does feel like death metal band’s music video but throughout, the story seems to be as if it was lifted directly from the pages of a dark fantasy novel, similar to the one Mandy reads in the film. The imagery alone is enough to have a field day of analyzing what everything means, but at the same time can be rationalised that this isn’t one long LSD trip. Thanks to Park Circus, I was lucky to see the film screened in Union Chapel, with similar lighting used in the film, red and purple, it felt as if we were being immersed into the film, a perfect setting to see this story unfold.

 

Mandy is no doubt a ‘cult film’ in the making. From the font used in each chapter, the ethereal presence of Mandy after death, the demonic evil cult and deformed bikers to the soundtrack that is somewhat over powering but still manages to keep order. The film is a horror that is evokes fear and disgust but it also has a few laughs, but its Nicolas Cage so what would you expect? 

 

 @ParkCircusFilms

The Realm - London Film Festival

If political thrillers are what you crave, then this story about a scandal from the point of view of the accused who is indeed guilty, will be right up your street.

Previously published over at Vulturehound HERE.

Political thrillers can lean towards action, conspiracy and rather other the top climaxes, at least where Hollywood is concerned. TV shows about politics have been passed around the globe, long format giving way for character development, context and further explanation on events. But watching a political thriller film, as an outsider to the country its about can at times feel alienating.

 
Manuel Lopez-Vidal, or Manu to his friends, is set to move up in his party but when illegal activity within the party is exposed, Manu is the one who falls from grace. Other party members also involved in the scandal distance themselves, letting Manu take the fall and name as the ring leader. Not willing to let things lie, he takes matters into his own hands, even risking his life to proof he is not the only one to blame.

 
Unusual for a political thriller, Manu, is guilty but is not entirely to blame. He is being used as a scape goat for the rest of his party. Turning detective and desperate to find evidence that will implicate everyone rather than exonerates him, he wants revenge but also to finally tell the truth. Yet Manu and in fact no one else in the party, shows remorse, merely slight panic that they’ll be named and shamed. The journalist that Manu agrees to talk to and appear on her ‘hard hitting’ show is meant to be the voice of all the citizens, acting moral and above the petty behaviour of the politicians, but instead she comes across as arrogant and difficult to side with. Manu is more forthright in his TV interview and has tunnel vision on what he wishes to achieve. Ending on a question that is meant to be feel like a huge cliffhanger but ends up as an odd ending.

 
With little context to go by, the conspiracy element to the thriller is perfectly ramped up through the soundtrack of the film. Electronic beats in moments of panic create the panic in character of Manu. Moments of conflict are accompanied by bass notes that make it feel as if everyone is about to explode. With the charismatic Antonio de la Torre at Manu, driving the film through the low life politicians living the high life, the film is saved from too confusing a plot.

Jinn - London Film Festival

A film about struggling with your identity that is a fresh new take on the story with a brilliant lead. Jinn has a whole new meaning that I never knew about.

Previously published at Vulturehound HERE.

Identity is often explored in teen orientated films, bet they only explore the surface. Nothing is more important, or so it seems, to a teenager than how they look, how they appear outwardly and what message do they project to everyone else. Exploring more than one side of an identity is where director Nijla Mumin takes us, into the life of Summer.

 
In her last year of high school, Summer impatiently waits to hear from her chosen art school where she wants to study dance. She lives with her meteorologist mother, Jade, who has taken an interest in Islam and encourages Summer to join her at the mosque. Having found meaning and peace in the religion and the community, Jade converts. Torn between her identity as a dancer and her new identity as Muslim, Summer struggles to find a balance and acceptance.

 
Rarely has there been a film that about a teenager who not only joins a religion but also explores all aspects of the religion’s beliefs. Summer is at first pushed into going to the mosque but through her own discoveries, she finds aspects of the religion that she enjoys. Her fault is thinking that her becoming Muslim is a statement to be used. Her #Halall-Hottie moment is made impulsively and out of spite which she claims not to regret. She feels shame about the exposure only when she is made to feel that what she has done is wrong in the eyes of her new found community. Summer continuously learns about herself even though she has a clear understanding of how her identity is created.

 
Part of the Love strand at London Film Festival, the film explores love in the conventional sense that it is about the love between Summer and her parents and it is also about the innocent love Summer has for fellow student and Muslim Tahir. Unsure of each other at first, trying to follow the rules of their religion but really its how their parents feel, they gently ease into a relationship that is more intimate. What’s interesting is we get to see both Summer’s and Tahir’s reactions to being torn apart after they are ‘caught’. It isn’t one sided.

 
Summer’s identity is important to her and even though she seeks approval from outside, such as on Instagram, she knows who she really is, conveyed through dance and words. Summer goes through a transition but this isn’t a run of the mill ‘coming of age’ film, this is about exploring identity and not letting one thing define you.

Assassination Nation - London Film Festival

Thought provoking is too light a phrase to sum up this wild savage beast of a film. Crossing over genres like crazy yet never becoming a complete mess, its something you need to see for yourself.

Previously published at Vulturehound HERE.

There is no doubt that technology is large part of our lives whether we are glued to our phones or not. We also place automatic trust in our technology devices. We store personal, professional and public information on computers, phones, tablets etc and we share with everyone, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident, other times others share our information, our photos, or work without asking which can have negative and positive outcomes. Hacking is a threat to this trust we have in the internet and technology. Assassination Nation poses the question, what if a whole town was hacked? Everyone would know everything about each other and what they’ve done. The fallout from this ‘what if’ suggests that people will seek what they believe is justice. No matter the cost.

 
Lily, eighteen year old girl from Salem, introduces herself through an ominous voiceover than warns us about what we are about to see. A montage of grotesque and violent images play out the following will be seen in the film: sexual content, homophobia, sexism, racism, guns, transphobia, toxic masculinity, torture, the male gaze, fragile male egos; the list feels endless. The film feels self aware that it knows what it is and how it looks, very similar to voice in all this, Lily.

 
When half the town of Salem have their computers and phones hacked and published for everyone to see, the town spirals into mob mentality. Four friends become the main target after one of them is accused of being the hacker.

 
Lily and her three best friends, enjoy a ‘normal’ high school life. They discuss what they do, boyfriends, their behaviour, they are content in their bubble, even when they let their guard down. They each have their own secrets and own ‘thing’ going on, Lily receives texts from ‘Daddy’, an older man who’s child he used to babysit, Bex is spurned by a guy after they have sex at a party, Sarah claims that her phone full of pornography, Em doesn’t want anything to do with her mum’s boyfriends. As a group, from the outside, seem like typical teens but they do talk about how toxic porn is and about double standards when it comes to boys wanting oral sex but not offering the same to girls. These girls are self aware, they know who they are and know what people see.

 
Of all the warnings that appeared at the start of the film, the ones that stood out were ‘the male gaze’, ‘fragile male egos’ and ‘toxic masculinity’ mainly because these are all negative views about men and these subjects have becomes more mainstream discussion in more recent times. The male gaze runs rampant throughout the film, with the leads girls fetishised from their overly sexual outfits to the red plastic jackets they wear in the later part of the film. They are seen as overtly sexual but this feels like a deliberate choice rather than a statement that ‘all teen girls dress like this’. The comments about male egos and masculinity is far more apparent when the town mob immobilises. When the girls are attacked, their attackers are all male, even if they are wearing masks. Both Lily’s boyfriend Mark, who always yells at her and apologises saying he’s drunk and ‘Daddy’ violently attack her when photos of her appear in one of the hacks. Mark calls her a whore, even though he was texted her asking for nude photos. ‘Daddy’ threatens her at knife point and bemoans the fact that he didn’t even get to have sex with her yet his life is ruined because of her. The focus is always on the women and they are blamed for the town going to hell, even though the mob, ‘good people’ are mainly male.

 
The triumphant end doesn’t really happen in this story. The girls take a stand against the mob after rallying their own ‘female’ gang against a predominantly male mass. But there is no outright gun fight which suggests that this is a fight that never ends, and cutting to the real hacker(s). The only real triumphant moment is that the girls aren’t hiding, they are proud of who they are, as opposed to their ‘oppressors’ who all hide behind their masks. The only male that doesn’t wear a mask is a policeman but he hides behind his authority, his badge which he uses to wield his version of justice.

 
It would be unfair to say this film is just about social commentary or it is just an story about exploiting women. This film is an amalgamation of sub-genres such as exploitation and revenge stories, as well as the more obvious horror elements. The story is awry with characters that do exactly what you’d expect but you are still left shocked at their actions. Director Sam Levinson has managed to create a film that is both thought provoking and just straight forward provoking but despite the content warnings, its not controversial.

School's Out - London Film Festival

This was one of my picks as I'm always intrigued by a non bloody film featured in the Cult strand of the London Film Festival, BUT this was not quite what I was hoping for.

Previously published at Vulturehound HERE.

The biggest fear anyone can have is fear of the unknown and the uncomfortable feeling that something isn’t right. The Cult strand of the London Film Festival explores horror and thrills in all forms but School’s Out is set apart as its sometimes chilling presence of uncertainty never fully tips over into the straight forward horror genre.

 
When a teacher suddenly and unexpectedly jumps from his classroom window, the school is shocked, apart from 6 of his students who barely bat an eyelid. Substitute teacher Pierre is brought in to take over the class of highly intelligent students. He notices the 6 students, how they conduct themselves, their strange habits and the tendency to cause problems with blank faced arrogance and an eerie presence. Pierre, after observing them, fears they are planning something at the end of term graduation and tries his best to uncover their secrets, but they are always one set ahead of him.

Children are used frequently in horror films either as the victim or the unsettling entity that causes pain and destruction. The reveal that it was the child or teenager in the story all along who was the antagonist is always a shocker even when its suspected from the start. If the child or teenager is incredibly intelligent, they are seen as even more of threat. School’s Out plays on the group of teenagers who are intelligent, know they are and perceive that this automatically makes them better than everyone else. They spout propaganda like jargon about the environment and how everyone is ruining it. They don’t use mobile phones because they are bad for the environment and make a point that because they see what’s happening in the world, they are simply better than everyone else. Their blank faces and lack of emotion makes the group unapproachable, purposely isolating themselves, making them seem more menacing, especially to outsiders of the school.

 
Pierre is an outsider, happy to take a job at an elite academy. But by being an outsider, he sees things that go on that would not seem right outside the school. He is also seen as a threat to the 6 strange students who, right from the start, make him feel useless, or at least try to. We see Pierre’s experiences and are given his point of view of the students. We are solving or trying to make sense of everything along with Pierre.

 
The story never travels into stereotypical horror genre territory until near the end where all the characters seem helpless, accepting what will happen next. But the lead up to the strange, somewhat anticlimactic conclusion, is full of twists and unsettling turns. There is also the possibility to read too much into characters actions and words but the overall feeling of, ‘something isn’t right’ is felt until the end and that might worth the wait.

The Breaker Upperers - London Film Festival

This was one of my picks of the festival, so happy I got to see this one the big screen. It's really funny, weird and written, directed and starring two fantastic women.

Previously published at Vulturehound HERE.

A romantic comedy with a twist is how you could describe ‘The Breaker Upperers’ as it doesn’t follow a pattern of a conventional rom-com. Adding it’s own New Zealand humour, which is slowly being released into mainstream film and television, the film is not only a breath of fresh air because it’s a rom-com about friendship rather than love, but it also written and directed by it’s stars, Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek.

 
As positive, free spirited Mel (Sami) and bitter people hater Jen (van Beek) the two friends run an agency for people who want to break up with their partners but are just too weak to. But with their latest clients, the two friends hit a brick wall with their business and friendship. The very lonely Anna who is told her husband is missing and young Jordan who has a crush on Mel and wants to break up with his tough misses, Sepa.

 
How Mel and Jen work with their clients is show in an amusing montage including some famous faces, such as Lucy Lawless, showing the various sometimes absurd way they get the job done. From impersonating police officers to staging a call where someone gets shot. It’s a somewhat cold-hearted job and in Jen’s enjoyment of their work is mirrored perfectly in Mel’s eyes who starts to feel sorry for the people’s lives they ruin. Although it’s a romantic comedy, the romance is dialled back in terms of plot and it more about the friendship between the leads. Having met after finding out the same man was cheating on them both, their friendship is based on one sided anger and jealousy (from Jen).
Sami and van Beek have fantastic chemistry, bouncing off each other, not afraid to go the extra bizarre mile. The story and characters that inhabit it are sometimes bizarre but brilliant. The romantic element to the story is basic but with James Rolleston as the naïve Jordan and newcomer Ana Scotney as fierce Sepa, there is an actual sweetness to their relationship.

 
The film manages to be several different comedic plots at the same time; odd couple pairing, screwball antics, quirky romance making it comedic gold that isn’t present in it’s Hollywood and even indie comparatives. Hopefully we’ll see more of what Sami and van Beek have to offer in the future.