Tag: Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival 2023: Talk to Me & My Animal

Posted on by Kstrouse

The Midnight section at Sundance Film Festival is always one of my favorites. As I have said before, horror allows for a lot of ways to diversify and surprise audiences. The first is a new take on the dangers of doing a seance, and the other is a coming-of-age werewolf story. Both of these films take something we have seen before but make it their own. Each of these features a young but bold female lead and marks feature film debuts which makes this even more exciting. I love new and emerging talent, and this year’s Midnight section had some bangers!

Talk to Me (Daniel and Michael Philippou)

Seances and communing with the dead are stories that have been in horror films for quite some time. The medium used to do so have varied and the consequences have changed, but it generally doesn’t work out well for those involved.

History repeats itself in Talk to Me, but in new and inventive ways, as it brings our present climate very much into play.

It’s become a viral sensation, of course, because does it really happen if it isn’t recorded? A group of friends takes turns gripping what looks like an ancient hand and repeating words to conjure a spirit. From there, they start a timer of 90 seconds to not be trapped for too long.

Mia (Sophie Wilde) is mourning the loss of her mother and around the anniversary, is restless. One night she suggests participating to her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and her brother Riley (Joe Bird), and she takes the plunge. It’s a rush and having seen the potential, it’s hard to stay away.

Terrifying but Thrilling

What occurs is a mix between the Exorcist and a scene from Ghost, but with a distinctly new fervor. A character is taken over by a spirit for a time, but who they are and what their intentions are, varies. Sometimes the response is comical, and others… dangerous. When the door is kept open too long, the spirit doesn’t return to where it came from.

This is the crux of this film where the characters should know better but don’t, and are then forced to correct things Riley suffers injury.

Miranda Otto has a supporting role as Jade and Riley’s mother, confounded when her son goes through an ordeal she can’t make sense of. Sophie Wilde portrays the lead confidently imbuing a sense of regret and determination that make her an actress to look out for. It’s a film that I wish would have dived more into the characters, but the short length time, they never felt one-note.

Hailing from Australia, directors Daniel and Michael Philippou capture a frenzied vision with a style that fuels the pulse-pounding moments, but occasionally feels off in the editing room. Talk to Me is terrifying in the way that it punishes with consequences fit for carelessness while also creating characters we can sympathize with. Mostly though it feels tight and tense, which is what you want from a potent 95 minutes of entertainment.

What works in Talk to Me is the vibrancy, the effects, and the creepiness that doesn’t rely on too many jump scares to make its mark. The script written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman provides the energy for the young cast to feed off of. This feature debut may feel simplistic, but it’s bound to make the audience wriggle with an apt amount of style and spark. I can’t wait to see what comes next from these two.

This supernatural showing takes a new spin on an old concept making it both creative and creepy when needed. I was hooked. Maybe let’s not play with spirits?

My Animal (Jacqueline Castel)

Werewolves seem to be making a comeback in recent years and I am all for it. It’s been a subgenre that truly seemed to peak early on, and I feel it’s one that needs a fresh bite.

Enter My Animal, a coming-of-age romance about a young woman in a small town who falls for the new girl. But, she has a secret, one that forces her to cuff herself to her bed at night when the moon is full.

Heather (Bobbi Salvör Menuez) feels like an outsider. She wants to be a hockey goalie but is looked at as inferior because she is a girl, despite her talent, and she is forced to keep part of her identity hidden, all while dealing with an alcoholic mother and difficult family life.

When she meets newcomer Jonny (Amandla Stenberg) she’s enamored. Jonny is outgoing, a talented figure skater, and someone who brings out a side of Heather that she hasn’t shared before.

There is definitely violence and chaos but it is stoked by yearning and angst. It makes for the ideal sort of struggle with human and animalistic urges while grappling with familial struggles. As a vessel for loneliness, lycanthropy can be a powerful folklore guide. When it’s powered by sexual longing and the pressures a young queer woman could face it is especially impactful. Some of the plot points, especially when it comes to the hollow bullying side characters and the family performances (though Stephen McHattie provides an interesting turn as the father) aren’t as strong and feel more cliche.

Regardless, this is Bobbi Salvör Menuez‘s movie and she is especially compelling as Heather. When she finds her strength by the film’s end it culminates in an explosive fashion.

The film occasionally threatened to waver, but my attention did not. With a haunting moody feel and an innovative premise, My Animal keeps the bloody werewolf genre fresh and alive.

A coming-of-age queer werewolf story? I’m here for it.

Sundance Film Festival 2022: Resurrection

Posted on by Kstrouse

Resurrection had me scratching my head in ponderous turmoil more than any other film at this year’s fest. On one hand, I was applauding Rebecca Hall’s spectacular performance (when doesn’t she though, really?) On the opposite side of things, I found that the film struggles with the fatigue it puts on the characters, and subsequently the audience, by credits end.

And its ending goes really hard, kind of emulating Titane but without the tenderness. The final scenes feel harsh and shocking, heavy on ambivalence. That’s not to say this doesn’t have it, it certainly does. I’m actually grateful for its final shots because it seemed like the director made a choice and decided to just go there. Not to mention that it is worth it alone to see Rebecca Hall give such a tour de force.

Margaret (Rebecca Hall) and her daughter seem to live a fairly safe, fruitful life, but as we often see when her daughter Abbie (Grace Kaufman) – who is on the cusp of leaving for college – leaves or does anything reckless, she is very worried. It’s normal for mothers to be concerned, but as Resurrection gives us tidbits of explanations for what happened to Margaret in the past it becomes painfully clear that it was something very bad. Not just bad, but bizarre, horrifying. Some of the storytelling is aimed unevenly, making aspects harder to take in.

source: Sundance Film Festival

Enter the menacing Tim Roth as David. The first time she sees him she has a panic attack and that fear and hold he has over her is only magnified as we scrape away the armor she’s built up to protect herself from this, well…monster. I won’t go into the details, but he’s quite creepy, and incredibly manipulative. It is one of the most effective portrayals of emotional manipulation I have seen, and it’s truly terrifying to see the grip he exhibits over her, even now, and when she finally gives us the excruciatingly disturbing monologue (to a coworker not quite equipped for it) of their past, it shakes you.

Andrew Semans writes and directs this feature that shows trauma astutely, emphasizing psychological horror in an intriguing way, that borders on incredulous. Even in its extremes though, it ultimately is conveyed believably due to his lead star.

We all have our pushing points, and Margaret begins to unravel; a complete opposite of what we see in the beginning of the film: disciplined, put together. Her past comes back to unnerve her, but she’s strong and won’t give up without a fight.

Resurrection isn’t perfectly done but it brings such an intensity that it’s difficult to ignore. The performances alone are electric. It’s outrageousness will either impress or disgust (maybe both) but you won’t forget it. It bewildered me some.

Sundance Film Festival 2022: Dual

Posted on by Kstrouse

When Sarah (Karen Gillan) finds out she has an incurable disease that will take her life, her next step, obviously – is to choose whether or not she wants to get a clone of herself made. Because, of course, in Dual‘s reality, that’s not only an option, but it is encouraged. It allows you to prepare your loved ones for your demise, and make it easier when you’re gone, because, well, a version of you will remain.

There isn’t a whole lot of consideration, but an hour later and we’ve got two Sarahs.

When she receives the good news that she is no longer dying, she is told her clone is set to be recommissioned. Unless, the double wants a life for herself, then she can request a duel to the death. For there can only be one Sarah.

Not only that, but after some time, the loves ones in her life seem to prefer the replacement. Overall, Dual‘s future and Sarah’s apathy towards existence is pretty damn bleak. By its close, I can’t say that aspect has changed much, but it’ll leave you thinking, and hopefully laughing along the way.

In one of her best performances, Karen Gillan nails the dry deadpan, bouncing between intentionally stoic and yet infallibly human. Before this happened she was in an unhappy relationship, brimming with loneliness and complacency for life. When she finds out she’s sick it strikes as more inconvenient than tragic, but by the film’s end, she displays a ferocity that makes her rootable.

This isn’t a film teaming with likable characters, and everything is given to us in a matter-of-fact way that’s both awkward and strange, yet delivered in a way that makes the audience feel like the odd ones. It pulls some inspiration from Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster.

That’s also part of the charm. Stearns’ subverts expectations throughout the movie, making it hard to know exactly where things will go next. It’s tragic, and it is cynical so it’s bound to be divisive among viewers. The purposely stiff performances and mashup of tones and genres may make some woozy.

I like my science fiction film to have an element of the strange with a clever bite. Dual most certainly has that and there is more to appreciate than snicker at. Its bold ideas kept me intrigued, and was not at all what I was expecting, proving that Riley Stearns has a signature style that can really entertain. Aaron Paul plays Trent her trainer for the dual, and he is also hilarious. Some of their scenes are my favorite within the film, including an unexpected dance lesson and a slow-motion fight training session. For the most part though, this is Gillan’s film, and she manages to hold it the whole way through.

source: Sundance Film Festival

I found myself consistently engaged, curious where things would end up. But we didn’t need a dog to die, (just saying) and preparing anyone who needs to know it prior to going in.

Little flourishes, especially when it comes to the comedy, really sold me on the film. The narrative leans on humor more than the intellectual, which doesn’t always pay off. Did it astound? No. But, it took its swings, and finished with a bold finale.

With absurdity in troves, Dual takes an introspective approach and consideration for the will to live and claim your life. The dark comedy sci-fi has a lot to appreciate, especially the deadpan delivery and quirky storytelling choices (love the dialogue). Karen Gillan & Aaron Paul are pitch-perfect.

Bottom line: Don’t get a clone.