Category Archives: Independent Feature

Drama, Fantasy, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies, Sci Fi

REVIEW: “THE LIFE OF CHUCK” (2025) NEON

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Remembering only vaguely of the book that I probably read ages ago, Director Mike Flanagan and Writer extraordinaire’ Stephen King make a deep, beautifally layered film about the value of life here with “THE LIFE OF CHUCK”. It’s the kind of film that must be seen, not so much to be told about because it expresses so much in its 1 hour and 50 minutes of run time. It’s also really hard to explain, but Flanagan does not waste a single shot in this story told essentially backwards to forwards in different Acts.

The Third Act starts us off with Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a school teacher, and starts with chronicling the crumbling world from the perspective of a small American town he lives in. The internet has been down for months and is about to go dark, along with the television and cell phone service. Meanwhile, climate change has devastated almost every country with California practically submerged itself in the Pacific, the mid-west is on fire, the rest of the World, I have no words, and the local doctor Felicia (Karen Gillan), also Marty’s ex-girlfriend, try to stay afloat. 

With all this going on around them, oddly the most frequent topic of conversation besides the latest catastrophic news, is everyone wondering about the curious billboards they’ve seen thanking a nerdy, but professionally dressed man, named Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston), congratulating him for his “39 ​​magnificent years.” But no one knows what he did for said 39 years. Is he a doctor? A radio host? A local TV personality? No one seems to know, but this is just one of the many questions that affect the film’s characters and, by now, undoubtable us, the audience, who are wondering how this apocalypse came about. However, “The Life of Chuck” doesn’t rush to provide linear answers, at least not at first. Instead, it features deep conversations between Felicia and Marty, who reflect not only on the state of the world, but on humanity’s very existence, now that society may be taking its last breath.

There is a narration, unfallably provided throughout the movie by the wonderful Nick Offerman, yet right from Act Three, everything seen and experienced unfolds perfectly all the way till the end, which is yes, Act One. But first, we have Act Two, where we finally meet “Chuck” and the focus immediately goes on Hiddleston and his character, but truly it’s a full team effort here and we watch as Janice (Annalise Basso), Hiddleston’s dance partner in this act, and Taylor Franck (The Pocket Queen), who is a drum busker, all combine their magnificent talent with moves from the amazing choreography of Mandy Moore & Stephanie Powell really make the dance scene sing. The Pocket Queen aka Franck, is a truly a magnificent talent in herself in her brief, but excellent role is a full standout of this Act Two and the movie as a whole. Hiddleston, while getting top billing, is really very much a smaller supporting role here in every sense of the word.

And then there is “Act One” and what an act it is. Pay attention here everyone as there is a young ‘Chuck Krantz’ here played by Benjamin Pajak that will blow you away. In fact, ALL the kids performances were just as brilliant as the adults, if not more so. Act One is beautifully done when young Chuck (Pajak), receives a very haunting monologue from his grandfather Albie Krantz (Mark Hamill), about certain choices in life. Act One really helps put the puzzle together that was Act Three, where the cosmic elements are more defined to you and it all comes together with a beautiful synergy. Act Two is the filler we needed to understand who older Chuck is and then as well, we have teenage Chuck (Jacob Tremblay), in a smaller, but poignent step in this story of ‘The Life of Chuck’.

The supporting cast brings warmth, depth, and surprise. Mia Sara, in a heartfelt return to the screen, shines as Chuck’s mother Sarah Krantz. Matthew Lillard’s brief appearance in Act One as Marty’s friend Gus, is both deeply touching. Mark Hamill lends weight and tenderness in his role as Chuck’s grandfather and is one of my three huge standouts here along with Pajak and The Pocket Queen. And again, Nick Offerman serves as the narrator, and his voice, calm, grounded, and thoughtful, beautifully anchors the film’s reflective tone.

Stephen King is right when he says The Life of Chuck is one of the good ones. The spirit and energy is felt from beginning to end, and with all on board performances giving their best, Flanagan is further establishing himself as a fine present-time director with this one as there is so much here to appreciate. As well, from the cosmic elements in ‘Act Three’ to the dancing scenes in ‘Acts Two & One,’ Flanagan did an exceptional job incorporating the sound throughout. The choreography is stunning and this film speaks to you. It just does. One thing I will say is The Life of Chuck is dedicated In Memory to Scott Wampler. And there are a few cameos in The Life of Chuck including Flanagan himself, but Scott’s inclusion just tugged me right at the heart.

As one does, I too have pondered in my life why certain moments are impactful and have helped form me into the individual I am today. It feels like utter randomness, but that’s the point isn’t it. What matters to us..what gives us substance…is what makes me well, me and us the unique people wer are. It’s the good, the bad, the meager, and the reality all of it that comes together to form our universe and reality as we know it.

So I’ll leave you with this: In a world where things are changing by the minute, not always in the positive, try to remember to still be kind to yourself and others. Hug your loved ones, forgive those you can forgive, and when or if, things don’t go as planned, accept and trust that your life was exactly as it was meant to be.That’s what my mom used to tell me, keep doing what makes you happy no matter what others say. She told me that as she was passing. I’ve never forgotten it.

“The Life of Chuck” is more than just a film, it’s a love letter to life, memory, connection, and the meaning we create in our short time here. Flanagan’s masterful direction, paired with a stellar cast and emotionally intelligent storytelling, makes this one of the most beautiful and thought-provoking films of the year.

I do highly recommend “The Life of Chuck” as it’s the film we all need right now.

Grade: A

“THE LIFE OF CHUCK” IS OUT FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2025 IN LIMITED RELEASE. WORLDWIDE RELEASE – FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025

Review Screening: Thursday, May 29, 2025 ~ Courtesey of Ginsberg/Libby PR

Comedy, Dark Comedy, Horror, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW: “I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU” (2025) Vertical Entertainment

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Going into “I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU”, my initial thoughts were ‘comedy’. So I wasn’t prepared for a bit of emotion in the opening third of film.

The film opens with Writer/Directors Brian Crano and David Joseph Craig’s twisted comedy about two gay dad trying to make a video to be qualified as adopters for a child. The is the process, and it’s rather grueling to be honest. What do you say to have the mother, in this case – Amanda Seyfried (Candace), pick you to be her baby’s parents. It’s an emotional watch. It’s made more emotional by the fact that we find out, they have done this process before and been scammed.

But here is also where the movie just took a ball and pitched it into left field. We are in this completely poignent moment in time with these two men and what is clearly a big emotional moment in their lives – and then, we suddenly find outselves wandering through Italy with our wealthy gay couple Dom (Nick Kroll) and Cole (Andrew Rannells), as somewhere in all this, they have decided the world is against them. Remember, as of right now, and as Americans, they live in a time and in a country where they can legally marry, adopt, and do virtually everything straight people do; but this isn’t the case everywhere and Italy is a country that does not allow this. They’re also old enough to remember when all these freedoms weren’t available to them as well, so they anticipate rejection and homophobia at every turn. They’re prepared for the worst, and somehow they attract it.

But it’s also during this trip to Italy, which by the way was foreplanned as they are celebrating their anniversary, that they receives the news that the baby they’ve tried so hard to be elgible for, is going to be their’s and is about to be born. An old family friend of Dom’s Father organizes an exclusive dinner for them at a secluded restaurant. And so on.

And then it goes even wilder and weirder as the holidays unfold, what began as a simple anniverary vacation story takes weird, grim turns. Dom and Cole are immediately captivated by rustic restaurateur Francesca (Eleonora Romandini), though their imaginations begin to get the better of them, they misconstrue their knife-holding hostess (she’s a cook after all), and her macho son Massimo (Morgan Spector), as potential threats. Suddenly, the bodies are piling up, and the couple doesn’t know if they’ve dodged a hate crime or if they’ve perpetrated one against their hosts, who could hardly be kinder. And yet, they stab the air with knives and say things like, “You’re going to be a dey-ud.” If you’ve been watched your whole life (as Dom and Cole feel), it’s easy to misinterpret those signals. And because they’re unfamiliar with the local culture and language, (everything Italian is in sub-titles btw), things often escalate at breakneck speed.

I know this might seem strange, but there comes a point in this film where, objectively speaking, we begin to realize that Dom and Cole aren’t really great people (revealing the why/how here would ruin the film). In any case, “I Don’t Understand You” isn’t concerned with how these two might fare in a court of law in any world that I know of. Kroll and Rannells play the couple with a kind of “us against the world” conviction that draws the audience to their side, even when it’s not always clear whether their panic attacks and small displays of public affection are meant to seem cute or embarrassing, as it’s a hard read between the two here on them. It’s clear they like attention though.

Like their characters in “I Don’t Understand You”, the writer and director are also married in real life, which means that some of the tone of this film are presumably autobiographical, and probably exaggerated in an over-the-top manner. That’s what makes this kinda confusing to me, as this seems like it’s two totally different films shoved into one film. The first film is about the two men trying to adopt a child, the second film is about the same two men having all sorts of crazy happen on an anniversary trip to Italy together. Separately, these would’ve been two probably really good films, together, it just didn’t make sense. It ended sweetly though, with a throw-back to “film one” and happily ever after.

Grade: D+

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU” IS OUT FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2025

Review Screener: Courtesy of Ginsberg/Libby PR

Australian Films, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies, Psychological Thriller, Thriller

Review: “The Surfer” (2025) Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions

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There is no doubt in my mind that Nicolas Cage is an incredible actor. His body of work speaks for itself. There are many of his films that are on my favourites list and my ‘highly recommend’ lists. That being said, just when you think you have him pegged in a category, he goes and throws you a hard curve ball. That curve ball here is “THE SURFER”, an Australian Independent Film directed by Lorcan Finnegan and written by Thomas Martin.

Nic plays The Surfer, who is sort of a investor/realtor as well, an American, born and raised in Australia, who is attempting to take his son, The Kid (Finn Little), surfing out on an Australian beach at the same Australian beaches he used to in his childhood. However, he is prevented from doing so by a local gang of local, sunburnt surfers who humiliate him in front of his son. The ‘surprise’ for his son was to show him the beach with the hopes of buying up his father’s old property nearby for them to live in from of course, The Estate Agent (Rahel Romahn). As they enter the beach area from the parking lot, they run into none other than the Locals. Yes, this is a “Locals Only” beach ran by Scally (Julian McMahon), and his gang of merry surfers consisting of Blondie (Rory O’Keeffe), Pitbull (Alexander Bertrand), Runt 1 (James Bingham), Runt 2 (Austen Wilmot), and Runt 3 (Talon Hopper). These are just a few of what we referred to when I was a kid in Huntington Beach, CA as “Surf Nazi’s.” You only need to watch “American History X” to fully understand the true scale of these people as yes, they did exist, and yes, they do still exist.

From here on, “The Surfer” takes us on a wild ride through various time slips, with Cage’s character making increasingly desperate calls to his broker friend, and encounters with local bullying kids I mentioned, Add in an ominous, Reaper-esque like character named The Bum (Nicholas Cassim), an elder who brings up grim facts of his past, we watch as not only he, but Cage’s character The Surfer as well, slowly lose their moorings to real life. The Surfer becomes a stranded, demented wanderer of the area, insisting on some version of life that doesn’t jive with reality.

I can’t remember the last time I saw someone suffer – on screen – this much. The amount of punishment, deprivation and gaslighting that Nic Cage’s character suffered throughout the film is only matched by the sheer perseverance and desire he had to ride those waves with his son. Proving that parental ties can sometimes top anything and everything and nothing else matters but that one goal.

Despite the constant abuse being shown on screen, the film sustains a weird comedic and almost dreamy quality throughout. The soundtrack with its use of chimes and the camera with its play on focus helped elevate those scenes with a dehydrated Cage to a place straddling between a delirious dream and a nightmare. Sometimes the film crosses into a point of hilarious ridiculousness; there is one scene where a dead rat comes out of someone’s pocket and is used as a weapon.

I was also a bit surprised by just how gorgeous of a film The Surfer actually is. The cinematography and editing are quite over the top, but never overdone. It’s clear he filmmaker’s are having fun shooting the film as they clearly respect the power of the ocean and the beauty of the waves and surfing experience itself.. It’s also impressive how much dynamic they manage to get out of a movie that literally takes place entirely between one beach and the parking lot next to it.

Summing it up, there were points at the beginning where I thought, “this can’t be real”, but then I only had to remember writing “Locals Only” in surf wax at age 15 on the 9th street beach apartment walls to remember, “Oh “yeah it is real”. I mean we never went to this extent, but some did.

All in all, “The Surfer” keeps your brain going and I came to respect the film. As well, a great supporting cast including Julian McMahon whom has a fully riveting presence as the film’s co-star, as well.

While the final act of the film is certainly the most loose and lawless part of the experience, and is sure to be the killer of joy for some, again, it had me respecting the film in a particular way in the end.

Grade: C+

“THE SURFER” IS OUT NOW WORLDWIDE

Review Screener: Courtesy of Ginsberg/Libby PR

1990's, Biography, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Drama, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW: “BLACKBERRY” (2023) IFC FILMS

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“Send me your BBM”

On January 9th, 2007, when Steve Jobs took to a worldwide stage to make the biggest announcement of the tech industry as we knew it, What did he do? Well he announed the iPhone and the world was forever changed. But before all this, there was the “BLACKBERRY”, and most audiences really don’t know much about the story of the man nor the company behind this invention this one time status symbol.  Like many others, never having owned a Blackberry myself, one can only remember when someone said “Send me your BBM” and we looked at them in possible confusion. We also never knew the story of the BlackBerry to this depth, thankfully, this movie portrays that very well with its dark comedy and anxiety-inducing writing. While we all know that BlackBerry doesn’t exist anymore, Director/co-star Matt Johnson does a good job of showing how the IPhone destroyed this Canadian-based company, and how the fall from grace for those behind it all was actually more of a boom! than just a blip.

BlackBerry is not your by the numbers biographical drama of a company as the film is structured into three segments based on major shifts at the company, Research in Motion (RIM). The film follows the duo of tech boy wonders Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and Doug Fregin (Matt Johnson), are the heads of a the very almost child-ish start-up, in which they’ve essentially just hired their friends to hang out with them and do “movie night”. Somehow during all this movie time – they have developed a phone capable of sending and receiving emails in a pocket-sized device you can hold in your hand – an idea that at the time that was deemed as a pipe dream.

As with anything new in the tech market – funding, support, and distribution are important to the plan and they duo head out to do get just that. Both are incredibly unprepared, to pitch their idea to Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), who despite not having a tech background, gets it instantly, but feels they aren’t worth his time – until he has a interesting little incident of insubordination in the presence of his boss (Martin Donovan), which needless to say, gives him a bit of a career setback. He ends up meeting them again in a diner, where in a scene typical of how these two interact, Doug counts out change for the check from a Ninja Turtles wallet. Still Jim, offers his services to RIM in exchange for a large share of the business and the status title of co-CEO. Doug completely loses it, but Mike, who is clearly gets the bigger picture as payroll checks are bouncing, realizes they need each other.

What’s good about this film is how perfectly it captures the rise and fall of this once innovative company, highlighting the heart at the core, and of its inevitable demise. Fans of earlier films running this gamut like The Social Network or this years Tetris, will feel right at home here. Just like those films, this multi-faceted one is not just for the technology gurus out there, as co-writers Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller wrote it to integrate technological jargon into a narrative that everyone can understand and follow, not just those tech gurus. BlackBerry, is not just a film about the creation of the world’s first smartphone, but also works as an exploration of friendship, community, and power that never shys away from references to where they were located (what we here is the U,S. would call ‘the boonies), of Waterloo, Canada, and it never falls short of things like the constant praise of its hockey origins.

Where is falls a bit short at times is leaving out a background of the people themselves. If these people have homes or families we never see them. Jim has a loyal assistant, who is one of two women with basic speaking parts in the film. The other being Michelle Giroux as Dara Frankel, the SEC investigator who ends up bringing the axe down on RIM. All the other team members, with the exception of Rich Sommer as Paul Stannos, an engineer poached from Google and Michael Ironside as Purdy, another terrifying character made COO, otherwise blend into the same basic background. For all this movie’s pride in being Canadian its true home is plain old cutthroat capitalism. The various men in suits like Saul Rubineks’ John Woodman, or Cary Elwes as Carl Yankowsky, all are at various points just yelling at each other in their own colourless corporate settings, Making what I say next more than obvious that what stands out in all these films, not just this one but in all the films about the major innovators of our time, from Steve Jobs to Mark Zuckerberg, to Jim Balsillie, and eventually even Mike in this film, (taking into consideration they are correctly portrayed), are always some of the most horrid people to everyone around them. They were the times when this type of leadership was not only accepted, though that’s no excuse for being a unhuman human, it was the norm and women in the boardroom were a rarity. It is essentially the creation of the coporate overlords that we now know today.

Lastly is the acting. Jay Barucshel and Matthew Johnson were both wonderful in a corporate Ying-and-Yang relationship, though Johnson steals the show with his mockery and comedy. But the complete show stopping film stealer is Glenn Howerton as the corporate tough guy. Coming from a comedic background shows through here as his timing of every single scene scream roast is impeccable, it’s truly dark comedy at it’s best. He can stop the whole show with just a showstopping look. I can only say to everyone watching, let’s remember this performance come Awards season. Together, the three of them drive the story from its lowest points to its dizzying heights. All the supporting roles fit in as needed, as again, it’s like they hired a group of friends and funnily enough, a post Q & A with Director Matt Johnson confirmed just that.

Overall ‘BlackBerry’ is a fun entertaining picture, that may not be completely accurate, but for those who don’t know the details, it won’t matter or to the point, detract from the story at hand.

Grade: B

Follow me on twitter: @pegsatthemovies or Instagram: Peggyatthemovies

Review Screening: Sunday, May 7, 2023 ~ Courtesy of CAA/IFC Films

“BLACKBERRY” FROM IFC FILMS IS OUT IN THEATERS FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023

Action, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Family, Female Director, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW: “POLITE SOCIETY” (2023) FOCUS FEATURES

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“POLITE SOCIETY” is writer-director Nida Manzoor‘s first film – as we best know her from her hit TV show “We Are Lady Parts” – a personal favourite of mine from Peacock. She stays within the Pakistani community culture that she knows and does so well with again here, giving us a very smart, yet super stylised, inventive and sometimes over the top familial story. Manzoor divides the film into five chapters – entitling each with the theme at hand such as “Khan vs. Salim” or “Khan vs. Khan”, highlighting what each chapter will offer up.

4167_D039_00291_R Priya Kansara stars as Ria Khan and Ritu Arya as her sister Lena in director Nida Manzoor’s POLITE SOCIETY, a Focus Features release. Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.

Priya Kansara, a newcomer to the big screen, stars as Ria Khan, a Sophomore/Year 11 private school student, Ria is highly determined to achieve her goal of becoming a working stuntwoman. She remains laser-focused on this despite her teacher and parents parents Rafe (Jeff Mirza) and Fatima (Shobu Kapoor), laughing it all off as nonsense and trying at every turn to re-direct her towards becoming a doctor. Ria also adores her older sister Lena (Rita Arya), who has recently moved back into her parents home after dropping out of a prestigious art school. Ria is worried about her as she seems to be drifting in life. So instead, together they film Ria’s stuntwoman ‘practices’ all the while she sends letters to top professional stuntwoman Eunice Huthart expresses her love for all things stunt related, and yet at some point, her life intertwines in them as well.

Things change quickly for everyone as at a meet & greet aka match-making soiree’ as Salim (Akshay Khanna), a doctor and every mothers dream match for their daughters, steps in and begins wooing and winning over Lena. Ria senses things aren’t right with the relationship and is also convinced that Lena should resume her dreams of being artist, rather than be with the too-good-to-be-true Salim. And then there is Salim’s mother Raheela (Nimra Bucha), who raises every red-flag visable as the overbearing mama’s boy mother. Of course, Ria suspects things aren’t all on the up and up here and sets out to prove it with her two best school friends Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri), who get some of the best one-liners of the film. And the fun begins as they strategize and scheme to undercut the relationship, but they are no match for Salim’s mother.

4167_D018_00093_R Seraphina Beh stars as Clara, Priya Kansara as Ria Khan and Ella Bruccoleri as Alba in director Nida Manzoor’s POLITE SOCIETY, a Focus Features release. Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.

While the story might have it’s over-the-top moments to be sure, the acting never does. Kansara and Arya are perfectly paired here and clearly are having fun as they execute the physical martial arts sequences beautifully, yet also show promise in the more serious moments switching back and forth flawlessly. And the supporting cast which we have yet to mention the school bully turned partner in crime Kovacs (Shona Babyemi), who offers some wonderful comedic relief helping the three friends out in their wily scheme to ‘free’ Lena. All these ladies need to be put on everyone’s “Actresses to watch for” lists – as well as filmmaker Nida Manzoor on their Female Directors to watch list. Anyone who can entertain at this level deserves the opportunity to do so as frequently as possible.

In the end, after all the kicks, punches, and schemes, ‘Polite Society’ is about culture, friends, sisterhood and being true to who you are with Nida Manzoor giving us extremely creative film with a balance of themes that proves immensely entertaining.

Grade: B

Follow me on twitter: @pegsatthemovies or Instagram: Peggyatthemovies

Review Screening: Courtesy of Ginsberg/Libby PR

“POLITE SOCIETY” FROM FOCUS FEATURES IS OUT IN THEATERS FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2023

Biography, Drama, History, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW: “CHEVALIER” (2023) SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

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The life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges is definitely one that needs to be told. He was an accomplished man, a scholar, fencer, a virtuoso at the violin, besting even the likes of one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or so the story goes. Most of all, he was a composer and a much sought after one at that. All this took place from 1745-1799 to be exact, during Marie Antoinette’s reign. But because of who he was, his storied life was all but erased from history as we know it thanks to one little guy named Napolean Bonaparte’ when he reinstated slavery in France.

And this is where “CHEVALIER” the film steps into play boasting a based on a true story – screenplay by Stefani Robinson that doesn’t escape the predictability of the usual bio-pic story structure, as well as the possible taking of a few liberties here and there. Director Stephen Williams does turn this into a surprisingly captivating look at the life story of the composer who grew up the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society hence him being crowned with the title of Chevalier, taking his suffix from his father, “de Saint-Georges”—named after a plantation in Guadeloupe—to become known as ‘Chevalier de Saint-Georges’. The film chronicles his talent, his supposed ill-fated love affair with Marie Josephine (Samara Weaving), and his falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and her court. Chevalier bucked the norm and competed to try to get appointed as the head of the Paris Opera at one point, but the Opera’s prima donnas, notably La Guimard (Minnie Driver), the Operatic Vocalist Queen of the time, went to Queen Marie Antoinette and halted his potential candidacy because they didn’t want to take orders from a ‘mulatto’ or Creole as he could be called. In the film, they show it as he would not bed the elder Guimard, again, possibly a small liberte’ taken here.

What is incredibly beautiful here is the music and the costumes. Both coming at you with such a vibrance with Harrison performing spectacularly on the violin in a fun opening moment. There is bound to be nominations for both of these, and Kelvin Harrison Jr., having been my one to watch a few years back, he has not failed me yet and delivers a ‘bonne performance’ here as well. Chevalier can feel drawn out at times and even predictable, and overall the pacing of the film is definitely a little strange occasionally, but the actors take it and make it the compelling story that it is.

Even with it’s ups and downs, It’s a sensitive topic, yet also tremendously inspiring narrative set to incredible classical music that allows it to have a powerful conclusion.

Grade: C+

Follow me on twitter: @pegsatthemovies or Instagram: Peggyatthemovies

Review Screening: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

“CHEVALIER” FROM SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES IS OUT IN THEATERS FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2023

Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW: “THE INNOCENTS” (2022) IFC MIDNIGHT

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There are films that sometimes just reach out and grab you in the most unexpected manor. “THE INNOCENTS” from Norwegian director Eskil Vogt is just that film. It is wildly creepy, slick horror with a fantasy and drama element thrown in. And it’s a film you will not soon forget. It’s based around four children – two sisters, along with a boy and a girl from the local neighborhood they move to.

The film begins with the two young girls moving into a new apartment complex with their parents during Summer break. As children do, they look for others to befriend and play with and soon the two girls meet other kids in the complex, when something strange starts to happen.
As these young children come together they come to realize they are ‘connected’ in a way that is both evil personified and good personified.

THE INNOCENTS –

Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløttum), is an adorable little girl and is the younger of the two sisters. Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad), Ida’s older sister is autistic and mostly non-verbal. At first, Ida seems like a troublemaker, as we see her pinch her sister, as if checking to see if she is for real as Anna doesn’t cry out or seem to notice the pain from it. For Ida, her sister represents competition for time with her parents, as their focus and energy is mostly spent dealing with Anna’s condition, Ida becomes sadly, sort of an afterthought as she doesn’t require the time and effort Anna does. But here in lies the delicacy of the wonderful acting by Fløttum as she is sublime at showing her character’s growth throughout the film. Then there is Ben (Sam Ashraf), a young boy from the complex and the first friend Ida meets. Ben is a myriad of complexities, with a mean streak driving his taste for violence and inflicting pain on others. Ashraf is absolutely haunting in this role. And lastly we have young Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim), the compass if you will, of the group of four and the youngest. She is also somehow the only person who can communicate with Anna at first. Together as a group, these children can be just that, children, or something much much more, and therein lies the chilling effects of this film. The four children play off of each other so phenomenally, which is pivotal, considering they are our main focus throughout the film.

As well, the film is beautifully shot, edited with good sound design, which helps the movie to reach and hold the viewers attention – and then some. The movie is relentless and does not hold back, as certain scenes may be too graphic – but also quite a punch in the gut for some viewers. What the most chilling aspect to watch is the children because as they become aware of their power and it grows, so does the tension within. The Innocents addresses some serious adult themes that we are aware are too grown-up for the small group of children thrown together to deal with, all unaware of the others markings, but it makes the film all the more suspenseful and disturbing.

THE INNOCENTS

Vogt mastery of combining drama, fantasy, and horror in a compelling way is completely on point here. The story being told isn’t one where kids are committing violence for no reason, it’s more in depth than that. It’s more about the fantasy world kids often live in and their lack of understanding when it comes to the very real consequences of their actions, should they ever be given powers beyond their years. As well, there is no big reveal ever on how the children obtained the powers, and honestly, the question never arose in my mind on that as it’s really not the purpose of the story. The purpose is what happens once they do have those abilities and how they act on them – more the good vs. evil tone and the fact that these children as actors, pull it all off while making their debut’s – is truly a piece of excellence in itself.

Grade: B+

Follow me on twitter: @pegsatthemovies or Instagram: Peggyatthemovies

Review Screening: Courtesy of IFC MIDNIGHT

“THE INNOCENTS” IS NOW IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE AND VOD.

1960's, Drama, Female Director, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW: “HAPPENING” (2022) IFC FILMS

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The past dictates our future in so many ways. So being somewhat traumatized by a film isn’t always a bad thing when that film is so important to whom you are as a person. And nothing could be more prevalent at this moment than Director Audrey Diwan’s film “HAPPENING” based on the semi-autobiographical novel from French novelist Annie Ernaux (originally entitled “L’Événement“). It’s speaks up from the past, not just telling us – but showing us all as well – the true brutality and horrors of what exists when women across the world lose their freedom of choice over their own body.

HAPPENING

The film takes us back in time to France in 1963, Abortion is illegal. Birth control is illegal. Told from the point of view of the main character Anne Duchesne (Anamaria Vartolomei), in close up and close quarters, we embark on this vivid, often hard to watch, journey with her.

Anne, Hélène (Luàna Bajrami), and Brigitte (Louise Orry-Diquéro), are college dorm-mates studying literature, and they are all getting ready to go to a dance. When they arrive, the room is full with men and women dancing though because of the times they are in, there is an undercurrent of having too much fun means you are loose or easy. In the weeks after the dance, we see Anne continually check if she has gotten her period and write “rien” meaning nothing, repeatedly in her diary. When her pregnancy is confirmed by the local doctor, she asks him to do something, but he declines and urges her not to speak about it. Later, as things are progressing and Anne is clearly slipping, she visits another doctor, who is supposedly sympathetic to her condition and prescribes a drug that will guarantee a miscarriage. She learns, however, much later, that the doctor lied to her and the drug is designed to actually strengthen the not yet formed fetus inside her.

HAPPENING

Anne’s friends through all of this present an array of reactions with Bridgette, the supposed more sexually liberated one, keeping her distance and instead it’s the usually quiet and shy Hélène who seems to be the more accepting and understanding of the two. Most surprisingly is Olivia (Louise Chevillotte), once Anne’s nemesis, steps up to the plate and proves to be vital ally when everything starts to spin out of control. The two become unexpectedly connected during a pivotal – and unforgettable scene that had me gripping my seat and squirming wanting to cover my eyes – but you can’t – because while traumatic, it is all to very real. 

While “Happening” depicts the very real story of a young girl who’s forced to make a very tough decision in a time where you didn’t have the freedom to choose, it’s director Audrey Diwan, whose choices here are so effective in making us live every single moment with Anne. She does a great job of depicting the social stigma and incredible secrecy Anne is forced to suffer through, just because she doesn’t want to let a baby dictate her life. You feel not just sad for her situation, but angry for what she is put through, and most of all, you root for her to find a way out before it’s too late, hopefully without any serious repercussions. The disillusionment she receives from her doctor and friends is upsetting to watch, not to mention she can’t even tell her family for fear of the shame it will bring.

The more weeks that pass by, the more stressed Anne gets and we the audience get as there is a sense of urgency throughout due to the spectacular performance of Anamaria Vartolomei. She conveys every single moment for you in such realism that there is almost a sense of relief when she finally gets to the back-alley abortion clinic after raising the money by selling her personal items – even though you clench your teeth, and squirm every which way in your seat, watching the painful procedure take place.

‘Happening‘ is a wake up call to us all as the film doesn’t lecture it’s non-believers. It simply, and effectively discredits them. What changed is that thousands of desperate women no longer died as the result of botched backstreet abortions and simply put – we can never go back there again.

Grade: B+

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Review Screening Friday, April 22, 2022 ~ Courtesy of Accolade PR

“HAPPENING” IS NOW IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO VOD JUNE 21, 2022.

Comedy, Drama, Female Director, Foreign Film, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies, Romance

REVIEW: “Anaïs in Love” (2022) Magnolia Pictures

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From the very moment we first see her on screen, it’s clear that Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier), doesn’t have her life together. It’s also clear that that is exactly how director Charlene Bourgeois-Tacquet wants her lead character to be. Anaïs is a whirlwind on the screen, as it is the films running joke throughout that Anaïs is a frenetic girl who is habitually late to everything. She is late to appointments, late to school, late to parties, late to family functions, yet she is never out of breath while being late riding her bike to all these events. To continually make it clear, she is late with the rent on her Paris apartment, late with her University dissertation, and yes, late with her period. She is also late in telling her live-in boyfriend Raoul (Christophe Montenez), that because she is late taking her birth control as she ‘just forgot’ that she is pregnant. But somehow everyone from her landlord to her professor, all look past her seemingly carefree approach to real life as she talks her way out of all of it because, you guessed it, she is late and running off to the next thing that she is late for.

This is all cute and whimsical enough until, suffice to say the one thing she on time for is when she has her abortion. The problem here is how nonchalantly this is all noted as if having the abortion is just another blip in her day. This is supposed to be comedy and there was nothing funny about the way this is handled in the story. Abortion, as we all know, is a serious right, a right for a woman to make a choice. It is not however to be shown so dispassionately and be treated as though it’s just another form of birth control. That something so critical and important of an issue and decision is taken here, by a female director of all people, should’ve been handled with more aplomb instead of being made to look easy to do and be played off as if she is cool as a cucumber doing it. The film lost its comical ‘pretense’ then and there.

So it’s really no surprise then to see as the film goes on that Anaïs takes an older, married man Daniel (Denys Podalydes), whom she met as she was late to a dinner party, as her lover, He then turns it around and ends the affair by stating he doesn’t want his life to change. Anaïs as per usual, just shrugs it off and turns her attention to Daniel’s wife, Emilie (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). Emilie is a famous author and Anaïs worms her way into Emilie’s life after reading her book, tracks her to Normandy, where she’s holding a symposium, even though she was hired and supposed to be helping at a completely different symposium in another town. Once again, she just abandons something dependable for something whimsical. In the midst of all this and without warning, the women begin a sexual relationship. It comes as a complete surprise as neither character had up until that point in the film, even the slightest bit any previous indications that this was even something that either of them was interested in. All the while this is going on, Anaïs is coming to terms with the return of her mother’s (Anne Canovas), liver cancer. While this isn’t an excuse for her bad behavior, it seems to be given as some sort of explanation for it all.

There is a lot lacking here in terms of it being a comedy at all and it lacks any sort of dramatic punch even with the side-story of her mothers cancer. Anaïs the character, is never concerned about what the outcome of her actions are, so neither are we. Anaïs Demoustier the actress, is beautiful and does well with what the character is supposed to be, it’s just not enough to make the film any better. This is essentially a movie about an thoughtless young woman, whose mother is dying of cancer, and who makes the lives of those around her unpleasant. And that just isn’t funny no matter which way you twist it.

Grade: D+

Follow me on twitter: @pegsatthemovies or Instagram: Peggyatthemovies

Review Screening: Courtesy of Ginsberg/Libby PR

“ANAIS IN LOVE” IS NOW IN THEATERS April 29, 2022 and VOD May 6, 2022.

Drama, Female Director, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW: “INBETWEEN GIRL” (2022) Utopia

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There are times when watching films that you find a hidden gem amongst all the seemingly endless list of choices to watch. Director Mei Makino’s 2021 SXSW ‘Visions’ Award winner, “INBETWEEN GIRL” is just that gem.

The film is framed in a personal and unflinching manner than what one might expect. It is charming, raw, funny, and truly tackles teen-age romance and sexuality pretty head-on, but in a way that is realistic and mature. It’s all about Angie Chen (Emma Galbraith), a young, pretty Chinese-American girl attending an Episcopalian private school in Galveston, Texas with a flair for drawing. While she is friends with Liam (William Magnuson), the stereotypical school jock who all the girls adore, eyebrows and all, that’s seemingly all there is to it. He gives her rides home each day from soccer practice and they begin to get to know each other, with their friendship beginning to border on something more. Truthfully she could easily fall for him if not for his girlfriend, Sheryl (Emily Garrett), a model/social media influencer who ends up being her partner in a class project, becoming her friend as well, making things all the more complicated. You get a sense of where it’s headed but even still, Makino somehow makes it all feel fresh and full of energy and heart, as well as a learning experience of life.

The dramatic heart and center of the film, also come from her troubles at home as her newly divorced parents make things all the more confusing in Angie’s life. She is living with her mother Veronica (Liz Waters), a lawyer whom is always working, leaving Angie to fend for herself for things like meals, homework, and most notable, her social life. As well, she is feeling distanced from her father Fai (KaiChow Lau), whom she cherishes but seemingly has instantly found a new, better family already with Min (ShanShan Jin), and her daughter Fang (Thanh Phuong Bui). Both of whom speak her father’s native Mandarin dialect and with whom she feels replaced by.

Between the difficulties with her love life and her home life, Angie struggles to come of age as simply as one would expect. While there is a good deal of levity to break up the dramatic plots, there is a natural charm and heartfelt good nature about the film that overcomes any small shortcomings it might have. It’s a winning little film that is beautifully told and acted as Emma Galbraith is a breath of fresh air to this role, that is rarely ever played by someone of mixed race, but she proves there should be more. Even our manipulating cad of a male lead – William Magnuson, puts a star next to his performance here.

This film so deserves to find an audience that will fall in love with this tale we’ve heard before, but truly told in it’s own angsty manner of everything facing a teenage girl. The mistakes, family, drama, happiness, and friendships that shape us into who we are. The film as well, explores the relationships between having a Chinese father/American mother – and how difficult your heritage can be to navigate when that family unit splits. This is one film that no one should miss!

Grade: B+

Follow me on twitter: @pegsatthemovies or Instagram: Peggyatthemovies

Review screener: Courtesy of Caitlyn Hughes PR

You can stream Mei Makino’s “Inbetween Girl” on major VOD services beginning on May 3.