On the last day of the AFI Film Festival, I was able to squeeze in two more movies that I was itching to see. Both were strange in their own ways, but enjoyably unique.
First, I was able to get a ticket to watch an encore screening of I’m Your Woman starring Rachel Brosnahan. Vastly different from the fast-paced comedy she is known for, this movie is a slow and tense crime drama. She’s also with a baby for about eighty percent of the film! Now, I don’t watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but I would have to imagine that was a bit different for her. Anyways, this film follows Jean who is married to a criminal named Eddie. One evening Eddie tells Jean he won’t be back that night because of a job, but she is startled when one of Eddie’s colleagues, Cal, tells Jean that she needs to leave immediately. Then a very large chunk of the film is spent watching Jean live alone in a new house with a baby that is not technically hers. It is lonely and isolating and so tense! I swear I jumped more watching this movie than anything else I’ve seen this year.
Further down the line, Jean is introduced to the rest of Cal’s family, and some secrets about Eddie’s past are revealed. When both Jean and Cal’s wife worry about his whereabouts, they decide to embark on a sort of rescue mission. Cue the girl power team-up! Although this one I don’t mind as much. They end up bonding on a certain level that spells friendship, but ultimately they have the same goal. Overall, I wish this film would have had a slightly quicker pace, because once the action started, it was fun trying to keep up. This will be on Amazon Prime in December, so if you’d like a pretty solid crime drama to pass the time, then definitely give this a watch.
The next film I watched I wasn’t going to initially. Yes, I saw that Sienna Miller and Diego Luna were the stars of Wander Darkly, but I had literally never heard of this film and the synopsis provided was incredibly vague and tired sounding. It described it as “a couple who experience a traumatic event try to med themselves,” or something else flippant like that. Sure, I suppose that was technically what this film was about, but it was also so much more! My initial read on this film was that it would be a straight drama, but there were elements of science fiction involved certainly, as well as a bit of romance.
The film follows the couple Adrian and Matteo. They’ve just had a baby and bought a house, but are at their wits end with each other. On the way home from a party they are arguing when they get into a very serious head-on collision. Immediately you are led to believe that Adrian has died and is living in some fast-paced and constantly changing environment. It’s then revealed that she is alive but she is still not believing it. Matteo tries his best to convince her to live by retelling all of the pivotal and loving moments of their past. The ending will leave you gutted, but Sienna Miller really sells this film. I agree with others who have said this, but her performance could lead to some award’s season nominations. I think what made this film more interesting was learning that the director experienced something very similar in her own life. Not for everyone, but could be worth your time for sure.
That’s it for the AFI Film Festival, but there are more festivals and more films to come next week. I can’t wait!