And they keep on coming! The Sundance Film Festival is a week-long endeavor, so that means while ideally I’d get to watch everything I want on the weekend, realistically there are some I’ve got to wait for. But they are worth the wait! Also, it worked out for me that none of these interfered with my day job! Another strong lot of films, so let’s get into it!
How It Ends – This movie was nice and light despite it’s somewhat dark subject matter. Liza plans on spending her last day on earth (everyone’s last day on earth, actually), by getting high in her house, alone. That is until her younger self persuades her to go to a friend’s party. Before they make their way to the party, they do decide to get some weed, and then make a list of people to confront or make amends with. As they make their way from destination to destination, it turns out everyone can see Liza’s younger self and are able to interact with her, and they also run into a lot of stray characters (aka, the best cameos ever!). First Liza decides to confront her father, which ultimately leads to them making amends, then she’s off to reconcile with an old friend, berate an old ex, and finally speak with her mother. That scene was very cathartic and touching. By the time the party goes down I think everyone is hoping that Liza will get back together with resident hot-guy, Nate (the equally hot Logan Marshall-Green). I’ve only seen Zoe Lister-Jones in a handful of acting roles, but I enjoy her brand of comedy immensely. This was another great directorial effort from Zoe and her partner Daryl Wein!
Together Together – What a quirky little take on love this film was! Starring two comedy powerhouses, Ed Helms is Mike, who has chosen Patti Harrison’s Anna to be his surrogate. From the start it’s clear the two are vastly different, as Mike is a 45 year-old man going through fatherhood alone, but he is also somewhat overbearing to Anna’s young and somewhat carefree attitude. She had a kid in high school, so she’s no stranger to what the process is like, but that doesn’t stop Mike from buying her hideous pregnancy shoes and being upset that she’s not telling anyone about the surrogacy. Eventually, it becomes clear that Anna is just as alone as Mike and the two start spending a lot of quality time together. Obviously, some angst ensues, because it wouldn’t really be a romantic comedy without it. But in terms of romance, Mike and Anna are never “together together,” but the love the pair develops will last a lifetime. I really enjoyed this unique take on a “love story” and Ed Helms really had me laughing pretty hard when trying to explain to his unborn child what to do on your period. Very cute, but nothing out of this world.
Prisoners of the Ghostland – Here is a film starring Nicolas Cage, and based on almost all of his recent ventures, I knew this was bound to be interesting. And it sure was! Cage plays the Hero, who in order to free himself from prison must save Bernice, the granddaughter of The Governor, from the Ghostland. The Governor is as bad as most bad guys come, but he’s veiling his evilness in the attempt to get the beloved Bernice back. Now rocking a suit with some precariously placed explosives, Hero heads off to the Ghostland. At first it seems like an easy task, and while it ultimately doesn’t take too much effort for them to escape, the real battle comes when they return. This movie read to me like a Japanese-Mad Max-western, so yeah, it’s weird score was easily a 10/10! For me though, not much was working in this film. The plot had a lot of very vague strings that ultimately got solved, but in some cases in a rather bland way. There were also a lot of things that didn’t really flow together throughout the whole film. Either way, I got immense enjoyment seeing Cage hold one of his exploded testicles a little like the eye from Kill Bill, and then just yelling “testicle!” a little later into the film. Not my favorite, but I have no doubt that Cage had the time of his life filming this.
Violation – Truth be told, the premise and the warnings for this movie had me nervous for some either pretty big scares or some hardcore gore. Miriam is a woman who recently gets raped by her sister’s husband, Dylan, while on a cabin vacation. Unfortunately for Miriam, her sister does not believe her when she reveals what’s happened. Thus, Miriam takes matters into her own hands. It seems as though a little bit of time has passed and Miriam and Dylan meet back up at the cabin alone. She gets him fully undressed, blindfolds him, then knocks him unconscious with a baseball bat. After a small struggle, Miriam gets ready to dispose of Dylan’s body. This sequence is quite thorough and rather realistic, but I suppose Hannibal has desensitized me from being too disturbed by it. Maybe I’ll be concerned about that later. Either way, Miriam serves up a delicious surprise at the end that had my eyes bug out of my head a little bit. I thought this was a strong directorial debut for Miriam herself, Madeleine Sims-Fewer, and her and her co-director, Dusty Mancinelli. They managed to captured really beautiful and vibrant shots, as well as tackle some big and dark subjects. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
Wild Indian – This dark and twisted drama opens with a man saying that one day a sick man traveled west. In truth, that man sicker in a more sinister way than I was privy to. With that small, ominous quote out of the way, the film opens on Makwa, an Ojibwe tribe member growing up in a random American town and getting pretty consistently abused by his parents. Makwa’s only friend is his cousin Ted-O, and one day while the two are walking through the woods, Makwa painfully expresses his want to not go home. Instead, he picks up Ted-O’s father’s shotgun they stole and shoots a classmate dead. Makwa makes some pretty convincing threats to Ted-O who helps Makwa dispose of the body. Fast forward 30 years and we see these two men living vastly different lives. Makwa now goes by Michael, is a mid-level executive, and has a white wife and two children. Ted-O on the other hand, and his tattooed face, recently emerges from prison for dealing heroin. We see him connect with his sister and nephew, but you can see the past eating at him. He eventually confesses to the crime and decides to confront Makwa. While for the most part it seems like Makwa has shed almost all of his native roots, he hasn’t shed the darkness within him. When confronted by Ted-O, he ties up loose ends and flies under the radar as essentially a serial killer. I enjoyed this dark and moody film much more than I anticipated!
Judas and the Black Messiah – This historical film holds back no punches, and as the director, Shaka King stated when introducing it, he doesn’t necessarily think you’ll enjoy it, but hopes that you will learn something from it. I certainly have. Sure, I got a very small glimpse into the Black Panther Party back when The Trial of the Chicago 7 was released, but this takes and in depth, intimate, and unflinching look at the rise and fall of Fred Hampton at the hands of the FBI and betrayer, William O’Neal. O’Neal is recruited by a quietly menacing FBI agent to infiltrate the local Black Panther Party, befriend the highly influential leader, Fred Hampton, and then is ultimately asked about the layout of Hampton’s home. Now, I found it interesting that O’Neal was not portrayed as outright villainous, but more of an unsure youth just trying to save his own skin. Aside from Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield’s powerful performances as Hampton and O’Neal respectively, one can’t also overlook Dominique Fishback as Hampton’s lover and right hand woman, Deborah Johnson. She’s almost the photo-negative of Hampton, but is no less dedicated to the cause. Another thing I really liked that this film did was not trying to cram a whole life into a film. The important and most impactful parts made the cut, and that’s what’s going to stick in people’s memories well after they leave the theater (or HBO Max). Ever second of this movie was packed, and I definitely think a second viewing is in my future!
The World to Come – Something about the quiet love affairs between women have captivated film makers this year, but they’ve chosen such beautiful avenues to explore them in that I can hardly be mad about it. This time around, Abigail is our demure and passionate narrator speaking prose about her life in New York on a drably cold farm, with the recent loss of her and her husband’s daughter. Soon, a new couple, Tally and Finney, move to town and it’s clear Abigail is struck by Tally. The women are together constantly, and finally Tally opens up Abigail’s world when they kiss for the first time. Finney though, is a possessive brute, who eventually moves the two without warning. Abigail is distraught, and it’s clear that her husband, Dyer, is aware of the hold Tally has on her heart, and is very understanding of that. Talk about the most slow-burn of a character! Regardless, I cannot ruin the ending for you all! This four-person cast delivers very rich performances, but nothing can mimic the chemistry that Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterson bring to the table. A very quiet, and gently rolling romance that is sure to captivate any viewer.