As the world slowly starts to open back up, that means far away film festivals will once again become inaccessible to me unless I’m willing to travel and drop a lot of cash. Which, I’m not saying it’ll never happy, but for now I’m still glad to be offered a chance to partake in these awesome festivals from the comfort of my own home! Case in point: the Tribeca Film Festival! This is the first United States film festival that is taking place in person since the pandemic started, but they are still offering at home viewings of almost everything (except for No Sudden Move which I’m upset about). This festival takes place over the course of two weeks, so I’m splitting up my haul between the two, so here’s the first batch!
All My Friends Hate Me – Oh man, this is perhaps a new subgenre for me: social horror. This movie portrays almost everyone’s worst nightmare. Pete is on his was to an old university friend’s huge and somewhat reclusive estate to celebrate his birthday. When he gets there pumped up and ready to go, no one is around or even bothers coming back for hours. From there it only gets more awkward. His old group of friends talk about things that apparently never happened, leave him stranded at the house to go to the pub, and essentially hire an insult comic. While Pete keeps getting reassured that these things are all jokes, he’s also feeling an increasing amount of paranoia about a relative stranger named Harry who’s joined in the festivities. Pete is convinced that Harry is either trying to kill him or ruin his life. Things don’t really get any better when his long-term girlfriend, Sonia, shows up, as he’s just nervous about what his friends will reveal to her. On the way home from the anxiety filled weekend, Sonia says it best: “you just don’t know how to take a f***ing joke.” There were certainly lots of instances in this film that made me cringe and get a little nervous, so goal achieved!
Agnes – So…this was another movie that came in two parts, but at least in the past I can see where they were related. This movie felt like two short films were smashed together to make a full-length feature. Seriously. Even the genre switched! What I thought was going to be a horror film about an exorcism of a nun was really only partially about that. We’re introduced first to a controversial priest and soon-to-be one who are sent over to convent to perform and exorcism on a clearly possessed nun. These nuns are all the extremes you think about when you think about nuns, so that means sometimes they are ridiculously hilarious while others are scathingly mean. One nun in particular, Mary, talks to the possessed nun and really connects with what she’s saying. So much so that she leaves the convent to work at a grocery store owned by a super creep. Turns out that Mary’s got her own past trauma and you do see some of the characters from the first half again, but I would have much preferred a singular plotline here. Give me some good scares! Obviously, The Vast of Night‘s Jake Horowitz is the best in this.
Mark, Mary and Some Other People – The title of this alone was enough to sell me. Mark seems like your typical nerd and Mary is out living a wild life when the two meet and almost instantly fall in love. Their love is wild, fun, and passionate until one day Mary brings up that she’d like to see other people. Mark reluctantly agrees, but soon they are both enjoying time spent sleeping with other people. It seems to make their own relationship even stronger. At least for a while. Soon, Mary becomes pregnant and it wakes them both up to what they’ve been doing. They get tested for STDs and to confirm if Mark is the father or not. From here, Mary decides that she’s done seeing other people and she just wants it to be the two of them again. Mark however, enjoys living the polyamorous life. Through some other personal traumas the two do seemingly end up permanently seeing other people. I understand the message of this film, but Mark and Mary were so perfect for each other! Gah! Regardless, this movie was pretty fun and nothing like I’ve ever really seen before. Hopefully this gets released to the masses in the near future, because I know I’d watch it again.
No Man of God – I feel like there’s been a bit of a Ted Bundy overload in recent years, but when I see Elijah Wood on the billing, you know I have to give it a chance. While he’s tried his hand at a lot of eccentric roles in his more recent career, I knew this was going to be more serious and I’d love to see his role in this fresh take on a notorious serial killer. While the film does have Bundy in it, the film really centers on the relationship created between him and FBI agent Bill Hagmaier in a series of interviews in the four years leading up to Bundy’s execution. It’s hard to tell if either man is genuine in the friendship that has seemingly formed, although I’m sure Hagmaier is more just playing the part. Bundy, having gotten away with at least 30 murders pretty much has me fooled the entire time, because in the end I have no clue if he really relished in Bill’s friendship. This isn’t a film of action, but more of terse conversations in an interrogation room, but I couldn’t help but be chilled by the unexpected turns Bundy would take when talking. There is plenty of Bundy content out there, so take your pick really, but this one wouldn’t hurt to add to the list.