Category: Review

Reviews from all of the movies we have seen lately, including everything in theaters and on DVD.

VIVARIUM – Review

VIVARIUM is now on Digital VOD and available on Blu-ray and DVD May 12th

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Lorcan Finnegan’s Vivarium takes place in an ever-expanding closed loop of a suburb called Yonder.  In Yonder, all the houses look the same as something has been copied and pasted over. That’s a pretty good way of describing the film. Sadly, after a strong start, Vivarium soon starts to copy and paste elements of sci-fi horror onto a weak frame propped up by great actors playing noncharacters and some incredible production design. 

That frame is built strongly at the start. Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) are a couple looking for a new house. When they are lead into the Yonder development, they are left in house #9…and they can’t leave. Soon, whatever is running the place leaves them a “child” to raise.

This is a really interesting premise, one that could either go the nasty simple route or one that could expand into trying to say something about the heavy-handed suburban themes that the film’s premise necessitates. Vivarium opts for the nasty simple route, which there’s nothing wrong with. Many films that take the nasty simple route to access wider thematic themes work out just fine. In fact, that may be the preferred route to do so…but the good ones have a clear escalation of conflict and actual characters at the center of them. 

This is where Vivarium starts to fall apart. While the wonderfully hazy production design creates a solid mood, two of the best performers working today throw what they can at the material, and Finnegan lends some solid direction it becomes apparent by the hour mark that Vivarium doesn’t have an interest in an escalating sense of conflict. The middle act starts well enough but soon crumbles as the repetition starts to expand.

 It doesn’t help that certain elements of the film feel rehashed. The suburban imagery, the still hypnotic framing that doesn’t ask us to engage with the characters, and the creepy but sparse score all suggest better sci-fi horror films. By the time the film drags itself into the third act, it goes full-tilt in a way that seems overdone and far more terrifying elsewhere, even if the actors try to sell it. 

Vivarium certainly tries its best to outrun the story problems at its center but it can’t quite. Instead of creepy and alive, it feels stagnant and reheated. By the time you get to the top of the frame, there’s nothing there. The final images of the film only seem to suggest meaning, rather than containing it. 

2.5 out of 5

CLOVER – Review

(l-r) Jon Abrahams and Nicole Elizabeth Berger in CLOVER. Photo courtesy of Freestyle Digital Media.

CLOVER is a crime action/comedy about a couple of Irish American brothers on the run from a Italian American crime boss, in the company of a precocious girl named Clover. The girl is there to make us think of KICK ASS, but CLOVER mines a host of other films in the crime action/comedy genre, pretty much to a fault. While the tropes are familiar, CLOVER puts them together well enough to present a serviceable popcorn entertainment for some audiences. It’s no SNATCH, but it might do in a pinch for an afternoon of stay-at-home distraction, if you don’t expect too much..

CLOVER is not as clever as it thinks it is but it benefits from a strong cast, who provide much of the reason to watch it. Directed by Jon Abrahams (All At Once) with a script by Michael Testone (Mercy), it is well-edited and technically-polished enough to provide some serviceable entertainment, but it could have been better with more work on the script and a bit more care. Where the film is strongest is in its cast, with entertaining work from Mark Webber and Jon Abrahams as the bumbling Irish American brothers at the center of this tale, and nice supporting work from Chazz Palminteri and essentially an extended cameo by the always-wonderful Ron Perlman. Erika Christensen and Julia Jones contribute too, playing contract killers, and Jessica Szohr and Tichina Arnold also pitch in. play an ex-girlfriend and an old pal of the brothers who get embroiled in the mess. One of the comic standouts is Jake Weber, who plays crazy cousin Terry who has some mad skills and a knack with science, if a tenuous grip on the present. In fact, the whole film has a tenuous grip, on its time period and other matters – more on this later.

The film opens with Ron Perlman as a wealthy guy in a mansion explaining, in pompous, ruling-class detail, to an unseen assassin he is hiring, exactly why this particular target needs to be killed to restore the order in the world. It is a bit overblown and mysterious, and the film quickly switches more familiar crime thriller territory. Jackie (Mark Webber) and Mickie (director Jon Abrahams) run an Irish bar that has been in their family for three generations but it is now in danger due to debts they owe to the local crime boss Tony Davolo, played with growling menace by Chazz Palminteri. The girl Clover (Nicole Elizabeth Berger) comes in when the brothers, who are clearly out of their depth, are sent on a job for the crime boss, one that goes oh-so-very wrong.

CLOVER is packed with overworked crime film bits but also the kind of crime film stereotyping about the Irish and Italians common in films of the 1970s. But that latter seems to make a kind of sense, because the story seems to be set in the 1970s. Everyone dresses like the ’70s, the cars are from the ’70s, the decor is ’70s and story seems to fit a 1970s crime genre film pattern. Then someone pulls out a cell phone.

Granted, its a flip phone, so maybe we are in the 1990s and all this takes place in a kind of cultural backwater, But then the time period gets murkier, as more contemporary cars and props turn up, and you can’t help but wonder, when the heck is this story taking place. That thought keeps intruding, and maybe if the story were stronger, it would distract one from thinking about it. But it’s not.

Was there an intention in the murky time period thing? Who knows. Later in the film, it drifts into a kind of contemporary girl power theme, so maybe it is meant as a clever time period twist. However, that does not really work, and the film is not nearly as clever as the filmmakers thinks it is. The story is full of twists and surprises but while the twists are sometimes unexpected, they are also often remarkably far-fetched. The story does eventually get back to the Ron Perlman character in the opening sequence, a sequence that seemed to have no connection to the rest of the tale, but again the connection presented in overly contrived, barely explained and hardly believable. CLOVER ends with tying itself up in a self-satisfied bow, a rather sloppy one.

CLOVER can be a serviceable bit of crime thriller/comedy entertainment, if expectations are not too high. It is a technically well-crafted film with a better-than-expected cast, but it is a fairly well-acted crime yarn whose script could have done with more work. Still, it can offer a bit of entertaining distraction, something we all need in these trying time. CLOVER is available on demand on several video platforms.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

RED ROVER – Review

Review by Stephen Tronicek

RED ROVER premieres On Demand May 12 from Indiecan Entertainment.

Red Rover is not a film about traveling to Mars. Instead, it is a film about a man named Damon (Kristian Bruun) who is living in the basement of his ex-girlfriend. Eventually, he meets Phoebe (Cara Gee), a fantasy woman, who pushes him out of his everyday routine by proposing he join the Mars project. 

Red Rover didn’t need to be about traveling to Mars.  When you’re working within the framework of the independent film, the budget simply doesn’t exist to create a larger film with a lot of VFX work. Unfortunately, Red Rover is just a horribly derivative version of a “man getting back his mojo” movie. 

The above-average aspects of the piece do show at least a little inventiveness, though. Shane Belcourt directs the film well and the actors are all in for the haphazard storyline. Brunn turns in a largely thankless performance that does its best to reconcile some of the cringy dialogue. On top of that, the concept of a major Mars mission being a transitional phase for somebody’s life isn’t a bad idea. The same goes for a pretty good set up and pay off of Damon’s metal detector search on the beach each day. At the moments when Damon chooses to change, the film actually comes alive. The problem is that often there’s not a choice to what Damon is doing. 

Red Rover often robs Damon of his own agency, while not giving Phoebe any valuable agency of her own. Phoebe exists within the narrative simply to change Damon. Any type of characterization given to her doesn’t rise above the typically adolescent fantasy of the girl who simply has only your interests in mind…and sings cute indie music, It’s a truly unfortunate trope that was long ago pushed to the point of parody. As mentioned above, the dialogue often reads as the cringey fantasy of someone hoping for Phoebe to show up, not something Phoebe would actually say. 

While not a complete loss, Red Rover is just another high concept romantic drama in a sea that can’t manage to transcend the common problem of character agency. There are some moments of interesting change, but they are not profound. They don’t ring true. They are as far away as Mars. 

TROLLS WORLD TOUR – Review

TROLLS WORLD TOUR serves up a disposable abundance of flash and sparkle with a smorgasbord of dancing and music. This animated sequel (originally scheduled for theatrical release) offers enough kaleidoscopic visuals and good-hearted platitudes about tolerance and celebrating differences to earn the trust of parents who need something new to park their 5-year olds in front of during the pandemic. That said, don’t sit with them. This over-bright sugar-rush of a film is a brand-driven cash grab, the equivalent of having glitter blown in your face for an endless 95 minutes.  

When TROLLS WORLD TOUR starts off, all seems to be well in Troll Village with bouncy Queen Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick), and her downer wannabe boyfriend Branch (Justin Timberlake). Before long the pair discovers there are five other Troll clans, each of whom is trained in a different style of music. There’s Funk (represented by the voices of Mary J. Blige, George Clinton and Anderson Paak), Classical (violinist Gustavo Dudamel and Charlyne Yi),  Country (Kelly Clarkson, Sam Rockwell, and Flula Borg), Jazz (Jamie Dornan) and Techno (Anthony Ramos). That sort of musical diversity doesn’t sit well with Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), a Hard Rock-loving Troll who decides no other musical forms are acceptable and attempts to do away with them. But Poppy and Branch attempt to unite the remaining groups and prove that all Trolls not being the same can be a good thing.

I missed the first TROLLS, though perhaps an animated Hip-hop musical based on weird cute/ugly dolls that were a fad many decades ago could be fun, and maybe it was. But TROLLS WORLD TOUR is almost non-stop musical numbers, mostly classic rock standards (and some new tunes), but no matter the pedigree of the artists they’ve hired, all the songs sound like earworm Kidz-Bop covers. Vast amounts of money and expertise have been poured into the film which boasts a star-studded voice cast and animation that strives to be expressive despite hideous character design. The cast does their best (though Timberlake is an awful voice actor) but they have almost nothing to do here save for fitting the requirement for singing all these pop covers. The writing is lazy in terms of developing these characters, so they emphasize their feelings through one trite song after another. There’s no heart or any kind of emotion behind the story, just so many shallow and simple ideas about happiness and acceptance. Toddlers will eat TROLLS WORLD TOUR up like candy so I’ll give this one more star than it deserves for being a decent distraction for them.

2 of 4 Stars

TAPE – Review

Isabelle Fuhrman as Isabelle in Deborah Kampmeier’s harrowing, true-story based #MeToo drama TAPE. Photo courtesy Full Moon Films.

TAPE opens with images of the mutilated character Lavinia from Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus,” followed by horrific footage of a young woman strapping a camera to her belly to film herself engaged in self-mutilation. The scene looks like something out of a horror film but the film shifts gears, as she turns her camera towards secretly filming a predatory male director/producer as he moves in on a young actress, with a pretense of coaching her acting. The echos of Harvey Weinstein and his ilk are unmistakable, and this based-on-a-true story about a Me Too experience offers a harrowing journey with a gut-punch ending.

The fact that it is based on a true story adds power to director/writer Deborah Kampmeier’s taut drama TAPE, is a chilling drama for the MeToo era, with an actress tracking a predatory director’s moves on another young actress. “I would never want you to do anything that made you uncomfortable” is the prelude to “but if you want a career” pressure. It is a familiar theme in the era of Harvey Weinstein but watching it unfold step-by-step in this taut tale is more disturbing than one might expect.

Deborah Kampmeier is known for her feminist films, and while this one fits neatly into that group, it is also a rallying cry on a timely topic. Most powerfully, it is a step-by-step examination of how young women are lured into these kinds of destructive situations, by someone playing on ambition and skilled in manipulation.

Although the film was clearly shot on a shoestring budget, that fact does nothing to diminish its impact. The film’s edge-of-your-seat effect is largely thanks to following the subjects step-by-step descent into the trap, and the emotionally-jarring final sequence. That effect is greatly aided by fine acting by the trio of performers at its center.

Annarosa Mudd plays Rosa, the woman with the camera, who pierces her tongue, shaves her head and cuts her wrists in an homage to Shakespeare’s’ Lavinia, before setting up camera and strapping one to herself, as she stalks a young actress named Pearl. Rose seems unbalanced, obsessive, maybe jealous, until we gradually see what is really happening. Her searing performance and haunting screen presence grips us, so we cannot look away.

As Pearl, Isabelle Fuhrman wavers between self-assured and confident in her own values, and an ambitious performer driven to seize every opportunity. Pearl is also pursued by director/producer Lux (Tarek Bishara), with praise of her talent and offers to mentor her. As handsome, charming Lux, Bishara veers, in astonishingly convincing manner, between a charismatic mentor who seems only want to guide her to the full expression of her talent, and a selfish predator bent on his own seamy goals. Their dance along the knife edge of truth and deceit is truly harrowing to watch.

This is not an easy film to watch but it rewards the audience with its thought-provoking content. Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed all other issues to the side for now, the issue of abuse of women in the entertainment and other industries has not gone away and will resurface again. This gripping drama gives compelling insights how a reasonable young woman might find herself drawn into this destructive situation.

TAPE begins streaming Friday, April 10, on Amazon, iTunes, GooglePlay and Microsoft.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

SEA FEVER – Review

SEA FEVER will be available on Digital and On Demand on April 10th.

Review by Matthew Lowery

Stories about aquatic terrors are certainly nothing new, dating back to the ancient Greek legend of the Hydra. Authors like H.P. Lovecraft, Jules Verne, and Herman Melville became famous for writing such tales about underwater monsters. In films, there have been tons about undersea creatures terrorizing people, most famously being Spielberg’s 1975 classic, Jaws. However, after the release of 1979’s Alien, people were more focused on outer space terrors than those from the depths. Around the late 1980s, there was a string of underwater creature films released, including The Abyss, Leviathan, and Deepstar Six. Most recently, we had the surprisingly effective deep-sea thriller, Underwater, and now we have another one straight from Ireland. This time, it’s from writer-director Neasa Hardiman, who previously directed TV shows like Happy Valley, The Inhumans, and Jessica Jones. She’s now making her feature film debut with the ocean-based thriller, Sea Fever.

Marine-biology student Siobhán (Hermione Corfield) is tasked to embark on a week-long trip aboard a rusty old fishing boat. Headed by husband and wife Gerard (Dougray Scott) and Freya (Connie Nielsen), she’s tasked with photographing their catches for anomalies. During the trip, the crew discovers a giant creature underwater has attached its tendrils to the boat, stranding them. The creature eventually frees them, but not before leaving behind some sludge carrying some deadly parasites that begin to spread. Crew member Johnny (Jack Hickey) ends up getting infected and dies, making the rest increasingly paranoid about who’s next. To make matters worse, the parasites have taken over their water supply, making it easier to infect the crew. Against all odds, Siobhán must overcome her shyness and win the crew’s trust if they’re going to survive. Who will live through this, and who will be the next victim?

Sea Fever certainly takes influence from other, better movies, but it’s well-crafted and well-acted enough to stand on its own. Given she had more experience directing for TV, Hardiman’s direction is surprisingly decent, using tracking shots and some dynamic lighting. Performance-wise, everyone delivers a solid performance, especially lead actors Corfield, Nielsen, and Scott, who all help to carry the film. Corfield adds a very human element to the proceedings, and Nielsen and Scott feel like a couple with a history. There are some nice practical effects used, and the digital effects work used for the undersea creatures isn’t too bad. Sea Fever does take time out to develop the characters, even if things don’t pick up until halfway through. Once it does, it becomes an intense thriller where you’re not sure who’s infected, who’s safe, and what’ll happen next. It’s a solid effort for a debut feature film.

As I alluded to earlier, it’s easy to draw comparisons between Sea Fever and various other films of similar ilk. Structurally, the film feels like a cross between Alien and The Thing, with some elements of Jaws also thrown in. There’s the undersea creature terrorizing people, the crew growing paranoid over one another, and even scenes reminiscent of those films. Then again, a film taking influence from other films is nothing new, so long as it ends up being good. In this case, Sea Fever is an impressive horror thriller with enough style and acting to keep one’s interest. Plus, at a brisk 97 minutes, the film doesn’t outstay its welcome and moves at a solid pace. It won’t set the world on fire or have a major impact, but it shows that Neasa Hardiman has potential. Overall, Sea Fever is an ocean-based thriller that’s worth one’s salt.

3 out of 4 stars

THE OTHER LAMB – Review

Michiel Huisman as Shepherd in Malgorzata Szumowska’s THE OTHER LAMB. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

The surreal horror/drama THE OTHER LAMB centers on a teen-aged girl in a cult led by a man called Shepherd (Dutch actor Michiel Huisman of “Game of Thrones”), who has a striking resemblance to traditional depictions of Jesus. But there is little that is lamb-like in this charismatic autocratic leader of a flock of obedient wives as they live a communal pastoral existence hidden deep in the woods, until their lives are disrupted by an event that send them on a journey with a violent end.

The girl, Selah (Raffey Cassidy), is one of the daughters of the Shepherd, although it is unclear whether they are all his actual offspring. Indeed, Shepherd barely looks old enough to have fathered a teen, much less so many. The “wives” are clad in red or purple and the “daughters” are dressed in blue, but some of the wives look little older than the daughters. And then you notice something odd – all the children are girls, there are no little boys. Actually there are few young children at all, with most of the girls adolescents or pre-adolescent, which seems even more unsettling.

THE OTHER LAMB brings to mind the Charles Manson cult, “The Handmaiden’s Tale,” and MIDSOMMAR among others. The film is beautifully shot, an atmospheric tale that opens with dream-like scene in which Selah, clad in long white robes, is floating in water, an image that evokes Hamlet’s Ophelia. That is a lot of unsettling allusions to pack in, but Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska, making her English-language film debut, is just getting started, in this surreal tale of abuse, misogyny and patriarchy.

Selah has known no other life than the cult, and seems content sharing quarters with her sisters and filling her day doing chores for their simple, pastoral life. The cult occupies in several buildings deep in the woods, with the daughters living in one, the wives in another, and Shepherd in his own. The whole compound covered by an awning of strings. At dinner, the wives and daughters praise and thank Shepherd, who concludes the meal by selecting a wife for the night, asking her if she will receive his grace. On Sunday, the wives and daughters dress in white and listen adoringly while Shepherd gives his sermon in a “church” made of a string box enclosing a clearing among the trees. The sermon is followed by a bloody sacrifice of a lamb.

From the beginning, there is something creepy about Shepherd whenever he speaks to Selah, an unsettling whiff of incestuous interest that is hard to shake. Paired with the film’s frequent nightmarish fantasy sequences, the feeling of unease suffused the drama.

However, THE OTHER LAMB is more a surreal and visually stunning study of the topics it raised than either a plot driven mystery or even a deep exploration of the themes it touches on. Still, it is a haunting film that raises questions about how women are treated in society. It also offers a series of haunting, horrifying images, and tense atmospheric scenes between the gifted cast, although what ultimately happens is not entirely a surprise. The mysterious dream-like images that open the film are followed by a series of other surreal, more nightmarish sequences sprinkled throughout, images just as mysterious as the opening one (is this a baptism or drowning?) but far more disturbing – a skinned lamb, the rotting remains of a bird, and other haunting images.

In addition to its striking photography, fine acting performances are a major strength of this symbolic horror/drama. Time and again, the camera focuses on Raffey Cassidy’s expressive face, shifting from innocent wonder to confusion to fear and rage, as she grapples with her nightmares and her shifting ideas about her faith and her life. Selah’s close relationship with her half-sister Tamar (Ailbhe Cowley) is shaken by Selah’s evolving doubts, and all are shaken by the horrific events that transpire. Denise Gough plays Sarah, one of the older wives who has fallen out of favor with Shepherd and is exiled to a hidden shack. The bitter, sarcastic Sarah has been with the cult from the start, and offers Selah her only insights on the outside world and on her dead mother. Michiel Huisman is brilliant disturbing as Shepherd, veering from posing as a benevolent, protective father figure who dispenses wisdom to something much darker, as his mask slips to reveal the selfish egotist beneath.

THE OTHER LAMB is unsettling to watch, and while it does not explore in depth the topics it raises, its haunting meditation on them and its haunting visuals are enough to keep it in your mind long after the film ends. THE OTHER LAMB debuted April 3 as digital and cable video-on-demand on streaming platforms Amazon Digital, Vudu, Spectrum, Apple TV, Xbox, GooglePlay and others.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

THE OTHER LAMB – Review

Tired of being all cooped up in your home? Well, that’s a ridiculous thing to ask. Most of the national parks are closed off, so how about a cinematic foray into nature, eh? Ah, but Hollywood has taught us that the forest is just full of unspeakable menace. Yes, it’s a familiar backdrop for lots of horror tales, especially those lower-budgeted “chop jobs” (they don’t have to build elaborate haunted castles and mansions). And yes, this new release can be considered a thriller, but it’s more atmosphere than gore. That’s because this flick’s monster is not a ravenous mutant-bear nor a masked maniac slashing frisky teens with a big blade. No, his weapon is his mind as he manipulates and exploits others. And at the center of the story is one of his “followers” who realizes that she is THE OTHER LAMB.

It does begin deep in the woods as we observe a group of women (including a toddler) going about their daily chores: washing linens and clothing, sawing wood planks, repairing the roof of a shack (decorated with a face resembling Christ), preparing food, and tending to a herd of lambs. The women are divided by the color of their clothes (dresses that cover their bodies from the neck to the ankles with sleeves ending at the wrists), but all of them wear their hair in tight buns and braids (no loose strands down the neck). As they talk we learn that deep cobalt blue color denotes a daughter, while a red-tinged magenta is worn by wives. And what of the fathers and sons. No, there is just one, a man who the women call “Shepherd” (Michiel Huisman), the aforementioned mural face. He presides over this cult with his “herd” taking care of his every need, sending them into a fevered frenzy with his sermons and lectures. The daughters (the youngest seem to be his actual offspring) can graduate into wives. That’s the only goal for teenager Selah (Raffey Cassidy) who will push any of her “sisters” aside to gain favor with the Shepherd. But she’s tormented by nightmares full of strange visions (floating figures and lots of blood). Speaking of which, Selah tries to hide the onset of her period (they are considered “unclean” by the “sin of Eve”). But that’s of little importance when the Shepherd announces that they must vacate their home (the previous night Selah saw him talking with a policeman near his parked patrol car far away from their quarters). This begins a long arduous trek, one that will test their faith in all, and who, they believe. But could those dream images be a warning to Selah?

As the tale’s main focus Selah, Cassidy portrays a heroine with a most complex and compelling character arc. In the beginning, she’s very unlikable, with no real concerns for anyone else in the family save its leader. It’s the title role in ALL ABOUT EVE if it were about a shadowy cult rather than Broadway (hmmm, maybe not that much of a leap), as she will tread over anyone in the way of her goal. Then she has an awakening as she must deliver “leftovers” to those formerly in her master’s good grace. This new found empathy opens her eyes and Cassidy adjusts her body language, striding with more confidence and purpose. This occurs even as she subtlety questions “him”. Huisman, in that role, tempers his fervent energy and laser-point charisma, twisting the “wild maniac” crazed cult-leader cliche of many films. His quiet demeanor seems to draw in the flock. Then he’ll flash a smile that burns right through them. It adds more power to his intimate nights with those “chosen” as his tender caresses suddenly turn sadistic as his beefy hand clamps down on a pale throat and his fingers reach into their mouths, making his lambs gag and choke. He’s no loving messiah, but rather a cruel deviant predator. Denise Gough is superb as one of the former favored wives, Sarah, who is part of Selah’s “wake up call”, especially as she shows her disgust with the Shepherd by yelling out his “real” true name. In fact, all the wives and daughters are quite convincing as they literally sing his praises after his “blessing’ has swept them up in a wave of screeching hysteria.

Director Malgortza Szumowska, working from a script by feature film newcomer C.S.McMullen, wraps the story with an atmosphere of sinister, cold dread. That’s especially true in the exchanges between the family members and Shepherd, whose responses are unpredictable. A gentle brush against a pale cheek can switch to a brutal slap. The dream sequences are also a roller coast ride, as the tranquil floating angelic figures cut to crimson-splattered visions of women and beasts. And just what is going on with the twine and string going from tree to tree. Are the women entangled in Shepherd’s web of deception? This is all heightened by the soft, moody cinematography from Michal Englert. Unfortunately, the sluggish pacing may frustrate many viewers as will the somewhat abrupt and ambiguous end scenes. But for those wanting to get a good slow scare and a general sense of off-kilter unease all wrapped up in backwoods cult mania, then THE OTHER LAMB may be just the vicarious cure for “cabin fever”.

2.5 Out of 4

THE OTHER LAMB is available as a Video on Demand on most cable, satellite systems, and streaming apps and platforms.

NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS – Review

This weekend sees the release of a new teen film that’s an alternative to many of the fluffy junior “rom-coms” that the studios would normally be releasing this time of year, but this year, need I remind you, is far from normal. it’s a grim, gritty hard-edged drama featuring a cast of relative unknowns, all about a decision that so many young women are faced with. No, it’s not about picking a prom dress, or even choosing a college. This is literally life and death, although it’s title appears to offer lots of options. Though it may sound whimsical, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS concerns a truly harrowing “road trip” for lots of teens (and even pre-teens).

The story actually starts on a bit of fun as we watch several high school kids singing and dancing on the auditorium stage in a rural Pennsylvania town. Many of them are doing campy, nostalgic tributes to 1950’s pop culture, complete with a bejeweled white-jumpsuited Elvis. And then Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) hi-jacks the “sop hop” hi-jinks with a folk-guitar (yeah, there were lots of those 60 years ago) number filled with despair and heartbreak which earns her a heckler. Stopping off for a post-show pizza her mother (Sharon Van Etten) offers some weak compliments while her stepdad (Ryan Eggold) begins his nightly beer blast to oblivion. The next morning Autumn’s feeling a tad off. Her blouse is a bit snug, so she acts on her suspicions and drops into a nearby “family planning” clinic. The drug-store test kit confirms her fears, she’s pregnant. A follow-up ultrasound reveals that she’s ten weeks along. After some attempts at self-termination, Autumn finally decides to share her secret with her out-going cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) during a break at their cashier jobs at the local grocery store. After doing some online research, they learn that the closest state that allows non-parental consent procedures is New York. They hatch a plan. After grabbing a few twenties from their cash deposit bags at work, the duo hops a bus for the “Big Apple”. Just a fast “round trip”, dash to a clinic and back on a return bus. Of course things don’t go smoothly (the ultrasound was “off”) and they’ve got to stay for more than a day. Quite a bit more. More than their cash will last. Can these two 17-year-olds survive NYC on their own? And nearly broke? And what are the folks back home thinking?

It’s hard to believe but this is the feature film (no TV either) debut of Flanigan, who truly carries the film (she’s in almost every scene) making Autumn one of the most complex teeange characters ever to be the focus of a drama. In the opening sequences as she deals with the jerks from school and from home, she’s the snarky teen stereotype as she rolls her eyes and marches , shoulders hunched, down the dank dirty streets. As she deals with the “family planners” she’s almost passive to the point of dozing off, even as the kindly “granny” receptionist pops in a DVD transfer of a “shock” VHS pro-life tape that looks to be from the Reagan era. Instead she “steps up”, taking physical risks (pharmaceuticals and blunt trauma) to deal with her “changes”. It’s tough to get a behavioral “bead’ on her until the story’s emotional high-point. An NYC counselor stuns her with a series of questions (the title refers to the four responses) that opens up the “flood-gates”. Each inquiry (“Does your partner ever force you to have sex?”, etc.) seems to unleash the memories, chipping away at her “tough” outer shell like a hammer and chisel. We finally see the abused child beneath the ever-present hoodie. This could be the start of a great film career for her. She gets great support from Ryder, who’s the BFF we all wish was in our corner. Her Skylar is more open to people than Autumn which often backfires but also lets her get away with a lot. Speaking of her character’s charms, Theodore Pellerin is most compelling, and a tad repellant. as the fellow bus passenger who sets his sites on her, quickly going from clumsy goofball to aggressively persistent.

Writer/director Eliza Hittman doesn’t “sugarcoat” the situation, never flinching from the squalor of Autumn’s homelife and the dangerous mean streets she and Skylar must navigate. Audiences on either side of the “life” debate will certainly find many sequences difficult to endure, particularly Autumn’s attempts to induce a miscarriage. Hey I had a tough enough time with her “home piercing”, as she takes a safety pin to a nostril. Aside from the “hot button” topic, we’re given a glimpse into the constant dangers of being a young woman, with predators seemingly at every corner, from Pellerin’s Jaspar who keeps insisting that the girls go “downtown’ with him, to a drunken leering subway creep (right from Wall Street, in his three-piece-suit). The duo has to always be on “their guard” which almost turns this drama into a squirmy thriller. This is heightened by the neon, fluorescent-lit photography of Helene Louvart, giving everything a 1970s seedy glow. Some audiences may be frustrated that Autumn never really explains how she got in her situation, although we wonder about her scowling stepdad, but this helps keep us wrapped up in the story’s immediacy with no lengthy monologues, or arty flashbacks to take us away from the “now”. NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS is a raw emotional look at a decision that continues to divide us.

3 Out of 4

Available via Video On Demand through most cable and home satellite systems and streaming on most apps including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, VUDU, Google Play, Xfinity, and Fandango Now.

SWALLOW – Review

SWALLOW is currently available on these Digital Platforms: iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay/YouTube, Vudu, PlayStation and these Cable Platforms: Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum, Verizon Fios, Altice, Cox, DirecTV, AT&T, Bend Broadband, Buckeye, Guadalupe Valley, Hotwire Communications, Metrocast, Suddenlink, WOW Internet Cable, RCN, Midcontinent Communications

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Swallow is the type of rare film that actually offers the viewer a surprise. When the film starts, you maybe 100% sure you know where it is going. But you’d be wrong. If we’re talking traditional storytelling, the first act ends in about five minutes, the second in about thirty and the third…well at that point the movie is just beyond any conception that you might have had for it. That’s the beauty of Swallow. The capacity to keep you on your toes, even if the whole film doesn’t really work. 

Swallow follows Hunter (Haley Bennet), a housewife who develops a need to eat the household items that surround her. Here, we have the bones of a film ready to go…but good luck guessing where this actually goes. 

That mystery isn’t part of the first act of the movie. For about thirty minutes, Swallow treads in familiar territory, introducing elements of the story, creating an arc and then ending it. This part of the story is, unfortunately, the most languid because a lot of it doesn’t feel new. The austere production design feels done before, the exploration of housewife angst feels done before and the dialogue most certainly feels done before. This act does have some wonderful touches though. It’s handsome and well shot. In wordless scenes, Bennet has the chance to really shine bringing a satisfaction to the compulsive behavior that feels quite real. It’s not enough to make it feel like active storytelling though. 

That’s where the next part of the movie comes in. Where most films would end their second act, Swallow is just beginning it. It’s a nice reversal, as the plot reveals itself to be more about dealing with harmful behavior than about the behavior itself, and what’s more? The characters actually start to actively engage with the plot. Structurally, there’s an imperfect edge to the rest of the film that nonetheless feels engaging because of its unpredictable energy. 

Not all is well and good though. While unpredictable may be more engaging, it isn’t always the route of least resistance. A certain plot point is introduced halfway into the film that suddenly sours the whole ordeal. While the thesis of the plot point doesn’t have much wrong with it (though it does wear somewhat problematic skin), the execution leaves much to be desired. The audience never gets a sense of Hunter’s goal moving into the film’s actual third act, crippling the power that the film’s climactic confrontation would hold. It’s close enough to working but doesn’t quite get there. 

Swallow delivers on all the gross thrills that are expected from its premise and even manages to transcend them, moving its plot beyond its premise in a way most films like this aren’t willing to. Unfortunately, in straying out into that unfamiliar territory, it doesn’t hold together as well as it should. 

3 out of 5 Stars