★★★★ Directed by: #TimLeyendekker Written by: #TimLeyendekker, #GerardjanRijnders Starring: #EelcoSmits, #KaterinaSeneti Film Review by Alex Matraxia Haunting, unnerving, unforgivably clever; Tim Leyendekker’s docufiction Feast (2021) is an intense glimpse into the price of love. Screening in the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Feast uses a real-life story as its basis: three Dutch men who held a party, drugged the guests, and infected them with their own HIV-positive blood. It’s not a film for the squeamish but it is one of the most important films screening in the IRRF; shifting between interviews with the party’s participants to fictionalised re-imaginings, personal confessions, regretful testimonies, and even a few insights from a plant biologist all come together in a disquieting quilt of footage. Tim Leyendekker shot Feast in collaboration with a range of cinematographers; the film takes on a viral quality as it shifts, mutates, evolves into something else - from newsreel to surrealism, disbelief moves into empathy, disclosing the consequences that follow such an event. Especially compelling is a dramatisation of the three perpetrators, sat in a well-furnished living room discussing their ideas. At first, it plays like a Fassbinder movie; men framed by a static camera, talking about the nature of home, love, and death. There are some fine, detailed touches to the scene, like the Francis Bacon paintings hanging on the back wall, his flesh-smeared paintings a perfect backdrop for a conversation about masochism (resonating with John Maybury’s 1998 biopic of Bacon, Love is the Devil). As the scene plays out, it’s unsettling how much these men transform their crime into a moment of poetry. They reason that if you love someone, it’s only natural to want to share that love, viscerally embodied by one’s own blood, a blood that binds. A blood that perseveres like a passionate lover, insisting ‘I will always be there, you cannot erase me’. Later, there’s an interview held with one of the crime’s collaborators, his face blurred out. It’s an ambiguous watch, partly because he seems shy, personable, domestic, and lulls us with romantic statements such as ‘Love is lethal but never criminal’. But things become less reasonable when he insists that nobody was abused, but wilfully passive, wilfully drugged; and that such a party was beautiful (a word choice that brings to mind Hannibal Lecter). It’s hard to discern whether such a person is actively malicious, or rather poetic to the point of crime. He isn’t trying to convince anyone else that the party was meant to be a celebration of intimacy, sharing blood like gifts, a way to connect through the virus (the ambiguity is not totally dissimilar to Tony Scott’s The Hunger, 1983, where blood is a way of binding two bodies for an eternity). Rather, he’s stating his own state of mind; he’s not preaching, influencing, or manipulating any opinion. He is merely defending his own sorry case. Here lies the strength and maturity of Leyendekker’s film. It is not preoccupied with making heroes or villains out of the event. Everyone: perpetrators, accusers, victims, are given screen time to share their thoughts. This includes a plant biologist (Katerina Seneti) who gives us a thorough rundown of tulips. Tulips, like people, can get sick. She highlights that when a plant has a virus, the virus doesn’t want to kill the host but collaborate with it in order to survive. Even the biologist flirts with poetry, noting how the body, when sick, is aware that it’s alive, aware that it has a body. But Feast goes on to show the trauma of the event, the ruined lives of the victims; the unfortunate, unpoetic reality that love and abuse should never be confused.

★★★ Directed by: #YukikoSode Written by: #YukikoSode Starring: #MugiKadowaki, #KikoMizuhara, #KengoKora Film Review by Lucy Clarke Amongst aristocrats in Japan, archaic gender expectations still rule women’s lives like an iron fist. It is their purpose to marry and produce heirs. Divorce is a sacrilege. One of Japan’s young up-and-coming directors Yukiko Sode’s newest film is an adaptation of Mariko Yamauchi’s book, examining two women’s lives in modern Japan. While not a completely convincing work, there are glimmers of hope throughout the film. At twenty-seven, Hanako (Mugi Kadowaki) is considered a disappointment. Her relationship with her fiancé has ended, and her family are concerned that she’ll never get married or have children. In a masterful performance by Mugi Kadowaki, Hanako shyly goes along with her family’s suggestions. She goes on dates set up by her sisters, and she’s so desperate to find a husband that she doesn’t care if she has an arranged marriage. Yet, beneath the politeness, restraint and passivity, there is someone lurking behind that façade who doesn’t quite know what she wants. Her favourite film is the Wizard of Oz, but unlike Dorothy, she’s never left where she was born. She is the woman who hasn’t quite grown up. Hanako is a captivating character, but as soon as the audience becomes familiar with her, we are whisked away to meet Miki Tokioka (Kiko Mizuhara). Although this break from Hanako is far too abrupt, Miki is the chalk to Hanako’s cheese. Unlike Hanako, she is poorer and comes from the provinces. Her aspirations are more about careers than husbands. The differences between Miki and Hanako are as vast as a gulf, yet the problems that they face have the same sources: society, gender and class. Aristocrats is musing after musing. When Hanako sits with her friends for afternoon tea, they are shocked by her friend Itsuko (Shizuka Ishibashi) ’s unwillingness to settle down. When Miki is placed in the same situation, she is expected to pay 5,000 yen for afternoon tea. Discussions on societal expectation on class and gender bristle through this film and hint at threads of a more profound discussion. Yet, these critiques are only shallowly explored like a water skater skimming a lake. There’s a mediative slowness throughout. Despite the subject matter, this tranquillity is hardly ever disturbed. The calming nature is mirrored in the postcard-perfect cinematography of Tokyo and the perfectly soothing music. Rather than feeling at peace, these directorial choices feel unchallenging. There’s a bite and an edge that’s missing here. Without it, the film seems to be nothing more than a standard slice-of-life drama, even though it's reaching for the stars. Undoubtedly, there’s promise glimmering in this depiction of Japan’s rigid aristocratic class. Mugi Kadowaki is a joy to watch as she plays a character shackled by passivity and social ritual. But, even with a script which is full of bold social commentary, Aristocrats seems scared to disrupt the status quo.

★★★ Directed by #NicholasAsheBateman Written by #NicholasAsheBateman Starring #JordanMonaghan #NicholasAsheBateman Film Review by Hope Madden Light on plot, heavy on atmosphere, Nicholas Ashe Bateman’s feature debut drops us in a distant post-apocalypse. Here, those trapped on a sparsely populated island of dust and heat dream of boarding the once-yearly barge that transports the island’s wild horses to a wintry mainland. Poetic and dreamy, Bateman’s tale plays out before us without allowing us to truly penetrate it. Moira (Jordan Monaghan) has one wish only: passage across. She’s plagued by nightmares of a fiery past—maybe the event that brought about the now-times, nightmares passed down to her from her own mother. She saves a man. He promises her a ticket. But how good is a man’s word in a society like this? Bateman’s vision is often transportive. There are leaps in timeline and in logic that you’ll forgive by virtue of the lyrical nature of his story. This is a fable, not a drama. The Wanting Mare has a fantasy for you, if you have the patience for it. You will need patience, though. The 90-minute runtime feels much longer, partly because Bateman’s storytelling intentionally keeps you at arm’s length from his characters. Without any skin in the game, the game becomes tiresome. It’s never less than beautiful, but it’s definitely less than compelling. There are brief scenes in the second act that almost offer excitement, plot twists, some genuine call for redemption. These are the only scenes in the film that Bateman rushes. Performances are necessarily stilted and can’t be criticized for that. We are not meant to feel close to these characters, although Bateman himself does personalize his character. His own acting style is far more accessible and intimate than that of his co-stars. The benefit: act 2 feels more emotionally compelling than the rest of the film. The drawback: the film’s point of view becomes muddy. We travel through time along with Moira and her offspring, but because we identify with Bateman’s nameless man, these women become even more distant and peripheral. They are idealized reasons for the film to be rather than a driving force or voice in the film itself. And that’s what the film is missing. It’s a gorgeous effort, poetic and somber and dreamlike. But it lacks a central voice, and without that, any real connection with the audience. #HopeMadden

★★★ Directed by #BarryAlexanderBrown Written by #ConstanceCurry #BarryAlexanderBrown #BobZellner Starring #LucasTill #BrianDennehy #LucyHale Film Review by George Wolf Midway through Son of the South, Bob Zellner – a privileged white college student from 1960s Alabama – is quick to stand up to a young Black man who doesn’t think Bob’s interest in the Civil Rights movement is genuine. Not far away, another young Black man is preparing for upcoming Alabama protests by trying to remain passive while his friends subject him to some of the verbal and physical abuse that is soon to come. Director/co-writer Barry Alexander Brown’s juxtaposition is earnest, unmistakable, and surface-layer effective – ultimately a perfect snapshot of the entire film. Zellner’s story, adapted from his own autobiography, is of one white man shaking off the ugly bigotry of his upbringing and family history to march alongside historical icons such as Rosa Parks and John Lewis. But more than that, the film is an easily digestible message to well-meaning white America that good intentions mean nothing if they’re left on the sidelines. We meet Zellner (Lucas Till, TV’s new MacGyver and Havoc from X-Men) when he’s “free, white and 21” in the early 60s, a student at Huntington college with a pretty fiancé (Lucy Hale) and plans for Ivy League grad school. But writing a paper on race relations leads Bob to attend service at a Black church, where he meets Parks (Sharrone Lanier), Rev. Ralph Abernathy (Cedric the Entertainer) and a town full of racists who don’t take kindly to fraternizing. One of those is Zellner’s own Grandfather (Brian Dennehy), a proud KKK member who does not sugar coat the stakes. There isn’t much nuance anywhere in the film, and though that makes for a less riveting narrative, it ends up feeling appropriate. Brown, who has often edited films for Spike Lee (an executive producer here), wisely doesn’t try to mimic Lee’s challenging genius. Brown seems to be aiming for the crowd that’s still inspired by The Blind Side. Lightening the mood with moments of sly humor (Zellner reading Ebony and Jet) and budding romance, Brown avoids lionizing Zellner while finding an entertaining avenue for making his choices a more universal call to end white silence. You could call that playing it safe, but you can’t call it dumb. #GeorgeWolf

★★★★ Directed by: Kieran Stringfellow Written by: Kieran Stringfellow Starring: Louis Brogan Film Review by: Jason Knight A homeless man had something taken from him and is determined to get it back. The rough sleeper (Brogan) is at a park. He covers his bruised and bloodied hands in bandages, brushes his teeth and from plastic bags he removes a phone and a small box, containing a military tag necklace. It appears that he had gotten into some trouble and has just been released from police custody. He walks into a shop and steals a hammer. He later takes a train to an unknown destination. He has a plan. This short, bleak thriller focuses on the life of an unprivileged individual. Being homeless, he has a hard, miserable life and gets into trouble. However, he is mentally strong and knows how to set his mind to do something. There are no spoken words. This is because Stringfellow has stated that his intention was to make a film that was completely visually-led, using the camera to tell the story rather than dialogue. There are plenty of well-executed tracking shots, where the camera is following the protagonist as he walks through streets, wearing a backpack. The director uses closeups, showing the man's hands as he performs various actions, such as handling his belongings. The man is the only person in the film, and that reflects the lonely life he lives. There is one scene that deserves special mention. In this scene, consisting of one shot, the camera is behind the man and gradually moves towards him. The man is standing still and in front of him are buildings. As the camera moves closer and closer, the music becomes more and more tense. This could signify that he is becoming more and more anxious, as his time to act is getting closer. This shot is also the only one where the image is letterboxed, in contrast to the rest of the film where pillarboxing is utilized. The decision to use letterboxing in this specific shot, makes it look more establishing. As the script is without dialogue, the audience relies on Brogan's actions and face expressions in order to determine who he is and what he is up to. Brogan goes through almost the entire film with an emotionless face. His character is a man who does not reveal his feelings. He has gone through a lot, but gets back up again and takes action when necessary. The narrative is nonlinear, containing flash-forwards that give an indication of the man's intentions with the hammer. Brian Lane's score makes a great contribution. The music is dramatic and tense, adding a downbeat tone. Bulldog is a story of struggle, poverty, crime but also compassion. Initially, the man appears to be dangerous and intending to do something terrible. The final scene is emotional and reveals that he has needs just like other people. Bulldog screens as part of the BFI Future Film Festival from 18-21 February, free on BFI Player: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-bulldog-2020-online #JasonKnight

Filmmaker Interview by Chris Olson with LA Based Editor Yufei Skylar Zhang You have an extensive background in Editing. What was it about editing you love? What I love about being an editor is our unique opportunity to have an intimate relationship with the footage. During the long and lonely hours in the editing room, we develop our relationship with everything that was captured, purposely and masterfully planned or accidental. And very often these accidents are the gems that would make it into the final film and become what makes the piece special. And we, as the editors, are there to spot them and treasure them. At least for me personally, whenever I work on a film, I need to absorb what’s in the footage first to come up with the best possible combination to piece together. So for weeks or months, we live in this world inside the film, where we know precisely what each brow movement means for a character and from what angle a character’s smile looks the nicest. And then we go to work, and the best part is that it would then almost happen naturally. Once we understand the footage from inside out, we just know how to cut the film, it comes by itself. Editing a film is like solving pieces of puzzles. A puzzle of emotions. I always see filmmaking as a process of emotion-making. It’s all about the creation and recreation of emotions. It’s fundamentally an art form about the understanding of feelings and human emotions, and the interpretation of them. And that’s what sets filmmaking apart from other forms of art. It’s the integration of them all. It’s so close to real life, that what we thrive to do is recreating a life for the audience where they temporarily forget about their real life, and hopefully, when they go back to their lives, they take a piece of what they felt from the film with them. I am grateful and excited to be in a profession where such magic is created. When working on a film, what are the challenges as an Editor? Very often the biggest challenge is dealing with the people around you. People always imagine editors to be the loner who sits in the dark by themselves. That is only one part of the job and a big portion of the job involves communicating with various departments. We need to listen to the concerns of the director who has been insecure about the footage while calming down the angry producer who just realized we blew the budget on VFX. Post-production is the final frontier where all the unsolved problems in all the previous stages of production got thrown into. They are now nobody else’s but our problems, and they NEED to be solved as quickly and neatly as possible. You recently worked on a film called Día de las Carpas. Why did you want to be a part of this project? I had the pleasure of collaborating with the talented writer of the film, Marina Kato Hoag, on another film she wrote called Focus. We had a great time together and I admire Marina’s ability to come up with unique, original characters. So when she pitched this new film, I knew I would be in for a treat. Día de las Carpas follows the story of a group of boys’ journey helping an undocumented girl get to the beach to reunite with her family, unaware that their new friend has a magical secret that will change their lives forever. It is such an enticing story logline. After hearing Marina’s pitch, I knew I needed to be part of the creation of this modern-day fairytale. It is a film that’s reflecting on the current topics of our world through the lives of innocent children who are living through it. It’s also a coming-of-age film where the boys need to learn to stand up for themselves and what’s right. This is the kind of film that we need for our time. (Spoiler alert!) When the undocumented girl Esme turns into a mermaid to escape from the agents, it is such an emotionally climactic moment that provides such relief and amazement. But it also makes the audience reflect on those situations in real life. Who would you love to work with? These are going to be pretty realistic dreams. No Kubrick or Truffaut or anything like that. Noah Baumbach is a filmmaker whose approach to filmmaking speaks to me. I have always been attracted to his work ever since The Squid and the Whale. His films are all so comical in a true-to-life fashion and they are deeply truthful. I think Baumbach is who I consider a filmmaker with a great understanding of human emotion and his way of expressing it is through his often awkward, yet always thoughtful characters in his movies. My favorite film of his is The Meyerowitz Stories, a somewhat very underrated film, which makes me mad. When I saw the film for the first time, I was actually daydreaming what a wonderful time I would have sitting in a room with him cutting a film like this. And in general, I would really love to work with filmmakers from more diverse backgrounds. I have worked with filmmakers from Italy, Germany, Korea, China, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Mexico… and it is the diverse background and culture these filmmakers bring into their films that give the films a unique voice. And collaborating with people coming from different cultures than your own is such an inspiring and humbling process. What's next for you? I am currently finishing up editing a feature film called Baby, Don’t Cry, a coming-of-age drama with a first-generation female Asian-American protagonist. I give my praise to the writer and producer of the film, Zita, for creating such a unique character and devoting the film and herself to bringing attention to this often under-represented group on screen. Another project I am excited to be a part of is the feature film Altrove, directed by my long-term collaborator Gabriele Di Sazio. The script is in the final stage of development and the film will go into production at the end of 2021, filming partially in Sicily, Italy, and California. Our writer Marina won the AGBO Development Grant for the feature version of Día de las Carpas and is now developing the film under the mentorship of the Russo Brothers. I have seen a draft of the script and the pitch deck and I have to say, they look quite amazing. So the feature of Día de las Carpas will be a focus of mine for the next couple of years as well. What advice would you give to someone who wanted to be an Editor? The stress level of being an editor is very high, and the hours are long. Unlike many other areas of this industry, it’s really a job where you don’t expect to get glamorous, or even noticed. Because somehow it is true that when the audience doesn’t notice the editing, it means we’ve done our job right. People don’t normally go “the editing was amazing in this movie” after watching a film they like. And I bet you can’t think of anyone if I asked ‘who is your favorite editor?’ So if you are ok with being constantly overworked and underappreciated because you truly love the art of filmmaking, then welcome to the club :) What would you say if you were a dolphin? “Wee we wwwe weeee wee (Back up your projects)!!” And then go back to swimming. #ChrisOlson #FilmmakerInterviews Watch the movie trailer for Dia De Las Carpas:

★★★★ Directed by: #Dandroid Written by: #Dandroid Starring: #Dandroid, #MohedsRandomStuff, #JayOsborne, #LWanimations Short Film Review by: Emily Davison Daniel (Dandroid), an ordinary Lego person, embarks on an adventure to find the meaning of life in this whimsical stop motion animated short. The Quest For Truth (2019), directed and written by YouTube Lego fanatic ‘Dandroid’, is a ten minute short film made with Stop Motion Studio and iMovie. It stars the voices of the director (as well as his mum) and other YouTubers who also feature Lego related or animated videos on their respective channels. The film is delightfully charming with its orchestration of clever visual and audio gags throughout, featuring cameo appearances from the likes of the Joker, C3PO and R2D2 and even Steamboat Willie. The endearing wit and comedic tone is immediately established with the short’s opening, where the rating is changed from PG to U as a Lego character claims his three year old niece will be watching (even if there is a bare chested teen in the beginning!). The film is stuffed to the brim with creative gags that reference pop culture, with one example being a blink and you’ll miss it shot of A113 on a staircase, a subtle reference to Pixar’s infamous Easer Egg. The humour may be hit or miss depending on one’s film knowledge, but there’s enough fast paced warm charm to get a giggle from everyone. As well as bolstering deadpan wit, the film is meta and self-aware in its comedy and story (based on The Lego Movie (2014)) with cheeky dialogue. One example is a fun breaking the fourth wall gag where Spider-Man comments on a particular plot point being ‘lazy writing’. As well as featuring stop motion animation, the short also presents entertaining skits with colourful images and drawn animation, enhancing the quirky style maintained in the dialogue. The rather amateur, rough stop motion certainly adds to the charm and combined with a strong voice cast and realistic sounds effects to accompany scenes, such as gravel under foot or the sound of a motorbike revving, makes for an immersive experience. The film features music by Judson Crane and Hans Zimmer and both effectively compliment the scenes and end credits well, although the playful tone may have been strengthened if other tracks were added to certain sequences. For example, character introductions are presented through funny text and images and the edit may have been made punchier with a jovial track added, although this is a very minor issue which does not spoil the overall enjoyment. The Quest For Truth is a witty, self-aware short presenting admirable stop motion, a delightfully meta story and a thoroughly entertaining watch - this short is definitely worth a look for its gags alone! #EmilyDavison The Quest For Truth (2019) Short Film:

★★★ Directed by: #Duke Written by: #Duke Starring: #OscarGrimaldo, #Rucci, #EvaOrson, #JamesArlow, #JoeyVitale, #AlexandraCreteau, #TJPhoenix, #MarleyUribe Short Film Review by: Emily Davison A group of hikers from different backgrounds are hunted down by a mysterious sniper in this action packed short thriller/drama. Ambushed (2017), directed by Los Angeles based filmmaker Duke, who has several films to his name, explores the crippling paranoia and panic that overwhelms anybody when they are pursued by an unknown predator with a gun. According to one of the stars, Alexandra Creteau, who plays Anastasia, an unfortunate victim of the attack, the plot was inspired by the mass shootings that took place in America at the time and this socio-political theme is carried throughout the tense twenty minutes of action and chills. The film exhibits high quality camerawork, with a variety of dynamic shots ranging from aerial footage to handheld to fast motion photography, with stunning cinematography to boot. The short implements a green/blue colour correction to the picture, creating a cold tone to the visuals which correlates with the sinister presence of a relentless assassin. One of the most suspenseful sequences of the short orchestrates all of these stylistic elements seamlesslessly when Steven (Arlow) attempts to track down the sniper with his own gun and is hit in the process. The action sequences are well coordinated and filmed with a flair of confidence and skill, making for thrilling watching. The majority of the cast have also featured in Duke’s other films and although there is little characterisation, with some solely existing to be killed, the clear focus of the film is to present gritty, entertaining action sets. The dialogue is a little flat and straight delivery from the stars is often unconvincing, especially the insistent repetition of the gimmick “Sweet Jesus, mother of God!”, which becomes unintentionally humorous after hearing it for the third of fourth time. The attempts at soft humour is also a bit hit and miss. Nevertheless, the film has a consistently strong direction and atmospheric quality to it which keeps it engaging. The musical score by Duke is also one of the short’s biggest strengths alongside its compelling style. Duke orchestrates ambient, anticipatory pieces which effectively build suspense and tension as the different groups unwittingly walk into the assassin’s trap. There are pounding action cues which enhance the momentum and pacing of the more intense segments that are the most notable highlights to the film. Ambushed is a thrilling short movie bolstered by an impressive director and cinematographer at the helm with a clear dedication and passion for the craft, as well as offering a compelling reflection on contemporary social issues. The strong action and enticing score make this flick a satisfying watch and a good time! Just don’t go into the woods… #EmilyDavison Ambushed (2017) Short Film:

★★★★ Directed by: #AnnarieBoor Written by: #AnnarieBoor Starring: #IsabelNesti, #EdKeates, #FlorenceHarvey Film Review by: Emily Davison An actress agrees to take part in a high profile interview, but all is not what it seems, and things take a sinister turn when a bloodied carving knife is revealed moments into the proceedings in this enigmatic drama. Icon of Betrayal (2021), directed and written by Annarie Boor, is the third feature length collaboration with producer, editor and cinematographer Simon Boor, as part of their Mentor Through Film initiative with Tapping Frog Productions in London. Their last project, A Matter of Causality (2020), garnered critical acclaim and accolades for Best Ensemble Cast and also starred the leading actress of this film, Isabel Nesti, who plays the titular character of Reid Donovan, the eccentric actress being interviewed. This slow burn mystery allows the plot time to develop intrigue and suspension with deliberately measured camerawork and static shots. The film employs iconography to associate particular connotations with characters, with the colour red instantly becoming associated with Reid through her bright lipstick, sense of dress and the red roses that accompany her wherever she goes. Although the movie mostly takes place in one room, there is an artistic, poetic quality to the storytelling with flashbacks and intertitle cards inserted throughout with quotes from Donovan, giving us more insight into her compelling character. It is clear that every scene was carefully coordinated with the actors to create an almost theatrical, visceral viewing experience which instantly hooks from the stunning opening shot of Reid surrounded in darkness holding the butcher knife, the blade gleaming in the light to create a chilling introduction into the proceedings. The true highlight of this film is Isabel Nesti’s captivating performance as Reid Donovan, who also starred in A Matter of Causality where she won an award for Best Acting Ensemble. From the first shot to the closing scene, her unpredictable nature and charismatic presence as she consistently directly addresses the audience, are instantly gripping. Her ability to enchant everyone is only beaten by the versatility she demonstrates as an actress, where she goes from a manipulative commander of the scene to a fearful, desperate performer who worries she is losing the limelight and her manager’s attention. Nesti flawlessly transfers between the two, with her flamboyant energy and emotional outburst making for a stunning performance. Florence Harvey, who plays Reid’s co-star Penelope, is a newcomer to film with one other acting credit, yet her restrained ferocity and sincerity flourished and Ed Keates as Quinten, Reid’s manager, also made a strong impression with his subtle, emotionally restrained performance. The film offers an engaging meta commentary on the star image in Hollywood and cinema overall, reflecting on the complications and desperate lengths celebrities can often go to ensure their star power remains in the audience eye. This theme is woven throughout the narrative with the character of Reid, as the mystery begins to unravel, and we find out what she is truly capable of to keep her position, making for insightful and thought-provoking viewing. Icon of Betrayal is a strong mystery, melodrama film with plenty of twists and turns to keep you entertained; combined with a stellar performance from its lead and an engrossing stylistic vision, this is an admirable achievement for everyone involved. #EmilyDavison Icon of Betrayal (2021) Film Trailer:

★★ Directed by #AndyCollier #ToorMian Written by #AndyCollier #ToorMian #PaulKane Starring #BarbaraCrampton #SophiaStevens Film Review by Brandon Thomas If we’ve learned anything from horror cinema over the decades, it’s that Europe is a scary place and to avoid it at all costs. Werewolves on the moors, rage zombies, predatory hostels – just go to Myrtle Beach again and try your luck with the drunk rednecks. And now, with Sacrifice, co-writers/co-directors Andy Collier and Toor Mian give us a taste of the unsavory side of Norway. Isaac (Ludovic Hughes) and Emma (Sophie Stevens) return to Isaac’s birthplace on a remote Norwegian island to claim his inheritance. Unknown family truths bubble to the surface as Isaac confronts a dark legacy and Emma fears not only for her husband’s sanity but for the life of her unborn child. Sacrifice is a frustrating film from the start. The basic “fish out of water” premise is one we’ve seen time and time again, and Sacrifice offers nothing new to this subgenre. The opening credits promise a story built around the works of H.P. Lovecraft, but the closest we get to Lovecraft is unsubtle nods to Cthulhu. Subtlety in horror certainly has its place. There are countless horror movies that take a more methodical approach to dole out the scares. These movies eventually pay off, though. Sacrifice is a film that tries to build tension and atmosphere, but whiffs at every opportunity. Semi-odd behavior from backwoods Norwegian folk isn’t exactly edge-of-your-seat material. And I would be ashamed of myself if I didn’t mention how the film uses the tried and true “character wakes up from a nightmare that seemed real” device a grand total of four times. At this point, I was hoping the movie was a dream. So much of the films’s tension is built around the unraveling of Isaac and Emma’s relationship. The problem with this is that the characters toggle between unlikable and uninteresting from the get-go. Isaac’s descent into madness never once borders on tragedy. Instead, this turn feels like the filmmaker’s checking off a box on their genre bingo card. Even the illustrious Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond) doesn’t come out unscathed. It’s a role that asks her to do little more than be a suspicious local and deliver an uneven Norwegian accent. The film does get a lot out of the location shooting in Norway. The lush green fjords with their raging waterfalls inject a strong sense of place. These scenic establishing shots help set an “otherness” to the island, even if the remainder of the film does a poor job of maintaining the eerie mood. Sacrifice tries to set itself alongside Europe-centric horror movies like The Wicker Man and Midsommar, but instead comes off as a watered-down, and quite lazy, copy of better movies. #BrandonThomas

★ Directed by #NeilMarshall Written by #NeilMarshall #EdwardEversSwindell #CharlotteKirk Starring #CharlotteKirk Film Review by Hope Madden It’s been nearly 20 years since Neil Marshall first caught our attention with his remarkable military/lycanthropic standoff, Dog Soldiers. Just three years later, the writer/director offered his genre masterpiece, The Descent, and suddenly anticipation was high for a filmmaker who knew how to scare us. A couple of disappointments later and the Englishman began to rebuild his reputation doing one-off TV episodes and horror shorts until possibly sinking his career forever in 2019 with the Big Box Office Bomb that was Hellboy. The Reckoning won’t help things. Marshall’s latest, co-written with Edward Evers-Swindell (Dark Signal) and star Charlotte Kirk, takes us back to the Dark Ages. The black plague is wiping out the English countryside, but witch hunters are a close second in terms of death toll. Striking images are everywhere in this film—a home burning, a horse rearing, misty moors and the like. But the first sight that will really make you scratch your head is that of Grace (Kirk), humble-but-loving wife in full, never-to-be-flawed makeup. It’s so jarring given the plague-ridden scenes surrounding her that you cannot help but notice it. And for the next hour 50 (at least 30 minutes longer than necessary), Kirk poses. She stands firm. She yearns. She dotes. She hesitates. She resolves. Yes, I believe that runs the full gamut of Kirk’s poses. It doesn’t help matters that The Reckoning brings so little new to the historical witch torture genre. Grace’s ordeals, once her lascivious landlord brings her up on charges of witchcraft for spurning him, lead to increasingly gratuitous and sexualized torture. And still, that nude lip liner never smudges. Around Kirk’s showy performance is a wide variety of talent. Sean Pertwee and Steven Waddington offer fine, villainous turns, for instance. The writing is not a real strength, as most of the plotting and dialog serve only to create new opportunities to pose. It’s hard to call The Reckoning a wasted opportunity because, aside from some solid framing and cinematography, there’s nothing here to even exploit. It’s a superficial ripoff of a worn out genre, built entirely around a laughable performance. #HopeMadden

★★★★ Directed by #RodneyAscher Film Review by Hope Madden Nobody makes documentaries quite like Rodney Ascher. You can see the 2010 short that first got him the attention of the Sundance Film Festival, S from Hell, in its entirety on YouTube right now. I think you should. It gives you just a taste of the mixture of absurd, earnest, terrifying and funny that inform his nonfiction recipes. His 2012 documentary feature debut, Room 237, gave us a glimpse of his own fascination with personal obsessions. Ascher’s interest in the opinions and voices of his subjects clearly allows them to feel the safety necessary to share deeply held and seemingly ludicrous ideas. It also gives the film a sense of exploration rather than judgment. You are truly invited to wonder what if? His most potent and terrifying invitation, The Nightmare, is so sincere in its sleuthing it may convince you that the film itself has infected you with a debilitating condition. So it’s no surprise that any new effort from Ascher draws awed anticipation from weirdos and cinephiles alike (not that there’s a big difference between the two). Plus a ton of utterly fascinating footage of Philip K. Dick speaking. A Glitch in the Matrix, premiering earlier this week at Sundance and opening digitally (appropriately enough) this weekend, explores Simulation Theory. You know, that zany notion that we’re not real, we’re all living in a simulating played by beings of a higher intelligence. Nutty, right? Once again, Ascher’s meticulously built doc feels simultaneously playful and dark—two adjectives that suit the topic brilliantly. We’re reminded of Descartes attempts to prove that he exists, and before that, of Plato’s musings that we may be simply witnessing some form of life facsimile and not participating in reality at all. So, it’s not a new idea. Perhaps the most intriguing notion the film brings up is that, when aquaducts were the height of technology, the world believed our bodies were at the mercy of our own humors. Once the telegraph became top tech, suddenly our bodies were run by electrical currents. And later, we “understood” that our brains were like computers. It’s no surprise, then that in a virtual world, we lean toward the notion that reality is its own form of virtual reality. But Ascher digs much deeper, drawing images of a culture and personality type compelled by these ideas, and the hard potential consequences of a Matrix in the hands of someone less noble than Neo. A Glitch in the Matrix becomes Ascher’s most complicated and poignant film. #HopeMadden