★ Directed by: Ivan Brusa Written by: Ivan Brusa and Francesco Carra Cast: Michela Maridati, Roberta Nicosia and Selene Feltrin Film Review by: Robert Stayte Films that fall under the Independent Cinema label deserve to be given credit just for getting made, given the amount of time and effort it takes to make a film. However, they still deserve to be treated like any other film. I respect director Ivan Brusa for being able to pull this movie off, given the low budget he clearly had, but since he chose to give it a somewhat legitimate release through Amazon Prime, it is worth judging on its own merits. Unfortunately, as a film, No Vendetta No Party is a failure. The story revolves around Eleonora Bianchi (Michela Maridati) who works with other people to kidnap and murder YouTubers and Celebrities. Her father Mario (Paolo Riva) is then kidnapped by Ambra Di Dio (Roberta Nicosia) and Raphaelle (Selene Feltrin), who threaten to kill him and desire to trade with Eleonora’s latest intended victim, Social Media sensation Dindirindina (Nunzia Raia), resulting in a conflict that will involve more people and more murder. Script-wise, No Vendetta No Party is undone by a lack of any compelling characters. Every character in this film is either one-dimensional or deliberately unlikeable or both, with even the attempt at humanising Eleonora through her relationship with her father not working because barely any time is devoted to it at all. As a result, there is no investment in the story. The narrative takes over 20 minutes to get going and once it does, it becomes a series of plotting/death scenes that are not compelling because of the investment issue. Then there is an overlong epilogue that adds a surprising yet overcomplicated reveal, feeling like it was added just for the sake of a twist and to extend the runtime to feature-length. Satirically, this film is a big missed opportunity, because it has absolutely nothing to say about the subject matter of Youtubers and other forms of vapid Celebrity Culture. All it does is simply point them out and have characters that represent them die, so it makes one wonder why it was there at all. No laughs are had, and the dialogue is not witty or clever enough to make up for the lack of thematic insight. But the worst aspect by far is the direction. It is respectable that Ivan Brusa tried to be ambitious and stylised with his direction, but when combined with the low-production values, it becomes exhausting to sit through. Putting aside the ugly looking cinematography, the camerawork and editing are both overdone, with constant Dutch angles (much worse than Showdown’s usage of them) and speeded up footage, along with terrible looking screen effects. The musical score also feels like it is comprised of royalty-free tracks, with the result feeling like a feature length YouTube skit more than a film. Acting-wise, no one is especially awful, but they do all feel like amateur performers rather than competent ones. No Vendetta No Party may show a bit of promise that its director could work on continuing, but otherwise it is an annoying and poorly executed piece of emptiness that is just a boring experience. It may be available for free, but it is a waste of time. #RobertStayte

★★★ Directed by #RodLurie Written by #EricJohnson #PaulTamasy Starring #CalebLandryJones #ScottEastwood #OrlandoBloom Film Review by Hope Madden Films concerning the US’s two decade war in Afghanistan have not managed to find much of an audience. I’m not sure Summer 2020—the year we welcomed meth gators as a needed distraction from our own personal hell—will improve those odds. And yet, director Rod Lurie’s The Outpost bravely ventures to the streaming environment this week to remind us that a solid, understated war movie can still thrill. The ensemble piece features Caleb Landry Jones and Scott Eastwood as two sides of a coin. Eastwood’s Staff Sgt. Clint (that’s right) Romesha is a born leader with quiet dignity, grit and a mind for strategy. Cynical of the Army’s “frat boy” culture, Jones’s Staff Sgt. Ty Carter doesn’t quite fit in. Where doesn’t he fit in? A sitting duck army outpost situated at the basin of surrounding mountains where Taliban forces travel, watch and shoot. Screenwriter Eric Johnson’s bread and butter has been teaming with Paul Tamasy to create the cinematic presentation of a true story. They nearly won an Oscar for Johnson’s first foray into feature length screenplays, David O’ Russell’s powerful The Fighter (with Scott Silver). The duo join forces again, this time adapting Jake Tapper’s investigative book concerning one extraordinary battle in our war in Afghanistan. Understatement works in the film’s favor, Lurie favoring overlapping dialog and naturalistic settings to bombast and a leading score. In fact, much of the film plays without a score, a refreshing change that gives The Outpost a grittier, more realistic feel that serves it well. Because truth be told, a true tale that delivers this amount of sheer will, courage, perseverance and spirit is undermined by flapping flags and swelling strings. Lurie’s restraint says, “This is really what happened. Can you effing believe that?!” That’s not to say The Outpost eliminates every cowboy moment. Indeed, this may be the first role in which Eastwood makes the most of his famous last name, clearly channeling his father in a performance punctuated by controlled, hushed rage and squinting blue eyes. But Caleb Landry Jones, as remarkable and versatile actor as you will find, is the broken soul of this film. Jones does “haunted” in a way that makes every other performance feel like a performance. Together Lurie, his writers and his cast sidestep clichés, delivering instead a clear-eyed look at bravery, failure, and the cost of war. #HopeMadden

★★ Directed by #DanielMyrick Written by #DanielMyrick Starring #MichaelSelle Film Review by Brandon Thomas To say that The Blair Witch Project made an impact upon its summer 1999 release would maybe be the understatement of the year. Not only is The Blair Witch Project one of the most profitable independent films of all time, but it also ushered in the rise of found footage horror. Twenty-one years after the phenomenon of Blair Witch, that film’s co-director, Daniel Myrick, returns to the mockumentary fold with Skyman. Carl Merryweather (Michael Selle) claims he was visited by an extraterrestrial, Skyman, when he was 10- years-old. That event made Carl a minor celebrity in his small California town and it’s completely shaped his life. As his 40th birthday draws near, Carl becomes more convinced that the Skyman is going to return. With his skeptical sister Gina and a documentary film crew, Carl goes back to the spot in the desert where the original encounter took place. If you think Skyman is going to be overflowing with murderous E.T.s, outlandish found-footage F/X, and tense scares, then you are going to be sorely disappointed. Myrick’s approach to Skyman is more akin to the original Blair Witch than to the found-footage spectacle we’re now used to. It’s a very deliberately paced film — maybe too deliberate. Given Myrick’s pedigree with the genre, it’s fair to have expected something a little more scary with Skyman. Maybe not a “vengeful witch in the woods” scary, but I would’ve settled for a Fire in the Sky kind of disturbing found footage vibe. The film’s more sci-fi finale is a tacked-on afterthought. The audience, like Carl, eagerly awaits the return of the Skyman. Unlike Blair Witch with its tantalizing nuggets of the witch spaced through the film, the Skyman himself is a virtual no-show. Selle is outstanding as the awkward Carl. Selle and Myrick have created a character driven by his obsession, but not at the expense of his friends and family. Roy Neary from Close Encounters he ain’t. This decency, along with Selle’s subdued performance, makes it easy to root for Carl. Outside of a great lead performance, Skyman offers up nothing the audience hasn’t seen before, and mostly just leaves you wanting. #BrandonThomas

★★★ Directed by #HongseonKim Starring #SungWooBae #DongilSung Film Review by George Wolf A deadly curse passed from house to house. A demon that can change identities at will. A young girl possessed, and desperate parents begging experts to investigate. A priest, wracked with guilt, seeking exorcism help from an older mentor. Deadly dopplegangers. As a patchwork repackaging of several classic horror themes, South Korean Shudder original Metamorphosis (Byeonshin) works better than you might expect. Despite familiar tropes and convenient plot turns, director Hong-seon Kim scores with creepy atmospherics, sympathetic family strife and intermittent flashes of gore. Gang-goo (Dong-il Sung) can't believe the deal he got on the new house for his family. No other bids, imagine that! Shortly after move-in, though, the trouble starts with a very noisy neighbor and his alarming tastes in interior design. But confronting him only brings evil closer to home, and soon Gang-goo, his wife and three daughters are facing increasing threats from each other. Or so they believe. Turns out Gang-goo's brother Joong-su (Sung-Woo Bae) is a priest with a tragic past, and he may be the family's only hope to escape the demonic force that has gripped them. Director Kim seems unfazed by the script's lack of originality or moments of contrivance, confident in his ability to find new frights in well-traveled neighborhoods. For the most part, he does, even managing to touch a nerve that resonates beyond the horror genre itself. Look beyond the inverted crosses, walls dripping blood and one unsurprising twist, and you'll see Metamorphosis carrying a layer of horror-loving metaphor. We hurt each other in so many ways, and can be easily convinced that hurt is justified, or even divine. There's a devil in some of the details here, but the big picture is worthy. #GeorgeWolf

★★★★★ Directed by: #JamesMorgan Written by: #JamesMorgan Starring: #DagnyBackerJohnsen, #NicholasBoulton, #TrondTeigen Film Review by: Darren Tilby James Morgan’s tale of tradition versus development, and of remote peoples and their exploitation in the name of progress, hits all the right notes in this quietly brilliant, thought-provoking and aesthetically stunning piece of cinematic art. Yohana (Dagny Backer Johnsen), a teenage girl from a small and remote Norwegian Arctic community must, in accordance with her people’s customs, decide the fate of an oil worker (Nicholas Boulton) responsible for the murder of her father. In just seven seconds, Yohana will make a life or death decision – both with equally devastating consequences – that will not only imprint itself on her for life but may also determine the future of her people. Appropriately, Johnsen’s performance, along with the prevailing mood of the film in general, is a masterclass of abject tension and uncertainty. Yohana exudes it by the bucketload, and it creates a genuine sense of claustrophobia in a film predominantly situated in gorgeous hinterlands and vast seascapes. Other than the superb acting by the cast and the few snippets of personality found in the movie’s limited dialogue, there isn’t much in the way of characterisation. This isn’t a problem, however, and I actually found this added to the sense of alienation the viewer’s supposed to feel in what for most is a massive departure from normality. But then the central focus here isn’t the characters at all; it’s the landscape itself. And it makes sense: this striking setting is at the heart of the film’s emotional resonance, and much of the characterisation exists here. It holds a deific quality, achieved with Jack Wyllie’s fantastically understated score, that holds back just enough to allow the ambient sounds to shine and set the mood. And Benjamin Sadd’s masterfully crafted visuals, featuring bleak but beautiful landscapes, juxtaposed with the looming threat of encroaching oil rigs, and metaphor-heavy imagery makes a remarkable statement about the state of these people’s world and how it has shaped them as a community. There’s something inherently appreciable about this battle between new and old; progress and tradition; the large corporations and the little people standing in their way. The topic is always relevant and up for debate, and it’s been put to screen many times before. But Seven’s horror-movie inflexions and the murky undercurrent of impending doom, reminiscent to that of The Wicker Man and Ari Aster’s Midsommar, help to set it apart from the plethora of others like it. Seven is a piece I enjoyed a great deal: a film which juggles juxtaposition and metaphor in its visuals, sets the mood with its soundtrack and brings it all together to impart character to the surroundings and the people that inhabit them. Seven is a work of cinematic art and a masterpiece of character building. It’s hard to see how it could be made any better, mainly because it couldn’t be.

★★★★★ Written & Directed by: #JamieMilligan Starring: #JuliaDeakin and #JohnBillington Short Film Review by Taryll Baker Mausoleum casts Julia Deakin (star of Spaced, Down Terrace and Hot Fuzz) as a woman at her wit's end. When she sits down to dinner with her husband, she realises that time is running out to resolve her mistakes and regain control of her life. Firstly, this is without a doubt a fantastically written and directed short. Milligan’s choice to capture all of Julia Deakin’s lines in one continuous shot really pays off. As a viewer, you’re forced to use your imagination a little, to read between the lines being said, and examine any and all facial expressions in an effort to construct a full character background. Due to the performance by Deakin, which is masterful, it’s easy to become invested. With the short film focusing almost entirely on Deakin and her effortless and skilfully delivered monologue, there’s not much emphasis on sound outside of human speech. Yet, the sound team manage to record and create a soft and quiet atmosphere, designed for the lifeless rooms in the couple’s home. Clocks ticking, cars passing by outside, the house breathing. Because it’s so simple, everything clicks together extremely well. There’s an absence of music, and I think in this case it was a good decision to leave it so. The visuals are stunning. Shot in glorious 35mm film by cinematographer Chris Fergusson, known for his award-winning work in many short films in the past. The way film captures the light is always very warm and welcoming - it seems to always lend a certain charm. Even inside the house - which doesn’t seem to have much of a soul left - the sense of an undamaged personality remains. Though with Mausoleum, there is some coldness. If you glance to the kitchen in the background, it seems brighter than the dining room the characters are currently sitting in. As if the two suck any joy from the area that surrounds them. You could also guess that the reason Deakin’s character is framed within the light from the kitchen, is because she can see a way out of her toxic relationship, whereas Billington is completely in the dark. It could also reflect the notion that none of what she’s saying is being heard by him. Mausoleum is a very simple but incredibly affective short film. Nominated at several film festivals - and winning at some - it’s clear that audiences agree. Sometimes less is more, and for Mausoleum, that’s definitely the case. #TaryllBaker

★★★★★ Directed by Matt Reeves Starring Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, and Amiah Miller Film Review by Niall Maggs War for the Planet of the Apes is the third entry into the new rebooted Planet of the Apes series, following our main character Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his companions as they fight a war with the humans. The reboot trilogy is one of the best ever made and can easily be ranked up there with The Dark Knight series and Lord of the Rings. They’re so well crafted with excellent, modern CGI that looks unbelievably realistic and authentic. Expectations were extremely high considering the two surprisingly brilliant predecessors, and it definitely delivers on every level with excellent action sequences, interesting character development, elements of comedy, and emotion. The plot was thought-provoking and manages to create a conflict between good and evil, and gives us a dilemma of who is in the wrong: the Apes, or the humans? This is done so effectively as the audience will change and alter their opinion multiple times during the movie, as characters express their argument, such as: who started it? Who is being more brutal and ruthless? These questions are brought up throughout War for the Planet of the Apes, making the audience question even their own opinion! This is evidence of excellent direction from filmmaker Matt Reeves. Serkis as Caesar is phenomenal, he gives the audience someone to root for while also appearing badass and intimidating. He’s clearly into the role and it shows through his adaptable voice catering for different situations. He brings out a variation of emotion from the audience, proof of what a brilliant, versatile actor he is. Woody Harrelson as the Colonel is scary and intimidating, he is cruel and heartless, which is cultivated through the excellent writing; making the audience hate him with a passion. Woody is on top form, and gives us an evil portrayal of a despicable, deranged psychopath. The other stand out performance was from Amiah Miller. She is absolutely great in this role, and at such a young age, she shows great promise in acting. Her performance was so original and realistic, and not stereotypical in any way, as her character is complex, which enhances the overall feel and tone of the movie. The pacing was slightly inconsistent in the second act, as it did drag a little bit in parts, but the first and third acts really make up for the small pacing issue that really doesn’t affect the film much anyway! The score by Michael Giacchino is intense and powerful, and the editing was consistent and smooth, and wasn’t jarring (thankfully!). The digital shooting and production is realistic but fantastical, which creates a brilliant cinema-going and transcendent experience! The script was just as good as the films in the series which came before, and includes sections of humour that lightens the dark tone. It’s also entertaining and fun, and the dialogue between the characters is tense in situations, but also light-hearted and comedic! Overall, War for the Planet of the Apes is one of the best movies of the year, and takes you on an emotional, heart-breaking journey that closes this masterful trilogy perfectly, and one that will stay with you for a very long time. #FilmReviews #TheatricalReleases #NiallMaggs #MattReeves #AndySerkis #WoodyHarrelson #SteveZahn #KarinKonoval #AmiahMiller #5StarFilm #AnimalFilms

★★★★★ Directed by Christopher Nolan Starring Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, and Harry Styles Film Review by Niall Maggs Dunkirk is the latest masterpiece by the excellent director Christopher Nolan. It tells the story of the rescue of 400,000 soldiers during the second World War, while they were stuck on the beach of Dunkirk, and couldn’t get home. Nolan’s direction in this is excellent, structuring the story into three perspectives: the land, following the troops on the beach, the sea, with the civilians fishing boats heading toward the beach to rescue the soldiers, and the air, following Tom Hardy and two other pilots in pursuit of a German Aircraft, bombing the soldiers on the beach. This method of storytelling is extremely immersive, giving the audience three different perspectives of what that experience was like. They get a feel of what was going through the soldiers’ minds during the evacuation, and what life was really like.This results in an extremely effective and gruelling (in a good way) film. Because this is a Nolan film, it’s obviously going to look fantastic, with expertly crafted cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema, that delivers to the audience a beautiful experience at the cinema, and keeps them captivated for the entire duration of the movie. They do a great job portraying life on the beach of Dunkirk in 1940. The performances were all excellent, as always in a Nolan film, with standout portrayals from Mark Rylance as a civilian attempting to rescue soldiers, who brings out emotion and dedication to his role. Hardy as the pilot is a man of few words but conveys a deep and interesting character, through his heroic actions. Harry Styles is clearly in the limelight due to his previous fame in One Direction, but gives a surprisingly good, but short performance that proves he is quite capable of acting as well. The score by Hans Zimmer is predictably phenomenal, that delivers a tone of dread and fear, while also being extremely suspenseful and gripping. Nolan and Zimmer are always a dream team and it is proven once again in this movie more than ever! The script was very small, but Nolan stated that he wanted to tell the story visually, rather than through dialogue, so there isn’t much of it, but the visual aspect is impeccable, proving you don't really need a four-hour long script to create a masterpiece. Overall, Dunkirk is an excellent war film that floors you and holds you down with emotion and non-stop destruction. It's brutally relentless and chilling but that is Dunkirk’s perfection, that gives us one of the greatest films of the year, and easily one of the best of all time. #FilmReviews #TheatricalReleases #NiallMaggs #ChristopherNolan #TomHardy #MarkRylance #CillianMurphy #HarryStyles #FionnWhitehead #5StarFilm #WarFilms #HansZimmer

★★★★★ Written & Directed by: #LukeArmstrong Starring: #JohnnySachon, #LottieTolhurst, #BrianBovell, #MichaelCondron Indie Film Review by Taryll Baker From director Luke Armstrong, Solitary is a sci-fi thriller set in a dystopian future. Prisoner Isaac (Johnny Sachon) wakes up on board a space pod, to find he's been condemned to life on Earth's first colony, and there's no way home. As he wakes, he is greeted mysteriously by Alana (Lottie Tolhurst) and, together, they must work through all odds to correct a course back into Earth’s atmosphere. Adapted from Armstrong’s short film of the same name, Solitary pushes the boundaries within a modest budget, proving that with great skill and determination, any idea can be made a reality. From the Hollywood inspired visuals to the fantastic minuscule cast, Armstrong’s ability is incredible, writing and directing a small scale narrative with finesse, contained like your favourite bottle episodes of Star Trek. Carrying the film from beginning to end is no easy task for both Johnny Sachon and Lottie Talhurst, but they’re clearly interested in the project and take special care when exploring their characters. By the end, both of them feel fully situated within the story and have their own personalities developed. With cinematography expertly handled by Jack Booth, each frame looks utterly stunning. Beautiful lighting just scraping the edges of the space pod set, as it slowly passes by the sun. The visual effects look incredible for a small budget film — the explosions taking place on the exterior of the pod look and sound sharp. One of the key elements that particularly leaps from the screen, is the synth-driven score by Vince Cox. Having worked with Armstrong many times before, their budding chemistry is very much alive and ever-growing in this film. Supporting the delicately lit scenes is an atmospherical bed of sound, moving alongside the story, acutely placed. Fear, regret, anticipation, are all present within the music, making Solitary feel even more rich. Filmmakers have been exploring the space setting more and more over the years, and I believe the experimental Kubrick epic 2001: A Space Odyssey is a huge reason why. The camera techniques, visual trickery, and eerie ambience presented in 1968 was a giant step forward for cinema. We’ve seen films take it further and further, referring to the likes of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and the intense Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Now, Luke Armstrong strips the genre back to the basics. Solitary is a remarkable film. Watch the trailer for Solitary at the link below: https://youtu.be/mCSUeGbN6Ms #TaryllBaker

Filmmaker Interview by Chris Olson You're back with a new film! July 15th. How would you pitch this to a new audience? Yes, I am, and thank you for having me. July 15th is a short black and white silent romantic drama that was filmed on location in Washington Square Park in NYC. It is inspired by both NYC and the theme of true love while paying homage to the classic films from the past that paved the way for the talkie films we have today. Why did you want to tell this story? My favourite film is The Princess Bride and it deals heavily with the theme of true love. Needless to say, I’m a big hopeless romantic at heart and I wanted to create something that deals with the theme of true love. After my father passed away I started writing this short piece by piece. I never wrote before and this feeling awoke in me. I wanted to express myself, but in a different way than I used to as an actress. It was like the world that I would create for myself as a performer in my head became more vivid and for the first time, I felt like I could share it in written form. I would write a page and then delete it and go back and write another page and delete it. This was way before I wrote Riding with Sunshine. I wasn’t sure of the direction that I wanted to go. It wasn’t until my niece was watching this overly dramatic coming of age love story that I realized that I wanted to show her what true love was really about. There are so many great love stories out there. Just taking that theme on you have truly had to own it and bring it your all. So when I started writing the script again I thought to myself what is true love? And my father popped into my head. His love story with my mum. They have a really cute one. He drove for Greyhound and she was one of his passengers who got on. He turned around and told another passenger sitting near him that he was gonna marry that woman. He knew at that moment she was the one. I always loved that. I always thought it was so cute. From there I started thinking about him now and what happened to their love. It became the theme of my film. What happens to true love when someone dies? How does it change? Does it change? All these questions kept popping up and it brought me to create this piece of art. I really hope you and the readers enjoy it. The trailer shows the film to be in black and white (with a rather jaunty score). What was the reason behind these stylistic choices? The original intention for July 15th was to film it normally in colour with sound but during filming, our sound got thrown out due to background noise from park-goers at Washington Square Park. After looking at the footage I decided to take the film in a completely different direction. Overall it came out pretty well and I got to channel my inner Bob Ross. As he says “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” This is so true and I will always think of this quote whenever I think of my film. How has the process been getting this film made? It was a very long and very rewarding process. I am still doing some final touches on the subtitles as we speak. I think this film forced me out of my comfort zone and I learned a lot during this process. Why do you make movies? I grew up watching movies and tv shows with the people that I love because of that I always knew in my heart that I wanted to create something just as inspiring as what I grew up with in the hopes that they would experience beautiful memories to carry in their hearts as I do. I first saw you in the short film Riding With Sunshine. How have you changed as a filmmaker since then? That’s a great question, I think I’ve branched out more as an artist and grew a lot. With this film, I directed it all by myself unlike my other short film Riding with Sunshine I had a co-director. It forced me to pay more attention to detail and it made me an even greater artist because of it. I now have more confidence in my work and abilities as a director. Where with Riding with Sunshine that was my first experience on the other side of the camera and I was very green and very lucky to work with such a talented crew that took me under their wings. I came into the industry as an actress and always wanted to do more but was really shy about sharing my work. I guess you can say I grew up a lot since then. I feel like this would be a great moment for one of those feel-good “Look mommy, I’m a big kid now” montages lol. We'll slice that in later ;) What's next for you? I have a couple of short films lined up to take on once it's safer to film again before heading over to the UK for graduate studies at The University of Birmingham and The Shakespeare Institute. After completing my master’s degree I am going to take on my first animated feature film called Patty Pizzazz and from there hoping to take on a Shakespeare adaptation. Being a big fan of Kenneth Branagh I always wanted to attempt my own version of one, and if I'm lucky I hope to inspire someone with my version just as he has with me. What would you say if you were a dolphin? I know this might be a little outdated but the first thing that popped into my mind was “Sorry Charlie” from those old tuna commercials lol. Check out the trailer for July 15th below. #ChrisOlson #Interview

★★★ Directed by: #GabrieleFabbro Written by: Gabriele Fabbro Starring: #YdalieTurk, #OliviaMatterson, #JessicaGhitis Film Review by: Bruna Foletto Lucas Quo Vadis 2020 is a documentary written and directed by Gabriele Fabbro, an Italian filmmaker who has just graduated from film school in the United States. Prior to taking important steps in their lives and careers, Gabriele invites his classmates to a two-week visit to Italy, interested to see what his friends would make of his country that is struggling with moving forward. Fabbro’s documentary starts as a love letter to his home country, the shots are very nostalgic, and although he is interested in seeing his own country through his friends’ lenses, his Italian point of view is evident in his framing. Italy is shown in detail, small spaces between houses, the structure of a bridge, and a small crack in the pavement – those are the things which receive focus from Melanie Wick and Fabbro’s lenses. We are deliberately being shown details that enhance the beauty of Italy, albeit those details also enhance the decay of the country. This paradox is what hovers throughout the entire film shadowing the youth who are participating of this trip. Through interviews with the recently-graduated filmmakers and with natives, we are given a narrative of love and hate, the majority of the young filmmakers find Italy beautiful and see themselves wanting to settle there, even if for a period of time, whereas the majority of the natives, though that is only prevalent in the beginning of the film, explain how much they would like to live somewhere else. Here we find the difference between a romanticised vision of something and the true reality of it. This can also be said of artists, from the outside viewer there is this idea that working in films is glamorous, but the reality is that sometimes it is necessary to say yes to jobs just in order to pay the rent. This parallel between Italy and the young filmmakers reaches another level as the title suggests. From the phrase in Latin, “quo vadis” means “where are you marching to?” – a question that Italy must answer as it struggles with moving forward and so do the young filmmakers who have just left school and will probably start their first jobs. In pondering this question, some others are raised – how to achieve happiness instead of perpetual content, and is happiness even something we should strive for? Economics comes into question when the idea of success is proposed - what does it mean to be successful and why is it equated with skyscrapers and big cities? By no means does the documentary try to answer these questions, but it is in proposing them that the film makes us think about it. If anything, it is clear how some of the people involved in this film have put so much passion in it and have gone through a process of catharsis. It is quite enjoyable to go through this process with the group, and Italy is portrayed with such affection that it makes it difficult not to fall in love with it too.

★★★★★ Stars Directed by: #AliceOrlik Written by: #AliceOrlik Starring: #FinGardner, #AliceOrlik Film Review by: Alicia Moore The phrase ‘to have a monkey on one's back’ indicates to have an addiction that one cannot control, often referring to being addicted to drugs or suffering withdrawal from a drug addiction, much like the situation being presented in this short film. Sometimes the phrase is expressed as ‘get the monkey off one's back,’ meaning to rid oneself of a burden, problem or addiction – it is obvious that the main character of this film has not reached that level of complete freedom yet. Kyle (Fin Gardner) is the younger brother of Annie (Alice Orlik.) The film follows the two characters as Kyle takes a trip to visit his sister who left home a year ago, most likely due to her drug addiction. Kyle states that Annie has ripped the family apart because of her thirst for such substances, showing that her addiction is deeply rooted into the entire family’s lives. Monkey On One’s Back deals with the sensitive subject of addiction through a very realistic approach. The natural settings within the film make it a familiar atmosphere for the audience, almost symbolising that addition is truly all around us, destroying lives in secret. There is a lot of unnecessary stigma surrounding addiction and I think this short addresses said stigma in an incredibly subtle way through comfortable and approachable settings. Kyle and Annie meet in a bar, like any other two individuals wanting to communicate. But the conversation is harsh and filled with sadness; not the usual conversation two siblings would have over a drink of beer. Because this is a completely typical meet-up, other than the topic of the conversation, a sense of relatability is established between the characters and the audience. Towards the end of the film, Annie leaves and, while Kyle is looking in the opposite direction, steals his wallet. The wallet conveys the realism of the running topic. The object shows how everything surrounding you becomes irrelevant once addition consumes your reality. After taking the things she needs from the wallet, Annie simply throws it on the ground; again, showing how little she cares about the usual necessities in life – even if they belong to her own brother, a loving and important extension of her blood. The entire short film possesses immense power in its writing by Alice Orlik, as well as within the overall message, by using subtle techniques through movement and dialogue to ensure the message is presented to the audience accurately and appropriately. The acting from both Fin Gardner and Alice Orlik is extraordinary. It becomes evident to viewers that they have taken the time to truly understand their character’s emotions and priorities, making their performances passionate and thoroughly immersive. Their reactions to each other’s presence and shared words never appear forced or ‘over passionate’ in any way; the performances are wholeheartedly brilliant and amazed me until the film’s ending seconds. Director of photography, Luke Flaherty, succeeds in introducing attractive cinematography throughout the duration of the film. As mentioned before, the settings are perfectly simplistic, and the choice for certain camera shots shows the unravelling events in a more personal and up close light. This positively adds to the realism of the film in its entirety and grabs the audience by the collar; pulling them into the setting to sit closely beside the characters. Monkey On One’s Back is a potent piece of film that I highly recommend to anyone; whatever your preferred film genre may be. It is of tremendous importance that Alice Orlik receives distinct praise for her acting within this short film as well as her writing and direction; her talent is indisputable and I hope to see more work from her in the near future.