★★★★ Directed by: #SerenaChloeGardner Starring: #KateLock, #EvelynLockley Short Film Review by: #EvieBrudenall Grace (Evelyn Lockley) lives with her mother Cathy (Kate Lock) who is suffering with severe mental health issues. Times are testing as Cathy refuses to take her medication and Grace must subsequently manage the situation to the best of her ability. Blackout opens with a violent and potentially life-threatening encounter as Cathy attempts to smother Grace with a cushion before threatening to kill her and throwing her untouched box of medication at her head. This immediately gives us an introduction to Cathy’s disturbed mental state and the effects of which Grace must endure on a daily basis. Cathy is evidently mentally unstable and suffering from delusions, possibly hallucinations, believing that she is being monitored and has been given a mission by MI5 that she must enact. Meanwhile, Grace must appease her mother’s delusions, a particularly draining and taxing existence. The #cinematography captures this relationship dynamic perfectly. The camera effortlessly roams freely and is in no way restricted as it follows the restless Cathy and the sudden impulses in her head whilst an exasperated Grace does her best to keep up. Blackout’s DoP and director Serena Chloe Gardner made an excellent technical choice that subsequently helps to shape the creative aspects of the short; the visual language matches the tone and energy, demonstrating thoughtful and intelligent behind-the-scenes talent. The talent in front of the camera is also equally impressive as both Kate Lock and Evelyn Lockley are magnificent in their respective roles. The character of Cathy faces many challenges it would be very easy to make her a caricature without an ounce of integrity. However, Lock’s performance hits all the right notes and the actress avoids the risk of portraying Cathy as a stereotypical sufferer of mental health. She I, at times, truly worrisome as her condition increasingly causes her to behave irrationally and out of character, but we never lose sympathy for her troubled state. Lockley as Grace is just as effective, excellently conveying the fear and desperation that the character faces during her every waking moment. Both leading ladies deliver memorable performances and elevate the drama beyond what’s written on the page. Blackout has no particular plot or narrative beats that it hits in its under 10-minute runtime. The story offers us a glimpse of Cathy at her worst as she attempts to convince Grace of the mission she has been set. We get the sense that these events are leading up to something but, when the conclusion eventually arrives, it’s predictable, unconvincing and rushed in comparison to the rest of the film’s pacing. However, the two leads sell the finale with a fierce commitment that makes you want to forgive it for its flaws. Although Blackout as a #shortfilm may fall at the final hurdle and require a more fleshed out script, its strong performances and acute creative instincts show promise for director Serena Chloe Gardner.

★★★ Directed by: Zach Zeman Written by: #ZachZeman Starring: #ErichRausch, #LouisRodriguez, #MasonTaylor, #CliftonLewis, #LloydKaufman, #CarloFiorletta, #JustinDeSilets Short Film Review by: #ChrisOlson A movie about movies, short indie film Meltozoid: The Remake from filmmaker Zach Zeman is a filibuster of film industry damnation. The sacrilege of movie remakes gets given a taste of its own foul medicine when the director of a 1960s B-Movie nightmarishly returns to protect his film from a would-be remaker. Erich Rausch plays Dick Linksman, an unscrupulous movie producer who hopes to package and present a remake of an old horror film called Meltozoid, with added sex scenes (because that's what the audiences of today like). Fortunately, the film's original director returns in ghastly form in order to intervene and wreak havoc on the rascal. Told in black and white and a boxy aspect ratio, Meltozoid: The Remake is a scruffy love letter to cinema. One part nostalgia mixed with two parts fury at the way things are now, Zeman seems intent on discussing the shameless antics which are fuelling the industry, whilst offering the audience a smorgasbord of strange and weird scenes. Hats off to the special makeup effects of Chelsea Nowak, which were utterly disturbing and arresting. The performances are great, with an array of eclectic characters, actors, #filmmakers etc. Rausch is particularly great at playing the scoundrel producer whose Ebenezer Scrooge style experience still isn't able to fully shake his villainy. There is too much chaos to fully appreciate the roles and turns on offer, and the viewer is expected to tolerate the confusion as part of the wider thematic point of the piece. It was a film that reminded me of other cinematic outings that attempt to at least send up the art of #filmmaking. From Jay and Silent Bob's raucous road trip movie to even something as mainstream as Deadpool, the idea of turning the camera on the industry and having a good hard stare at its flaws and foibles is an enjoyable endeavour. Sadly the lack of narrative and the eschewing of any aesthetically pleasing aspects keep the movie stranded in the forgettable category. By making a movie about how depressing remakes are, Meltozoid: The Remake becomes almost self referential, not quite breaking the fourth wall but certainly making points in a meta style. Overall the experience is too noisy and raw to feel coherent, and the dedication to B-Movie aesthetics feels cumbersome rather than coherent or compelling. There are some nice motifs about artistic control and the evilness that can arise when money is involved, however, these are sidelined for a more anarchic atmosphere of ghoulish revenge and theatrics. Watch the short film trailer below.

★★★ Directed by: #AaronONeill Starring: #JamesMcKenzie, #KevinNugent Short Film Review by: #BenjaminSchofield It’s unclear how this extract fits into the wider film of Butter 77 but it opens with a chaotic, cacophonous blend of screeching jazz, amateurish sound effects and crackling confused narration, layered over documentary style footage splattered with clashing colours and Pythonesque Dadaist experimental animation. It’s messy, it’s ugly, it’s painful to watch and even more so to listen to. I loved it. However, we then jump from this madcap circus of the senses into a one-on-one dialogue scene. They’re apparently arguing over something pretty serious, but the performances are flat and unengaged. The writing seems to be going for the quick-witted exchanges displayed by the likes of Tarantino and McDonough, but the actors don’t manage to bounce off each other and the editing doesn’t help to speed up the exchanges either. Instead, we’re left with a slow droll conversation with the occasional quip. Credit must be given to the line “you couldn’t knock out a wank, never mind that wee fella” for making me genuinely laugh out loud, but unfortunately this is one of the first lines in the scene and it’s all pretty much downhill from there. Credit must also be extended towards the cinematography. I recently wrote a review in which I condemned the poor lighting but let them of the hook because its hard to film at night, after all. However, if Butter 77 proves one thing, it’s that you can shoot at night and still make your film look fantastic. The characters are cast in shadow, but the soft streetlights bring out the textures and subtleties in their faces, and the soft focus blurs out the streets of Derry behind them and it really is just beautiful. The scene isn’t bad, but the opening animation hyped me up and prepared me for a wild, unorthodox ride. It seemed as though it was going to touch upon pressing political and historical issues with a wry satirical, absurdist edge. When the scene actually started it seemed so conflicted with the previously established tone and I was disappointed. Then we got the fantastic wank knocking out line and I figured that maybe it would be pretty good anyway, and then it never lived up to what it had established. Then the closing credits brought back the music and style from the opening and it was as though I was being reminded of the great film that I could have watched but instead was refused. I can’t say I’m not interested to see how the finished feature looks, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to it either.

★★★ Directed by: #ShaneRyan Starring: #MarikoMiyamitsu, #EriAkita Short Film Review by: #AlexandraJames Oni-gokko is a Japanese short directed by Shane Ryan. The story involves a game of tag taking a deadly turn and soon becoming the grisly end for two sisters. It is the torment and guilt looming over this story which makes for an exciting watch, as well as the hauntingly cold spirit of sister Aki. A chilling film that disturbs the senses and conjures an unnerving sensation throughout. There is very little background given to the storyline, apart from the title being Oni-gokko, meaning ‘tag’ in Japanese. The audience are left in the dark for a majority of the film and can only assume that this small game of tag just got completely out of hand, clearly a tricky game to win that’s for certain! Nevertheless, it was an interesting premise and being a horror it did pose for an uncomfortable watch. Even the appearance of the two characters projected this death-like feel, it was their two pale, skeletal bodies and the presence of blood splattered across each of them which sent a cold tremor down my spine. The ghostly form of the sister gave this film the drive it needed to be pushed into the horror genre. Mariko Miyamitsu (Aki) certainly brought fear and an unsettling atmosphere to the table. However, it can be debated as to whether the tormented sister, Eri Akita, can truly be seen as the most suitable actor for the role at hand. It was difficult to see a relationship between the two siblings mainly because it seemed as though there wasn’t any real sadness, merely guilt of her actions and the consequences that have arisen from them. Without that form of connection between the two, it made her character seem less believable as well as her performance lacking that fear most would convey when faced with the ghostly presence of their late sibling. The story had some awkward pauses in places, and the nudity although unusual and chilling, did seem rather unnecessary, especially because it did not add a whole lot of depth to the scene itself. Perhaps it can be argued if this should be taken out of the film altogether? Would this change the dynamics of the film? Who knows! If I were to counter this argument, the presence of razors, blood and the naked body does indeed make me cringe and shudder at the very thought of this lethal combination, so perhaps it was needed to produce this scaremongering reaction we horror fans thrive off of. Oni-gokko created an intense viewing experience for the audience to absorb. Although the story had a bit of a slow pace in some scenes, the visual aspect of the film was extremely engaging and sucked the audience in; discovering more about the ghostly figure who proceeds to haunt over her sister with guilt and shame. Oni-gokko was well edited and allowed the story to unfold, revealing bit by bit the hidden secrets which paved the way for a dramatic ending! A good watch for avid horror fans.

★★★★ Directed by: #QuincyRose Written by: Quincy Rose Starring: Quincy Rose, #JessicaDiGiovanni, #AugieDuke, #ZacharyTiegen Indie Film Review by: #ChrisOlson You’ve heard of the meet cute, well welcome to the split sad. Quincy Rose’s contemplative indie comedy The Narcissists is an exploration of love, sex, and relationships that feels four parts therapy to one part walking tour of NYC. Rose plays Oliver, an olympic overthinker whose girlfriend Cassi (Jessica DiGiovanni) and he are at somewhat of an impasse. The lease is up on their apartment and they need to decide whether to commit to more years, both on their abode and their relationship. To make matters more complex, Cassi has recently admitted to fooling around with an old flame. Oliver takes to the streets with his sexually charged BFF Max (Zachary Tiegen), whose provocative and at times wildly inappropriate advice borders on the insane, whilst Cassi does the same with her friend Letty (Augie Duke) whose viewpoint on relationships is approaching anarchic. It’s been almost three years since I reviewed Quincy Rose’s indie film Miles To Go and looking back at that movie review I actually used the word “narcissism”. It was done in a positive way, in that Rose managed to sidestep that by allowing other characters room to contribute meaningfully to the piece. In The Narcissists, Rose is being deliberately and spectacularly narcissistic in order to make valid cultural commentary, again with himself in the lead role. He even takes this a step further by applying meta techniques to self reference himself and his filmmaking in a quasi-documentary/mockumentary kind of manner. The result is a slightly confusing but always compelling introspective romantic drama that is as thought-provoking as it is indulgent. Cinematically, there is a beautiful artistic simplicity to The Narcissists that bucks the trend and makes audiences sit fucking still for a change. Long, static sequences of characters out in the daytime on the streets of New York City are the only offering. The cut doesn’t happen until the characters have finished their full exchange and there are no intimate close ups or choppy editing to keep the eye distracted from the dialogue. Short-attention-spanned audiences of 2019 are unlikely to have experienced a viewing experience quite like this. Just like my earlier review, a tip of the hat must be given to Woody Allen. The film screams Manhattan and Rose knows the cinematic heritage perfectly well. What Rose does with his material and the picturesque city is still totally unique and hugely worthwhile. The script is strong and there are some potent topics which arise during the plethora of heart-to-hearts going on between the pairs of friends. Some of the dialogue starts to feel shocking for the sake of being shocking (and this is even self referenced) and attitudes feel amplified in order to create elaborate contrast between Oliver and Cassi’s dilemma and the “wayward” antics of Max and Letty. For the most part this is fine, it just gets a bit repetitive as the movie goes along and the final third was somewhat of a let down in terms of satisfying resolutions. What audiences do receive, however, is a film for our times, one that aesthetically challenges us to become the actual fly-on-the-wall and listen to the personal drama that is currently all around us being drowned out by noise and distraction. The human issues feel enduring yet the delivery is remarkably nuanced and original. Watch the movie trailer for The Narcissists below. The film is available to watch worldwide from August 27th 2019 and on iTunes in the UK.

★★★ Directed by: #JohannesRoberts Written by: #ErnestRiera #JohannesRoberts Starring: #SistineRoseStallone #JohnCorbett #CorinneFoxx Film Review by #GeorgeWolf Two years ago, Johannes Roberts proved he could craft some fine sharky thrills amid the soggy dialog and questionable logic of 47 Meters Down. He’s back as director/co-writer for Uncaged, with a bigger budget and a mission to deliver more of whatever you liked the first time. The scares? They’re jumpier! The sharks? They’re scarier! The water? Wetter! Roberts builds these thrills on an unrelated shark tale. Four high school girls in Mexico go diving where they shouldn’t – an underwater Mayan burial cave. It’s currently being mapped by a team led by one of the girls’ Dad (John Corbett), which makes the cutting edge dive gear more believable than last time. But all that gear is perfectly form-fitting for a group of teen girls, so… So, forget it, and appreciate how Roberts borrows elements from the horror gem The Descent to create satisfying waves of claustrophobic, over the top terror. If you remember the best scene from 47, you’ll see it re-imagined here, along with a very direct homage to Jaws and a nicely twisted and completely ridiculous finale. Because if you haven’t noticed, Spielberg’s less is more approach to the monster has…say it with me…jumped the shark. For Roberts and Uncaged, more is more, and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged doesn’t stop until you’re shaking your head at the skillful outlandishness of it all.

★★ Directed by: Rickard Bruhn Written by: #RickardBruhn Starring: #MartinAas, #HannamagdalenaBoeschenstein, #RalphJoseph Indie Film Review by #NathanialEker ‘[This] avant-garde documentary explores the world of an esoteric transcendental mystery-school’ is how indie film Mystery Livfe pitches itself. What unfolds over its hour and ten minutes runtime is nothing short of madness. Boring, incoherent madness. It’s a #documentary that so desperately wishes to be seen as enlightened and deep, that it fundamentally fails to tell any kind of compelling narrative. It’s difficult to ascertain what the point of this tale is. At face value, it seems similar to the story of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, in Wild Wild Country; a cult of personality teaches new age beliefs to westerners, before being corrupted by the power that the following brings. However, guru Hana Li fails to get that far. Where Rajneesh and his team invaded towns and poisoned country-folk, the enigmatic leader in Mystery Livfe does little more than throw endless shade at her pupils. Despite a moment where she threatens the arson of a naysayer’s house, nothing before or after this point shows us anything informative about her; she’s just there. The narrative seems to be leading to some sort of spiritual purge, or mass exodus, but it ultimately fizzles into dull nothingness. This unfolds at a dreadfully sluggish pace that makes Mystery Livfe beyond a chore to watch; you actively have to force yourself to stay focused on it. Regrettably, the camera work is about as innovative as the content. Grainy, fuzzy shots lead to difficulty in understanding what anyone is saying, particularly in scenes where multiple languages are used, and nonsensical gibberish is spouted. Close ups are favoured, only showing the participant’s upper half, creating a disconnect with the audience as body language is completely absent. This disconnect is compounded by poor editing that cuts off sentences, opens scenes without context, and sometimes removes audio altogether. The creative approach of Mystery Livfe is amateurish at best and woefully inadequate at worst. The structure and pacing are regrettably no better off. Baffling moments occur frequently, whether it be an introductory narration that’s five minutes long but fails to say anything, or a remix of one of the interviewee’s use of the word ‘ecstasy’ dubbed over him hitting the dance floor, played on a loop. It’s clear that Bruhn is trying to match the style of his film with the themes of new age philosophy presented by Hana Li, creating an avant garde piece that is the sum of its parts. However, the experimental elements that use bizarre audio and visual stimuli are some of the most unfocused and amateurish at play. There is one exception, however. In the aforementioned ‘I’ll burn down your house’ scene, the use of dark lighting intercut with Hana Li’s dialogue, and an image of a disturbing looking Indian idol is genuinely unnerving. It’s a shame that the film sacrifices further moments of inspiration for needlessly long spiritual rants and random imagery. Despite poor editing, camera work, and a dreadfully slow pace, Mystery Livfe isn’t completely devoid of merit. The sound design is surprisingly intuitive, using a variety of pleasant melodies that utilise close harmonies to craft a spiritual tone that is both soothing and foreboding. Combined with the still image of the night sky, an ethereal picture is created; one that blends the audio and visual perfectly to create a beautiful opening to each chapter and craft the beginnings of a peaceful tone. Less successful are the hand drawn segments which prominently feature a mysteriously overlain human eye. The disturbing blue eyes act as motif, piercing the minds of the audience from the moment the film begins. Perhaps the eyes are meant to represent the controlling, other worldly glare of Hana Li, or the worrysome paranoia of her less devout followers; it isn’t even slightly clear. The only true achievement of the eyes is that they’re startlingly unsettling, and rather than propelling any kind of theme, or driving the narrative, they merely further distract the viewer from the dull content. Overall, Mystery Livfe is sloppy, uninteresting, and forgettable. The interviewees have little of interest to say, and even Hana Li herself fails to excite or intrigue. The lives of her students don’t make for a compelling documentary, as they do little besides recount meeting a mystic old woman, whom most of them ended up abandoning because partying on a bus is more of a laugh. The #filmmaking is weak, the experimental creative choices unfathomable, and there isn’t enough content of substance to create a compelling feature film. Mystery Livfe lives up to its name; it’s a mystery how this film is considered interesting.

★★★ Directed by: #GeneStupnitsky Written by: #LeeEisenberg #GeneStupnitsky Starring: #JacobTremblay #KeithLWilliams #BradyNoon Film Review by: #GeorgeWolf So apparently kids today get names like Brixlee, Soren and Thor. That’s new. And when puberty hits, they pretend they’re plenty world wise, are tempted by peer pressure and worry that missing the big kissing party would be the end of the world. That’s not so new. With Superbad‘s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg on board as producers, Good Boys takes that film’s trusty formula and backs it up a few years, scoring a fair amount of solid laughs but not quite as much of the heartfelt smarts. Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams) and yes, Thor (Brady Noon) are new sixth graders and best friends, the Bean Bag Boys for Life! “Because we have bean bags.” Duh. They drop F-bombs, hope other kids think they’re cool, and will stop at nothing to make Soren’s (Izaac Wang) party where Max hopes to meet up with Brixlee (Millie Davis) and finally get the chance to puck up or shut up. But the ‘tween universe sends plenty of obstacles to keep the boys from the bash, some of which include drugs, alcohol, anal beads, angry high school girls, cops, a very busy highway, and a frantic paint ball battle at a nasty frat house (which turns out be a pretty inspired bit). There’s always some inherent humor in kids talking dirty and crossing paths with very adult things while misunderstanding most of them. Good Boys, to its credit, wants to be more, it’s just unsure about how to get there. Writer Gene Stupnitsky (Bad Teacher, Year One), directing his first feature, is at a disadvantage from the start. Superbad and Booksmart (you should see it!) both benefited from a leaving-for-college premise, which is just more of a life change than leaving for middle school. But those films also found a tender heart inside their core friendships that Good Boys can’t quite pin down. The boys are all adorable, and plenty of laughs – especially Tremblay’s hilariously deadpan line about a sex doll- do land flush. By the final bell, though, it’s caught between caring about the boys and laughing at them, and so are we.

★★★★ Directed by: #TamaraKotevska #LjubomorStefanov Starring: #HatidzeMratova Film Review by: #HopeMadden Cinematic in structure, narrative in its storytelling, all of it expressed with a visual flair that give it the sense of poetry — Honeyland is no ordinary documentary. #Filmmakers Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov offer a master class in fly-on-the-wall documenting with their patient, beautiful story of a lone beekeeper. Or is Honeyland actually an analogy for the human race and our relationship with this planet? It’s both. The Sundance #filmfestival winner offers no exposition, no context, no question and answer. Content to simply observe, Honeyland follows Hatidze Muratova, a Macedonian beekeeper. Loving long shots establish both the rugged terrain and the isolation of Hatidze’s days as she begins the yearly cycle of transporting a hive, caring for it and reaping the benefits of that patient, diligent work. The filmmakers’ respect for Hatidze drives the doc, which never labels or trivializes its subject, never patronizes. The solitude and the quiet of Hatidze’s days spent with bees and evenings with her bedridden mother soon make way for chaos and cacophony, as Hatidze’s lonesome dot of Macedonian land makes room for Hussein Sam and his nomadic family. Kotevska and Ljubomir abandon the long shot in favor of mid-range filming and close ups crowded with jumping children, bickering siblings, chickens and cattle. The campers, the kids, the lifestock, the noise—all of it caught with affection and trepidation by both the filmmakers’ camera and Hatidze’s smiling eye. Somewhere on the edge of this rush of sound creeps Hatidze, curious and cautious but smiling. Little by little she and this family form a community. She even becomes something of a mentor in the beekeeping tradition to one of the young sons, forming a sweet and eventually heartbreaking relationship. Heartbreaking because rush and need, ambition and impatience all combine with selfish interests to convince the Sam family that beekeeping is also for them. Shortcuts lead to a natural imbalance and soon Hatidze faces the crisis left behind when the natural environment is used for profit rather than nurtured for balance. Beautifully filmed with natural light to create a sort of visual lyricism, Honeyland becomes an allegory for our times. It’s hard not to be invested in Hatidze’s story, in her bees, as if our own future depends on them.

★★★ Directed by: Richard Linklater Written by: #RichardLinklater #HollyGent #VincentPalmoJr Starring: #CateBlanchett #BillyCrudup #EmmaNelson Film Review by #HopeMadden Low-key visionary director Richard Linklater, inexhaustible talent Cate Blanchett and wildly popular source material exploring creativity, motherhood and existential angst — Where’d You Go, Bernadette could work. The title suggests two things. Metaphorically, it refers to a disappeared genius. Bernadette Fox ceased to exist when she abandoned her architectural artistry for parenthood and, as far as the creative world knew, vanished. In a less metaphorical manner, the title refers to the actual mystery driving the plot of Maria Semple’s novel—the story of a teenager using emails, news clippings and notes to try to piece together the whereabouts of her now-literally-missing mother. That mystery is mainly gone from Linklater’s film adaptation, as Bernadette (the ever-exquisite Blanchett) doesn’t up and vanish until well after the 90-minute mark, and because the audience knows where she is all the while. Instead, Linklater focuses on why she left in the first place. Because, what could have been an ideal situation for another woman—wealthy husband (Billy Crudup) and his super-attentive administrative assistant, precocious and adoring daughter (Emma Nelson), nice neighborhood (even if the neighbors hate her), good schools, money to burn on virtual personal assistants (who turn out to be Russian identity thieves)—welp, it just doesn’t seem to be enough for Bernadette. There’s a lot to like about Where’d You Go, Bernadette, including a game cast and some gorgeous footage. Unfortunately, under all that is yet another fantasy about a rich white woman who needs to find herself. In its worst moments, the film falls back on catty mean girlisms, as if the greatest nightmare a woman could face would be for the withering cliquishness of high school to survive into adulthood, the popular moms making you feel like an outcast all over again. The filmmaker hits his stride, unsurprisingly, when pairing Blanchett with, well, basically anybody. Her one-on-one moments with Nelson, Kristin Wiig (as prissy neighbor Audrey), Laurence Fishburne (playing a former colleague) and Crudup (neutered as his character is) almost make up for the blandly directionless narrative. Linklater can do #comedy (School of Rock!!). He can certainly dive into motherhood (Boyhood). Nobody’d argue his insight and artistry when it comes to documenting a romantic relationship with its ups and downs (Sunset series). Frustratingly, with this film he simply cannot seem to decide which direction to take. Comedic moments are abandoned before they land, emotional messiness is tidied into submission, dramatic moments are undercut before they can generate any tension. The resulting, meandering tale doesn’t go much of anywhere.

★★★★ Directed by: Roger Hill Written by: #RogerHill Starring: #DanielFisherGolden, #SarahUlstrop, #JustinRose, #JahkingGuillory, #NiguelQuinn, #RickMontgomeryJr., #DanielAugustLopez LGBT Film Review by: #ChrisOlson A coming-of-age narrative blended with a revenge fantasy, #lgbt indie film Huckleberry from filmmaker Roger Hill, is a tale of the twisted type. From its small town mindset pioneering to its complex exploration of gender, it is a movie daring to be bold. Daniel Fisher-Golden plays the titular Huckleberry, a transgender misfit whose high school life is full of angst, rebellion, and an absorbing crush on classmate Jolene (Sarah Ulstrop). After learning of Jolene's mistreatment at the hands of her cocaine-addicted boyfriend Clint (Justin Rose), Huck (as only his friends call him) takes matters into his own hands with resounding consequences. With plenty in common with other great #comingofage movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower or Love, Simon, Roger Hill's Huckleberry steps into a cherished genre with his best foot forward. This is an emphatic piece of filmmaking told with a ferocity rare on an indie budget. And much like those aforementioned movies, Hill knows which tools to grab from his filmmaker's kit to elicit the correct response from his target audience. The music is poignantly chosen, layering the scenes with atmospheric angst. The #cinematography is tranquil at times before being juxtaposed with intimate framing of the suffering of particular characters. A particular highlight was the use of decrepit buildings as Huck and Jolene drive by, symbolic of a town buried in its old ideals and traditions, forgotten by the rest of society. From a performance perspective, Fisher-Golden does well to hold the central role. It's not a perfect turn and some of his delivery feels wooden yet the passion is obvious and he copes well with the varying demands of the character. It is Ulstrop who impresses the most. Her fierce, nuanced portrayal of Jolene was utterly arresting, throwing herself into emotional outbursts with complete devotion. The supporting cast are fairly decent, in particular Jahking Guillory as Huck's loyal friend. Opting to deal with a plethora of pubescent issues, Roger Hill is a storyteller unafraid to tackle large topics. Huckleberry's transgenderism isn't so dominating that it drowns the piece but it is a very strong aspect to the movie. The way in which he faces small town ignorance and embedded stigmas is dealt with superbly. The indie movie also explores or touches on topics such as domestic abuse, drug addiction, and racism. Having set the movie at the end of the '90s, the film doesn't really feel like a period piece. Replace the pager and Gameboy with an iPhone and the world is basically the same. Which, I think, is the tragic point. Watch the official movie trailer below.

★★★★ Directed by: #DebanjhanMaji Starring: #TrinaSaha, #ApratimChatterjee, #SharonyoBanerjee Short Film Review by: #BenjaminSchofield If you get worried about getting Ubers, maybe sit this one out. Maji’s short film Midnight Mirror prays on legitimate contemporary fears surrounding taxis and ride sharing apps, particularly the fears women face when riding alone. Trina Saha plays a young actress, on her way home from a big corporate party. She takes a cab on her own, despite her evident fear (exposition that is neatly established by her need to stay on the phone with her mother during the duration of the journey), but when her phone dies and a mysterious second passenger enters the car, her paranoia begins to sink in. It is difficult to say much about the plot of Midnight Mirror beyond this point without delving into spoiler territory, but the film manages to keep you second guessing with plenty of setups, misdirects and tension. Banerjee plays the mysterious and unsettling second passenger with a sense of comedy, helped by his ridiculous costume, that is so at odds with the otherwise serious and sinister tone of the film, that it creates a perfectly unnerving individual, quite different to one’s typical expectations of an apparently ‘creepy’ character. Trina Saha portrays a much more typical victim archetype, but she does a decent job with a relatively basic character. Given that the majority of the #shortfilm is set within a car, it manages to achieve some pretty interesting camera angles, creating a sense of dynamism that is crucial to giving the film its life and edge. It must be said that the lighting isn’t always great but the film is set at night and, hey, its hard to film in the dark, I guess. The editing is serviceable but there is a tendency to linger slightly too long on some shots, obviously an attempt to build tension (or perhaps just make the most of the footage they have) but instead it just interrupts the natural flow of the scenes, particularly the performances. As for sound design, there’s a pretty impressive soundscape, which may not be subtle, but the slightly heightened background noises add to the film’s sense of unease and paranoia; we see the ways in which our protagonist is wary of every small sound and movement as a result of her fear of travel. It’s a pretty decent film – still no idea what the title means though…