★ Directed by #JennyGage Written by #SusanMcMartin #AnnaTodd Starring #JosephineLangford #HeroFiennesTiffin #SelmaBlair Film Review by #GeorgeWolf According to my crack research staff (i.e. the twentysomething woman who was nice enough to talk with me after the show), Anna Todd's After source novels began as fan fiction for the band One Direction. That actually makes some sense, as Fifty Shades began as Twilight fan fiction, After's playbook is Fifty Shades lite (Fifteen Shades?) and I guess this is what we do now. The smoldering Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin - Harry Potter's Tom Riddle) is a college student who's "complicated, be careful!" Incoming freshman Tessa (Josephine Langford, showing moments of potential) isn't careful, and in an instant is trading in her high school boyfriend and Mennonite-ready frocks for Hardin and one of his multiple Ramones t-shirts. We've all seen this before, and so has Todd, whose story (adapted by Susan McMartin) checks off all the obligatory boxes for what is less a cohesive narrative and more a series of daydreams connected by desperately sensitive pop songs not by the Ramones. Director Jenny Gage, whose All This Panic mined genuine young adult emotion, is powerless to shape this material into anything more than plug-and-play emptiness. So after the slo-mo bad boy glances, the disbelief in love, the emotional moment in the rain, the ex who assures her what she did to him was fine, the assurances that someone finally sees her specialness and more, we get to the voiceover essay reading. Of course we do, and when that essay tells us how deeply one character's life has been changed by the other, it means nothing unless we've been shown some reason, any reason, to believe it.

★★★ Director: Max Rothman Writer: #MaxRothman Starring: #TimothyJCox Short Film Review by: #KirstyAsher Who Is Elmore Dean? is a short film about a man whose apartment seems to have taken on a life of its own. Elmore Dean is an esteemed songwriter, and the film opens on the day he will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Only things seem to be happening of their own accord, small at first before gradually becoming something like the merry havoc of a poltergeist. The #cinematography by Olivia Kimmel is impressive. The camera is rarely still, instead it roves across the set, lazy at first before shifting to feel more restless and in tune with Dean’s anxiety for the day ahead. The camera is static long enough to focus on the subtler moments, like when Dean is stood before the mirror, lost in thought. At times the camera is voyeuristic, as if its What then follows is an excellently choreographed sequence of events around his apartment – taps turn on by themselves, the stove reignites and items are flung over. It’s a great idea to explore how a character’s neuroses can infect their surroundings, and it’s a trope more often found in the horror genre. The choreographed sequences here coupled with the soundtrack create a more farcical quality that is light hearted, and amplifies the comedic nature of Elmore’s stress. With the techniques implemented in just a five minute short movie, Who Is Elmore Dean? is testament to the creativity of its production team, and definitely has the potential to develop into a great piece of prop comedy cinema.

★★★ Directed by: Sean Hartofilis Starring: #SeanHartofilis, #LindseyDumont, #MatthewMontemaro Indie Film Review by: #JackCameron Covadonga opens with a very beautiful shot panning across a lake on a misty morning, slowly turning towards shore and leaving us with a lone figure standing by the lakeside with a guitar. It has the effect of bringing us, willingly or not, into a secret place full of mysteries. Sean Hartofilis who wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred and wrote or adapted the songs clearly has a lot of passion driving this film. His work effort aside, the film does have a clarity divided into three clear acts the film delivers its story well. The #cinematography is a real stand out: DOP Alexander Crowe does an excellent job of capturing both the quiet serenity and implied threat of the setting. The score, by Wittches, is a mad mix of Irish folk and crashing droning electronica and given it's mainly played over a sunny wood the resulting juxtaposition adds to the slightly off-kilter atmosphere. All of these are pleasing qualities that are not without some skill, but they do not make a film. Hartofilis character, Martin Ravin, is a killer. Unfortunately, it seems the film expects a bigger reaction from this reveal. Ravin is meant to be shrouded in mystery and so the film shows us a lot of very long shots of him not doing much. These overstay their welcome and rather than engaging the audience they're going, ‘yes we get it, now what?' The master of long shots of almost nothing is Steve McQueen (Hunger) but, crucially, he knows to get the balance right between the story on screen and what's happening in the seats. Long shots of a cleaner mopping floors in Maze Prison are nauseating, uncomfortable and claustrophobic, we scream at them to cut away. Beautiful takes of forest and a clearly rich man with an axe swanning about his huge house doing very little does not hit high on the tension scale. As it develops it's clear that Covadonga is full of topics and uses abduction and murder to talk about (among other things) Catholic guilt, grief, redemption, a holy calling, Spanish history, Irish folklore, which is a lot for any film to handle. But Hartfolis chooses to present these ideas in long unbroken face-paced monologues. Certainly an unusual way to talk, but it shouldn't be more impactful than what's being said, especially when this is the crux of the whole film. It's frustrating because there's talent here, maybe too much of it, and it's presenting a collection of thoughts rather than unpacking fully formed ideas that we can walk away with. Nearly every scene cuts to Ravin singing to his victims the songs are well performed and they slow everything down. Covadonga can't decide if it's a film exploring dark ideas or a film built on dark aesthetics. In fact it tries to be both, but without the right ammunition for either, it ends up shooting itself in the foot, twice. Its ideas seem to be proudly aloof and its action is lacking proper motivation. Tenuously linking it all with Ravin's ambiguous sanity is, given everything else the film is trying to do, disappointingly unoriginal. Covadonga opens with an epigraph from James Joyce. Recently, Jordan Peele's Us opened with a seemingly unrelated fact about tunnels under America. Throughout the film our minds will come back to it because no matter where the fiction takes us we know it has a toehold on something real, and it's just enough to make us shiver. The quote from Ulysses, playing on top of that opening shot, is pretty, it makes us go "hmmm', but not much more than that.

★★★★ Directed by: Maxamillian Hofgartner Written by: Maxamillian Hofgartner Starring: #MaxamillianHofgartner, #IsabellaStevensonOlds, #KieranGabbitus, #DwayneThompson Short Film Review by: #ChrisOlson The tragedy of a relationship breakup given an obscure and non-linear approach from #filmmaker Maxamillian Hofgartner with his short film In the Midst of it All. The central character's heartache is explored through flashbacks, dream sequences, and a looming sense of peril. Hofgartner plays Tom, a taciturn fella whose unenthusiastic movements through life are indicative of his split with girlfriend Victoria (a splendid Isabella Stevenson-Olds - who I recently saw in Alien Hunter Nerf War). As his despair mounts he begins to form a narrative of events by revisiting moments he had with Victoria, either attempting to relive those golden moments or for some other harrowing purpose. Rejecting the help of his friends (Kieran Gabbitus and Dwayne Thompson), Tom looks to be on a course for self destruction. Adopting the less is more approach to #storytelling Hofgartner proves himself to be a tour de force of filmmaking. His short movie is incredibly clever and nuanced, allowing the emotional soaking of his central character to do the heavy lifting. Sequences are tightly filmed with a hazy feel that doesn't alienate the audience, instead amalgamating them with Tom's suffering in a very visceral way. Certain scenes were absolutely mind-blowing, such as the camera trying to keep up with Tom as he runs off into the night, or the tender-cum-nightmarish filming of Tom and Victoria in bed together. The performances are brilliant, aside from a little blip with the dialogue (see later in this movie review). Hofgartner as the lead was riddled with a palpable anguish that was utterly compelling. Stevenson-Olds was completely captivating too. Her physical portrayal was really moving and almost ghost-like. The supporting performances were solid, allowing plenty of room for the leads to explore their tumultuous relationships. Some of the dialogue was a little amateurish. A row between the lovers was quite hackneyed, which is a shame because Hofgartner later used silence over a montage which was far more powerful. Viewers could happily immerse themselves in the poignant visuals Hofgartner can deliver and rely only on the excellent sound design from Christopher Rooney. The storyline was reminiscent of numerous fractured plots from other movies, whereby the audience is asked to piece together the full story. What sets In the Midst of it All apart from the crowd is the sheer dominating atmosphere that is created. Ferociously intimate and personal filmmaking from an exceptional storyteller, In the Midst of it All is a stunning short film and a huge billboard for the future talents of Hofgartner in the world of cinema. Watch the official movie trailer below.

#FilmFestivals > #PressReleases > Grimmfest Film Festival Recently voted one of the top ‘30 Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World’ by MovieMaker magazine, Grimmfest will once again be bringing the very best in new independent genre cinema to Manchester (UK) from 3 - 6 October 2019. Following on from the incredible success of last year’s inaugural awards scheme, the festival will once again be offering fantastic prizes, worth over £120,000 in total, for 13 special awards. INTRODUCING THE GRIMMFEST 2019 AWARDS JURY Grimmfest is delighted to announce that actress, producer, horror movie icon and 2018 Lifetime Achievement award-winner Barbara Crampton (renowned for her roles in films such as RE-ANIMATOR and YOU’RE NEXT) will be chairing this year’s awards jury. Barbara will be joined by five other carefully-selected figures from the world of genre cinema, including Jennifer Handorf (film producer with credits including PREVENGE, THE CHAMBER, THE BORDERLANDS, THE FORGOTTEN & THE DEVIL’S BUSINESS), Amanda Presmyk (film producer for FANGORIA and CINESTATE, with credits including DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE, PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH & SATANIC PANIC), Anton Bitel (film critic for publications including SIGHT & SOUND, LITTLE WHITE LIES & SCIFINOW), Nikki Baughan (film critic for publications including SCREEN INTERNATIONAL, SIGHT & SOUND & THE LIST) and James Fler (sales agent for RAVEN BANNER ENTERTAINMENT, whose titles include TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID, LIFECHANGER, TRENCH 11). [Image: Top row, from left: Barbara Crampton, Jennifer Handorf, Amanda Presmyk, Bottom row, from left: Anton Bitel, Nikki Baughan, James Fler] The awards jury will view the films selected for the festival and determine the winners of the following awards, which are kindly sponsored by organisations and companies at the very forefront of genre cinema. Thanks to their support, Grimmfest is able to offer some very enticing prizes for the winning filmmakers: 2019 AWARDS PRIZES AND SPONSORS 1. BEST FEATURE FILM and 2. BEST DIRECTOR Both awards sponsored by film financier and producer Michael Laundon, with a prize of £40,000s worth of post-production funding to be awarded to each winning filmmaker for a future feature production (subject to terms and conditions). 3. BEST SHORT FILM Sponsored by video-on-demand platform Shudder, who are offering an airing of the winning film on their channel. 4. BEST SCREENPLAY Sponsored by leading screenwriting software company Final Draft, with a free copy of the latest version of the software offered for the winner. Also sponsored by Inktip who are offering the winner a free screenplay listing on their website. 5. BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by UK-based post-production house One Bright Dot, who are offering 10 days’ grade/online plus 10 days’ VFX and picture deliverables, for a total value of £20,000’s worth of post-production services. 6. BEST SCORE Sponsored by Grimm Entertainment, the feature film development and production arm of Grimmfest, who will offer the winning composer an opportunity to score one of their upcoming productions. 7. BEST ACTOR 8. BEST ACTRESS 9. BEST SFX Sponsored by Fangoria magazine, offering online coverage of the award-winning piece of work, plus a year’s subscription to the magazine. 10. BEST KILL Sponsored by Dread Central, who are offering online coverage of the award-winning film. 11. BEST SCARE Sponsored by Rue Morgue magazine, who are offering an article on the award-winning film, plus a year’s subscription to the magazine. In addition to the above listed awards which will be deliberated by the awards jury, Grimmfest will also present the following 3 awards: 12. BEST WORK-IN-PROGRESS Sponsored by Michael Laundon, Film Seekers and Screen International, the winner will receive £20,000s worth of post-production funding (subject to terms and conditions), an offer of international sales representation and a year’s subscription to Screen International magazine. 13. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Sponsored by Horror Channel who will present this award to honour a very special guest on their body of work within genre cinema. 14. AUDIENCE AWARD Sponsored by Shudder, who will award the winning #filmmakers with a 12-month subscription to their video-on-demand service. Grimmfest 2019 will take place 3 - 6 October at Odeon Great Northern in Manchester, UK. Short and feature-length film submissions are currently being accepted via FilmFreeway. The regular submissions deadline is 7 July and the late deadline is 4 August 2019. Selected films will be eligible for awards consideration.

★★★★ Directed by: #NicolePott Written by: #StutiNair Starring: #HarryTayler, #IanVirgo, #CressidaCooper Film Review by: #DarrenTilby Nicole Pott perfectly picks apart the dynamics of domestic violence in her short film, Kaleidoscope. Told from the point-of-view of one of the 130,000 children in the UK who live in households with high-risk domestic abuse. 7-year old Conan (Harry Tayler) is excited about his birthday. He's even more excited when his fun-loving Papa (Ian Virgo) arrives home, and he runs downstairs to greet him. The connection between him and his Papa is plain to see, and it's clear that Conan looks up to him. Papa's enthusiastic, happy-go-lucky attitude makes him instantly likeable to the audience and all the more sympathetic once we're introduced to Mama (Cressida Cooper). Cold, indifferent and distant, Mama just doesn't seem to have the time for her family. But there's more going on here than meets the eye. This tired and banal family dynamic had plagued our screens for decades, particularly during the early 90s. Indeed, the idea of the mother always being straight-laced, proper, even boring, while the father is portrayed as carefree and fun hasn't aged well. However, It's this preconceived cliché that Kaleidoscope plays on with such devastating efficiency. The cast sells it well: Ian Virgo bursts through the front door of his house and fills the screen with charisma, enthusiasm and charm. “What a great dad”, we're led to believe. Conversely, Cressida Cooper hangs constantly by the edge of the screen with her back to the camera, giving us and her husband the cold shoulder and never really involving herself with her child. In fact, so disinterested is she, it's a good few minutes until we even see her face. And in the middle of all this is young Harry Tayler, who provides the emotional core of the film, and whose childhood innocence is broken so completely during the third act. The stellar performances are complemented by a really solid script and competent film-making throughout. But it's the character and storyline writing (from Stuti Nair) that really stands out here. The character arcs are totally at odds with what you might expect from the initial set-up, whilst the narrative tries – on several occasions – to warn us about the elephant in the room. All with a frighteningly naturalistic flair. Kaleidoscope is a really well-made piece. Heart-breaking and poignant: Kaleidoscope is well directed, well written and the performances are scarily realistic. But more importantly, it shows a different facade, indeed, an all the more sinister aspect, of domestic violence. Making it clear that anyone can be an abuser.

★★★ Directed by: #ShaneRyan/#Boneshin Starring: #KaiLanette, #RobDale, #JerellGray, #AlyssaHedrick and #JeremyWilliams Indie Film Review by: #BrianPenn Jerky hand held cameras, slipping in and out of focus suggest a gritty tale in The Girl Who Wasn’t Missing. The story lands on Echo (Kai Lanette), a fifteen year old killing time in a desolate urban wasteland. She is continually raped in a brutal assault that lasts until sundown. Bloodied and dishevelled Echo wanders off without comfort or help. Ten minutes into the film there is still no dialogue to assist the viewer; save for a flickering caption announcing the character’s name and age. Then a further caption: a short while later and Echo discovers she is pregnant. Eighteen minutes in and we finally have dialogue; Echo’s father has discovered her secret and throws her out. So begins a depressing quest for shelter as she desperately scratches for change in vending machines. A bridge provides refuge as realities of the street begin to kick in. Echo is unloved and unwanted; nobody knows or cares that she’s missing; all that awaits is a lonely and dangerous existence. The film manages to convey a powerful narrative with minimal dialogue; in 60 minutes there can be no more than a dozen lines in a painfully thin script. Nevertheless, the indie movie makes its point with a series of images that jump from colour to black and white; mixing with periodic negative shots fading in and out. It gives The Girl Who Wasn't Missing a unique filter of colours and ethereal quality; allowing the viewer to surmise the character’s back story. Having said that, more dialogue would have driven the story with greater conviction; it nevertheless shows great dexterity and confidence to let visuals carry the burden. The result is a disturbing, almost hypnotic portrayal of a girl left to fend for herself; another casualty in a society that seems to care much less than it should.

★ Directed by: Justin Lee Written by: #JustinLee Starring: #KevinMakely, #JennyCurtis, #ToddARobinson Indie Film Review by: #JackCameron Quite often a film’s subject isn’t really what it’s about. We rarely remember the road in road movies. Similarly, #Westerns take a unique setting and use it to tell stories of ambiguous morality rather than the civilisation of a frontier. Few genres can have an audience cheering for one mass murderer over another. Any Bullet Will Do, written and directed by Justin Lee begins with two warring brothers caught on opposite sides of the Civil War whose hatred for one another sees them hunting each other long after the war is over. One brother, Hollis Ransom, (Kevin Makely) is now a headhunter tasked with hunting down the other (Todd A. Robinson) for stealing from the local gold baron. With the help of the local trapper's daughter, Rose (Jenny Curtis), Hollis sets out to kill his brother. Each of the leads' performances is good and, given the material they have to work with, they're commendable. The script and the direction are very Western-by-numbers and even though this is actually a film about two brothers we realise there's not much to them either. It becomes clear early on that the film expects us to accept one and condemn the other because they are meant to be the hero (or the villain), rather than making any effort to actualise these roles. Amazingly the scenes also do very little to advance the plot and yet are still in desperate need of an edit. The camera does nothing but cover the script, while the regularly scheduled action rattles through every Western cliché in the book, making the film feel even flatter than it was. Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name is a mystery because he says almost nothing. We have to judge him on when he does and doesn't act and ask ourselves why he did what he did. Sixty years ago The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance showed us two clashing toxic male characters and delivered an impactful bittersweet ending. This indie film seems to take pride in its two very loud, head-butting brothers. And as a result thinks we'll be on side when Hollis says to Rose, ‘you won't end up like me: you've got too much emotion. I'm a killer without a conscience.' And instead, we're laughing because the film also thinks it has depth and shows Hollis in anger or in tears every time he kills someone (don't worry he'll be over it by the next scene). The male leads boil down to two ridiculous amalgamations of vapid masculinity and we don't care what happens to either of them. There are no discussions of morality here; in fact, there is no story here, other than two brothers having a pissing contest. Lee relies on the work of others to make the exciting bits but he forgets to add any motivation behind the spectacle. What's worse is that it thinks it's raising questions about the evils of pre-Civil War America but allows no black characters to contribute to this debate. Similarly, it thinks it's pointing out how dangerous a period of history this was but does so by needlessly pointing out how it is specifically dangerous to women and how men can revel in violence with no consequence. Obviously, any film is free to be whatever it wants. However, Any Bullet Will Do chooses to ask its audience to sit for two hours and watch out-dated and underwritten characters, literally grunt and roar at each other, while supposedly representing two sides of a debate. This film is not just dull; it can't find anything new to be dull about.

★★★★★ Directed by #JosephAndrewMclean Film Review by #JackBottomley Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or “Mad Cow Disease”, will certainly resurrect horrifying images for many a reader of a certain era, as the situation surrounding this disease arguably reached its apex in the ‘90s. Newspaper headlines, terminally ill and suffering animals, moral panic, governmental chaos and mass anxiety were rampant and people were scared. Yet, as the decades have rolled on, the Mad Cow disease epidemic has been seemingly consigned to history, when the reality is even more unsettling, as it is one stained in lies, quick money, death and blood. Director Joseph Andrew Mclean’s eye-opening documentary film, Cows, Cash & Cover-Ups? Investigating vCJD, delves into that very dark story and in doing so, provides a chilling but important document of a subject we all deserve to know about but few of us really do. Tackling BSE, the origins of the outbreak and predominantly the deadly and degenerative Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakkob Disease (vCJD) which has impacted a percentage of the population ever since, this film also looks at abuses in the meat industry, the heinous cover-ups since the late ‘80s by every respective government and the continuing heartache of families and victims. Utilising an impressive collection of research backed by some especially damning quotes from respected sources, a graphic assembly of images/footage and some emotionally shattering testimonies by those who have lost family to this horrendous disease, this film is attention grabbing and really quite sickening to see unfurl. #MartinHeron has edited all the impressive material so expertly together that the documentary flows seamlessly, making a point and almost immediately backing it up with video proof, documented (and ignored) evidence or a poignant human experience. Journalist Christine Lord, author of Who Killed My Son? Who also runs justiceforandy.com, acts as associate producer to this project and, having lost her son to vCJD, her passion and drive for the truth and defence of future generations remains a hopeful leg to the film. As does the strength of all the families who interviewed, families who still persist in attaining what they are owed...an explanation. And this brief but detailed film goes some way into perhaps getting just that for all of us, as it raises this issue at a timely point in British history, whereby Brexit could see an escalation of such problems. Narrated clearly and brilliantly by #IanReddington, this film is a hard watch but a necessary one and it asks some serious questions about what goes in our food, how much we know about this (and for that matter...anything), the international aspects of meat management and the reprehensible ethics of those running the show. Animal welfare and humanity are paramount in these industries supposedly. How is it then that we have a tale here, not about what is being done but rather what isn’t, as the film shows just how far powers that be have gone to slash prices, protect industries built of negligence and cruelty, or to just hope the problems go away, as they hide away the facts from the public eye in the meantime. From blood transfusions to meat to medication, this is a story that is not even confined to one industry but breaches several! Cows, Cash & Cover-Ups? ends with thanks to the The Goodwin Family, John Middleton, The Richer Family and The Smith Family for telling their stories onscreen and is dedicated not only to Andrew Black, Grant Goodwin, Matthew Parker, Kate Richer, Billy Smith (all of whom have their tragic stories told here) but to all victims of vCJD and BSE...human and animal. This is not so much a film as a sounding of the alarm and it is a vital, urgent and frightening raising of an issue that we should all make it our duty to know about. This documentary should be televised on the grandest scale and its story shared with as wide an audience as possible. Scary and upsetting, Cows, Cash & Cover-Ups? Investigating vCJD is essential coverage of a important but under-discussed subject people would rather believe a tragedy of the past, than a fear of the future. Mclean’s film is the first step into changing this mindset and is one hell of a powerful and well researched achievement.

★★★★ Directed by: Kent Jones Written by: #KentJones Starring: #MaryKayPlace Film Review by: #ChristieRobb There’s a meme, “You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.” Writer/director Kent Jones's Diane is a character study of a woman in need of self-care. Her cup has gone bone dry. The 70-ish widowed and retired Diane (played by the phenomenal Mary Kay Place) spends her days in service to others. She plays cards at the bedside of a cousin dying of cervical cancer. She brings casseroles to friends recovering from illnesses. She serves macaroni and cheese at a soup kitchen. And she returns again and again to the disheveled apartment of her drug addict son, incurring his abuse as she begs him to return to the clinic for treatment. But when asked how she is doing, Diane responds with a pat response of, “I’m fine,” deflecting the conversation away from herself. Over time the distractions disappear, giving Diane a lonely space to focus on herself. But that space exposes a shameful memory from her past that she’s kept busy trying to avoid by performing penance. Place’s performance is raw and layered. The cracks she reveals in Diane’s polite self-sacrificing façade are natural, relatable and quietly devastating. And most of this is delivered by way of a slight change of facial expression or a shift in body language. She anchors the film, and it emerges as an effective study of the everyday failures and secret shame that most of us carry with us as we drive about in our lives trying to do better this time.

★★★ Directed by: #JamesKent Written by: #JoeShrapnel #AnnaWaterhouse Starring: #KeiraKnightly #JasonClarke #AlexanderSkarsgard Film Review by: #HopeMadden While there are a number of fine points to James Kent’s The Aftermath, novelty is not among them. You don’t need to know the plot, you just need to glimpse the movie poster: Jason Clarke is married to Keira Knightly; Alexander Skarsgård lives in their attic. What happens, do you think? Any guesses? It’s a love triangle you’d have to have your eyes closed to miss. No, the plot is not going to surprise or, to be honest, particularly entertain. Give Kent and Aftermath credit, then, for mining its backdrop for genuine tension, not to mention fascinating historical detail. Knightly is Rachael Morgan, wife of a British colonel (Clarke, obv). She joins him in his post-victory assignment in what’s left of Hamburg, 1946. He’s been given the home of a German architect, Herr Lubert (Skarsgård), and in Morgan’s compassion (and naivete), he invites the former owner and his teenage daughter to stay on rather than face the harsh realities of the camps. Clarke—who too often plays cuckolded husbands to waifish beauties and handsome houseguests—offers a sympathetic turn as a grieving man coming to grips with both a crisis of conscience as well as profound grief. Through him we glimpse the chaos of a divided city, conflict and hatred still echoing through rubble-strewn streets. He’s intriguing, as are those minor characters who orbit his military life: the rogue Aryans still loyal to the cause, comrades taking pleasure in continuing to punish Germans, and the teenage girl lurking in the shadows of his own home. Though the film continues to direct your attention to the beautiful people struggling against their desires, it’s angry adolescent Freda Lubert (Flora Thiemann) whose silent contempt compels attention. She’s wonderful, creating a spoiled, misguided character who’s hard to like and harder to predict. It’s a nice distraction from a film that is otherwise as unsurprising as any you’re likely to see. Knightly and Skarsgård perform admirably in blandly familiar roles. And, of course, they look glorious. But pretty as they are, every moment they’re onscreen you’ll wish to be back out in the ruins of Hamburg with the actual characters.

★★★★ Directed by: #EmmaTammi Written by: #TeresaSutherland Starring: #CaitlinGerard #JuliaGoldaniTelles #MartinCPeterson Film Review by: #HopeMadden There are not enough horror westerns. And why not? The whole Wild West thing feels like a terrifying, isolated, dangerous adventure—especially for women. Director Emma Tammi’s first narrative feature, The Wind, pulls together all those ideas and more into an absorbing little nightmare. Lizzy and Isaac Macklin (Caitlin Gerard and Ashley Zukerman, respectively) are relieved to see smoke coming from a distant chimney. The only other cabin for miles has been empty a long while, and the prairie does get lonesome. But companionship and burden go hand in hand for Lizzy, and company won’t chase away all the demons plaguing this harsh land. Working from a spare script by Teresa Sutherland, Tammi develops a wonderfully spooky descent into madness. Throughout Lizzy’s isolation, Tammi swaps images onscreen from present moment reality to weeks earlier, to months earlier, to a present-day hallucination or specter and back again. The looping time frame and repetitive imagery turn in on themselves to create a dizzying effect that echoes Lizzy’s headspace. Gerard spends nearly as much screen time alone as she does with co-stars, and her turn is haunting. There’s nothing showy in this performance, Gerard slyly betraying one emotion at a time through the character’s well-rehearsed stoicism and reserve. It’s a feat of imagination and execution for both Gerard and Tammi, turning this small production—only five principle actors and two sets—into a hypnotic ordeal. Tammi’s confident pacing and Gerard’s masterful performance ensure a gripping trip through a merciless slice of prairie life.