Christian Sparkes

Reviews

The King Tide

Newfoundlander director Christian Sparkes (Hammer) seems as though he dipped into A24’s back catalogue to draw inspiration for his effective east coast chiller The King Tide. While there may be stylistic similarities to David Eggers’ work (The Witch, The Lighthouse) and Ari Aster’s movies (Hereditary, Midsommar), Sparkes’ ominous dramatic thriller doesn’t necessarily resemble Canada’s usual output. At least, not since Denis Côté’s Ghost Town Anthology.

Reviews

Hammer

Will Patton and Mark O’Brien play a father and son on the run in Hammer, a sophomore feature from writer/director Christian Sparkes (Cast No Shadow).  It’s Breaking Bad meets Beautiful Boy.

Reviews

Cast No Shadow

By: Addison Wylie Fresh off its stardom at the Canadian Screen Awards after earning nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score, the general moviegoing public gets to see if Cast No Shadow lives up to the hype. I congratulate director Christian Sparkes and his team on the nominations, but Cast No Shadow didn’t work for me.  Slivers of ideas are buried under the uneven tone of the film. If you disregard…