The Surprise Visit features a small ensemble of actors who seem to be challenging each other. Only they’re not inspiring each other, they’re competing against each other for who can exaggerate the most. And director Nick Lyon is letting his cast “duke it out”.
This doesn’t happen too often – two films of the same specific sub-genre being released so closely to each other. In this case, the genre is the “home invasion thriller”. One’s really good, the other is really bad. Becky, the really good one, did a great job entertaining audiences with lots of inventive action. Its comparable evil twin, Survive the Night, takes us to the upside-down. It’s boring, illogical and its most famous star, Bruce…
You have two choices: focus on what’s insufficient in Becky or praise what the production miraculously pulls off. I would rather lean more towards the latter than the former. Sure, there are details in Becky that I wish had more time to breathe. On the other hand, the film is very entertaining, and it’s a career high for one of its actors.
Black Butterfly is practically a two-man show in the middle of the woods starring Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. Banderas plays Paul, a writer who has isolated himself to forge forward on his latest draft. Rhys-Meyers plays Jack, a prickly drifter who creates anxiety for those around him. An altercation brings the pair together, leading to an unconventional bond over Paul’s writing. Jack’s visit, however, takes a sharp turn as the duo exchange power over heated…
By: Addison Wylie Shut In’s leading damsel Anna (played by Beth Riesgraf) and filmmaker Adam Schindler have something in common: both have the ability to surprise and disarm. Schindler’s thriller begins as one of Toronto After Dark’s tamer offerings, and then socks us upside the head with brutal consequences and intense confrontations. Anna is reserved in mourning, and her agoraphobia keeps her hushed inside a rickety house. When she’s threatened by thieves interested in her stashed wealth, Anna reveals…
