The World to Come, the second feature from Norwegian filmmaker Mona Fastvold (The Sleepwalker), is a plodding meditation on love and grief that is salvaged from mediocrity by the palpable chemistry between its lead actors. Still, the film doesn’t offer much that is fresh of exciting and rehashes some tired lesbian period piece tropes.
The Sinners is a messy blend of gothic teen-thriller and slasher horror that bites off more than it can chew with a convoluted plot and a cringe-worthy narrator.
Written by Justin Benson and directed by Benson and Aaron Moorhead, Synchronic is the filmmakers’ follow-up to 2017’s The Endless and boasts the same brand of trippy, time-travelling science fiction.
Written and directed by Victor Neumark, First Blush is the story of a young married couple, Nena (Rachel Alig) and Drew (Ryan Caraway), who decide to open up their relationship after they meet a beautiful young actress named Olivia (Kate Beecroft). For a feature film debut, First Blush is passable and hints at Neumark’s talent for exploring complex interpersonal dynamics. However, as a depiction of polyamory, it misses the mark.
If you’re looking for a movie that’s going to scare the pants off of you, Mauro Iván Ojeda’s The Funeral Home isn’t it. Only the most sensitive and lily-livered viewers will be genuinely frightened by this Argentinian tale of hauntings and family drama. But what it lacks in terror, The Funeral Home makes up for in moderately creepy weirdness and old-school, vintage visuals.
While catching the latest movie may have been a low priority in 2020, the compromised release schedule still offered a particularly unique experience for viewers. Films relied, more than ever, on word-of-mouth which allowed smaller films to ride the same wave as at-home blockbusters; continuing the unpredictable boom of the streaming market.
The most interesting scene in Stars Fell on Alabama involves the lead couple participating in a complicated line dance to a country cover of “Gives You Hell” by the All American Rejects while they squabble over hurt feelings. The scene is vaguely surreal and doesn’t make a lick of sense, but at least its absurdity is moderately compelling to watch, which is more than I can say for the rest of this bland and charmless…
Liam Neeson has been playing a variation of the same soft-yet-secretly-badass character since 2008’s Taken, and Mark Williams’ action-thriller Honest Thief is no exception. Neeson treads well-worn ground as Tom, a former marine-turned-bank robber who wants to turn himself in and start a new life with his girlfriend, Annie (Kate Walsh). His attempts to make amends don’t exactly go as planned when the FBI agents sent to take him in decide to keep the money…
Written and directed by Stella Hopkins, Elyse is an uninventive and poorly-written depiction of mental illness. To watch Anthony Hopkins, Stella Hopkins’ husband and arguably one of the greatest actors of our time, perform in a film this tedious and inexpert is a truly baffling experience. Mental illness is a complex and nuanced theme, but Elyse’s exploration of a wealthy but unsatisfied white woman’s inner world is obvious and riddled with clichés.
