Hold Your Breath
With an impressively involving story using multiple methods to scare the viewer, Hold Your Breath is just the ticket for this year’s Halloween season.
Thriller
Protocol 7
Protocol 7 answers that scenario that we’ve all played out in our head – what if a doctor made a Hollywood legal thriller? Director Andy Wakefield, a former physician and documentarian who is also an adamant anti-vaccine activist, makes his feature-length narrative debut with Protocol 7. The movie may fare better than his menacing doc, Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, but that’s also damning with faint praise.
Thelma
Quaint humour and wholesome gags about retired life collide with a character-driven, Coen Brothers-inspired thriller in Thelma. In her best role since her Oscar nominated work in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, June Squibb proves her chops as a late-career lead as the titular golden-ager. Lonely albeit confidently independent in Los Angeles, Thelma isn’t seen as a liability to her daughter (Parker Posey), her son-in-law (Clark Gregg), or her grandson (Fred Hechinger). However, a phone scam that…
The Exorcism
The Exorcism is a reminder that filmmakers have a “shot clock” when trying to map out their movies.
Insane Like Me?
By: Trevor Chartrand Insane Like Me? is the first feature film from director Chip Joslin, who also wrote the script with the movie’s star, Britt Bankhead. This lackluster thriller has a number of faults, most of which are hard to ignore.
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.
Some Other Woman
Some Other Woman doesn’t tell us much about its psychological thriller of suspicion and distrust, but the audience believes they’re witnessing a ritual.
Orah
By: Trevor Chartrand Lonzo Nzekwe tells a very personal story in his gritty revenge-thriller, Orah. Having lost his brother at the hands of an alleged corrupt police officer in Nigeria, the filmmaker has admittedly helmed this movie as a sort-of revenge fantasy; with his characters exacting justice in ways he never could. As the film’s writer and director, Nzekwe’s ambitions are noble and empowering but, as a film, Orah is ultimately a messy series of…