The Eyes of My Mother is a painstakingly-crafted black-and-white chiller that has been described as a horror/drama. While writer/director Nicolas Pesce delivers a heart-wrenching story with unsettling imagery, it all adds up to a bleak and empty experience.
The titular Gilly Hopkins (Sophie Nélisse) hasn’t had a proper home. She’s barely a teenager and already she’s earned a reputation within the foster care system that’s best described as “difficult”.
It would be unprofessional to make guesses on what compelled Katie Holmes to make All We Had based on what we know from tabloid magazine headlines. However, it’s hard not to assume when audiences observe the mother-daughter bonding of Holmes and breakout actress Stefania Owen.
It’s normal for an audience to be distracted by the picturesque Alaskan landscape in Sugar Mountain or the tunes sang by Blackwater Railroad Company. After all, filmmaker Richard Gray uses these pleasant qualities to soften up his highly unlikable movie.
Solid pacing and a talented cast make up for a struggling script in Miss Sloane, director John Madden’s political thriller that has been generating Oscar buzz in recent weeks.
There is a genre which developed in the western “enlightened” post-9/11 world which proves that neo-colonialist sensibilities are alive and well. It’s characterized by representations of poverty and suffering in the third world which are set up in a way as to suggest that the citizens of these countries are complicit in their own suffering. Humanity is afforded to some characters, but they are the minority amongst human garbage.
Michael Seater’s sophomore effort Sadie’s Last Days on Earth solidifies him as a filmmaker to watch for. He’s still budding within his new career, and yet he’s already a master at generating tender authenticity.
Complete Unknown looks and sounds ordinary, but that’s the idea. Joshua Marston’s drama centres on dull people with dense occupations who are celebrating a birthday party for Tom, the most unlikable person within their social circle. However, the night is shaken up by an attractive, unknown guest.
I impulsively summarized True Memoirs of an International Assassin on Twitter by typing, “really wish True Memoirs of an International Assassin used its strengths to subvert the action genre. Still not bad, just indistinguishable”.
The Blair Witch Project inspired independent filmmakers and the found footage genre – the resourceful film perfectly executed psychological horror. Blair Witch, the semi-sequel-reboot released this year, delved into the franchise’s psychological lore, but also fancied being somewhat of a creature feature with broader scares.