Alex Wolff

Reviews

Pig

Michael Sarnoski’s feature-length directorial debut Pig is about a recluse truffle hunter (Rob played by Nicolas Cage) who is need of answers after his truffle-finding pig is stolen – the John Wick comparisons are unavoidable.  Both movies feature an actor-turn-cult icon playing an enigmatic strong-but-silent type who has the main motivation of reuniting with their animal companion.  It’s already been clarified by audiences who have embraced Pig that Sarnoski’s movie couldn’t be more different, with…

Reviews

Castle in the Ground

As the world struggles under this catastrophic pandemic, it seems prudent to remind us of another epidemic currently ravaging North America: the opioid epidemic.  Consequently, Joey Klein’s timely Castle in the Ground depicts a band of young people struggling with addiction amid the trauma of their personal lives.  While dramatically powerful and compellingly acted, the film has surprisingly little to say about the structural issues surrounding addiction and mental illness.

Reviews

Hereditary

By: Nick van Dinther It’s so difficult to pull off a horror film that’s truly frightening.  Many movies rely on jump scares or violent deaths, but the results rarely stick with you after the fact.  It’s a genre that’s incredibly divisive between both fans and critics, and fails more often than it succeeds for both.  A filmmaker needs to bring something genuinely special and memorable to the table to appeal to all.  Writer/director Ari Aster…

Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2017: ‘My Friend Dahmer’

Whatever happened to that weird kid from high school?  In My Friend Dahmer, the weird kid grew up to be one of the most notorious serial killers in American history.  This film adaptation of Derf Backderf’s graphic novel of the same name looks at the life of Jeffrey Dahmer in his last few years of high school, where he acts like a fool to get attention and drinks heavily to keep the voices at bay.  This…