Typically the Southern United States is presented through the lens of inaccurate crime films, cookie-cutter holiday dramedy outings, or faith based films that have a preachy agenda in mind, with the main exception being period pieces regarding the region’s troubled past. It’s not often that the modern American South is depicted on screen in an authentic, honest way. There are […]
“I would equate it to like organs inside a body, you need all the organs to match together to pump whatever goo is inside your body like pee, and blood.” These are the colorful words Alfred Costella (Vinny Curran, Resolution) uses to describe what a film is, in terms of working parts, when asked by a talk show host (Bill […]
The main ingredient necessary for any successful reality television show is an eclectic set of contestants that producers can weave interesting narratives around through exploiting their problematic or dramatic character traits which reveal themselves during the paranoia-fueled, high-stress conditions these shows often foster. It feels strikingly authentic but remains a “safe” viewing experience because audiences know that it’s controlled to […]
Cleverly dropping viewers into the film within the film, Timothée Hochet and Lucas Pastor’s debut feature Stéphane opens mid-scene as an up and coming director named Timothée (Bastien Garcia delivering a perfectly nuanced debut feature performance) shoots his latest action-packed, espionage short. He and his actors are interrupted by a peculiar man named Stéphane (Lucas Pastor himself, unrecognizable under makeup) […]
Right from the opening scene of Gavin Fields’ noir-laced period drama Brutal Season, viewers are let in on the fact that this entire production they’re about to witness is just that: an artificial production taking place on a sound stage. Talk about a way to ruin immersion, right? One might naturally have this thought, but it’d be incorrect. Fields allows […]
A superbly edited travel montage doubling as an opening credits sequence stylishly opens John Ainslie’s sophomore feature film Do Not Disturb, as viewers are effectively introduced to the South Florida setting and lead characters in the process. Chloe (Kimberly Laferriere of In The Dark, injecting a great deal of nuance into her show-stealing performance) and Jack (Rogan Christopher of 2018’s […]
Rather strangely, truffles (the fungus, not the chocolate) have become hot fodder for independent films as of late due to the existence of some evidently rather violent and treacherous black market trading. Brought to the mainstream by Michael Sarnoski’s triumphant anti-revenge film Pig starring Nicolas Cage, Steven Garbas and Chantelle Han are now taking a shot at their own version […]
Scott Slone’s decade-plus-long endeavor Malibu Horror Story opens by revealing a team of young paranormal researchers in a remote Malibu Canyon cave who are recording the pilot episode of their web series. They’re preparing for the inaugural EVP session and in the process describe their roster of standard spirit hunting tech, including the spirit box they’ll use to communicate with […]
Cringe-inducing body horror delivered via a tightly-paced, timely thriller about a queer couple smuggling drugs across an international border surely isn’t something anyone had on their horror movie bingo cards, though it’s exactly what Carter Smith’s Swallowed shoots for and achieves with flying colors. The film opens with a hypnotic credits sequence intercut with the leads dancing in a club, […]
After the words “The following actually happened. My dad asked me to tell you it didn’t.” flash across the screen viewers get their first glimpse of the lead as Chuck (Patton Oswalt of Young Adult and Ratatouille delivering another heartfelt and hilarious performance) finds a puppy in the park while on a walk with his son Franklin. He’s seen ripping […]