Despite the absence of dialogue Carlos Conceição’s atmospheric thriller Name Above Title is bursting at the seams with style, from it’s brutally graphic murder sequences to the beautifully framed and lit shots showcasing the film’s unique setting of Lisbon, Portugal. Opening with the viewer following a heavily intoxicated young woman who’s stumbling around a high rise bar before she jumps […]
One location films can be tricky to pull off, so it’s always interesting to see how complex the premise dares to be and if it manages to successfully deliver on it; Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks have opted for a highly minimalist effort on the production side with their debut feature Alone With You. Starring Bennett (The Blacklist, Chicago Fire) […]
A slew of well framed establishing shots linger on screen as the opening credits of Renata Pinheiro’s science fiction drama King Car flash across them, giving the viewer a vivid glimpse of the humble yet vast Brazilian city where the story takes place. Introduced to the main character via his birth in the backseat of a taxi owned by his […]
Movies centered around dinner parties are always interesting to behold because they can go in so many different directions, and Charles Dorfman’s debut feature Barbarians is certainly no exception. Here the filmmakers opted to go in multiple ways instead of just one, which works surprisingly great at keeping the viewer on their toes. The film is split into chapters, the […]
Upon reading the description for Mickey Reece’s latest feature Agnes one is led to believe this is a straightforward exorcism film taking place inside a religious convent. It’s precisely that for the first half which is executed quite effectively, bolstering some solid performances that are empowered by the well paced tension and frightening use of practical effects. The setup for […]
Timothy Covell’s “Blood Conscious” is a brilliantly executed, cerebral exercise in managing paranoia that within the first few minutes has the characters juggling with who they can trust, what’s actually going on, and deciphering how they’re going to get out of this situation without being killed or suffering an even worse fate. It’s a film that submerges the viewer in […]
Peter Collins Campbell’s darkly magical romantic drama “DimLand” is an absolutely remarkable film that whisks the viewer away to a cabin in the woods alongside a young woman named Brynn and her boyfriend Laika, who are looking to escape their lives for a little while. Little do they know that shortly after arriving they’ll encounter a mysterious stranger from Brynn’s […]
This movie is budget filmmaking at it’s finest: it’s rough, violent, cheesy at times, and just plain fun to watch! Isaac Rathé’s “Duel on the River” is an aptly titled love letter to Steven Spielberg’s debut classic “Duel” that, as you’d expect, takes the stress-inducing chase from the open road to the open water. Made entirely during the pandemic as a […]
There’s nothing wrong with a film that ambiguously meanders a bit more than it needs to if it adds something to the characterization or overall experience the filmmakers are trying to sell. After rolling credits on Sasha Voronov’s “Mom, I Befriended Ghosts” though, it’s clear that it doesn’t always work when that ambiguous meandering is really all there was to […]
A meandering yet meaningful exploration of what it means to be “a good person” in a world filled with so much moral grey area, Robert G. Putka’s “Mister Limbo” is a heartfelt mumblecore dramedy set in a surreal desert wasteland. Though it’s setting is fairly fantastical it doesn’t rely on visual effects or lean too heavily on the gimmick of […]