Author: Natalie Teasdale

I want to share with other movie fans those amazing films that get under your skin and stay with you for days: the scary ones, the funny ones; the ones that get you thinking. With a background in creative writing, photography, psychology and neuroscience, I’ll be focusing on dialogue, what makes a great story, if the film has beautiful creative cinematography, the soundtrack and any movie that successfully scratches the surface of our existence. My aim is to always be searching for that ultimate movie, to share what I’ve found to be interesting (whether it be a great soundtrack, a great director or links to other information of interest) and to give an honest review without too much fluff. BAppSci in Psychology/Psychophysiology; Grad Dip Creative Arts and Post Grad Dip in Creative Writing. Founder of GoMovieReviews.

Orphan: First Kill

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: William Brent Bell

Screenplay by: David Coggeshall

Story by: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Alex Mace

Based on Characters Created by: Alex Mace

Produced by: Alex Mace, Hal Sadoff, Ethan Erwin, James Tomlinson

Starring: Isabelle Fuhrman, Rossif Sutherland, Hiro Kanagawa, Matthew Finlan and Julia Stiles.

‘Welcome home, Esther.’

The prequel to, Orphan (2009), Orphan: First Kill takes the story back to Esther’s (Isabelle Fuhrman) origins, back to Estonia 2007.

But back in 2007, Esther isn’t, ‘Esther’. She’s Leena.

Incredibly, Isabelle Furhman has returned in the same role and yes, is believable.

Many in the audience will know of Esther’s disorder, hypopituitarism where she’s essentially an in-proportion dwarf making her look like a child even though she’s an adult woman in her 30s.

As do the psychiatrists in the film, treating her in the Saarne Institute.

Opening with the same emotionless bloody violence that Esther is capable of, there’s no surprise or hiding who she really is, so the prequal is layered differently.

I wasn’t sure what concept returning story writer, Alex Mace along with original screenwriter, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick was going to come up with after the big reveal was already known – that the innocent 10-year-old girl Esther is in fact a psychotic, manipulating, murdering, adult woman. But Mace and Johnson-McGoldrick have teamed up with new screenwriter, David Coggeshall and director, William Brent Bell (Separation, (2021), The Devil Inside (2012), The Boy (2016)) to create something, dare I say, playful.

Here, Esther manipulates her way into a wealthy American family, The Albrights.

Their family came over on the Mayflower and built this country. They ‘mean something.’

Esther finds another man to fall in love with (Allen, (Rossif Sutherland)) while hating her new, ‘mummy,’ (Julia Stiles as Tricia is fantastic in this role) while her older brother, Gunnar (Matthew Finlan) remains suspicious of his returned little sister.

Let the manipulation and killing begin.

I was bracing for a bit boring and more of the same, but as the film progresses, I was drawn in and ended up having a lot of fun watching this new perspective of Esther. Fun. In a good way.

Prequel Orphan was better than expected and that’s all I’m going to give away, except to say, gotta like a wry sense of humour in a horror movie.

Fire of Love

Directed by: Sara Dosa

Written by: Shane Boris, Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput, Sara Dosa

Produced by: Shane Boris, Sara Dosa, Ina Fichman

Executive Producers: Carolyn Bernstein, Greg Baustead, ben Braun, Josh Braun, Jessica Harrop

Narrated by: Miranda July

Archive Footage: Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft.

Maurice and Katia met in 1966.

The story goes, ‘The café closes. It begins to rain. They will never leave each other.’

Fire of Love is a documentary about two people who found each other, who shared the same passion: volcanoes.

Maurice a geologist and Katia a chemist, both are fascinated by the same phenomena in their own unique way. The relationship of the couple and their relationship to the volcano is the driving force of the documentary, shown with care, attention to detail, turning the footage taken by the couple, Maurice recording video, Katia always with her camera, into a poetry.

Narrated by Miranda July, the story of the lives of Katia and Maurice is told with shots from above a coffee cup, the coffee disappearing to illustrate the time when they met, the conversation, the beginning of their shared obsession.

Paper lithography of mountains growing out of the earth change the texture of the documentary and are used to show the movement of the tectonic plates beneath, along with split screen of nature shots by Katia so there’s this constant flow of imagery as the audience gets to know the couple while they document and educate the world about the volcano.

This is a beautifully crafted documentary using video footage and images captured by the volconists as they travel the world, chasing the volcanoes as they erupt. It’s mind-blowing to see humans standing in front of such a force of nature as the heat from the centre of the earth melts rock so it spews into the sky and runs like a river, destroying everything in its path. And there they stand, in silver suits, awe struck. Obsessed. Nothing could be better than being right there as a volcano erupts.

The relationship of the pair is a running thread through the doco, but it’s also about the science, their exploration and documentation of what was still a mystery.

Their passion to chase erupting volcanoes from: Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Hawaii, Zaire in Africa, Colombia in South America, Japan, was at the same time as the tectonic plates of the earth were being mapped.

They were mesmerised by the ‘red’ volcanoes as they stood before exploding showers of red rock, revelling in how small humans are in the face of such heat and power.

There’s a philosophy at play here, to understand what makes two people put themselves in danger, in front of such force, knowing that at any moment they could fall or miscalculate.

Their curiosity was stronger than their fear.

They go on the interview circuit, captivating the world with their stories of standing in front of such danger. Maurice explaining in one interview that he didn’t want volcanoes to be categorized, going as far as saying classification is abusive. He wanted each volcano to be seen as unique.

But after witnessing the devastation of 25 thousand lives lost after an eruption in Colombia (despite scientists warning of the potential eruption), their focus shifts from the ‘red’ volcano to the ‘grey’, named after the ash from these killer volcanoes, to better understand the danger, to try to predict an eruption to warn people, to save lives.

Fire of Love is a fascinating documentary that’s both exciting and poetic, romantic and philosophical.

A truly unique experience that I enjoyed from the start to its poignant finish.

Nope

Rated: M

Written, Produced and Directed by: Jordan Peele

Also Produced by: Ian Cooper p.g.a.

Executive Produced by: Robert Graf, Win Rosenfeld

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, Keith David.

‘What’s a bad miracle?’

Nope is the third movie Jordan Peele has directed (among many others he has written), and I had high expectations after enjoying, Get Out (2017) and Us (2019).

Peele has a certain off-kilter vision in his films that translates here, opening with a monkey on a TV set, covered in blood.

I didn’t know what I was walking into with, Nope, producer Ian Cooper explaining the intention to withhold from giving away too much away in the trailers. All that was clear was the title, Nope, which I thought was perhaps a wry push too far but the humour here is spot on.

Cooper goes on to explain that Jordan was originally thinking of, ‘Little Green Men’ for the title, hinting at, “The idea of the quest for fame and fortune, and the quest for documenting existence of life beyond Earth,” Cooper says. “The double entendre of ‘Little Green Men’ was a way in which you could talk about dollar bills as well as talk about aliens and the unknown.”

As always with Jordan, the concept of, Nope is unique.

Inheriting the horse ranch from their father, Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith David), OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) attempt to continue the legacy as horse wranglers for film and TV.

Living on a ranch, far out in the Sant Clarita Valley in Southern California, the sky is endless, the expanse filled with clouds and something otherworldly lurking within.

The film has a western feel with OJ selling horses to child star, come cowboy-themed fair owner, Ricky ‘Jupe’ Park (Steven Yeun), crossed with the family drama of the reserved, OJ and his larger-than-life sister, Emerald – the people person of the partnership – crossed with a sci-fi with an alien creature causing electrical black-outs before sucking up whatever happens to be looking up into its guts.

The horror aspect of the film the sound of screams from the sky when the power cuts out.

It’s not an in-your-face horror here, more an unsettled feeling built with the soundtrack but also with the strangeness of the film.

It’s a confusing beginning and continues with random threads brought into the storyline that don’t always make sense in the general narrative of the film. There is some structure with chapters named after the horses featured in the film. But otherwise the threads are left to spool with not all coming full circle, well, not quite.

The cinematographer character, Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott) brought to the ranch to help capture what’s lurking in the sky comments, ‘That’s the dream I never wake up from.’ It sounds cool. But doesn’t quite have enough weight in the end to stand up straight. Again, adding to the slight disconcerting tilt to the film.

The wonder I had about the humour being pushed too far with the title, Nope was however, unfounded. Daniel Kaluuya as the steady and reserved horse wrangler gives the word ‘nope’ a weight that just tickles. Again, Kaluuya is well-cast and obviously a favourite of Peele’s because he brings it every single time.

All the characters in, Nope are well-cast, Angel (Brandon Perea) the Fry’s Electronics IT expert adds another layer of humour as he misses his girlfriend while ingratiating himself into the plot of the film because he’s slowly losing the plot with his life and needs to be involved.

It’s an entertaining film. A strange slightly off-kilter film where Jordan has juxtaposed sci-fi, (some) horror, family drama and western that comes together as something funny and unique. I just couldn’t quite get on board with the why of it. Still, a fun ride.

The Forgiven

Rated: MA15+

Directed and Written by: John Michael McDonagh

Based on the Book Written by: Lawrence Osborne

Produced by: John Michael McDonagh, Elizabeth Eves, Trevor Matthews, Nick Gordon

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Chris Abbott, Caleb Laundry Jones.

‘Interesting in a good way? Or interesting in a bad way?’

A speed boat takes husband and wife, David (Ralph Fiennes) and Jo Henninger (Jessica Chastain) towards the coastline of Tangier, Morocco.

It’s an unhappy interaction, Jo tapping her chin as they toss comments back and forth; well-oiled insults disguised as a battle of wits.

They’re on their way to Richard’s (Matt Smith) Moroccan indulgence – a walled castle in the middle of the Saharan desert for a weekend of partying, joined by old-school pals and others known from the, Club.

David’s been drinking all day. He embraces the comment from Jo that he’s a highly-functioning alcoholic, commenting, the, ‘high functioning should negate the alcoholic.’

David, an English surgeon, is an abrasive, stubborn man, tolerated by his beautiful wife, a published writer of children’s books.

Drunk and lost in the dark desert, their insolent tolerance of each other is interrupted when a young boy (Omar Ghazaoui) is suddenly in the headlights of their car before he goes down.

Guests already at the party wonder what has happened to the Henningers? As they drink and dance and revel in the beginnings of their hedonist weekend.

It’s the building tension of, The Forgiven that kept me at the edge of my seat, the film starting with red font credits, hinting of what’s to come.

There’s tension between husband and wife, David and Jo, driving in darkness, lost. A tension in the conflict of cultures as the Moroccan staff cater to the taboo gay couple, Richard and his ‘side-piece’ Dally Margolis (Caleb Landry Jones). Morning tea is served in rooms of naked men. Richard is a character that understands the nature of things. He is shameless, none-the-less.

Eventually the hosts are told of the dilemma. A local boy is dead. They will call the Moroccan police. It will be OK. No-one wants a fuss. It was an accident.

Richard explains, you just need to be overwhelmingly contrite.

‘If it’s absolutely necessary,’ replies David.

And then the boy’s father (Ismael Kanater) arrives at the gate.

Instead of the expected black mail, the father wants David to return home with him to bury his son.

Reluctantly, David goes.

More surprising, he goes without too much fuss, no-one really knowing if he’ll come back.

And with him gone, the weekend can continue.

Based on the novel written by Lawrence Osborne, the complicated idea of this abrasive Englishman willing to leave with the nomadic father of the boy he has just killed is the beginning of the unpacking of his complicated nature.

Each character is revealed as the weekend continues with witty dialogue and silence amongst the dust and heat in contrast to the fireworks and drinking and lounging about a mirage in the desert become real.

The bourgeoise nature of the characters are honest in their debauchery, a contrast to the local Moroccans as they live with nothing but their children and fossils they dig up to sell to tourists.

And now, a father taking David back to his home to bury his only child.

The narrative is gripping in its revelation, the scenery beautiful and stark, a rose in a box of soaps can almost be smelt, the heat of the desert vibrates as David is driven to his unknown fate.

The backstory of each character has been translated into the film using the clear-eyed dialogue of its characters:

‘A woman without discretion is like a pig with a gold ring through its nose.’

‘You should open a Twitter account,’ the Moroccan staff laugh.

Like McDonagh’s previous films, greatly enjoyed and included in my, ‘If you haven’t watched, you’re in for a treat’, list: ‘The Guard (2011)’ and ‘Calvary (2014)’, The Forgiven is a quality film that will stay with you.

Official Competition

Rated: M

Directed by: Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn

Written by: Andrés Duprat, Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn

Starring: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas & Oscar Martínez.

Viewed in Spanish with English subtitles.

‘What a wanker.’

It’s Humberto’s (José Luis Gómez) 80^th birthday. His life summed up in the presents laid out before him: a massage chair, a Virgin Mary under a glass dome, a rifle set in its casing. A painting of a sad clown.

He’s a millionaire who feels like he has money but no prestige.

He wants to be remembered, differently.

He decides he wants to build a bridge. Or a movie. Yes, fund a movie. A good one. Only the best.

Enter award winning director, Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz).

Humberto buys the rights of a Nobel Prize winning novel to base this, only-the-best movie on, and having failed to read it, he asks Lola what it’s about.

She explains its about a rivalry between two brothers. She has the two actors in mind to build on that rivalry for the film:

Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez): a teacher, an academic, an actor of integrity and respect.

And, Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas): popular, multi-award winning and arriving at rehearsal in a Lamborghini pashing his latest.

Let the butting of egos begin.

Official Competition is a movie about making a movie, most of the set in an expansive, minimalist house as Lola pulls the actors into the minds of their characters.

Kinda sounds boring, but it’s brilliant watching the techniques used to get the ego’s of these two actors into a place so Lola gets the tone she needs for each scene.

‘I want the truth,’ she demands.

Have to say, Penélope Cruz as Lola looks amazing as the sensitive, brilliant and dedicated director, Lola. She is the wild, red curly-haired, sensitive and very aware puppeteer.

The film is about how very different these two actors she’s chosen to play the parts as brothers, are; to then realise, they’re as vain as each other.

Iván at one point is seen to be accepting a pretend Academy Award in the mirror, after denying he’d ever lower himself to the popularist farce, and of course not speaking anything but Spanish, to announce in his pretend speech that he was only attending the ceremony to formally reject the award.

Meanwhile, Lola looks incredulously at an online video of Félix making a plea to save the pink dolphin.

I just kept bursting out laughing.

It’s hilarious, all set to Lola’s tricks, using big screens in the background of monologues, rocks suspended over their heads during rehearsal, the sound of kissing while surrounded by microphones, a meat grinder used to signify transition but also showing the edge of Lola’s destruction.

Even Iván’s wife, Violeta (Pilar Castro) an academic hipster who’s written a children’s book is shown as vain as Iván shares a new piece of discordant music where she comments on the brilliance of the tribal drumming. But no, that’s just next door banging on the wall, again.

This is one of those quietly clever films that seems like it’s not about much but then gives you a tickle when the cleverness of a layer reveals itself.

The whole film’s about ego so in the end the film finishes with a forced clever ending with an ego all of its own.

Great acting, unique and clever story and a good laugh.

The Black Phone

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Screenplay Written by: Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill

Based on the Short Story by: Joe Hill

Produced by: Jason Blum, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill

Executive Produced by: Ryan Turek, Christopher H. Warner

Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone and Ethan Hawke.

‘Would you like to see a magic trick?’

It’s 1978. Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) is pitching a baseball, trying to impress a girl.

With two strikes, he almost does it.

He lives with his dad (Jeremy Davies) and little sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw).

Their dad drinks. Finny and Gwen are tense.

Kids in town are going missing. And they all know why. It’s the Grabber (Ethan Hawke). He’s taking them.

What drew me into this film was how cool the kids are – this is a movie about them; a crime, supernatural horror where kids are being kidnapped and a black phone that’s dead but still ringing.

The film is based on the short story written by, Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son and a great horror writer in his own right, see, 20^th Century Ghosts (2005), short fiction piece, Best New Horror – a unique voice that’s haunting and has a punk horror feel about it. There’s also the novel, Heart Shaped Box (2007) and others worth checking out. Yes, I’m a fan with signed copies.

Adapted for the screen by director Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill (Sinister (2012), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) and Doctor Strange (2016)), it’s like there’s a window into what it’s like growing up in a small town in Denver: bullies, parents, crushes. Serial Killers.

Gwen as the little sister is hilarious with her little skips of excitement and comments like, ‘Dumb fucking fart knockers.’

Not only is she a fire-cracker, she has a gift. Her dreams show her things she’s not supposed to know, like, The Grabber has black balloons.

So when her brother’s taken, she prays to God for her dreams to show her where he’s been taken. And desperate, the cops listen because no-one else knows about those black balloons.

The suspense is built by slowing the shots, the words silent, the sound of sinister amplifying the quiet to give a moment to feel, to then screech a sudden shot to a dead kid, to get the heart pumping. There’re some jumps here, layered over the suspense so, The Black Phone creates a suspense thriller without the gore.

There’s a lot of thought here from director Scott Derrickson with cuts back and forth when Finney realises he’s trapped in basement, where no-one will ever hear him scream.

There’s good use of objects from the creepy mask of the killer to create an other-worldly monster, the toy rocket ship like a talisman, the crack in the wall of the prison like a bleeding cut. And of course, the black telephone. The ringing built in the soundtrack like the sound of a saviour.

There’s a careful stepping as each piece of the story come together, each given space and care and more thought than I expected. And there’s restraint to let the performances of the characters become the focus.

Where do they find these kid actors?!

And there’s good support from Jeremy Davies as the dad and ‘night-night naughty boy’ Ethan Hawke suitably creepy as, The Grabber.

A better than expected suspense, supernatural thriller with thoughtful pacing set to a 70s vibe.

The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness

Directed by: Adrian Nugent

Produced by: Adrian Nugent, Maria Tedschi

Executive Produced by: Enzo Tedeschi

Starring: Enzo Tedeschi, Julian Harvey, Bel Deliá, Luke Arnold, Steve Davis, Andy Rodoreda, Eduardo Sánchez, Kiah Roache-Turner, Ahmed Salama, Valeria Petrenko, Megan Riakos, Andrew Mackie.

‘Play by the rules or go away.’

Remember those piracy warning segments before watching a movie?

Before steaming, you either had to rent a movie or illegally download using a piracy platform like, BitTorrent.

Most of the population decided that downloading movies for free was OK, piracy rules be damned, so when first time producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey tried to figure out how they were going to fund their first feature film, they thought – let’s crowdfund the film, selling each of the 130,000 frames for $1, then release the film for free on BitTorrent.

A ground-breaking idea. A crazy idea. No one had ever crowdfunded a film this way before, but fuck it, it was the only way they were going to make it, so they went for it.

I had a lot of fun watching this doco. I’m a horror fan, so it was a hoot getting a behind the scenes look at the making of this found footage horror flick, released back in 2011: The Tunnel.

But more than about making the film, this documentary opens up the discussion about a distribution and marketing model that had never been used before.

And it worked.

No one could see it happening. And no distributor was going to touch the film once Enzo and Julian had made the decision to align with enemy number 1: BitTorrent.

Piracy was rampant.

It was going to destroy the industry – so they thought.

But the first-time producers saw the strategy as a way of getting around piracy – it’s not illegal if we’re giving it away for free.

And with 25 million people watching the film it was certainly a success.

Which comes down to the talent of all those involved in making the film – the script, the directing, the actors, with actor Steve Davis multitasking as camera crew, the director Carlo Ledesma also costume designer.

It’s a typical Indie experience, influenced by found footage movies such as, The Blair Witch Project (1999), Rec (2007) and Quarantine (2008).

There’s an honesty to the behind-the-scenes, the producers feeling out of their depth but obviously smart guys that well-deserved to get their movie out there.

And the rest of the cast included in the doco, The Tunnel director, Carlo Ledesma and the actors, Bel Deliá, Luke Arnold and Steve Davis came across as genuinely warm people who took a risk getting on board something that had absolutely no backing but throwing it all in, Indie-style.

As already said, good fun; with the interesting angle of making a movie through the power of the audience, hence the poster of, The Tunnel using all the names of the supporters to make up the image.

Even when Transmission got onboard to distribute the DVD, there was still this controversy of associating Paramount (via Transmission) with BitTorrent.

A lot has changed in ten years.

The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness illustrates how the making of, The Tunnel embraced a new model of viewing content, AKA streaming, while waiting for the industry to catchup.

These guys were the disruptors of the industry.

Originally released on the 10-year anniversary of, The Tunnel and now showing as part of the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival (MDFFest) I wondered why it took so long to release the documentary as it’s clear it was always the intention.

And then there’s talk of a sequel, shown in the back-and-forth interview with Eduardo Sánchez (film maker of, The Blair Witch Project). A definite push and a way to create buzz for the possibility of, The Tunnel 2.

Why not, I guess.

And now I’m inspired to watch the feature film itself. See link to stream here ; )

(105) The Tunnel (2011) FULL MOVIE – YouTube

Worth a watch!

Elvis

Rated: M

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann

Screenplay by: Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce and Jeremy Doner

Story by: Baz Luhrmann and Jeremy Doner

Produced by: Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss.

Executive Producers: Toby Emmerch, Courtenay Valenti and Kevin McCormick

Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh.

‘What about you Mr. Presley, are you ready to fly?’

Written and directed by Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby (2013), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Strictly Ballroom (1992), Australia (2008), William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)), Elvis is a biopic told from the perspective of infamous manager, Colonel, the Snowman, Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

Colonel Parker learnt how to shake a dollar from a punter while leaving a smile on their face working in a carnival.

When he saw Elvis (Austin Butler) perform, he knew all his Christmases had come at once.

And boy, could he make it snow.

The film has a heady introduction with cuts back and forth from glaring signs and bluesy music to revival tents and the young Elvis shaking those legs.

Elvis didn’t know why the girls in the audience were screaming, until a bandmate tells him, ‘The girls want to see you wiggle.’

Austin, who sang a lot of the songs himself, is so fresh it was like getting to know the superstar all over again. To admire the rise of this smalltown kid to become, The King.

‘That boy from Memphis,’ was put in the back of a police car after starting riots because of the way he moved on stage.

Elvis literally changed the world, embracing black America back in times of segregation while the Colonel turned his fame into a money-making machine: merchandise, records, movies, concerts, sponsors and then to the bright lights of Los Vegas.

The Colonel knew every trick in the book and then invented new ways to make money. As long as Elvis would keep getting up on stage.

In the end, we all know, it’s a sad story, but the telling is exhilarating.

There’s risk not only in making a film about the most famous person in the world, but then changing up the music, so the soundtrack has remixes from the likes of Eminem, Doja Cat and Denzel Curry.

There’s a combination of the blues from B. B. King and Little Richard, Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton with revival music and rap so there’s an edge to the tone of the movie.

And that flash back and forth, to time stamps becoming part of the scene to cartoon add to the pace only to stop in close-up of the smoky blue of Elvis’ eyes.

Has to be said, Austin’s great as Elvis. What an undertaking.

There’re cuts to Elvis himself and the heart still skips a beat.

What is it about this guy?!

He’s Elvis. He’s, The King.

Men

Rated: MA15+

Written and Directed by: Alex Garland

Starring: Jesse Buckly, Rory Kinnear and Paapa Essiedu.

‘What do you want from me?!’

I had an angry response to, Ex Machina (2014) (a strong response a sign of an emotive movie, I guess).

Conversely, I really enjoyed the head-bend of, Annihilation (2018).

So I was curious to see what writer and director, Alex Garland was going to evoke with, Men.

The film follows lead character, Harper (Jesse Buckly) – it’s raining outside.

She has blood smudged under her nose.

She runs.

She stays in an idyllic country house to heal.

Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear) shows her around, a classic affable Englishman, ‘Won’t be a jiffy,’ he says.

Then comments, ‘The M4, a dreary bore.’

Then adds, ‘Watch what you flush. It’s a septic tank and all…’

A jarring statement and a hint of what’s to come.

Geoff, it turns out, is one of the many men-clones, that Harper must endure during her time away from life.

Contrasting the clones is this heightened sense of beauty, the landscape like a moving Monet painting.

Beautiful, then flawed by a naked man, a running man, that stalks her.

The telling of, Men, feels off-centre but clever and green, like an expression of the primal with Harper taking an apple from a tree and taking a bite like Eve in the, Garden of Eden.

The film weaves around this theme of Adam and Eve, subtle, then visceral.

The present bleeds into Harper’s past, her screaming voice becoming one with the soundtrack.

What do you want from me?!

This constant demand becomes an extreme depiction of men’s misunderstanding of what a woman needs.

That a woman has her own life too.

Rather than a confronting horror, I found the thought behind the film refreshing.

The Innocents

Rated: TBA

Directed by: Eskil Vogt

Screenplay Written by: Eskil Vogt

Produced by: Maria Ekerhovd

Executive Producer: Axel Helgeland, Dave Bishop, Céline Dornier

Starring: Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim, Sam Ashraf, Ellen Dorrit Pedersen, Morten Svartveit, Kadra Yusuf, Lisa Tønne.

Norwegian with English subtitles.

‘What do you do when someone’s mean?’

A sleeping child

Is the picture of innocence.

The shot is close.

Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløttum) has freckles on her nose.

She has an autistic sister, Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad). Anna’s non-verbal. She can’t even feel a pinch.

Ida is nine years old, yet it doesn’t feel like innocence when she pinches her sister, spits from the balcony and stomps on a worm.

When writer and director, Eskil Vogt (also screenwriter of, The Worst Person in the World, ‘In Competition – Feature Films’ 2021, Festival De Cannes. See review here) was asked about the idea behind the film’s title (The Innocents) he responds,

“I think kids are beyond good and evil or rather before good and evil. But I don’t think children are little angels, that people are born pure. I think children are born without any sense of empathy or morals, we have to teach them that. That’s why I think it’s interesting to see a child doing something that we would call evil in an adult. The moral aspect is more complex since they aren’t fully formed yet.”

Ida’s family has moved, her mother (Ellen Dorrit Pedersen) tells her it’s a new school, new friends.

Ida lies back on a swing and looks at the world up-side-down.

She meets Ben (Sam Ashraf).

He’s moved around a lot.

He has a bruise on his chest.

He can also move things with his mind.

I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into at the beginning of this film – children doing mean things is confronting.

Yet, as the film continues, the characters, the children get complicated.

The Innocents is a horror with children as the main characters, with the parents on the outside, not knowing or understanding.

It’s a film about forgotten kids, who suddenly find they have powers.

Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim) who lives in the building complex, finds Anna with her mind, the film following her mind like flying through the mist of the outside.

She can hear Anna even though Anna can’t speak.

‘I’m talking to someone who isn’t here,’ Aisha tells her mother (Kadra Yusuf).

Her mother cries in secret.

When the four children are together, Ida, Ben, Anna and Aisha – they become more powerful.

But rather than focussing on the supernatural, the film is about the children exploring their new powers and how each reacts to having power, therefore revealing the truth of who they are and why.

I was haunted by this film, the power shown in the ripples of water, by the wind in the trees. Like the audience is invited into this secret world of the children as they pick scabs and dig in a sandbox, the boredom, the exploring, the violence – I believed all of it, the children the driving force of the film, shown in careful detail by cinematographer, Sturla Brandth Grøvlen.

A quietly menacing film that’s riveting, shocking and unique.

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