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SIFF ‘24 Capsule Review: ‘IN A VIOLENT NATURE’ Sees Slashing As a Tireless Chore  

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You’ve probably heard by now that the convention-shucking horror experiment In a Violent Nature is Friday the 13th from the POV of its hulking killer. The 93-minute indie slasher is as campy—and largely uninvolving—as that premise promises. The third-person killer cam shtick wears off quickly, especially since writer-director Chris Nash’s camerawork has two modes: lurking and swirling. There’s an excess of footage showing the killer stomping through the woods, punctuated by some gory practical kills, including a yoga execution that’s downright revelatory—but it serves zero tension and offers only the faintest hint of a story, with bits of lore doled out in the margins of the frame. Read More

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SIFF ‘24 Capsule Review: ‘ODDITY’ Brings Paranormal Scares

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Damian McCarthy’s SXSW audience award winnerOddity sees a blind medium (Carolyn Bracken) strike out for revenge after her twin sister is brutally murdered. A twisty midnight movie from Ireland that effectively balances jump scares and tension within its unique premise of otherworldly vengeance and recompense, Oddity dolls out its narrative breadcrumbs at a healthy pace, making for an frighteningly edge-of-your-seat foray into the world of the paranormal. A stoic wooden mannequin that’s just hanging out in most frames amplifies Oddity‘s crafty blend of suspense and WTF energy. McCarthy’s darkly-lit supernatural world flirts with the familiar – creaking hinges, patient shots down shadowy hallways, sudden apparitions – but is complemented by real style and narrative verve. The performances verge on B-movie camp but McCarthy’s sinuous, sinister work makes this dark fiction amply dreary nonetheless, resulting in a midnight fright-fest that’s sure to delight horror aficionados craving a good scare . (B) Read More

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SIFF ‘24 Capsule Review: ‘EXCURSION’ Beleaguers An Interesting Premise With Mundane Execution

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In the Bosnian dramatic export Excursion, the story centers on teenage Iman (Asja Zara Lagumdžija), who uniquely weaponizes the middle school rumor mill against herself and her budding sexuality, leading to a self-implosion that’s both intriguing and exasperating. Directed by Una Gunjak, this introspective coming-of-age drama moves at a glacial pace, often feeling more like a sequence of introspective vignettes than a cohesive narrative. While Lagumdžija delivers a compelling performance, the film struggles to maintain cinematic engagement, with its minimalist style and prolonged scenes that contribute little to narrative progression. Ultimately, Excursion fails to resolve its central conflicts in a compelling manner, leaving much to be desired in terms of emotional payoff and narrative closure. Despite its promising premise, the film largely feels like a missed opportunity to explore themes of impulsive teenage angst with the depth and nuance it deserves. (C) Read More

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SIFF ‘24 Capsule Review: It Takes a Village to Raise ‘BABES’ 

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Director Pamela Adlon and writer-star Ilana Glazer bring their comedic prowess to Babes, a crowd-pleasing pregnancy comedy that reworks the familiar “oops-I’m-pregnant” trope with a fresh, feminist twist. Despite its predictable plot, the film shines with Glazer’s brassy humor and a heartfelt celebration of female friendship, positioning itself as a millennial answer to Juno. The chemistry between Glazer and co-star Michelle Buteau elevates the standard rom-com fare, making it a lol-able tribute to the gross-out majesty and comedy of biology that is having a baby. Bring a girlfriend, or a few, and deliver yourself this comical, sincere celebration of becoming and being a woman. (B) Read More

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SIFF ‘24 Capsule Review: ‘JANET PLANET’ Orbits Momotony

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A maladjusted soon-to-be-middle-schooler and her codependent acupuncturist mother navigate summer break and a string of bad relationships in Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Annie Baker’s studious but tedious drama Janet Planet. Janet and Lacy’s intertwined existence rests at the intersection of intimacy and monotony,  as the duo swing between piano lessons, summer camp, local theater, picnics, and barn dances, making for a drily comic but often snooze-inducing portrait of the unique balance that exists between mother and daughter. There are worthwhile pockets and Julianne Nicholson flashes raw tenderness as the freewheeling and woe-begotten Janet but Baker’s film – thatched onto a meager script – is ultimately too impressionistic, rambling, and unfocused to leave much of an impression. (C)

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SIFF ‘24 Capsule Review:  ‘EVIL DOES NOT EXIST’ Ponders Divide Between Man and Nature

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Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to Drive My Car, the meditative nature drama Evil Does Not Exist, is anti-commercial in every conceivable way, its slow-moving narrative primed to test the patience of viewers used to films with more assertive pacing. Though it takes a while to get off the ground and reveal what it’s actually about, this Japanese-language tone poem is quietly spellbinding in its exploration of the dissidence between the natural world and the onslaught of commercial enterprise, as witnessed through the lens of a glamping company’s impending occupation of a small town. Arguably more striking as a filmic thesis than a film, Hamaguchi’s ponderous philosophical journey through wooded strolls and town hall meetings will likely bore general audiences to tears but will deservedly find its share of devotees who appreciate Hamaguchi’s nimble, unhurried art form. Eiko Ishibashi’s somber score does a lot of dramatic heavy lifting. (B-)
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Apes Strong in Another Technical Marvel for Resilient Franchise with ‘KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES’

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That rare franchise that continues to find new ways to engage its IP by heading in exciting and interesting directions, The Planet of the Apes has flexed its simian strength once more. Coming off a terrific rebooted trilogy (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes) that earned its crown as one of the best – if not in conversation for the best – post-modern movie trilogies, director Wes Ball had some significant expectations to contend with. Thankfully, Ball has risen to the occasion, ushering in a new dawn of this saga, and gone to war for the kind of emotionally-driven, intellectually-satisfying narrative that Apes has carved out for itself in an increasingly anti-intellectual blockbuster market.  Read More

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Gosling And Blunt Bring Undeniable Charm to Middling BTS Action-Comedy ‘THE FALL GUY’  

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When stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) breaks his back performing a dangerous movie stunt, he withdraws from both his career and the steamy crush he and camera operator/aspiring director Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) have been kindling. Eighteen months later, an offer to work on an absurd space western, Metalstorm, filming in Australia, lures him back into the high-wire world of tentpole moviemaking. The film’s overeager producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), insists on his participation and draws him out of retirement. Her insistence, however, hides ulterior motives. Upon his arrival, Colt realizes that while he’s been brought under the guise of being Tom Ryder’s (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) body double, he’s actually there to help locate the missing high-profile, hot-tempered star. To make matters worse, he finds his now-ex Jody in charge of the production, who greets his unexpected arrival with cool disdain. Read More

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‘BOY KILLS WORLD’ A Graphic Overkill That Tires Quickly

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Boy Kills World plunges viewers into a frenetic, hyper-stylized dystopia reminiscent of a violent graphic novel, drenched in buckets of expertly-extracted gore. It’s a stylish mélange of the warped battle royale fantasia of The Hunger Games with Schumacher’s colorful and daffy 90s Batman movie entries, spiced with a dash of the meta, self-aware hyper-violence of the popular TV series The Boys. A decidedly over-the-top action genre entry by first-time filmmaker Moritz Mohr, Boy Kills World swings for the fences, though it occasionally whiffs due to its extreme, maximalist approach. Read More

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Guy Ritchie’s Plucky WWII Men on a Mission Caper ’THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE’ Revels in Nazi Slaughter

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Gus March-Phillips is putting together a team. His collection of ex-military undesirables are a rag-tag team of muscle-bound rapscallions, culled from the ranks of the British and other E.U. Armed Forces Units for their insubordination, trigger-happy nature, and general rancor. Their mission: to carry out a top-secret plot to disrupt the Nazi U-boat supply chain, thereby freeing the Atlantic from their reign of underwater terror and allowing for reinforcements from their eager American allies. The execution of said mission is workmanlike and slapdash, both as carried out by the involved parties and by director Guy Ritchie. Read More