We viewed four films today including three enlightening Q & A’s. Tomorrow will mark the first time we try the “second run” feature, each of these were premieres.
Starting with my favorite film, this evening’s premiere of the Swedish psychological thriller, Knocking, was a succinct, riveting portrayal with a terrifically fulfilling conclusion. Director Frida Kempff gives us a compact, beautifully shot film in which protagonist Molly, upon emerging from a stay in a psychiatric facility, is thrust into a real-or-imagined rescue. Played with intense focus by Cecilia Milocco, both character and film are haunting and haunted, leading to a deeply suspenseful film under 80 minutes. According to Kempff, the taut film was shot in an equally succinct 18 days, but the visual style is nonetheless riveting.
So too are the images from the surreal-tinged In the Earth, a horror thriller set in an English wilderness. Already acquired by Neon, director Ben Wheatley’s tale of magic, madness, and terror shifts gears with ease throughout, aided by lush visuals and an ominous score. Scientist Martin (Joel Fry) and ranger Alma (Ellora Torchia) are beset by the dark magic of a rogue scientist and her mad husband, played by Hayley Squires and Reece Shearsmith. If the film runs on a bit long and devolves a bit into the psychedelic, that can be forgiven; it’s a gorgeous film that does not ignore the current pandemic but nor does it pander to it.
The fine international production of Human Factors, from sophomore German writer-director Ronny Trocker, is a Roshomon-like story with weaving perspectives from son, daughter, husband, wife, and even a pet rat, peripherally revolving around a would-be robbery, but more pointedly around a disintegrating marriage between two advertising professionals. It also examines political extremism, and how that can come into play in a crumbling personal relationship as well as a socio-political one. Trocker embraces his ambiguous ending, revealing in a Q & A that it was “up to the viewer” to interpret and dissect; it fits the tense, threatening ambiguity throughout the film. Fascinating and discussable.
At the bottom of my viewing barrel was a film I wanted to love but simply could not, the comic end-of-the-world-by-comet fable, “How It Ends.” Set in LA and filmed during the pandemic, it’s comically beleaguered heroine, along with her “metaphysical younger self” traverse the streets of the Hollywood Hills along with a few other random Los Angeles locales looking for closure from parents, lovers, and friends. Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein’s film gives the protagonist (Lister-Jones) an on-foot to-do list of reconciliation that regrettably doesn’t do all that much. Some “high” comic moments – particularly a cameo by Nick Kroll – aside, this just didn’t click for me despite its whimsical nature.
Looking forward to a long cinematic weekend.
- Genie Davis, photos courtesy of Sundance.