Dir - William Oldroyd
Overall: GOOD
The sophomore effort from British filmmaker William Oldroyd, Eileen subtly weaves through a series of moods before arriving at a disturbed, black comedy destination that only slams home a likely delusional sense of newfound enlightenment for its title character. Ottessa Moshfegh and husband Luke Goebel adapt the former's own novel for the screen; a novel that sees a lonely daughter of a retired, drunk, curmudgeon police officer and who is partial to flights of fancy, weaving through an inconsequential existence until circumstances arise that give her a means to escape. Set at some point during the 1960s where the women's liberation movement was likely not even in its infancy, both Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway portray characters who are on the outskirts of accepted society; McKenzie's Eileen being more introverted in her independence, (or dreams of independence), while Hathaway' psychologist is more cocksure on the surface yet harboring her own frustrations. Oldroyd keeps the atmosphere light yet grungy, toying with some of the taboos of the story's era before the plot makes an abrupt shift into the third act. A couple of "only in screenplay" monologues aside that the actors handle as professionally as can be expected, the performances are delightful, with everyone busting out their best Boston accents and helping to give the material some charm amongst its more disturbing attributes.
Dir - William Brent Bell
Overall: WOOF
A derivative folk horror outing from schlock-peddler William Brent Bell, Lord of Misrule may try and disguise itself with an earthy and gloom-ridden aesthetic, but it gradually unravels in an increasingly and unintentionally comedic manner. The fact that Tom de Ville's screenplay pits Christian and pagan faiths against each other is merely one such primary swipe from The Wicker Man, with suspicious acting townsfolk in robes and animal masks, festive rituals that only seem joyous on surface level, endlessly ominous drawings that spell out all of the details in plain site, ancient books that also spell everything out, an ancient deity with antlers, no one on screen who is trustworthy, disturbing alters with twigs and animal parts, old people acting weird while pissing themselves, and innocent people being set on fire while the locals sing joyous hymns. Added to this is Bell's hackneyed presentation that rarely lets the ominous tribal violin score shut the hell up, has scratchy noises signaling the scary jolts, and a rustic color pallet that gives it zero distinguishing visual characteristics from every other folky nightmare out there. Granted Bell is hardly going for originality here and instead a type of post The Witch/Midsommar comfort food, but when the protagonist is the dumbest person in the room and the entire plot proves to be pointless upon its conclusion, there is nothing left to recommend besides Ralph Ineson's reliable, ground-rumbling baritone.
Dir - Takashi Shimizu
Overall: MEH
Similar to the work of his J-horror contemporary Hideo Nakata, Takashi Shimizu melds vengeful spirits with modern technology in Immersion, this time exploring a virtual reality landscape that gets inhabited by a long black-haired ghost that is doomed to inflict her wrath on anyone within striking distance. In keeping with Shimizu's later efforts, the final product overstays its welcome and could use a more streamlined approach to shave off about twenty-odd minutes from the run time, taking on multiple side plots that muddle up the "be careful what tech you wish for" through-line that is being worked out. Thankfully though, the director's ability to maintain a melancholic and foreboding tone is as strong as ever, even if the chosen story fails to find any refreshing byways to differentiate it from others that pit young characters up against supernatural, folkloric forces. The tradition musical score never becomes overbearing and the lush scenery of the island location is well-shot, evoking an isolated ghost land both within and outside of its digital avatar version. It loses its way during the third act with an unnecessary and drawn-out second ending, but it is still well-made if not revolutionary.
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