Dir - Emerald Fennell
Overall: GREAT
An even more twisted cousin to Bong Joon-ho's South Korean, 2019, upper class take-over dark comedy Parasite, Saltburn finds ideal footing in the U.K. where traditional, separatist systems have persistently been in place to ensure that those of non-noble birth are kept at a distance from the table of the exorbitantly wealthy who have maintained that wealth thorough no accomplishments of their own. Here lies the crust to Emerald Fennell's sophomore effort, which is a more ambitious work than her debut Promising Young Woman; yet another revenge film with gnarled and enjoyable results. The trick that Fennell pulls off here is more nuanced and drawn-out, though the finale comes off as an uncorking of an inevitable bottle as opposed to a jaw-dropping twist. As the anti-hero Oxford scholarship student with something up his sleeve, thirty-one year Barry Keoghan is obviously over a decade too old, but somehow this never becomes distracting or relevant since his small stature, celebrity physique, and naturally aloof charm rings perfectly as he pulls a spell over both the audience and the family, (or at least some of them), that he has set his eyes on. Pathetic and manipulative all at once, Keoghan is one of several mesmerizing aspects to the film, all of which are used with stylized whimsy by Fennell who turns the country house of the title and its occupants into a coveted wonderland that only a prodigy child who "really does notice everything" would be able to divide and conquer.
Dir - Lee Foster
Overall: WOOF
For his second full-length In Its Wake, indie filmmaker Lee Foster fuses a throwback synth score with an uninteresting story, obnoxious characters, inane dialog, and several lousy performances. A low-budget Canadian production set in the midst of winter even though we cannot see any of the actor's breath outside and few if any of them bother to even act cold, things get off to a rocky start with Elvis Stojko's punchable preacher delivering a long-winded sermon that merely suggests of what the rest of his biblical ramblings are going to be like. Stojko is either nailing his overwhelmingly pretentious character or ruining him with his wide-eyed, wooden, and blabbering mannerisms yet in either event, the movie suffers detrimentally when he is on screen. Elsewhere, completely unlikable assholes argue with each other within their own "friends" groups let alone when they run into strangers who they immediately pick fights with, both parties cars run out of gas at the same time, we see some boobs, a whole lot more arguing happens, and then an evil baboon thing shows up well into the third act. The film is competently shot by cinematographer Bryan Piggott and co-screenwriter Ryan Kobold's music sets a fun, eerie tone, but it all ends up being an awkard, snore-inducing mess with no one on screen to tolerate.
Dir - Thomas Sainsbury
Overall: GOOD
While it fails to tighten up all of its loose ends, Thomas Sainsbury's Loop Track still proves to be a successful pairing of nature and psychological horror. A New Zealand hike gone awry, Sainsbury plays the lead roll on top of writing, directing, and producing; this marking a sharp enough contrast from his otherwise strictly comedic works as a standup, playwright, and social media personality. We are given a less than agreeable amount of backstory concerning Sainsbury's persistently downtrodden character who seems to be fleeing his family life for some reason, all in order to spend time in isolation. Whether this is for repentance, self-examination, a mental recharge, or all of the above is not made clear, but his trek is quickly interrupted by a good-natured yet annoying fellow hiker who insists that they tag-along with each other, only to run into even more unassuming people while a gradual danger seems to be lurking in the bushes, just out of definite site. It plays the common game of utilizing the protagonist's already-established emotional turmoil as a means for both the audience and other characters to not take his paranoia seriously until it is too late, but the final act is both alarming and intense, which is further heightened by some excellent practical effects.
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