Dir - Andrew Semans
Overall: GOOD
The second full-length from writer/director Andrew Semenas Resurrection is a bold work that veers heavily into WTF terrain while simultaneously dealing with deeply troubling subject matter. Put into production after Semans' sought-after, Black List script was picked up by producer Alex Scharfman, the tonal balance sounds impossible on paper for a story that shines an uncomfortable light on the nightmarish trauma caused by the most extreme type of manipulative abuse, yet in such a way that the exaggerated horror aspects become undeniably preposterous. While this core principal may be the exact thing that becomes too much for some viewers to handle, it is also what makes it an incredibly exciting, challenging bit of movie-making that utilizes the genre's inherent bizarreness to explore very serious issues, respectfully so no less. Some could argue that the film would only work half as well if not for Rebecca Hall's outstandingly vulnerable performance, with kudos also deserving for both Grace Kaufman as her concerned and struggling daughter and Tim Roth as the enormously vile terror that has consumed her very existence. Certainly not for everyone's tolerance or taste, but for those who can meet it on its own psychologically horrific grounds, rewards shall be reaped.
Dir - Beth de Araújo
Overall: MEH
A film like Beth de Araújo's painfully topical, full-length debut Soft & Quiet exists predominantly to be an uncomfortable viewing experience. Taking inspiration from the 2020 Central Park birdwatching incident, Araújo dives right in and never lets up on racist, feminist rage, shooting the entire movie in one continuous, ninety-two minute take that lets the camera focus on various characters who are caught up in the completely uncorked spewing of pent-up violence. The viewer is put in the uneasy seat quite early on once we meet the women's group and their misguided, highly disconcerting point of view; a point of view which already seems to barely be held at bay under a fake, soccer mom, "we're here for you girl" facade. Once things inevitably spiral out of control, the true despair of such aggression seems unavoidable for both the people on screen and the ones watching. While it is certainly a commendable work that provokes as intended, it is as miserable of a viewing experience as torture porn and in this respect can only be recommended with the most sincere of trigger warnings for those who sit on either side of the fence as far as the all too real and all too troubling questions that it raises. There are no answers to those questions here; just unbridled chaos that most people probably should face in some capacity yet also probably will never want to.
Dir - Tyler Cornack
Overall: GOOD
Expanding his web series of the same name into a feature length anthology film, Tiny Cinema is an intentionally wacky one that is as much dark, juvenile humor as it is anything resembling The Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt. Whereas creator Tyler Cornack's previous movie Butt Boy was a full expansion of one of his minute-long Tiny Cinema episodes, there are six tales here of an agreeable length, most of which are linked by Paul Ford as the meta, wise-cracking host who lets the viewer in on the absurdity at play. On that note, each one of the installments here definitely adheres to such absurdity, some taking a groan-worthy premise, (like a guy having a psychotic breakdown because he does not get the "That's what she said" joke and another where a mobster forces another mobster to actually fuck his mother because the latter mobster made such a jest during a poker game), to appropriately ridiculous lengths. The best moments here are based on stranger ideas, such as "Edna" which fuses Jörg Buttgereit’s Nekromantik with Sturart Gordon's landmark Re-Animator except presented somewhat as a romantic comedy and the closing "Daddy's Home" which probably just needs to be seen to be believed if not entirely understood. The middle two "Bust!" and "Deep Impact" are probably the weakest and most off-color, but the whole collection remains inventive enough to recommend.
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