Dir - Justin P. Lange
Overall: GOOD
A promising, somber, yet oddly uplifting debut from filmmaker Justin P. Lange, The Dark transcends its almost problematically generic title. In large parts, what actually lies in the movie itself is refreshing genre-bypassing. There is no conventional, incidental music and when any musical motifs do arrive, they are not only very few and far between, yet also provide a fitting, narrative role. Lange's script is at once simple yet arguably overly-stuffed as certain side arcs are deliberately glossed over while simultaneously being too disturbing to warrant such negligence. Still, the most important element is the core, simple theme of overcoming extreme trauma after it has effectively monsterized you. This gives the movie a potent, emotional core and the serious tone is kept entirely in check throughout. Lange finds little to no use with nonsense like jump scares or exaggerated, muted color pallets, though there is still a fair amount of grime and nastiness. Again though, the end result is less bombastic and more introspective as is appropriate for the material. The fact that it surprisingly ends up not being a completely dour experience is novel in its own right as well.
Dir - Peter Strickland
Overall: MEH
British filmmaker Peter Strickland delivers another utterly perplexing genre workout with In Fabric, a movie whose humor stems from the increasingly ridiculous presentation that goes nowhere. Strickland seems to delight in such eccentricities where every last scene dares instead of challenges the viewer; challenges them not only to make heads or tails out of the peculiar goings on, (which is utterly futile), but also to simply come to terms with their own visceral reaction to what is on screen. In the most bare bones sense, there is some sort of hypnotic, supernatural tomfoolery afoot regarding a particular red wrap dress and a department store made up of funny-accented foreigners who speak in unintelligible riddles, cast synchronized beckoning spells on their patrons, and masturbate to a menstruating mannequin. Long story. As visually intoxicating as it is, the demented pretentiousness is only tolerable to the most forgiving of viewers. In this regard it is a popcorn movie for arthouse cinephiles; something with zero substance and instead just a never-ending stream of flashy, preposterous nonsense that leaves nothing beneath its surface to uncover.
Dir - Richard Shepard
Overall: MEH
Flashy both in its twisty plot and backtracking structure, Richard Shepard's The Perfection ultimately bites off more than it can stomach. Following up her memorable turn as a manipulative psycho in Get Out, Allison Williams is once again, well, a manipulative psycho here. Yet the script by Shepard, Eric Charmelo, and Nicole Snyder has a lot of fun flipping everything around more than several times to the point where the movie becomes overblown and a bit ridiculous. Several details are present that are not for the squeamish and when the story reveals its truly unwholesome nature, it comes off as more cartoonishly vile than properly disturbing. It is not so much that the movie botches its tone; it is more that it asks a bit too much of the viewer to take it as seriously as the subject matter may or may not deserve. For those that can appreciate the "WTF" revelations and the somewhat quirky presentation while taking them merely at face value, the film may be a bizarre enough ride to endure. For others that are easily insulted by any sort of about-face that veers into schlock territory though, this may prove a frustrating experience.
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