December 2nd
Stars at Noon
Resurrection (digital download)
The Wonder (Streaming on Netflix)
Causeway (Streaming on Apple TV)
Don't forget - you only have the next few days to catch the Japanese Film Festival in Melbourne - read reviews in last week's blog!
For those wanting to watch at home, three of this week's four films reviewed will let you do just that. The two from streaming services Apple and Netflix are total winners. Makes me wonder if home movie watching will one day overtake cinema.
Stars at Noon
Dir: Claire Denis
Length: 135 mins
 |
© Rialto - hot and steamy times
in central America |
Claire Denis is considered one of the top French directors of her time. Growing up in Africa, it's no surprise to find many of her films having some connection to hot and steamy countries - this time Nicaragua. Adapted from a novel, it's the story of Trish, (Margaret Qualley), a young freelance journalist who has run foul of the authorities and had her passport confiscated. Putting on a brave face but becoming increasingly desperate, she starts trading sex for money (and rum), until she runs across debonair English businessman Daniel (Joe Alwyn). She sees him as a possible way out, until she realises he is in deeper trouble than she is. Trish and Daniel feel progressively trapped in what is obviously a hostile and dangerous country. The words languid, steamy and aimless come to mind, as eroticism entwines itself with the thriller genre. While overly long, the film nevertheless successfully conjures all the sweatiness and danger of the lifestyle the two find themselves in. However for me there is not enough explanation of exactly what Daniel has done, and the two CIA agents who insert themselves into the plot towards the end feel a touch jarring. The top drawcard is Qualley's hypnotic performance. The film has won the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes FF.3.5 - well recommended
Resurrection
Dir: Andrew Semans
Length: 103 mins
Available on Digital download
 |
© Universal - the past comes back to
haunt Margaret, just when she thinks
life is under control |
Margaret (Rebecca Hall) is a successful businesswoman and single mother. Life runs smoothly, despite her apprehension that only daughter Abbie (Grace Kaufmann) is leaving soon to go to college. But weird things start happening (Abbie hurt in a bike accident, a tooth turning up in Abbie's wallet), and to cap it off, Margaret runs into a man from her past at a conference. David (Tim Roth) was her partner years ago; an abusive man with strange controlling fetishes. David starts to re-exert a nightmarish stranglehold on Margaret's life as gradually the truth of their past relationship emerges. This is a strange morph between a relationship drama and a psychological horror film. But there are plot points that leave me baffled. As a study of male coercive control it works really well, but the horror elements towards the end (even if you wish to interepret it as all being in Margaret's mind) don't totally hold together. However, the three leads are magnificent in their roles, and the tension grows exponentially throughout, until the whole thing seems to almost derail in a perplexing conclusion. 3 - recommended
The Wonder
Dir: Sebastian Lelio
Length: 108 mins
Streaming on Netflix
 |
© Netflix - powerhouse performance from
Pugh lifts this period piece |
Nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is called to an Irish village in 1862 and tasked with watching over a young girl for two weeks. Anna O'Donnell (Killa Lord Cassidy) has not eaten for four months, and claims to get sustenance from "manna from heaven". Local journalist Will Byrne (Tom Burke) suspects some sort of hoax and Lib also becomes suspicious, and orders that there be zero contact between Anna and her mother. Lib and Will's logical, science-based views are in stark contrast to those of Anna's family, who are religious in a near-fundamentalist way, with a strong belief in guilt, punishment and atonement. This is a richly atmospheric film, both visually, musically and thematically. With strong lead performances from Pugh and Cassidy, it's no surprise it has won the British Independent Film Award. 4 - highly recommended
Causeway
Dir: Lila Neugebauer
Length: 92 mins
Streaming on Apple TV
 |
© A24 - Jennifer Lawrence shows the acting
talent that propelled her to the top |
Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence) returns from a posting in Afghanistan, with a severe traumatic brain injury as a result of an IED explosion. After a period of rehab with a kindly carer Sharon (Jane Houdyshell) she returns to her childhood home and a strained relationship with her mother Gloria (Linda Emond). Desperate to escape home and to return to military duty, she takes up swimming pool cleaning work and a friendship with James (Brian Tyree Henry), also no stranger to trauma. This sort of movie is just up my alley: an understated human drama of loss, grief, kindness and the human struggle for connection. Lawrence and Henry anchor the film in two delicate and moving performances that hit the mark. Everything about the film feels spot-on authentic, thanks to fine scripting and a wonderful cast. 4 - highly recommended
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