“Swallow”
Pica is an odd psychological eating disorder involving the compulsion to ingest inappropriate substances that are not food—such as hair, dirt, and paint chips. Filmmaker Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ immaculately crafted directorial debut could have been about just that illness, but instead, he uses it launching pad to create an absorbing and unnerving movie—part body horror, part psychological drama— about obsession, trauma, control, identity, and personal autonomy. Not only that, “Swallow” features an intense but restrained performance by Haley Bennett, as a compliant housewife imprisoned in gender expectations of the world she’s living in—one of obscene wealth, privilege and affluence that she feels alienated from and her verbally abusive husband and odious, patronizing in-laws are constantly reminding her she’s desperately fortunate to have lucked into. “Swallow” is essentially a traumatic portrait of a woman asphyxiating in her surroundings and expectations, never free to be who she really. Chillingly, in her internment within this marriage, home and family, she turns to the horrific freedom of swallowing batteries, nails, tacks, and other ungodly items in the one desperate decision she is allowed to make on her own. An arresting work and we can’t wait to see more from both the director and lead. [Review] – RP
“True History Of The Kelly Gang”
Justin Kurzel bounces back from his ill-conceived film adaptation of “Assassin’s Creed” with this dramatization of the life and times of notorious Australian outlaw Ned Kelly – a folk hero whose outsized legend passed down from one generation to the next, with new fictions grafted on in every iteration. Kurzel’s approach to the material wisely apes that folk-tale quality, dazzling us with his flashy camera choreography, filling his frames with colorful personalities and operatic exaggerations, the better to distract us as he quietly loads the film with subtextual indictments of toxic masculinity and nihilistic criminality. “1917” star George MacKay comes up a touch short in the lead, but the supporting cast lifts him up; of particular note are Nicholas Hoult as the shockingly amoral villain of the piece, and Russell Crowe, channeling Orson Welles channeling Falstaff, as the affable fellow who takes young Ned under his wing and teaches him to ruthlessly rob. “True History” gives you the manic exhilaration of the best crime movies, but at a cost – its closing scenes burn it all down with unexpected force. [Review]
“The Vast of Night”
There are easier ways to make a low-budget indie movie than to make a period piece, or to make a sci-fi picture; credit due to first-time filmmaker Andrew Patterson, who does both. And he does so with nimbleness and wit, deftly avoiding the need for pricey effects by relying on talk, mood, and movement. He’s interested in sounds and ideas that kick our imaginations into overdrive, focusing on strange currencies and inexplicable interference in the intermingling signals of a radio station, reel-to-reel recordings, and a telephone switchboard, and working into the sci-fi elements from there. But it’s not just an alien invasion story, or a “Twilight Zone” homage (though it does both of those things beautifully). Moving at a furious gallop for 90 exhilarating minutes, the filmmakers nevertheless paint a picture of a very particular kind of small-town – we’re airdropped in, but know right away exactly who everyone is, and what they are to each other – and Patterson charges the picture with a potent undercurrent about the stifling nature of these communities. Sleekly photographed and hauntingly dramatized, this is the most noteworthy debut in many a moon. [Review]
Honorable Mentions:
So, yes, even in a crippled theatrical year, it’s still been a great one for movies so far and our list is just the tip of the iceberg or main highlights, if you will. Also terrific and should be officially included in our picks is anything on our The 25 Best Movies Of 2020 We’ve Already Seen feature which is a compendium of all the best films of this year, we’d already seen last year during the film festival circuit. Some of those films, “Waiting For The Barbarians” with Mark Rylance and Robert Pattinson, for example, hasn’t been released in the U.S. yet so we won’t include it, but again, check that separate feature for good stuff that will be coming out soon. Films that are on that list that we fully endorse include Shannon Murphy‘s cancer drama, coming of age film, “Babyteeth” with breakout star Eliza Scanlen, the hilarious bicycling and buddy laugher, “The Climb,” which is heavily influenced by French comedy, “Color Out of Space” with Nicolas Cage, Quentin Dupieux‘s “Deerskin” starring Jean Dujardin and Adèle Haenel, the chilly Sundance horror, “The Lodge” with Riley Keough, Sundance indie “Premature” with Zora Howard, Corneliu Porumboiu’s Cannes film noir “The Whistlers,” Ken Loach‘s empathetic Cannes drama, “Sorry We Missed You,” and technically not out yet, but soon and we wanted to shout out, Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s “The Truth” with Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche and Ethan Hawke.
Other films worth mention are Ben Affleck‘s alcoholism/sports drama, “The Way Back,” Bertrand Bonello‘s “Zombi Child,” the Sundance crime drama “Lost Girls” starring Amy Ryan, the other Pete Davidson comedy “Big Time Adolescence” (the Apatow is not bad either), the pleasing “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon,” and the Netflix Spanish science fiction-horror film, “The Platform” which came out in March.
Lots of good stuff out there, so catch up with these titles if you haven’t seen them already and or tell us what you’re most interested in seeing. Happy hunting out there, wear a mask and stay safe, bless.
