Director: Leigh Whannell
Writer: Leigh Whannell
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid

Synopsis: When Cecilia’s abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

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In Hollywood, nothing ever really dies. Whether it is a beloved character, or an entire universe, even if it fails, it will definitely be back. As recently as 2017 with The Mummy, there was an ill-fated attempt to reboot the world of Universal Monsters, even moving to the point of casting all of the monsters. Despite the star power of Tom Cruise, it failed, and with its death came the end of the entire connected universe plan. And yet, as we fast forward to 2020, at least one of the monsters has returned. With the help of Blumhouse Productions, and director Leigh Whannell have expertly revived The Invisible Man.

Among the many smart decisions made by Whannell and company is the focus on Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss). In most iterations of The Invisible Man, the first half of the film is detailing whatever crazy experiments take place which lead to the creation of the monster. Here, instead, both the opening scene (and the majority of the film, frankly) tell the story of a woman escaping an abusive relationship. That first scene is, indeed, one of the most tense few minutes of film you will see all year. Whannell uses both sound and shadow to replicate the fear that Cecilia must be feeling in that moment. Not to solely focus on that first scene, but probably the best choice made is to never truly show what Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) has done specifically. Instead Whannell leans on Moss, one of our best working actors. Every bit of stress and pain etched in her face tells us what we need to know. To hammer the point home, the fact that his dog has a shock collar should tell you how he treats people and animals he supposedly loves.

Through most of the rest of the movie, the audience (obviously) doesn’t see the titular villain. Although this is a monster movie, and an effective one at that, it doubles as a near perfect example of being in an abusive relationship. When an abuser puts on the costume of a “good guy,” it becomes easy for outsiders to disbelieve the reality of the situation. This is, of course, especially true if the person telling that truth is a woman. So, yes, there is a great deal of science fiction at work here, but it is also a sadly relatable story.

After the excellence of Upgrade, Whannell mastering genre work should be no surprise. For fans of his, there are some Upgrade-y moments of camerawork that didn’t quite mesh with this film, but that is a mild critique of otherwise masterful direction. He plays with both constricted and expanded space in the frame to simultaneously make you feel general horror fear and specific invisible attacker fear. When the camera is focused just in front of Cecilia, will the villain attack from out of frame? When the camera goes wide, what in the environment is about to move in impossible ways? In that latter situation, Whannell again uses shadow to great effect. So much so that you may find yourself squinting and wondering if you really did see something move, just like Cecilia.

While Moss is damn near perfect, as per usual, this is not quite a one woman show. Both her sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer) and her friend, James (Aldis Hodge), who are both police officers are wonderful additions to the cast. Hodge, who is having a fantastic run after a supporting role in Clemency, plays both the tough cop and the caring friend and father with equal believability. He and his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid) provide both some much-needed support for Cecilia, as well as people for our lead to care about when things inevitably go south. The relationship with her sister is probably the most complex in the film, and provides a moment late in the film that will likely leave audiences shaken as they leave the theater.

Blumhouse has proven once again that if you have a talented director willing to work within a small budget, you can get away with an alarming film not being a CGI fest. There is an old adage that our imaginations can come up with images much more frightening than the visual medium can ever provide. The Invisible Man, aptly, is the perfect example of this thought process. For once, an Invisible Man film doesn’t focus on the man becoming a monster. Instead, it manages to lean on the ideas of believing women (and survivors in general), even when that belies logic or our own personal experiences with them. The Invisible Man is a much better film than expected, and quickly moves past simple genre to become a movie that should make you viscerally feel what it is like deep in the throes of a dangerous relationship.

Overall Grade: A-

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Hear our podcast review on Episode 367:

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Director: Kirill Mikhanovsky
Writer: Alice Austen, Kirill Mikhanovsky
Stars: Lauren ‘Lolo’ Spencer, Chris Galust, Maxim Stoyanov

Synopsis: In this freewheeling comedy, medical transport driver Vic risks his job to shuttle a group of rowdy seniors and a Russian boxer to a funeral, dragging clients like Tracy, a young woman with ALS, along for the ride.

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As someone who gets quite anxious at just the thought of being even slightly late for anything, I found the premise of Give Me Liberty pretty stressful. Furthermore, I also for a time, like our protagonist, used to drive van-loads of loud, capricious people around while they occasionally yelled at me. So my sympathies were absolutely with him from the jump.

My passengers were entitled film and commercial producers; I was their production assistant. Vic (Chris Galust), on the other hand, drives a medical transport vehicle. His disruptive folks onboard, though, are not his regular passengers but rather a small mob of elderly Russians who commandeer his van when the bus that was supposed to take them to a funeral for a friend doesn’t show up.

They’re the other residents from the apartment building where Vic lives with his possibly senile grandfather. He cares about them, so he risks his job to chauffeur them across town to the cemetery, while attempting to pick up and drop off his legitimate passengers along the way… Lots of humor ensues.

Director Kirill Mikhanovsky assembled a relatively large cast of non-professional actors for his latest venture. Reportedly, many of these folks came from a Milwaukee vocational school for persons with disabilities and a community of Russian immigrants. The performances of this ensemble cast have an unencumbered nature to them—a sort of instinctual naturalism that years of perfecting a craft can beat out of some artists.

A true standout among this vibrant cast of characters is a young woman named Tracy (Lauren “Lolo” Spencer). Spencer is one of this film’s main breakout scene-stealers. She’s a welcome dose of comedic relief in this already-madcap caper. Tracy is a lively and resolute presence in Vic’s van as someone not to be crossed—or else her sharp tongue will slice you in half. See, unlike most of these passengers, she’s actually supposed to be riding. Her saltiness at being delayed is delightfully palpable and great fun to watch. Spencer proves that she deserved that Film Independent Spirit Award nomination, and I wish her a fruitful career.

The other supporting standout comes in the form of the marvelously chaotic Dima (Maxim Stoianov). As ridiculous as Give Me Liberty gets at times—and it can get ridiculous—the audience can always count on Dima to up the ante and thereby somehow ground the goings-ons. Part of me doubts that such a magnanimous person could even exists, but it works nonetheless. In the vein of Peter Stormare, Stoianov feels like a type of character actor who, if he plays his cards right, could have a monopoly on all of Hollywood’s vaguely Eastern European roles—the funny ones as well as the villainous ones. Because he deserves them.

Of course the outright star of the film is Galust, who is simply wonderful in his debut turn, giving a beautifully understated yet multi-faceted performance. Film Independent deemed him worthy of a nomination for Best Male Lead, and I’m inclined to agree. Galust is able to carry Give Me Liberty with a commanding performance that never slips into showy territory. He has a warm stoicism that feels very at home in this era of confident, low-key young actors… (We all ought to be so grateful that Dane DeHaan and Timmy Chalamet have brought this love child of theirs into the world, for the sake of indie cinema and for our eyes.)

As a storyteller, Mikhanovsky definitely does not shy away from the real world issues that plague all corners of the United States. For what is in many respects a “road movie,” the characters of Give Me Liberty do not travel very far—just a handful of in-town miles—because they keep encountering detours caused by protests. The non-white civilians of Milwaukee have had it with the police violence in their city, and their justifiable urban disruptions create obstacles for our protagonists—obstacles that must be addressed in order to move forward. If for nothing else, Mikhanovsky must be commended to for the representation found in his film.

The folks of Film Independent chose Give Me Liberty as the winner of their John Cassavetes Award, which is given to the filmmakers of the best film with a budget below $500,000. And let me tell you… half a million dollars may sound like a substantial sum, but it’s truly not very much money in the production world. The lines of expenditures add up pretty quickly. Looking at it, Give Me Liberty is undoubtedly a low-budget picture, but Mikhanovsky’s shoestrings must also be magic wands, because with an ensemble and geographic footprint of this size… Wow! I just hope the entire cast and crew were paid well, or paid period. (I’m doubtful, though.)

Bottom line: Give Me Liberty is an eccentric little comedy with plenty of barely contained haywire and whole lot of heart. Plus, I’ve been to Wisconsin, and let’s just say I can see the events of this story unfolding there. Take that as you will.

Overall Grade: B+

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Director: Kitty Green
Writer: Kitty Green
Stars: Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen, Makenzie Leigh

Synopsis: As Jane follows her daily routine, she grows increasingly aware of the insidious abuse that threatens every aspect of her position.

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Kitty Green’s The Assistant may not be your traditional horror film, but watching it will give you the same overwhelming sense of dread and anxiety that one experiences watching a horror film such as The Invisible Man. Like The Invisible Man our main character Jane (played by the exceptional Julia Garner), is tormented by an unseen threat and like Elisabeth Moss’ Cecilia, she is also subjected to gaslighting. The monster of Green’s The Assistant may not be exactly ‘invisible’ but we never truly see him in full, he is simply a fleeting image that brushes pass the desk, or a deep voice that barks insults down the phone. However, this isn’t to say that the ‘monster’ in The Assistant isn’t less of a threat, because if anything, He (the boss) is just as monstrous as Adrian Griffin.

It’s interesting to have both these films emerge at the same time, both films capture the daily horrors that women have to encounter and also capture the imbalance of power between men and women. The Assistant is just as effective as The Invisible Man as Green manages to fully immerse you into this bleak, cold world and as the narrative develops your heartbeat begins to quicken and your palms begin to sweat. There’s no other way to describe the experience of watching The Assistant without liking it to a horror film, and when we realize that the world in which the film takes place in is a reflection of our own then the film becomes even more haunting.

The film follows Jane, a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, who has just landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Everyone around her including her own parents remind her how lucky she is for landing such a role. It’s a tough, brutal world where hundreds of graduates are fighting for one job. Jane is one of the fortunate one, or is she? Her day is much like any other assistant, she’s the first one in and the last to leave. We watch her making coffee, ordering lunch, arranging travel accommodations and taking phone messages. Everyone seems to take advantage of Jane in some shape or form, in one scene we watch her quietly wash up another woman’s plate and be criticized for getting a turkey sandwich instead of chicken.

As we follow Jane throughout her daily routine, we watch as she grows increasingly aware of the abuse and toxicity that runs rampant throughout her workplace. The arrival of another assistant played by Mackenzie Leigh (a pretty female waitress with no experience) sets off alarm bells, especially when the boss disappears to pay the new assistant a visit at the hotel where she’s staying. Disgusted, frustrated and angry, Jane pays a visit to Wilcock (Matthew Macfadyen) in Human Resources, in order to express her concerns. However, it quickly becomes evident that Jane is completely alone.

There’s so much to unpack with this film, even though Jane works in the film industry, the office where the story takes place could be any workplace in any town. The story feels so eerily relatable to anyone (regardless of gender) who has found themselves working in a toxic environment. When we see Jane smoking in the snow (one of the very few shots that take place outside), it isn’t hard to recall a time and place where we’ve tried to cope with the stress that we’ve endured. The character of Jane is so brilliantly written because she feels like an empty shell that we can project our own experiences onto, and Garner’s performance is so subtle, and she contains such raw emotion that if she isn’t nominated for an Oscar then it would be a crying shame.

Tension is built by having the camera slowly close in on Garner’s face, and she manages to convey so much with the simple action of biting her lip or closing her eyes. This isn’t a film with a big showy off performance, because this doesn’t represent the character of Jane who is this silent, thoughtful individual who will always be the outsider in this toxic world. Her interactions with her colleagues, two other (male) assistants are interesting, because even though they seem thoughtful (assisting her with writing not one but two apology emails to their boss), the other two assistants seem to exclude her from their world (although this may not be intentionally).

The office where the film takes place is modeled on Miramax and the boss is clearly Harvey Weinstein, although these comparisons are never mentioned throughout the entire course of the film. Green spent a year interviewing employees about the structure of the office and the complexities of who did what and what their job role entailed. It’s clear that a great level of detail has been paid in recreating this workplace. Green’s previous films have been documentaries so the film has a documentary, ‘fly-on-the-wall’ appearance and approach to storytelling. It looks and feels so real because it *was* real.

Although, the character of Jane is never the subject of sexual abuse, she is still a victim of gaslighting, as well as verbal and mental abuse. And there are many more Jane’s out there who are experiencing the same trauma. Hopefully, The Assistant will help continue the conversation, because even though Weinstein may be facing time behind bars, he isn’t the only predator out there.

Overall Grade: A

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Director: Autumn de Wilde
Writer: Eleanor Catton (based on the novel by Jane Austen)
Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy

Synopsis: In 1800s England, Emma, a well meaning but selfish young woman meddles in the love lives of her friends.

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Jane Austen’s Emma has had several adaptations (both on the small and the big screen) over the years, from the likes of Amy Herckerling’s 1995 film Clueless, to the Gwyneth Paltrow led vehicle in 1996 and even an Indian modern-day adaptation called Aisha. There’s something about this novel and it’s protagonist which people can still relate to despite the novel being first published over 200 years ago. Emma Woodhouse isn’t an easy character to like or even root for, even Austen herself stated that “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” However, as the narrative develops, you can’t help but fall under Emma’s spell. Even though Emma is a character that was written in the early 1800s, she feels incredibly contemporary as a woman who is headstrong, and very independent in a world where women had no rights and were still considered the property of men.

Autumn de Wilde’s directorial debut is the latest adaptation of Austen’s novel, and looking at Emma you wouldn’t believe that this was de Wilde’s first feature. The film is so exceptionally well crafted and so vividly gorgeous to gaze upon that it will not fail to impress even the most hardened critic. Prior to Emma, de Wilde has worked in photography, learning the craft from her father Jerry de Wilde who is known for this photographs of Jimmi Hendrick among others from the 1960s music scene. It’s clear from Emma, that de Wilde pays close attention to detail and understands the art form that is cinema.

Anya Taylor-Joy stars as the titular character and truly shines here. Taylor-Joy burst onto the scene in Robert Eggers’ The Witch, and continued to impress us with her role in M. Night Shyamalan’s Split and Glass as well as starring in the criminally underseen Thoroughbreds. Here, she is perfectly cast as Emma Woodhouse, a young woman who interferes in the love lives of her friends and peers around her. Emma has no wishes to marry, but sees it as her duty to play the role of matchmaker and her latest quest is to find a suitable husband for her new friend Harriet (Mia Goth).

Her matchmaking is often criticised by George Knightley (Johnny Flynn) a neighbor who is the complete opposite of Emma and is the only one that isn’t afraid to call her out. Aside from matchmaking, Emma also cares for her father (a wonderful Bill Nighy) who is concerned about catching a chill and getting sick. There are also wonderful performances from the rest of the supporting cast such as Miranda Hart as the rather chatty Miss Bates, Josh O’Connor as Mr. Elton (who Emma is keen to set up with Harriet), and Callum Turner as Frank Churchill (the object of Emma’s affections). However, with so many characters involved it can be hard to keep track.

Aside from the excellent performances by the cast, there is much praise for Eleanor Catton’s script which captures the spirit and wit of Austen’s novel. Christopher Blauvelt’s cinematography captures the beauty and soul of the English countryside. However, the real champion of this film is Alexandra Byrne’s costumes which are so stunning that you can’t help but gwap at them in awe. Byrne is best known for her work on several period dramas such as Elizabeth, The Phantom of the Opera, and Mary Queen of Scots, as well as designing the costumes for an array of Marvel films. Byrne’s costume design and the production design by Kave Quinn, art direction by Alice Sutton, set decoration by Stella Fox and all those working in the makeup department, should be praised for creating such an immersive and breathtakingly beautiful world. 

Overall, Emma is a highly enjoyable romp and is the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon. Although, some may find the film’s pacing rather slow, and those who aren’t fans of period dramas may struggle to connect to the film. However, there’s no denying the fact that Emma is one of the most visually impressive films to come along in a long while and with the likes of Little Women and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the costume period drama is clearly having some sort of renaissance, which is very exciting indeed!

Overall Grade: B+

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Hear our podcast review on Extra Film, coming soon.

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Director: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
Writers: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz, Sergio Casci,
Stars: Richard Armitage, Alicia Silverstone, Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell

Synopsis: A soon-to-be stepmom is snowed in with her fiancé’s two children at a remote holiday village. Just as relations begin to thaw between the trio, some strange and frightening events take place.

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If just the thought of spending several blizzard-bound days trapped in a secluded cabin in the woods with no one but your fiancé’s two rude children is all it takes to send shivers up and down your spine, then The Lodge might be too much for you. Because those bratty kids are just the beginning of the terrors that unfold.

What makes Severin Fiala and Veronica Franz’s latest film special is the horror in The Lodge is devised almost entirely atmospherically; the icy mood mirrors the chilly setting perfectly. Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a well executed jump scare—in fact, in many ways jump scares are their own art form—but the nightmare here is brewed organically, sort of. Fiala and Franz confidently take their time to build the tension—every beat methodical—so the gut-punch of a pay-off is earned on its own terms.

Riley Keough plays Grace, a protagonist that this film waits for a bit to introduce. So when we finally meet Grace, we already have impressions of who we think she is, thanks to Aiden and Mia’s delve into her troubling past. Turns out, their soon-to-be-stepmother is the sole survivor of her father’s cult’s mass suicide. Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh play the discourteous youngsters who wish to convince their father and the audience early on that Grace is psychotic.

Aiden and Mia’s ire is understandable. Their investigative-writer father, played by Richard Armitage, cheated on their mom with the subject of his latest sensationalistic book, then asked for a divorce in order to be with this disturbed young woman instead the mother of his children. In playing Laura, the rejected wife, Alicia Silverstone is tasked with establishing the feeling of utter unease that this story carries from start to finish. She embodies dread so thoroughly in the opening scenes that there’s no doubt that this will be a painful moviegoing experience. Her ubiquitous unrest looms, like a specter, even when she’s not on screen.

As her children, Martell and McHugh might play the most interesting characters in The Lodge. While Silverstone is the mood incarnate, Martell and McHugh are the themes incarnate. Aiden and Mia spend the whole runtime in mourning for what used to be their idyllic home. So much of the film’s horror stems from idea of the dissolution of family—and the cruel acts that such a schism could drive people to commit. Because Aiden and Mia blame Grace for what has become of their family, and are quite mean to her in turn: they ignore her, refuse her gestures of goodwill, and actively alienate her.

Keough delivers an eerily rendered performance as Grace. She crafts a character who’s easy to sympathize with, even if you too blame her for breaking up this family—although, if you really want to get into it, that’s Richard’s fault actually. Grace, a victim of deep psychological trauma, just wants a normal life with a normal family as she moves on and gets better. But if the horror films of decades past have taught us anything, it’s the fact that getting snowbound in a piously decorated lodging that’s larger than it ought to be—while somehow still inciting an air of claustrophobia—is not good for anyone’s mental health.

To exacerbate matters, with the snowstorm comes a seemingly otherworldly menace. The cabin’s power vanishes. The clocks keep changing. Belongings disappear, including Grace’s medication. Upon being deprived of her pills—on top of Aiden and Mia’s bullying and the abode’s abundance of triggering religious iconography—Grace’s darkest memories buoy and anxieties escalate. By this point in the story, Fiala and Franz have already steeped this film so thoroughly in an almost unbearable tea of disquiet that the approaching terrors feel a long while coming.

Frequent Yorgos Lanthimos collaborator Thimios Bakatakis frames every shot so as to evoke total discomfort. So many angles feel ever so slightly off, to a purposefully distressing effect—a signature technique of Gilbert Taylor’s. Simultaneously, he plays with shades of blue and grey to convey a sense of foreboding, a unsettling coldness that masquerades as serenity. This visually represents how far the directors want us to stay from these characters, because we’re never really supposed to know them or what they’re thinking, not really; it adds to the mystery. Bakatakis also utilizes the full spectrum of light on his painter’s palette from scene to scene: from chiaroscuro keys to emanate a distrustful presence, to dim fills that further elicit the murkiness of the plot, and back again.

Moviegoers keen on plot will likely disapprove of the logic, or lack thereof, within The Lodge. On a surface level, many of the characters’ choices will probably read as unrealistic, or downright silly. The third-act reveals might seem unbelievable, or completely asinine. The resolution’s reluctance to answer all questions may drive some mad. But that’s all perfectly fine. Because, to borrow from Aristotle, plot is not this film’s primary dramatic element. The Lodge is rooted in thought and theme; it’s emblematic. So don’t get too hung up on rationality. Basically, to misquote Margo Channing, “Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

If a conceptual narrative is not enough, the shortcomings of the script are also saved through the actors. Riley Keough proves once again that she’s a star on the rise—she’ll knock the hell out of you when you least expect it. Jaeden Martell’s performance is deceptively calculated, and one that viewers would probably get more out of on a second watch. Lia McHugh, with her devastating turn as a vexed daughter in mourning, shows why she should be on every casting director’s radar. And Richard Armitage… is very dashing.

The Lodge is not for everyone. It’s not even for every horror enthusiast, as a guileful and sneakily cerebral picture about how our pain can push us to inflict pain upon others, especially those closest to us. Hurt people hurt people, as the adage goes. At the very least, let’s all agree that it’s always nice to add another grim film to the Christmas scary movie canon. Because nothing gets me in the yuletide spirit quite like a moody chiller about a cataclysmal family.

Overall Grade: B

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Hear our podcast review on Episode 366:

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Director: Jeff Fowler
Writers: Patrick Casey, Josh Miller
Stars: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Jim Carrey

Synopsis: After discovering a small, blue, fast hedgehog, a small-town police officer must help it defeat an evil genius who wants to do experiments on it.

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Movies based on video games have been getting our hopes up and crushing them since the early 1990s. The latest video game character to grace the big screen is Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog. This film comes with a lot of baggage due to Sonic’s less than desirable character design released around April of 2019. It caused outrage on social media and the barrage of negative reactions lead to a complete VFX overhaul and delay of the film. Luckily the new design seems to be a hit and the film wasn’t as bad as expected.

Sonic the Hedgehog tells the story of Sonic (Ben Schwartz)- a blue space hedgehog with superspeed hiding out on Earth. After accidentally causing a power outage affecting the entire town, Sonic attracts the attention of insane evil genius Dr. Ivo Robonik (Jim Carrey); a man who loves his robots more than people and is hellbent on catching whatever new creature caused the power outage. Sonic teams up with local cop Tom (James Marsden) to run from the robot wielding madman, find his rings, and escape to a safer world.

This movie was fast-paced and lots of fun from the get-go. It’s filled with nods to the original games and tons of pop culture references. The downside of that is anyone who did not grow up playing Sega or is not a 6 to 12-year-old boy may miss out on the humor. But even if you are forced to watch this with a child or Sega loving friend, there is something for everyone in this film. The action sequences are great, the VFX team did an amazing job redesigning Sonic and recreating his moves from the games for the big screen. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sonic the Hedgehog ended up on the Visual Effects Oscar shortlist at the end of the year. The voice actor, Ben Schwartz, also did a great job with Sonic. Definitely brought the same attitude and humor from the games. Jim Carrey embraced his ridiculousness for his role as Robonik, sometimes going a bit overboard- but if you can’t go overboard as a video game bad guy, when can you? If they do decide to do a sequel, I would love to see Carrey again. The only problem I really had with the film was the mass quantity of product placement. There were so many brand names visible or called out by characters that it started to get distracting and become annoying. I understand films need money, but this was overkill. The rest of the film is pretty mediocre; it’s entertaining, but nothing spectacular. The story is simple, the supporting cast is fine, but it’s a movie obviously marketed towards preteen boys so that’s okay.

Is Sonic the Hedgehog the best video game movie ever? No. Is it better than a good number of its predecessors? Yes, it is. If you grew up with Sega or have kids, then go give Sonic a shot on the big screen. The effects alone are worth the price of a ticket. It didn’t work all that well for me, I was a Nintendo kid and am way outside this movie’s target audience. Overall, it’s an enjoyable flick that exceeded expectations and whose VFX artists deserve any and all accolades coming to them. There is also a mid-credits scene so make sure to stick around for that.

Overall Grade: C+

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