REVIEW: “His House” (2020)

October 30, 2020 by Keith Garlington

At a pivotal point in “His Room” a character has a sobering revelation. “Your ghosts follow you. They never leave. They live with you.” It’s a powerful line that gets to the heart of this scintillating new horror thriller from first-time feature filmmaker Remi Weekes. “His Room” is an exciting debut that teases you with some of the horror genre’s most well-worn tropes only to surprise you with its big ideas and potent real-world relevancy.

Wisely snatched up by Netflix prior to its Sundance premiere, “His Room” is one of the craftiest horror movies of 2020. It’s a thematically bold genre film that takes an unexpectedly sharp look at the immigrant experience while delving into themes of grief, denial, racism, and survivor’s guilt among other things. Weekes (who also wrote the screenplay) embraces horror elements but doesn’t rely on them. Instead, the terror in his film is as much true-to-life as it is supernatural. And some of the most frightening scenes happen outside the walls of a seemingly haunted council house.

Photo Courtesy of Netflix

The film is anchored by two sublime performances from Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku. They play Bol and Rial, a Sudanese couple who in the film’s opening moments are attempting a harrowing escape from their war-torn homeland. Their journey is perilous – dodging gunfire in cramped buses, long rides in the backs of pickups, and taking a small boat across the turbulent sea that ends up claiming their young daughter’s life. They’re picked up and brought to the United Kingdom but not before a heavy emotional toll had been taken.

After being detained for an unspecified length, Bol and Rial are granted refugee status and given a ramshackle house in a council estate outside of London. Though stared at by neighbors, ridiculed by local kids, and treated as second-class citizens at every turn, the couple are determined to turn their new place into a home. Bol is the more optimistic and resolute. He quickly buries everything from their past and pours all of himself into adapting. Rial finds it harder to let go and struggles to conform to their new way of life.

It’s all vividly captured when Bol comes home to find Rial has prepared a classic Sudanese meal. The romantic dinner is spread across a blanket on the floor to flickering candlelight. “Wonderful” Bol says as he sits, “but maybe next time we can use the table.” He then springs up and goes into the kitchen bringing back silverware. “All I can taste is the metal” says Rial. Bol dismissively replies “You’ll get used to it.” Its an eye-opening scene that highlights the fracture between this husband and wife.

Meanwhile both Bol and Rial begin hearing noises in the walls, mostly when they’re alone and mostly at night. Each of their encounters slowly grow more terrifying. Before long the couple are plunged into their own hellish purgatories, each hearing and seeing very different things. Bol refuses to budge and slowly begins to unravel as the hauntings intensify. Rial is convinced that a devilish witch has followed them from Sudan and brought with it a horde of malevolent spirits. But as Weekes digs deeper we begin to wonder, was it really a witch who filled their walls with ghosts?

Photo Courtesy of Netflix

That may sound like standard haunted house fare, but as connections are made particularly in the film’s chilling yet gripping finish, it’s clear that Weekes has far more on his mind than bumps in the walls and creepy figures in the shadows. And he surprises with his sure-handed visual approach whether it’s the penetrating closeups or his effective use of lighting. There’s also one wickedly surreal scene that I won’t spoil but that really leaves a mark without feeling jarring or self-indulgent.

“His House” is easily one of the best filmmaking debuts of the year and another reminder that there is more to the horror genre than cheap gimmicks and jump scares. It’s a technically, narratively, and thematically rich movie with an earnest affection for its genre but with much, much more going on under its surface. It’s a nice grab for Netflix and hopefully great exposure for one the year’s best horror features.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

First Glance: “Wander”

October 29, 2020 by Keith Garlington

It was only a few days ago that I was asking someone about Aaron Eckhart. And wouldn’t you know it, over the weekend a trailer dropped for his new film called “Wander”. I’ve always liked Eckhart and this new thriller from director April Mullen gives him what looks like a meaty role. It also helps to have the great Tommy Lee Jones attached. That’s a pretty solid one-two punch.

The new trailer isn’t the easiest to decipher but the story goes something like this. Eckhart plays a mentally unhinged private detective who’s as close to the edge as possible without falling over. He’s brought into a small town to investigate a murder which he grows to believe is connected to the death of his daughter. He also believes there is a huge cover-up that he is determined to expose. But is there really some big conspiracy or is the detective’s mind playing tricks on him? The film also stars Heather Graham and Katheryn Winnick.

“Wander” is set for release December 4th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “The True Adventures of Wolfboy” (2020)

October 29, 2020 by Keith Garlington

I can honestly say I had no idea what to expect from “The True Adventures of Wolfboy”. I mean let’s be honest, its title alone lends itself to a wide range of expectations and conjecture. But the emotionally rich opening ten minutes let me know I had misjudged this coming-of-age indie. I’m not saying it’s without flaws, but don’t let it’s curious title fool you. “Wolfboy” has a heart and a message that will resonate with many. I just wish the second half was a little more sure-footed and the finish as impacting as the beginning.

The opening scene hints that “Wolfboy” is more than your standard fare. A 13-year-old boy named Paul (Jaeden Martell of “It” fame) looks into a mirror desperately trying but failing to convince himself that he’s “a normal boy”. Paul has “a condition” that causes thick hair to grow all over his body including his face. As a result he’s considered an outcast and subjected to constant ridicule and bullying. It’s so bad Paul wears a ski mask to hide his face. It’s a heartbreaking scenario especially when it becomes clear the cruelty is taking a toll.

Photo Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Paul’s mother ran away after he was born leaving his father Denny (Chris Messina) to raise him. Denny clearly loves his son, but his well-meaning yet misguided “help” clearly isn’t working. Things like asking Paul to take off his mask at a crowded carnival so he can stand up for himself against the inevitable reactions he will get. Or offering to send him off to a private school for ‘special’ kids. It’s one of those cases of a father who never seems able to say the right thing. Meanwhile Denny is growing more and more frustrated at his inability to make things better for his son.

On his birthday a mysterious package arrives for Paul. Inside is a note from his mother claiming that answers await him at a Pennsylvania address whenever he’s ready. A flustered Paul grabs a map and sneaks away from home, heading to the Keystone State in hopes of finding his mother and the happiness that has long escaped him. But he quickly learns that it’s the journey itself which opens up the world to him and sets him on his path of true self-discovery.

It’s here that director Martin Krejčí and screenwriter Olivia Dufault shift to a road trip movie of sorts, introducing several unique characters for Paul to encounter along the way. First he has a run-in with a slimy, opportunistic carnival owner named Mr. Silk (John Turturro). After that he’s befriended and joined by the enigmatic Aristiana (Sophie Giannamore), a hard to figure out character who sometimes seems more fantasy than real. And later he meets a hellion named Rose (Eve Hewson) who sports a killer eye-patch and has a penchant for robbing convenient stores. For Paul it ends up being an adventure full of firsts.

Photo Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

The ragtag group of new friends bounce from place to place on the road to Pennsylvania. It’s here that the movie hits a few snags. While the group’s antics convey a sense of liberation for Paul, the scattershot storytelling causes the film to lose some of its intimacy. Characters have some worthwhile moments together, but they’re often bookended by more playful yet far less compelling scenes. As a result the tone of the story ends up all over the place. It takes Paul reaching his destination for us to once again feel the same deep emotional draw as in the film’s earliest scenes.

Great talents like Chloe Sevigny and Stephen McKinley Henderson show up later in the film and are given pivotal roles but little screen time. Still both bring a needed gravitas to their characters and the story which ultimately plays out as part reality, part fairytale. The two don’t always meld together as smoothly as the filmmakers would like, but I admire its willingness to try new things even if they don’t always land. “The True Adventures of “Wolfboy” premieres October 30th on VOD.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

REVIEW: “The Secrets We Keep” (2020)

October 28, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Director and co-writer Yuval Adler’s “The Secrets We Keep” is one-half period thriller and one-half domestic drama. Set in small-town America during the late 1950’s, the movie embraces the implausibility of its premise while touching on post-war anxiety, revenge, the fragility of the American Dream, and (as the movie’s title eludes to) keeping secrets from loved ones and then dealing with the consequences once they inevitably come to light.

The aptly titled “The Secrets We Keep” opens with a woman named Maja (Noomi Rapace) sitting in the grass at her neighborhood park watching her young son play. She’s rattled when she hears a distinct whistle coming from a man calling his dog. It’s a familiar whistle; one she’s convinced she has heard before; one that instantly triggers traumatic memories from her past. She follows the man as he gets into his car, never seeing his face but certain their paths have crossed.

Photo Courtesy of Bleeker Street

A day or so later Maja sees the man again (he’s played by Joel Kinneman), this time at a hardware store. Still unable to get a good look at him, she follows the man to his house where he is greeted by his wife and two young children. Maja sneaks across their yard, peers through a window and finally sees his face.

Her next move is far more calculated. As the man walks home from work he stops to help Maja who fakes car trouble. With his back turned she clubs him with a hammer, throws him in the trunk, and drives home. There she reveals to her stunned husband Lewis (Chris Messina) that she has abducted one of the Nazi soldiers who raped her and murdered her sister during the final days of World War II. How’s that for a revelation? And all of that happens in the first 15 minutes or so.

The fast setup and little buildup is a bit jarring, but you certainly can’t accuse Adler of dragging his feet. At least not in the first act. But once his pieces are in place the film slows down and lets the characters open up and take over. It still has the big (and small) genre moments you expect. But it’s at its best when it lets the triad of Rapace, Kinnaman, and Messina navigate the thorny psychology, volatile emotions, and the dubious morality that hangs over the film like a ominous cloud.

Rapace is terrific, giving a strong two-sided performance that requires both physicality and emotional heft. Her Maja is a woman full of repressed sorrow and painful secrets. Seeing this man again forces her to relive all of her past horrors. But the question lingers, does she have the right guy? There is no evidence and nothing to go on other than her feelings and flashes of old memories. He insists she’s mistaken and his name is Thomas. He says he is Swiss not German, and that he moved to America to start a family with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz). Kinnaman’s sincerity and restraint make a strong case.

Photo Courtesy of Bleeker Street

That leaves Messina’s Lewis, a man utterly in the dark who wants to believe his wife but understands the ramifications of her being wrong. He’s still processing the slew of secrets hidden by his wife for 15 years – her family’s Gypsy background, her time in a war camp, the rape, the murder of her sister. More urgently, he has the determine whether to go with Maja’s instincts or stop her from crossing a line and making a mistake she will come to regret. This ends up forming the central conflict of the entire film.

Shot mostly in Louisiana, Adler and his production designer Nate Jones nail the look and feel of the late 1950’s and of small-town America. It was a time when aftershocks from the second world war were still being felt all over the world. “The Secrets We Keep” taps into that yet on a more personal level. But it’s still very much a genre film albeit one that is well acted, consistently entertaining, and that dabbles in its themes more than explores them. Overall it’s not a bad way to spend 97 minutes. “The Secrets We Keep” is now showing in select theaters and on VOD.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

First Glance: “The Midnight Sky”

October 27, 2020 by Keith Garlington

George Clooney makes his return to movies as star and director of Netflix’s upcoming science-fiction film “The Midnight Sky”. The last time Clooney appeared in front of the camera was in 2016’s “Money Monster”. The last film he directed was the 2017 disaster “Suburbicon”. His latest works from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith and features an intriguing cast including Felicity Jones, Kyle Chandler, David Oyelowo, Demián Bichir, and Tiffany Boone.

The post-apocalyptic story sees Clooney playing a scientist in the Arctic. The Earth has become inhabitable following some unknown global calamity. Clooney gets word that a team of astronauts are returning to Earth but they are unaware of the planet’s state. If he doesn’t warn them in time they will surely die, but sending a message would require him to venture into the icy contaminated unknown. I love the premise and there is still plenty we don’t know about the story. The first trailer gives us a really good taste. Clooney has called it “Gravity” meets “The Revenant”. I’m sold.

“The Midnight Sky” premieres December 23rd on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Honest Thief” (2020)

October 27, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Despite all of the uncertainty in 2020 one thing is for sure. No crummy pandemic is going to keep us from getting our annual Liam Neeson shoot-em-up action thriller. While I always get a kick out these films on a very loosely entertaining level, this year’s Neeson escapism is more welcomed than usual. Not only does it give us something new to see on the big screen, but it comes at a time (especially here in the United States) where ‘escaping’ the divisive and vitriolic news cycles is something many of us can appreciate.

So does all of that mean Neeson’s latest “Honest Thief” is a great film? Well “great” is a bit of a stretch. But it is exactly the kind of movie you would expect it to be and it delivers precisely what it advertises. In many ways these Neeson films have become their own genre. Obviously some of them are better than others and this one lands solidly in the middle. Fans of the previous flicks will have fun with “Honest Thief” while those hungry for something fresh shouldn’t expect to find it here. Me? I had a good time with it, flaws and all.

Photo Courtesy of Open Road Films

The 68-year-old Neeson plays Tom, a former Marine (aren’t all of his characters ex-military of some kind) who has taken up robbing banks across the country. The FBI has tagged him the In-and-Out Bandit (a name Tom abhors), but he’s not one of those bad thieves. No, his safecracking and bomb-making talents are never used to hurt people (well, not physically). He sneaks into well-scouted banks during the dead of night, avoids the security systems, breaks into the vault, grabs the cash and skedaddles without a trace. Oh, and he hasn’t spent a dime of the $9 million he has stolen. See! A thief with principles!

But that’s not why the film is called “Honest Thief”. Tom moves to Boston and since you gotta store all that loot somewhere he rents a storage unit from a grad student and recent divorcee named Annie (Kate Walsh). The two share a flirty scene of not-so-convincing love at first sight and within moments we’re hit with the “One Year Later” card. Now the two are in a committed relationship even planning to move in together. Tom can’t stand the thought of keeping his big secret from Annie any longer. So he decides to come clean, first to the feds and then Annie. There’s your honest thief folks.

Tom calls the FBI, agreeing to confess and turn in the $9 million in exchange for a minimum sentence in a prison near Boston. FBI agents Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos) are sent to check out his story but instead they steal the money for themselves and attempt to erase Tom from the equation. Things unravel and one dead agent later, Tom finds himself framed for the murder and on the run from the Bureau and from the two crooked G-men intent on covering their tracks. But once Nivens and Hall make Annie a target, let’s just say it may be time for Tom to pull out his “very particular set of skills“.

Photo Courtesy of Open Road Films

From there the movie becomes a cat-and-mouse game across Boston, complete with fisticuffs, shoot-outs and several entertaining chase sequences. Director and co-writer Mark Williams bumps things along at a snappy pace, creating a fair amount of tension and raising the stakes just enough to get by. Jeffrey Donovan is a nice presence playing an FBI agent who shares a mutual respect and a mutual distrust with Tom. And of course you have the rock-solid Neeson, a seasoned actor working in his comfort zone who by now can do these roles in his sleep.

There’s no denying that “Honest Thief” uses genre tropes galore. You see them in the characters, in plot points, even in some of the action. And while the romance at the film’s center is incredibly sweet, you can’t help feeling that much of what would have given it heft happened in that “one year later” window. Still, Neeson has once again delivered what his film promised – light, breezy entertainment for fans of these fun getaway thrillers. I completely understand if these films have ran their course for others. Me? I’m still enjoying the ride. “Honest Thief” is now showing in theaters.