FILM: Killers Of The Flower Moon (dir: Martin Scorsese, 2023)

"Money flows freely here now."
"I do love that money, sir."

Recounting the true story of the insidious murders of the native Osage people for their land rights and oil in the 1920s through interracial marriages and blatant organised hits, Scorsese's three-and-a-half-hours epic might not exactly fly by but it is absolutely wonderful and captivating.  Focusing on one main story of a returning soldier (Leonardo DiCaprio) manoeuvred into marrying a strong Osage woman (Lily Gladstone) by his powerful local-big-shot uncle (Robert De Niro) but clearly representative of more widespread abuse, it reflects a time between the old Wild West and emerging modern times beautifully both in mise-en-scene and its ability to tap into more modern themes and audiences.  It is again to Scorsese's credit here that he can make lengthy talk-heavy material so cinematic, and the careful steady pace allows the story to unfurl with powerful precision and for the characters to truly breathe and develop.  This film contains one of DiCaprio's best performances and Lily Gladstone is excellent as his wife, with both actors delivering genuine and demanding character arcs across the movie, and De Niro is on form as the gently calculating and manipulative kingpin.   Both respectful but shocking, Killers Of the Flower Moon plays out a terrible episode in history with themes and characters that feel at home in Scorsese's body of work and one of his best pieces.

VOD: Awareness (dir: Daniel Benmayor, 2023)

"I'm sure there's a clue in here somewhere."

In this Spanish Netflix sci-fi drama, (old-looking) teen Ian does small-scale scams and robberies with his father using his gift of being able to plant deceptively real illusions in the minds of their victims.  The opening robbery draws the attention of a shady government agency and a seemingly rogue 'Perceiver' out to destroy Ian and anyone like him, thus turning into a fairly routine cat-and-mouse action thriller with sci-fi overtones as allegiances change regularly and the boy also tries to solve the mystery of his family's past.  With occasional echoes of Scanners and The Matrix, it has a relentless blue/grey/black colour palette and is quite low-powered, but the central premise is used and executed well and the film passes the time reasonably.
 

VOD: Appendage (dir: Anna Zlokovic, 2023)

"You can't really have people over when you have something in the basement..."

Overtired, overworked and overstressed twenty-something fashion designer Hannah tries to juggle her demanding unpleasant boss, distant parents and her relationship with nice-guy Kaelin, and finds her anxieties manifest physically in the form of an ugly, mocking creature in a very Cronenbergian fashion.  This is more a psychological thriller with an element of body-horror thrown in, as Hannah's life crumbles and her mental and physical disintegration becomes increasingly troubling whilst the parasite grows stronger.  Appendage evokes the style and spirit of Frank Hennelotter's Basket Case, not just in its lo-fi physical creature aesthetic but also in its themes of urban alienation, isolation and paranoia.  The pacing can be a little too languid at times, but Appendage is a generally solid movie with sound performances (and sound design/score is strong), with a nicely-placed twist that enables the third act to play out well. 
 

VOD: The Boogeyman (dir: Rob Savage, 2023)

"Maybe you don't want to creep people out either."

After a tragic accident leaves a counsellor father and his two daughter (one teen, one younger) without a mother and dealing with grief, a distraught man turns up claiming his family was killed by a 'shadow monster' and promptly hangs himself, leaving the family as new targets for the titular entity.  Sombre, ponderously slow and dreary, the film unfortunately makes the grieving family somewhat dull and uninteresting, and this standard monster-under-the-bed/in-the-closet potboiler offers little beyond its basic premise, two effective jump scares and a messy finale.  It also somewhat labours the thinly-veiled metaphor for the potentially mentally destructive effects of bereavement on children if not dealt with and handled properly, making the film overall worthy in intention but hardly entertaining to watch.  
 

VOD: Cassandro (dir: Roger Ross Williams, 2023)

"Don't f**k with lucha libre.  We have our traditions, got it?"

This Amazon drama focuses on the true story of Saul Armendariz, a low-rent 1980s Mexican wrestler who adopts a flambouyant 'exotico' character Cassandro that shoots him to fame and challenges homophobic attitudes in the macho-centric sport and society of the time. It is a well-rounded portrait of the protagonist, not only showing his evolution but also exploring his key relationships, notably with his close mother, absent father and another (married) wrestler.  The story follows a fairly well-worn trajectory but portrays the character with sincerity and sympathy.  The excellent Gael Garcia Bernal always finds the vulnerability in the characters he portrays, and here he also conveys an almost naive joyfulness balanced with sadness in an extremely nuanced and finely-tuned performance.  The film has a reasonable amount of grit and honesty within its standard rags-to-riches tale and is well made, but the real reason to watch is the central performance.  

 

VOD: Sisu (dir: Jalmari Helander, 2023)

"The general said, and I quote: he's one mean motherf***er you do not want to mess with."

Towards the end of the Second World War, as the Nazi make their scorched-earth withdrawal from Lapland, a loner living in the wilderness with his dog and horse discovers gold - all he has to do is to get past the murderous invaders and get it to a bank.  With its sweeping widescreen landscapes, epic music score and tense bouts of silence, the film imbues the man with mythic status as he turns out to be a legendary one-man military killing machine who goes through anybody who gets in his way in very violent fashion, like a sleek Scandi John  Rambo.  Split into tight and concise 'chapters', the film's simplicity is its absolute strength, and the ultra-violence becomes almost comedic in a Sam Raimi/Tommy Wirkola manner.  Jorma Tommila is an absolute powerhouse in the central role, combining strength, stillness and cunning whilst clearly haunted by the horrors of war, making Sisu very entertaining and much more than a standard violent action film.
 

VOD: Dark Harvest (dir: David Slade, 2023)

"It's Halloween - you know what that means..."

The small-town legend/curse of Sawtooth Jack sees the town's teenage boys pitted against the creature in a kill-or-be~killed annual Halloween ritual called The Run to protect the cornfield crops - so far, all very The Purge meets Children Of The Corn.  Here, however, the film is set in the late 1950s, with accompanying gangs, racial tensions, religion and S.E. Hinton sunsets, and the unfurling of the mystery surrounding The Run and Sawtooth Jack unravels carefully with an almost Lynchian take on the underbelly of straining-to-be-perfect American society.   It is boosted by a very strong and confident central performance by Casey Likes as troubled teen Richie, and the film is surprisingly thoughtful and well shot for its budget, using all the necessary elements of slasher and rites-of-passage movies but offering an interesting take on the central idea.  All the ideas might not fully hang together, and the creature itself is a tad underwhelming visually at times but works well as a presence (although it has to be said that the kills are full-on and well-realised on-screen).  Overall, Dark Harvest offers an unusual and quite interesting twist on what could have been a standard horror tale.
 

VOD: Fair Play (dir: Chloe Domont, 2023)

"You know this is just a game?"
"Mm-mm, you play it very well."
 

Opening to the strains of Donna Summer's Love To Love You Baby sets the tone for torrid battle-of-the-sexes Netflix drama, with an opening sequence that vividly establishes the battleground of romance and sex for this upwardly-mobile couple - both financial analysts - in a long-term illicit workplace relationship.  With the man in line for a big promotion, the post is instead offered to the woman, and thus cracks and ultimately chasms start to enter their relationship, as well exposing attitudes in a male-dominated industry.  This is proper adult drama, shot beautifully and with two terrific nuanced central performances from Alden Ehrenreich and particularly Bridgerton's Phoebe Dynevor.  Skewering toxic masculinity and gender politics unmercifully, Fair Play quietly and decisively pulls apart both big business and this particular personal relationship with uncomfortable and very engaging precision.

VOD: Totally Killer (dir: Nahnatchka Khan, 2023)

"How much do you know about quantum mechanics?"
"I saw Endgame, but I didn't really understand it."

Starting off on present-day Halloween, this knowing and fun horror is set in a small town where thirty-five years ago, three girls were killed by the Sweet Sixteen Killer, and when the killer seemingly returns and strikes again close to home, student Jamie gets taken back to the original scene of the crimes in 1987 via a friend's science fair time machine and has to confront the killer, 80s high school and its students, including her future parents, and try to save the victims before they are killed.  In Freaky we had the body-swap tropes applied to the horror genre, Happy Death Day was Groundhog Day, and here we have Scream meets Back To the Future, and a lot of fun is had with the (high) concept.  Narratively, the strength here is the interplay between the generation of parents who experienced the original spree and their children/the next generation, together with Jamie's 80s culture-clashing 2020s perspective and attitudes.  The film is made with love for the genre and horror fans, with some sly (and some less subtle) references to classic films, a few good chuckles along the way and it does not stint on the violence.  Playing like a more playful version of Scream, it is not designed to be profound or intellectual; Totally Killer is simply light, breezy fun that aims to please and entertain, and on those fronts it certainly scores.
 

VOD: Mates (dir: Arno Craus, 2023)

"I'm always quiet."

In this micro-budget British indie, three stereotypes (the Alpha one, the sporty one, the quiet one) go on a hiking weekend, and the more introspective man attracts the attention of another (gay) hiker - and that's about the sum of it.  It is all very gentle and restrained, with repetitive dialogue, uninteresting performances and a soporific soundtrack; the slow pacing and editing also contributes to making the dialogue sound stilted and awkward at times.  The South Downs scenery is used to its full advantage and looks great, and the film does mildly challenge toxic masculinity occasionally, but overall the film just floats by with little impact or point.