Dermot Mulroney Archives — Quelle Movies

Posted March 19, 2022 Film Festivals

SXSW: The Cow (Gone in the Night)

Note to add: Gone in the Night premiered at SXSW as The Cow.

Directed by Eli Horowitz, The Cow stars Winona Ryder as Kath, a 40-something plant enthusiast, who travels deep into the Redwoods with her boyfriend Max (John Gallagher Jr.) for a quiet getaway. When Kath and Max arrive at the cabin they discover that another couple, Al (Owen Teague) and Greta (Brianne Tju) are already staying there. Reluctantly they all stay the night and in the morning both Max and Greta are gone. Kath, who is ambivalent at best about her relationship, becomes increasingly bothered with Max’s disappearance. She reaches out to the cabin owner Barlow (Dermot Mulroney) who helps her search for both Max and Greta. However, not everything as it seems as she discovers that the parties involved have some nefarious intentions.

The Cow is a bit of a mess. It can’t overcome its flimsy premise despite its stellar leads (Ryder and Mulroney) and the intriguing twists and turns. There is a giant plot hole (that I can’t reveal because it’s a major spoiler) that, for me, really ruins the movie. I wanted to like this more than I did. It’s an interesting concept but just poorly executed.

The Cow had its world premiere at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival.

The now titled Gone in the Night hits theatres July 15th.

Posted February 3, 2021 Female Filmmakers

Sundance: The Blazing World

Loosely inspired by Margaret Cavendish’s novel, The Blazing World examines the long-term effects of trauma through a psychedelic lens. Margaret (Carlson Young), her mother Alice (Vinessa Shaw) and father Tom (Dermot Mulroney), are haunted by the early death of Margaret’s twin sister Elizabeth. Each deals with the trauma in their own self-destructive way. Margaret is suicidal and enters a dark place in her mind where she is followed by a mysterious man, Lained (Udo Kier), who lures her into an alternate world, a visualization of her trauma, where she must face multiple challenges in order to survive.

The Blazing World is an impressive directorial debut by actress Carlson Young who stars in the film and co-wrote the script with Pierce Brown. It’s a visual masterpiece and even if you are not sure what’s going on in the plot you’ll be dazzled by the intense and colorful imagery. The set design, color schemes and costumes are pure eye candy. I particularly enjoyed Udo Kier’s performance as the creepy Lained.

Some have criticized the film because how it approaches female trauma and its many film references. Trauma is unique to each individual and will not fill a mold based off of societal expectations. Also I really loved how this film seemed to be inspired by cinema. According to Young the film is heavily inspired by German Horror. I found references to Fritz Lang’s Destiny which really piqued my interest.