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Blood On Her Name

Garage owner Leigh Tiller (Bethany Anne Lind) finds herself in an impossibly bad situation. She’s in the possession of a dead body, one she killed herself, presumably in self-defense, and is tasked with getting rid of it. Does she hide the body? Or does she bring it back to his family? Turning herself in is not an option. She’s got too much at stake. There’s her son Ryan (Jared Ivers) who is on probation and trying to be on his best behavior. There’s her father Richard (Will Patton) a local cop with whom she has a toxic relationship. Then there is the garage and her employee Jimmy (Reynoso Dias). But on the flip side there’s the man’s family including his girlfriend Dani (Elisabeth Rohm). As Leigh finds herself torn with disposing the body and returning him to his family, her situation grows more and more dire. How will she get this blood off her name?

Blood On Her Name is a sharply focused thriller that is concerned with the aftermath of a crime rather than the crime itself. The audience doesn’t see the crime occur. We don’t know who the victim is, why he was killed or whether Leigh killed him in self-defense. The film starts with Leigh standing over the man’s dead body, her face cut and bruised and covered with blood. There are no flashbacks but an apparition of Leigh’s younger self does come back to haunt her.

On first viewing, Blood On Her Name felt kind of flat. It grew on me over time. There is some cheesiness especially with the scenes between Leigh and her father. I wish their relationship was explored more thoroughly. The main character’s ambiguity is the biggest draw. Is she a victim or a villain? We don’t really know and Bethany Anne Lind does a great job at keeping the audience guessing. 

Blood On Her Name was directed by Matthew Pope. Pope wrote and produced the film with Don M. Thompson for their new production company Thompson’s Rising Creek Films. This is Pope’s debut feature film.

Blood on Her Name premiered at last year’s Fantasia International Film Festival. It is now available on digital through Amazon Prime, Vudu and Google Play.

Posted Film Reviews

Corpus Christi

20 year old Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) has just been released from a juvenile delinquent center where he was incarcerated for a violent crime. Upon his release, he is sent far away from his native Warsaw, Poland to a remote village to work. Instead of taking a job at the local sawmill, he pretends to be a priest in training. Daniel had reconnected with his Catholic faith through the help of the jail’s priest Tomasz (Lukasz Simlat). When the local priest (Zdzislaw Wardejn) takes ill, Daniel takes over. The village he now oversees is reeling from the death of several teens in a head on collision with a local drunk. The widow (Barbara Kurzaj) receives menacing letters from the teens families and its up to Daniel to help heal the divide. Things get complicated when he falls for parishioner Eliza (Eliza Rycembel) and when an old nemesis from jail threatens to reveal Daniel’s secret.

“For Daniel, spiritual guidance is the only pure thing left in his life. I see his actions as a desperate attempt to tell the world what he would do if he were given a second chance.”

Jan Komasa

Corpus Christi is simply brilliant. Directed by Jan Komasa, this enthralling yet quiet film is based on a real phenomena of fake priests in Poland. Bartosz Bielenia delivers a captivating performance as the charismatic yet troubled Daniel. His story is bookmarked with violence. He is the victim of a broken system. Even though Daniel is an impostor, he’s also just what the village needs. Someone who will not only connect with them on an emotional level but also challenge them to open their minds and to find forgiveness in their hearts. I was quite moved by this story. I don’t know what I was expecting out of Corpus Christi but I can tell you that by the end I was blown away.

Corpus Christi is nominated for Best International Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards. It’s currently screening at select cities. Visit the Film Movement website for more details.

Posted Film Reviews

The Wave

Frank (Justin Long) is an insurance salesman climbing up the corporate ladder. When he and his coworker/best friend Jeff (Donald Faison) go to a party to blow off some steam, Frank meets Theresa (Sheila Vand), an alluring woman who offers Frank a temporary escape from his frustrated wife Cheryl (Sarah Minnich). The pair meet Ritchie (Ronnie Gene Blevins), a drug dealer who offers the a hallucinogenic unlike anything they’ve ever experienced. The drug is placed on Theresa’s tongue and she passes it along to Frank with a kiss. As the two both go on a trip of a lifetime, Frank suddenly wakes up the next day at the abandoned party house. His phone is dead and his wallet is missing. How is he going to get back home? Where is Theresa? Frank soon realizes that he’s still tripping. Time and space can suddenly change with the smack of a hand. He’s not sure if what he’s experiencing is real or not but he knows he must find Theresa before its too late.

What a trip! Written by Carl W. Lucas and directed by Gille Klabin, The Wave is a psychedelic adventure; a journey into one man’s existential crisis through mind altering drugs. Don’t watch this film while you have a migraine like I did or you’ll start questioning things you have no business questioning. The scenes with Theresa (Vand) as Frank (Long) visits her in a dreamscape are visual spectacles. The special effects, which were created specifically for this film, are fun to watch. The theme of time through smartphones, watches, clocks, etc. is used well but can be hard to follow. I’m not quite sure what the ending means or what the whole thing means really but I enjoyed the ride. The Wave has good intentions but ultimately fails in making any sense. Or maybe that was the point?

The Wave is available on VOD and is screening at select US theaters.

Posted Film Reviews

Slamdance: There Were Four of Us

Who did it? Four figures are in a room that is enclosed yet constantly shifting in shape, form and color. The question appears “who did it?” and one of the figures confesses. The vision of the room shifts into other shapes and imaginings. Everything and everyone is awash in bright ’80s retro colors. A narrator whose barely registerable voice becomes clearer as the dream continues tells us a story of loss and the need for closure. Dreams help us process trauma and pain. Even when they give us no clear answers.

Cassie Shao’s experimental short film There Were Four of Us transports the viewer into a chaotic dream world that is sad, beautiful and hypnotizing. Inspired by the passing of her grandfather and a dream she had about four people in a room, Shao’s film gives us a filtered lens that peaks into her mind and soul.

“In the dream we each shared a moment in our life and realised that the symbol of death connected all of us together; that we were essentially one. This dream served as the structure of the film.”

Cassie Shao

There Were Four of Us is an animated short, just under 7 minutes and Shao combines digital 2D characters, 3D graphic elements, pastels, silkscreens and paint and sand on glass to create her visuals.

I love experimental short films because they allow me to dive into the mind of a creator and watch their imagination at work.

There Were Four of Us screened at the 2020 Slamdance Film Festival.

Posted Documentaries

Slamdance: Jasper Mall

I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, the heyday of the American mall. Indoor malls were everywhere. They reinvigorated the retail business and gave the community a place to shop, eat, socialize and even to exercise. With the advent of online shopping and the birth of new retail concepts, the indoor mall is rapidly losing its appeal. Countless videos on YouTube show tours of abandoned malls that only have a few businesses running, are on the verge of foreclosure or are just days before shutting down. It’s quite depressing to watch especially for those of us who remember these malls as bustling hubs of activity. 

Bradford Thomasson and Brett Whitcomb’s new documentary Jasper Mall, chronicles one year in the life of a declining mall: Jasper Mall in Jasper, Alabama. What used to be a happening place swarming with teenagers is now a quiet space with only a handful of shops and eateries still open. What keeps the mall going is the dedication of the mall’s manager, whom the film follows closely throughout the year, the elderly visitors who walk the length of the mall for exercise, the Army recruitment center, and the mall’s one remaining anchor store. Despite all the manager’s attempts to keep the mall going, including hosting community events, a Santa Claus meet and greet and inviting a traveling carnival to use the mostly empty parking lot, the mall continues on its steady decline. It’s not a hopeful documentary but there is something inspiring about watching someone fight for something they care for even when our culture threatens to leave that behind. 

Jasper Mall is a fascinating look at a dying enterprise: the American mall.

Jasper Mall had its world premiere at the 2020 Slamdance as part of their Documentary competition. 

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