Skip to content

TagIndie Films

Posted 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.

The Blazing World premiered at the virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival as part of their Next series.

Posted Female Filmmakers

Sundance: Pleasure

The idea of making money from pleasure is an intoxicating one. Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel), has traveled from her home in Sweden to Los Angeles, to do just that. She aspires to break into the lucrative porn industry. Newcomers are embraced quickly with their first porn shoot which is packaged and sold as an enticing first experience video. But once that cherry has been popped, it’s more difficult to climb the ranks. Bella has the looks, the body but soon discovers that’s not enough. She’s timid, awkward and reluctant to do more advanced techniques. But she’s also got drive. She wants he top talent agent, the lucrative shoots, the best hair and makeup and the chance to climb to the top. Along the way she discovers how abusive her work really is and in order to make it she needs to not only take that abuse but to give it as well.

Directed by Ninja Thyberg, Pleasure is an expansion of her short film by the same name, Pleasure (2013), which premiered at Cannes and also screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Every industry is toxic in one way or another but the porn industry has a cycle of abuse that can be particularly damaging. Thyberg adeptly explores this in her film and casts a critical eye on how the industry treats young women. Kappel offers the viewer a sense of unease that fits with her character.

Pleasure is rooted in realism. There is plenty of nudity and borderline pornographic scenes. Many of the actors are actually porn stars and real porn genres and brand names are used throughout.

I recommend Rashida Jones’ Hot Girls Wanted, a breakout documentary that premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and is available to watch on Netflix. Pleasure is almost like a fictionalized version of Jones’ film.

Pleasure premiered at the virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival as part of their World Cinema Dramatic Competition.

Posted Female Filmmakers

Sundance: CODA

What a way to kick off my very first Sundance Film Festival! The first feature film I had the pleasure to see, CODA, is a new favorite and one I’ll be recommending for months to come.

Set in Gloucester, Massachusetts, CODA (an acronym for Children of Deaf Adults) stars Emilia Jones as Ruby, the only hearing member of a deaf family. Her father Frank (Troy Kotsur) manages a struggling fishing business which is bolstered by the help of his wife Jackie (Marlee Matlin), his deaf son Leo (Daniel Durant) and his hearing daughter. The family depends on Ruby to interpret on their behalf, causing her to bear more burden on the high school teenager. But Ruby is on her own journey.  Ruby joins the high school choir where she must overcome her shyness, accept the tough-love tutoring of her singing coach Bernardo (Eugenio Derbez) and expose her vulnerability to her crush and duet partner Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). Can Ruby find her voice or will she have to sacrifice it to help her family survive their current hardship?

Director Siân Heder absolutely delivers with this feel-good drama that offers moments of joy, sadness and hope. CODA is funny and charming and sends its viewers on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’s effective not only as a coming-of-age story but an exploration of a unique family dynamic. Heder cast deaf actors Matlin, Kotsur, and Durant in the roles of the deaf family members. Potential caricature is avoided with authentic and multi-dimensional characters performed by  talented actors. Representation matters and Heder clearly demonstrates that with this thoughtfully crafted film. Another way CODA is effective is in evoking empathy for the plight of the characters and not for their disability. These are fiercely independent individuals who face a battle to thrive in a society of people who do not or chose not to understand. It’s beautiful to see the way they support each other especially as their youngest, who they’ve depended on for so long, is ready to spread her wings and fly.

CODA premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

Posted Film Reviews

Summerland

“Trust yourself. You’ll find your connection.”

Three teenagers hop into their RV and set out on the road headed to Summerland, a Coachella-like concert in the desert. What starts as a typical road trip quickly gets sidetracked as each of the friends finds themselves at a crossroads in their lives. Bray (Chris Ball) is coming to terms with his sexuality. He’s made a connection with Shawn (Dylan Playfair) online and the two plan to meet up at Summerland. Problem is, Shawn thinks Bray is a girl. Bray has been masquerading as Veronica using pictures of Stacey (Maddie Phillips), his friend Oliver’s (Rory J. Saper) girlfriend. When Oliver and Stacey agree to join Bray on the trip to Summerland, Bray thinks he has the perfect set-up to meet Shawn. However, Oliver and Stacey bring their own baggage. Stacey wants a deeper connection with Oliver who seems emotionally distant. Little does she know that Oliver is harboring a big secret.

Directed by Lankyboy (a pseudonym for the directing team Kurtis David Harder and Noah Kentis), Summerland is a hormone-fueled coming-of-age story with all the hallmarks of your typical road trip comedy but with an added layer of meaning. The first act is shallow and self-indulgent but as the film enters its second act we see the characters, especially Bray, start to explore what it means to be true to oneself. There are times when the viewer must suspend their disbelief as there are plenty of chance encounters that don’t seem at all realistic. However they work for the film and situations more grounded in realism would have been more tiresome. The female lead played by Maddie Phillips is being manipulated throughout both by her friend Bray and her boyfriend Oliver. I love how she finds her agency and takes charge of her journey. It’s an empowering moment in an otherwise male-driven story.

More than just your run-of-the-mill road trip movie, Summerland offers a youthful exploration of meaningful connections and self discovery.

Summerland is available to stream on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu.

Posted Film Reviews

Spiral

Review by Ally Russell

When same-sex couple Malik (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) and Aaron (Ari Cohen) move to a small suburban town with their 16-year-old daughter Kayla (Jennifer Laporte), they hope the new home will give them a chance to relax and resolve some underlying family drama. However, their dreams of a quiet life spiral downward as the family is plunged into a toxic and paranoia-inducing environment that is rife with homophobia and the occult.

We follow the story through Malik’s eyes—a character with whom we immediately empathize as flashbacks reveal that he was the victim of a hate crime. This crime has left Malik vulnerable and on a daily diet of medication, but it doesn’t define him. He is also the peacekeeper in his home, and instead of the tired evil step-parent trope, we’re treated to a warm stepfather-stepdaughter relationship between Malik and Kayla, whom he affectionately calls Booger. However, as the short winter days turn to long nights in a cold and unfamiliar landscape, Malik’s sanity is compromised and his sense of time warped.

Whenever a film presents sinister neighbors as villains, I immediately think of Rosemary’s Baby—a film that expertly explores the theme of living and being at home amongst people who make you uncomfortable. Spiral (directed by Kurtis David Harder) may not dissect the subject of strange neighbors with as much precision, but the same way that Rosemary’s Baby made viewers want to abandon urban apartment buildings, Spiral will make viewers question the safety of the suburbs.

For viewers looking for that Get Out (2017) ambiance, Spiral mostly delivers on that mood. In addition to the microaggressions that Black characters are often forced to silently endure, Malik has the added weight of tackling homophobia in his new community and in his home. This Get Out atmosphere is most prominently felt when we are confronted with Malik’s work as a ghost writer—a job that requires him to listen to a doctor espouse hateful views about gay conversion therapy and the importance of the “traditional family unit” via grainy VHS tapes. While these scenes effectively convey homophobia as a driver for the horror elements in the film, I do wonder if the LGBTQIAA community is exhausted with watching this kind of trauma unfold on screen.

The film is compelling and creepy, but it’s not perfect. Additional details about the significance of the occult symbols and ritual practices would have yielded a more complete story and left me with fewer questions. However, the film does an excellent job of adeptly highlighting one unequivocal fact: humans will always find something to fear.

Spiral is a dark and brooding horror film that requires multiple viewings to fully appreciate some of its more subtle storytelling, but with each watch, viewers will unearth information that they may not have noticed before.

Spiral is available on Shudder.

AllyRussellAbout the writer: Ally Russell has a ghastly passion for horror writing. She has created podcasts episodes and written content for the Horror Writers Association’s Young Adult & Middle Grade blog, Scary Out There, and has written for Night Worms and reviewed horror films for Out of the Past and QuelleMovies.com. She also hosts the FlashFrights podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud. Ally holds an MFA in writing for children from Simmons University. When her childhood dreams of becoming a full-time witch didn’t work out, she settled for a career in publishing. She lives in Boston but hails from Pittsburgh—ground zero for the zombie apocalypse. She can be found on Instagram at @OneDarkAlly.

Raquel’s thoughts: Get Out meets Rosemary’s Baby, Spiral demonstrates the horrors of othering in a way that is both modern and classic.

JustWatch.com