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Posted Film Reviews

Late Night with the Devil

Heeeeeeeere’s the Devil!

TV show host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) needs to find a way to revive his flailing late night show. He’s in steep competition with rival Jack Carson and after the chart-topping episode where Jack brings on his dying wife Madeleine (Georgina Haig) his life has been in a downward spiral. Jack Delroy and his team come up with what will be a sensational special to help revive the show. Special guests include medium Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), hypnotist and paranormal naysayer Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss)  and Jack’s new girlfriend June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) whose ward Lilly (Ingrid Torelli) is possessed by a demon referred to as the Wiggler. What Jack and his sidekick Gus McConnell (Rhys Auteri) carry the show with great enthusiasm until the events of the evening take a sinister turn.

Written and directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes, Late Night with the Devil is a thoroughly enjoyable horror that embraces the aesthetics and the dynamics of 1970s television. The movie has elements of found footage horror and switches from color to black-and-white depending on whether the show is on air or on commercial break. The intro and title card presentation are era specific as are all of the other visual details in the movie’s overall design. Fans of the era—especially those who love The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson—will appreciate the costuming, the movie’ filtered sheen and the ’70s kitsch. David Dastamalchian does a fantastic job carrying both the movie and the TV show as the disturbed Jack Delroy. His character as well as Ian Bliss’ disruptive Carmichael skillfully tap into the unsettling nature  of live television.There is a storyline about a Faustian-like bargain that isn’t quite fleshed out which was my only real disappointment with the film.

Possible movie pairings: Network (1976),  Joker (2019), Prime Time (2021), Satan Wants You (2023).

Late Night with the Devil  is distributed by IFC Films.

Posted Film Reviews

A Kid (Le fils de Jean)

Matthieu (Pierre Deladonchamps) just received the call that his father died. The father he never met. The father he didn’t even really knew existed. The father he couldn’t meet in life but now must get to know in death. His mother always told him that Matthieu was the result of a one-night stand. But the affair was much more complicated than that.

Matthieu travels from France to Quebec for the funeral and there he meets his uncle Pierre (Gabriel Arcand). Pierre is the only other person who knew of Matthieu’s existence. And now it’s his job to introduce him to a family that wasn’t expecting him. Matthieu meets his brothers Ben (Pierre-Yves Cardinal) and Sam (Patrick Hivon)—two headstrong men who are at each other’s throats and totally disinterested in their new brother. He then meets Bettina (Catherine De Lean) is the estranged sister-in-law who develops a fondness for Matthieu. And then there is Angie (Marie-Therese Fortin). The wife who was completely unaware her husband had an affair in the first place but who sees Matthieu as the solution to alleviating some familial tensions.

What complicates matters is that there is no body. Matthieu’s father went on a fishing trip with Pierre and disappeared. The men all travel to the lake on a recovery mission. Ben and Sam want to find the body in order to secure their inheritance. Pierre just wants to put his brother to rest. And Matthieu is caught in the middle of it all.

Directed by Philippe Lioret and based on the novel by Jean-Paul Dubois, Le fils de Jean is a poignant family drama about self-discovery and navigating complicated family dynamics. While the circumstances are particularly unusual, anyone who has either felt like an outsider in their own family or has experienced any type of familial revelation will empathize with Matthieu’s plight. I’m not fully versed in the lingering tensions between the French and the Quebecois but viewers will get a little sense of that here. I was particularly taken with Gabriel Arcand’s performance as the family’s emotional anchor. Deladonchamps’s performance is perhaps a little too subdued but he seems to gain more traction with the movie’s heartfelt ending.

Posted Female Filmmakers

Cora Bora

“I think the problem is you’re not so good at reading situations.”

Cora (Megan Stalter) is awkward as hell. Ever since she left behind her life in Portland, Oregon and moved to Los Angeles to make it as a solo musician, she can’t seem to do anything right. Her open relationship with her girlfriend Justine (Jojo T. Gibbs) is suffering. When she’s not performing terrible sets, much to her frustrated talent agent’s dismay, she’s smoking pot, going to random parties and hooking up with strangers. It seems like every interaction she has with another human being is going to be a painful experience. Cora, or Cora Bora as her parents like to call her, heads back to Portland to attend Justine’s party. But really she’s trying to sabotage Justine’s new relationship with Riley (Ayden Mayeri). Along the way she meets another musician (Manny Jacinto). He’s a caring young man who sees beyond her awkwardness to the cool cat Cora that she used to be.

Written by Rhianon Jones and directed by Hannah Pearl Utt, Cora Bora is a deliciously self-deprecating comedy about a young woman at a crossroads in her life. There is a plot twist later on in the movie that explains why Cora is on this downward spiral. It’s supposed to be an a-ha! moment in the film. However, it would have been more effective if the montage at the beginning of the movie—that depicts Cora playing with her band— led into an emotionally powerful intro that would have endeared the viewer more to Cora and her plight. Having the revelation so late in the story keeps the viewer from cheering Cora on to her eventual reemergence. With that said, it also has the effect of keeping the viewer guessing. We’re another stranger in the story, trying to make sense of this beguiling character whose unlikable until she’s not. Megan Stalter really nails it with her performance as Cora. The awkwardness is done to great effect but never over done. Manny Jacinto, Ayden Mayeri and Jojo T. Gibbs are all really fantastic as the young people navigating the treacherous waters of Cora’s life.

While some of the situations are seemingly implausible, Cora Bora does feel a realistic depiction of younger millennial/Gen Z-er navigating their new adult life. Recommended for anyone looking for a fresh new comedy with a healthy dose of angst.

Posted 1 Comment on You Can Live Forever Female Filmmakers

You Can Live Forever

For 16 year old Jaime (Anwen O’Driscoll), life will never be the same. When her father dies suddenly of a heart attack, her distraught mother sends her from their home in Thunder Bay, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec to stay with her aunt Beth (Liane Balaban) and uncle Jean-Francois (Antoine Yared).  They are devout Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jaime must attend religious services with them if she’s going to live with them. At the Kingdom Hall Jamie meets Marike (June Laporte), a fellow teenager who immediately catches her eye. The two develop a strong emotional bond that quickly becomes something romantic. Jaime is caught in between two worlds and leans on her friend Nathan (Hasani Freeman) who becomes a much needed ally outside of her family’s religious community. 

You Can Live Forever is an astounding queer drama that accurately depicts what life is like in a close knit—and closed off—religious community.  Anwen O’Driscoll and June Laporte bring an intensity to their roles that is palpable. They convey so well the bond between these two teenagers and the pain of having to keep their love for each other secret. It was fascinating to watch Jaime’s outsider perspective as she’s thrust into this new world that has its own language, custom, culture and expectations. I only wish that Nathan’s character had more to do in the story. 

The film is written and directed by Mark Slutsky and Sarah Watts and Watts herself grew up queer in a community of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In her director’s statement Watts writes:

“I grew up gay in a Jehovah’s Witness community in a small northern town. As a teenager, I was eager to see a story with a character who even remotely resembled me on the movie screen. But I was always disappointed. For years, [Mark and I] worked together to create a film that could honor my own background and the experiences of other young people in a similar predicament. You Can Live Forever is the movie I always wanted to see as a teenager.”

There are very few depictions of Jehovah’s Witnesses in film and almost always the filmmakers get some aspects of that religion’s culture wrong. You Can Live Forever is spot on in every single aspect. Every single one. Even down to the style of chairs found in a Kingdom Hall, the specific language used in the community and even the annoyance felt when others call them “Jehovahs” instead of Jehovah’s Witnesses. How do I know that the depiction of this religion is accurate? Because I grew up in this religion myself.  It’s been nearly two decades since I stepped inside of a Kingdom Hall. You Can Live Forever  brought all of those memories back. Like Watts, this is a movie I would have wanted to have seen as a teen. I repressed my own sexuality for many years, due to my upbringing, and film like this would have given me a much needed mirror. I commend Watts and Slutsky for bringing to life such a beautiful, honest and touching queer drama. 

Side note: In one scene Jaime has a poster of Heavenly Creatures (1994) hanging up on her dorm room wall.  Like You Can Live Forever, that film explores an intense emotional bond between two teenage girls. It was an important film for me in my teen years and I appreciated spotting this reference.

You Can Live Forever (2022) is currently available to rent on VOD and is coming to Blu-ray on June 6th from Good Deed Entertainment and Kino Lorber.

Posted Female Filmmakers

SXSW: I Used to Be Funny

Sam Cowell (Rachel Sennott) used to be funny. Her stand-up comedy acts would elicit uproarious laughter from the crowd and hate comments on the internet. All of that ended when a traumatic event sent her into a deep depression. With the support of her roommates, Sam navigates her new life with PTSD. But she’s forced to face her past when Brooke (Olga Petsa), the teen she used to care for as a nanny, goes missing.

Written and directed by Ally Pankiw, I Used to Be Funny is a heartfelt drama that tackles PTSD and depression while balancing the poignancy with humor. The story alternates between the present day and the events that lead to Sam’s trauma. A slow burn keeps the audience both anticipating and dreading the moment that led Sam to her current mental state. I can’t say enough good things about Rachel Sennott who shines in this dramatic role while still also showcasing her knack for comedy. I was fully invested in Sam’s story and I think audiences will too.

I Used to Be Funny had its world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film and TV Festival.

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