Another Sundance Film Festival is in the books and it’s time to break down the bizarre, enlightening, dark and humorous projects that premiered. Hopes were high for this year’s festival as last year premiered some of the best movies of the year with Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Death of Stalin, American Animals and Hereditary. Let’s see if 2019 lived up to the standard it manages to build in years previous.
Koko Di Koko Da
As a couple goes on a trip to find their way back to each other, a sideshow artist and his shady entourage emerge from the woods, terrorizing them, luring them deeper into a maelstrom of psychological terror and humiliating slapstick.
This Swedish and Danish film was my first 2019 Sundance flick and the plot synopsis sold me immediately. Though, I knew I was in for something unusual as the director and crew introduced the movie saying “It’s really strange.” They weren’t lying. Koko Di Koko Da has a captivating start as a troupe of carnies sing and whistle, staring right at the camera, as they’re prancing through the woods. The unfortunate couple that camps in the horrific path of the carnies suffer a nightmare scenario. Yet, after each grisly experience, the morning resets and we’re exposed to yet another Groundhog Day format.
I’m sure the filmmakers were attempting at telling a story of an unhappy couple dealing with tragedy in their own family and uniting through adversity, but in the end nothing is clear. Each awful morning is redundant and has little purpose. When the movie tries for creativity, it’s asking the audience to just allow insanity to take place and not hope for closure in any way. This movie gets points for creepiness, but it falls flat in the end. D
The Nightingale
Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
The Nightingale marks the return of director Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) to theaters. Unlike that movie, this thriller has very little to do with the supernatural. This is a period piece revisionist history view of one woman’s survival in a treacherous land where British militia and native Aboriginals are at war. It shows wider audiences views of the Australian bush that they have never seen before. The cast in this movie is incredible. Aisling Franciosi is a great discovery and carries this movie with ease. Sam Claflin is an easy contender for best villain performance in a long time. Also, Baykali Ganambarr brings the moments of necessary humorous relief combined with an emotional, cultural undertone.
The Nightingale is a grounded take at a revenge story that has scenes of incredible tension and heartbreak. It’s a purposely gloomy experience that is also a great study in character development. At 2 hours 16 minutes, it’s honestly nearly a half hour too long. There is some redundancy that, if trimmed down, would make for a satisfying and accessible experience. Jennifer Kent is a true talent. The only thing holding back this film is a tighter focus. B
Them That Follow
Set deep in the wilds of Appalachia, where believers handle death-dealing snakes to prove themselves before God, Them That Follow tells the story of a pastor’s daughter who holds a secret that threatens to tear her community apart.
Them That Follow couldn’t have been cast better. Walton Goggins plays a devout pentecostal leader of this closed-off community. Olivia Colman is a faithful woman whose decisions can have terrible consequences. Thomas Mann plays her son who wants nothing to do with the faith, but seeks out our lead in Alice Englert as Mara. Englert is incredible in this coming-of-age story of finding your own way of proving faith.
What works so well is the limited scope this movie provides. Everything seems so old-fashioned, superstitious and backwards, but the directors don’t paint it in a condescending light. Instead, they invite us to a part of America that is largely hidden away for fear of scorn and reciprocity. This is a very frustrating experience at times due to character decisions and interactions. This is not for everyone, but is a well-made film. B
The Hole in the Ground
Trying to escape her broken past, Sarah O’Neill is building a new life on the fringes of a backwood rural town with her young son Chris. Paranoia strikes as she tries to uncover if the disturbing changes in her little boy are connected to an ominous sinkhole buried deep in the forest that borders their home.
This movie knows exactly what it is – a greatest hits of sorts – of horror movie tropes, but it manages to elevate itself with fantastic camera work that helps bring you into the horror of uncertainty. It succeeds because this story could translate from a gothic horror time period to modern day. The fear of not knowing if your child is actually your child brings a timeless type of terror.
Seána Kerslake is great as a single mother haunted by her own insecurities, but plagued by horrendous nightmares. There are a few plot choices that could have easily ruined the entire story, but you can’t help but go along with it. The Hole in the Ground is not the next great horror movie, but is definitely worth a watch this Halloween season. B+
Velvet Buzzsaw
After a series of paintings by an unknown artist are discovered, a supernatural force enacts revenge on those who have allowed their greed to get in the way of art.
Dan Gilroy’s last movie, Nightcrawler, was easily one of the best movies of the best movies of 2014. He’s now reteaming with Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo in his latest movie, Velvet Buzzsaw. Joining them are some of the best character actors around in Toni Collette and John Malkovich.
This movie starts off with such incredible potential. The way each of these performers ham it up as the worst stereotypes that the art world has to offer, is hilarious and feels perfect to this pretentious world of perception and artistic merit. It was a blast to see these art-types become engrossed in newly discovered mysterious paintings. They create the hype that eventually leads to their downfall. Sadly, the movie loses all steam as the tone radically shifts to essentially Final Destination as filmed in the Louvre. While the deaths are all unique, they feel rushed and it becomes a slasher flick where you don’t care who dies. As Jake Gyllenhaal’s art critic character would say, Velvet Buzzsaw is all style, but no substance. C-
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