Festival Roundup: Sundance 2021
After attending my first Sundance festival last year I was excited for what this year’s instalment had in store. Normally I watch at least a dozen films at any given festival. This year I probably saw half that amount. It’s just not the same spending hours in front of your TV alone rather than sharing in the silverscreen experience in a dark room with strangers.
There’s also something about the buzzing red carpet cinema experience, the thrill of waiting in rush lines for that soldout film, the constant rushing from one cinema to another, the musty smell of old cinemas, that guy next to you chomping on his popcorn during a suspenseful scene, the snooty festival volunteers playing masters of the universe (not referring to Sundance by the way).
But you get my point… It’s the imperfections of the theatrical experience, those shared emotional moments with the audiance (no matter how annoying they are), that make it all the more memorable and engaging than just another film marathon on your sofa.
Having said that I expected that the digital version would probably have a less stellar line up, however there were still some surprisingly good films that came out of it. Hopefully next year we’ll have the real experience back! …but until then, here are my thoughts on what I’ve seen.
How it Ends — Zoe Lister Jones
Rating: C
What would you do if an asteroid was going to hit the earth in 24 hours? Co-Director and star Zoe Lister Jones gives her answer in the dramedy ‘How it Ends’. In her case she decides to wander around LA trying to resolve all the dramas in her life as she is accompanied by an imaginary friend, her younger self.
I came into this one thinking it was this year’s ‘Palm Springs’, it had all the right elements, a sci-fi plot device that forces an immature character to find a way to grow up, an escapist sunny setting where no situation seems that bad, as well as an ensemble cast of people you would have seen somewhere on TV at some point.
Ultimately however I was a bit disappointed. Unlike ‘Palm Springs’ which really develops it’s two main characters well, and balances it’s mostly playful side with some dark undertones. ‘How it Ends’ seems a bit too focused on giving us as many cameos as possible and making it feel more like an SNL skit rather than giving us a fully fleshed out film.
Nonetheless it’s still worth a watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon but don’t be too worried about missing much if you doze off, it’s just a bunch of fun but unconnected skits followed by the ending you know is coming from the beginning… I mean come on, an asteroid is coming towards the earth… and this isn’t a Michael Bay movie, some things are inevitable. But what isn’t inevitable is the fun and games the character goes through to learn their lesson. ‘How it Ends’ gives us plenty of games but I only wished I could have had a bit more fun.
Censor — Parno Bailey-Bond
Rating: B-
In a time where most our lives are framed through screens, onscreen violence, whether real or not can definitely take a toll on our mental well being. This film tries to question the impact of overexposure.
Prano Bailey-Bond’s directorial debut is set in in the Video Nasty’s era of 80s Britain where government censorship reached extremes in it’s efforts to clamp down on violent films.
Niamh Algar stars as Enid Baines a government censor who watches violent B slasher films by day while being haunted by the trauma of a missing sister by night. One day while watching a film by a mysterious director called Frederick North she believes she finds a clue to her sister’s disappearance.
A bit of a slow burner but the retro video aesthetic and eerie score/ sound design really draw you into this one. The film blurs the line between fact and fiction in it’s commentary of media and violence and uses clever framing through a climactic shift in aspect ratio that helps underline it’s meta-narrative.
Prisoners of the Ghostland — Sion Sono
Rating: B-
Is Nicholas Cage a bad actor trying really hard to be a good actor, taking any job he can to pay off his grail quest debts? Or is he an incredible actor who seeks to escape the limitations of naturalistic acting with his over the top performances? If you haven’t seen his films like Bad Lieutenant, Mandy, Colour Out of Space you might think the former, but once you realize how self-aware his performances actually are in these films, you’ll start to appreciate him more for the post-ironic genius he is. Ethan Hawke recognised this quality in Cage when he referred to him as the only actor since Marlon Brando to do anything new with the form, veering “away from an obsession with naturalism into a presentation style of acting.”
With that frame of reference in mind, how do we look at Prisoners of the Ghostland? The film is Japanese auteur, Sion Sono’s first foray into English Language filmmaking and stars Nicholas Cage as a cross between a lone gunslinger from a Serio Leone film,a wandering Ronin from a Takashi Miike film and all set in a post-apocalyptic Japan that looks straight from Mad Max. I have to give it to the director, he is definitely a visionary in terms of world building and mixing East/West genre films. However, while I came into this one really excited to see more of the crazy over the top Nicholas Cage I got to love in recent years, I ended up getting less of that than I expected. Having said that it’s still a fun one to watch if you want to see escape into the mind of this crazy director.
In the Earth — Ben Wheatley
Rating: B
Directed by Ben Wheatley, In the Earth is a survival horror set during an unnamed pandemic. Seeking to escape the lockdown life of the city, a researcher sets out to reconnect with an old colleague who is studying a mysterious sentient network of tree roots and fungi deep in the woods somewhere in England. Is this organism a scientific phenomenon or the so-called Parnag Fegg or Spirit of the Forest of local folklore?
Treading the line between not only survival but folk horror as well, ‘In the Earth’ brings to mind recent films such as Midsommar and Annihilation but also becomes it’s own sensory experience through the use of hallucinogenic visuals combined with the piercing synth score by Clint Mansell. The closest comparison however is to Ben Wheatley’s cult favourite, ‘A Field in England’, however this one goes even further by grounding itself in the present and addressing topical issues.
The film is the first Covid-era film that feels like it was made as a response to the pandemic rather than something shot before and released last year. Also unlike films like Songbird it actually tries to add some nuance into what it is trying to say. All the characters in the film are trying to make sense of the chaos around them. Some turn to science others to mysticism, but ultimately they are all baffled by nature and all it’s majestic but also horrific power.
Coming Home in the Dark — James Ashcroft
Rating: B
An even bleaker version of Nocturnal Animals set in the lonely wilds of New Zealand. What begins with an idyllic family picnic escalates into a harrowing emotional journey after a couple of strangers turn up. This one is not for the faint of heart but it’s well directed by James Ashcroft in his directorial debut and ultimately has powerful things to say about a dark chapter of Kiwi history.
Unlike the nihilism of other films of a similar vein like Wolf Creek and Funny Games, this one seeks to find the root causes of seemingly random acts of violence. In doing so it builds one of the most memorable villains in recent years. Daniel Gillies gives a frightening yet electrifying performance and one that is surely to frighten you out of any covid holiday escapes to New Zealand.
Eight for Silver — Sean Ellis
Rating: B+
Eight for Silver is the werewolf film you never thought you needed but once you do you’re glad you did. Beginning with a WWI gas attack in the trenches that puts 1917 to shame, it then flashes back into the past of one of the soldiers who carries a family curse.
This film is a classic example of how you don’t always need to say something deep or have layers of subtext to make a good monster film. As long as you build an interesting mythology, use some fun set pieces and drench the set in as much fog and shadow as possible, it will still be a fun ride.
That’s not implying this film has nothing to say, it covers timeless themes such as the destructive nature of greed as well as the dark side of family legacies. However these all take a backseat to the way the film creates its Gothic horror atmosphere that harks back to the original Universal Classic Monster film ‘The Wolf Man’ (1941).
The original Wolf Man was known for creating probably the best foggy forest ever. It also revolutionized the horror genre back then with it’s well made make-up and costume. The 2010 remake ‘Wolfman’ was a big budget failure because it used too much CGI where it would have done better to follow the original set up, more fog, more make-up.
‘Eight for Silver’ definitely follows the fog rule and creates great suspense. It also falls into the trappings of CGI as well but overall it balances out to create a solid Gothic horror. Not only that but on a visual level this one really came out strong. There were some shots that were so beautifully composed it was as if they came straight from a Gainsborough painting.
The sugar coating on top is the cast which features some of the most underated talent out there. Alistair Petrie does a fantastic job as the obdurate lord of the manor Seamus Laurent whose greed and intolerance doom his family to a curse, while Kelly Reilly plays his wonderfully stoic wife Isabelle Laurent. Even Boyd Holbrook gives a strong performance as the detective with a dark past who is helping the family solve the mystery of the curse.
This one is less about gruesome acts of horror or even less about overdoing VFX instead it goes back to what the best classic horror films were about… shadows and suggestion. Why show the horror when it’s much more frightening not to know what’s lurking in the shadow and fog, our minds will fill in the blanks for the rest.
