Director-Writer Jaina Cipriano’s dark drama is a wonderful master class not only in character study but in acting across the board. Cipriano really brings the best out of her small cast, all of whom help to enhance what is a very mesmerizing experience in explorations in trauma, hive minds, and the power of suggestion.
Tag Archives: Suspense
May December (2023)
Director Todd Haynes’ dissection of the groomer and predator relationship really is a movie that deserved so much more notice in 2023. Haynes’ approach to tackling a real criminal case notorious in the nineties is a fascinating platform to stage a complex drama and darkly comic film about stunted growth and Hollywood exploitation. Haynes’ film peels away at so many layers and how relationships tend to be somewhat glorified and sensationalized, especially in the realm of what occurs in “May December.” For those involved in this kind of dynamic, the whole interplay between the partners is somewhat spur of the moment, but the long-term effects amount to much more psychological baggage that the movie only skims the surface on.
A Best Man (2022)
Dylan Tuccillo’s short drama is not what I expected it to be and that might be its best weapon. It’s a movie about marriage, and regret, and ultimately the lengths some of us will go through to correct what we think is the right course. Director Tuccillo really is great at catching the audience off guard, setting down on a normal hectic marriage one day where a trio of friends is bouncing back and forth with Josh, the best man trying to smooth things over between the bride and groom.
Full Time (2023)
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Éric Gravel’s drama is a movie filled with so much tension and suspense, yet it’s a movie that has no actual villain. There’s no criminal or abusive spouse or corrupt officer. All there is is time that constantly seems to be working against our protagonist Julie. In a world where being a single parent becomes tougher and tougher, Gravel has offered audiences easily the most universally relatable drama in a very long time. Despite its setting, “Full Time” is wonderful often emotionally exhaustive exploration of a single parent, Julie, who is tasked with trying to keep her world above water. This becomes even harder as she’s tasked with caring for two children, both of whom are demanding of her constant attention.
A Thousand and One (2023)
In as much as it is a film about a mother and her son, “A Thousand and One” is also a movie about the rising tide of gentrification in New York City. This adds a layer of absolute tension between Inez and her son Terry because as they’ve hidden out for years within their city, now it’s grown and pushed them out so much that they’ve officially run out of places to set up their lives in. So much of the movies around New York in the modern age have been about the looming specter of gentrification and we witness it in real time, the idea of the old New York becomes more and more just a relic of a bygone era.
Our Five Choice Indie Shorts of 2023
It’s been an interesting year and we’ve manage to cover a few of the usual film festivals and found some favorites along the way. We were thankfully able to compensate for last year by really digging our heels in to the indie movies and festivals, and we’ve combed over some really talented directors, and writers.
These are five of the best short films we saw in 2023.
Finestkind (2023)
Director Brian Helgeland’s “Finestkind” would be a great movie if he and the screenwriter ever decided what kind of movie they’re actually intending to make. “Finestkind” has a lot going for it, but it’s hobbled by its terrible tonal shifts. It’s about four movies anxious to burst out and rise to the surface. For a whole hour it’s a drama about the beauty of sailing, then it’s a crime thriller, then it’s a neo-noir about a botched drug bust, then it becomes a tragic familial drama. It never focuses on one theme, thus it comes off feeling so confused and disorienting.