Three friends on a backpacking trip find themselves stalked by a mysterious individual recording their every move.
Honestly not a whole lot to this one, Follower has a very simple premise that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. But at the very least it’s entertaining mostly due to the cast who do bring a lot of fun to the film. With that said this is something I definitely would not go back to as it is a very typical social media follower stalks a group type movie, the writing is very basic and the acting is very mixed. Really not much else to say here.
Singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo takes a familiar road trip from Salt Lake City, where she began writing her debut album ‘SOUR’, to Los Angeles. Along the way, Rodrigo recounts the memories of writing and creating her record-breaking debut album.
Watching Olivia Rodrigo’s career quickly skyrocket and transform has only been and will still continue to be a beautiful site. There isn’t a whole lot to be said here as it is another one of those films where it plays out like a concert film, however what makes Driving home 2 u so successful is Rodrigo’s personality, the journey that’s being taken place in the film and how it’s honestly just beautifully made. It feels like a personal film from Olivia Rodrigo, she gives her opinions on each of her songs and what she liked or disliked about them. Plus giving some more context of each of the songs which is always nice, the songs are well done and the filming is quite beautiful as well particularly Brutal which was only thought of in one day but went on to be a huge favorite from audiences and fans (myself included). Lastly what really helps with this film is Olivia Rodrigo herself, she comes off as a genuine person which the same can’t be said for a lot of other celebrities, in this case it feels like you are actually learning a bit more about her which is truly a breath of fresh air. If you are a fan of Olivia Rodrigo this is definitely something worth watching and if you are someone who wants a great introduction to her this is honestly the best way to start.
Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u (A Sour Film) is available on Disney+
Deep in the underbelly of New York City, a five year-old girl and her mother live among a community that has claimed the abandoned subway tunnels as their home.
Topside is what I would call such an honest film, it’s a film that is quite beautiful but also breaks your heart, it’s the love between a mother Nikki who’s played by Celine Held who’s also one of the directors) and her daughter Little (played by Zhaila Farmer. We get a perspective from Little and Nikki each making the film as authentic as possible, showing the viewer what they are feeling, how each of them feel about each other and so on. The film goes into heavy topics such as drug addiction in this case heroin which makes Nikki’s choices very questionable, but that’s the unfortunate reality of what happens. The film has a lot of tension that really builds the whole experience, there’s parts of the film where you really feel the world is crumbing apart. Especially when the film is in the perspective of Little’s which is filmed at her eye level and does give a childlike understanding of certain situations, which honestly makes the film all the more powerful and authentic. I do think Little’s perspective is much better handled than Nikki’s as Nikki’s does fall into some familiar territory that we have seen before, however that doesn’t make it bad it’s still very powerful and adds a lot to the film. Little’s perspective is just more interesting and what makes this film truly special, lastly there’s the direction from Logan George and Celine Held which I’ve already said how authentic it really is, both do such a fantastic job here and really nail the love between a mother and her child so well. Topside is definitely something I highly recommend giving a watch!
In a North Dublin housing estate, Char’s mother goes missing. When she returns, Char is determined to uncover the truth of her disappearance and unearth the dark secrets of her family.
As far as slow burn folk horror films go You Are Not My Mother is a pretty decent one, for starters the performances are quite great. It keeps things a bit on the realistic side with a ton of nice themes to it, the atmosphere is filled with dread and keeps the movie at a decent pace which slowly but surely builds terror. There is the over done grief metaphor included in the movie, however the atmosphere backs the movie up to negate it quite well. I do think some ideas definitely could have been expended a bit more such as the folk horror elements, but what we got was a solid enough movie to give a go if you are into indie horror films!
You Are Not My Mother is available on all VOD Platforms.
Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to an ancient city’s lost treasure from her latest story. Determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her.
I honestly don’t have a whole lot to say here but The Lost City might be a nothing special about it adventure comedy movie, however it’s entertaining enough due to the cast who work incredibly well with each other. Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt (although I wish he was in it for much longer because he really is one of the strongest parts of it) all do a great job and bring so much charm to the movie. There’s quite a few jokes that I found surprisingly quite hilarious and definitely makes the movie very entertaining, there are jokes that don’t land very well at all and the movie does kind of run into the same problem I had with Uncharted. It doesn’t do anything new for the adventure movie genre, however as I said before the movie is entertaining and the cast is very strong. The music choices are actually pretty fun as well and add to the charm of it all, the chemistry between the cast is truly great especially Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum who really know how to entertain audience. This is definitely the movie to watch if you are just looking for a fun night out to the movies and not expecting anything new.
Black Crab is a movie that should have worked but unfortunately doesn’t, Noomi Rapace keeps the movie on it’s legs throughout the film but ultimately isn’t enough to help this movie standout. It’s way too familiar as an action thriller and is nowhere near investing enough as a drama, the characters outside of Caroline (Noomi Rapace) aren’t given much development and have very little motivation. The action scenes are nice to look at but leave a lot more to be desired, the world building is unfortunately very lacking the movie doesn’t explore it’s characters heck it doesn’t build it’s plot around them, it’s a very generic “get to point A to point B” type story that doesn’t explore anything at all. It’s a shame because there was definitely potential for Black Crab it just needed to focus a lot more on world building, character, writing and motivation.
Indie doc crew travels to a small town to document a bizarre and seemingly unnatural case, ending in extreme tragedy.
Godforsaken is almost a good found footage horror film, what holds it back are mainly the characters who feel like they are straight out of a cartoon. However the atmosphere is definitely there and does lead to some genuinely creepy moments, I actually found the story a bit interesting until the movie dragged on despite being only 76 minutes long, but at this point you take what you get when it comes to found footage horror films that aren’t complete garbage.
Godforsaken releases tomorrow on Terror Films Channel and on VOD April 8th.
The thriller, which plays out in real time, follows a single afternoon in the life of an elementary school teacher as she organizes a mixer of like-minded women. When the group heads home, the teacher encounters a woman from her past, leading to a volatile chain of events.
Disturbing Films at film festivals isn’t as uncommon as some people would think it is some I’ve seen in the last few festivals I’ve been in include Pleasure (Sundance 2021), The Kids (Tribeca 2021), Resurrection, Palm Trees and Power Lines, Speak No Evil and Piggy (Sundance 2022). I saved Soft & Quiet to review last because not only is it my favorite of what I saw at SXSW 2022 but it’s definitely something that I thought about every since I saw it. This is the type of disturbing film from right at the beginning it’s filmed in this very realistic style, the first 15-20 minutes trick you into thinking you are going to watch something nowhere near as disturbing as the plot or people who have seen the film may suggest. However after that it kicks it up to eleven and you are faced with a female white supremacist group or “Women For Aryan Unity”spewing a lot of terrible things that I won’t repeat here for obvious reasons. But what your imagining is accurate, the film gets even more disturbing when the group comes across two Asian sisters at a convenience store, what follows is some very disturbing scenes which I won’t say much else. What truly makes this whole film disturbing is how raw it really is from the acting, writing, filming and so on, it completely takes this disturbing concept and truly turns into something all the more nightmarish. The sad reality about this movie is that this is very real, one of the characters in the group is a PTA mother someone that you wouldn’t expect to act like a monster, which is what the film is telling the audience. People think they know the characterization of a white supremacist or just a downright terrible person, however that could be anybody. Anyone is capable of being a horrible person, something that the film does well at is not to go over the top. As I said earlier the film is very raw so the characters don’t feel like cartoons, which makes it all the more terrifying. Soft & Quiet is a horror film not in the traditional way but the film is terrifying and is definitely real life horror on events that are sadly very real, it’s a film that will make you angry and disturbed. Soft & Quiet is something that is 100% not going to be for everyone, some people are going to think this shouldn’t had been made while others are going to think this is an important film and does a good job of showing the harsh reality of cases like this happening. This is definitely something I do recommend watching once it releases but know what you are getting into
Teen best friends Cecilia and Emma, after a decade run into each other. Cecilia is invited on Emma’s bachelorette weekend where she gets stuck in a remote cabin with her high school bully….and a taste for revenge.
Sissy was hands one of the best films I saw at SXSW 2022, it’s yet another slasher film that is quite fantastic. Not only does it have very brutal kills that actually surprised me quite a lot, but the acting is actually very solid here particularly Aisha Doe who I definitely think is a future star. The writing is really strong especially when it comes to suspense and building certain characters, the movie takes it’s time getting to the kills by introducing the characters and establishing an atmosphere before the film lets all hell break loose. Speaking of which the atmosphere is thrilling and gets you on the edge of your seat especially when you combine the dialogue that is surprisingly raw at times, lastly there’s the direction from Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes that really make the film standout. Where as some slasher films forget about having thrilling atmosphere, decent characters and so on, Sissy brings that to the table which is very refreshing to see. Sure it might not break new ground but everything combined truly makes this film work.
Sissy currently has no release date but will be released by Shudder later this year.
A hopelessly estranged father catfishes his son in an attempt to reconnect.
I Love My Dad is a film that shouldn’t work but somehow it does. The film is about a dad who misses his son so he catfishes him, what makes it work however is James Morosini (director and one of the leading roles) takes his life experience (yes it’s based on a true story) and make it very strangely entertaining. Patton Oswalt is another major factor on why the movie works, his performance as Chuck is both hilarious and very well fitting, Claudia Sulewski also does a really solid job. There’s a lot of cringe comedy here but it actually works in this movie’s favor mostly due to combining the comedy with some genuinely touching moments that actually do a great job of building the characters of Franklin and Chuck, the ending is a bit on the weak side it kind of feels like a cop out after such strong development and a very solid story. It just doesn’t really go into much depth as the rest of the movie does however that isn’t enough to stop it from being such an entertaining ride, is this going to be for everyone? Definitely not but if you are intrigued by the plot you should definitely check this one out when it releases.
Jerome Reviews... 