After viewing a strangely familiar video nasty, Enid, a film censor, sets out to solve the past mystery of her sister’s disappearance, embarking on a quest that dissolves the line between fiction and reality.
Censor was one of my most anticipated for Sundance 2021, I heard talk about the film and what it’s about. The premise for Censor is quite unique it involves the video nasties which are an actual group of films that were viewed as controversial for various different reasons in the UK in the early 1980s! The film then puts the main character on a quest that let’s just say get really bizarre as the film goes on. The beginning of Censor starts out pretty ordinary and does a fantastic job of setting up for what’s about to come next, the acting and writing here are fantastic both really add so much to the film and give it this haunting atmosphere as well. Prano Bailey-Bond did such a fantastic job with this film, she really knows how to create a beautiful but haunting scene that shows a lot of information as well. As I said before Censor gets more and more bizarre as it goes on till the point where you are left wondering “what did I just watch?” It’s truly a fantastic film that is completely different from a lot of horror films, Censor is most definitely not going to be for everyone but I do recommend giving it a watch when it releases on June 11th 2021!
Alone in her attic bedroom, teenager Casey becomes immersed in an online role-playing horror game, wherein she begins to document the changes that may or may not be happening to her.
We’re All Going To The World’s Fair is a very different type of horror movie and by far one of the most unique films of Sundance 2021. We’re All Going To The World’s Fair’s biggest strength is that it’s terrifying in several different ways, such as tackling themes such as how the internet can dehumanize and isolate someone plus the desperate need of wanting to be famous. Anna Cobb does such a fantastic job in her role she gives so many different types of vibes during the film. The atmosphere is absolutely well done, from the moment the film starts you feel this haunting atmosphere hit you hard. It’s really effective and remains throughout the film, the film is also quite sad. Which I certainly wasn’t expecting but it does become sad especially when the film focuses on its observations of being lonely on the internet or in general. What I really do appreciate about this film is it isn’t another one of those films where all it says about the internet is “internet scary” We’re All Going To The World’s Fair is much more than that luckily and as I said before it explores so much. It’s definitely not going to be for everyone as the film is much more different then your traditional horror movie. But this is definitely a film I highly recommend putting on your radar and watching when it releases!
A school teacher is forced to confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of ruthless drifters takes him and his family on a nightmare road-trip.
Coming Home In The Dark is a movie at Sundance I had no idea what to expect, the film really caught me off guard! It’s actually quite disturbing right from the opening scene, the film itself goes all out and doesn’t really hold back at all. The story itself is familiar yet I found myself being really interested in the story, the atmosphere is quite great as well. James Ashcraft did such an incredible job with establishing a haunting and disturbing atmosphere to the movie plus it does stick with you. Coming Home In The Dark does suffer from some script problems as I said in my first reaction, but the rest of the film really makes it all worth it. The acting is pretty great especially with a lot of the moments where it is hard to watch, I definitely feel that’s when the film is at it’s best. If you are a fan of disturbing cinema I highly recommend checking this one out when it becomes available!
February flew by huh? And I would say it was a pretty solid month when it comes to film, although it did introduce us to the new worst film of the year so far (Music) it’s still brought a lot of great stuff! So what’s in store for March? I’m going to be completely honest here as I was checking to see my release date calendar I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. Although there’s some great stuff, a lot of what’s releasing looks like it could go either way. Hopefully I’m wrong though. But here’s the ones I’m most excited for.
I’ll start with the ones I’ve already seen Night Of The Kings is getting it’s VOD date March 5th, I wrote a review on it so check that out!
The World To Come had its theater date in February now its getting it’s VOD date which is March 2nd definitely check this one out as well!
Finally there’s my most anticipated film of March which I’ve already seen and it’s Violation, I put a review out for it yesterday! Trust me when I say it’s a pretty disturbing experience and a film that I highly recommend watching. Just know what your getting into before watching, it releases March 25th on Shudder.
The Father is getting a worldwide theater release on March 12th and a VOD release March 26th, when I see it I will be finalizing and will post my Best Films of 2020 list.
Jumbo got a limited release in February and gets a VOD release on March 16th!
Now on to the newcomers
Raya And The Last Dragon has gotten pretty great early reactions, plus the trailer was fantastic this is one I’m truly excited to see it releases on March 5th on Disney+
Demi Lovato Dancing With The Devil is going to be shown at SXSW (which I’m attending) first and then will be released on YouTube March 23rd. Sounds really interesting I’m more then likely going to see it at SXSW and then immediately review it since it comes out like less the two weeks later.
Godzilla Vs Kong is the next of HBO Max and Warner Bros lineup deal, which is one I’m very excited for. I truly hope this is a step up from King Of The Monsters, it has a lot of promise let’s hope it’s as fun as possible. It releases on HBO Max March 31st
Zack Snyder’s Justice League or The Snydercut as it’s more famously known as is something I’m more interested in rather than excited for. I’m not sure if I said this but I’m a huge lost media person, I love seeing different versions or entire movies that were previously lost be found or released. The Snyder Cut is a case of this, so it fascinates me to be quite honest do I think it could be good? Possibly I’m not sure yet but either way it’s nice to see that it will release. It releases on HBO Max on March 18th.
The Courier as of right now is releasing in theaters March 19th, I was very hesitant on putting it on the list mostly because I feel like it’s going to be delayed. I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t.
Nobody seems like an incredibly fun action film that’s releasing March 26th in theaters!
Everything else
Stray – March 5th (VOD)
Lucky – March 4th (Shudder)
Son – March 5th (VOD)
Stay Out Of The F**king Attic – March 11th (Shudder)
Come True – March 12th (VOD)
Koko- Di Koko-Da – March 18th (Shudder)
Slaxx – March 18th (Shudder)
Phobias – March 19th (VOD)
Rose Plays Julie – March 19th (VOD)
And that is my most anticipated list for March!
One other thing – As I said before I will be attending SXSW which I’m really excited for, so if you want to hear my first reactions as the festival goes on from March 16th- March 20th consider following me on Twitter – @Neoneilishghost
What are you looking forward to watching in March?
A troubled woman on the edge of divorce returns home to her younger sister after years apart. But when her sister and brother-in-law betray her trust, she embarks on a vicious crusade of revenge.
Violation is another film at Sundance I was very excited for, before hand I heard so much about it..and to say I was surprised would be an understatement. Violation is actually quite disturbing, those of you who have known me for awhile know that I love disturbing cinema. So Violation really impressed me when it went full on disturbing, the acting all around was quite fantastic especially from the main lead Madeleine Sims-Fewer she did such a fantastic job in her role, the writing kept things very grounded and added to the atmosphere as well. In case you haven’t guessed from the summery of the film it’s a revenge film, it feels a lot like one of Shudder’s previous films “Revenge” combined with a very Lars Von Tier too it. Which ultimately makes the film that much stronger, the cinematography combined with the disturbing atmosphere also adds to it. It gives this film a very authentic feel to it which given the subject matter leads to some disturbing and haunting results. A common problem a lot of revenge movies have is going way too over the top, it takes out the sense of realism and instead comes off as trying way too hard to be disturbing. With Violation you do not get that here it keeps things balanced and never goes over the top, which is the type of disturbing everyone will remember. Violation is a very dark film that doesn’t hold back and also has a haunting score to go with it (the score will definitely get stuck in your head for a few days). I highly recommend checking out Violation when it comes out March 25th on Shudder.
“Passing” follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends, whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities.
Passing was another quite popular one when it came to discussing what could potentially be one of the best films of the Sundance Film Festival. While I do like some others better Passing is still a really strong film, first off Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson are both fantastic, both have incredible chemistry and they go all out in their roles. Combine that with some very solid writing and you have yourself a very interesting story that’s being told, the film itself tackles many emotional and heavy subjects such as confused idea of identity which I thought was one of the strongest points of the film. Rebecca Hall also shows a ton of promise as a director as well, she’s really great when it comes to the storytelling department. The beautiful black and white photography added into the film really helps it standout it’s truly breathtaking and matches what the film is going for, the score, costumes and cinematography also add so much to the film and help it stand. Passing is a beautiful film that I highly recommend watching when it releases!!
In a Texas military town, three teenage girls confront the dark corners of adolescence at the end of a fever dream summer.
The premise of Cusp alone got me very interested and it’s definitely one of my favorites from the Sundance Film Festival. Cusp isn’t your traditional documentary it’s more of taking a look at the daily lives of a group of teenage girls and intimate look of how they act and feel. Where the film does get into controversial territory is when the girls get harassed, some people are going to look at it as exploitation but I feel it’s quite effective. I feel like the film is pointing out despite what the media is wanting to tell you how feminism is everywhere and is stronger than ever as well as consent there are still some areas in America where feminism and consent haven’t spread which is unfortunate. As far as filmmaking goes it’s quite fantastic, it’s very raw and is focused on the girls and their lives. I’ve said this before but one of my favorite types of filmmaking is seeing the daily life or lives of a certain person or group of people and this is no exception here. It’s very interesting and it can be hard to watch at times plus it most definitely won’t be for everyone. But if it sounds interesting to you I highly recommend giving this one a watch.
A crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears.
I apologize in advance if this review is a little vague, it’s kind of hard to talk about this one in great detail without spoiling which I most certainly do not want to do. I hope you enjoy otherwise!
I Care A Lot I was immediately excited for when the trailer hit online, Rosamund Pike is one of my favorite actresses so this naturally got me really excited. I Care A Lot really surprised me in a lot of ways, first off the acting is quite fantastic. Rosamund Pike is once again quite fantastic in her role and has a beautiful chemistry with Eiza González (who also does a fantastic job In her role) the film itself is incredible, it does show a lot of situations that do unfortunately happen to senior citizens but the movie doesn’t frame it in a good way at all. It shows how disgusting it is and calls it out, you aren’t supposed to like the characters being the protagonist doesn’t always mean they are the person your supposed to root for or is the “good guy”. The direction I have to say I was very surprised about why you may ask? Because it’s directed by J Blakeson the same director who did The 5th Wave you know that terrible young adult sci-fi movie adaption with Chloe Grace Moretz that failed miserably? This was quite an improvement so I really give major credit to Blakeson. Back to the film, I Care A Lot also does a pretty fantastic job of making you absolutely hate some of the characters, it does everything it possibly can to make you absolutely hate them which really works in this movie’s favor. The ending is also really worth it as well, the buildup is incredibly strong and actually surprises you! This is an example of a very strong Netflix Original that I recommend checking out as soon as you can!!
FLEE tells the extraordinary true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time.
Flee was definitely one of the most unique films of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it’s a documentary that’s animated which is very different. The documentary itself is a true story about a refugee’s life with the threat of capture and death, the storytelling is just absolutely fantastic. It’s a fantastic blend of a documentary and animation that really created something very special, there’s very haunting imagery that is also at the same time very beautiful which shows how incredible the storytelling really is! Flee tells the story through the animation which actually makes Amin’s story more impactful and emotional, it’s truly a fantastic showcase of storytelling. It’s at the point where you feel you are with Amin as you are witnessing the trauma and pain he went through. Flee is most definitely a film to keep an eye out for, as soon as it releases I highly recommend giving it a watch!
A notorious criminal must break an evil curse in order to rescue an abducted girl who has mysteriously disappeared.
Prisoners Of The Ghostland was a no brainer for me to see at Sundance, I heard so much about it and it’s been on my radar for quite a long time now. I’m happy to say that Prisoners Of The Ghostland is the definition of a bizarre film and I mean that in the best way possible. Nicholas Cage has a ton of moments that are just flat out incredible, everything you want in a Nicholas Cage film is here. The film itself is a huge blend of several genres such as action, western, fantasy, sci-fi and what the film manages to do with those genres is create something truly unique. Nicholas Cage gives a fantastic performance as well as Sofia about Ella, both of them really shine here and commit to the roles they are in. What surprised me the most here is how incredible the cinematography and the costume design are, both of them really add a whole lot to the film and really set the theme and tone throughout the film. The writing is overall pretty great, the cinematography really tells the story here along with the costumes. Which is kind of interesting but the costumes really did tell the story, lastly it’s just a blast of a film. It’s so much fun while being really great. Overall Prisoners Of The Ghostland is some of the most fun I’ve had so far this year, any Nicholas Cage fan will love this! I definitely recommend watching this one when it comes out!
Jerome Reviews... 