Film Shapes

Well, this is an odd film, and considering all the body horror David Cronenberg had delivered in the past, The Shrouds might just be his most inaccessible film. Straight up, Cronenberg is a great, important director. His style is much imitated and he's become a touchstone for a certain way of filmmaking in the industry. But he is capable of turning out some duds (see, or don't see, the awful Maps to the Stars ). This one has its moments but it feels like a personal project that, while he has earnt the right to make it, perhaps doesn't resonate as much with the wider public. Certainly not yours truly. It's a convoluted story involving graveyard technology, medical amputation, international espionage, conspiracy theories, artificial intelligence and dangerous sex. I realise this all sounds fantastic but a couple of these themes don't really go anywhere. Vincent Cassell plays Karsh, an entrepreneur who runs a tech company specialising in 3D imaging of people's rem...

Well, that was some kind of experience. I can't say I loved it, but it certainly left an impression. This second feature from French writer/director, Coralie Fargeat, is a sci-fi, slash satirical black comedy, slash body-horror, and it's quite heavy on the slash. I'm usually not squeamish but part way through, I realised I'd probably had one too many peanut M&Ms. I'd say it was the most uncomfortable viewing experience since.....hmm, You Won't Be Alone or.... Triangle of Sadness maybe (for the orgy of vomit)....and I'll throw in Ichi the Killer as well. These were the reactions of the people I saw The Substance with: Tap - Fantastic; Merv - Fucking boring; Yoshi - won't recommend it to others. And the funny thing is, all of them have a point. Demi Moore plays Elizabeth Sparkle, a faded Hollywood star who has had to resort to doing an 80s style exercise TV show, run by the cartoonish misogynist Harvey (Dennis Quaid). After getting the arse from th...

Can an idea be killed? Can you erase or transform folkloric mythology? Star Wars and organised religion would hope not but it seems Goran Stolevski might think otherwise. You Won't Be Alone is the debut feature of this Macedonian/Aussie filmmaker (he's also got Of an Age doing the festival circuits at the moment - it took out the top prize at WA's own Cinefest Oz recently). The film is set in Macedonia in the 19th century and, as you might expect, it's pretty bleak, especially for women. It starts with a mother and baby getting an unexpected visit from Old Maid Maria, a scarred witch who is after blood. The mother cuts a deal which gives the child 16 years grace before she is to be taken so, in the words of the mother, "you won't be alone." In an attempt to trick the witch, the child is hidden in a cave until the inevitable day when she is claimed. Henceforth, the child grown, Nevena (Sara Klimoska) becomes a kind of trainee witch to Maria (Anamaria Mar...

All right, Garland, fair dues. You had a crack, picked out the top corner from the halfway line. It just skimmed the bar, didn't it? This is Alex Garland's third feature directing effort, after Ex Machina and Annihilation , and he certainly has some ideas. It seems to be that he struggles to bring them into focus in the wash-up, though. As with Annihilation , Men does really well setting up the conceit, drawing the viewer into this odd, uncomfortable world, where things are slightly askew and we're always on guard. But once again, all this good work is undone by some frankly batshit stuff at the end. Actually, I'm being a bit unfair on Annihilation . That kind of worked, I just felt it petered out a bit. Men , on the other hand, doesn't peter out as much as fucking explode in viscera and placenta. This is the story of Jessie Buckley's Harper, a woman who decides to take a respite in the countryside after a traumatic experience that has left her a widow. The co...

This debut feature from Finnish writer/director, Hanna Bergholm is almost perfectly pitched. It's about a young girl, Tinja, played by Siiri Solalinna (also, amazingly, her screen debut), who is struggling to live up to her mother's exacting expectations. Mother, Äiti, played by Sophia Heikkilä, wants her daughter to win the school gymnastics competition and show the world through her 'lifestyle' vlogs what a great family they are. Rounding out this family are downtrodden husband, Isä (Jani Volanen) and irritating son, Matias (Oiva Ollila), though they all seem to be only mildly on board with the whole social media enterprise.  At the beginning of the film, a panicky blackbird gets trapped in the living room of the family house and smashes up the place. After catching it, Tinja asks if she can release it outside. Mother, instead, snaps its neck and tells Tinja to dispose of it. Later that night, Tinja is awoken by a shrill squawking and upon searching the creepy forest ...