6.2
It’s okay… maybe it didn’t quite land for me? Some funny moments, but overall not one of the more memorable indies this year. It never got traction in my mind. It hits predictable notes and led to a “meh” overall impression for me.
Category: Indie
7.4
I didn’t expect the symbolism to be so on the nose here. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what I was in for other than “weird” with this one. Thankfully, it delivers on weird, and so much more by the time the credits roll. I’m not really sure what the lesson was, other than to trust your gut and to refrain from wearing headphones while biking at night, but damn… it was a hellacious ride.
With the ambiance of “The Human Centipede” and “Shutter Island,” you spend the entire runtime on edge and guessing what’s going to unravel next. Hunter Schafer is the glue that really holds this one together and makes things work. Without her, there’s no way this one makes it to the end. If you don’t mind weird, this was a nice veer off the beaten path into the weeds of lesser known films at the multi-plex.
8.5
I can honestly say that I had no idea what the hell was going to happen next this entire film… I was blown away with every twist and turn here. The film pulls the rug out from under you every time you make an assumption or feel assured you’re finally on steady footing. A mix of Tarantino and Nolan, the story unfolds in out of order chapters, slowly blossoming and colliding with the serendipity of a romance novel. Gird your loins… I guarantee that you’re not ready for this one.
Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner are ELECTRIC, and perfect for their roles. Not a second wasted, and not an emotion missed in a tight one and a half hour thriller/horror/romance that will leave you laughing(?) at the MOST inappropriate times. One of my top movies of the year. Booking it now.
7.4
As someone who’s currently stumbling his way towards turning 31… this movie encapsulates how its felt to be 30. Awkward. Feeling like something’s been missed, feeling like making a change, thinking I’m actually doing pretty well, thinking I need to start a cult where we all go camping by the river and hammock while catching up on our reading before all going back to our old day job and coming full circle. (Yes, that last one’s a summation of a passage of the film.)
It felt very “Office Space” in its exploration of purpose, comparison to others, and the tug of war between laser focus and aimlessness. There’s a balance to be found in the chaos and lessons to be learned but not dwelled upon along the way. I’ll try not to get too bad reflecting and pontificating here… And also avoid growing a mustache. I’m pretty sure that’s not the answer, either.
8.2
Who had “Sean Penn bringing out Dakota Johnson’s best performance” on their 2024 bingo card? I certainly didn’t but here we are.
2 hours of just two people in a cab. That’s it. And I’ll be damned, it was one of the deepest stories I’ve seen on the silver screen all year. As someone who is regularly in and out of peoples’ lives in a temporary, albeit deep and often impactful fashion, this one spoke to me in an especially powerful way. With so little to distract, the two leads had so much room to explore and exercise their personal power as performers. By far the smallest crowd of my recent moviegoing, and that bums me out. There are a lot of folks missing out on a great story being told about the importance of being kind to one another and the power of connection. This film is similar to “The Holdovers” in that I didn’t want it to end. It felt like a cinematic hug of sorts.
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 