Shadowland (2024) Beyond Fest

Looking like one of Richard Stanley’s documentaries, the film begins as a portrait of the filmmaker as refugee from the film world while staying in a small town in France. He’d fallen in with a group of mystical believers and seemed to have become a leader. As things go on the charges against Stanley for domestic abuse raise their head and things begin to change as the group has to ponder what the charges mean for them.

This is a heady film that twists and turns as it goes. Even knowing what happened, I wasn’t certain how the turns were going to come. (that’s a rave)

What I like about the film is that this isn’t Stanley’s story. This is the story of the community he became part of and which had to come to terms with a man who ended up not being who they thought. It’s the story of how a group of people moved away from “modern society” to heal themselves and then had to use what they learned to survive something they never expected to have to deal with.

There is a magic in this film fueled by the human spirit and like the best mystical journeys it’s one that isn’t easy and isn’t as expected.

You will forgive the lack of details in this film, I am still processing. Yes there is a narrative arc that is easy to discuss but this film is more than the narrative. This is a film about belief, and community, and the search for self and the darkness in the real world. It’s a film that has a great deal to say and in the days since I sat down to watch it I find that I have been pondering it, waiting and waiting for  the words to come to me so that I can really discuss it and really show you the wonders contained. The trouble is the words haven’t come and all I’ve been left with is a deadline.

Make no mistake, this film is a stunner, it’s a film that will fill you with thoughts and feelings and make you ponder it. This is the best sort of filmmaking.

I can’t wait to see it again.

Highly recommended.

BAAL (2024) Beyond Fest 2024

 

Young woman goes home to find her missing brother and finds herself lost in the woods. She ends up getting help from a voice on a radio.

A great looking and expertly made film is done in by a structure that is  all over the place. Flashbacks are mixed with seemingly random images. The time frame is fragmented. The simple tale of young woman trying to find her brother and sort out the circumstances of a parent gets completely lost in flashy editing. Designed to look like our heroine’s thoughts the telling is jumbled. It doesn’t really work and instead looks like someone who got carried away in the editing sweet.

It’s a shame because instead of being a kick ass thriller, the images and the basic story are very good, the film becomes tiresome. A little bit of crazy editing goes a long way.

Only for horror junkies or those who love amazing images in film.

Zero (2024) Beyond Fest

Two Americans wake up in Dakar with bombs strapped to their chests and told that they have ten hours in which to complete certain tasks or else they will be killed. This results in a mad dash across the city.

On the face of it ZERO is a great action film that mixes fantastic action sequences with some very funny lines. It’s a dark  film that carries us along from the first frame to the last.

The problem with the film is that it is a bit bleak and obtuse for it’s own good. The film’s mysterious voice (Willem Dafoe) talks about all sorts of great deeds and  the like, but I don’t think we ever see it. The film is ultimately a mad man toying with a several people while causing mayhem along the way. It was fun until I realize that there wasn’t going to be a happy ending.

As a film in the genre of people having to complete various tasks by a certain time, this film is really good. Actually its one of the best to come along in the last decade or so. The problem here is that the motivation behind the task is kind of muddy. The film, thanks to the stinger at the end, wants to be a kind of a spin on the SAW franchise. It irks me that the film has to lean back of things that went before when it’s clear that everything else connected with the film is top of the line and had the film been more logical with the plotting it would have been one of the best of 2024.

As it stands ow it’s a really good, if rather bleak, action film.

Above the Knee (2024) Beyond Fest

A man think that there is something wrong with his leg and wants to have it removed. 

While framed as a thriller or horror film, this is really more a drama about people dealing with body image. The film is a look at people who suffer from body integrity identity disorder. That is a disease where people want to remove a limb or some part of their body because they feel there is something wrong with it. While it's a creepy idea for most people, it is a very real condition.

For me the film is a bit of a curate's egg. It seems to want to both talk about the condition and also be a thriller. The problem is that it's told in such away that there is no mystery and danger outside of whether the leg will go and whether the main character's relationship will survive. The result is the tone is off.

Is it a bad film?

No but it isn't really memorable.

Blue Diamond (2024) Beyond Fest

A woman goes home for her mother's funeral. As she tries to grieve, she must deal with her mother's ski club.

Jokey shaggy dog tale is a film you are either going to love or hate. It's a knowing tale that heads to an unexpected conclusion.  It's a cute film that rambles around for a while before it gets to its point. 

Is it worth watching? In a collection but it doesn't stand on its own.