Michelle breaks up with her boyfriend and, in a panicked drive interstate, ends up unconcious in her vehicle by the side of the road. Thankfully, Howard was driving by and took her to his nearby home where he put her on a drip and nursed her back to health - well, sort of. When Michelle comes to she finds herself in his cellar, in a locked room, handcuffed to the wall. Howard says an alien apocalypse is taking place but Michelle isn't so sure. What follows is a tense find out more...
In the immediate aftermath of her break up from Maxine, Persian, Bisexual Shirin refuses to accept their relationship is irrecoverable and sets about trying to win her back, with varying degrees of failure, whilst navigating the sociopolitical landscape that her life inhabits. Superbly written and directed by Desiree Akhavan - who also plays Shirin, well, superbly. So, all round superb, in my best Brooklyn accent. (Brett Atkinson)
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Set during the war in Yugoslavia, The Seasoning House follows Angel, a young deaf-mute girl who has been forced into work as an assistant to a man running a makeshift military brothel, where kidnapped women are used as slaves for sex-starved soldiers. Befriending newcomer Vanya, she bears witness to the violence that the detained women undergo at the men's hands, and slowly the pair begin to plot vengeance on their abusers. The uncompromising bleakness is tempered by a fairytal find out more...
A brilliant lo-fi thriller that centres entirely around Blake Lively's brilliant performance as Nancy, a surfer marooned by a shark. Plays well to fears of the natural world but also gives a guttural punch as we watch the survival instinct come to life in the fittest of our species. Tense, convincing and smart.
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"Josephine Decker has created a new style of thriller that employs allegory, incorporates touches of David Lynch as well as Magritte -esque imagery. Decker's setting of a remote farm feels like a metaphor for what turns out to be hell. The raw and emotional (and yes, sometimes funny) dialog tells a story that can seem familiar at points but really is meant to keep you guessing and off balance. I really enjoyed how the undertones of this film came to life through her very deft contrast of the find out more...
Kevin Smith had a podcast where they made a joke about the idea of kidnapping and turning a human into a walrus. It went viral on the twittersphere. Then it became a movie. This movie. Though the whole thing starts out well, with decent doses of good humour and dramatic tension, it all falls very quickly by the wayside. The result is a ridiculous prosthetic walrus suit that envelops Justin Long. Somewhere inside this mess of a movie there's a punchline, if only Smith could get to it without q find out more...
