Category Archives: Thriller

Don’t Worry Darling

Don’t Worry Darling        2 ½ stars

By now everyone has heard some of the behind the scenes drama about Don’t Worry Darling, the Olivia Wilde directed vision of a utopia of married couples set in a 1950’s suburban paradise where the wives relish in house cleaning, modern dance lessons and preparing epicurean meals for their husbands who spend their days at work on a mysterious project called The Victory Project that no one understands. That drama is something I don’t need to go into, but in the movie itself it doesn’t take long to get the feeling that something isn’t right in paradise. Alice (Florence Pugh does a fantastic job!), the housewife to husband Jack (Harry Styles) starts to see signs that things are amiss in her world. She hears strange tunes, sees food that is not real and imagines the walls of the house are closing in on her. Her seemingly happy neighbors who all share the same cul-de-sac and with whom they all indulge in wild drunken parties don’t see the same signs and deny that there is anything sinister going on. The one exception is Mary (Olivia Wilde) who wants to put a stop to Alice’s suspicions. There is plenty to be suspicious about as the head of The Victory Project, Frank (Chris Pine) is treated like the worshipped leader of a cult. There is something demon like about him and in this case Pine is suited to the role. This type of dystopian society film has been done many times before only in a less preachy manner. Eventually, we get to an explanation via a heavy use of flashbacks. There is a definite feminist message against a very repressive society and a praise for those who would rebel against it. One gets the feeling that there was a lot of anger behind the writing of this film. For a superior treatment of a similar theme, only from a racial perspective I much prefer Get Out, the 2017 horror film by Jordan Peele. But it does appear that Don’t Worry Darling has its fans. Don’t count me among them.

Passing

Passing                 4 stars

In 2021 one of the most sought-after tickets at Sundance was for the movie Passing. I couldn’t get one then but recently saw this offering written and directed by the actress Rebecca Hall (The Prestige, Vicki Christina Barcelona, The Town). The name of the movie comes from the practice of light skinned Black Americans passing as white to escape discrimination. This first effort of Hall’s tells of the relationship between two former classmates, two young Black women who meet by chance one day after twelve years at an upscale hotel dining hall in New York. It is the 1920’s so Jim Crow is very alive in this setting. Irene (Tessa Thompson (the Creed movies and the Avengers movies)) is light skinned so can be mistaken for being white, though that is not her intention. The other, Clare (Ruth Negga (Loving)), blonde and appearing to be white, gets Irene’s (Rene) attention and introduces herself. Rene finds out that Clare now has a white husband and a daughter and that the husband (Alexander Skarsgärd) has no clue that Clare is actually part black. (He also has severely racist views!) Rene lives in a nice Harlem brownstone and is married to a black man (André Holland) who is a doctor. They have two sons and a live-in maid. After some time, Clare works her way into Rene’s life saying she misses her old life. Rene lives comfortably, volunteering for the Negro League, attending balls and tea dances and associating with a white novelist (Bill Camp). All of this is very intriguing to Clare who recklessly finds a way to join in the fun. Clare even flirts with Rene’s husband who insists that he doesn’t care for her. It is clear that Rene is uncomfortable with Clare’s actions but puts up with the behavior for the sake of being civil. While Clare is the one who is pretending and playing with fire, the movie is really about Rene’s reaction to this new presence. Rene has a comfortable life but is forced to face the presence of racism that brought these circumstances to reality. Both actresses are superb in their roles with Thompson getting credit for an emotionally subdued performance. The feeling of the story is aided by the black and white filming, the old fashioned 4:3 aspect ratio and a great jazz score accompanying the film. I recommend it as a drama that will make you think.

The Menu

The Menu           4 stars

I must be hitting a theme this year with movies attacking the habits of the rich and self-absorbed. The latest film in this genre is The Menu, a black comedy-horror (my favorite kind of horror) directed by Mark Mylod (who has done episodes of Game of Thrones and Succession) where we spend an evening with a young couple journeying to an exclusive expensive restaurant on a coastal island, serving twelve guests by invitation only. The restaurant is called Hawthorne where the chef, Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), regarded as a culinary artist introduces each course with detailed descriptions and his personal philosophy and charges $1,250 a plate. Tyler (Nicolas Hoult) can be described as a fanboy of the chef who obsesses over each course while his last minute date Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) couldn’t be less interested in the food. The rest of the guests includes a restaurant critic (Janet McTeer) and her husband (Paul Adelstein), an older couple (Judith Light and Reed Birney), an aging movie-star (John Leguizamo) and his assistant, three corporate a-holes and one elderly woman in the corner. As the meal progresses it becomes clear that the chef has an agenda for the evening when personal attacks are made on each of the customers. He has a connection to every one of them and feels he has been wronged by each in some fashion. The lone exception is Margot who Slowik says wasn’t supposed to be here. At some point the film becomes full blown horror of the revenge variety when it is revealed that Slowik intends that no one is going to survive the evening, thus making things outright terrifying. Effectively, the movie is preaching about the misdeeds of the rich and privileged and about those seeking retribution. The best scenes involve the personal interactions between Fiennes and Taylor-Joy as they engage in a battle of wits and she tries to find ways to counter his actions. Both are well cast in these roles. Hong Chau of Driveways and The Whale does an excellent job as Elsa, the guide who gives the initial tour for the guests. I had not heard of director Mylod before and hope he has more interesting projects ahead. For fans of satirical comedies, this one is entertaining.

Animalia

Animalia 3 1/2 stars

Animalia is an unusual science fiction story set in Morocco about some strange happenings that lead to an alien presence that affects the natural world and humans.  Itto is very pregnant and is to be left alone in the family’s opulent mansion while husband,  Amine is away on business.  A state of emergency is declared because of odd weather happenings and Itto is forced to evacuate with some help from the local peasants, but the locals resent her expensive trappings and she is stranded in a village far from her husband. There she sees animals that behave strangely. We never actually see the aliens.  We only see the effect they have on people as those affected become blissful and content giving us the feeling that the world is about to change.  The movie is hopeful,  but exposes the distinction in people based on class differences.  The filmmaker,  Sofia Alaoui is French-Moroccan and previously made the sci-fi short,  So What If The Goats Die which I saw at a previous Sundance. The French title is Parmi Nous which means Among Us. Animalia won the Special Jury Award: Creative Vision. 

Mami Wata

Mami  Wata.   4 stars

From the country of Nigeria comes the movie Mami Wata by C. J. “Fiery” Obasi. This is a story taking place in a fictional African village called Iyi where the old traditional ways are still observed,  but the influence of Western culture is pressuring the people with its promises of development and technology.  Mami Wata is an all powerful water diety that protects the people,  but can only be reached through the Intermediary,  Mama Efe. Mama has two daughters,  one of which,  Zinwe is to be Mama’s successor as Intermediary.  Then a mysterious visitor arrives who is a rebel deserter from a nearby wartorn country and will change everything in this small village.  The movie depicts the struggle between a traditional matriarchal culture and modern militants common in African societies.  The production is relatively simple and is done in black and white.  The language is some combination of an African dialect mixed with English.  Subtitles are provided. The story is full of deceit, treachery, intrigue and murder, all the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy making it fascinating and emotional as the conclusion is reached.  I am hoping to see it chosen as one of the award winners this weekend. 

Missing

Missing                 2 stars

For my first 2023 release I saw Missing. Just five years ago the groundbreaking film “Searching” brought us a mystery told in the unique way of viewing images on computer screens and surveillance cameras as a father goes searching for his missing daughter. Now filmmakers Will Merrick and Nicholas Johnson have made Missing, using a similar approach to story telling about a mother (Nia Long) who goes missing while on a vacation to Columbia with her new boyfriend, leaving 18 year old daughter June (Storm Reid) to try to find what happened to her with only a little help from the FBI. June, however, is quite accomplished at using social media and various online apps, making use of them to find clues as to what happened to her mother. She has clever ways to break into the boyfriend’s online accounts and find previously hidden details about him. And she is aided by a Columbian freelance investigator by way of Taskrabbit who is very helpful, leading to even more discoveries. About every 20 minutes or so a new startling revelation is discovered that completely changes June’s perception of some person or other including her mother. The movie feels like the ultimate in Things Are Not as They Seem genre as we follow things further and further down the rabbit hole. Unfortunately, this movie goes beyond the breaking point, with events that are just too much to be believed. I wanted to like the movie but by the end I felt that it had gone too far with the various twists with too much for me to accept. I am betting others will be disappointed by the ending. For a better treatment of this type of online mystery, go back and see 2018’s “Searching”.

Cocaine Bear

Cocaine Bear      3 ½ stars

The title of the hit horror “Cocaine Bear” tells just about everything you can imagine about this movie. “Inspired by true events”, in 1985 the body of a drug dealer with a failed parachute Is discovered in Tennessee, accompanied by a duffle bag of cocaine. Somewhere in a forest in Georgia the rest of the plane load of cocaine was dumped leading to a trio of the dead man’s drug dealer colleagues going in search of the missing drugs. Unfortunately, for them and the rest of the characters in this comical and bloody situation, a 500 pound bear has discovered the drugs first, getting stoned out of its mind after eating at least one brick of cocaine. What follows for the next hour and a half are some of the most hilarious encounters between said bear and the humans unlucky enough to cross paths with the ravenous animal. Besides the drug dealers (including the late Ray Liotta) there are the two teenage kids, Dee Dee and Henry, Dee Dee’s mom (Keri Russell), the local park ranger (Margo Martindale) who has gotten a raw deal on recent mishaps in the park, her activist friend, Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), a trio of teenage boys who get their kicks out of attacking park visitors and a local cop (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) who aims to get to the bottom of the bizarre happenings in his jurisdiction. All find their way to the woods where the insane bear is hunting its prey. Although it is a comedy, Cocaine Bear deserves its R rating since there is no shortage of blood and gore as one person after another meets their fate at the claws and teeth of the angry bear that includes some missing limbs and at least one disembowelment. There also may be some valuable lessons to be learned when confronted by a bear in the woods, though I wouldn’t be real sure about that. The movie is directed by longtime actor and occasional director Elizabeth Banks known mainly as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games movie series and is much in the tradition of recent horror comedy movies Werewolves Within and Shadow in the Clouds.

Scream VI

Scream VI            3 stars

The sixth installment of the popular Scream series that debuted back in 1996 descends on us in what is referred to as the sequel to the requel. I haven’t seen all of them but I think I know all the rules that have to be followed. There is a series of murders committed by a costumed figure called Ghostface using a large knife that are based on the movie franchise “Stab”. Characters return from previous movies that are apt to become victims of stabbings to come. The potential victims are also potential suspects. Each entry in the series must be more spectacular than the previous one. And there must be numerous nods to other horror classics like Halloween and Friday the 13th. (Also, the murdering tasks are typically shared by more than one Ghostface.) Many of these rules are explained to us thanks to a monologue from Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) where she outlines the whole series to us. The surviving characters from the previous outing in California have all migrated to New York City (minus Sidney Prescott, sorry Neve Campbell) where Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega of Wednesday) is now attending Blackmore University. Older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera of In The Heights), who previously dispatched the Ghostface from last year, followed her here to protect here and shares an apartment with several other young adults. Sam and Tara just happen to be the daughters of Billy Loomis who was the original Ghostface back in the nineties. It doesn’t take long before the bodies start falling with the appearance of Ghostface along with his menacing phone calls. Also appearing is the infamous Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox making her sixth appearance) who is now a news reporter trying to get a story. And Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere of Bring It On: All or Nothing and Amanda Knox) shows up again only this time she is an FBI agent sent here from Atlanta to investigate the murders. Local police detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney of My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Family Stone) becomes involved in the case after his own daughter becomes one of the victims. Before the killer or killers are revealed there are plenty of tension filled moments featuring confrontations with the masked killer and harrowing escapes, plus plenty of blood from all the stab wounds. Amazingly, some of the victims manage to survive deep knife wounds to the abdomen that should be fatal, leaving them with possible openings to return. But after six entries in this franchise things have probably gotten a little repetitive so it may be time to put Ghostface to rest.

John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick: Chapter 4      4 stars

I have missed out on the John Wick movies until I saw Chapter 4, the latest in this action franchise featuring Keanu Reeves as John Wick, the greatest hit man ever. I have heard all about his grudge against a crime syndicate that was responsible for killing his pet puppy, but I didn’t realize the true scope of what is apparently the greatest action movie franchise of the past decade. The story is rather straight forward: There is an international crime syndicate called The High Table that has determined that John Wick must die so under the direction of the Marquis (Bill Skarsgard) hundreds of the organization’s best killers are gathered to track down and kill Mr. Wick along with anyone who helps him. However, the crime families have a rigid set of rules that will allow Wick to gain his freedom from The High Table and guarantee his safety. If he can challenge the Marquis to a one on one duel as a member of one of the crime families and defeat him he will be allowed to go free. The only problem is that there is an army of killers and assassins that have the incentive to kill Wick thanks to the bounty on his head that continues to rise as he kills each with amazing efficiency. The main point of the John Wick movies is to portray the high level of violence and the subdued way that the man in the well-tailored black suit is able to engage and defeat his enemies. The action sequences are done with long takes and moving camerawork that captures both the battling subjects and what is happening in the background. I greatly prefer this method to the closeups with quick editing done by so many action movies. Obviously, this requires painstaking attention to detail and some well executed choreography. (After seeing this movie, I will never think the same when I see France’s Arc de Triomphe.) There are some other important and colorful characters returning from previous outings that include Donnie Yen as Caine, a blind assassin and Shamier Anderson as Mr. Nobody who happens to have a dog that aids in the killing and then there is Ian McShane as Winston, Wick’s friend from the New York Continental Hotel who previously shot Wick. We also must say goodbye to Lance Reddick as Charon, the hotel concierge in one of his final performances. Now that I have a taste of the movie I think I will have to go back and view some of the earlier outings of John Wick.

John Wick

John Wick            4 stars

Having seen the latest sequel in The John Wick series, John Wick: Chapter 4, I had to go back and see the original entry from 2014. This simple story about a retired hitman in New York City from writer Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski introduces us to John Wick (Keanu Reeves who returned to the screen after a notable absence) who has just lost his loving wife, when some Russian gangsters notice his 1969 Ford Mustang. The gangsters, including Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), not realizing who John Wick is, decide to deprive him of the car and in the process they kill his pet beagle puppy in what is likely the most famous movie dog killing since Old Yeller. Naturally, Wick must avenge the theft and the killing of his beloved pet by putting on his perfectly fitting black suit and arming himself with a myriad of weapons and seek out Tarasov who is the son of Russian crime boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). The elder Tarasov realizes what is at stake and alerts his army of henchmen placing a bounty on Wick’s head in order to protect the dimwitted Iosef. What follows can only be described as a bloodbath as Wick kills off each armed criminal coming after him whether it is in a crowded night club or on the city streets. We also get introduced to the Continental Hotel where Wick’s friend Winston (Ian McShane) is in charge. According to the strict code of the underworld, the hotel is a safe haven for hitmen where “business” must not be conducted under penalty of death. The level of violence while shocking does not quite compare to what is achieved in the later sequels but it is enjoyable for B action movie fans. I only wish I had checked this series sooner. John Wick is not somebody that you want to mess with!