Fantastic Fest
Filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo defies classification. He’s a sensation that exists somewhere between a contagious laugh and a sinister whisper. He’s a rare element formed by ancient mystics using unknowable alchemy. Nacho is hyperbole personified. Both he and his films exert a powerful gravity that pulls you in immediately.
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The Eyes of My Mother, a first-time effort from writer/director Nicolas Pesce, haunts and horrifies with its stark black-and-white beauty (thanks to the cinematography by Zach Kuperstein). When the film begins, young Francisca (Olivia Bond) is living on a farm with her parents. Her mother (Diana Agostini) was once a surgeon when she lived in Portugal and now imparts all of her knowledge to her daughter. Tragedy strikes when a stranger (Will Brill) approaches the family’s home, asking to their bathroom. He horrifically murders Francisca’s mother, but that’s only the beginning of the shocks as you witness what Francisca and her father (Paul Nazak) do to the stranger instead of calling the police. What follows is a startling look into the mind of Francisca as she grows up (now played by Kika Magalhães) as she does whatever is necessary to hold together some semblance of a family, even by the most extreme and startling means. It has all the makings of a Jack Ketchum novel, but infused with class and sophistication that’ll leave viewers chilled.
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The Eyes of My Mother was the very last film we watched at this year’s Fantastic Fest, and it also happened to leave one of the greatest impressions. The debut feature from writer/director Nicolas Pesce is a gorgeously shot work of horror with a career-launching performance by Kika Magalhães as Francisca, a young woman shaped by tragedy and isolation. Borrowing from our mini-review: To call the performance cold and detached would be an understatement. Every expression and movement is practically inhuman, as though her character truly never had a point of reference for how people act. Ms. Magalhães is simultaneously frightening and heartbreaking as the ethereal Francisca. With the film’s official release just days away, we sat down with Ms. Magalhães for an informative and fun conversation. World, meet Kika Magalhães…
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One of the few downsides of Fantastic Fest is that there’s just too many films and sometimes we wind up missing something to which we were looking forward. Dawn of the Deaf was one of those films, and we’ve been lucky enough to finally get a chance to watch. A 12-minute short from the UK, Dawn of the Deaf is a new and clever take on the zombie genre. When a mysterious sonic pulse kills the entire hearing population, only the Deaf are left behind, forced to confront a frightening new reality where the pulse was only the start of their trouble.
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photo by Arnold Wells
In addition to reviewing Simon Rumley‘s new film Fashionista, we were fortunate to sit down with him and the cast before the premiere at Fantastic Fest for a lively and laughter-filled discussion about the film, its influences, the city of Austin, allergic reactions, and much more.
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Challenging films often pay off in ways that you can expect. You go into a film thinking that the subject matter will be titillating, even shocking, and you walk out with a sense of relief in knowing that you got exactly what you bargained for. That is not the case with Elle.
The new film from controversial filmmaker, Paul Verhoeven, is an adaptation of Philippe Djian’s French novel, Oh, and stars the inimitable Isabelle Huppert.
The story follows a successful entrepreneur, Michèle, who is attacked and violently raped in her home by a masked man. It is a film about identity, violence, body possession, and personal responsibility, and it’s a fucking doozy.
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The Lure
We wish we could do a full review for every film we watched, but there just isn’t enough time. But we also did not want to miss the opportunity to address the many films we watched and appreciated.
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When you go to Fantastic Fest you expect to see a few films that surprise you. You’re never disappointed, but there are always those two, three, even five movies that you just can’t stop thinking and talking about after you leave. They capture the stories that you kind of fall in love with. This year, one of those films was Colossal.
The setup for Colossal isn’t necessarily simple, but here it goes. Gloria (Anne Hathaway) tries to deal with her alcoholism by going back to her hometown. Once there, she reconnects with her childhood friend, Oscar (Jason Sudeikis). They quickly indulge each others bad habits and become drinking buddies. After a particularly heavy couple of nights, the two learn that they could in fact be connected to the monsters suddenly appearing and destroying Seoul, Korea.
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The Void is a superbly surreal nightmare of a horror film the writer/director team Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski. Haunting from the first moments–a couple fleeing from a sinister house with gun-toting pursuers–the film never relents and never goes where you could ever expect. The approach is very much, throw it all against the wall and see if it sticks. And, almost miraculously, IT ALL STICKS.
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Fashionista is a hypnotic exploration of identity and transformation written and directed by Simon Rumley. The narrative focuses on vintage clothing shop owners April (Amanda Fuller) and Eric (Ethan Embry), whose marriage is tested when April begins to suspect her husband of having an affair. After her suspicions are proven, their lives fall apart. April, seeking validation, attracts the attention of the wealthy, brooding Randall (Eric Balfour).
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