Tag: Thriller

Knock Knock (Eli Roth, 2015) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.
"I'm glad we knocked on your door."

Eli Roth’s Knock Knock is one of the more unfortunate film experiences I’ve had this year. This erotic-thriller excludes the thriller, and even the erotic, as much of its sexual material is creepy and uncomfortable. Instead, it treats us to the worst Keanu Reeves performance in a frankly fascinating amount of time, considering the man’s filmography. It does reach the heights of ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ at key points – notably one Keanu monologue. However, your best option here is simply to Google it rather than subject yourself to 100 minutes of this drivel.

It’s tough to talk about this as a piece of dramatic filmmaking when it never actually feels like one. Sitting here reflecting on it, the entire purpose feels questionable, with not a single moment of character development and plenty of nudity and sultry torture. We learn next to nothing about Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo’s characters, apart from a half-hearted motive in the final minutes and that they lie. Riveting, if you weren’t hooked already, I’m sure you are now. Keanu’s Evan similarly gets an occupation and a movie classic nuclear family. The writing is so unbecoming that every ‘shocking’ moment or pivotal moment in the action is lost on its audience. I couldn’t have cared less about anyone in the text; I sat hoping for something more interesting to happen because they all felt like caricatures. You won’t feel a hint of sympathy, empathy, or any connective emotion. It makes everything boring.

Reeves is shockingly bad, aiming for the high highs of Nicolas Cage in Vampire’s Kiss with out-of-the-blue manic monologues and crazy facial expressions in random scenes that don’t match the rest of his performance. Izzo and de Armas aren’t great either – Izzo noticeably the weakest of the three – but it’s hard to criticise when the screenplay is so shallow. The direction is just as bland, and his lingering lens would send Laura Mulvey wild after all these years. It never feels like Roth’s filmmaking is in service of his story, and as a result, I don’t care about it, and I’d be mightily surprised if you would be.

Knock Knock is one of the worst movies I’ve seen in years. The ugly set design and POV hallway shots become exceedingly tedious following the opening credits, and its general tone is one that I cannot get on board with. The final twist is groanworthy, and its closing sequence is, once again, just a very uninteresting way of ending the film. Maybe I need to seek out Roth’s more radical projects like Cabin Fever or The Green Inferno to get a better idea of his voice. However, after this, it’d take a lot of convincing for me to try out something noted as being more sadistic and, assumedly, less humanistic.

The Lincoln Lawyer (Brad Furman, 2011) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion has very few spoilers: some set up from the first act, a general idea of the narrative at hand.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
"I checked the list of people I trust, and your name ain't on it."

The Lincoln Lawyer is notable not only as a seedy private-eye thriller but also as the reference at the bottom of your Matthew McCounaghey textbook as the earliest example of the McConaissance. It may not be the one that won him all of the awards. However, it’s difficult to argue that this was his pivot away from rom-com fodder like Fool’s Gold, Failure to Launch and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. This is an accomplished performance in a rock-solid courtroom drama – something of a speciality for McCounaghey throughout his career.

The adaptation of a book to the big screen is often painfully misjudged, especially in intelligently written books like Michael Connolly’s here. The Lincoln Lawyer tends to get things right, for the most part, with only a little bit of uneven pacing here and there. It builds to a complete climax and makes logical sense by the end. It is not uncommon for movies to try and be too clever. The simple concept of client confidentiality is the key to this whole violent case; the cat-and-mouse game of who outsmarts who is riveting to see, particularly when its turns are well-executed. There’s nothing better than sitting there and wondering: “how is he going to get out of this one?”

McConaughey is obviously a highlight, always so charming despite his character’s somewhat shady tendencies. There’s not a moment in the text where you don’t believe his filthy hatred, bloodshot drunkenness, or remarkable intellect. Throw in some strong supporting turns from the criminally underused Marisa Tomei, a stark return to form for Ryan Phillipe, the ever-reliable William H. Macy, and all-too-brief glimpses of John Leguizamo, Michael Peña, and Byran Cranston. It’s a winner.

There’s not much to dislike about The Lincoln Lawyer. It’s an engaging narrative with stable camerawork, great performances, and a suitable tone. It’s not going to win at the Oscars, but it’s a damn sight better than your average Netflix thriller. Director Brad Furman knows what takes precedent here, and it isn’t showy cinematography. I’ll never complain about a seven out of ten movie when it does its job and tells a neat story in two hours or less; The Lincoln Lawyer ticks all of those boxes.

Black Bear (Lawrence Michael Levine, 2020) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
"You're really hard to read."

Lawrence Michael Levine’s indie darling Black Bear has been on my to-watch list ever since I saw the promo photo of a curled-up Aubrey Plaza on a river pier. I was not remotely prepared for just how weird things were going to get, and even if some of it doesn’t work for me, it’s impossible not to appreciate how this utilises its influences. This is an absolute whirlwind with heavy thriller aspects and meta-commentary that is still playing with my brain.

The film is ostensibly split into two halves, with a tiny extra bit, depending on how you want to interpret it. I loved the first of these two sections, which really plays on some uncomfortable notions. It transforms that horrible feeling where you’re present during a couple’s argument into an actual horror movie. Plaza’s Allison is placed at its core, despite being completely uninvolved in any of the conflicts until her involvement makes her the target of the discussion. It’s absolutely fantastic stuff that culminates in such an explosive manner; I almost wish it never ended.

However, the film goes in a completely different direction with its second half, opting to emulate Mulholland Drive’s oneiric qualities and split female personalities who seemingly overlap more than we first believed. Its final moments almost conclude the ideas that it has a little too neatly once you give it some thought, but there’s enough to play around with to make this a brain burner. What does that black bear represent? Why do things begin to differ in the closing act from how we would expect? It’s cleverly done.

Black Bear is a wonderful small-scale indie with monumental performances from Sarah Gadon, Christopher Abbott, and, most noticeably, Aubrey Plaza. The 100-minute runtime makes this next to impossible not to recommend. It’s not top of the list for thrillers I would recommend, but if you’re in the mood for something completely different than what you’re used to, Black Bear is the way to go. Write it down somewhere, it’ll creep back into your watchlist soon enough.

North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion features some important narrative information that could spoil the text for you. It does not necessarily spell out the film’s conclusion, but it does talk about events in detail.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
"That wasn't very sporting, using real bullets."

North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock’s spy-thriller classic is a text with great historical value and one of the many 50s films I’ve been meaning to see. To my surprise, this is far more comical than the other products I have seen of the legendary director. Indeed, it feels rather prototypical of the spy-comedy whilst also managing to feel like the major influence behind the introduction of Britain’s most famous secret agent in Dr. No just three years later.

There is some filmmaking in here that still takes your breath away in the sixty-plus years since its release. I adore the direct overhead shot of Cary Grant’s Roger Thornhill getting a taxi – it’s such a simple thing to show, yet Hitchcock ditches the easy approach and goes for the far more stimulating image he provides us with here. The crop duster sequence is obviously stand-out for the simple fact he manages to make a spectacle without any dialogue or music. He leaves his most fundamental tools alone, and the final product is all the better for it. Furthermore, for a man who shot the majority of his pictures in black-and-white, he has an astounding eye for striking colour and graphic lighting that grips your attention.

Cary Grant is one of the faces of the 50s for a good reason, all the charisma and charm you’d want in your leading man are in abundance here. His witty, biting dialogue is present from the very start and always gets a strong laugh, but he’s serious enough in the action and magnetic enough in the romance to keep it all moving. I don’t care so much for anyone else, but there isn’t necessarily a weak performance in the bunch. It feels like everyone is having fun, though, ceremoniously captured by the film’s ludicrous final cut, which is the result of over two hours of dancing around sex, only to have it censored. The result is the greatest middle finger to the Production Code in Hollywood history.

North by Northwest may be considered by many to be one of the best 50s films, but my range isn’t anywhere near broad enough yet to place it. It’s not a patch on Hitchcock’s Psycho, Vertigo, or Rear Window in my eyes. So, despite thoroughly enjoying big sections of the film, relishing in its intelligent writing and before-its-time quality, I still feel a little let down by its shortcomings. I may return to this once I have a better idea of the seasonings and savouries of 50s cinema. It’s still substantially impressive, though; the Mount Rushmore and crop duster plane sequences are icons of cinema for a reason. Plus, you can never get tired of the Alfred Hitchcock-Saul Bass-Bernard Herrmann-Cary Grant combination.

Check out the soundtrack here:

Wind River (Taylor Sheridan, 2017) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
"I decided to fight the feeling instead because I figured the world would win."

Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River is a film I have been meaning to watch for longer than I realised after countless references as one of the better cinematic thrillers post-2010. Whilst I think that accolade is a little strong, I appreciate the message that this is trying to spread whilst also being an unfiltered, explosive genre picture that doesn’t pull its punches.

I love the setting, the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming is not only something I have never seen in film before but something I was not even aware of existing. I love when film expands my horizons like this; my naive perspective has been exponentially expanded by the location and subjects of this movie. It is so vital to capture these landscapes and conditions in a widely seen project like this, not only because it puts more eyes on the issues that plague them, but because it can change someone’s entire idea of America. The final ‘statistics’ that scatter across the final frames of the reel are some of the most disgusting and unhuman the film shows, which really is saying a great deal.

I didn’t find many of the performances to be as standout as you might expect. Renner and Olsen are believable characters who work well within the framework of what this film is attempting to do, but it feels as though their narrative thread should be secondary to the thriller elements of the movie rather than on par. It’s the much smaller performances from Gil Birmingham and Kelsey Asbille that linger in the mind with some truly upsetting dramatic turns and actions that turn your stomach. Sheridan does a particularly effective job of letting those things just play out, refusing to cut, especially in the opening title sequence and the revelation of the crime.

Wind River is an impressive film, unwavering in its narrative and intentionally uncomfortable in all the right places. It keeps you guessing the whole way, with a final act that makes all the investigation and distractions worthwhile but also sketches a horrific and terrifying answer to all the questions you’ve been asking. Wonderfully executed and memorable for what it aims to do, even if it doesn’t do much new filmically.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson, 2011) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion has very few spoilers: some set up from the first act, a general idea of the narrative at hand.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
"Who can spy on the spies?"

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is one of the serial nominees/winners at the first Oscars and BAFTAs I was aware of. It’s a film title that has always been in the back of my curious mind and decided to finally give it a shot, despite knowing next to nothing about it bar its British lineage. It’s an enjoyable text; espionage without the gadgetry and gunplay of James Bond or Jason Bourne.

This is a 60s spy movie – think The Spy Who Came in from the Cold or office-room intelligence movies as I like to think of them – made in 2011. It doesn’t concern itself with intensifying pacing for the interest of a mass audience, which can be to its detriment at times, and it doesn’t force in a misplaced handgun battle. It shoots for engaging performances that force you to question every action and interaction, to make judgement calls on whether statements are truthful or deceitful, all whilst providing you with conflicting ideas about who could be an undercover mole. It’s impressively done, causing my level of trust to hit an all-time low and change allegiances multiple times.

I love the telephoto shooting approach from Tomas Alfredson, with this almost zoomed-in aesthetic, as though every conversation is one we are eavesdropping in on. It’s such a nifty way of making every inch of film feel uncertain and taut without making an overt effort to do so. Again, the pacing is a little distracting at times; it’s easy to see how someone could glance at their phone during one of its slower periods, but the final act is intensely dramatic and really pays dividends to those who had the patience to engage with its intricate clues.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is what I really wanted it to be. It’s a low-key spy movie that focuses on the intelligence battle of opposing secret services rather than the operatives of those organisations. A stacked British cast consisting of Oldman, Firth, Hurt, Hardy, Cumberbatch, Strong, Hinds, and Graham, all with stellar performances only makes this a stronger experience, too. Genuinely fun and probably a credit to la Carré’s original novel.

Fresh (Mimi Cave, 2022) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion features some important narrative information that could spoil the text for you. It does not necessarily spell out the film’s conclusion, but it does talk about events in detail.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
"No games. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Mimi Cave’s feature debut, Fresh, has been something I wanted to watch since the Sundance hype and the generally favourable response from critics and audiences alike. It’s almost impossible not to make a pun about this being a refreshing thriller/horror, however you want to describe it. It’s searingly funny, genuinely creepy in spurts, and most vitally, it is so so entertaining.

If Lenny Abrahamson’s Normal People wasn’t enough, this will most certainly be the project to make Daisy Edgar-Jones explode into the mainstream. She is just wonderful here; she absolutely nails the tone that Cave is creating with this biting black comedy bobbing underneath the surface of a cannibalistic horror flick. Sebastian Stan, too, is basking in this flamboyant villainy, dancing through hallways and smiling at sickening ideas. Everyone else is fine, but you’re here for Edgar-Jones and Stan, who have great chemistry together and light up the screen, whatever the tone may be.

I love the narrative; I’m not saying it’s groundbreaking, but I have never seen an idea like this before, and I like the weird Satanic avenue it takes to explain its ludicrousness. Again, I think it importantly gets the vibe right with its jaw-dropping title sequence at the thirty-minute mark and stark shift from downscale romance to visceral horror-comedy. I could eat up another fifteen minutes of those stomach-churning dinner dates the two have, somehow enthralled by the power dynamic struggle whilst also laughing intensely at the offbeat black comedy in the conversation.

Fresh gets it all right. Mimi Cave creates a visually stimulating movie and delivers on a concept that could have been such a bland, ordinary horror by making it truly innovative and exciting to experience. It reminded me of Ready or Not in some ways – maybe just the high standards and similar tones – but it’s not a bad thing at all. I highly recommend this one; it’s supreme fun.

[기생충] Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.

Rating: 5 out of 5.
"It feels like a dream, and yet it doesn't."

Bong Joon-ho’s mega-hit Parasite speaks for itself these days. I hardly need to sit here and say that it’s a masterpiece because it’s been said by 90% of the people who watched it. It says enough that this is the third time I’ve seen it already – except this time, I put on the black-and-white remaster that Joon-ho oversaw for the physical release of the film. It is every bit as entertaining, funny, and magical as I remember it being.

I was sitting, sponging up all of the wonderful storytelling this has to offer and eagerly anticipating the moments that I remember startling me, shocking me when I first watched it. The moment the entire tone shifts as the doorbell rings, followed by a shelf being uncovering a bunker, followed by a phone ringing, remains one of the best sequences of cinema I have ever seen. The film only goes leaps and bounds from there, delivering one of my favourite endings of all time and somehow continues to produce moments that I have never seen before in cinema. In fact, I have still never seen anything quite like Parasite to this day.

The performances are all impeccable that it is almost worthless to point out one over the others. It’s a true ensemble of excellence – you simply won’t find a fault in them. The narrative, as I have already said, is just insanely fun. It mixes in really hearty moments of comedy that make you laugh but turns on a sixpence to make you hold your breath or (juxtaposingly) exhale in shock. It’s a masterful rendition of the screenplay on paper – nothing will beat the peach fuzz to hot sauce napkin montage as the absolute pinnacle of 21st-century cinema for years to come. There’s just so much energy to what Joon-ho and his team are doing here that it is impossible not to be invested and excited by what is on the screen.

I’ve just gushed and gushed here and barely even spoken about this black and white master, but the film is just as good. I love the colour cinematography that I originally saw, so it’s difficult to recommend this over it. However, I will certainly say the shadows are much more prominent, and the framing feels somehow more intentional. Where he places characters in the frame, the borders that surround them, and how the others cross those borderlines are much more noticeable. Parasite is a masterpiece, already one of the best ever, and if you haven’t seen it yet, then I honestly don’t know what you are doing.

Previous Reviews of Parasite:
[기생충] Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019) Review
[기생충] Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019) Review

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2017) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion has very few spoilers: some set up from the first act, a general idea of the narrative at hand.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
"I don't know if what is happening is fair, but it's the only thing I can think of that's close to justice."

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the most exciting filmmakers out there right now, and I’ve been itching to see more of the Greek’s catalogue, having loved both The Lobster and The Favourite. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the one sandwiched in-between, and it is just as unsettling and unnerving as both of those brilliant pieces of art.

The opening hour of this is quite a strange experience. Lanthimos is renowned for his deadpan mode of filmmaking, performances that somehow draw you in because of their lack of emotion. Colin Farrell just kind of talks in his calm and mild-mannered voice until the real drama begins to unfold. It isn’t without its oddities; moments like Farrell’s Steven seducing his wife whilst she pretends to be under general aesthetic feel as common as buttering your toast. It’s a freakishly eerie atmosphere that Lanthimos never really fails to upkeep, constantly wondering what manner of relationship Steven is having with teenager Martin, played by then-newcomer Barry Keoghan. Everyone else is superb, too, really delivering on the kind of tone and dialogue that Lanthimos is so fond of – Nicole Kidman, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, and a cameoing Alicia Silverstone add so much to this creepy thriller.

There is a lot to be said about the visual power of Lanthimos’ direction and Thimios Bakatakis’ cinematography, which is not as noticeable as The Favourite per se but is responsible for so much of the suspense and intrigue that the first act generates without an established narrative hook. Indeed, it is only as the second act begins to unravel that things make more sense and everything gets a little more sinister. Barry Keoghan begins to excel in his devilish antagonism; Suljic and Cassidy come more into the centre as Farrell’s Steven struggles to answer an impossible question. It goes from monotone intrigue to ballistic insanity within two hours, pumping up the gore factor, exploding in fits of rage, and basically twiddling with your brain until it has had its fun.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a delight, probably just as bountiful on a rewatch due to the parallels between Steven and Martin, good and evil, bargain and punishment. The ending is heartstopping, pulling you in all directions and suddenly slamming the handbrake on when it reaches its climax. I could eat up another two-hour Lanthimos mind-bender anytime, but I always seem to save them for the days I can fully appreciate just how calculated every component of his craft is in making you so mightily uncomfortable you fall in love.

Boiling Point (Philip Barantini, 2021) Review

Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
"You've got to make the right decision, and you've got to make it right now."

I knew absolutely nothing about Boiling Point prior to tonight. I had seen the poster at my local cinema, but it was hardly promoted as an independent British one-take movie with one of the most defining performances of the year. It’s a pretty unbelievable thing to watch; perfected and crafted within an inch of its existence, Barantini and his team turn a stressful Christmastime restaurant service into an anxiety-ridden thriller to remember.

I can only recommend this because it is such a brilliant execution of an idea so rarely committed to at this level. The likes of Alejandro Iñárritu’s Birdman or Sam Mendes’ 1917 are only edited to appear like they are made in one continuous take, to maybe the best standard in cinematic history. I cannot fathom the level of skill and intricate planning it took to make those movies, never mind one that doesn’t have those briefly hidden cuts. Barantini manages to create such a relentless level of tension by simply following the drama wherever it may go, not letting you rest if one person has a quiet moment and shifting to a rude customer berating their young waitress or the dessert chef’s rolled-down sleeves.

Stephen Graham is indelible as head chef Andy, an unreliable patriarch going through more than one crisis at the same time. He retains his native Kirby accent for the role, swearing and sweating his way through undodgeable conflicts. As the film begins to grow and grow to its chaotic peak, Graham only becomes more and more believable. The film really dedicates a huge portion of itself to capturing what he does, including an ending almost entirely dependent on his brilliance. Everyone is great, but Graham is undoubtedly the element you’ll be talking about next to the filmmaking when you finish it.

Boiling Point, fever pitch, terminal velocity – all these breathless terms would be suitable to describe this inflexible, ever-moving monster of a movie. Stephen Graham proves again why he is one of the north-west’s finest products and always manages to choose British products you feel will have a lasting impact á la Snatch or This Is England. I really enjoyed this one; well worth a watch if you’re seeking an exciting idea executed to the standard you deserve in ninety minutes.