The ambitious psychological drama Blessid is sobering and challenging because of its unique brand of storytelling ambivalence. On one hand, director Rob Fitz’s (“God of Vampires”) unflinching narrative embraces the conventional elements of melodramatic mechanisms (i.e., the harried heroine, love and loss, strained marriage, the unlikely guardian angel, psychotic suitors, tortured childhood memories complimenting adulthood…
Tokens on a coffee table. Tokens on a different one. Tokens on the wall and on the shelves next to the bookcase of an old TV with VHS included. Tokens of a family life that has spanned for years, for decades, for the better part of one century. Portrayals of a timeline that starts and…
Writer-director Jayro Bustamante’s absorbing and revealing debut feature, Ixcanul, paints a disturbing portrait that crosses the fine line between tradition and exploitation in the name of the Guatemalan children sacrificed to uphold economical expectations among other considerations. The indigenous existences of children globally are jeopardized through ritualistic justifications that many find vehemently inexcusable and horrifying….
In Sun Choke, Janie (Sarah Hagan, “Spring Breakdown”) is just trying to get well, and while undergoing psychological treatment administered by Irma (Barbara Crampton, “You’re Next”), she’s making progress. She practices yoga and breathing exercises, she drinks blended green drinks for nutrition, and she’s working on keeping herself calm and focused. Though she’s been staying…
In Der Bunker, a young student heads to an isolated home to carry out research in solitude. When he arrives, however, he finds that the lake-view home is actually a bunker. That turns out to be the least weird turn of events in the film, a gleefully oddball drama-comedy that seems to crib from both…
Observance is a difficult film to figure out, the kind that makes you wonder not what its creators are intentionally hiding from its characters and viewers, but what they have not yet figured out themselves. While it has more than its fair share of beautiful shots, dramatic hard cuts, and impressive performances, how unclear the…
As The Mind’s Eye begins, white lettering on a black screen informs us that in the 1980s, federal funding was approved for private research facilities to study psychokinetic individuals, bringing them to their full potential. As expected, when held against their will in these facilities, those possessed with these abilities revolted against their captors. Next…
