Author: Natalie Teasdale

I want to share with other movie fans those amazing films that get under your skin and stay with you for days: the scary ones, the funny ones; the ones that get you thinking. With a background in creative writing, photography, psychology and neuroscience, I’ll be focusing on dialogue, what makes a great story, if the film has beautiful creative cinematography, the soundtrack and any movie that successfully scratches the surface of our existence. My aim is to always be searching for that ultimate movie, to share what I’ve found to be interesting (whether it be a great soundtrack, a great director or links to other information of interest) and to give an honest review without too much fluff. BAppSci in Psychology/Psychophysiology; Grad Dip Creative Arts and Post Grad Dip in Creative Writing. Founder of GoMovieReviews.

Upgrade

Rated: MA15+

Directed and Written by: Leigh Whannell

Produced by: Blumhouse Productions, Jason Blum and Goalpost Pictures, Kylie du Fresne

Director of Photography: Stefan Duscio

Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, Simon Maiden, Benedict Hardie, Melanie Vallejo, Richard Cawthorne, Christopher Kirby and Linda Cropper.

Set in the near future, Upgrade introduces a world where bio-technology has begun its take-over, where being stronger, faster and logical is better than the hands-on approach to fixing cars.

It’s rare that someone like mechanic Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) builds cars, real cars that run on oil and require a steering wheel. So when Grey delivers his latest creation to billionaire super-tech, Eron Keen (Harrison Gilbertson), inventor of an Artificial Intelligence implant, STEM (voice over, Simon Maiden), Grey finds a friend in the most unlikely place.

Because, even with all the drones and digital cars Grey and his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) become victims of a contract killing. Leaving Grey quadriplegic.

Previously anti-digital, it’s technology that allows Grey to track down the people who ruined his life.

Upgrade combines the old-school love story of man-seeking-revenge for his murdered wife with the setting of a world run by technology, the tone reminding me of past films like, The Crow (1994).

Writer and director, Leigh Whannell (creator of Saw and Insidious) notes influences such as, The Terminator (1984) with Arnold Schwarzenegger acting as a cyborg being the special effects and there’s good action here with Logan Marshall-Green as Grey learning specialised movements to make the role of part-man, part-STEM convincing and unique.

But it took me a while to get into the film as the drama felt all too familiar.

The gritty dark alleyways and dripping broken toilets; Grey vomiting when unable to control muscles required to lift his head properly to breath – mixed with futuristic technology like a cloud with flashes of lightening manipulated with human hands made up for some oversights that stretched the believability of the film: atrophied muscles don’t suddenly grow back, even with nerve function.

The visceral action is what made the film for me with handy camera work from Stefan Duscio attaching the camera to the characters, like Grey as he moved around like a crazed ninja robot: the fight scenes well-timed, surprising and bloody.

And adding moments like the stencilled image of robotic arms, fingers extended like horns and Grey in the foreground, in his wheel chair, head slumped, introduced a creative vision, integrating the digital into a world still recognisable as our own.

Although, there’s some good humour that gels the authentic, analogue Grey with his digitized helper STEM, partaking in his life like an alter-ego… I didn’t absolutely love it, the film a little stilted (dare I say artificial?!) and not always believable.

But there’s great technique here and a well-paced story that lifts a low-budget production past the obvious into a film that successfully pushes the boundaries of the action/sci-fi genré.

Ocean’s 8

Rated: M

Directed by: Gary Ross

Story by: Gary Ross

Screenplay by: Olivia Milch, Gary Ross

Produced by: Steven Soderbergh and Susan Ekins

Executive Producers: Michael Tadross, Diana Alvarez, Jesse Ehrman and Bruce Berman

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carte with James Corden and Richard Armitage.

Girls chewing gum and six pounds of diamonds doesn’t always create sparkle.

Described as on offshoot to the Ocean’s series: 11, 12, 13 (directed by Steven Soderbergh), director and screenplay co-writer Gary Ross has created Ocean’s 8: the female version with connection through Danny Ocean’s (George Clooney) sister, Debbie (Sandra Bullock), who’s coming to the end of her jail sentence.

Time well-spent as she’s planned a homecoming of stolen bling and revenge.

I missed the whole Ocean’s franchise, so in preparation, I watched the three with low expectation. Thinking the films an excuse for all-star self-congratulation.

The first, Ocean’s 11 (2001) was good, funny. And aside for the flip phones the film has dated well; the humour a surprise. The second, Ocean’s 12 (2004) was clever and the third, Ocean’s 13 (2007) was smart and yeah, funny. I even woke up in a good mood expecting more of the same with Ocean’s 8.

But with all the previous expectation, I was left feeling flat, the humour contrived, the characters, bland. Which is surprising with such an outstanding cast.

Sandra Bullock as Debbie the sister was cool, but a little too cool, wilting beside the sparkle of Cate Blanchett as ex-partner in crime, now night club owner, Lou.

And there were holes like a lack of motivation for the other six characters to get involved in the heist – I felt lonely so I did it?!

And who’s the Fence again? Tammy (Sarah Paulson)? Who does Tammy fence to?

How does Nine Ball (Rihanna) hack into The Met’s system?

Amita (Mindy Kaling): Because you don’t have your mother watching?

The Irish clothing designer, Rose (Helena Bonham Carter) in debt to the IRA? Well, OK, that makes sense.

And don’t forget skateboarder, Constance (Awkwafina)…

Instead of clever, we get Nine Ball painting her toe-nails mid-heist.

Anne Hathaway as Daphne Kluger AKA the damsel, smarter-than-she-looks, celebrity showed some personality; but really, the clever was shallow because there wasn’t enough to make the heist difficult.

Which is crazy to say because the whole movie’s about stealing $150 million in diamonds in the form of the Toussaint necklace created by Cartier. A masterpiece kept in a vault underground.

To steal the piece, the necklace needs to be taken from the vault, the opportunity created by convincing Cartier to loan the Toussaint to Kluger to wear to the extravagant Costume Institute Benefit at The Met.

Debbie has spent five years, eight months and 12 days planning this heist, but like Lou watering down the vodka in her night club, the story felt weak.

I’m not saying Ocean’s 8 is a bad movie; there were some fun moments and times of clarity like Lou asking Debbie, ‘He told you the truth?

‘The only way to con a con.’

But a film that relies heavily on dialogue needs a little more depth.

Why do people do anything? Revenge, yes, and money – but what I felt was boredom; like the motivation of most of the characters. Maybe I should go steal something.

My Friend Dahmer

Rated: M

Written & Directed by: Marc Meyers

Based on the book ‘My Friend Dahmer’ by: Derf Backderf

Produced by: Jody Girgenti, p.g.a., Marc Meyers, p.g.a., Adam Goldworm, p.g.a., Michael Merlob, Milan Chakraborty

Starring: Ross Lynch, Anne Heche, Dallas Roberts, Alex Wolff, Tommy Nelson, Vincent Kartheiser, Harrison Holzer and Miles Robbins.

Based on the true story of serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, My Friend Dahmer is a tense and creepy examination of Dahmer’s life before he became a murderer.

Reminiscent of the tone used in J. D. Salinger’s, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ there’s a constant tension with signs of Dahmer’s compulsions apparent in his obsession of collecting road-kill to then soak in acid to collect the bones: external behaviour symptomatic of his increasingly disturbed mind.

Based on Derf Backderf’s critically acclaimed 2012 graphic novel, Derf writes from personal experience after attending high school with Dahmer. Before finding out about Dahmer’s confession, Derf (his character in the movie played by Alex Wolff) considered his high school experience to be like everyone else’s.

Film writer and director, Marc Meyers asks, ‘What are those forces in one’s life that sculpt and define us? How do we become who we become? Why does one teenager find promise and his friend, meanwhile, enters adulthood broken?’

This isn’t a violent or gory film, but a character study of suspense.

Following Dahmer (Ross Lynch) through senior-high, pre-1978, the audience is shown the typical teen struggles as the isolated, unusual Dahmer is adopted by a group of boys who find his antics hilarious.

Surrounded by girls ‘aggressively’ out of their league, team-Dahmer create a high-school legend as Dahmer throws epileptic-type fits in class, in the hallway; random moments that disturb and amuse. And the antics of making Dahmer their mascot is genuinely funny, in an adolescent kind of way.

That’s what’s so unsettling about the film: the ordinary nature of kids in school being typical.

Everyone grew up with a kid like Dahmer. But what was it that turned a kid-made-famous in school by chucking fits for attention, all for the entertainment of his new mates, into a serial killer, ultimately confessing to the murder of seventeen men and boys?

Meyer’s focusses on the characters, allowing the story to speak without flash, without overt violence like blurring the image of a gutted dog, the impression enough to evoke the heart-rending response.

This isn’t a true-crime investigation with detectives and interviews, instead, the depths of Dahmer are explored showing his struggle to connect, showing there’s wit and humour buried beneath the cold exterior.

You can see the tipping of his compulsions versus his want to be with friends changing depending on the difficulties he faces at home with his mother’s mental illness (outstanding performance of Joyce Dahmer by Anne Heche) and his parents divorcing.

His father, Lionel Dahmer (Dallas Roberts) tries to understand the bizarre behaviour of his kid, to make the effort to encourage change like buying Dahmer a set of weights to get him out of the road-kill death hut and to maybe meet a girl.

And you can see Dahmer trying yet failing to fight against his needs.

This kid is twisted and it’s difficult yet fascinating to watch.

There’s a curiousity out there, to watch the makings of a serial killer. But this isn’t one of those sensationalised dramatic thrills.

My Friend Dahmer is more of a quiet observation made all the more disturbing through a setting of the ordinary.

Gringo

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Nash Edgerton

Written by: Anthony Tambakis

Produced by: Rebecca Yeldham

Director of Photography: Edu Grau

Starring: David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, Thandie Newton, Yul Vazquez, Sharlto Copley, Amanda Seyfried.

Filmed on location in Mexico City, Veracruz, Tulum, Chicago and Los Angeles.

The Edgerton Brothers have reunited to make a film about the majesty that is people’s comeuppance.

Harold (David Oyelowo) works for his mate from university, Richard (Joel Edgerton), at a company that uses a formula to create marijuana in tablet form, Cannabax: manufactured in Mexico (while waiting on those not-quite-legal laws to turn in favour); the American firm residing in Chicago.

Harold’s a nice guy; he has that ‘underdog thing’ going for him.

His mate Richard and partner in business (and sometimes pleasure), Elaine (Charlize Theron) – not so much.

So, when Harold’s sent to Mexico, this time joined by the two dubious partners, they don’t think twice about leaving Sanchez (Hernán Mendoza) the manager of the Mexican lab, to deal with the train of destruction when they decide they don’t need to sell product to The Black Panther cartel anymore. And when Harold gets knocked off his rails in their wake, instead of paying a 5 million ransom for his release, Richard sends his mercenary-turned-humanitarian brother Mitch (Sharlto Copleyit) to extract him from a situation involving kidnapping, torture and the dreaded question of which is the Beatles best album.

Classic Edgerton, characters are thrown into life or death situations, some their own doing, others thrown under the bus because everyone’s expendable, particularly the nice one’s who, ‘never grew a pair’.

It’s hard not to have high expectations after the previous collaboration of the Edgerton Brothers to create award winning, The Square (2008).

Nash Edgerton also edited and produced a recommendation of mine, The Magician (2005) – a edgy and dark humoured mockumentary about an ex-army contract killer filmed in Melbourne, see, Nat’s ‘If you haven’t watched you’re in for a treat’ list.

Here, the usual Edgerton authenticity is given way to create a classier film, although, I wouldn’t call Charlize Theron’s character, Elaine classy with details like her red lipstick always left on the rim of a glass; her cut-throat business acumen where anything can be done to get the right decision doesn’t equal classy, but she sure is smooth.

And seeing Joel Edgerton as an equally smooth talking genuine A. hole was a point of difference to his previous roles: usually the muscle, sometimes with heart but always down-to-earth.

It’s the adorable Nigerian, Harold, lost in Mexico that keeps the movie pulling along (with some added funny moments), and it does feel like pulling to get all the characters in place, like the rock guitarist drug mule Miles (Harry Treadaway) and his aptly named girlfriend, Sunny (Amanda Seyfried); and Harold’s wife, Bonnie (Thandie Newton) chewing through money while cheating…

Gringo does get there, eventually.

To get the satisfaction of seeing the end result, time is needed to dig through the layers of character giving a different feel to the usual action thriller.

But like Harold, the story rises making Gringo a worthwhile journey.

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Gurrumul

Rated: PG

Written and Directed by: Paul Damien Williams

Produced by: Shannon Swan

Co-producers: Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Mark T Grose, Michael Hohnen

Score by: Michael Hohnen, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Erkki Veltheim

Indigenous Liaisons: Susan Dhangal Gurruwiwi, Johnathon Yunupingu, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Interviewees: Susan Dhangal Gurruwiwi, Michael Hohnen, Mark T Grose, Daisy Yunupingu (dec), Djuŋa Djuŋa Yunupingu, Terry Nyambi Yunupingu (dec), Erkki Veltheim, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.

On the 25^th of July 2017, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu passed away, aged 46.

In Yolngu lore the name, image and voice of the recently departed is retired from all public use. A very rare exception has been made by Gumatj and Gälpu clan leaders for this film.

Three days before his death, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu approved this film. It remains unchanged since this time.

All I could feel watching the life of Gurrumul was thankfulness. To have a door opened into his world was an experience full of wonder; like a light was shone on a culture unseen or misunderstood.

Gurrumul is more than a documentary about music or a musician – the film gives insight into the Yolugu culture.

Growing up in the Galiwin’ku community on Elcho Island off the coast of Arnhem Land, Gurrumul became the highest selling Indigenous artist in history. Gurrumul is a documentary about his rise to fame and how the meek was able to travel and reach out with his music to touch people around the world.

Gurrumul was born blind. Living in a community filled with music and ceremony, Gurrumul embraced singing and the guitar (beautifully played even though held up-side-down), because it made him happy.

His family felt bad for him because they thought he could never travel far from home. But never underestimate.

With the help of Michael Hohnen and Mark Grose and their record label, Skinnyfish Music, Gurrumul became a household name. But it was more than the music that held Michael and Gurrumul together, they became close friends – they became brothers.

It was hard going for Skinnyfish Music, dealing with an artist who refused to speak, where English was his fourth language. It wasn’t about the fame or the money – it was about keeping the stories of his life alive. There had to be something to resonate, to have meaning, otherwise – what’s the point?

It’s so refreshing to see someone who values the land, the animals in it; family and keeping the knowledge of the world and why we’re in it, alive.

Gurrumul’s aunty speaks about death, about life – where does it start? Where does it end?

Watching Michael try to explain to the media in interviews what the saltwater crocodile means to Gurrumul – that it isn’t an animal to represent his people – that he is the saltwater crocodile, was amusing and fascinating.

It’s such a gentle unfolding I didn’t realise how strong the rising of emotion in response to the purity of his voice, the calling in the telling of his story in song. Even in a different language I could still feel the meaning. I’m getting teary writing about it. Not from sadness but the exposure to such honesty of feeling.

There’s a brilliance in showing Gurrumul within a world so different to his own: being away from family, not speaking about himself – always Michael speaking on his behalf – because the Indigenous don’t speak about ‘l’, it’s always, ‘we’. So, to leave on his own to go solo was a huge step. But his to take; his life to share.

To have the opportunity to experience the world of Gurrumul, to be allowed into his community; into the life of such a private man from such a secluded community was to have my eyes opened (including that saltwater croc second eyelid!).

And the warmth of Michael and the team who put the documentary together have shared of piece of themselves for others to also see and enjoy.

A truly rewarding experience.

A Quiet Place

Rated: M

Directed by: John Krasinski

Produced by: Michael Bay, p.g.a. Andrew Form, p.g.a. Brad Fuller, p.g.a.

Story by: Bryan Woods & Scott Beck

Screenplay by: Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski

Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds and Cade Woodward.

To put it lightly: A Quiet Place is a horrifically quiet family drama.

And I say drama as there’s two layers to this film: how the old familiar wound of guilt effects a family and the way aliens with supersonic hearing can tear any living creature into pieces, seemingly driven by a mission to exterminate.

The film is made simply, staying with Abbott family; husband, Lee (John Krasinski) and wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) doing everything they can to protect their young children after the devastating arrival of aliens 89 days previous to the opening scene.

The only way to survive is to stay quiet.

The audience is shown again and again what happens when the creatures hear, so there’s this constant tension that doesn’t let go for the entire film.

An unpretentious film, with the focus on the Abbott family and their struggle to survive the everyday, I was on the edge the whole time, jumping in fright more than once (not usual for me), living the terror right alongside pregnant Evelyn (need I say more about trying to keep quiet while giving birth) and Lee and the kids, young kids brought up in a world of silent terror.

What really got me was how Lee and Evelyn tried to keep their family safe and happy – trying to be the best parents in the worst circumstances. So there’s this emotional attachment because of the outstanding performances of Blunt, who continues to amaze, showing absolute terror but controlled through hard-won courage, and the drive shown by Krasinski as the husband and father to protect his family: heart breaking.

It’s not often I cry in a suspense horror, but this film had all the best of an edge-of-your-seat-scare-fest with a driving soundtrack (Marco Beltrami) and nasty killing, sharp-fanged monsters alongside the reality of a family trying to survive in the worst of circumstances.

The whole cast was just so believable, you could see the fear in their eyes.

And because the characters couldn’t make sound or speak, the music and facial expression to convey emotion was just so much more important – the quiet to the complete absence of sound when focussed on the eldest child, daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), from her perspective of being deaf changed the whole feeling of the film, like the silence was used to draw you further in so when there was a clash or sudden scare, you could really feel it.

Superficially, a simple story; but the mechanics and thought put into the presentation of the film, the soundtrack, the drama of the family dynamic shown in the facial expressions and eyes of the cast pushed the suspense to maximum.

An impressive film from start to finish.

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Truth Or Dare

Rated: M

Directed by: Jeff Wadlow

Screenplay by: Michael Reisz and Jillian Jacobs & Chris Roach & Jeff Wadlow

Story by: Michael Reisz

Produced by: Jason Blum

Starring: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Sam Lerner, Hayden Szeto, Landon Liboiron, Sophia Taylor Ali, Nolan Gerard.

Like the college students who thought it was a good idea to go to Mexico, party-on and pick up a stranger (Carter (Landon Liboiron)), to follow said stranger out to the middle of nowhere to an abandoned convent to play, Truth or Dare – I’m sure the premise of making a movie based on a deadly version of Truth or Dare seemed like a good idea.

But the story just did not hold up.

There was some shocking horror in the film – as one-by-one the group of friends who seemed like they’d be friends-for-eva were forced to play the game, or die: coupled-up Penelope (Sophia Taylor Ali) and Funk (Nolan Gerard) the beauty and the doctor (AKA the alcoholic and the drug dealer), Ronnie (Sam Lerner) the duffus who was the only genuinely funny one out of the them all; super cute lover-boy, Lucas (Tyler Posey) and girlfriend Markie (Violett Beane) forming a love triangle with best buddy and main character, Olivia (Lucy Hale), destined to be the beard of gay buddy Brad (Hayden Szeto): it’s a classic teen formula of kids on vacation that goes horrifically wrong; I hate to say it, reminding me of the Final Destination franchise. The bad late ones.

The idea of a trickster demon, Callux, possessing the players making them play either Truth or Dare and digging under the belly to secrets and hidden humiliations of the kids should have been interesting, but I lost interest because the characters seemed soft: the lead-up to each character forced to take their turn weak because the dialogue didn’t stand up so the actions weren’t believable.

With new horror films pushing the boundaries of the genre, Truth Or Dare felt like a repeat of what’s been done before, even a backward step because previous releases like Scream or Final Destination felt fresh.

Sure, the idea of Truth or Dare was new, but there was too much going on to make the most of the idea – and the many complications of the many relationships felt superficial ‘til in the end, it was hard to believe any of it:

‘You’re such an idiot.’

‘What can I say, you do that to me.’

It was a push to get to the end. And watching, you could feel the drifting.

Cut the whole story in half, spending more time on half the characters would have made a better film as there was good material and good ideas but truthfully, in the end, you couldn’t dare me to believe – wow, see how bad?!

I would have thought killing off annoying college students would have been more fun – it wasn’t.

Rampage

Rated: M

Directed by: Brad Peyton

Screenplay by: Ryan Engle and Carlton Cuse & Ryan J. Condal and Adam Sztykiel

Story by: Ryan Engle, based on the video game Rampage

Produced by: Beau Flynn, John Rickard, Brad Peyton and Hiram Garcia

Director of Photography: Jaron Presant

Music is Composed by: Andrew Lockington

VFX Supervisor: Colin Strause

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

After an experiment in space goes wrong with the Subject destroying the spaceship and allowing canisters containing a genetically mixed pathogen to fall to the Earth – all hell breaks loose as animals’ breath-in the pathogen to exponentially grow into giant mutant monsters.

The focus of the story revolves around Primatologist Davis Okoy (Dwayne Johnson) who has a close relationship with an albino silverback gorilla named George.

So when George inhales the pathogen, it’s up to Okoy and genetic engineer, Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) to save the once docile primate and find an antidote.

It’s a solid storyline written by Ryan Engle and based on the video game Rampage – with many of the crew from San Andreas (2015) collaborating again to create Rampage: the third film from Johnson, director Peyton and producer Flynn.

The music is also once again composed by Andrew Lockington, giving the same feel as San Andreas but instead of a disaster film we have a monster film with VFX supervisor Colin Strause returning to create the realistic monsters.

I have to say, as with all the action/adventure films, there’s always that added humour – the quips here a bit weak.

And alligators (one of the monsters) and crocodiles have two eyelids, not one as shown here. I don’t know why I was particularly distracted by this oversight, probably because the effects were otherwise so realistic.

Seeing giant mutants tearing up a city is always fun to watch on the big screen – and the effects here were outstanding (except for that missing eyelid!).

And I couldn’t help but warm to George, the not-so-gentle giant. A little like Primatologist Davis Okoy as the seeming gentle animal lover – who doesn’t get along with humans but loves animals because you always know where you stand and like George, he’s not always so gentle.

So, there were some good parts and some not-so-good making the film a little trashy, but good-trash.

As a side note, the humour in an action movie can make all the difference for me. If there’s some surprising dark humour or a loveable funny character (George, here, I guess), it raises the film-going experience.

The action and effects were high quality here, I just felt the humour was a bit lazy.

Over-all, good fun on the big screen with Johnson firmly at the helm, this time his massive arms over-shadowed by his monster-friend George.

So you get the feel with muscled action, big crashes with explosions mixed with a bit of warmth and humanity: classic Johnson, but better than San Andreas because I like seeing giant mutant monsters tearing up a city.

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The Party

Rated: MA15+

Written and Directed by: Sally Potter

Produced by: Christopher Sheppard, Kurban Kassam

Cinematographer: Alexey Rodionov

Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Kristin Scott Thomas and Timothy Spall.

The Party is a film filled with cynical wit as newly appointed Shadow Minister of Health, Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) celebrates her new post by hosting a party.

Bill (Timothy Spall), husband and long-time supporter sits in a daze with a glass in hand as each guest arrives: best friend April (Patricia Clarkson) and her New Age partner, Gottfried (Bruno Ganz), lesbian couple Martha (Cherry Jones) and Jinny (Emily Mortimer), newly pregnant, and the handsome financier, Tom (Cillian Murphy) – all sitting on their own agenda as a constant barrage of political and social standpoints are thrown around the room building to their very own announcements.

A film of contrasts, and not just because the entirety is shot in black and white, but because of the contrast of ideals and personalities. Even the music played on the turntable by Bill is a bizarre backdrop and soundtrack to the emotive tension in the lounge room; tragedy and trauma played out to the rumba and reggae creating the ridiculous and send-up to all the seriousness discussed from life expectancy related to economics and class rather than diet and exercise – a statistic Janet and husband Bill have always agreed upon – to the question of life after death.

The setting of the film is the house of Janet and Bill – there’s no hiding as each character is forced to face the crisis looming in each relationship: the dying academic, the cheating wife; each person intellectualising their emotion into a rational argument all to the sound of Bill’s insistence of playing record after record, his need for music a compulsion to express.

This is a film driven by dialogue, and the set was created and shot on stage like a play where each character slowly unravels as each reveals the next revelation – the story’s interest in the layers of rationale used as self-protection being pealed away to show the raw human hiding underneath; argument and ideals and political stances made as an adult only to show the child still hiding underneath. Except for April. Now a cynic. Janet asks her best friend, ‘Have I been emotionally unavailable?’

Of which April replies, ‘It’s not a productive line of thought’.

There are so many subtle moments that got me giggling. Small details like Bill sitting confused, a glass of red in one hand and the celebratory glass of champagne in the other.

It’s sad, it’s tragic. And the understanding of what we cling to, to keep our ego’s intact, is examined and oh so very funny.

Writer and director Sally Potter (Orlando (1992)), states she wrote the script with an awareness of the absurdity of human suffering; the highlight for me April as she cuts through any emotion with her scathing, but not to be taken personally, remarks aimed at revealing the true and rational perspective with her unblinking eye, ‘You’re a first-rate lesbian and a second-rate thinker.’

To which Martha, Professor of Women’s Studies replies ‘April, Really. I am a professor. Specializing in domestic labour gender differentiation in American utopianism.’

‘Exactly,’ says April.

Left with nothing unnecessary for the story to come full-circle in 71 minutes, The Party is a clever film that takes you into the claustrophobic world of relationships in crisis viewed through the lens of a political satire; the most selfless of the group the coke snorting soulless financier, Tom – now that’s cynical.

Abracadabra

Rated: 18+

Director/Writer: Pablo Berger

Produced by: Pablo Berger, Ignasi Estapé, Mercedes Gamero, Mikel Lejarza

Music by: Alfonso de Vilallonga

Cinematography by: Kiko de la Rica

Starring: Maribel Verdú, Priscilla Delgado, Antonio de la Torre, José Mota, Quim Gutiérrez, Joep Maria Pou, Javier Anton and Rocίo Calvo.

Language: Spanish with English subtitles.

If it was a choice between an egotistical, abusive and dismissive husband or a loving, appreciative but crazy murderer, who would you choose?

Abracadabra is kind of a love story, if you can call the choice between a chauvinist and a murderer romantic, mixed with weird humour and eye-brow raising moments of blood and drama and fantasy.

After Carmen (Maribel Verdú) with daughter, Toñi (Priscilla Delgado) finally drag husband and father, Carlos from watching the football to a wedding, they wonder why they bothered when he continues to listen to the football match with headphones shouting, Yes !!! right as the priest asks if anyone contends this most romantic and completely loved-up couple from marrying (their current feeling expressed in precious promises the complete opposite to Carmen and Carlos).

The wedding reception show-cases Pepe (José Mota), the mighty hypnotist, (and obsessed with the sequined, gorgeous but somewhat gaudy Carmen) daring an audience member to volunteer. Carlos doesn’t like the way Pepe looks at his wife, so volunteers confident in his domination over the powers of the eye-lined hypnotist, Pepe.

While mocking the powers of Pepe an opportunistic ghost possesses Carlos changing him from macho-nasty to doe-eyed lovely, breakfast-in-bed included.

When Carmen and daughter Toñi realise it’s too good to be true, the last straw his greeting of Pepe with a kiss and hug, they consult the mighty Dr. Fumetti (Joep Maria Pou) to find the truth of who inhabits the body of Carlos.

And on the story goes, reaching into the bizarre with a flavour of comedy that held the film from falling into a complete mess of over-dramatisation.

It was those subtle details that were funny: the vibrant white of Dr. Fumetti’s teeth while posing as a dentist; the frothing and spitting of the real estate agent to re-enact blood spurting as a mother’s head was sawn off by the hand of her schizophrenic son… I love a bit of dark humour and there were many moments well executed (ha, ha!) by the cast.

If you don’t like funny-strange humour, then stay away. The film was also melodramatic with emotion shown with that, hand to mouth, Oh! face, often. But as the film plays out there was a bit of lead in the story.

An interesting movie experience into the unexpected and absurd, with the drama of weddings and unrequited love and madness that was surprising and silly, pushing the suspension of belief as the script skipped across disaster by keeping the underlying humour present in those unexpected and bizarre details.

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