Author: BRWC

Dream Machine: Review. By George & Josh Bate.

From the inception of the genre, science fiction has used technological advancements and fantastical storytelling elements to comment on contemporary, real-world issues. In literature, George Orwell explored surveillance and totalitarianism in his seminal sci-work 1984, while Ray Bradbury examined censorship and the growing influence of technology on society in Fahrenheit 451. In cinema, the likes of Ex Machina, Minority Report, and even Jurassic Park have toyed with tenets of the sci-fi genre to provide poignant messaging about real-world problems that demand our attention presently. In the new short film Dream Machine, filmmaker Dan Egan follows suit in blending a grounded story with a heightened concept to shine a light on a long-standing yet increasingly relevant problem.

Dream Machine follows Marco (Javier Ronceros), a veteran autoshop mechanic who struggles to make a living in a near-future dominated by the commercial success of flying cars. Marco’s occupational struggles bleed into his marriage with wife Isabela (Rosa Delgado) and lead him to consume excessive alcohol to help numb the stress. As the rift in his marriage widens, Marco is presented with a novel opportunity that may save him from his troubles.

Writer/director Dan Egan fuses high-concept sci-fi with a grounded aesthetic in a manner similar to Rian Johnson’s Looper and Michael Felker’s Things Will Be Different. Initially, the world in which Dream Machine takes place looks and sounds exactly like ours, featuring a run down mechanic shop that will look all too familiar to anyone who has ever visited the U.S. But it doesn’t take long for the camera to pan out and reveal that this isn’t our contemporary world – at least not yet. A string of flying cars journey throughout the sky far above and away from the autoshop, both literally and figuratively. 

The aesthetic Egan arrives on in Dream Machine is delightfully retro-futuristic. The visual effects from VFX supervisor Texas Loveday don’t aim for realism, rather they are purposefully old-fashioned and even surreal looking. The flying cars themselves look like the crimson red Christine from John Carpenter’s classic horror film, while the VFX that brings these cars to life have a Tim Burton, almost stop-motion quality about it. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to the otherwise grounded world Marco and Isabela live in, one that blends our real world with a flavor of retro futurism not dissimilar from Tomorrowland and even this summer’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. 

This juxtaposition speaks to just how unnatural the development of flying cars are and how deleterious this development is for the livelihoods of people like Marco. Although the short features barely any dialogue from any character, including Marco, our protagonist is an instantly relatable character with a disturbingly relatable plight. Marco’s struggles serve as a simple, yet effective allegory for the ways in which technological advancements swallow up certain occupations and people, leaving them behind to fend for themselves. History has seen this happen with assembly-line workers, switchboard operators, lamplighters, travel agents, video rental store clerks, and so on and so on. Currently, the dawn of AI is already seeing certain occupations, such as drivers, legal assistants, and proofreaders, dissipate before our eyes. Dream Machine taps into this dread of a looming future through Marco, who sees his role as a mechanic slowly slip away. Again, like the very best sci-fi stories, Egan’s short film manages to highlight an issue that demands our attention through a more fantastical storytelling lens.

As the short progresses, the story becomes even more heartbreaking as the depths of Marco’s difficulties are revealed to the audience. His turn to alcohol to drown out his pain has an effect on his wife and co-worker Isabela, but, as seen in so many marriages, she hesitates to name the elephant in the room. The way their relationship is conveyed by Egan speaks to the short’s more solemn, quiet, even minimalist tone, which fits well for a film of this length (~18 minutes) in that it doesn’t overstay its welcome. If Dream Machine were to be expanded into a feature film, one would expect it would have to stretch beyond its current tone, but, as it stands, Egan finds success with how he tells this story.

Ultimately, the story unfolds in an emotional and admirable manner that inspires, even if it doesn’t offer some profound message to the issue it examines. This may be Egan’s point, however. The problems caused by rapid technological advancements don’t have a readily available solution and, as such, Marco’s problem does not have a readily available solution. Instead, Marco is only in control of the decisions that lay before him, which may not solve the problem, but at least can allow him to adhere to his moral code. 

With a distinct visual style blending our real world with retro-futuristic, old-fashioned VFX and a story that is as relevant today as it would have been 50 or even 100 years ago, Dream Machine makes for an aesthetically interesting and thematically poignant short film.

Sound Of Falling: London Film Festival Review. By Jordon Searle.

Have you ever wondered what your family experienced over the years and whether they shared any of the same moments as you? Is there a narrative thread that spans generations and keeps us all on the same journey? German filmmaker Mascha Schilinski explores this theme in her acclaimed second feature, using stunning, technical cinematography to depict four generations of girls living in the same farmhouse across a hundred years.

Sound of Falling is set in the Altmark region of Germany, on a farmhouse beside the river Elba. Alma (Hanna Heckt), a young girl, observes All Souls’ Day, honouring her family members who have passed by looking at their ‘death photo’ on the mantelpiece, a common practice at that time. Alma is fixated on a picture of her deceased sister, who bears an uncanny resemblance to herself. A generation later, a young woman named Erika (Lea Drinda) watches Fritz (Filip Schnack), a family member with an amputated leg. When all of the women attempt to escape the farm during WW2, she is unable to leave. 

Set in the 1980s, Angelika (Lena Urzendowsky) is a teenage girl desperately trying to mature and leave the farmhouse while discovering her sexuality. She is exploited by her uncle, and her cousin becomes increasingly attracted to her as well. In the present day, Lenka (Laeni Geiseler) is a teenage girl who moves to the farmhouse with her parents and younger sister. When she meets Kaya (Ninel Geiger), a girl of a similar age who seems very cool despite her standoffish ways, she tries her best to emulate her. All four generations grapple with trauma and pain, both within themselves and those around them, all on the grounds of the old farmhouse.

The story is non-linear, switching between eras scene by scene, which can be quite startling when it happens for the first time. No warning, no title card, just the start of a new scene with a new family, but the same farmhouse location. This style of storytelling can be slightly exhausting at times; you are left feeling that you would have preferred a film centred on each era, as they are all incredibly interesting. The most engaging period was the oldest, which had an eerie and compelling performance from Heckt, who continually looked down the lens of the character, unnerving the audience in every scene. As the film goes on, the eras become less and less interesting, but the performances from all of the girls are equally phenomenal.

Sound of Falling is one of those films that showcases utterly perfect cinematography. Not a single frame is wasted, and everything seems carefully planned. The camera glides around like a haunted, voyeuristic spirit, peering through keyholes at grieving mothers and couples making love. It is one of the best shot films of the year, a triumph in cinematography that uses the 4:3 aspect ratio to great effect, creating some scenes that are intensely claustrophobic and horrifying. Schilinski and DoP Fabian Gamper have succeeded in crafting a flawless film that also features some of the best use of montage seen in years.

With a more refined story, Sound of Falling could have reached the heights that the technical aspects of the film set, but the non-linear style makes this more of a head-scratcher than it needs to be. All we know for sure is that whatever Schilinski does next will undoubtedly be one to watch.

Rating: 7/10

One Battle After Another: The BRWC Review. By Daniel Rester.

One of the greatest and most versatile American filmmakers is back with a new film that couldn’t be more timely. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another holds a mirror up to the divisiveness and hypocrisy surrounding various views in the United States, managing to satirize and seriously examine its topics at the same time. It has some rough edges, and isn’t quite on the Mount Rushmore of Anderson masterpieces, but One Battle After Another remains gripping, entertaining, and thought-provoking throughout. 

The set-up of the film involves the actions of the members of a group called the French 75. They have goals such as freeing locked-up immigrants, bombing political offices, and more. Two of the members, explosives expert Pat (Leonardo DiCaprio) and strong-willed Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), have a child. While Pat wants them to become responsible parents, Perfidia digs deeper into the causes she believes in. 

Years later, Pat and his now-grown daughter Charlene (Chase Infiniti) are lying low and using fake names when Pat’s past catches up to them. It comes in the form of Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), a military officer who was against the French 75 but had an obsession with Perfidia. After Lockjaw abducts Charlene (going as “Willa”), Pat (going as “Bob”) must put his irresponsible and lazy behavior aside and tune into his past radical side in order to get his daughter back. 

Though it is loosely based on the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, One Battle After Another mostly takes place in modern times. By jumping from the past to the present in the plot, Anderson shows how fights for causes can move up and down and in a cyclical fashion. As one character states, battles and revolutions for freedom “move in waves.” 

Anderson explores a lot of subjects in One Battle After Another, from racism to xenophobia to fatherhood. While the film is politically charged and not too subtle, it also isn’t preachy. Anderson instead opts to show instead of tell most of the time, with the film containing a lot of moving pieces and action. When he does have characters share information and views, it is often with dialogue exchanges that contain hilariously absurd touches. For example, a white supremacist group in the film has a secret codename that is “The Christmas Adventurers Club.” The film shouldn’t be mistaken for a comedy, but Anderson’s use of levity at times is welcome. 

One Battle After Another favors plot momentum over deep character dives (this isn’t Anderson in There Will Be Blood (2007) or The Master (2012) mode), but the characters who are here are still well drawn. Pat/Bob plays like a variation of “The Dude” from The Big Lebowski (1998), Charlene/Willa is a teen who has to learn to grow up fast and could teach her dad a thing or two as well, and Lockjaw is a complex villain full of contradictions. Those three are by far the most interesting, but supporting characters like a sensei named Sergio (Benicio del Toro) and a rebel named Deandra (Regina Hall) get their moments too. 

These characters come alive from a terrific cast. Top to bottom, everyone is great. Penn and DiCaprio might dominate the spotlight with their stardom, but newcomer Infiniti and even the bit players don’t shirk their roles. I do wish some of the supporting actors had more to do at times though, as some excellent actors like Wood Harris and Tony Goldwyn only show up briefly. 

DiCaprio gets to be loose and funny here a lot of the time, unafraid of his character being the butt of the joke in many scenes. An ongoing bit about Pat forgetting a password is endlessly amusing. DiCaprio also knows when to get dramatic and heartfelt though. It’s a wonderful “dad mode” performance all around. 

Penn is arguably the standout of the film. He finds a perfect balance in making Lockjaw both pathetic and terrifying. Taylor and del Toro have some killer moments too, but it’s Penn who will probably get the lion’s share of supporting awards attention in the coming months. 

Anderson directs the hell out of One Battle After Another, as to be expected. He has had a handful of action scenes throughout his filmography, but never this many or at this level. Audiences know he can handle chaotic character interactions, but it’s welcome to see him put his stamp on visuals like large protests and intense car chases since those are not normally in his repertoire. 

Cinematographer Michael Bauman, editor Andy Jurgensen, and composer Jonny Greenwood are all essential in delivering Anderson’s vision here. Bauman shot the film using VistaVision cameras, which lends the wide images plenty of texture; he captures both gritty urban interiors and sun-baked, Western-esque landscapes with a great eye. Jurgensen makes the 162-minute runtime fly by with his precision, and his work especially shines during a car chase involving a road going through rolling hills. Greenwood electrifies the movie with his score, which has both offbeat and rich sections with pianos and strings. 

The first act of One Battle After Another can feel choppy at times as it rushes through the actions of the French 75 and Pat and Perfidia’s relationship. Some of the plot threads involving supporting characters like Sergio and Deandra are also left dangling by the end of the film. A few extra minutes added in the right places would have been useful in order to iron out the kinks. Those complaints are just small flaws in a magnificent film though. 

One Battle After Another is yet another daring entry in Anderson’s filmography. It gives the audience laughs, thrills, and plenty to chew on as it portrays both ugly and hopeful aspects of American culture both past and present. It’s one of the must-see films of 2025. 

Rating: 9/10