Author: Joel Fisher

Bela (Lúcia Moniz) and Jota (Ruben Garcia) are a Portuguese couple living in the UK. They have three children, baby Jessy, teenager Diego (James Felner) and Lu (Maisie Sly) who is at primary school. Although despite their family dynamic they are struggling financially and Bela isn’t coping too well.

Then one day Lu’s school contacts her parents and they are concerned about bruises that they find on her back and before Bela and Jota can get a grip on the situation, the police are called. This turns their family upside down as their children are taken away and put into care, leaving Bela feeling depressed and anxious and both parents feeling totally helpless.

Listen is a Portuguese film directed by Ana Rocha which talks about a situation that immigrants may face in the UK or perhaps in any other part of the world. Showing their lives before it descends into chaos, the family are just like anybody else and the audience may soon find themselves sympathising with them as things get worse. Also, Lu is deaf, as is actress Maisie Sly who is better known for appearing in Oscar winning short film, The Silent Child.

However, Listen is not a film that is designed to show its audience a depiction of unfair authorities getting above themselves despite their best intentions, neither is it a film meant to tug at the heart strings of its audience. Instead, it’s a film that realistically portrays what happens during a simple misunderstanding that could happen in a broken system.

A candidate for the Best International Feature Film for the Oscars in 2021, only to be disqualified for it being mostly in the English language, Listen lays it all out for its audience and shows the realities from both sides. It seems to be very carefully researched in order to not show any bias either, so if the audience thinks that the system is unfair, then that’s how it probably is for real.

Moniz is the heart of the film and gives a great performance as a mother on the edge who will do anything to get back her children. A particular shame then that the film’s exclusion from the Oscars will not highlight her talent.

Also, for many it will not be an easy thing to watch, especially for those with children, but it may help some to understand and empathise with immigrants who just want a good life.

Andrew (Cooper Raiff) is twenty-two years old and like many young men his age, he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. He has a part time job working in a fast-food restaurant and he’s perfectly happy there until he figures something out.

He’s also very close to his little brother, David (Evan Assante) and feels that he needs to pass on the wisdom that he has gathered over the years. However, Andrew is stuck in that time of a person’s life where they need to find a direction of their own.

Then one night he finds himself at a Bar Mitzvah with his brother and it’s the dullest thing ever, so he decides to liven things up. His enthusiasm and happiness in seeing other people having a good time is infectious and he soon finds himself bringing the party to life. He also starts getting job offers from parents who can see his innate ability to get the party started.

However, on that night Andrew also meets Domino (Dakota Johnson), a young mother with a teenager daughter, Lola (Vanessa Burghardt) and he quickly forms a bond with them both. Things start to move along with Domino as well and soon Andrew finds himself falling for her, something which he finds to be more complicated than he’d imagined.

Cha Cha Real Smooth is a comedy drama written, directed by and starring Cooper Raiff which makes this his second directorial feature by the age of 25. However, despite its supposed indie sensibilities, it seems that Raiff has designed his latest feature to be a studio friendly comedy. There are moments where the story he’s put together feels like it could relate to its audience, but his performance and character makes him feel almost too perfect.

As a performer, Raiff also gives an energetic and youthful performance which will draw in audiences. There’s also a real chemistry between him and Johnson who equally gives a great performance as she draws in the young Andrew, whilst hiding her true intentions.

However, Cha Cha Real Smooth feels like a movie put together to please an audience rather than tell an authentic story with real characters.

Kath (Winona Ryder) and Max (John Gallagher Jr.) are going to spend the weekend away together when they come to their cabin in the woods. However, inside they find another couple, Greta (Brianne Tju) and Al (Owen Teague) who are also planning to spend the night.

Coming to a compromise, the couples decide to stay together and get to know each other and before they know it, they are happily playing board games.

Unfortunately, after a while, Kath finds Al crying and he tells her that Max and Greta have run off together. So, Kath does the thing that any woman was jilted would do – she goes back to her job as a florist and forgets it ever happens. That is until she meets Nicholas (Dermot Mulroney), a mysterious stranger and she becomes convinced that something is wrong and that she should go and find her ex.

Gone in The Night (or The Cow in other territories) is a thriller directed by Eli Horowitz and co-written by Matthew Derby. Put in a familiar setting of a cabin in the woods, the savvier audience members must immediately be put on edge.

They know that something is going to happen, but the seemingly ordinary situation may momentarily put them at ease. It also seems to put Kath’s mind to rest as well, as what is billed as a thriller takes a decidedly relaxed approach to the promise of a tense story. However, once Kath comes to her senses then she follows handsome stranger Nicholas as they get closer to the truth.

Gone in The Night does this by playing with the structure of the story, inserting flashbacks when needed and giving its audience routes to follow to where they could draw their own conclusions.

The trouble is that a lot of those scenes are seemingly there to pad out the story, making the shocking reveal feel more of a misdirect and outright lie rather than a clever subversion of expectations. Gone in The Night has some great performances, particularly from Ryder, but ultimately the audience may feel cheated by the ambiguous and outlandish finale.

Mother (Adrienne Pearce) is the matriarch in a small family who live in a large and very beautiful glass house that feels like it should be used in a Victorian period drama. She has three daughters; Bee (Jessica Alexander), Evie (Anja Taljaard) and her youngest, Daisy (Kitty Harris).

There are also a couple of men who live there and their injuries force the women to restrain them until they get better. Gabe (Brent Vermeulen) is having trouble adjusting to the new world, but the stranger (Hilton Pelser) sees things differently and soon grows closer to one of the girls. However, in this dystopian future where oxygen is precious and memory is easily lost, then they may all soon forget themselves.

Glasshouse is a dystopian melodrama set in a place which feels very much grounded in our history, but seems to be far into our future. In her feature directorial debut, Kelsey Egan has created a world like no other and offers something different than the usual tropes that so often malign science fiction.

In fact, if there weren’t talk of ‘The Shred’ and if Daisy wasn’t so curious about the outside world, then the audience may not even realise its intentions.

With a set up that evokes The Beguiled, Glasshouse is a lavish production with a great cast and an intriguing story. However, with its mixing of genres then it may not be for everybody. Having what appears to be a period drama mixed in with a science fiction inflected world may draw some people in who enjoy the production value, but may similarly turn people away who want a more conventional sci fi tale.

This is particularly evident because although the world building is impeccably done, it does seem to take its time in explaining everything and how the film got to this point. This does slow down the pacing somewhat and may even make the audience wonder where it’s all going – and not in a good way.

In whatever way audiences may approach Glasshouse, they may either revel in the unique setting or be turned off by the dialogue that can’t decide between telling a story or fleshing out a world. Either way, Glasshouse is an original idea with an original premise which may have needed a little more polishing to make things clearer.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Tsidi (Chumisa Cosa) and her daughter are forced to move in with her mother, Mavis (Nosipho Mtebe). Mavis works as a maid and general servant for somebody she refers to mostly as Madam. She also lives there and while she feels like her home is her own, she still has to follow a certain set of rules, as do the rest of the family.

Outraged by the way that her mother lives, Tsidi takes umbrage with her treatment and although Mavis says that she’s fine with it, it still plays on her mind. Particularly since Mavis’ mother lived during apartheid, a time that Tsidi would naturally want to move on from, but she finds that the past still has ripples.

Good Madam is a slow burn psychological horror exclusive to Shudder that was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. With the formula of what could have been an ordinary horror movie, director Jenna Cato Bass is able to talk about a side of South Africa which those outside of the country might never consider.

Drawing in its audience and presenting the issues that lie within is probably the kind of thing that some people may mark as ‘elevated horror’, however Good Madam is just good storytelling.

As Tsidi’s thoughts start to plague her mind, she feels like she might be hallucinating. Images appear in front of her and things start to happen to her own body. It’s starting to feel like Tsidi may be possessed.

However, among the creepy and shocking visuals lays a story that talks about the generational gap in South Africa and how the older generation were subjugated by apartheid and whether they liked it or not, some of them seemed to grow used to it. It talks about the guilt that Tsidi’s generation feels about not being able to stop it and the fear of it creeping back into her life before she even realises it.

Cosa gives a great performance and through Bass’ subtle direction, the story opens up the audience’s minds to the reality behind a country still learning to heal. Good Madam may not be the kind of thing that you’d expect to see on Shudder, but it is a rewarding experience.