Author: Joel Fisher

Far beyond the sky, a diving bell descends down into the land. Out steps a man with layers of protective clothing, searching for something. He’s an assassin who has a mission, but seems to have gotten lost in the world as there’s so much to absorb that it’s easy to forget where you are. However, he must go on and try to decipher the Mad God’s world.

Mad God is a stop motion animated feature written and directed by visual effects master, Phil Tippett. Known for his involvement in many action blockbusters, Tippett has brought his talents to many films including Robocop, Jurassic Park and Starship Troopers and now has finally released his masterpiece exclusively on to Shudder.

Being an expert on all that is visual, audiences won’t be disappointed by what Tippett and his crew of animators are able to put on the screen. Avid fans will eat up every single frame as they’re guided through a world, or maybe even a universe, of strange and dark images, characters and scenarios that come directly from Tippett’s brain.

Not necessarily told in a linear fashion, Mad God may not have a conventional story structure, but the world that comes to life in Tippet’s hands makes the audience want to explore further. Despite the ever increasingly gruesome images.

If not done quite correctly, Mad God may feel more like an anthology as the characters and their stories don’t exactly meet up. However, as the film goes from one set of characters to the next then it all just adds to the richness of Tippet’s ideas.

Mad God either feels like a series of unfinished dreams that were gradually put together over time or a stream of consciousness that Tippett was able to put into words and was able to make real. Those who have always wondered what lies behind the eyes of the visual effects genius may well have their curiosity satisfied, but some may wish they had not ventured so far.

Visceral, grungy and often surreal, Mad God is the answer to the question you may have always wondered about Phil Tippett, but perhaps not the answer you were expecting.

Theo or TO (Theo Kermel) as he likes to call himself lives with his father, who he refers to as la père (Pierre Meunier) in the woods. TO’s father has a particularly strange way of looking after him and teaching about the ways of the world. Firstly, TO is taught to do tasks every day to build up his body so that he will be a samurai, something that TO dreams of becoming and has even grown a top knot to show his dedication to his goal.

TO’s father also says that he should avoid the news because all there is only tragedy and nothing that will help either of them. They also spend an inordinately unusual time together naked. Although unconventional, it seems that TO has been raised to be disciplined and determined to achieve his goals. However, when his father packs up his photography gear and leaves TO to go to an exhibition, TO’s mind starts to slip.

Theo and The Metamorphosis is a French arthouse movie written and directed by Damien Odoul. It also stars Theo Kermel, an actor with Down Syndrome, perhaps cast as a way to dispel the cliches and tropes often surrounding disabled people in cinema. This is not the tale of a young man with a childlike wonder of the world as he makes his own way, for better or worse Theo and the Metamorphosis is something altogether more unexpected.

Starting out almost as a documentary, TO narrates his own story whilst scenes play out almost silently between him and his father as they go about their days. There is something natural and yet peculiarly quirky about their behaviour, but the movie never suggests that what they are doing is bad or wrong.

TO has structure in his life and his monologues show that he is a deep thinker that has aspirations in life and they are never treated like flights of fancy or unrealistic dreams.

However, as TO’s father departs for work, TO’s loneliness starts to emerge and where the movie could talk about the deep loneliness that perhaps he has always felt, it loses its story. Doing so in favour of ever more increasingly provocative images involving male and female nudity and whatever else director Odoul can throw at the screen.

It almost seems like the entire thing was meant to lull its audience into a false sense of confidence before subverting things in every wrong way possible. What could have been a thoughtful exploration of dreams, aspirations and loneliness turns into nothing but a movie meant to shock just because it ran out of story.

Jenny (Juliana Destefano) is an intelligent girl with a bright future ahead of her and has set her sights on going to Harvard. She’s close to her family and particularly with her dad, Jack (Brian Thornton) who she enjoys hanging out with despite him being goofy and embarrassing.

However, Jenny is growing up and is trying to find her place in the world and doesn’t really know where she belongs. Her Hispanic heritage has something that has always alluded her as she doesn’t speak Spanish and so she feels distant from her mother, but Jenny is soon to find her place as a woman.

Going to a gig, Jenny hears Riot Grrl music for the first time and is inspired to change her view on life and see the world for what it really is – a patriarchy that oppresses women. She starts doing typical things that teenage girls do when they want to rebel as well.

She cuts her hair, starts taking drugs and even falls in with a boyfriend which may raise questions about how close their relationship may be getting. Jenny completely changes, but with Harvard coming so close she may need to decide where she belongs.

Acid Test is a coming-of-age drama set in the early nineties, inspired by the true story of writer/director Jennifer Waldo’s own experiences of growing up and expanded from her short film. However, Acid Test doesn’t really feel like a story of a teenager going through troubled times. Much like Jenny’s Harvard interview where she reflects on her life, it feels like an adult vaguely remembering her teenage years.

Jenny is introduced as a straightlaced student and Destefano’s performance doesn’t seem to suggest anything else. So, when Jenny goes to a Riot Grrl concert it seems to come out of the blue that she would change her life and feel inspired from reading a pamphlet.

What follows is a series of things that don’t really connect as the maturity of an adult perspective doesn’t really make it clear what Jenny is thinking. It merely comes across as a girl acting out purely because she can. There are attempts at trying to make the story feel bigger than it is by dropping in comparisons to Hamlet and watching how early nineties American politics turned out, but it feels as disconnected as the rest. Although having good intentions, Acid Test needs a lot more depth to find an audience who will connect with its story.

Paulie Go (Ethan Dizon) is very proud of his intellect and he feels that he has a very important place in the future of the world. He’s a very determined young man and knows exactly how he’s going to get to where he needs to be and nobody is going to stop him.

So, when he gets a rejection letter from a world-renowned robotics lab, he sets out to find the professor in charge of the lab to get answers as to why he was turned down.

Along the way he meets Sheriff Anderson (David Theune) and his daughter, Avery (Madison Wolfe) who spends her time making fishing videos for social media. Paulie is a man on a mission though, so seizing his chance he convinces Avery to help him achieve his goals.

Paulie Go! is a charming coming of age comedy about teenage life, friendships and being socially awkward. Both Dizon and Wolfe have a good on-screen chemistry and Dizon gives a particularly charming, but awkward performance as the socially inept title character.

There’s a certain formula to films like Paulie Go! though and for some there may be a bit of predictability as the two leads meet. However, there is just enough subversion of the usual tropes which makes Paulie Go! a refreshing take on a tried and tested genre.

Starting out in the usual manner, the audience is introduced to Paulie and the audience may think that they know where his story will take him. However, through some careful storytelling it may be able to keep the audience interested right to the end.

There is the issue of where the story goes however, and for some the direction it takes may seem a bit too far fetched for what they wanted. Although, if the audience just goes with the story, then they may find that themselves delightfully surprised. The characterisation may feel a little two dimensional from the leads at first, but the script rewards those who wait and don’t mind not having every detail told to them up front. Paulie Go! may just be the kind of film you need to lift your spirits.

Sara (Lena Gora) has been kicked out of her house after a massive argument which continues on the street. Clearly not taking no for an answer, Sara doesn’t care anymore and demands to know why she is being treated that way.

She’s wearing a nice dress and has perhaps been out for the night and the argument, although ambiguous leaves Sara alone and gives the audience the impression that she’s the one to blame and that she’s not being very gracious about it. Hitching a ride from somebody friendly, Sara finds herself at a diner and has come to a choice. She can either go back and try to figure out what went wrong, or she can hit the road and see where it takes her.

So, Sara steals a car and heads out as far as she can go. However, once Sara hears the music that the owner has left behind that he clearly recorded himself, she decides that he might be the one with the answers.

Roving Woman is the feature directorial debut of Michal Chmielewski which is co-written by Lena Gora. Starting out with Sara at her lowest ebb, the audience can’t help but judge her for her behaviour and her immediate actions. They must think she is a train wreck and the reason that she’s standing outside her house, screaming for attention is that she always has things her own way.

This is particularly emphasised when Sara steals a car, the audience may think that Sara is selfish at this point, thinking she can do and say whatever she likes. However, as time passes then the audience gets to know Sara through the way that she reacts to the things around her and the way she takes in the music.

Seeing Sara alone with nothing to lose and nowhere to go gives her vulnerability, so the audience may start to realise that Sara is just a woman going through the realisation that her relationship is over.

Lena Gora gives a great performance and often the best times are just with her alone in the car, giving her a chance to show Sara and who she really is. This gives the audience the best chance at getting to know Sara and perhaps feeling a little guilty for initially judging her. However, it’s not entirely clear where the story wants to go and what it wants to say about its lead. Although, given the ambiguity of Sara’s entire journey, it may let the audience think about what would happen if they were in her shoes.