film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Category: REVIEWS

Here is where you would find our film reviews on BRWC.  We look at on trailers, shorts, indies and mainstream.  We love movies!

  • Coven: Review

    Coven: Review

    Five undergrad witches come together in order to perform a ritual to invoke the ancient powers of the witch Ashura. The leader of the coven gets carried away and accidentally kills one of the witches during the ritual. She needs the strength of a complete coven to invoke Ashura’s powers and sends them out to find a final witch. As she absorbs power the surviving girls’ plot to take her down but the possessed witch unleashes hell on campus with only one young witch left to stop her.

    Before watching Margaret Malandruccolo’s Coven, I was expecting it to be quite bad. I never usually go into a film with that sort of mindset. I try my hardest to be optimistic about every single movie that I watch and to be fair, I was willing to give Coven a chance. But, I was a little hesitant about it. The poster looked as if it was for a direct-to-DVD film that released in the early 90s that nobody had ever heard of. Plus, witch movies have never been ones that I particularly enjoy, but as I said, I was willing to give it a chance.

    Unfortunately, instead of being a pleasant surprise, Coven is a cinematic curse and is one of the worst movies of the year so far. It has virtually nothing to offer and will make you want to stop watching at every passing minute. Watching the entire film was definitely a chore for me, and I’m genuinely shocked that I was able to stay awake during it.

    It’s a film with a story that doesn’t work for multiple reasons. One – it’s just not interesting. This type of premise has been done hundreds of times before, and better, too. It plays out in an extremely familiar fashion and has no surprises up its sleeves. The plotline goes the exact same direction you think it’s going to go.

    Two – it can be incredibly confusing, especially early on. So many weird and zany things happen just in the first ten minutes alone to the point where I was seriously questioning what I was watching. There are lots of scenes here that feel completely out of place and even some that will make you uncomfortable, but not in a good way. Sometimes, it truly feels like an inappropriate movie.

    But aside from the heavily messy, dreadfully boring story, one of the other massive problems Coven suffers from is its characters. They are all deeply unlikable and have no redeeming qualities to them. It’s hard to root for the main characters in your movie when they’re all witches that feel trope-ridden and make decisions that make you shake your head.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCaj8BehF8

    Even just aside from that, it’s a visually bland film that doesn’t have anything nice to look at. It would have been delightful if the film, as bad as it is, had some good cinematography and clever use of lighting in order to set the mood for a ritualistic story. But no. It looks and feels like it belongs on the Lifetime channel. It’s poorly lit and features stale cinematography. The film has no memorable shots.

    The only redeeming quality of Coven is the fact that it is only eighty minutes in length, including two minutes of credits. If it was any longer, it would have felt like I was under an even worse spell.

    Coven is a heavily messy, trope-filled disaster with an array of unlikeable characters and a story that feels dated and familiar.

  • The Silencing: Review

    The Silencing: Review

    A reformed hunter (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and a sheriff (Annabelle Wallis) are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse when they set out to track a killer who may have kidnapped the hunter’s daughter five years ago.

    Robin Pront’s The Silencing is a bit of a mixed bag in the thriller genre. There are some problems with the film that are too big to ignore, but at the same time, it’s filled with plenty of impressive moments for all to enjoy.

    One of the biggest strengths that this movie has is its excellent cast. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portrays the lead protagonist Rayburn Swanson, a man who is haunted by the knowledge that his daughter was kidnapped. He will stop at nothing to try to find her and the man that is responsible for taking the one thing he loves most away from him. 

    Here, Coster-Waldau feels totally unhinged and ready to snap at any possible second. I have been a big fan of his work in the past, and his performance here reminded me yet again of his amazing talents. His character goes through a deep and depressing arc and has to deal with a lot of emotions throughout the story. He is an alcoholic and it got in the way of his home life. Because of his drinking, he never really got to spend too much time with his daughter who is now missing, and as a result, he feels extreme remorse and guilt.

    It has to be said that Coster-Waldau gave us a wonderful performance in The Silencing. His wonderful acting skills attracted a large number of fans. As a fan who loves him, most people will choose to customize each of his roles into a small badge for collection. Custom Lapel Pins can not only express our love for him but also remind us to learn from his spirit of hard work in studying acting skills so that we can shine in the field we are good at.

    Thankfully, we get several scenes that are dedicated to just him and his thoughts. We get to see the pain that he is going through just by looking into his cold, sad eyes. Coster-Waldau completely disappears into this role. I never once saw him as an actor, but rather, I only saw his character, which is a great thing. Here’s hoping that HBO hires him to play Joel Miller in their upcoming television series adaptation of The Last of Us.

    But aside from Coster-Waldau, Annabelle Wallis does a similarly amazing job in the role of Sheriff Alice Gustafson. Sadly, her character was not given nearly as much depth or development as the protagonist. Alice feels like every other police officer character in a crime thriller and nothing about her character stands out from the crowd. But none of that changes the fact that Wallis still does a terrific job in her role. I just wish that her character was given a lot more to do.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYls5LCzHr8

    That’s really one of the biggest issues that this movie has – it only fleshes out its main protagonist but nobody else. It’s easy to get attached to Rayburn and understand his plight because the film spends quite some time building up his character and his arc which is great. The downside to that is so many characters feel underused and pointless in the long run.

    Another thing that was unfortunately easy to notice was the use of shaky cam. There aren’t too many action/fight scenes, but when the film does have them, there is almost always shaky cam involved. It’s a little bit difficult to see who is attacking somebody in certain sequences.

    The film doesn’t always work due to its underdeveloped characters and action, but it makes up for it in the tension department. There were several moments where I was genuinely nervous as to what was going to happen next. Pront did a remarkable job of crafting several moments that felt truly intense, even if the film as a whole was somewhat lacking.

    The Silencing suffers from a lack of character development and an overuse of shaky cam in its action sequences, but it’s saved by the excellent performances and moments of genuine tension throughout.

  • I Used To Go Here: Review

    I Used To Go Here: Review

    The indie film scene is over-saturated with stories of arrested development following the coming of age genre’s transforming into a festival staple. Where some films imbue the familiar framework with a fresh spin and a finite point of view (2019’s Blinded by the Light), many fail to strike a genuine chord in their hackneyed execution (2019’s Unicorn Store). The latest iteration I Used to Go Here may not reinvent the genre’s traditional approach, but it still offers a pleasant and emotionally sincere diversion.

    I Used to Go Here follows Kate (Gillian Jacobs) an unfulfilled writer whose first book is released to tepid reviews. After her former professor David (Jemaine Clement) invites her to speak at her alma matter, Kate begins to re-discover the joys of college when she befriends a group of eclectic college students.

    If audiences are to take anything away from I Used to Go Here’s runtime, its the radiant ability of star Gillian Jacobs. Despite displaying a career of well-rounded performances (on the big-screen in Don’t Think Twice and in TV shows like Love), Jacob’s natural talent still rarely gets the spotlight it deserves. As Kate, she effortlessly emanates an instant warmth and vulnerability onscreen, adding some much-needed humanity to the character’s common design while mining some of the film’s funniest bits from her sly delivery. Jemaine Clement is a welcomed addition as Kate’s jaded, cocksure professor, while Zoe Chao, Josh Wiggins, and Brandon Daley infuse some exuberance into their comedic roles.

    Mumblecore stalwart Kris Rey adeptly takes a new step forward in her writer/director career, redefining the subgenera’s low-key appeal with some dynamic traits. Rey’s screenplay operates effectively as an honest examination of our rose-tinted glasses towards days of youth, taking to task the figures we glorify as idealistic role models despite their innate flaws. She also finds a comfortable comedic rhythm from distinctly uncomfortable moments, wisely utilizing specified memories (whether that be an awkward old flame played by Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone or an over-eager college worker tasked with fulfilling Kate’s whims and desires) to paint a lived-in landscape.

    I Used to Go Here has an innate charm, but its dramatic aspirations feel too slight to register. Rey’s final frames offer a refreshingly honest self-examination for Kate, whose ambitions have gone astray in the pursuit of industry defined success. This clever construct sadly doesn’t get the attention it deserves, with Rey’s script exploring the easy-going splendors of old-school hangout movies rather than digging deeply into its dramatic implications (the barely 80-minute runtime could’ve utilized a more elaborate third act). I also don’t think the film does enough to stand out from its like-minded coming of age peers, with the narrative never finding its own voice to transcend the genre’s formula.

    No one will praise I Used to Go Here for its originality, but writer/director Kris Rey and star Gillian Jacobs make a winning team in their assured portrait of millennial milieu.

  • Fatal Affair: The BRWC Review

    Fatal Affair: The BRWC Review

    Ever since Fatal Attraction became a critical and financial darling in the 1980s, the domestic thriller subgenera has produced its fair share of wildly engaging entries. Some have thrived as so-bad-its-good train wrecks (2017’s Unforgettable), while others have successfully reinvented the framework with a distinctly modern lens (2019’s The Intruder). Netflix’s latest iteration of the genre Fatal Affair isn’t without its shameless appeals, but it begrudgingly settles for a mediocre middle ground.

    Fatal Affair follows Ellie (Nia Long), a successful lawyer who lives a picturesque life with her husband Marcus (Stephon Bishop). Under the surface though, Nia begins to feel unsatisfied with the stale normality of everyday habits, leading to her having a romantic encounter with a former college friend David (Omar Epps). After Ellie writes off the incident, David begins to have a dangerous obsession that puts her family at risk.

    Fatal Affair makes no secret in what it’s trying to achieve, with writer/director Peter Sullivan embracing the genre’s trashy tendencies by playing to its greatest strengths. For fans of the genre like myself, there are several plot beats that will have audiences howling with glee in their over-the-top nature, marrying its soap-opera tone with an irresistible blend of far-fetched twist and turns. The capable leads enhance the material substantially, with Nia Long injecting a natural warmth and vulnerability that highlights Ellie’s confliction in an empathetic light. Omar Epps has a blast portraying David’s unhinged persona, menacingly masking his uncontrollable rage with smooth confidence.

    While self-aware in its approach, Fatal Affair does little to infuse its material with much-needed personality. Similar to his previous project (Secret Obsession, another Netflix release), Sullivan’s direction lacks stylistic grace, dispassionately framing each shot like a stale TV episode. The rigid visuals detract most from its horror-centric thrills, with a timid PG-13 approach and bizarre filmmaking choices (one of the major deaths happens inexplicably offscreen) not deriving much danger from these major plot beats.

    Fatal Affair doesn’t lose points for playing to its strengths, yet the film limits itself with how little it reinvents its conventional formula. Sullivan’s screenplay lacks dimension, repurposing familiar character dynamics without having any unique qualities to imbue them with (Ellie’s husband is a bland, subservient character who rarely feels alive on-screen). The narrative shows you nothing that hasn’t already been crafted with more passion or innovation, playing it safe in a genre that is beloved for its unkempt charms.

    Neither being remarkable or lousy enough to register an impression, Fatal Affair plays it by-the-numbers in a bland revival of the domestic thriller genre.

  • Lake Of Death: Review

    Lake Of Death: Review

    One year after her brother Bjørn (Patrick Walshe McBride) went missing, Lillian (Iben Akerlie) and her friends, Kai (Ulric von der Esche), Harald (Elias Munk), Gabriel (Jonathan Harboe) and Sonja (Sophia Lie) all go back to the same cabin by the lake in which Bjorn drowned. Haunted by her brother’s death, Lillian is plagued with hallucinations and dreams that put her on edge the entire time.

    Her friends are determined to have a good time though so Lillian tries her very best to put it out of her head. However, as Lillian’s hallucinations get stronger and she starts sleepwalking, things get stranger and stranger and the group of friends find themselves in danger.

    Lake of Death is a Norwegian horror movie exclusive to Shudder, inspired by the original 1958 Norwegian horror movie De dødes tjern (Lake of The Dead). Unfortunately, whereas the original movie may have felt inspired, atmospheric and ahead of its time, Lake of Death is quite the opposite.

    Having the misfortune of having the same kind of setup as movies such as Evil Dead and Cabin Fever (both of which are mentioned in the script even though the latter was partly inspired by the former) doesn’t help, serving only to remind the audience of much better movies that they could be watching instead.

    Even worse, Lake of Death doesn’t even try to be original as its entire cast is made up of two-dimensional characters that the audience won’t even care about because they do stupid things just for dramatic effect. It’s not because their actions are meant to entice the audience into enjoying their deaths however, their behaviour at certain points just doesn’t make any sense.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jf1x8qG7EA

    The whole movie has been done before in much better ways and it just goes to show that if the movie has a weak premise and there’s no attempt to entertain an audience and put a fresh spin on a classic format then they’ll soon stop caring.

    Finally, if you haven’t guessed the ending from the premise then perhaps you should stop watching movies, because if you haven’t got the hang of it by now then you never will.