Category: REVIEWS

Using beautiful animation coupled with adept and touching storytelling, Taiko studios’ One Small Step is a film that seems to look up to the short films of Pixar, but ends up overtaking them.

That’s a lot to say – first to compare anyone’s work to that of the modern animation titan, then to say theirs is better. With One Small Step, the comparisons are apt: it uses the same animation techniques, has no spoken dialogue and the film itself is reminiscent of the unforgettable opening montage of Up.

Like that powerful sequence in the 2009 film, this short covers the life of its main character, Luna, as she follows her dream of becoming an astronaut.

The film follows her from when, as a child, she and her father first use a cardboard box as a rocket to the moon, through to adulthood where she begins getting her mind and body into shape in order to make her dream a reality.

It’s not an easy journey, either. She suffers some blows along the way, but she is supporting her both financially and emotionally by her cobbler father. His love and devotion are, in the end, what keeps her going at her hardest moments. Yet, while it would be easy to be manipulative, the film does not play up this, or any moment, to the point where it feels cloying.

Even though One Small Step is only six minutes long, it never feels rushed and, crucially, every moment feels resonant. Directors Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas are able to tell a complex story concisely, efficiently and in a universal way.

One Small Step lost out on the Oscar for Best Animated Feature to Pixar’s baffling Bao. That film tried too hard and ended up getting muddled in its own pretensions. One Small Step, meanwhile, has no ideas above its stations and tells its story and make its points far more comfortably. While Luna’s ambition is one that few people will actually share, her story is one we can all relate to.

One Small Step is a wonderful film that has a lot to say, about how much one person can effect your life and not giving up your dreams. If Luna can keep going despite the distance she has to go and the obstacles in her way, you can too. Lovely to look at and sweet without ever feeling forced or corny, this is one that is definitely worth seeking out.

“The Price for Silence” is an independent film telling us the story of the Flynn family. Through the eyes of Kira Flynn (Lynn Mancinelli), who is returning home for her father’s funeral after an extended absence, we become witnesses to the atrocities caused by her family, as well those that they must face together. Estranged from her mother Shelia (Kristin Carey), Kira is stuck fighting alcoholism and apparent nymphomania with only her troubled brother Lucas (Emrhys Cooper) to confide in. Along the way, we find out what left Kira so unstable as all her remaining connections to sanity begin to fade.

“The Price for Silence” is not an easy watch. From the second we are introduced to Kira she is deeply damaged. She lies in bed with a woman whose name she cannot remember and spasms as she has a nightmare. Her state does not improve from this point. No explanation of Kira’s mental health is given to us until late on. We do not know why she distances herself from her mother, or why she is so prone to self-destruction. As such Kira to us is a very disturbed woman, whom we can only infer has faced something incredibly dark in her past that saw her remain away from home for so long.

This early portion of the picture has its issues. The film presents so much to us so quickly that it becomes a challenge to keep up. This makes the entire movie from the opening onwards feel as if it would have played better as a miniseries. The meagre budget clarifies why this would never be possible, but had it happened the story would have benefited. As a result, the pacing feels uneven, and constant allusions to Kira’s tragedy without a reveal is occasionally frustrating. 

Forming authentic relationships within the family was imperative, and thankfully, that happens early on and steadies the ship slightly. Brother/sister relationships can be challenging to depict in the simplest of situations, here it must be done with a backdrop of mental distortion, and it still manages to work more consistently than any other aspect of the film. Lucas and Kira are rocks for each other throughout and work hard to help one another overcome their issues. If there is anything to be gained from “The Price for Silence” it is a reminder to have someone you can talk to and rely upon when you begin to struggle. 

Unfortunately, their relationship dissolves in the final third of the film. From this point on “The Price for Silence” diverts fully into its worst tendencies. There is a new crisis behind every corner and it becomes entirely melodramatic. I wanted to empathise with these characters, but they entirely lost touch with reality and left me in no position to follow. Any emotional impact that begins to set in is demolished when an entirely new situation arises and drowns everything else out. It is impossible to understand what writer/director Tony Germinario was trying to accomplish here. The film is rocky all the way through but the bones to say something with this story were there. However, the narrative twists so much everything it had going for it is lost in the process, leaving it void of any meaningful message or insight.

The antagonists and cause of almost all the heartbreak are the vile father and son Richard (Richard Thomas) and Aiden Davenport (Jon McCormick), and it is these two which encompass the most prominent problem. Their performances are not the issue, each of theirs is two of the stronger in the film; it is how Germinario presents them to us. The most significant revelation is that Aiden perpetrated the most critical and vile act of all, that being what happened to Kira years ago. However, Richard plays the more classical role of the ‘villain’ with Aiden taking more of a side role. More than once, Germinario attempts to generate sympathy for Aiden in what are some of the most confounding scenes I have viewed all year.

Richard is a severely immoral and cruel person, but Aiden’s actions and approaches towards Kira throughout are so depraved that there was nothing to be gained by presenting him this way. He is a far more disturbing individual than his father, yet the film tries to tell us otherwise and provides no justification. There is nothing remotely likeable or relatable about Aiden Davenport, and Germinario acts like he does not know his character when being empathetic towards him. This depiction is a giant misstep that hurts the venture more than anything else.

I want to stress that the performances are respectable. None are entirely consistent, but in certain moments they manage to capture the grotesque mental toll grief can have on you under the bleakest circumstances. Mancinelli and Cooper are standouts. Both have moments where they consume the screen and try their hardest to draw empathy from the audience. The over the top theatrics does make for some missteps, but the cast avoids any significant pitfalls and carries it as best they can. Above all else, Germinario’s script is where “The Price for Silence” goes wrong; the performances are just its most notable victim. 

Despite good intentions “The Price for Silence” is ultimately a melodramatic misstep for director Tony Germinario. A plethora of catastrophe means there is no time left to allow for any emotional exploration of the impact. If Germinario is fortunate enough to have the chance to direct another feature, I hope he manages to capture his vision more vividly than he has here.

Tell It To The Bees is a period drama telling the story of an emerging lesbian love affair set in a small town in Scotland.

Hostility, Racism and toxic masculinity all feature heavily in such a predictable manner that this feels like paint it by numbers period drama despite a stellar cast and strong direction from Annable Jankel.

Tell It To The Bees is a period drama set in 1950s Scotland where Dr Jean Markham (Anna Paquin) returns to her home town to take over her late father’s medical practice. However, all is not what it seems and her return is not greeted with warmth.

Lydia Weekes (Holliday Grainger) works in the local factory, raising her son, Charlie as a single parent when her husband leaves her. Charlie talks to the bees in Dr Markham’s garden, the two women meet and a forbidden love affair begins. Will love conquer all even the prejudices of 1950s Scotland?

Tell It To The Bees felt like tucking into an assortment of chocolates: sweet, parts of the action were unexpected and the ending came as a surprise. However, for the most part, the film is predictable, a paint it by numbers period drama. It does deal with very important issues such as racism due to an interracial relationship, back street abortions, toxic masculinity and of course lesbianism.

The back street abortion scene is probably one of the most horrifying and realistic depictions on the big screen of recent time and it will stay with you for a while long after the credits finish rolling. However, it is too nuanced when it should be bolder in parts to distract from the obvious plot devices. Grainger is and Lauren Lyle who plays Annie Cranmer are a delight to watch.

However, as surprising as the ending is, it is a little too late for what feels an all too predictable film.

Tell It To The Bees is released in cinemas across the UK on Friday 19 July.

“Booksmart” takes us into the lives of best friends Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) as they find themselves, on the eve of their high school graduation, having to face a monumental crisis of their adolescence. They have come to the rude awakening that, despite all their hard work and academic application, many of their year group, who appeared only to party and disregard school, were going onto collages and positions just as good as theirs. Molly, realising tonight is their final chance to live what they have squandered, convinces Amy to attend their first and last high school party together. The two then firmly grasp the curtails of their youth and journey through discovery on both a personal level and together as friends.

With only a fundamental knowledge of key moments of self-discovery, for instance, love and heartbreak, Amy and Molly are forced to experience them before our eyes. As they do, it changes them, at their core, they are the same smart and strong characters introduced to us, but now they have exponentially grown emotionally. They realise they have deeply held misconceptions of their cohort and each other.

They viewed them solely through distasteful eyes, with Molly, in particular, looking down on them. It is the resolutions which come from recognising their peers are much deeper people that is really what the story is all about, and it is wonderful. This story is the major strength of “Booksmart”, it has all the stereotype subversion of “The Breakfast Club” and combines it with all the modern hilarity of “Superbad”. This combo will see “Booksmart” go on to be the hallmark of a generation and will stand as the perfect encapsulation of what so many teens are experiencing right now.

The four screenwriters for “Booksmart”, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman, have written a pitch-perfect script that is hilarious, heartbreaking and uplifting all the way through. It is one of the finest articulations of growing up to be released this decade. Amy and Molly learn about themselves in a quickfire, often over the top manner, which proved to be the best way to go about capturing the numerous valuable experiences they missed out on.

This direction allows the film to play as a checklist of awkward and hilarious teenaged moments, yet crucially it never loses touch with the overarching story it is creating. The basics of the experience may be familiar, but with its stirring cast of endearing characters “Booksmart” feels profoundly original. It also must be said that the depiction of friendship here is beautiful in its complexity. Various characters intertwine in unique and heartfelt ways that form a thoroughly empathetic experience. It has been done countless times before, but this reminder to not judge a book by its cover is one of the best.

Dever and Feldstein were the ideal choices to be the stars of this film. They come into “Booksmart” as blank canvases and flourish under the weight of the narrative. Both dazzle in their approach in capturing this growth of their characters, and it is their realistic depiction of the trials of being 18 that make this movie as mesmerising as it is in its best moments. From heartbreak to euphoria each of them nails it, with neither missing a beat transitioning from the comedic first half to the dramatic and heartfelt finale. These performances are good enough to launch their careers even further, and I have no doubt we will be seeing more of them very soon. 

The rest of the ensemble are also shining lights, with the whimsical Billy Lourd as “Gigi” and the hilariously dorky Skyler Gisondo as “Jared” both being standouts in what is a flawlessly cast movie. Without these side characters providing such a vivid depiction of experiencing high school ‘properly’ than “Booksmart” would not work on any level as Amy and Molly would not be able to learn anything believably. It is no easy task to capture what can be such a personal experience, but every actor involved delivers an authentic and hilarious performance that will well and truly stand the test of time. 

None of this would be possible without Olivia Wilde, who has made the most of her directorial debut. Her eye for capturing her stars in their moments of emotional evolution is stunning. During the second half, “Booksmart” delivers a breathtaking depiction of sexuality and relationships within the context of one final party. The atmosphere in this portion of the film, as well as the sheer amount of emotion poured into it, is mesmerising. It is the most poignant portion of the film with the most to say, and Wilde goes on to generate moments where it is simply impossible to take your eyes off the screen.

Her aptitude for capturing teenaged emotions already rivals the greats of the genre, and I say this without a hint of doubt. Wherever she goes from here and whatever stories she chooses to tell, I hope people will be there to listen, because Wilde’s is a cinematic voice that needs to be heard. 

“Booksmart” is an intoxicating testament to youth that will serve as the moment Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein got their names placed firmly on the map. Alongside this, it is also an auspicious directorial debut for Olivia Wilde. Altogether it becomes clear that “Booksmart” has all the potential to become a modern classic.

Lefty/Righty (2018, 11 mins)

Righty, Ruby & Robbie have a tense relationship, expressed through a few strained words.  In the middle is small Lefty. With a horse and well-travelled silver balloon, Righty (Lewis Pullman) and Lefty (Marty Grace Dennis) depart on a more complicated adventure than I suspect either had imagined.

Family, fluorescent cereal and the tallest mountain, lie at the heart of it. They appear to be held together by a significant but tenuous thread, made evident when the shaggy band of brothers turn up to visit their ailing father. Righty perfectly incorporates a shape of vulnerability as he studies his father, the origin of which we can only attempt to guess. 

What writer/director Max Walker Silverman captures so well in his film is the moment where a child, of any age, responds to an authentic experience and then finds themselves spontaneously bringing comfort. Followed up by the complex and classic existential question – that we can only speculate on – where does a person go when they die?

Music often shapes a film, sometimes leaving a few lingering notes in your head and this film is no exception. A piece by American steel-string acoustic guitarist and composer John Fahey is carefully intergrated into the story line and skilfully played by brother Speed (Sam Engbring). Studied faces, long shots and beautiful light are a pleasure to look at in this film and Walker Silverman appears to have found a visual ally in DOP Alfonso Herrera Salcedo. 

Lefty/Righty Trailer from Max Walker-Silverman on Vimeo.

When a man in a hat rides up on a horse in rural America it is impossible not to be reminded of Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005). Could it be the film that has had the most effect on how ‘cowboys’ are perceived? Max Walker Silverman provides another perspective in this portrait of a young man. 

Lefty/Righty has been awarded the following:

Winner: 2018 KODAK Vision Award
Winner: 2019 NYU Grad Film Wasserman Directing Award
Winner: 2019 National Board of Review Student Grant

Lefty/Righty screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 27th June. 

For your visual pleasure go and have a look at DOP Alfonso Herrera Salcedo’s work: https://www.alfonsohss.com 

If you want to know more about iconic musician John Fahey have a look at this film: In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey (2012)