Why Don’t You Just Die! (Papa, sdokhni) first published by SciFiNow “One, two, three Evil won’t touch me.” In the opening scene of Why Don’t You Just Die! (aka Papa, sdokhni, literally a patriarchy-smashing ‘Daddy, die’), 20-something Matvei (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) chants these words, steeling himself to ring the doorbell of an upper-floor apartment. At this point,…
Perfect first published by SciFiNow “Mother, am I bad?” A teenaged boy (Garrett Wareing) – listed in the closing credits only as ‘Vessel 13’ – comes with a history of violence. He has recently woken in his home besides the bloody corpse of his girlfriend, with only the dreamiest memory of how he reduced her…
The Fall of the American Empire (La chute de l’empire américain) first published by EyeforFilm In 1986, director/co-writer Denys Arcand released The Decline of the American Empire, in which an ensemble of academics discuss sex and society. Decades later, in 2003, he revisited this collective of characters – with one now terminally ill – in…
The Pact (El Pacto) first published by EyeforFilm Not to be confused with Nicholas McCarthy’s 2012 film of the same name, David Victori’s slick debut The Pact (El Pacto) shows frantic mother Mónica (Belén Rueda) entering a sinister cultic contract to keep her diabetic teenaged daughter Clara (Mireia Oriol) alive, even as Mónica’s policeman ex-husband…
Cursed Seat (Proigrannoe mesto) first published by EyeforFilm After telling a (vividly presented) urban myth around a fire, a group of high school seniors discuss whether the story is true or not – they conclude that it is, even though its climax is a direct lift from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) – and…
Lonesome Collectors (Noches de Julio) first published by EyeforFilm From the outside, young Julio (Hoze Melendez) looks to be merely a ‘weirdo’ and a ‘creep’ – words actually used of him by his boss at the laundromat, by the landlady for whom he never has full rent, and even by his own father. Yet we…
Keep An Eye Out (Au poste!) first published by EyeforFilm In the opening scene of Keep An Eye Out (Au poste!), a moustachioed man conducts an open-air orchestral performance of Mozart while dressed only in a pair of bright red underwear, before fleeing the scene as the police arrive. This scenario comes from a familiar…
Fire Lily (Tuliliilia) first published by EyeforFilm The fire lily from which Estonian writer/director Maria Avdjushko’s feature debut derives its title – and which appears at several junctures within the film – is, significantly, a hermaphroditic plant, both male and female, and capable of fertilising itself. This is one key (from a whole bunch) to…
Foam At The Mouth (Ar Putam uz Lupam) first publsihed by EyeforFilm Opening with a disturbing shot of a giant boar not so much wallowing as writhing in the forest mud, this third feature from Latvian writer/director Janis Nords sets the animal and human worlds into collision. Still recovering from an unspecified accident that has…
The Wild Fields (Dyke Pole) first published by EyeforFilm “The road back home is a one-way trip,” 30-year-old Herman Korolyov (Oleg Moskalenko) is told as he returns from Karkhiv – where he works as an “independent expert” – to the rural part of Donbass where he grew up. Herman intends to stay only one night,…
Potential Victim (Victima Potencial) first published by EyeforFilm Positing an iconic star as vampiric avatar of the internet age, Potential Victim (Victima Potencial) is both postmodern experiment and extended music video. Chilean singer Sofía Oportot plays a version of herself, sustained, perhaps for eternity, by the dissemination online of her image and music by younger…