Tag Archives: a24 films

Movie Review: Pearl (2023)

13 Monday Mar 2023

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Sometimes a bad situation can produce gold, or even a Pearl.

While in New Zealand shooting the very fantastic “X”, director Ti West and star Mia Goth decided to make productive use of their COVID lockdown time. Rather than perfect their sourdough recipe they began writing a prequel or backstory for “X’s” psychopathic geriatric, Pearl.

So, straight off the back of filming “X” they began pre-prod then the subsequent shooting of “Pearl”.

Set sixty years before “X”, Pearl is a young woman rapidly going mad by her own ambitions, unfulfilled sexual desires, and a general lack of human interaction. It’s 1918, The Great War and the Spanish flu are almost done, and new bride Pearl is whiling her isolated days away murdering small livestock, humping a scarecrow, and dreaming of being a movie star (pretty normal stuff really), on the same farm (only newer) we saw in “X”.

 “Pearl” is a dark, ingenious character study that showcases the intense talent of Mia Goth. Her 7-minute monologue at the end of the film alone is a performance that demands to be studied in all screen-acting classes. And that deranged ‘smile/cry’, holy moly it is truly unnerving.

West and Goth have done something remarkable here. They’ve added layer upon layer to the character of Pearl and quite frankly this is treatment almost never reserved for the ‘villain’ of a horror film. Oh, and it may be a hip little indie A24 art film but at its core it’s still a gory AF horror.

The Prognosis:

I really loved “X”, I was blown away by “Pearl” and now I wait in eager anticipation for the third film in this mythology – “Maxxxine”.

  • Myles Davies

Movie review: Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (2022)

02 Sunday Oct 2022

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Halina Reijns’ follow up feature to her confrontational drama Instinct taps into the darker comedic vein and delivers a modern equivalent to the vacuous nature of Bret Easton Ellis’ Less Than Zero mixed with some serious slasher vibes. Like the 1980s novel, the screenplay to Bodies, Bodies, Bodies by Sarah DeLappe  flirts with the hollow void of the youth, searching for something to fill their lives through sex and drugs, but finding the emptiness still resides. Here the narrative sets the group of misguided adolescents buker down together in a mansion during a hurricane (itself a metaphor for the turmoil that surrounds them the outside world forcing them to look inside themselves) and play a murder game similar to wink murder, but with drastic consequences.

At first it all feels typical of a party where rules are inconsequential; the liquor flows and the lines of illicit consumption begins, plus the dalliance of emotions ripple beneath the surface as old friends play out familiar roles to settle in for the night. 

New to the group is Bee (Maria Bakalova), introduced by her girlfriend Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and at first struggles to find the comfort spot amongst an already tight batch. What may seem a united camaraderie soon comes unstuck however when the secrets or quashed emotions rise to the surface and the true feelings bubble over amounting to a sea of carnage and mistrust. 

The shift in tone amounts when David (Peter Davidson), who lives in the mansion and is a childhood friend to Sophie is found dead with a slash to his throat caused by a kukri, All eyes turn on each other, starting with Greg (Lee Pace) the boyfriend to Alice (Rachel Sennott) and like Bee an outsider to the collective. Suspicions soo escalate further among them as old wounds are addressed and the body count rises. 

The Prognosis:

Bodies, Bodies, Bodies is another strong delivery from A24 Films, which delicately plays with a murder mystery in an incestuous minefield of youthful emotions. Rejin constantly questions the role that the Gen Z have in finding their place in the world. Where do loyalties lie? And what happens when trust is no longer apparent?

It’s a fun and enjoyable ride, which may not necessarily tread new territory in the realms of horror but don’t let that deter you.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Saint Maud (2020)

20 Sunday Jun 2021

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It’s a crying shame that Saint Maud has only just now been released to a wider audience through home entertainment here in Australia. Having been released in the UK back in 2019, and then picked up by A24 films, a company known for its ‘highbrow horror’ releases, such as The Lighthouse, Midsommar, and The Hole In The Ground. It easily sits in good company with these movies with themes of faith, madness, and salvation at its helm. 

The narrative focuses on the burden that we carry through our lives when dealt with a traumatic episode. In this instance, we follow a nurse, Katie (Morfydd Clark – Crawl) who fails to save the life of a patient despite attempting CPR. So affected by this ordeal, Katie takes leave of her role in public health to invent a whole new identity in private care, and adopts the personna, Maud.

The story itself soon picks up with Maud assigned with the care of Amanda Kohl (Jennifer Ehle) a former dancer and choreographer who has succumbed to lymphoma. Believing that Amanda has been enveloped in sin, Maud then takes it upon herself to heal her through her faith and connection with God. So devoted is Maud to her beliefs that she begins to experience physical reactions that she believes is a testament to her unfounded devotion to the Lord. The beauty of the film is that it doesn’t question the faith itself but the extreme actions that manifest in an unstable mind when reduced to the base forms that life can subject us to. When we have nothing to fall upon other than our beliefs, then what can materialise out of faith can be an ill-fated journey through a twisted form of salvation. In Maud’s case, her salvation comes through not only cleansing her own soul, but by saving the soul of the atheist and sin-ridden Amanda, pushing these thoughts to its conclusion through pain, struggles, and ultimately redemption.

Charged with bringing this tale to fruition is writer, director Rose Glass, who’s debut feature is a mature and psychological venture into the heart of humankind, constantly questioning our role in the world and what drives us, or steers us towards our fate.

The Diagnosis:

Both Clark and Ehle produce powerhouse performances that twist and turn through a beautiful mix of power and vulnerability. They are beyond exceptional in their perceptions of both Katie/Maud and Amanda respectively and help solidify and ground the fantastical in reality, so that by the film’s resolution, the horror that unfolds with a deep and unsettling feeling that resonates long after the closing credits.

Glass proves that she is a talent to watch in the future who is able to tackle some dark, psychological subjects with the confidence of a veteran in her field.
Saint Maud is quite possibly one of my favourite movies in recent years.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: The Lighthouse

08 Saturday Feb 2020

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Director Robert Eggers seems destined to divide audiences between digging his jam or struggling to connect with the style and pace that he subjects to his stories.
Thankfully, I fall into the former and simply adored his directorial debut, The VVitch starring Anya Taylor Joy which was an incredibly slow burn but was rich in storytelling and strongly supported by some fantastic acting, grounding the fantastical in reality. Combined with his brother and fellow scribe Max, The Eggers offer a fresh approach to the genre and for that I was eager to see what and how he would follow it up.

This love song to Greek mythology pits two strangers on an isolated location, in this case a two-manned lighthouse on a remote and savage island. During its 1hr 49 minute running time, audiences are subjected to a battle of egos, a battle of wills and a fight for power and sanity. Through the fantastical delusions on show, The Lighthouse relies heavily on its two central performers; Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson), contracted to serve 4 weeks at the lighthouse and continually forced to endure gruelling physical tasks by Thomas Wake (Willem Defoe), a miserable irate drunk who appears to get his kicks from punishing Winslow and basking naked in the glow of the light in the tower. Propitiously, both actors more than bring the goods as the bitterness between their characters escalates to an inevitable climax that forces an eruption of testosterone-fueled energy to overflow.

The Prognosis:

Shot entirely in black and white, Robert Eggers proves once again to be a master in storytelling and exerts a narrative that twists and turns, providing a remarkable modern spin merging together two age old tales.
Will it suit everyone’s tastes? No

Can it be classed as horror? Not really.

But it’s harrowing and beautifully crafted from one of this generation’s most imaginative directors. 

  • Saul Muerte