Nik McGrath
For #31DaysofHorror I spent the month celebrating #WomeninHorror. Ten films left a lasting impression. This is part two of two blogs, the following five films are worthy of adding to your watchlist.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Still: Tilda Swinton as Eva in We Need to Talk About Kevin (Ramsay, 2011)
What will Kevin do? The feeling of dread builds.
Red is the colour of passion, anger, hunger. It threads through We Need to Talk About Kevin (Ramsay, 2011), linking scenes from the opening to the closing scene. Red lights, red door, red lips, red ball, red candle, red jam spewing out between two slices of bread, red toy, red paint, red blood, red wine...
Screenplay written by Lynne Ramsay and ex-husband Rory Stewart Kinnear, directed by Ramsay. Ramsay (b. Glasgow 1969), directed her first short in 1996, Small Deaths (Ramsay, 1996). Her first feature was Ratcatcher (Ramsay, 1999), set in Glasgow in 1973 about a young boy, James, who lives with his family in poverty, a breeding ground for rats.
Her next feature was We Need to Talk About Kevin (Ramsay, 2011). Starring Tilda Swinton as Kevin’s mother Eva, and John C Reilly as Franklin, Kevin’s father, and Ezra Miller as the teenage Kevin. Swinton has to be one of my favourite contemporary actors. She is a chameleon. Even her performance as Eva shows her in remarkably different personas, which she both physically alters her appearance, but also her outward emotions. Before Kevin is born, after Kevin is born, then her unhappiness grows each day leading up to his teens. Ezra Miller is perfectly cast as her son. They could be related, it’s uncanny.
More recently Ramsay made You Were Never Really Here (Ramsay, 2017), starring Joaquin Phoenix (another remarkable actor) as Joe, a veteran who tracks down missing girls. I haven’t seen any of her other films, but I certainly will be looking them up now, Ramsay is a director with vision, not afraid to tackle some of the most difficult and uncomfortable subject matter.
#HORROR
Still: Mean rich girls in #Horror (Subkoff, 2015)
A cautionary tale about social media and cyberbullying, #Horror (Subkoff, 2015) is the directorial debut of Tara Subkoff. Mean rich girls - only 12 years old - have a sleepover at the Cox’s house in the woods. They exhibit shocking behaviour in their level of nastiness and cruelty to each other. What starts out as venomous words, turns into a bloodbath.
Subkoff has worked as an actor since 1994. #Horror is the first film that she has written, produced, and directed. This film has a lot to say, and we should listen.
AFTER.LIFE
Still: Christina Ricci as Anna Taylor in After.Life (Wójtowicz-Vosloo, 2009)
After.Life (Wójtowicz-Vosloo, 2009), written/directed by Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo, had me second guessing myself right to the end. It made me question death and the after life, and why we live in the first place.
Christina Ricci plays Anna Taylor, a school teacher who is in a car accident, and ends up at the funeral home of Eliot Deacon, played by Liam Neeson. Her boyfriend is Paul Coleman, played by Justin Long. An incredibly impressive cast, especially as this is the debut feature film of Polish born, New York based filmmaker Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo. Sadly Wójtowicz-Vosloo hasn’t made a film since, but I hope this isn’t her last.
ALWAYS SHINE
Still: Mackenzie Davies as Anna and Catilin FitzGerald as Beth in Always Shine (Takal, 2016)
Anna (played by Mackenzie Davis) and Beth (played by Caitlin FitzGerald) go to Big Sur, on California’s central coast, for a weekend away from LA. The friends are actors, more like rivals, their friendship is strained from competitiveness and animosity. Beth gets constant work, but seems dissatisfied; whereas Anna is struggling to find any work, and uncontrollably angry at the world.
Always Shine (Takal, 2016) is director/producer Sophia Takal’s second feature film. Takal is also an actor, so the portrayal of an actor’s life comes from an authentic place. More recently Takal made Black Christmas (Takal, 2019), a refreshing retelling, with some fierce female performances.
BERLIN SYNDROME
Still: Teresa Palmer as Clare Havel in Berlin Syndrome (Shortland, 2017)
Berlin Syndrome (Shortland, 2017) is about Clare Havel (played by Teresa Palmer), a young Australian photographer who is traveling around Germany, taking photographs of buildings for a book she plans to publish, when she meets teacher Andi Werner (played by Max Riemelt). They have an instant attraction, and eventually go back to Andi’s apartment for what Clare thinks is a one-night-stand, but Andi has a different idea.
Directed by Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland, known for her films Somersault (Shortland, 2004) and Lore (Shortland, 2012). Shaun Grant wrote the screenplay based on Melanie Joosten’s novel. Shortland wrote additional material for the screenplay.
Shortland brought out an electric performance by Teresa Palmer, who exhibited all the emotions of her character, with such authenticity.
I hope you add these films to your watch list, not just for #31DaysofHorror or #WiHM, but for anytime of year.