Open City Documentary Festival 2021
Though the big tent film festivals are the ones that hoover up the most attention, discussion, and coverage, it’s the specialist festivals that harbour the best surprises. Marc Nelson on Open City Docs 2021.
Category Archives: Festival Coverage
The Guilty
Too little is established in Jake Gyllenhaal’s main character for the tension to pierce or upend our understanding of him, and the focus on him in THE GUILTY is so intense that any broader metaphors or statements fail to emerge from that dense wildfire smoke.
Violet
Justine Bateman’s feature film debut is full of ideas but desperately needs to triage them to let the best of them – and Olivia Munn’s excellent performance – breathe.
Encounter
An awkward narrative transition, combined with a plurality of readings, could indicate a messy and unfocused story, but Riz Ahmed’s performance and the consistent tone created by director Michael Pearce ensure ENCOUNTER remains a captivating experience.
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes
BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES takes a clever sci-fi concept and fully explores its limits to the edge of complexity while never losing sight of the people at the heart of this time anomaly.
Agnes
While not devoid of interesting characters or engaging relationships, AGNES is too disjointed to use them fully and not focused enough to explore them. Instead of employing a sudden narrative shift halfway through, AGNES would have been better served by having a little faith in its original premise. Early on, AGNES hits all the marks … Continue reading Agnes
Tombs of the Blind Dead
Amando de Ossorio’s TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD is a stylistic nightmare-scape with enough grindhouse elements to balance out the zaniness of Ossorio’s script. An enjoyable and interesting horror movie, it may have more influence on the trends to follow in horror cinema than its chucklesome B-movie qualities would suggest.
Glasshouse
Thoughtful, intelligent plot turns are exactly what makes low-budget sci-fi effective, and they are what makes GLASSHOUSE an intriguing, engaging watch.
The Last Thing Mary Saw
THE LAST THING MARY SAW is an eerie feature, with a brooding ambience and a fresh approach to the period horror genre. While there are areas of the writing that do not have as much to offer as many horror enthusiasts will expect, there are more elements that work exceptionally well than ones that do not.
Alien on Stage
ALIEN ON STAGE revels in these images contrasting Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking sci-fi horror film with the everyday nature of suburban British amateur dramatics.