Tag: independent film

Movies with child actors in leading roles are often tricky, but this pair of films is uncanny in the way children are presented. Much credit must go to the directors, Céline Sciamma and Laura Wandel respectively. The poise and sophistication of these performances is nothing short of outstanding.

#12) Petite Maman, directed by Céline Sciamma – It’s hard to talk about the creative exploration Sciamma plumbs in this deceptively simple story about a young girl who stumbes upon a friend in the woods who shares many of her characteristics. Coming off the sweeping romantic drama of Portrait of Lady on Fire, Petite Maman seems like a trifle, but it is perhaps one of Sciamma’s most ambitious films to date, thematically, at least. The two young actresses who play the film’s central characters make it all work. Without them it would have been a clever story, but their performances add to the depth and mystery that unfolds.

#11) Playground, directed by Laura Wandel – This hard-hitting examination of how children learn the harsh realities of adulthood is a tough watch, but the astounding performance that director Wandel reveals by child-actor Maya Vanderbeque is riveting. Nora and her older brother Abel, go to the same elementary school, and when she witnesses Abel suffering terrifying abuse by other boys in the playground, she is traumatized. Uncertain who to turn to, from her teachers to her father, Nora must thread the needle between fearing for her brother’s safety, to bowing to his wishes to stay out of it. Abel’s bullying has ramifications that spill over to Nora beyond her anxiety, as her friends start to shun her for being connected to him. As the situation evolves, Nora makes decisions in the name of self-preservation that affect those around her, It’s a frightening and painful film made all the more challenging by its stark truths.

I love when indie films explore genre. Good horror and science fiction films can be incredibly thought-provoking and thoughtful. The problem (for me) is big budget Hollywood films tend to take everything to extremes and we end up with jump scares, buckets of blood, and special effects. My #’s 16 & 15 films of 2022 have a different, far more subtle take on these genres.

#16) You Won’t Be Alone, directed by Goran Stolevski – Framed by a story steeped in folk horror, about a woman who was deeply wronged and transformed in to a vengeful spirit, YOU WON’T BE ALONE manages to delve into the mysteries of what makes life the hardship and the glory that it is by showing it through the eyes of ‘the other.’ The plot is twisty and complicated, but involves that afore-mentioned vengeful spirit, who creates an heir of sorts using the body of a girl given to her in an unholy bargain., This heir, lacking the drive for vengeance steeped in her creator, sets out to experience just what makes humanity what it is. Through a series of varied experiences, depending on the form se has taken on, she experiences helplessness, fear, power, arrogance… and eventually belonging, yet there’s still the fact that her creator is a vengeful spirit, and isn’t going to just let her spawn in peace. This Australian/UK/Serbian co-production is an astounding blend of genres and storytelling, with some incredible visuals, and great performances. A little gruesome at times, but I’m a wimp, and I didn’t have trouble getting through it, and it’s definitely worth it.

#15) The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet, directed by Ana Katz – I really loved this film. I was quite taken by Daniel Katz’s performance, how he managed to be so passive, yet so compelling at the same time. I also found the twist of the global pandemic fascinating, and how it played into issues of class, which actually threaded through the entire film. There’s a deadpan, absurdity to the humor that reminded me of some of Almodóvar’s early work. In a scene where Sebastian’s boss is telling him he can no longer bring his dog to work, she says something to the effect of, that behavior ultimately leading to ‘an office full of hens and everyone pole-dancing.’ That kind of absurd remark is prevalent.

The first of only a handful of films from the U.S. makes its appearance in the Top 20, paired with an Australian film featuring a long-time favorite actress. Other countries represented in the Top 20 include Thailand, Uruguay, South Korea, France, Belgium, Canada, Taiwan, Bolivia, Argentina, Serbia, and Rwanda.

#18) Nitram, directed by Justin Kurzel – NITRAM is one of those stories that tries to examine the events leading up to an horrific act and make sense of behavior that seems incomprehensible. Based on the events that took place in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre on Tasmania, the film follows the awkward, lonely Nitram living with his Mum and Dad with few friends and fewer social graces. He gets involved with an eccentric, older woman of means and breaks from his parents somewhat stifling home but is never able to mature, whether due to neglected mental illness, or environmental factors, which the film, fortunately hints at but doesn’t try to use as an explanation. The film is dark for sure, but compelling viewing, made especially powerful by performances from the magnificent Judy Davis as Nitram’s Mum, Caleb Landry Jones (THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE OF EBBING, MISSOURI; THE FLORIDA PROJECT; GET OUT), as Nitram, and Essie Davis (THE BABADOOK; THE JUSTICE OF BUNNY KING), as his eccentric friend, Helen.

#17) The Man in the Woods, directed by Noah Buschel – While not quite as accomplished as THE VAST OF NIGHT, this nostalgia-focused thriller set in 1963 hits some similar marks, and surprised me at its cleverness and strong writing, after a slightly awkward start. The budget is clearly a lot less, and while the largely black & white cinematography is beautiful, the production design is a little sparse. In addition to the sharp, yet somewhat familiar screenplay, about a teenaged, prep-school girl who goes missing in the woods, the performances particularly by the bohemian Literature professor brought to sparkling life by Marin Ireland (star of last year’s Buried Treasure winner, LIGHT FROM LIGHT) and the Headmaster’s long-suffering, firecracker of a wife played by the accomplished Jane Alexander, really elevate this film to something worth notice. Additional kudos to William Jackson Harper (MIDSOMMAR; PATERSON) as the railroaded, black police officer, and Odessa Young (SHIRLEY) as the wisest of the missing girl’s friends showing off her investigative journalist skills as the head of the school newspaper. It’s heavily stylized, and surprisingly witty, but showing the darker side of the past often concealed by nostalgia.

I’m pretty pleased with my female to male director ratio in 2022’s Top 20. Eight of the 20 film to appear on the list were directed by women, with one more co-directed by a woman. That’s nearly 50%, and when you consider that only 24% of films released in 2022 were directed by women (according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.) My top 20 kicks off with two such films with female helmers. We also start off internatinally with #20 coming from the UK, and #19 coming all the way from New Zealand

#20) The Eternal Daughter, directed by Joanna Hogg – Completing (perhaps?) the unplanned trilogy begun with THE SOUVENIR and THE SOUVENIR PART II, Joanna Hogg’s take on the gothic ghost story, THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER, becomes my favorite of her films since ARCHIPELAGO (my #2 film of 2014). In a genius casting move, Tilda Swinton returns to play Rosalind Hart for the third time, this time also playing her daughter, Julia Hart, now at middle age in present day, and a stand-in for Hogg herself. Julia was played by Swinton’s real-life daughter Honor Swinton Byrne in the two THE SOUVENIR films. All three films are inspired by Hogg’s life, first as a young woman learning the craft of filmmaking, and then in middle-age struggling to understand her mother by writing a film about her. By setting it in a haunted house setting, complete with an inspired music department that leans heavily on the gothic horror genre. It’s an interesting concept t have the one actress play both parts, and Swinton pulls it off with amazing aplomb, her return to Rosalind Hart being the true winner here. Rosalind is the most interesting character in the first two films, and remains so in this film as well, although Swinton’s portrayal of Julia as an adult adds tremendous depth and interest in the character. And let us not forget Louis, Rosalind’s dog, portrayed by Swinton’s own hound. Certainly a performance worth noting.

#19) The Justice of Bunny King, dircted by Gaysorn Thavat – Essie Davis is on a roll with portrayals of fierce but flawed mothers protecting their children. She made a big impression in THE BABADOOK (my #7 film of 2014), then followed that up with BABYTEETH. (She also turned in a fine performance in NITRAM, a film that will be appearing a bit higher up on this list). Now she tops THE JUSTICE OF BUNNY KING, which, with a name like that, conjures pictures of outlaws and rifles in the Australian outback. Instead, we have Bunny brandishing a squeegee, on the busy streets of a New Zealand city, trying scrounge up some change so she can find a place of her own to live and rescue her two children from foster care. Bunny is a complex character: quick-witted but with a hair-trigger temper. It becomes clear early on that her children are the driving force that keeps her going, but it’s also clear that there was an incident in her past that put her in this precarious position, one that challenges the meaning of fairness in a city that tends to forget people like her. Bunny refuses to let herself be forgotten though. While searching for a place to live, she’s sleeping on her sister’s couch, helping out with childcare, and washing her brother-in-law’s car. When she witnesses something that puts her teenaged niece (played exquisitely by Best Actress Chlotrudis nominee for LEAVE NO TRACE) Thomasin McKenzie, she can’t help but intervene, even though it dashes her latest hope for being reunited with her children.