The Feast, 2021.Directed by Lee-Haven Jones. Starring Anne Elwy, Nia Roberts, Julian Lewis Jones, Steffan Cennydd, Sion Alun Davies, Lisa Palfrey, and Rhodri Meilir.SYNOPSIS:Over an evening a wealthy family gathers for a sumptuous dinner with guests in their ostentatious house in the Welsh mountains. Served by a mysteriously disturbing young woman, the assembled party do […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Alien on Stage
Alien on Stage, 2020.Directed by Lucy Harvey and Danielle Kummer.SYNOPSIS:British bus drivers’ amateur stage show of Ridley Scott’s Alien accidentally makes it to a famous London theatre! With awkward acting and special effects requiring more luck than judgement, will their homemade homage be alright on the night?In a cinematic landscape that seems ever-increasingly reliant on milking […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Witch Hunt
Witch Hunt, 2021.Written and directed by Elle Callahan. Starring Gideon Adlon, Elizabeth Mitchell, Abigail Cowen, Nicholas and Cameron Crovetti, and Christian Camargo.SYNOPSIS:In a modern America where witches are real and witchcraft is illegal, a sheltered teenager must face her own demons and prejudices as she helps two young witches avoid law enforcement and cross the southern […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil
Shaun Munro reviews the SXSW premiere of YouTube’s documentary series Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil…On July 24th, 2018, singer Demi Lovato’s life was turned upside down when she was rushed to hospital following a near-fatal overdose of opioids and fentanyl. This four-part docu-series – effectively a 100-minute film chunked into four parts, set to […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Offseason
Offseason, 2021.Written and directed by Mickey Keating. Starring Joe Swanberg, Jocelin Donahue, Melora Walters, Richard Brake, and Jeremy Gardner.SYNOPSIS:After receiving a mysterious letter, a woman travels to a desolate island town and soon becomes trapped in a nightmare.Are there any films more frustrating to watch – let alone review – than superbly shot, terrifically acted ones […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Ninjababy
Ninjababy, 2021.Directed by Yngvild Sve Flikke. Starring Kristine Kujath Thorp, Arthur Berning, Nader Khademi, Tora Christine Dietrichson, Silya Nymoen and Herman Tømmeraas.SYNOPSIS:An unplanned pregnancy leaves an amateur cartoonist with some tough choices to make.“Has a car. Has sperm with superpowers. Smells like butter.” No, not the contents of a Tinder bio that would make most […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – United States vs. Reality Winner
United States vs. Reality Winner, 2021.Directed by Sonia Kennebeck.SYNOPSIS:A state of secrets and a ruthless hunt for whistleblowers – this is the story of 25-year-old Reality Winner, who disclosed a document about Russian election interference to the media and became the number one leak target of the Trump administration.Sonia Kennebeck’s (National Bird, Enemies of the […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Recovery
Recovery, 2021.Directed by Mallory Everton and Stephen Meek. Starring Whitney Call, Mallory Everton, Anne Sward Hansen, Julia Jolley, Baylee Thornock, Jessica Drolet, Stephen Meek, Tyler Andrew Jones, Noah Kershisnik, and Justin Call.SYNOPSIS:Two directionless sisters brave a cross-country road trip to rescue their grandmother from a COVID outbreak at her nursing home.The last year-or-so has seen countless […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Our Father
Our Father, 2021.Written and directed by Bradley Grant Smith. Starring Baize Buzan, Allison Torem, Austin Pendleton, Corey Hendrix, Tim Hopper, Ann Whitney, Keith Kupferer, Guy Massey, Lance Baker, and D’Wayne Taylor.SYNOPSIS:Two estranged sisters go in search of their uncle, a mysterious figure who may hold the key to their father’s suicide and their family’s unhappiness.Bradley Grant […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Clerk
Clerk, 2021.Directed by Malcolm Ingram. Featuring Kevin Smith.SYNOPSIS:A documentary on the career and life of filmmaker and raconteur Kevin Smith.It won’t surprise anyone to learn that this travelogue of Kevin Smith’s inimitable filmmaking career is a for-the-fans outing above all else – after all, it’s directed by Smith’s longtime friend, documentarian Malcolm Ingram. And though it […]
