Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city, the sci-fi comedy/drama film “Biosphere” has cast of two people (one white person and one African American) representing the upper-middle-class.
Culture Clash: While living in a biosphere during an apocalypse that has wiped out most of the human population, a U.S. president and his scientist best friend try to figure out ways to survive and procreate.
Culture Audience: “Biosphere” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of stars Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown and stores about apocalypse survival.
Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown in “Biosphere” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)
The sci-fi dramedy “Biosphere” would’ve been better as a short film, because some of the story drags with repetition. However, this post-apocalyptic movie with a two-person cast has good acting and provocative issues about human reproduction and gender. Some of the scenes in the movie look like they’re intended to make some viewers uncomfortable. “Biosphere” had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Festival.
Directed by Mel Eslyn (who co-wrote the “Biosphere” screenplay with Mark Duplass), “Biosphere” could have easily been a stage play, since there is really only one setting for the movie: inside a biosphere during an apocalypse. The biosphere is in an unnamed U.S. city.
There are also only two people in the cast: Billy (played by Duplass) and Ray (played by Sterling K. Brown), who have been friends ever since they were students at Yale University. Billy is the president of the United States. Ray is a biochemist who has also been Billy’s scientifc advisor. Ray (who is very calm and logical) likes to remind Billy (who is jittery and neurotic) that Ray is more intelligent than Billy.
In this dialogue-heavy movie, viewers find out that Billy caused a worldwide disaster by “blowing everything up by mistake.” This apocalypse has destroyed any means of mass communication. It is also unsafe to go outside. Billy and Ray have been living in this biosphere (which can supply and recycle oxygen) that Ray created for this type of emergency. Because they have no communication with the outside world, Ray and Billy don’t know how many human survivors are left.
Ray and Billy have been living off of plants that grow in the biosphere, as well as some packaged food that will soon run out. They also have been raising fish to eat. One day, something strange happens: Ray notices that the male fish in the tank have turned into female fish. With no male fish left, the fish cannot reproduce, so Billy and Ray worry about how they are going to get more fish when the fish supply runs out.
There’s also another issue: Ray and Blly don’t know how long they will be stuck in this biosphere. They wonder if they are the last people on Earth, then how will the human race continue? That is the core issue of “Biosphere,” but it takes a while before the movie gets there. Viewers can expect to hear a lot of bickering and debates between Billy and Ray in this movie. Ray and Billy also have moments of genuine bonding that strengthen their friendship.
The acting performances in “Biosphere” are interesting to watch for the human dynamics between these two best friends who are stuck together in a bleak survival situation. To relieve stress, they exercise by jogging inside the biosphere or by reading. There’s eventually a solution to the reproductive problem, which is the part of the movie that is intended to make some viewers squirm. “Biosphere” is a movie that appears to be lightweight on the surface, but it brings up serious issues that will make viewers wonder what they would do if they were in the same situation as Ray and Billy.
IFC Films released “Biosphere” in select U.S. cinemas, on digital and VOD on July 7, 2023.
Lay Zhang and Eric Wang in “No More Bets” (Photo courtesy of Super Lion)
“No More Bets” (2023)
Directed by Shen Ao
Mandarin with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in 2018, mostly in Singapore, the dramatic film “No More Bets” has a predominantly Asian cast of characters (with a few white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A computer programmer from China is recruited to work for an online gambling company in Singapore and finds out that he’s part of an elaborate fraud that intentionally gets people hooked on gambling.
Culture Audience: “No More Bets” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching movies about the dark side of online gambling.
Gina Jin and Darren Wang in “No More Bets” (Photo courtesy of Super Lion)
“No More Bets” has more than enough drama and suspense in this vigorous condemnation of gambling scammers who ruin people’s lives in predatory ways. The movie does not exaggerate gambling addiction but does exaggerate some of the police scenarios. It’s a movie that will make people think twice about placing bets online.
Directed by Shen Ao (who co-wrote the “No More Bets” screenplay with Zhang Yifan and Xu Luyang), “No More Bets” takes place in 2018, but the movie’s messages could apply to any era where online gambling exists. “No More Bets” begins in China, where computer programming Pan Sheng (played by Lay Zhang) has been working at an online education company for the past six years. Sheng is 29 and will soon turn 30. He is passed over for a promotion, he decides he’s going to quit his job.
Around the same time, Sheng gets a job offer from an online gaming company in Singapore called Firefly. He eagerly accepts the offer and finds himself on a plane with other new Firefly recruits, who are all young men. When they all arrive in Singapore, some of the recruits (including Sheng) are beaten up by thugs on the street. It’s a setup for these men to be kidnapped and sent to the real job they’ve been recruited for: working for a fraudulent online gambling company
The recruits’ passports have been confiscated and they are forced to work in a call center type of environment. They are tasked with coming up with computer software that will rig the gambling results in the Firefly’s favor. First, the unsuspecting victims are lured in by winning big on their first few bets using a game called SINGBET. They then get fooled into thinking they could win more money, but they end up on a losing streak that is rigged by the company. Firefly’s goal is to drain people’s bank accounts, and the leaders of this scam don’t care if they ruin people’s lives.
In addition to the computer programmers (who are all men), there are young women who have been kidnapped and forced to work for Firefly. The women are chosen for their good looks, so that the can appear on camera as gambling “hosts” to lure in the mostly male customers who end up getting hooked on using SINGBET. One of these women is Liang Anna (played by Gina Jin), a model who was lured to Firefly in a similar way to how Sheng was lured.
Anna and Sheng end up becoming emotionally involved with each other and try to figure out a way to escape. It’s difficult because all of the Firefly recruits are treated like prisoners and are constantly being watched by guards. Some of the most suspenseful moments in te movie are abot Anna and Sheng and their attempts to flee from this hellish environment.
Lu Bingkun (played by Eric Wang) is the manager of this scam company. He is ruthless and doesn’t have a conscience. He’s also a sexual predator who forces some of the female employees to perform sexual acts on him. But as far as his wife knows, he’s a loving husband and father who works in an honest job. Bingkun has a second-in-command at Firefly named An Juncai (played by Sunny Sun), who is as sleazy as Bingkun.
Meanwhile, the movie has a parallel storyline of one of Firefly’s victims: Gu Tianzhi (played by Darren Wang), a grad student who is close to graduating. Gu and his girlfriend of four years, Song Yu (played by Zhou Ye) go to the same school and live together. Yu and Tianzhi have to find a new place off-campus since they’re close to graduating.
But things take a very tumultuous turn in their relationship when Tianzhi becomes a gambling addict. He goes to extremes to fund his addiction, and things get worse. What happens is heartbreaking but also realistic to how gambling addiction can take over lives the addicts and the people who are close to them.
And where is law enforcement? There’s a police officer named Yong Mei as Zhao Dongran who is heading the investigation into Firefly. Several people have had their lives ruined by Firefly and have filed complaints against the company.
The movie shows how company brainwashing works, as several of the recruits become loyal to Firefly when they start getting large cash bonuses, which are based on who can scam the most money out of people. “No More Bets” has some melodrama that looks contrived for a movie (especially toward the end), but the movie has an effective message about how getting money through illegal means or gambling addiction isn’t worth it when the cost to someone’s humanity and dignity are even bigger.
Super Lion released “No More Bets” in select U.S. cinemas on September 1, 2023. The movie was released in China on August 8, 2023.
Culture Representation: Taking place in Albany, New York, in 2016, the dramatic film “To Good Mother” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: An alcoholic journalist, whose adult son has been murdered, reluctantly teams up with her dead son’s pregnant girlfriend to find the killer, while the mother’s other son is a police officer whose department is also investigating the case.
Culture Audience: “The Good Mother” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Hilary Swank and procedural crime dramas, but this low-grade movie is often shallow and poorly staged.
Olivia Cooke and Hilary Swank in “The Good Mother” (Photo courtesy of Vertical)
“The Good Mother” had the potential to be a better mystery thriller than it is, but the movie is undone by scenes that are either monotonous or predictable, until it limps along to a very underwhelming ending. The big “plot reveal” is not surprising. “The Good Mother” also has a very generic and forgettable title (there are at least three other feature films with the same title) that is a reflection of this movie’s very generical and forgettable story.
Directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte (who co-wrote “The Good Mother” screenplay with Madison Harrison), “The Good Mother” was originally titled “Mother’s Milk.” In the movie (which takes place in Albany, New York, in 2016), Mother’s Milk is the nickname of a dangerous mix of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl that is being sold in the Albany area and has been killing several people in the area. The story involves a missing stash of Mother’s Milk, with the stash worth an estimated $50,000.
The beginning of “The Good Mother” shows a man in his 20s jogging on a residential street in the early morning daylight, right before he gets killed. Viewers later find out that this man’s name was Michael “Mike” Bennings (played by “The Good Mother” co-screenwriter Harrison), and he was a drug addict and a drug dealer. It’s also later revealed that Michael was shot in a drive-by shooting by someone driving a white truck. The shooter also has a large tattoo of a caduceus on one of his hands.
Michael’s widowed mother Marissa Bennings (played by Hilary Swank) is an alcoholic journalist who works for the Times Union, a newspaper for the Albany area. Marissa’s husband Frank died in 2013. The movie never bothers to mention how Frank died. On the morning that Marissa finds out that Michael was murdered, she wakes up from a drunken stupor and takes a swig from a liquor bottle near her bed.
Marissa has another son named Toby Bennings (played by Jack Reynor), who is a cop for the Albany Police Department. Toby is Michael’s older brother. Marissa gets the tragic news about Michael’s death when Toby suddenly shows up at Marissa’s job while she’s in a conference-room meeting with her co-workers.
Toby interrupts the meeting to say that he has to tell Marissa something important. What’s odd about this scene is that it isn’t revealed until a few scenes later that Toby is Marissa’s son. He approaches the meeting as if he’s a cop who knows Marissa on a professional level, not as a son telling his mother that her other son has been murdered.
At the graveside part of the funeral service, Marissa is angry to see Michael’s girlfriend Paige (played by Olivia Cooke) has shown up uninvited. Marissa walks over to Paige and punches Paige hard enough for Paige to fall down, just as Paige blurts out, “I’m pregnant.” Then, there’s an abrupt cut to the next scene of Marissa and Paige having coffee together at a diner. It’s one of many awkward transitions in this disappointing movie.
During this conversation, Marissa tells Paige that she’s sorry for punching her and says that she wouldn’t have hit her if she knew that Paige was pregnant. Paige, who is a recovering drug addict, comments to Marissa about Michael: “I didn’t make him a junkie.” Marissa replies bitterly, “You made him a thief.” Paige then says that she loved Michael.
Marissa knew that Michael was a drug addict, but she doesn’t know to what extent he was involved in drug dealing. Paige knows that Michael was involved in drug dealing with Michael’s friend Ducky (played by Hopper Penn), a disheveled drug addict who’s in the movie for only about 15 to 20 minutes. Almost nothing is revealed about Ducky or his personality except that he’s heavily involved in drugs.
Paige has told Marissa that Paige, Michael and Ducky had been planning to move to a farm together shortly before Michael was murdered. However, Paige is now estranged from Ducky, because Paige thinks that Ducky had something to do with Michael being murdered. Toby also believes that Ducky is a person of interest in this murder case. Ducky is a drifter who has become hard to find since Michael’s murder.
Paige is about to find out the hard way that some drug dealers are looking for $50,000 worth of Mother’s Milk that was last known to be in Michael’s possession. Shortly after Paige finds this stash hidden in the house where Michael used to live with her, some of these thugs break into her house at night when Paige is home alone. Paige is able to escape with the stash of Mother’s Milk.
And the first place she goes to is Marissa’s house, because Paige has nowhere else to go. Marissa reluctantly agrees to let Paige stay with her. Eventually, the two women decide that the police aren’t moving fast enough for the investigation into Michael’s murder. And so, Marissa and Paige decide to do their own sleuthing. Paige’s main way of “investigating” consists of posting inquiries on social media. Paige gets a lead in the case much more quickly than the police.
Meanwhile, Toby is not put on the case because his supervisors realistically know that Toby won’t be objective in this investigation. “The Good Mother” has an off-balance tone for Toby’s storyline, by putting a lot of emphasis on the fertility issues of Toby and his wife Gina (played by Dilone), who has been undergoing IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatments. At times, Toby seems more concerned about his wife getting pregnant than finding out who murdered his brother.
One of the biggest problems with “The Good Mother” is that there are so many missing parts to the story and so many gaps in logic, the movie quickly falls apart. For example, if these drug dealers are looking for Paige and the missing Mother’s Milk stash, one of the first places they would go to if Paige escaped from her house would be to the home of Michael’s next of kin. They probably wouldn’t go to Toby’s place, because Toby is a cop, but Marissa’s place would be the most logical place where Paige would try to hide.
During at least half of the story, Paige is openly living with Marissa. And yet somehow, the drug dealers looking for her don’t seem to find out this obvious information to find Paige at Marissa’s place. Paige is about seven or eight months pregnant, but she has action scenes that look unrealistic for someone in this late stage of pregnancy. In the scene where Paige escapes from her own house, she jumps out the house’s window and falls down hard on the ground, but she doesn’t even mention later how this fall could have injured her unborn child.
The movie makes it look like Paige is the only one investigating who could possibly know which criminal in the area has a large caduceus tattoo on a hand, even though in real life, police would most likely have that information on file. Another unrealistic thing about “The Good Mother” that’s never explained is why most people in this movie use outdated flip phones. In real life in 2016, most people with mobile phones were using smartphones. It’s as if “The Good Mother” director Joris-Peyrafitte wants to make 2016 look like 2006.
All of the characters in “The Good Mother” are written in superficial and trite ways. In a few private conversations that Marissa has with her understanding boss Jim (played by Norm Lewis), it’s mentioned that Marissa dislikes her co-workers and is an “old school” journalist who doesn’t like technology very much. Her boss and many other people in her life know that she’s an alcoholic, but no one really tries to get her professional help for this health problem. Marissa is also a chainsmoker who tries to quit smoking.
Jim tells Marissa that he thinks Marissa is the newspaper’s most talented writer but she hasn’t written anything in a while. Marissa took a three-month leave of absence after her husband died three years ago. But now, soon after the death of her younger son, Marissa wants to be back on the job. Jim thinks she should take some time off to grieve.
Toby is described as the “good son” and Michael as the “bad son.” But beyond a few quick flashbacks of their childhoods in home videos, there is nothing in “The Good Mother” that gives meaningful backstories about Toby and Michael. The relationship between Michael and Paige is also vague. All viewers know is that Michael and Paige had a drug fueled-relationship, but she stopped using drugs around the time of her pregnancy.
There were several people at Michael’s funeral, but then they are nowhere to be seen during the rest of the movie. Observant viewers will notice that Marissa, Paige, Toby and Gina don’t seem to have any friends or other relatives in their lives. No one checks in on them after the funeral to help them cope with their grief. Who were those people at the funeral? It’s a question that the movie never bothers to answer.
The sleuthing done by Marissa and Paige often looks phony. For someone who’s supposed to be an experienced journalist, Marissa doesn’t do much investigating. Marissa lets Paige do a lot of the real work. Paige has a very blunt and impatient style of interrogation, so there are some scenes of Marissa and Paige clashing with each other because Marissa doesn’t really like Paige’s personality. However, Paige is the one who actually gets results in their investigation.
“The Good Mother” is really just a lazy recycling of every Lifetime TV-movie about mothers seeking justice for their murdered children. But there are Lifetime TV-movies with more depth than “The Good Mother.” The acting talent in “The Good Mother” is better than in most Lifetime TV-movies, but that talent is underused in a very substandard screenplay that doesn’t care to show the main characters in a well-rounded way.
Swank has played many prickly characters before, while Cooke (who is British in real life) tends to portray a lot of working-class American characters who are rough around the edges. There’s nothing new or groundbreaking about their performances. The rest of the characters in “The Good Mother” are as generic as generic can be. No one is doing anything special in this hackneyed movie.
The trailer for “The Good Mother” is somewhat misleading, because Marissa and Paige teaming up for their investigation doesn’t get as much screen time in the actual movie as the trailer might lead viewers to believe. Worst of all, “The Good Mother” hastily throws in a plot development about something that “cures” Marissa’s writer’s block, which then leads her to make a life-changing decision where the aftermath is never shown. If “The Good Mother” had bothered to show the Bennings family as something other than stereotypes, then maybe viewers would care more about what happens to this dysfunctional family.
Vertical released “The Good Mother” in U.S. cinemas on September 1, 2023.
Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City, the dramatic film “Rare Objects” (based on the 2016 novel of the same name) has a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Latin people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A working-class college student, who is recovering from trauma in her personal life, gets a job at a high-end antiques store, where she meets some eccentric people who have backgrounds that are very different from hers.
Culture Audience: “Rare Objects” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star/director Katie Holmes and slow-moving movies that don’t have much that’s interesting to say.
Katie Holmes in “Rare Objects” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)
“Rare Objects” is a boring slog of a film with a flimsy plot and main characters who sound very phony. Katie Holmes has directed yet another cinematic misfire in which she’s cast herself as the star. Her awkward over-acting in “Rare Objects” does not help.
Holmes co-wrote the turgid “Rare Objects” screenplay with Phaedon A. Papadopoulos. They adapted the screenplay from Kathleen Tesaro’s 2016 novel of the same name. “Rare Objects” does something that most movies that take place in New York City don’t do: It actually makes vibrant, “love it or hate it” New York City look dull. The story in “Rare Objects” is fairly unfocused and doesn’t seem to have much of an idea about what do with the main characters, who sort of meander along in life and have very shallow conversations.
“Rare Objects” begins by showing protagonist Benita Parla (played by Julia Mayorga) in a major life slump. Benita is a student at the City University of New York, but she’s taking a break from school because she had an abortion after getting pregnant from rape. She also temporarily checked herself into a psychiatric facility for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Benita has flashbacks about the rape throughout most of the movie. Her rapist was on a dinner date with her on the night that he raped her. During this dinner date, he told her that he was new to the area and worked in finance. These flashbacks are put into the movie without further exploration about what these memories are doing to Benita.
Adding to Benita’s woes, she’s not completely over her ex-boyfriend Anthony (played by Giancarlo Vidrio), whom she hasn’t seen in a while. Benita decides to suddenly visit Anthony unannounced. He’s surprised to see her and tells Benita something that she doesn’t want to hear: He’s getting married. Any hope that Benita might have had that she and Anthony would get back together is now gone.
Benita has kept the rape and abortion a secret from most people who are close to her, including her best friend Angie (played by Olivia Gilliatt), who is a single mother to a baby. And so, when Benita tells her immigrant single mother Aymee Parla (played by Saundra Santiago), who works as a seamstress, that she’s taking a break from school and wants to move back in with Aymee, Aymee’s reaction is one of judgmental disappointment. Aymee thinks that Benita is just being a lazy flake, but ultimately she supports Benita’s decision and lets Benita move back in with her.
Benita is stressed-out about her student loans. Aymee tells Benita to be grateful for the opportunities that Benita has and to “just pray.” However, “just praying” doesn’t pay Benita’s bills, so she starts looking for a job. She sees an ad for a job as a sales assistant at the Colony Club, an upscale antiques store. Benita doesn’t know anything about antiques, so she goes into the interview with a “fake it ’til you make it” mindset.
Colony Club owner Peter Kessler (played by Alan Cumming) interviews Benita. Peter has high standards and is very fussy. He’s an elitist, but he’s not a mean-spirited person. Peter can sense that Benita doesn’t know much about antiques, but he hires her anyway because she seems pleasant and very eager to learn. He tells Benita that her job requires greeting and assisting clients and to be “attentive but un-presuming.”
A great deal of “Rare Objects” shows Benita working in the store and meeting a range of people who are usually wealthy. Two of those people are Diana Van der Laar (played by Holmes) and her brother James Van Der Laar (played by David Alexander Flinn), who have a slightly weird, overly co-dependent relationship. Diana takes a liking to Benita, and it isn’t long before Benita is hanging out with Diana when Benita isn’t working.
Diana has a lot of issues. She uses illegal drugs, and she’s spent time in a psychiatric facility through involuntary admission. Diana blames her haughty socialite mother Linda Van der Laar (played by Candy Buckley) for most of the emotional damage that Diana has. There’s a lot of cringeworthy dialogue in “Rare Objects,” and most of it comes from Diana.
When Benita tells Diana that she was raped, Diana’s response is: “When you think about it, it was a bad dream, like it never happened.” When the conversation turns to whether or not Diana and Benita have ever fallen in love with someone, Diana says to Benita: “Our mothers teach us how to be desired, but not how to be loved. I think you’re a goddess, made more perfect by experience.”
The movie is about two-thirds over when another character awkwardly shows up: His name is Ben Winshaw (played by Derek Luke), who is a married father working for the Colony Club, but he was away when Benita was hired. Benita is surprised to meet him because Peter never told her about Ben. In this role, Luke (who is American in real life) has a very fake-sounding Caribbean accent that we do not need to hear. “Rare Objects” starts to set up a subplot about a rivalry between Benita and Ben, but this subplot ultimately goes nowhere.
The character of Ben (and the phony accent that Luke gives this character) can best be described as “unnecessary” to this movie. One might assume that Luke is in “Rare Objects” because he was in Holmes’ 2022 flop “Alone Together,” which she wrote and directed. This Ben character looks like a role that was given to a friend so the friend could have a job, even though the role is not essential to the story. There’s nothing about “Rare Objects” that’s essential viewing, unless you want to see a lot of mediocre-to-bad acting in a lackluster movie that most people will forget soon after seeing it.
IFC Films released “Rare Objects” in U.S. cinemas, digital and VOD on April 14, 2023.
Carlo Aquino and Charlie Dizon in “Third World Romance” (Photo courtesy of Anima Studios)
“Third World Romance”
Directed by Dwein Baltazar
Tagalog with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in the Philippines, the dramatic film “Third World Romance” has an all-Filipino cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A cashier and a bagger, who work at the same grocery store, fall in love with each other and navigate problems at their job and in their relationship.
Culture Audience: “Third World Romance” will appeal primarily to viewers who are fans of the romantic dramas about young people.
Carlo Aquino and Charlie Dizon in “Third World Romance” (Photo courtesy of Anima Studios)
“Third World Romance” has a lot of familiar plot developments in this story of two young people who fall in love with each other. The story, just like the two protagonists, can be bland, but there’s enough sweetness and charm to keep viewers interested.
Directed by Dwein Baltazar (who co-wrote the “Third World Romance” screenplay with Jericho Aguado), “Third World Romance” takes place in an unnamed city in the Philippines. At a grocery store, outspoken cashier Britney “Bree” Gatmaitan (played by Charlie Dizon) and mild-mannered bagger Alvin Tolentino (played by Carlo Aquino) start of as platonic co-workers, but they begin dating and eventually fall in love.
Britney is very unhappy about the low pay and lack of health care benefits that most of the store’s employees are forced to tolerate. The store’s horrible boss Sir Dodong (played Archi Adamos) doesn’t care and treats his subordinates with disrespect. Britney wants to do something about employee rights at the store, but Alvin disagrees and thinks that Britney shouldn’t cause trouble.
Britney and Alvin, who are both in their early 20s, have very different living situations from each other. Alvin’s roommates are mostly from the LGBTQ community, including a transgender woman. Britney lives alone because her mother has left to live in Oman and expects Britney to eventually join her there.
“Third World Romance” follows the relationship between Britney and Alvin through its ups and downs, which are somewhat predictable in movies of this genre. However, Aquino and Dizon have believable chemistry together. And all of the cast members give good performances that carry the film when the plot starts going in expected directions.
Anima Studios released “Third World Romance” in select U.S. cinemas on August 25, 2023.
Culture Representation: Taking place in in Germany near the Baltic Sea, the dramatic film “Afire” features a nearly all-white cast of characters (with one black person) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A book author with writer’s block and his photographer friend share a remote vacation house together and meet two strangers who alter their lives, as a forest fire is in danger of getting close to their house.
Culture Audience: “Afire” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching character-driven movies about blurred boundaries in relationships.
Thomas Schubert in “Afire” (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)
The moody and atmospheric drama “Afire” won’t captivate all viewers. However, this quietly intense film can find an appreciative audience with people who enjoy character studies where the cast members skillfully express spoken and unspoken dialogue. “Afire” also examines the repercussions and regrets of not expressing true emotions.
Written and directed by Christian Petzold, “Afire” had its world premiere at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear (second place) prize in the grand jury competition. The movie takes place in Germany, near the coast of the Baltic Sea. A beach property is the main location for the story. Although the movie has a relatively small number of people in its cast, “Afire” packs in some big emotions in the story.
“Afire” begins by showing book author Leon (played by Thomas Schubert) and his photographer friend Felix (played by Langston Uibel) traveling to the vacation house of Felix’s family. Felix’s father, who died six years earlier, used to own the house, which is now owned by Felix’s mother, who is never seen in the movie. It’s mentioned at some point in the movie that Felix and Leon are not only friends but they’ve also worked together on projects.
Leon (who is moody and standoffish) and Felix (who is friendly and outgoing) have very different outlooks to this getaway trip in this fairly remote area. Leon hopes that the isolated area will help him concentrate on finishing his upcoming novel, which he is calling “Club Sandwich.” Felix just wants to relax and have as much fun as possible.
There is a forest fire happening in the distance, but it’s not expected to get too close to the area where Leon and Felix are staying. The two friends experience a more immediate problem: Felix’s car runs out of gas, 12 kilometers away from the house, but they’re able to walk to the house with their luggage, with the assumption that the car can be dealt with later.
When Leon and Felix arrive at the house, it’s in disarray. The beds are unmade, and clothes are strewn everywhere. Felix then announces some news that Leon doesn’t want to hear: They won’t be living by themselves in this house. Felix explains that a Russian immigrant named Nadja will be staying there too.
Nadja is the niece of a coworker who works with Felix’s mother. Nadja is staying there as a favor because she’s working in the area by selling ice cream from an ice cream stand. Leon is slightly irritated when he finds out a third person will be living there. Leon insists on having his own room in this two-bedroom house so he can have peace and quiet to work on his book. The bedrooms are right next to each other.
Felix thinks that Nadja should have her own bedroom, while Leon and Felix can share the other bedroom. They both agree that either of them has the option to sleep on the living room couch if one of them needs the room all to himself at night, such as if an overnight guest is staying in the bedroom. Felix also suggests that if things get too noisy in the house, then Leon can always sleep under the pergola outside.
At first, Nadja (played by Paula Beer) is a mysterious presence who seems to come and go without any consistent schedule. She doesn’t have a car, so she travels by bicycle. Leon doesn’t meet Nadja until 24 minutes into this 102-minute movie. However, Leon is aware of Nadja’s presence long before he meets her in person. That’s because Nadja has been bringing a lover back to the house at night and loudly having sex with him.
The sex noises are loud enough that Leon can hear everything in the bedroom next door, so he tries to sleep on the living room couch, where he can still hear the commotion. Leon says out loud to himself, “I’m beginning to hate that woman.” And one night, when it happens again, he decides to sleep uncomfortably outside under the pergola. The next morning, he finds out that he has several bug bites.
Nadja’s lover is a local lifeguard who works at the nearest beach. His name is Devid (played by Enno Trebs), and he becomes a frequent guest at the house. When Leon and Nadja finally meet in person, they have an awkward but cordial conversation. She’s aware that Leon is annoyed by her loud sex noises interrupting his sleep, so she makes an apology and adds, “It won’t happen again.”
Although the first conversation between Leon and Nadja is uncomfortable for both of them, there is underlying sexual tension between them. Nadja and Devid have a casual, non-monogamous sexual relationship. Nadja does not want to describe Devid as her boyfriend, and they are not possessive of each other. Eventually, the sexual dynamics between Leon, Felix, Nadja and Devid start to change when it becomes obvious that Devid and Felix are sexually attracted to each other.
Leon has other worries besides whether or not Nadja finds him attractive. Leon’s book publisher Helmut (played by Matthias Brandt) is going to visit Leon at the house to read what Leon has written so far for Leon’s book manuscript. Apparently, Helmut and Leon don’t want to use email for this task. Leon is very apprehensive about this visit, because he’s afraid that Helmut won’t like what Leon has written so far.
“Afire” shows how all these tensions and fears permeate the interactions of the four people in this social group, especially with Leon, who has the movie’s main perspective. Leon doesn’t say it out loud, but he’s insecure about his physical appearance. His body language with Nadja indicates that he thinks she’s out of his league, when it comes to how physically attractive he is, so he overcompensates by trying to come across as a brooding and pompous intellectual.
As for the budding romance between Devid and Felix, it bothers Leon at first, because Leon apparently didn’t know that Felix is queer. By contrast, Nadja doesn’t seem bothered at all that Devid has become sexually interested in Felix. She shrugs it off as if it’s no big deal that Devid has lost interest in her sexually, and she acts as if her feelings aren’t hurt. This nonchalance intrigues Leon, who thinks there might be a chance that Nadja could develop an interest in Leon. Nadja is flirtatious with Leon but doesn’t give him much indication on which direction she wants to take her relationship with him.
“Afire” will keep viewers guessing on where the story is headed and what will happen to these characters. All of the cast members give good performances, but Schubert and Beer carry most of the emotional weight of the movie, since Leon and Nadja’s relationship anchors the story. It’s a movie that slowly sneaks up on viewers to deliver a stirring and poignant impact.
Sideshow and Janus Films released “Afire” in select U.S. cinemas on July 14, 2023.
Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in India, the dramatic film “Ghoomer” has a predominantly Indian cast of characters (with some white people) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A promising young cricket player strives to make a comeback after an accident leaves her right arm amputated.
Culture Audience: “Ghoomer” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching inspirational sports dramas.
Abhishek Bachchan in “Ghoomer” (Photo courtesy of Pen Marudhar Entertainment)
“Ghoomer” drags on for a little too long and has some familiar clichés that are often found in movies about sports underdogs. However, the performances of Saiyami Kher and Abhishek Bachchan are impactful. The cricket matches are also thrilling to watch.
Directed by R. Balki, “Ghoomer” was co-written by Balki, Rahul Sengupta and Rishi Virmani. The movie takes place in India and centers on the relationship between a young cricket player named Anina “Ani” Dixit (played by Kher) for the national women’s cricket team in India and her coach Padam “Paddy” Singh Sodhi (played by Bachchan), who trains her after she experiences a devastating car accident that leaves her right arm amputated.
The movie’s title comes from the “ghoomer” sports move that Ani must learn that becomes on her road to recovery. A great deal of the movie involves the trial and tribulations of Ani’s difficult rehabilitation. She has moments of complete despair but also moments of triumph. Complicating matters is Paddy is battling an alcohol addiction while he is training Ani.
Yes, it’s a big sports movie stereotype when the coach involved in a comeback training has a drinking problem or other similar personal problems. However, “Ghoomer” handles this stereotype capably in showing that Anu and Paddy must help each other during this difficult time in their lives. “Ghoomer” has some heart-wrenching moments, but the movie ultimately fulfills its purpose of being a feel-good story.
Pen Marudhar Entertainment released “Ghoomer” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on August 18, 2023.
Culture Representation: Taking place in Texas in 1965 and 1974, the dramatic film “The Hill” (based on the true events) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: Rickey Hill faces major difficulties in his goal to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team, including a degenerative spine disease, leg disabilities and a conservative pastor father who does everything he can to prevent him from playing baseball.
Culture Audience: “The Hill” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching a very unique baseball story turned into formulaic mush.
Pictured clockwise from upper left: Joelle Carter, Bonnie Bedelia, Hailey Bithell, Dennis Quaid, Mason Gillett and Jesse Berry in “The Hill” (Photo courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment)
“The Hill” is a poorly constructed faith-based biopic about disabled baseball player Rickey Hill. This long-winded and preachy drama leaves big questions unanswered about his life. The movie is also plagued with hokey dialogue and corny acting performances. Even though “The Hill” is based on real people and true events, much of this movie looks too much like a fairy tale.
Directed by Jeff Celentano, “The Hill” was written by Angelo Pizzo and Scott Marshall Smith. The movie’s total running time is 126 minutes, but the movie spends the first half spinning its wheels in boring repetition, while leaving out large chunks of Hill’s life, only to fast-forward to another part of his life in the second half and get stuck in more boring repetition. Anyone who knows what happens to Hill in real life before seeing this movie might be disappointed to find out that the most exciting highlights of his career are reduced to being an epilogue in the movie.
Hill was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on August 15, 1956. “The Hill” movie takes place in Texas, in 1965 and 1974. The first half of the movie is about his life when he was 9 years old, while the second half of the movie is about his life when he was 18. The years in between are erased and unexplained in this very flawed and tedious movie.
The movie begins in the small town of Bowie, Texas, where the Hill family is tight-knit but living in near-poverty. (“The Hill” was actually filled in Georgia.) The family patriarch is James Hill (played by Dennis Quaid), a strict and pious Baptist pastor who has a dwindling congregation of working-class people. James can be a loving husband and father, but he’s also very rigid and stubborn in wanting people to do what he thinks is best.
The other members of the family living in the same household are James’ loyal wife Helen Hill (played by Joelle Carter); 9-year-old Rickey (played by Jesse Berry); Rickey’s even-tempered older brother Robert (played by Mason Gillett), who’s about 11 or 12 years old; Rickey’s outspoken younger sister Connie (played by Hailey Bithell), who’s about 7 or 8 years old; and Helen’s pessimistic mother Lillian (played by Bonnie Bedelia, wearing a very bad wig), who is nicknamed Gram.
The movie opens with Rickey, who wears leg braces, practicing playing baseball and perfecting his body swivel so that he can throw the ball without having to strain his legs too much. Viewers later find out that Rickey also has a degenerative spine disease. A neighbor girl named Gracie Shanz (played by Mila Harris) watches Rickey, who tells her, “Girls don’t know spit about baseball.” Gracie, who’s about the same age as Rickey, responds by saying that Rickey won’t play in the major leagues. Gracie also calls Rickey her “boyfriend.”
Gracie’s got her own personal problems. Her father Earl Shanz (played by James Devoti) is an abusive alcoholic. Gracie’s mother/Earl’s wife Carol Shanz (played by Monica Louwerens Kenyon) is passive and is too scared to do anything about Earl’s abuse. The Shanz family members are among the small congregation (less than 50 people) attending the church led by James, who is quite pompous at work and at home.
During a church service, while James is delivering a sermon, he notices that a middle-aged, tobacco-chewing woman named Mrs. Babbitt (played by Taylor St. Clair) is spitting her tobacco juice into a small bowl on the church floor but her spit frequently misses the bowl and is leaving brown tobacco puddles on the floor. Meanwhile, during the same service, Earl is smoking a cigarette. James thinks these actions are very disrespectful in a place of worship.
James stops the sermon to politely ask Mrs. Babbitt and Earl to stop spitting and smoking in the church. Mrs. Babbitt seems annoyed by this request but stops. However, Earl is defiant and keeps smoking. James gets irritated and scolds Earl, by saying: “I am not going to let the Lord’s house by soiled by Satan!” Earl gets up and begins to argue with James in a bullying way. Earl eventually storms out of the church.
Earl isn’t the only congregant who wants to smoke in church, so James knows he could be alienating other members of his congregation with his rule of “no smoking and no spitting in church.” Lillian is quick to warn James that he can’t afford to lose congregants whose donations they need to keep the church running and to provide the Hill family with a steady income. James says he’s willing to take that risk if it means keeping this place of worship as sacred as possible.
At home, around the dinner table, Lillian expresses her disgust that James’ low income can barely feed the family. Rickey also needs an operation that the family can’t afford. Lillian berates James for not having a job that pays more money, while James gets defensive and lectures Lillian by telling her she doesn’t have enough faith in God. Helen tries to keep the peace and doesn’t like to see her mother and husband arguing, but Helen usually sides with James.
James knows that Rickey loves baseball, but James discourages Rickey’s dream to one day play for a Major League Baseball team. In fact, James thinks Rickey shouldn’t be playing baseball at all, because James thinks it will lead to getting Rickey getting seriously injured. Instead, James tries to instill into Rickey that Rickey’s calling in life is to become a pastor, just like James.
One day, Rickey and Robert are playing baseball in open field. Instead of a baseball bat and a ball, Rickey is using a stick and a rock. He hits the rock so hard and far, it breaks a side rear view mirror of an empty car parked dozens of feet away. The car belongs to Ray Clemmons (played by Randy Houser), the owner of a local scrapyard.
Rickey is a very honest boy who believes in confessing to causing this damage and making amends. When Rickey and Robert go over to Ray’s place to tell him what happened and offer to pay for the repairs, Ray is isn’t angry but is impressed with Rickey’s baseball skills. Ray asks Rickey to use the stick to hit the rock again from the same distance. Rickey does it again, this time causing the car’s front window to crack. Because he owns a scrapyard, Ray tells Rickey and Robert that he already has many other car parts that can replace the parts that are damaged.
James has become an unpopular leader in his own church, so the Hill family moves away before James can be officially fired. It’s also implied that they relocated to avoid paying a lot of James’ unpaid bills in the area. With no new home or new job prospects lined up, the Hill family packs up and goes on a road trip to an uncertain future. Rickey and Gracie say goodbye to each other, but you just know from the way this movie is made, Rickey and Gracie will see each other again.
“The Hill” is the type of movie that piles on cornball situation after cornball situation. While driving on a deserted road, the car runs out of gas. And then, the car immediately gets a flat tire. Just as James says out loud that things couldn’t get worse, it starts to rain heavily. The family has a laugh over it, in the way that people laugh when they have nothing left to lose.
An elderly couple named Linda Meyers (played by Judy Leavell) and Josh Meyers (played by Wilbur Fitzgerald) happen to be driving by, and they come to rescue of this unlucky family. Linda and Josh are generous to let the Hill family stay in their home temporarily. James tells Linda and Josh that he’s a pastor. And it just so happens that Linda knows about a church that’s looking for a pastor. Whoever gets the job will also get to live with any family members in a house that’s owned by the church.
James immediately accepts the position before seeing the church and the living quarters. As soon as Linda says that the job has been vacant for a year, you just know that this job is too good to be true. And sure enough, the church and accompanying house are run-down dumps. With no other place to go and no other job offers, James decides he can rebuild the church and the house.
Unfortunately, most of Rickey’s childhood depicted in “The Hill” is a back-and-forth slog of him practicing baseball with Robert in nearby play areas, and Rickey being scolded by James for playing baseball. Rickey is desperate to play on his school’s baseball team, but he needs a signed permission slip from his father. James also gets upset when he sees Rickey has been collecting baseball cards, which James thinks are sinful because they represent “worshipping false idols.”
A teacher at Rickey’s school named Coach Don (as David Marshall Silverman) notices Rickey’s special talent and personally goes over to the Hill household to try to convince James to let Rickey play baseball for the school’s team. However, James stubbornly refuses to change his mind about not giving permission for Rickey to play any baseball. Coach Don, who says he used to be a preacher too, berates James for “crushing” Rickey’s soul and squandering the blessing of Rickey’s athletic talent. There’s more than one scene where James physically punishes Rickey for playing baseball.
“The Hill” also has the expected scenes of Rickey being bullied by other boys, who think he’s delusional for wanting to play baseball. A mean-spirited brat named Quinn (played by Tyler Johnson) is the chief bully. However, several other local boys admire Rickey and are rooting for him to succeed. Robert is also a very loyal brother who protects Rickey from the bullies as much as he can.
James is overly strict but he isn’t a complete tyrant. He is genuinely concerned about Rickey’s health. James clearly has unspoken guilt that he’s powerless to prevent Rickey’s health issues and can’t afford to pay for Rickey’s medical treatment, so James overcompensates by using religion as a way to wield power over his family. After the Hill family finds out that Rickey needs an operation that the family can’t afford, the movie shows the efforts made by the family’s church and other people in the community to raise money for the operation.
The Hill family household is oppressive in many ways, but there’s also a lot of love in the family. A tender scene happens early in the movie when Rickey and Robert go to a local diner to buy one of James’ favorite meals as a surprise gift: a hamburger and a soda, using money that the boys saved up. James is genuinely touched by this loving gesture and shows appreciation for his sons’ thoughtfulness.
For all the time and repetitive effort that “The Hill” puts into showing how much James blocks and discourages Rickey from playing baseball, the movie then does an awkwardly abrupt fast-forward to Rickey (played by Colin Ford) in his last year of high school in 1974. He’s 18 years old and a star player on his school’s baseball team.
What happened during all those years between Rickey being a dejected kid who wasn’t allowed to play baseball to being a star baseball player for his high school? Who coached him during this crucial development period? Rickey being 18 presumably means he no longer needed a parent’s permission to be on a baseball team. But how did he get medical clearance from a doctor to play for his school’s team? Don’t expect “The Hill” to answer any of those questions.
Instead, the last half of the movie drags out with MLB hopeful Rickey wanting to be discovered and chosen for a team during MLB tryouts. And what do you know: Gracie (played by Siena Bjornerud) just happens to have moved to the same area, so now she and Rickey can reunite and fall in love. During this time when Rickey hopes to be recruited to the major leagues, James has refused to watch Rickey play any baseball games. However, Rickey’s mother Helen and siblings Robert (played by Ryan Dinning) and Connie (played by Carina Worm) are supportive spectators at Rickey’s games.
During the MLB tryouts, Rickey catches the eye of MLB scout Red Murff (played by Scott Glenn), who gives very stereotypical tough-but-tender pep talks. And there’s plenty of preaching and praying in “The Hill” too. A lot of this sanctimonious talk ranges from generic to extremely sappy. The baseball game scenes aren’t very interesting, and neither are the acting performances in this bloated biography.
“The Hill” treats Rickey’s medical issues as pesky annoyances. Any excruciating pain he experiences are depicted with some superficial grimaces and groans, some limps and some clutching of his back. There’s a scene in his childhood where Rickey breaks off his leg braces himself and then claims he feels no pain in his legs.
Everything in “The Hills” looks fake, which is a disservice to the real-life physical agony that this talented baseball player experienced. Because the movie ends when Rickey is 18, it cuts off right before the most fascinating part of his baseball journey. Although “The Hill” certainly has an inspirational story, the way that this dreadful dud tells this story is by hollowing it out and replacing a lot of meaningful parts with surface-level preaching and cringeworthy dialogue.
Briarcliff Entertainment released “The Hill” in U.S. cinemas on August 25, 2023.
Culture Representation: Taking place in New York state, the comedy/drama film “Shiva Baby” features an all-white cast of characters representing the middle-class.
Culture Clash: A bisexual college student, who secretly makes money as a sex worker for male clients, finds herself in uncomfortable situations when she, her parents, her ex-girlfriend, a sex customer and his wife all end up at the same post-funeral reception.
Culture Audience: “Shiva Baby” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of sarcastic and well-acted movies about people who have secret lives.
Dianna Agron and Danny Deferrari in “Shiva Baby” (Photo courtesy of Utopia)
“Shiva Baby” seamlessly blends hilarious comedy and sobering drama in this incisive story of a college student forced to reckon with secrets and lies during a tension-filled shiva reception. It’s a stellar feature film debut from writer/director Emma Seligman. The movie authentically represents American Jewish culture (almost every character in the movie is Jewish), which is a big part of the story, but the essential elements of the plot could have been about people in many other cultures.
Seligman is also one of the producers of “Shiva Baby,” which was selected to have its world premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jury prizes were still given for the event. “Shiva Baby” went on to win the John Cassavetes Award at the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards, presented to the creative team of a film with a production budget of less than $500,000. (The John Cassavetes Award’s qualifying amount has since been changed to a movie production budget of less than $1 million.)
“Shiva Baby” is based on Seligman’s 2018 short film of the same name that she made when she was a student at New York University. Rachel Sennott, another NYU alum, stars in both “Shiva Baby” films, which get their title from the fact that the story takes place primarily at a shiva reception, and the protagonist is a college student who feels like her parents still treat her like a baby. Both movies were filmed on location in New York state.
In the “Shiva Baby” feature film, Sennott portrays bisexual Danielle, who’s in her early 20s and in her last year at an unnamed university in New York City. Danielle comes from a middle-class family (the movie never mentions how her parents make money), where she is the only child of her parents. Danielle’s life is revealed in bits and pieces in the movie until a portrait emerges of a deeply insecure woman who’s been lying to people about many things in her life. What “Shiva Baby” viewers first find out about Danielle isn’t necessarily the truth about her.
The movie’s opening scene shows Danielle and a man in his mid-to-late 30s having sex at his apartment in New York City. Viewers don’t find out until a little later in the movie that his name is Max Beckett (played by Danny Deferrari), and he’s also been keeping secrets. Max has been giving money to Danielle in a “sexual arrangement” relationship. Some people in this line of work might call Max a “sugar daddy,” but the reality is that he’s a sex customer.
Danielle has told Max that she needs the money to pay for her tuition at Columbia University Law School, where she says she is currently a student. Max seems a little jealous of other men whom Danielle might be seeing for the same type of arrangement. “How are you going to get through law school if you’re screwing around with these guys?” Max asks. Danielle doesn’t give a direct answer, but she makes sure to get the cash that she wants from Max before she leaves.
Danielle will soon have a lot more to deal with than nosy questions from Max when she attends a shiva reception later that day. Her parents call Danielle to remind her to attend the funeral of someone whom Danielle didn’t even know. The funeral is on Long Island, where her parents live, and Danielle has to ask her parents what the name is of the person who died. The deceased person has a very distant connection to Danielle’s family and is described as the sister of the second wife of someone’s uncle.
Danielle’s mother Debbie (played by Polly Draper) is very talkative, uptight and domineering. Danielle’s father Joel (played by Fred Melamed) is sensitive, gentle and easygoing. Debbie, who doesn’t like to talk about Danielle being bisexual, has been pressuring Danielle to find a nice Jewish guy to marry. Debbie wants to think Danielle’s bisexuality is just an “experimental” phase that has ended for Danielle.
Danielle skips the funeral but she meets up with her parents after the funeral at the shiva reception taking place at the middle-class house of a relative of the deceased person. Danielle is taken aback because one of the first people she sees is her ex-lover Maya (played by Molly Gordon), who has known Danielle since they were kids. Maya is also an only child of her parents. Danielle asks her parents, “Why is Maya here?” Debbie warns Danielle, “No funny business with Maya.”
The rest of the movie takes place at this reception, which becomes an increasingly volatile minefield of emotions, as the scandalous secrets of Danielle and other people are in danger of being exposed. Throughout “Shiva Baby,” Danielle is seen going to the buffet table to grab something to eat, or she finds some wine to gulp, which is the movie’s way of showing how Danielle uses food and alcohol as a way to cope with the stress she’s experiencing at this gathering.
Danielle’s issues with food are brought up in other ways that hint that she might have an eating disorder as part of her personal history. At this reception, multiple people (including Danielle’s mother) comment to Danielle about how much weight she has lost. It’s mentioned later in the movie that when she was younger, Danielle was considered to be “chubby,” but she lost a lot of weight during her college years. Debbie quips to Danielle about Danielle’s physical appearance: “You look like Gyneth Paltrow on food stamps—and not in a good way.”
Also at this reception are Maya’s mother Katherine (played by Glynis Bell), who is a very judgmental gossip. Just like Danielle’s mother Debbie, Katherine is aware of but chooses not to discuss the fact that Danielle and Maya used to be lovers. Katherine also seems to think that Maya will eventually settle down with a husband.
At this party, Danielle is asked several times by various people if she’s dating anyone and what her plans are after graduation. Danielle is honest about not currently being involved in a serious romance, but she gives people different or vague answers about her post-graduation plans. It should come as no surprise that Danielle and Maya have unresolved feelings for each other. Maya, who is a confident overachiever, is more likely than Danielle to be truthful about her feelings.
Even though Danielle wants to be independent and find a job on her own, her mother Debbie constantly asks people to help Danielle find a job after she graduates. It’s later revealed that Danielle’s parents are paying for all her expenses and have access to her bank account records. Danielle has been lying to her parents about the money she gets through sex work. She tells her parents that she gets the money from babysitting.
Maya isn’t the only guest whom Danielle is surprised to see at this reception. Danielle is even more shocked to see Max there. Max has a big secret that he’s been keeping from Danielle, but she finds out his secret at this gathering: Max is married and has an 18-month-old daughter. And he might not be the one paying for the apartment where Max and Danielle have been having their trysts. Danielle also finds out at this reception that Max used to work for her father years ago.
Max’s wife and daughter arrive later at the reception. Max’s wife Kim Beckett (played by Dianna Agron), an elegant blonde, is described by some of the reception’s gossips as a “shiksa” (a somewhat derogatory word for a non-Jewish woman), who’s a successful entrepreneur with multiple businesses and who earns a lot more money than Max. Kim works from home so that she can take care of daughter Rose (played by Edgar Harmanci), whose frequent crying in the movie is used as one of the things that causes Danielle to become more anxious.
Although “Shiva Baby” is mainly about Danielle’s worlds colliding at this shiva reception, Max and (to a certain extent) Maya have their own secrets and role playing that they do at this gathering. In a desperate bid to assert her sexual attractiveness, Danielle goes in a bathroom at the house, impulsively takes a topless photo of herself using her phone, and sends the photo to Max. You can imagine what might happen next.
“Shiva Baby” has a lot of dialogue that crackles with underlying resentments and hard feelings, as bitter rivalries and jealousies play out but are disguised by small talk that has a forced pleasantness. This dialogue wouldn’t work as well if “Shiva Baby” did not have these very talented cast members acting out the dialogue in realistic ways, especially in portraying how people often say one thing but are thinking the complete opposite. “Shiva Baby” composer Ariel Marx’s tension-infused music perfectly conveys in the movie how Danielle feels like she’s in a pressure cooker that could explode at any moment.
Sennott shines in this starring role as the moody and complex Danielle, who finds herself in way over her head when she sees the horrifying reality that her lies aren’t as harmless as she thinks they’ve been. Draper is also a standout in the cast and has some of the funniest lines of dialogue in “Shiva Baby” as Danielle’s overbearing but well-meaning mother. When Danielle accuses Debbie of not being able to see queerness (also known as “gaydar”), Debbie snaps in response: “Excuse me, I lived through New York in the ’80s. My gaydar is as strong as a bull!”
Agron and Gordon are especially good at portraying people who are in love with someone who’s fickle and a habitual liar, but these betrayed lovers are willing to risk getting hurt to have that person’s love. Deferrari is also quite skilfull in his performance of a cheating husband who’s terrified of being exposed and trying to keep his composure. Melamed’s Joel character is one of the few in the movie who does not put on airs. Joel is genuine about who he is, but he mistakenly thinks everyone is like that too, so he fails to see clues of deception that are all around him.
“Shiva Baby” has a few slapstick comedy moments that involve mishaps and accidents at the party. But the movie is laser-sharp in how it takes aim at people who put on fake appearances of having a great life when they might actually be very insecure, miserable and jealous of other people who are happy. “Shiva Baby” isn’t cynical about love. Rather, this very memorable movie is ultimately a poignant depiction of how true love can be found when people are willing to show their true selves to each other.
Utopia released “Shiva Baby” in select U.S. cinemas and on digital and VOD on April 2, 2021. “Shiva Baby” became available on HBO, Max, Mubi, Blu-ray and DVD in July 2021. Utopia re-released “Shiva Baby” in select U.S. cinemas on August 4, 2023.
Directed by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch
Italian with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in Italy, from 1984 to about 2014, the dramatic film “The Eight Mountains” (based on the novel of the same name) features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: Two best friends from childhood drift apart when they become teenagers, and the reconnect as adults in their early 30s to rebuild a house, even though their lives have gone in different directions.
Culture Audience: “The Eight Mountains” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in a well-acted movie about friendship, although the film’s 147-minute total running time might be an endurance test for some viewers.
Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli in “The Eight Mountains” (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)
“The Eight Mountains” is both epic and simple in how it tells a very insular story of two close male friends from childhood to adulthood. The small number of people in the movie’s cast gives this drama enough room for meaningful character development. The movie’s total running time of 147 minutes is a little too long, but it’s worth watching as a character study for viewers who have the time to immerse themselves in this story.
Written and directed by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, “The Eight Mountains” had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize. “The Eight Mountains” is based on Paolo Cognetti’s 2016 novel of the same name. The movie takes place primarily in a small, unnamed mountain village in Italy, where a friendship develops between two boys named Bruno Guglielmina and Pietro Guasti, who have different personalities. Bruno is stubborn and set in his ways. Pietro is more flexible and open-minded.
The movie, whose story is shown in chronological order, follows what happens to this friendship from 1984 to approximately 2014. Pietro is played as a child by Lupo Barbiero, as a teenager by Andrea Palma, and as an adult by Luca Marinelli. Bruno is played as a child by Cristiano Sassella, as a teenager by Francesco Palombelli and as an adult by Alessandro Borghi.
The narrator of “The Eight Mountains” is the adult Pietro, a world traveler in his 30s who gives voiceover reminiscences throughout the movie. In the opening scene, Pietro says, “I didn’t expect to find a friend like Bruno in my life, nor that friendship was a place where you put down roots that remain waiting for you. I grew up as an only child in an apartment in the city, and I wasn’t used to doing things together. But in the summer of 1984, my parents rented a house in a mountain village, where by a twist of fate at the time, lived only one child: Bruno.”
The movie then shows flashbacks to this friendship, beginning in 1984, the year that Pietro and Bruno meet, when they’re both around 11 years old. They have an instant rapport and develop a close friendship, no doubt feuled by the fact that they are the only two children in this village. In “Eight Mountains,” Bruno tell Pietro that the village used to have 183 residents but now has only 14 residents. People moved away because of there’s a lack of work in this isolated village.
Bruno lives with his aunt Sonia (played by Chiara Jorrioz) and his uncle Luigi (played by Gualtiero Burzi). Bruno tells Pietro that Bruno’s father works as a bricklayer in other countries and is currently working in Switzerland and Austria. When Bruno is asked where his mother is, he avoids answering the question. Later, Bruno says that his father hardly speaks to him. “I think he finds me irritating,” Bruno tells Pietro.
Pietro’s parents are Francesca Guasti (played by Elena Lietti) and Giovanni Guasti (played Filippo Timi), who are loving and devoted parents. Just like Bruno’s father, Giovanni spends a lot of time working away from home. Giovanni is a factory engineer with a job in Turin, Italy. Although Pietro spent his earliest years growing up in a city, he adjusts to rural life much easier because of his friendship with Bruno. Pietro and Bruno have such a close friendship, they treat each other like brothers.
A pivotal scene in the movie happens when Giovanni takes Bruno and Pietro out hiking with him when the land is covered in ice. They encounter a glacier and have to jump over a crevasse to continue the journey. Giovanni encourages both boys to jump. Bruno makes the jump, but Pietro feels sick and can’t do it. Giovanni comforts Pietro and tells him that he doesn’t have to jump. Giovanni, Bruno and Pietro then head back home. Giovanni leaves for Turin shortly thereafter to go back to work.
As an adult reflecting on his past, Pietro says in a voiceover that he will never forget that day. Viewers later find out that this day was when Pietro really saw for the first time that his father Giovanni was starting to see Bruno not only like a son but also like a son he might prefer over Pietro. Shortly after this experience on the glacier, Pietro’s parents suggest to Bruno’s aunt and uncle that Bruno live with them and Pietro in Turin. Pietro dislikes this idea because he says the city will “ruin” Bruno, who has lived in this village his entire life.
Pietro’s discomfort over Bruno possibly living with Pietro’s family in Turin isn’t just about Pietro being worried about how city life will affect Bruno. Pietro won’t say it out loud, but he’s also worried how Bruno living with Pietro and Pietro’s parents will permanently alter the family dynamics. Pietro also begins to suspect that his father Giovanni enjoys spending time with Bruno more than Giovanni enjoys spending time with Pietro. This jealously causes resentment that Pietro has toward Giovanni. At one point, Pietro tells Giovanni, “I never want to be like you.”
The issue of where Bruno will live causes so much tension and conflict in the Guasti family, the idea of Bruno living with the Guasti family in Turin is eventually dropped. And, at 13 years old, Bruno moves away from the village for the summer to work with his father in a mining job. As teenagers, Bruno and Pietro drift apart. There’s a scene in the movie where Pietro and Bruno see each other in a pub when they are both about 18 years old, but they treat each other like familiar acquaintances instead of two people who were once best friends. Pietro and Bruno won’t see or speak to each other again for the next 15 years.
The rest of “The Eight Mountains” shows how Bruno and Pietro led separate lives until they came back into each other’s lives in 2004, 20 years after they first met. Bruno and Pietro, who are about 31 years old at this point, are never-married bachelors with no children. Bruno has lived in the same mountain village where he spent his childhood.
By contrast, Pietro has spent much of his adulthood traveling and living in various places. Pietro has come back to the village because his father Giovanni died (at the age of 62), and Pietro has inherited an abandoned, run-down house called Barma Drola, which is located on a remote, hilly area in the village. Pietro and Bruno reconnect and decide to remodel the house together. None of this is spoiler information, since it’s shown in the trailer for “The Eight Mountains.”
The last third of the movie is about the remodeling of this house, which is an obvious symbol of Bruno and Pietro repairing and rebuilding their friendship. There’s also a lot of unresolved issues between them because Pietro was estranged from his father Giovanni for many years. Giovanni then became like a father figure to Bruno during the years that Pietro and Giovanni weren’t really speaking to each other. There’s also a woman named Lara (played by Elisabetta Mazzullo), who shows an attraction to Pietro and Bruno.
Marinelli capably handles his fairly straightforward role as Pietro. Borghi, who has the more complex character of Bruno, gives a riveting performance. Viewers will see that Bruno’s stubbornness can translate into obsessiveness. It’s a character trait that puts a big strain on his personal relationships. Meanwhile, during this remodeling, Pietro finds out from conversations with Bruno how much Pietro did not know about his father Giovanni, who grew close to Bruno during the years that Pietro was estranged from Giovanni.
Although “The Eight Mountains” has a story that could have been told in a movie that’s less that two hours, this well-acted drama at least gives quality time to character development. By the end of the movie, viewers will feel like they know who Bruno and Pietro are has fully formed human beings. Anyone expecting a lot of adventurous action in this film will be disappointed. “The Eight Mountains” is a very artistic presentation of masculine friendship that doesn’t involve guns, physical fighting, car chases or explosions. It’s about something that many people find much harder to handle than macho violence: expressing repressed emotions.
Sideshow and Janus Films released “The Eight Mountains” in select U.S. cinemas on April 28, 2023.
