Tim Roth Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Resurrection’ (2022), starring Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Grace Kaufman and Michael Esper

September 11, 2022

by Carla Hay

Rebecca Hall in “Resurrection” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)

“Resurrection” (2022)

Directed by Andrew Semans

Culture Representation: Taking place in upstate New York, the horror film “Resurrection” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one Asian American) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A business executive, who’s a single mother to a teenage daughter, experiences emotional turmoil when a man from her past comes back into her life.

Culture Audience: “Resurrection” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of stars Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth, and will appeal to viewers who are open to watching horror movies with unexpected and disturbing twists.

Tim Roth and Rebecca Hall in “Resurrection” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)

Just like the 2021 horror film “Malignant,” the 2022 horror film “Resurrection” has an unsettling and shocking reveal that viewers will either love or hate. The movie isn’t perfect, but the surprise ending offers a bizarre twist that shows bold originality. “Resurrection” is better than the average horror movie, largely due to the suspenseful mystery at the center of the story, as well as the cast members’ convincing performances.

“Resurrection” is the second feature film from writer/director Andrew Semans, who previously directed the offbeat comedy/drama “Nancy, Please,” about a hellish experience with a roommate. “Nancy, Please” made the rounds at several film festivals in 2012, before getting a very limited release in the U.S. in 2013. “Resurrection” (which has its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival) is a movie that is much darker in tone and will leave many viewers disturbed by some of the visuals and how the story concludes.

“Resurrection” takes place in an unnamed part of upstate New York (the movie was actually filmed in Albany, New York), where biotech executive Margaret Ballian (played by Rebecca Hall) thinks she has her entire life under control and in order. The movie’s opening scene shows Margaret having a private meeting in her office with her young intern/administrative assistant Gwyn (played by Angela Wong Carbone), with Margaret giving Gwyn some advice about Gwyn’s personal life. Apparently, Gwyn is in a very bad relationship with a love partner, because Margaret tells Gwyn that Gwyn’s belittling partner is a “sadist,” so Margaret advises Gwyn to end this toxic romance.

Because of the sensitive nature of this conversation, Gwyn asks Margaret not to tell anyone about what they discussed in this meeting. Gwyn doesn’t know it, but Margaret’s own love life isn’t exactly going so well either. She’s having a secret affair with a married man named Peter (played by Michael Esper), who is the father of a teenage daughter named Chloe. Margaret, who is not married, is also a parent to a teenage daughter. Margaret’s daughter Abbie (played by Grace Kaufman), who 17 or 18 years old, is a college-bound student in her last year of high school.

Although Peter and Margaret care about each other, they’re not in love with each other. They both know it’s a dead-end affair that came about from lust and a need for companionship. During one of their sexual trysts, Margaret gets an alarming phone call: Abbie is in a hospital after getting into a drunken biking accident with a friend named Lucy. Luckily, Abbie recovers from her injuries, but this health scare starts to trigger maternal feelings in Margaret that affect her for the rest of the story.

Margaret and Gwyn are then shown in another private meeting in Margaret’s office, where Gwyn confides in Margaret that she broke up with the abusive partner. Margaret congratulates Gwyn and praises her by saying, “You’re tougher than leather.” Although Margaret and Gwyn have not been working together for very long, it’s apparent that Margaret feels protective of Gwyn, almost like a mother is protective of a child.

Not long after this meeting, Margaret attends the Biotech Rising Conference and is shocked to see who someone who is one of the conference’s speakers: His name is David Moore (played by Tim Roth), who is a confident and intelligent scientific researcher. Margaret’s reaction to seeing David on stage is that of someone who suddenly physically ill from fear.

Margaret is so unnerved by seeing David, she rushes to her home and calls out for Abbie, who is at home, safe and sound. Margaret bursts into Abbie’s room and asks Abbie if she is okay. Abbie says yes. Margaret is immensely relieved to see that nothing has happened to Abbie, who is confused over why Margaret is acting so paranoid, and she asks Margaret why.

Margaret won’t tell Abbie anything, except to insist that everything is just fine. But when Margaret goes into a bathroom, she begins sobbing. What is it about David that’s caused Margaret to be so distressed? It should come as no surprise that David is someone from Margaret’s past whom she wants to forget. And he ends up making contact with her, much to her dread.

Most of “Resurrection” is about the unnerving cat-and-mouse game between David and Margaret. David takes pleasure in knowing that his presence is upsetting to Margaret. She starts having nightmares, including one where she finds a burned baby inside of a stove. It’s enough to say that much of the horror in “Resurrection” is about Margaret’s issues with motherhood and abuse.

The nightmare about the burned baby isn’t what most viewers will think it is, because the secrets about Margaret’s past, which are eventually revealed in the movie, have some unpredictable elements. Hall gives a very tormented performance as Margaret, whose mental health begins to unravel the more that she sees David. Roth gives an effective performance too, but he’s played creepy villains in many other movies, so there are no real surprises in how Roth portrays David in “Resurrection.”

The pacing of “Resurrection” sometime drags slowly, but Semans’ writing and directing are solid enough to maintain viewers’ curiosity about what will happen next. “Resurrection” has some horror imagery about children that might be too upsetting for sensitive viewers. As gruesome as “Resurrection” can be, it’s a horror movie that offers glimmers of hope and makes a memorable statement about the power of a mother’s love.

IFC Films released “Resurrection” in select U.S. cinemas on July 29, 2022. The movie was released on digital and VOD on August 5, 2022.

Review: ‘Sundown’ (2022), starring Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Iazua Larios

February 22, 2022

by Carla Hay

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Albertine Kotting McMillan and Tim Roth in “Sundown” (Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street)

“Sundown” (2022)

Directed by Michel Franco

Some language in Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Mexico (in Acapulco and Mexico City), the dramatic film “Sundown” features a cast of white and Latino characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After a British heir to a business fortune goes on a family vacation in Mexico with his sister and her two adult children, he makes some choices that upset his family and have serious repercussions when tragedy strikes.

Culture Audience: “Sundown” will appeal primarily to people interested in a story that is intriguing and well-acted, but viewers have to be tolerant of the often-meandering way that the story is told.

Tim Roth and Iazua Larios in “Sundown” (Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street)

“Sundown” is one of those movies where the protagonist’s intentions aren’t very clear until the last third of the film, but the movie’s ending is still open to interpretation. It’s a drama with uneven pacing, but the movie’s shocking moments and solid performances make up for the dull moments. “Sundown” is best appreciated by people who have patience and curiosity to find out how the movie is going to end.

Written and directed by Michel Franco, “Sundown” is his follow-up to 2021’s “New Order,” which also focused on a wealthy family in Mexico. That’s where the similarity ends between the two movies. “New Order” was a gruesomely violent film about a home invasion and street riots that affected a family living in Mexico City. “Sundown” has a much more leisurely pace, and it centers on a vacationing British family in Acapulco.

The family consists of Neil Bennett (played by Tim Roth), his sister Alice Bennett (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg) and Alice’s children Colin Bennett (played by Samuel Bottomley) and Alexa Bennett (played by Albertine Kotting McMillan), who are all together at a luxury beachside resort. Colin is about 19 or 20 years old, while Alexa is about 18 or 19 years old. The father of Colin and Alexa is not seen or mentioned.

Based on conversations in the movie, the movie, Alice has been raising her kids as a single parent for quite some time, and the father is no longer in their lives. Neil is a bachelor with no children. He later tells a few people that he loves his niece and nephew as if they were his own children.

It’s revealed later in the movie that the Bennetts’ fortune comes from the family-owned meat-processing business. Alice is the hard-driving leader of the business. Technically, Neil co-leads company with Alice, but she’s the one who’s really making the decisions, and he goes along with whatever she decides. He doesn’t seem particularly interested in being in charge of the business. The siblings’ company titles aren’t mentioned in the movie. Neil and Alice inherited the company from their father, who is now deceased.

“Sundown” starts off with the Bennetts having a relaxing family vacation. They lounge by the resort swimming pool or at the nearby beach. They have meals together, including a dinner at restaurant/bar, where a young female singer (played by Ely Guerra), who’s performing, openly flirts with Colin. After her performance, she sits down at a nearby table and raises a glass to Colin, who reacts with some combination of amusement and embarrassment when his family members tease him about this flirtatious attention.

It isn’t long before things take a serious turn. Alice gets a phone call from the family attorney named Richard (played by Henry Goodman) that Alice’s mother is seriously ill and has been taken to a hospital. This family vacation then gets cut short, as Alice, Neil, Colin and Alexa rush to the airport to catch the next plane back to England. Neil is concerned, but as time goes on, it becomes obvious that he’s emotionally disconnected from this family drama.

It’s not said outright, but it’s implied that Neil and Alice have different mothers, because there are constant references to the mother in the hospital as being Alice’s mother. Neil’s mother appears to be deceased. When the four Bennetts get to the airport, Neil says he left his passport behind at the resort and he has to go back for it. He tells Alice, Colin and Alexa to go on without him and that he’ll catch up to them later.

Soon enough, it’s revealed that Neil lied about his passport. He had it with him the entire time. He checks into a somewhat run-down motel and hangs out by himself and with some of the working-class locals whom he meets on the beach. And when Alice calls and texts him updates, he keeps lying by telling her that the passport has gone missing and he’s still looking for it. She suggests that he go to the nearest consulate to get an emergency passport, but he keeps stalling about that too.

Why is Neil lying? Why does he want to stay in Mexico? Why does he appear to be hiding from his family? And does Alice eventually find out where he is? Most of those questions are answered in the movie, which has a long stretch showing what Neil does when he’s away from his family. He meets a woman about 20 to 25 years younger than he is named Berenice (played by Iazua Larios), who works at a gift shop, and they quickly become lovers. Much of “Sundown” has a meandering quality to it that shows how the relationship between Neil and Berenice develops.

But an underlying sense of menace becomes apparent in a scene where Neil and Berenice are relaxing at a crowded public beach, when a speedboat with two men suddenly drives up from the ocean, and one of the men gets out and cold-bloodedly shoots a middle-aged man on the beach and kills him. The two men then flee on the speedboat before they can be caught. It’s an obvious planned execution. As many people on the beach either run away or react with horror, Neil and Berenice calmly look at the bloody, dead body and say nothing.

It’s an indication of how desensitized or numb they are to seeing this type of shocking death. Franco’s movies often make reference to the criminal violence in Mexico that disrupts what seem to be tranquil environments of the wealthy and elite who think they’re above any of this violence. Berenice might be accustomed to seeing or hearing about tourist areas in Mexico getting these violent attacks, but why does Neil seem so emotionally detached from witnessing this death? The answer becomes clearer toward the end of the movie.

Roth gives an intriguing performance as the mysterious Neil, whose character is the lynchpin that holds this entire story together. Neil’s reactions and what happens to him are what make “Sundown” the most interesting. The other cast members’ performances get the job done just fine. Neil’s journey in “Sundown” might be perplexing, but it’s never predictable.

Bleecker Street released “Sundown” in select U.S. cinemas on January 28, 2022. The movie was released on digital and VOD on February 17, 2022.

Review: ‘Bergman Island’ (2021), starring Tim Roth, Vicky Krieps, Mia Wasikowska and Anders Danielsen Lie

October 20, 2021

by Carla Hay

“Bergman Island”

Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve

Some language in Swedish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Sweden (primarily on the island of Fårö), the dramatic film “Bergman Island” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A British film director and his German screenwriter wife have different experiences while on a getaway trip to Fårö (famous for being filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s home), where she struggles to finish a screenplay, whose plot is depicted in the movie.

Culture Audience: “Bergman Island” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Ingmar Bergman and to people who are interested in talkative arthouse movies that have a story within a story.

Mia Wasikowska and Anders Danielsen Lie in “Bergman Island” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)

People watching “Bergman Island” will have a better chance of enjoying the movie if they know in advance that it’s more of a low-key “slice of life” character portrait (with a generous serving of Ingmar Bergman history) than a series of dramatic shakeups. Usually, whenever there’s a drama about a married couple going on a getaway trip together, the plot is about some kind of crisis or reckoning that happens in their marriage. That’s not the case with “Bergman Island,” which has a story-within-a-story that’s introduced in the last third of the film.

Written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, “Bergman Island” has a meandering quality to it that’s reflective of the leisurely pace that one might have when on a tourist getaway trip. Married couple Tony (played by Tim Roth) and Chris (played by Vicky Krieps) are on this type of trip, which they approach in two very different ways. Tony is a well-known British film director in his late 50s. He’s about 25 years older than Chris, a lesser-known screenwriter who is originally from Germany, but she currently lives in the United States with Tony and their daughter June (played by Grace Delrue), who is about 5 or 6 years old.

Tony is a highly respected “auteur” who’s famous-enough to be recognized in public by film aficionados, but he’s not so famous that paparazzi are following him wherever he goes. Chris and Tony have decided to go without June to Fårö (an island off the coast of Sweden), which is nicknamed Bergman Island, because it’s where Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman famously lived in the later years of his life. The island has become a tourist attraction for Bergman fans who take guided tours of Bergman’s former home and places that he liked to go on the island.

This getaway trip isn’t a complete vacation for Tony and Chris. It’s somewhat of a working trip. Tony has been invited to give a guest lecture, while Chris is trying to get some work done on a screenplay for her next movie. She has writer’s block and is struggling to figure out how to end the film. Viewers will get the impression that Chris and Tony are relatively content with each other, but there’s no real passion in their marriage. They act more like roommates who get along with each other and respect each other.

Chris and Tony aren’t exactly bored with each other, but for a great deal of the trip, they don’t really care to spend a lot of time together. They also make a lot of small talk with each other, as if they’ve run out of meaningful things to discuss. Chris and Tony go on some sightseeing tours together, but at some point, Chris (who gets more screen time than Tony) ends up doing her own activities. It becomes very apparent that Chris and Tony also have very different personalities, which affects how they approach the trip.

A lot of “Bergman Island” is about Chris and Tony meeting some of the local Bergman historians, having dinners with them and going on some sightseeing excursions. However, Chris is a lot more outgoing than introverted Tony. She’s also more interested in meeting new people and having inquisitive conversations with them about their lives, in contrast to to Tony, who limits his conversations with strangers to polite small talk.

Chris is worried about how she’s going to finish her screenplay. Tony doesn’t offer much support because creativity comes easier for him, so he can’t really relate to her writer’s block. It’s implied that Tony doesn’t write a lot of the movies that he directs. He also refrains from giving advice because he thinks that Chris should find her own creative path without interference from him.

While Tony is content to spend time relaxing in their resort room, Chris is more adventurous and spends more time exploring areas on her own and interacting with some of the local people she meets. One of them is a man in his 20s named Hampus (played by Hampus Nordenson), a film student who tells Chris that his grandparents are originally from Fårö. Hampus and Chris end up spending a lot of time alone together, as he shows her places that are not the usual tourist spots.

At one point, Hampus and Chris end up frolicking on a secluded beach with other, in a platonic way. There are hints that Chris and Hampus have a mild attraction to each other, but neither of them acts on it. Hampus and Chris enjoy each other’s company and find out that they have similar tastes in movies and literature.

If “Bergman Island” followed the usual movie formula about a married couple with not much passion in their relationship, someone in Chris and Tony’s marriage would be tempted to commit infidelity on this romantic island. There are hints that Tony has sexual thoughts that he’s not sharing openly with Chris. Shortly after they arrive Fårö, Chris sees in Tony’s journal that he has sketched some drawings of a naked woman in various bondage poses and sexual positions. Next to one of the sketches are these words: “Who are you? You or me?”

Is Tony having an affair? Is he secretly lusting for another woman but hasn’t committed infidelity with her? Or is he just interested in drawing erotic sketches? Don’t expect any answers in this movie. Chris seems somewhat surprised at what she’s discovered in Tony’s journal, but she says nothing to Tony about it because she probably doesn’t want to be accused of snooping.

Chris is more preoccupied with her unfinished screenplay than thinking about infidelity. But it isn’t until the last third of “Bergman Island” that she opens up to Tony and tells him what her screenplay is about, in order to maybe get some feedback or advice from him. When she tells Tony what’s in the screenplay plot so far, the story is depicted on screen in the story-within-a-story part of “Bergman Island.”

The protagonist of Chris’ screenplay is a woman in her 30s named Amy (played by Mia Wasikowska), who’s had a tumultuous on-again/off-again love affair with a guy named Joseph (played by Anders Danielsen Lie), ever since she was 15 and he was 17. It’s unknown if their teenage romance is depicted in Chris’ screenplay. What Chris describes to Tony is the part of the screenplay that is supposed to lead to the ending that Chris has a hard time completing.

After years of not being in contact with each other, Amy and Joseph happen to see each other again because they are guests at a mutual friend’s destination wedding. Amy is now a single mother who is currently not involved in a love relationship. Joseph is not the father of Amy’s child, and Amy doesn’t want to talk about the father of her child.

Meanwhile, Joseph is a never-married bachelor with no children, but he has a serious girlfriend named Michelle back at home whom he says he’s probably going to marry. Amy is not happy to hear this news, because Amy has unresolved feelings for Joseph. It’s enough to say that there are still romantic sparks between Amy and Joseph. Will they or won’t they end up together?

Although all of the principal actors in “Bergman Island” give very good performances (Wasikowska is the standout), the movie seems a little off-kilter by introducing this secondary plot so late in the story. A better narrative structure would have been to weave the secondary story into the main plot in a more seamless way instead of rushing it in toward the last third of the film. Truth be told, Amy and Joseph are a much more intriguing couple than Chris and Tony.

It’s not only because Tony and Chris have settled into a boring marriage. Amy and Joseph just have more interesting things to say to each other. Amy and Joseph are also more passionate with each other and better at expressing themselves, maybe because there’s a lot more at stake with their emotions than “safe” couple Chris and Tony.

“Bergman Island” has some gorgeous cinematography and great scenic shots of Fårö. This movie should be a treat for people who are Bergman fans, since there are plenty of references to his work and personal life in the movie. Without the subplot about Amy and Joseph, “Bergman Island” would not be as compelling to watch. Don’t be surprised if you almost wish that Amy and Joseph’s story had been the main plot, because it seems like Amy and Joseph’s screen time ends too soon.

IFC Films released “Bergman Island” in select U.S. cinemas on October 15, 2021.