Netflix And Chill: Eileen (2023)

The sophomore directorial feature from William Oldroyd (who helmed the fantastic Lady Macbeth almost a decade ago),  Eileen certainly has some comparison points that show what Oldroyd seems to be drawn. There's a very strong-willed woman at the centre of things, there's a sense of some justice being served, albeit not necessarily in the right way, and there's a lot of manipulation. It's an interesting film, but I'm not sure that it's entirely successful.

Thomasin McKenzie plays Eileen Dunlop, a young woman who works at a correctional facility for teenage boys. She's quiet and withdrawn, often placing herself in little fantasies while she kills time during visting hours. Her home life isn't too great either, due to the fact that her father (Shea Whigham) is an alcoholic who keeps getting increasingly paranoid and dangerous. Things take a slight turn for the better when her workplace takes on a new psychologist, Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), and Eileen is soon pleasantly surprised to find herself becoming fast friends with her. Friends can take you on some very unexpected journeys though.

Based on a novel of the same name by Ottessa Moshfegh, who also adapted the tale into screenplay form with her husband, what is here is a dark and intriguing tale of loneliness and pain being exploited by someone who knows how far they can push the limits of someone far younger and weaker than themselves. Everything leads up to a third act that turns truly dark and uncomfortable, but things don't ever settle into a cohesive whole. It's a character study, and it's a look at relative morality, but it falls just short of being great.

Oldroyd directs well enough, and he's comfortable once again with placing his characters in sparse environments that reflect the restrictions and drudgery of their own lives, but he doesn't do anything to help underline any of the main points being made. It would be fair to say that this is a film designed to make viewers ask some hard questions, but it would be equally fair to say that it doesn't even come close to providing any satisfying answers, or even just something that feels like a proper and natural end point for the story and the characters.

It doesn't help that McKenzie (who I have LOVED in other films) is a weak link here. The accent doesn't feel right, which does a lot to unbalance her performance, and she's hampered by the fact that her character spends most of her time reacting to things around her, as opposed to being pro-active in ways that could change her life for the better. Hathaway is a lot of fun in her role, although she often feels as if she's in a different movie from McKenzie. Then you have Whigham, doing fine work, but feeling as if he is in a different movie from both Hathaway and McKenzie. Marin Ireland absolutely kills it in the third act, enabled by material that allows her to give the best performance in the film, and I'm always happy to see Siobhan Fallon Hogan get more substantial roles, even if she is once again only here as a supporting player.

From a purely technical standpoint, there's very little wrong with this. There's just also nothing great about it, which is disappointing. Considering the talent here, on both sides of the camera, I thought this would make a stronger impression. The third act helps it to rise above average, and it certainly tries to be something a bit different, but I doubt anyone will remember it in a year or two. 

6/10

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Materialists (2025)

The second feature film both written and directed by Celine Song, I was a bit worried when I saw the advertising materials for Materialists, suspecting it may just be a repeat of her previous film, Past Lives (which I still count as her debut, despite the fact that she is credited with "The Seagull On The Sims 4", a presentation of the Chekov play on The Sims 4 via Twitch). Anyway, Materialists looked as if it was something that might leave me a bit disappointed. Then I started to see it was being labelled as a rom-com, which didn't really make sense alongside what I got from the trailer.

Materialists is not a rom-com, nor is it a simple retread from Song. It's something a bit trickier than that, and ultimately a bit less satisfying. There's some comedy to be mined from the exploration of the modern dating scene, and the reduction of people to commodities, but it's slightly messy and a bit too cynical throughout to earn some of the optimism that is allowed to come through in later scenes.

Dakota Johnson plays Lucy, a woman who works for a matchmaking website. She sometimes sees people in the street and approaches them with her marketing pitch. This is when I first started to worry. Look, I have no idea how the lives of rich and attractive New York City residents work, but the bespoke matchmaking service that we're shown here feels like an unsustainable business model. Anyway, Lucy meets the handsome and charming Harry (Pedro Pascal) at a wedding, where she also reconnects with an ex-partner (John, played by Chris Evans). John seems quite lovely, but has always been relatively poor. Harry is super-rich, and wants a chance to date Lucy, even as she tries to convince him that her employer could help him reach many other potential partners. 

I know what you're thinking. This IS Past Lives all over again. A woman torn between a lovely current partner and complicated feelings attached to an ex. Song isn't really interested in that though, although moments are shown that highlight who Lucy reaches out to when times get very tough. This is all about the unfair expectations that people put on one another when they enter the world of dating. It's about how often people put the physical and material side of things ahead of everything else, often leading to them missing out on the chance to really connect with someone who is perfect for them. You shouldn't seek out just another version of your projected ambition, nor should you look for someone too similar to yourself. Love grows out of differences just as much as it grows from shared interests and values. This would seem to be the point that Song is making, but it's not actually clear. What we get is a serious lack of actual romance, although one or two sweet moments will make people smile, and a real feeling of whiplash when the storyline crashes into a main plot point revolving around a horrible case of assault. 

Johnson continues to do well in movies that aren't tied to any Spider-verse, and she's a very good fit for this role, quick to roll her eyes and tell people the truth underlying their hopes and fears. Pascal has the tougher of the three lead roles, but does well, although he's involved in one particular moment that I am still trying to figure out if it was intended to be slightly absurdly comedic or not. Evans has the much easier job of being sweet and charming in a way that comes very naturally to him onscreen. Zoe Winters fares better when the script gives her something more to chew on in the second half, and Marin Ireland is just fine as Violet, the regional boss of the matchmaking service.

It's hard to strongly dislike this. Everything looks nice enough, and there are a lot of decent lines from characters commenting on the various pitfalls of dating in the modern age. It just ultimately doesn't come together into something really pointed or meaningful. Song seems to have had an idea that she wasn't able to shape into a full final form, but she gave it a try anyway, possibly spurred on by her recent success and her ability to put together three main performers who fit so well in their roles. I didn't mind it while it was on, but I doubt I will ever rewatch it. I'd much prefer to rewatch Past Lives. In fact, maybe one day I'll dig around the dark recesses of the internet to see if there's any way to check out "The Seagull On Sims 4".

6/10

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Birth/Rebirth (2023)

A very impressive feature directorial debut from Laura Moss, who also co-wrote the script with Brendan J. O'Brien, Birth/Rebirth is a difficult watch, but one that uses a famous horror archetype to explore parenthood, pain, and grief.

Marin Ireland plays a doctor, Rose. She's a hospital pathologist who doesn't really interact well with others. She tends to stay focused on the bodies around her, and has a fascination with the biological process of pregnancy and childbirth, although dislikes the standard required conditions that usually lead to that. Judy Reyes is a maternity nurse named Celie, a woman thrown into a state of grief when her young daughter ends up dying. Things get worse when the body disappears, which leads Celie to the home of Rose, and the two start working together on a plan that Rose has to show that death doesn't need to be the end.

First things first, both Ireland and Reyes are excellent here. The former is definitely giving off an Angela Bettis/May vibe, but does it brilliantly, and shows a lot of frustration whenever it looks like things are about to go outwith her control. The latter is dropped into a situation that leads to strongly conflictiing emotions, but her parental urge is the main driving force allowing her to grit her teeth and do some unpleasant things that may help her daughter. A. J. Lister plays Lila, and she's very good in a role that requires some interesting physical work, and both Breeda Wool and Grant Harrison give excellent supporting turns, with Wool really put through some tough times, to put it mildly, as she becomes the third side of a triangle that she doesn't realise has been assembled.

The script is interestingly blunt throughout. There are no moments of philosophical poetry here, and Rose knows that there isn't much point in trying to reframe what she's trying to do. This is all about biology, for better or worse (exemplified in a scene that shows Rose getting a "semen sample" in an encounter with a fellow bar patron), and that's why things only become more complicated when Celie brings her emotion to the situation.

Moss has a good sense of discretion for what to show and what to imply, and her direction keeps things on just the right side of bearable, despite the difficult subject matter. This cannot be straightforward entertainment, not with the weight of the decisions being made and the morality being explored, but having the two leads forced to get along like unwilling co-parents means that Moss can look at things from different angles while also building up a real feeling of dread and horror on the way to a disturbing final act.

Really good stuff, the kind of film that makes you look forward to what everyone may do next (whether in front of, or behind, the camera), Birth/Rebirth has extremes of dark and light, as does every journey from birth to death, and treats some potentially schlocky material in a way that gives it some real weight and impact.

8/10

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The Boogeyman (2023)

Urgh. That's the best way to start this review. Director Rob Savage made such a great impression on horror fans when he released Host, arguably the best use of Zoom ever, with the exception of that one short clip of the man who accidentally made himself look like a cat (check it out if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's hilarious). Unfortunately, it is starting to look more and more like Host was an exception, with Savage following that up with the horrible Dashcam and now this. The Boogeyman isn't as bad as Dashcam, but it's a surprisingly lazy and inept movie that delivers a polished package of everything that exemplifies the worst of modern mainstream horror.

Springboarding from a short story by Stephen King, and that's more worthy of your time than this is, the very simple plot summary for this is that it looks at a family terrorised by a boogeyman. Still grieving the death of their mother, there's teenager Sadie Harper (Sophie Thatcher) and younger sister, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair). They both live with their father, Will (Chris Messina), a therapist struggling to help his children through this difficult time. Anyway, once the boogeyman enters their home, and once they start figuring out exactly what is going on, people are warned not to spend too much time alone in the dark . . . and they then spend most of the movie wandering about alone in the bloody dark.

I really don’t want to spend too much time discussing this, it annoyed me so much for almost every minute of the runtime (although the opening sequence is impressively dark and disturbing, which makes the sharp slide downhill all the more disappointing). It might be a bit more polished than the 2005 movie that covered some similar ground, but I would struggle to say this is better. It’s so carelessly thrown together, but has a couple of elements in the story that are supposed to give it some weight it never maintains, and I blame Savage and the writers, Scott Beck, Mark Heyman, and Bryan Woods. Having read the original short story, one of the many little gems written by Stephen King, I assumed that everyone involved was drawn to the material because of a twisted ending that could be expanded into a feature full of paranoia and constant unease, but it appears that they just wanted the title so they could then deliver a few jump scares and mediocre scenes we have seen hundreds of times before. 

The cast aren’t bad, with Thatcher and Blair capably carrying the whole thing on their young shoulders. Messina is sidelined for a lot of the movie, of course, but does perfectly fine work in his role, and David Dastmalchian is sorely underused in what amounts to little more than a cameo. Having said that, at least he doesn’t suffer the fate of Marin Ireland, stuck playing the standard grizzled survivor who thinks she knows how to finally kill the boogeyman and drags Thatcher’s character into her scheme. LisaGay Hamilton is enjoyable in the role of Dr. Weller, another therapist, but suffers from the fact that her screentime alludes more to the aforementioned short story ending in a way that fails to then deliver any decent pay-off.

I saw a lot of love for this when it was in cinemas, which meant I was keen to see it as soon as it hit home media, but I am glad I didn’t rush along to see this on the big screen. I don’t know what others saw in this, and maybe a fair few people left cinemas disappointed after being hoodwinked into buying a ticket, but there was nothing here that worked for me in terms of the horror content. I might have even preferred a straightforward drama showing the main characters dealing with their grief. Or, and here’s a radical idea, a creepy horror film that actually felt in line with the source material.

3/10

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The Empty Man (2020)

Like many people, I had heard good things about The Empty Man over the past year or so. Also like many people, I didn't hear any of those good things while it was being messed about with a half-assed release schedule before basically being dumped straight to a streaming service. I really can't even recall if it had any kind of UK cinema release, between the non-existent marketing campaign and the pandemic that put so much on hold.

Written and directed by David Prior, adapting a graphic novel by Cullen Bunn, The Empty Man is a strange beast. It's overlong, for a start, clocking in with a runtime of 130+ minutes, and it doesn't really draw things together in a way that is satisfying enough for a big finale. That's okay though, because it is impressively consistent with the spooky atmosphere and scares, helped enormously by a sound department that has created arguably the best audio tapestry I have heard in a horror film in the past few decades.

Things start with a group of people trekking through some snowy mountain region. It is 1995. One of the party, Paul (Aaron Poole), ends up affected by a strange skeleton that he encounters. Things don't end well.
We then move to present day. Well . . . 2018. James Badge Dale plays James Lambrosa, a former detective who now makes a living selling home and personal security equipment. He is still grieving the loss of his wife and child, both having died in a car accident a year before, but ends up being able to keep himself busy when a friend enlists his help in locating her missing daughter, Amanda (Sasha Frolova). This leads James to discovering the idea of The Empty Man, a mythical entity at the centre of a fiercely loyal cult. 

Unsettling from start to finish, The Empty Man is probably harder to sell to anyone who has seen the poster/tagline. "THE FIRST NIGHT YOU HEAR HIM. THE SECOND NIGHT YOU SEE HIM. THE THIRD NIGHT HE FINDS YOU." It brings to mind the lesser horror movies we've had to endure, such as Slender Man or, urgh, Smiley, or any other number of films that have people doing silly things to call upon a spirit that will then cause harm and death. It's not like any of those films, with the spooky central figure something only really seen in a couple of enjoyable set-pieces. For the majority of the movie, considering his grief and views on the world around him, James could easily be said to be the empty man of the title. Things become even clearer as he moves closer to the truth, but it's also quite obvious in every scene.

Prior knows what he's doing when it comes to the pacing. Although the runtime is hefty, including that snow-covered intro that is just over twenty minutes long, before we even see the main title screen, it doesn't feel like a slog to get through. Big moments are impactful, small details are strewn throughout the film to keep you on your toes, and that impressive sound design and musical score (I wouldn't be able to single out when noise becomes music and vice versa) underlines everything with a perfect eerieness.

Dale gives one of the best performances I have seen from him, always looking competent but far too quick to jump out of his depth, and he carries the film effortlessly. The script and performance allow his character to be a potential "hero" without trying to smooth off all of the rough edges. Frolova is fine as Amanda, although she isn't onscreen for a very long time. The same goes for Poole. Both of these actors play characters who cast a long shadow over the proceedings with their absence, which also ties in nicely with the entire idea of The Empty Man. Ron Canada is always a welcome presence, and here plays a perplexed detective, and Stephen Root manages to be strangely charismatic and unnerving as Arthur Parsons, a man with a high position in the cult hierarchy.

Despite knowing how well it does much of what it is aiming for, it's easy to see why The Empty Man could remain a "hard sell" to horror movie fans. It's a hard one to categorise, it doesn't have an easy "hook", and it takes time to unravel the interesting ideas at the heart of it. But that's also why more people should seek it out. It's just a bloody good horror movie.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: The Dark And The Wicked (2020)

Written and directed by Bryan Bertino, this just shows that the dismal Mockingbird was a momentary blip from someone able to keep delivering the goods for horror genre fans. With this and his last film, The Monster, Bertino has provided two equally impressive, yet very different, horror movies.

The Dark And The Wicked has Louise (Marin Ireland) and her brother, Michael (Michael Abbott Jr.) returning to the family farm in Texas because of a very ill father. It's not long until their mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone) harms herself and then dies, which leads to both Louise and Michael then starting to feel a strong presence taking over the area. It seems to want to wish harm open them, and upon anyone else who associates with them.

Although made with a decent amount of skill and polish, The Dark And The Wicked is not a film for those who just want some safe, mainstream, horror. It's not too bothered about making sure you get a full explanation for the unfolding events, for example, and there's a sense of puzzlement about the whole thing that simply adds to the horror. As has been said many times before, and by many writers better than myself, a strange killer without any obvious motivation is much scarier than a killer with a very specific agenda. This is, in many ways, an interesting companion piece to Bertino's first film, The Strangers, with the random acts of evil this time around perpetuated by a supernatural force, as opposed to a group of psychopathic strangers.

Ireland and Abbott Jr. are decent leads, and they’re also happy to not really be the focus of the film. Although Ireland gets a few more scenes that let her get her teeth into some more emotional content, this is a film about a pervasive evil. It’s almost a non-stop walk under a cloudy and portentous sky. Too Nowicki also does good work, and has a memorable encounter just as the third act starts to build towards the very end of everything, and Xander Berkeley is excellent as a priest who stops by to visit the farm. And it should be said that all of the visuals are accompanied by a superb, menacing score from Tom Schrader, providing music so good that it almost feels like the embodiment of the dark force at the heart of the movie.

Blending some occasional gore moments with some superb scares, The Dark And The Wicked is highly recommended. Bertino has a knack for keeping viewers on edge, even during scenes in which nothing much seems to be happening, and it's great to see his filmography expanding in a way that both highlights his strengths and also shows him happily moving between various sub-genres. Let's just hope he never decides to try another found footage horror and we're all good.

8/10

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