Swallow (2019)

The solo directorial feature debut by Carlo Mirabella-Davis, who also wrote the screenplay (and spent a few years honing their craft in a number of shorts and one co-directed documentary), Swallow is a strange little gem that presents someone dealing with their internal struggles in a very new and unique way. It may not feel like it has the potential to be great cinema, but every quiet moment bunched up to another to create a sky full of grey clouds ready to deliver an intense thunderstorm.

Haley Bennett plays Hunter, a young woman about to become a first-time parent with her partner, Richie (Austin Stowell). Things aren’t necessarily as perfect as they initially seem, however, and Haley starts to seek solace in eating random things that shouldn’t be eaten, from drawing pins to soil, and a variety of objects in between. She cannot really communicate her compulsion to Richie, nor can she really open up to Richie’s parents (Katherine and Michael, played by Elizabeth Marvel and David Rasche). And the more we see, the more we start to root for Hunter to get out of the situation she is in. Because Richie and his family are horrible, selfish, people, willing to betray trust and manipulate Hunter to maintain the facade of a perfect life.

There’s a bit more to the plot than I have described here, something crucial to the psyche of Hunter that provides a vital stage for a tense finale, but I would prefer other people to be as surprised as I was. Swallow, on paper, sounds like a lightweight curio. It is actually a delicate and powerful study of someone struggling to find out who they really are, reconciling their past with their present to pave the way for a future they can look forward to.

Mirabella-Davis has the confidence to let everything unfurl like the petals of a well-tended and beautiful flower, putting his faith in a lead actress who really steps up to the mark and delivers what could well be a career-best performance. He is also helped by a team, from the cinematographer to the set decorator, the composer of the music to the editor, all working perfectly in sync and on board with the vision to be realised.

Having just mentioned how good Bennett is, it is worth repeating, and highlighting, the strength of her central performance. I have seen Bennett in a few other minor roles, but nothing really made her stand out. This film completely changed my view of her, and I look forward to what else she might be a part of in the next few years. Marvel, Rasche, and Stowell are wonderfully easy to start hating as their sense of self-preservation starts to overtake their politeness and insincere attempts to act caring, making it much easier to root for a woman to be allowed to eat whatever strange thing she wants. There’s also a fantastic turn from Denis O’Hare, coming into the film for the last few scenes. O’Hare could have stolen the movie away from everyone else, where it not for the dazzling talent of Bennett.

It will make you squirm for a few different reasons, but you should endure that discomfort to enjoy a film that is so impressive, intriguing, and surprisingly emotional when the main character is allowed to fully explore her complex and confused feelings.

9/10

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Fantasy Island (2020)

Do you think it would be fun if someone decided to make a movie version of The Love Boat, but then decided to take the basic premise and twist it into a slasher movie? I am guessing probably not, at least not if you are familiar with the show, and have a fondness for it. The same goes for Hotel, although that was much more of a soap opera. But the same might go for Fantasy Island, a film based on a brand name that will satisfy neither fans of the TV show nor younger viewers who won't know what they're letting themselves in for.

The plot starts off simply enough, after a prologue scene showing someone being terrorised. A bunch of people arrive at Fantasy Island, where they hope that their fantasies will come true. There's Gwen (Maggie Q), a woman who thinks that her fantasy will allow her to make up for a past mistake, Melanie (Lucy Hale), a woman who wants revenge on a school bully (Sloane, played by Porita Doubleday), Patrick (Austin Stowell), who wants to play soldier, and brothers Brax (Jimmy O. Yang) and J. D. (Ryan Hansen), who just want to party hard. Michael Peña is Mr. Roarke, the head of the island, and the one ensuring that people stay the course as their fantasies play out, even if they turn into something unexpected.

Re-uniting some of the people who gave us the much more enjoyable Truth Or Dare (director Jeff Wadlow, who also helped to write the screenplay with Jillian Jacobs and Christopher Roach again, and Hale in a central role), Fantasy Island is just about the most ridiculous and pointless mainstream thriller/horror I can think of in recent years. I guess there's a vein of black comedy running through it, which may help viewers who respond to it more, but it certainly wasn't enough to help me find everything more bearable.

The cast are an admirably diverse selection, I guess, but the one thing they have in common is a level of blandness that doesn't help lift the weak material. Maggie Q ends up becoming the foremost character, working things out ahead of others and trying to change the situation for the better, but that doesn't make her any more interesting. Hale is good though, and she's someone I tend to enjoy in the main roles I have seen her in, and Yang and Hansen work well together, bringing more of the fun moments in the first half of the film. Stowell is saddled with an annoying strand that shows him desperate to have a moment of heroism, and Peña speaks in platitudes while smiling enigmatically. Thankfully, Doubleday is another person I just tend to automatically enjoy onscreen, and there are supporting roles for the always-welcome Michael Rooker and Kim Coates.

It just goes to show you that you can pretty much do anything you like with a well-known brand name and nobody will question you if they think enough teens will go to see it. This makes all the wrong choices, from the lack of characters you want to root for to the downright stupid final act, but thinks all will be forgiven when it moves along slickly enough while occasionally winking at those who remember the TV show. All is not forgiven. And my fantasy has now changed from me being locked in a room with Scarlett Johansson and twelve jars of strawberry jam to simply never having to endure a sequel to this.

3/10

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