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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Till (2022)

I am not sure why I have recently decided to put myself through the emotional wringer. I think it just happens during the time of year that is labelled “awards season”, forcing me to go out of my way to watch movies that I hope will be worthwhile, even as I worry about feeling drained by the time the end credits roll.

As much as I like to avoid spoilers, Till is based on a real incident that eventually, decades later, led to the creation of a law named after young Emmet Till. So I am going to specify that incident. Now. Here is your last chance to look away, if you have so far remained unaware of the case of Emmett Till.

Emmett Till was an African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched for offending a Whyte woman in Mississippi. He was fourteen years old. It was sadly obvious from the outset that the jury would vote one way when the case went to court, but that didn’t stop Emmett’s mother from campaigning for change, for some good to come out of the horrendous murder of her baby boy.

Directed by Chinonye Chukwu, who is someone new to me (although I really want to see her previous feature, Clemency), this is a film that uses a factual event to underline how dangerous and unwelcoming many parts of the USA can be to black people. It may be a period piece, but seeing how slowly anything changes, and seeing parallels in the news today to show how many things have stayed the same, makes it horribly relevant. It is a potent reminder of how the imbalance in modern society has been set up over decades and centuries of prejudice and abuse.

Chukwu also worked on the script, alongside Michael Reilly and Keith Beauchamp (the latter having also directed a documentary on Emmett Till back in 2005), and the focus stays on the death of Emmett, and the subsequent court case. That’s a smart move, allowing viewers to see the butterfly effect of Emmett’s death, and providing a valuable opportunity to show the real courage of those who decided to speak up in the face of overwhelming odds, and risking their own lives to do so.

The cast all do their bit to elevate the material, and I will now be keeping my eyes peeled for whatever a couple of them do next. Jalynn Hall is as lovely as he needs to be in the role of young Emmett, his more childish moments all the more poignant while we await his fate. Whoopi Goldberg does good work in the role of a caring grandmother, and Frankie Faison, Sean Patrick Thomas, Tosin Cole, and John Douglas Thompson are a number of different men who play varyingly important roles in the life of Emmett and/or his mother. Haley Bennett is the woman who claims that young Emmett mistreated her, and she is duly viewed as a major villain by those who know the truth of the matter. I have omitted one notable name, and that is Danielle Deadwyler, in the role of Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. Deadwyler is consistently great here, often remaining composed, determined, and mindful of the perception of onlookers while others start to have doubts about the path they are set on. There’s one display of grief here that is heart-wrenching, and it is that moment that made me determined to watch more work from Deadwyler, who gives the kind of powerful performance that should affect everyone who sees it.

Till works exactly how it is supposed to work, and I think that is at least partly tied to the fact that it presupposes viewers having knowledge of how things play out. Highly recommended, and it should be mandatory viewing for idiots who say “all lives matter”, conveniently forgetting the slavery, abuse, legal wranglings, and deaths that brought us to the here and now.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Kaboom (2010)

Although I am not overly familiar with the filmography of writer-director Gregg Araki, I have seen enough (I think I have now seen four) of his films to know that I tend to really like his work. He is an interesting voice in lgbtq+ cinema, often putting his central characters in states of heightened reality that allow some enjoyable cinematic escapism alongside familiar exploration of sexuality.

Kaboom may well be the quintessential Araki movie, in many ways, with a plot that includes a good helping of sex, plenty of confusion, the lingering influence of parents trying to control the lives of their children, and a strange cult possibly preparing for the end of the world.

Thomas Dekker plays Smith, a young man who declares himself as sexually “undeclared” when asked. He spends time with his friend, Stella (Haley Bennett), in between admiring his handsome roommate, Thor (Chris Zylka), and having a new, and intensely physical, relationship with the sexually confident London (Juno Temple). Smith is also having some strange dreams, meeting people he then meets in real life, and there’s a sense of impending doom about the way things are playing out around him.

Enjoyably frank and uninhibited throughout, Kaboom uses sex as a distraction from a central plotline that gradually takes on more importance. But it also often makes the sex, and sexual frustration, just as important as anything else in the film. This is what Araki does so well, especially as so many people have had times in their lives when sex HAS been the most important thing on their mind, and all else be damned.

Dekker is a decent lead, even if his character is often more passive than those around him. He has a great ability to convey a sense of both a lack of energy for everything going on and an inner turmoil from his raging hormones. Temple is the highlight of the film, her bright demeanour perfectly suited to play someone so carefree and frank. Bennett is good, and involved in a number of amusing scenes with a witchy woman named Lorelei, played by Roxane Mesquida, James Duval is fun in a small, but pivotal, role, and Zylka, Andy Fischer-Price, and Jason Olive all play a variety of “meatheads”.

Mixing dream imagery with typical teen angst, and nihilism with sharp wit, Araki takes viewers on a journey that embodies the constant battle many feel rages between our innerspace and the world around us. The cast and script are playful, the pacing allows things to really gain momentum in the third act, and the score and soundtrack works perfectly with the visual method of keeping close and intimate with the main characters. It’s highly recommended, as are most films from the mind of Araki.

8/10

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