"We're learning to love the things that we hate", sang New Model Army's Justin Sullivan in the early 90's, and presumably still does so today. While Sullivan condemns politically numbed people, consumerism, and a Huxleyan kind of artificially happy society, this year's Fantasy Filmfest Nights ascribed this phrase a more individual notion and made it this year's focus, it seems like, at least for the few movies I saw. I was a little sick this weekend and still am a bit, so not very ideal, but in between bouts of nausea I could force myself to go see at least the minimum amount I planned on seeing.
Family; the sacrifices we make, the things we gain, the boxes we need to fit into, the roles we have to play, the ways we have to bend and warp our ways to fit in, what's good for us, what's at stake for us if we don't comply - all these were themes explored during this year's Nights. Let's take a look at the films.
The opening movie was the breath-taking Obsession in which a young man finds a way to finally make his crush love him back, love him more than anyone else on this world. She does, but it comes with a toll - she's not herself anymore in ways that he slowly realizes he has completely harmed and even destroyed the woman he loves. And the bitter pill he needs to swallow is that there is no way he can be loved by her the way he wants to.
Exploring the Monkey's Paw trope, a cursed wish, the film doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but features an intense... intensity already high in the beginning that reaches truly extreme levels by its end. The pull-push effect of not being able to cut off a situation which is clearly not good for anyone and the awareness thereof, just not being able to let go, is very relatable as is, and that being torn-ness keeps the audience glued to the screen all throughout the film, even though it is evident exactly how it will end.
I have written about director Curry Barker and his way to fame before, and I wasn't very impressed by his debut Milk&Serial. Having now seen Obsession, it is especially the performances of the young actors that impressed me: Inde Navarette who plays Nikki, the object of desire that turns into a co-dependent Zombie, genuinely scary at times, as well as Michael Johnston as Bear as the love-struck retail worker who wants nothing but to be with the girl he thinks he loves. I doubt the connection he felt was ever a true one, since during their relationship he becomes aware of how much he actually harms the real Nikki, but still keeps on taking advantage of her body to satisfy his own obsession, his addiction. The only way out is death, but whose death will it be?
I wasn't sure whether or not the film depicts a relationship with someone who has BPD, because the way in which Nikki changes, her mood swings, her clinging to her favorite person, the ups and downs, the love bombing reminded me of that but my cursory research showed Barker neither confirmed nor denied that.
Despite its lack of depth on any level, I felt emotional by the end scene, it is a film well-done and worth a watch.
Life as Stockholm syndrome... Or, should I say, life as a movie script with each role predetermined? Are we all interchangeable figurines? Is the whole world but a stage? How important is it to belong somewhere, to someone, in a brutal big city that throws isolation and ruin at the ones who don't fit in, but offers opportunities to those who know how to make use of them, even if it means giving up yourself?
These are the questions Feels Like Home explores as we follow retail worker Rita being kidnapped into a home that claims to be her family which she allegedly forgets due to her amnesia. But the more she lives in this house, the more she discovers cracks in the system, and this family lives according to a pre-written playbook, within a twisted game that no one calls out as long as they are profiting, the only people out of the system being the wrecked, the shunned ones, the homeless (one of which is according to imdb writer Attila Veres himself giving the audience a wink- that made me laugh 👋!).
Artur from the FFF-Team mentioned in his introduction that their team was pondering the allegorical quality of the movie and so did I. My conclusion is that you can apply the pattern of this story to basically everything - to the family you're born into, to political systems, to a relationship, to life itself. We're learning to love the things that we hate and we learn to adapt, to play along, to substitute the missing parts with new elements we choose, we become part of it. Otherwise we end up sitting on the pavement drinking grape juice from a plastic bottle. But maybe that's the more honest choice, or maybe not, who knows.
Witty, clever, but also claustrophobic and thought-provoking, and with amazing visual elements and a gorgeous setting, this film was easy to watch and is of course recommendable. On top of everything there's a killer reference/homage to one of crime fiction's best works from Agatha Christie, I loved that most!
While I was leaving, I heard some people talk among themselves how they thought this was really good and I agree. I hope it gets all the accolades it deserves.
The festival featured another movie that marginally has a similar starting point, Good Boy, and it's a big shame that these two films were released at about the same time, because the other movie (that I'm reviewing below) is co-produced by Warner Bros and will have a much greater renown than this indie gem, even though "Feels Like Home" is objectively the better film. But such is life.
There is no better example to showcase the enclosed, suffocating, oppressing but also warming, and frankly joyful nature of family than showing the birth of a baby and the following period of time.
As everybody and their mother knows, I have not birthed any children, and I'm often asked why. I guess, it was a combination of a medical condition, no favorable environment that would justify pursuing the idea and frankly a lack motivation - but when people ask me, I say that I just forgot to have children, which is true also. Looking at where this genocidal, abusive, liarmouth, polluted, dishonest world goes to, I'm kind of glad I didn't have any.
But I babysat plenty in my twenties, because I do like children, I just don't want to be around them all the time. So to a certain degree I can understand women who are "different" than other mothers and struggle with having the responsibility of motherhood, especially when your baby is a little monster. Like Saga in this movie. And, by the way, I love that we can start having conversations about this subject as women, without making accusations for the choices made.
So I also love these kinds of movies focusing on these struggles because the pressure to follow a certain path is high. Nightborn is the bold, darkly funny, but also a little heartbreaking story of a woman struggling to bond with her newborn child, and the shit she gets from her environment. The baby was seriously creepy too. Very recommended.
The second FFF Nights movie about kidnapping follows a popular young man (I don't know why I had the impression that he's an influencer, but he's not, he just films his crazy life) who is knee-deep into the hedonistic life, extensively partying, drinking, drugging, hooking up with various girls, passing out on the pavement... He also bullies and hurts other people by putting off cigarettes on their faces, beating them up etc.
During one of his outings he is kidnapped by a family father who imprisons him in the cellar of their country house, with a chain on his neck that fixes him to where he is with the limited freedom of reaching a certain radius, like the toilet etc. Except for the one time he gets a serious beating for throwing his toilet potty into the face of the mother, they treat him nicely, but firmly, talking to him, feeding him, giving him books and discussing them, watching movies and eating popcorn etc. Meanwhile he undergoes a training program where he is forced to watch his crimes, kind of like in The Clockwork Orange, which helps him make a change and become sensible and empathetic over time. Of course, it's wrong, but in the end, he realizes it's all for the good, and has to make a choice.
I know this is weird, but above, in Feels Like Home, you have this genre done right, and Good Boy is unfortunately a misfire. I appreciated the dark humor and devoted acting, the beautiful setting here too, but Good Boy is surface level, moralistic, and kind of romanticizes the kidnapping genre but gives nothing edgy, nothing to think about in return. I listened to the director Jan Komasa who was there and I have lots of sympathy for the project, but I guess I don't see any merit in watching this movie for a second time. Oh well.
As I mentioned above, I was sick this whole time and have missed a ton of the movies I wanted to see, so I hope to be able to catch up and find opportunities to watch these otherwise.
Have a great spring!
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