Cinerama Capsule – quick read film reviews

Canada has a long history of great horror, from Scanners to Black Christmas. Canadian horrors have long challenged the boundaries of the horror genre, helping to redefine what it offers audiences. Director Cody Calahan’s Vicious Fun continues this trend by mixing classic slasher horror with tongue-in-cheek 80s-inspired humour. The result is a film that delivers exactly what it promises – vicious fun.

Embracing themes last seen in Shudder’s underrated Monster Party while lacing the horror with delightfully timed comedy, Vicious Fun is a neatly wrapped gift of 80s nostalgia, fun and slasher gore; it is a perfect late-night horror/comedy to enjoy with a large Coke and a bucket of popcorn as you count the references to every 80s flick it so lovingly pays homage to.

Scientists have had a pretty rough ride in recent biopics, from the bland Radioactive to the dull The Current War. The latter squandered the opportunity to explore the life of the scientific pioneer and genius Nicola Tesla (1856-1943), but Tesla placed Ethan Hawke’s scientist in the driving seat, offering us a performance that was both delicate and mesmerising. Director Michael Almereyda cleverly blends a documentary-like feel with drama, and while this creates a somewhat slow narrative, it also allows for a far more detailed and fascinating portrait of a complex man.

Any mainstream horror that chooses child abduction and abuse as its main story walks a fine line. After all, how do you couple the true horror of child abuse and kidnapping with classic horror scares without becoming distasteful in the process?

Many films, such as The Girl Next Door, have fallen short of this balance over the years. However, The Boy Behind the Door navigates this fine line skillfully, even if the film’s final act sadly resorts to a more traditional horror template. But, the ending aside, there is much to admire in David Charbonier and Justin Powell’s claustrophobic horror-thriller, including the performances of its young leads.

The opening half of Charbonier and Powell’s film is full of tension, creating a genuinely uncomfortable atmosphere that is only intensified by the lack of information available to us. However, in its final act, The Boy Behind the Door stumbles by adopting a cat-and-mouse slasher aesthetic that avoids the significant issues raised earlier. 

Debut feature films don’t come much stronger than Claire Oakley’s haunting and windswept movie. The Cornish ‘out of season’ caravan park where the story unfolds is wrapped in a genre-defying mix of drama, thriller and horror. The coming-of-age journey of young Ruth is immersed in intrigue, sexuality, desire, and isolation. Within a sparse and ghostly environment, the fox’s screech in the night and the wind howl around empty mobile homes. Meanwhile, Oakley’s dynamic use of vivid colour and haunting sound is matched by the accomplished performances of an outstanding cast. So settle back, dim the lights, and let the waves of Make Up engulf you in a unique and intriguing cinematic experience. 

Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) appear to have the perfect marriage as Marriage Story opens. They live in New York with their 8-year-old son, Henry (Azhy Robertson), with one a talented theatre director and the other an actor. They love their son with all their heart, and their lives are rich in individual creativity, artistic growth and artistic pleasure. However, the reality is somewhat different: the couple is slowly separating due to poor communication and limited opportunities.

As they separate and divorce, lawyers circle the couple like vultures hungry for a meal, Noah Baumbach takes us on a heartwrenching journey into what happens when love ends, and anger, fear, and confusion take hold. This is a marriage eating itself in public view, its destruction assured. However, the outcomes and legacy of this conflict remain obscure as Driver and Johansson wrap us in a tragic tale of love once found and now irrevocably lost.