Movie Review – Boy Erased

Boy Erased is an eye-opening film that looks into gay conversion camps that still exist all over the world. While lead actor Lucas Hedges delivers a strong performance, ultimately the film can’t compete against the similar new release Beautiful Boy.

⭐ ⭐
Elle Cahill

When Jared (Lucas Hedges) is forcibly outed to his Baptist preacher father Marshall (Russell Crowe) and mother Nancy (Nicole Kidman), they force him to participate in a Christian gay conversion program during his college break. As the program starts to lean on the side of abuse, Jared realises that just because the Church supports something, doesn’t always mean it’s correct.

Based on a true story, Boy Erased is an interesting and sometimes shocking film that looks at what it means to be a homosexual in Christian America. It deals with rape and being forced to come out when you’re not ready to. The situations that Jared is consistently put through are highly emotional and potentially damaging in the long run to a young man trying to find his way in the world.

Joel Edgerton writes, directs, and stars in the adaption of Garrad Conley’s memoir, and for such a surreal story and subject matter (I mean gay conversion programs in 2004 – are you for real??), Edgerton delivers a direct, graphic and honest film, not dissimilar to his previous film The Gift. Unfortunately, there are some predictable moments that’ll make you roll your eyes in exasperation, but if nothing else, the film is certainly educational.

Hedges delivers a mature and harrowing performance as a boy who was always so sure of the world and his position in it until moving away to college. His inner grappling with his “unnatural” feelings towards men is intense, but it’s his quiet defensiveness about his sexuality and fear to embrace his feelings that is the hardest part of the film to watch. The entire film is carried on his shoulders, but luckily Hedges rises to the occasion.

Kidman plays the role of the concerned mother and dutiful wife to a tee, with the only thing bringing down her performance being the ridiculous wig she wears. Kidman certainly has her moments and her ability to portray a variety of complex emotions without saying a single word is definitely at play in this film. Sadly, Crowe is reduced to a stereotypical father figure. Edgerton doesn’t make use of his acting ability and makes him a side note in the film that fails to make an impact.

Boy Erased is a complicated look at the extremes some people will go to in order to change things that don’t fit within their beliefs, but it’s overshadowed by its fellow recent release Beautiful Boy. At their core, Beautiful Boy and Boy Erased have very similar storylines. Unfortunately, Boy Erased falls short of Beautiful Boy’s execution. If Boy Erased had been released three months before Beautiful Boy, it might have been received differently, but in comparison, Boy Erased is far more formulaic and consequently loses out to Beautiful Boy.

Boy Erased is available in Australian cinemas from November 8 

Image (c) Universal Pictures 2018

Movie Review – Silence

After five decades of magnificent films, Scorsese finally delivers his truest, most inward-looking epic of all.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Zachary Cruz-Tan

Silence is a prolonged, laborious hike up the foothills of religion, and in the hands of any other director, it would have become far too difficult to complete. But Martin Scorsese is a master, and in his care the movie becomes something of a spiritual ordeal – a call to the faithful as well as a savage reflection on prejudice and suppression. It’s easily one of his finest works.

Andrew Garfield plays Father Rodrigues, a young enthusiastic Jesuit priest from Portugal who has come to the far reaches of Asia to spread the word of God. After hearing of his teacher’s disappearance in Nagasaki, Japan, he joins a colleague, Father Garupe (Adam Driver), in a quest to find him.

The largely Buddhist Japanese shogunate of the 17^th Century aimed to purge the nation of foreign beliefs using methods akin to the Crusaders and the Spanish Inquisition. But their aim was not so singular. Instead of trying to convert believers, they resorted to mass killings, personal humiliation and the breaking of spirits. Scorsese lays all this terror out for us to witness, in scenes that play out in agonising patience, almost as if for us to acknowledge our own guilt. Christians are crucified on the shore and made to drown in the rising tide, or wrapped in bamboo and burnt alive or thrown into the ocean. Scorsese doesn’t aim to disgust us; he wants to open up a dialogue, a chance for us to evaluate the power of the human spirit in the face of severe oppression.

On this level, Silence is a wondrous achievement. Scorsese’s films often deal with flawed characters seeking redemption. This was true of Travis Bickle, Jake LaMotta, Henry Hill, Edward Daniels and even Georges Méliès. Silence finally acts as their anti-salvation, a troubling idea that redemption does not exist. That no matter how hard you try, how steadfast your faith, you can be broken in more ways than one.

The movie is based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Shûsaku Endô, and Scorsese spent 25 years trying to bring it to the big screen. In terms of aesthetics and themes, it reminds me of the powerful Roland Joffé film, The Mission (1986), in which Robert De Niro played an ex-con who repents his way into the Christian monastery. But that movie was made in a heartbeat; it doesn’t bear the labour of passion Scorsese brings to Silence, a film so rich in personal conviction it stands to be compared to the intimacy of Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993). Though not as harrowing as Spielberg’s masterpiece, Scorsese asks the same questions about humanity and leaves the answers blowing in the wind.

Yes, Silence may be too long for many viewers and not gory enough for Scorsese’s diehard fanatics, but it enters a place few of his films do: the soul. And with any good movie, it’s not always about what you see on screen but about the discussions you have with yourself as you leave the cinema.

Silence is available in Australian cinemas from February 16

Image courtesy of Transmission Films 

Movie Review – The Witch

There’s evil in the woods – grab your crucifixes and prepare for a hell of a time as the creepiest folktale in years is unleashed.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Corey Hogan 

1630’s New England. William (Ralph Ineson) and his family – pregnant wife (Kate Dickie), daughter (Anya Taylor-Joy), son (Harvey Scrimshaw) and twins (Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson) are banished from their Puritan Christian town for preaching their religious superiority. Months later, the family have built a house and farm next to a large, ominous forest and William’s wife has given birth. Soon after, the mysterious disappearance of the newborn child begins a series of bizarre and increasingly unnerving events, causing the family to turn on one another. Though the real force behind their undoing is something far more sinister – the black magic of a witch living in the woods…

The first thing you need to know before buying a ticket to see The Witch is that it is best that you know as little about the film as possible before entering the cinema. The second is that it is one of those very rare horror movies that will haunt you for days afterwards; if you’re easy to scare, get ready for some sleepless nights.

Debut director Robert Eggers must have a little satanic power of his own, because he’s managed to (witch)craft the scariest film in recent memory, possibly one to be remembered alongside the all-time classics of the genre. Traditional jump-scares are abandoned entirely for a gloomy, ever-growing sense of dread. It’s a genuinely uncomfortable experience, but an incredibly effective one that won’t leave you anytime soon.

The 17^th century aesthetic is realised beautifully with visceral authenticity; the dull, washed out lighting emitted by the forever overcast sky perfectly sets an oppressive mood for our damned family. The old-timey 1.66:1 aspect ratio (framing vertically as opposed to horizontally) is equally effectual here as it was in last year’s Slow West, though here it has an almost claustrophobic feeling to it, as if designed to trap the viewer within this ghastly realm with no means of escape.

Eggers allows shots to linger on well past the point of suspenseful to become excruciating and terrifying, and every unnerving screech of Mark Korven’s fantastic score guarantees zero lapses in uneasy alertness. The dialogue – actually recreated from real 17^th century writings – takes time to gain a grasp of, but is expertly utilised to further increase the authentic charm. Every careful detail seals Eggers as an enormously impressive writer and director to keep an excited eye on.

Almost equally astounding are the relatively unknown cast who comprise the cursed kin. Game of Thrones duo Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie are both lovable and loathsome as the distraught parents, but it’s the kids who really shine here – especially first-timer Harvey Scrimshaw as the young son, who may or may not have something very dark and disturbing within him, and Anya Taylor-Joy, whose star-making performance carries much of the film.

The film’s final third is bound to have some viewing through their fingers; astonishingly unpredictable and achingly tense as Eggers ramps the freakishly evil happenings up to an 11. More than just a great horror, it’s a rich film with heavy themes – including a fear of God creating a fear of something much worse – that lingers long after the credits; I knew soon after that I had to see it again. Of course, films like this aren’t going to be for everyone; its slow build, lack of in-your-face frights and dense dialogue is bound to put off those with shorter attention spans. But for the naysayers, the film has been officially endorsed by The Satanic Temple as “a transformative satanic experience”. Abandon all faith ye who enter.

The Witch is available in Australian cinemas from March 17th 

Image (c) Universal Pictures 2016

Movie Review – Selma

Powerful performances illuminate this triumphant true story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s extraordinary battle to grant black Americans their constitutional right to vote.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Review by Corey Hogan

Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of only three people in American history to have a federal holiday established in his honour. A remarkably intelligent and compassionate man, his years of activism, and tireless efforts in obtaining civil rights for all people, regardless of race, have become legend. As another MLK Day passes, we are reminded on the 50^th anniversary of one of his greatest achievements with the release of Ava DuVernay’s dynamic historical drama Selma.

With a Nobel Peace Prize under his belt for advancing civil rights through nonviolent means, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) believes his work against racial prejudice has just begun. Denied by President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) legislation for black citizens to vote, King travels to Selma, Alabama with his group of Christian activists, and hatches a plan to form a protest march to the state capital Montgomery as a means for black American citizens to express their desire for the right to vote. Threatening this is Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth), who vows to stop the marches by utilising violent state troopers, and racist white citizens. Meanwhile, his home life with wife Coretta (Carmen Ejogo) begins to crumble in the wake of his activism.

Smartly, Selma is not a biopic chronicling everything from King’s early life to his assassination. Such an approach would undermine the milestones of a man with so many achievements, à la 2013’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Instead the film is structured much like Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, focusing purely on the three invigorating months that led to King securing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Interestingly, the films are set almost exactly one hundred years part, and deal with very similar subject matter.

David Oyelowo, a devout Christian, stated in an interview that he believes God called upon him to play Martin Luther King, Jr. Even non-believers will have a difficult time debating this after witnessing the actor ignite the screen. Oyelowo inhabits the part like a second skin. From his powerful, commanding voice to his subtle body movements; he delivers each mighty speech in a manner perfectly matched with King’s. It genuinely feels as though we are spectating the great leader himself as every thundering monologue resonates as exhilaratingly as when first orated fifty years ago. It is difficult to believe that Oyelowo has been overlooked by major awards ceremonies given his astonishing commitment to the role, though while he may not bring home a golden statue, he undoubtedly emerges a star with a very bright future.

While Oyelowo commands the screen, the rest of the cast are also very impressive. Tom Wilkinson shines in his controversial performance as President Johnson; a man torn between granting the coloured folk the right to vote, and racial pressure from political peers. His motives may have been slightly fabricated to better serve the story, but Wilkinson remains collected and as reliable as ever. Carmen Ejogo too is granted a chance to step into the spotlight as King’s wife, particularly in a scene where Martin Luther’s loyalty to her is tested by assailants framing an affair.

Selma has been overshadowed at this year’s awards by more favourable contenders, earning just a single Golden Globe and two Academy Award nominations (Best Picture and Best Original Song). Perhaps arriving too soon after last year’s guilt inducing 12 Years a Slave, Selma could easily have nabbed nominations for cinematography, costume and set design on top of the powerhouse actors well deserving of awards recognition. Nonetheless, Selma remains an important film to be embraced – history lessons are rarely this impeccably acted and beautifully made. Four stars.