By Roger Costa
SIRAT
Oliver Laxe’s transcendental, trippy and penetrating sci-fi road movie is an exquisitely inventive and authentic desert journey about a father seeking his missing daughter throughout the rave-gathering scenario. In this mysterious and dystopian atmosphere, resembling a post-Apocalyptic chaotic era, a group of road pirates lead the path to the search, while preparing for their next rave. Midway into the film, Laxe twists the plot, offering one of the most emotionally devastating situations ever seen in cinema history. Addressing an era of intolerance and resistance, not too far from our current reality, unpredictable and vibrant, Laxe crafts a mind-bending sensorial tale about compassion, empathy and surviving the extremes. One of the year’s best films and essential viewing.
(NEON. Opens Thursday, November 13th at Film at Lincoln Center. Director in person for Q&A’s)
THE THINGS YOU KILL
Canada’s submission to the coveted Oscar for Best International Film, this absorbing twisted tale takes the viewer into a complex, role-switching toxic masculinity ride that is impossible to look away. Filled with enigmas, metaphors and mysterious situations, it’s an invigorating psychological moral puzzle about the role of men, their virtues, pride, flaws and virility. But it’s also about family dynamics, broken relationships, memories, trauma and revenge. A man returns to his home in Turkey after studying overseas only to face the suspicious death of his ailing mother. His tempestuous connection with his father and a random encounter with a gardener will permeate the narrative, turning the film into a complex and unpredictably violent thriller. Written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Alireza Khatami (“Terrestrial Verses”), it’s a finely articulated and executed drama, a strong and disturbing portrayal of violence within family bonds.
(Cineverse. Opens Thursday, November 13th at IPIC Theaters).
SALLYWOOD
A love letter to the healing power of performance and entertainment, and the never-ending pursuit of one’s dreams, this satire on Hollywood stars facing conflicts of aging and opportunities is an efficient, funny and ultimately heartening docudrama. Based on the true story of a rural Maine’s writer who travelled to Hollywood only to meet the star of his dreams, the Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominated actress Sally Kirkland, the film paints a lively, frenetic canvas on being an aging artist in now-a-days industry, the sad truth that lies behind the competitiveness, and also the pleasure of being part of the entertainment world. Written and directed by Xaque Gruber, demonstrating total command on the material, as well as allowing the actors to deliver transparent, effective performances, the film’s style of merging dramatization and true facts coming from the actress herself (especially on revealing the dozens of men she has slept with, and how she was courted at private events), works fine into the low-budget spectrum, making it feel like a precious indie film. It’s a wondrous surprise.
(A Buffalo 8 Release. Available On Demand starting November 14th).
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