By Roger Costa
SACCHARINE
Intense and visually entrancing, Australian director Natalie Erika James’ third directorial entry confirms her talent as a visionary and accomplished storyteller. A timely depiction of female body-insecurity, it follows Hana (an outstanding Midori Francis) a Queer medical student who’s lured into a bizarre weight-loss program that includes a mysterious pill made of human ashes. Of course she will face the consequences of such beauty-and-self-care behavior, and it comes in the form of a famine, obese ghost haunting her while she descends into paranoia and neurosis.
Addressing the risks implemented by the feminine desire and pursuit for the perfect body, the director crafts an efficiently horrifying tale of going to extremes to reach one’s need for self-assurance. Its stylish imagery and visuals are over the top, enhanced by the dark cinematography and gritty sounds. Actress Midori Francis embraces her character as she deals with hormonal dysfunctions, paranoia, fear and the supernatural. It’s a bold, gripping and accomplished performance that anchors the film as its beating chord.
An acclaimed selection at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Teddy Award, it’s a highly satisfying body-horror, psychological thriller that mirrors the trending risks of beautification.
(An IFC Films/Shudder Release. Opens Thursday, May 21st at AMC Empire in NYC, AMC Jersey Gardens in NJ and other theaters).
TWO PIANOS
The always charming and luminous Award-winning actor Francois Civil gives a profoundly aching and mesmerizing performance in this emotionally-charged melodrama directed by Arnaud Desplechin. A complex and multi-layered character study, Civil plays Mathias Vogler, a renowned pianist who returns home for the farewell concert of his mentor, the great Charlotte Rampling, and crosses paths with his former lover, with whom he carries many secrets unfolding along the way.
Nominated for the Best Film Award at San Sebastian International Film Festival, Desplechin delivers his best film in a decade, a sophisticated and irresistible tale of human relations, a superbly acted puzzling drama about wounds from the past, the importance of an artist’s legacy, and how music connects minds and souls.
(A Kino Lorber Release. Now Playing at The Clairidge in Montclair and other theaters).
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