FAILURE! (2023)
Writer/director Alex Kahuam’s splendidly crafted one-take feature about the highly stressful day of a second-generation plastics factory owner James (Ted Raimi in an excellent performance) trying to come to grips with possibly having to sell his family business because of overwhelming debt and his daughter’s upcoming high-end marriage. James is a fast talker, and he’ll need to use that talent to the best of his abilities as he is visited by a wedding fitting party, some men as desperate for money as he is, and other characters ranging from the sympathetic to the deadly. Erenesto Lomeli’s crackerjack cinematography keeps viewers up close and personal with the proceedings, and the smooth one-take approach is bolstered by Kahuam’s razor-sharp dialogue. Raimi puts on a veritable acting clinic as his character is dealt one problem after another. A sizable supporting cast adds to the tension, which is peppered with occasional dark humor. Failure! is a thriller, but depending on your interpretation of a certain character, supernatural forces may be in play, as well. Highly recommended for cinephiles of all stripes.
THE BLUE ROSE (2023)
One’s potential enjoyment of young — he was 16 when he shot the film and is 18 now — writer/director George Baron’s The Blue Rose will likely very greatly hinge on whether a viewer sees the film as an homage or a valentine to David Lynch’s films, or just plain pastiche. I am a huge fan of Lynch’s work, but I had a hard time getting around the constant obvious references in The Blue Rose to Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, and more, without much originality. Detective Dalton (Baron) and Detective Lllly (Olivia Scott Welch) are junior detectives mistrusted by boss — and Dalton’s father — Mr. Vallens (Ray Wise, in another nod to Lynch) who try to crack a case involving the stabbing death of Harold O’Malley (Manny Liotta) by his wife Sophie (Nikko Austen Smith) — cherry pie comes into play here — and cross paths with a nightclub singer (Glume Harlow) and other Lynchian characters. The performances are stylized in the manner you might expect, surreal alternative universes are entered, and double identities are encountered. If this all sounds familiar, Lynch fans, you have seen pretty much everything before, and done originally. To the film’s credit, it looks great thanks to fine cinematography by Blaine Dunkley, a fitting score by Alexander Burke, and captivating set decoration by Brittany Brenner. The cast members give it their all, as well. There are tributes to classic Hollywood on display, and Baron definitely had a singular vision that he saw through. He’s a solid actor and shows talent as a director, and I’m looking forward to see what he has in store for his next cinematic venture.
Failure! and The Blue Rose screened as part of the 2023 Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, which ran August 24–28 in London. For more information, visit https://frightfest.co.uk/.
