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Fantastic Fest Review: THELMA

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The term slow-burn is no stranger to Fantastic Fest’s audiences. A lot of films push the envelope in terms of using interesting ways to put a spell on the audience, while also working in some dynamic character development. Thelma is one of those films. It takes its time to make its point, but like a lot of these slow-burn films from the fest, it utilizes that approach to create a totally standalone emotive experience and one that will leave you breathless.

Thelma follows a young girl by the same name, who is heads off to University. Like most young folks headed to the high frontiers of parental free living, she is reaching a point of change and exploration. With a heavy religious background, her inner angst and first view of true freedom begins to wake things within her long left dormant. So, along with discovering her first love, she also begins to awake something powerful and possibly sinister within herself.

The film is absolutely beautiful in its scope and wears its heart on its sleeve for cinematic experience. A number of wide shots are used emphasizing use of negative space to mirror Thelma’s mostly icy world. The actresses in this are so good that the sometimes-glacial pacing is acceptably 100% overlooked. Their onscreen chemistry works and is alluring and provocative. The film could have entirely been about these two girls eating a sandwich and drinking coffee for an entire two-hours and I would have still been onboard and engaged. Director, Joachim Trier obviously brings his unique blend of character focus from his previous work on films like Oslo and Louder Than Bombs. His eye and ear for blending his actors in with a swirling narrative is at the forefront of all his work and is extended to Thelma here. I’m hoping to see him work on more genre stuff in the future as he appears to have a natural comfort level in doing so.

The film plays out like an antihero Marvel comic character over the course of its runtime. If you could picture a completely grounded origin story for Jean Grey’s Dark Phoenix, this would be it. And in a world where FX’s Legion and the upcoming New Mutants are charting new paths in comic book movies/shows realm, this would easily have fit right in. Thelma’s transformative nature and awakening powers lend themselves to a dark past that unfurls over the course of the film.

Thelma left me thinking. Its careful use of its runtime to establish its characters and their relationship sets up the dominoes in the second half to fall with precise operatic choreography. Its narrative holds its cards close to its chest as revelation after revelation is unfurled, while it is all while simultaneously wrapping its tendrils of dread around you. Thelma is smart, haunting and utterly fucking awesome.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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