'The Uninvited' Review: Lifestyles of the Rich and the Melancholic
The White Lotus star Walton Goggins is returning to a screen near you in the upcoming indie drama, The Uninvited. Written and directed by filmmaker and his real-life partner Nadia Conners, Goggins stars as a Hollywood agent in this single-location ensemble film where he navigates through a chaotic night of secrecy, mystery, and self-reflection. The Uninvited opens this Friday, April 18th, at the Laemmle Monica Film Center.
Fake It 'Til You Make It
Running a tight 97 minutes, The Uninvited takes place over the course of one night at the Hollywood Hills home of couple Sammy (Goggins) and Rose (Elizabeth Reaser). As they prepare to host a party, we see that there are clearly cracks in their relationship's foundation. Sammy and Rose bicker in what seems like routine fashion; subtle battles over career insecurities and motherhood woes rear their ugly head. They've reached the point in their relationship where now, even the smallest inconvenience seems cause for resentment. Through fairly on-the-nose dialogue, Sammy makes it clear that they are going through a rough patch. If they can get through the night unscathed, it would be a giant step in the right direction for their future together.
Despite best efforts, Rose is quickly distracted by a stranger who has found herself in their home. The older woman, Helen (Lois Smith), is not well; sick, and confused. Rose decides it's best to stay with Helen until her family comes to get her. Meanwhile, at the party, Sammy confides in a friend with a bombshell of a secret: he lost his job and is desperate to get back on track. To complicate matters further, Rose's ex-boyfriend Lucien (Pedro Pascal) shows up, evoking thoughts of a romanticized alternate reality where they would be married with children. The past and present now collide, leaving Rose stuck in the middle to confront her insecurities, loneliness, and deteriorating marriage.
Art Imitates Life?
Rumors of Goggins and Conners' personal lives aside, the script feels authentic, seemingly alluding to complicated aspects of their relationship off-screen. Sammy admits to infidelity, which causes Rose to reflect on her place in their shared future together. It's a touching, if not sobering, moment in the film that takes courage to express publicly. Despite this vulnerability, however, The Uninvited seems to lack an overall sense of grit and memorability. It doesn't quite get under the surface the way it needs to for the audience to fully empathize with Rose's cathartic emotional climax. And while it is lightly comedic, it skews more towards uncomfortably tense.
Takeaway
The Uninvited is a tight-knit ensemble that gains momentum from the very talented performers on screen. While it may not be everyone's most notable work, it offers a unique perspective into the lives of people who seem to have it all when in reality, they're fighting to keep it together.
'Before the Winter' Review: A Stunning DGA-Winning Short
Filmmaker Juan Zuloaga Eslait's short film about a young girl's hidden secret is a masterclass in the art of the slow reveal. Before the Winter tells a wholly absorbing story of protecting the ones you love no matter how dark their secret is. Winner of the Outstanding Directorial Achievement Award at the Directors Guild of America Student Film Awards, Eslait's talent shines throughout this 15-minute short. Next up, the film is screening at the 2025 Cleveland International Film Festival.
A Journal Containing Dark Secrets Is Cause for Concern
May (Venice Wong) is a middle school-age girl who writes as a form of expression. Within the pages of her diary, she recounts her home life in poetically devastating detail. One afternoon, her diary falls into the hands of her well-meaning but nosy teacher, Mrs. Lee (Lauren Bjel). As Mrs. Lee reads on, May's once-hidden secrets begin to spill out from the pages.
The audience is transported into May's home. We witness May's mother's desperation to care for the sick family cat. Her mother works night shifts and even resorts to some questionable activities where strange men enter her bedroom late at night. Mrs. Lee feels a sense of obligation to protect May from her situation. However, when Mrs. Lee speaks to May's mother, she disputes some key details. This leaves us to wonder: Who is really hiding the truth?
Stunning Cinematography and Strong Performances
Before the Winter embodies a high-quality richness that looks aesthetically similar to a studio-backed film. The color grade, costume design, and casting are standout elements that give the film a professional appearance. Venice Wong does a lot of emotional heavy lifting as May, and her performance is applaud-worthy. Cinematographer Zhen Donny Li captures every shot with empathy and precision. His attention to detail, especially in the mirror shots and in-camera manipulation, is both technically advanced and just plain fun to watch.
Takeaway
Director Juan Zuloaga Eslait took a risk by breaking the golden rule of filmmaking in Before the Winter. He made a film that included not only children but also an animal. However, he makes this otherwise difficult casting challenge look easy. Bringing screenwriter Flora Wengu Jiang's vision to life, Before the Winter is a commendable short film for all involved.
'The Things We Hold Sacred' Review: Making The Most of Limited Time
Imagine it's the last day on Earth. In 24 hours, life, as we know it, will cease to exist. How will you choose to spend this valuable time? This is the rhetorical question filmmaker Matthew Paris asks the audience in his latest short film The Things We Hold Sacred. The micro-budget indie packs a big punch by focusing on themes of gratitude and reflection. The film is available to stream on the Rumble platform.
A Day in the Life Before Impending Doom
In this observational slice-of-life drama, Jacob (Matthew Paris) lives out his final day on Earth modestly and simply. Jacob is a successful, single man but in the face of an impending natural disaster that threatens to destroy the planet (Melancholia style), none of that matters. Jacob reflects on what he sees as life's simple pleasures, like long car drives and making a sandwich. Ironically, the awareness of his inevitable demise is what forces him to finally pay attention to these little things that matter most.
The Things We Hold Sacred interestingly feels inspired by the great silent movies of the 1920s. From the intentional film grain to the decision to exclusively use intertitles, or "title cards" with no voiceover, Paris makes it a point to amplify these old-school characteristics. This works for the majority of the film, however I wish the intertitles remained on screen for longer. They tend to pass too quickly and I found myself missing some of the text.
Takeaway
Written, directed, produced, and starring Matthew Paris, The Things We Hold Sacred is the definition of a one-man band. His thought-provoking film may be simple on the surface, but the message is rich for discussion and philosophical debate. He leaves audiences with a final quote, which serves as a nice reminder: "Never take your accomplishments or things for granted. Hold them sacred."
'A Weird Kind of Beautiful' Review: Secrets Don't Keep Friendships
Filmmaker Gabriel Mayo embodies the spirit of a Joe Swanberg picture in his debut feature film, A Weird Kind of Beautiful. In this tight-knit group drama, Mayo crafts a tense and eccentric story as deeply held secrets reveal themselves. Don't let the film's minimalist set and production design fool you, there is never a dull moment. A Weird Kind of Beautiful makes its world premiere at the 2025 Miami Film Festival.
Secrets Don't Keep Friendships
A group of dysfunctional twenty-somethings gather together after the funeral of their best friend. They commemorate his memory the only way they know how, by drinking and sharing old stories. The group gives off the impression of immaturity and stunted growth as they bicker and yell at each other in dramatic and often piercing ways. Yet the dynamic drastically changes when their former friend Eric arrives with his fiance. Eric, the group outlier, hasn't seen his friends in eight years. His attendance is a pleasant surprise for most, but not everyone.
Having held his secret for years, one of the friends is finally ready to come clean. She exposes one of Eric's deep dark secrets which threatens his future with his fiance and his relationship with the group. This secret is vile, disturbing, and graphic. A trigger warning should be acknowledged for those sensitive to unsettling sexual acts involving minors. It's a horrifying circumstance that adds infinite shock value to the film. However, it's hard to not be repelled by this storyline.
A Dialogue-Heavy Script Is a Shock to the System
Gabriel Mayo's feature flips the script on the conventionally lighthearted fare often found in buddy films. In A Weird Kind of Beautiful, there is a somber and palpable energy that intends to shake things up. In addition to the jarring script, the decision to film in a single location further creates a sense of bottlenecked tension. Mayo acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to make stylistic changes during production, and the one-location setting solved logistical problems. The frenetic energy comes from the dialogue, which the cast passionately delivers.
Takeaway
Friendships are nebulous relationships that evolve as we grow older. A Weird Kind of Beautiful shows one extreme of confronting hard truths. Whether or not these relationships can weather the storm is yet to be seen. However, the film does a commendable job of conveying the ebbs, flows, and growing pains in adult relationships.
'Minted: The Rise (and Fall?) of the NFT' Review: An Impossible Dream
It's bittersweet to think back to the days of the early NFT boom. We were still in the thick of COVID-19 caution but slowly coming out of quarantine when TikTok and Tiger King monopolized the collective consciousness. Then comes NFTs, a revolutionary form of digital art that initially seemed like a fad but ended up becoming a cultural disruptor. In the new documentary Minted: The Rise (and Fall?) of the NFT, filmmaker Nicholas Bruckman charts the wild ride of the art world's former darling.
From Astounding Cultural Movement to Biggest Financial Collapse
An artist named Beeple sits in his living room surrounded by loved ones as they all stare at his TV in disbelief. Beeple's newly created NFT has sold for $69 million. This digital artwork, which is still in the infancy stage of popularity, has officially made Beeple the third highest-selling artist of all time. But what exactly is an NFT, and why are people spending thousands, if not millions, of dollars on art that can literally be saved on a computer for free? This is Bruckman's starting point as he navigates the curiously bizarre trajectory of the NFT.
Watch the Minted: The Rise (and Fall?) of the NFT trailer here.
Bruckman does a great job of getting into the minds of these digital pioneers whose lives have changed forever by selling their art on the blockchain. After Beeple's historic sale ignited an all-out frenzy, many artists found themselves living out their own rags-to-riches stories. But all good things must come to an end. Minted goes into stunning detail about the conspiracy theories, celebrity endorsements, and dark side of this controversial new frontier.
NTFs: Everything or Nothing?
Watching this film in hindsight, as the stock market is currently volatile, gives off an eerily uneasy feeling. Nicholas Bruckman could have never predicted the timing of this release to perfectly align with cultural events but it works so well in tandem. It forces the audience to question not just the monetary value of an NFT, but the very nature of art. This larger philosophical question is juxtaposed against composer Dan Deacon's bright and forceful score.
Takeaway
The question remains: Are NFTs dead? Minted hypothesizes that they may not be raking in millions of dollars like they used to, but there is still a market for them. However, what has died are people's hopes and dreams that this was sustainable. Minted made its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and is coming to Netflix on April 9th.
'Sound Spring' Review: A Love Letter to a Small Town
Filmmaker Catalina Alvarez infuses unusual techniques that mirror the uniqueness of her niche subjects in the documentary Sound Spring. Unconventional in its production yet traditional in intention, Sound Spring is a love letter to the small town of Yellow Springs, Ohio. The film makes its World Premiere at the 2025 Cleveland International Film Festival.
An Oral History of a Town, Narrated by its Residents
The story of Sound Spring unfolds over a series of eight vignettes. Within each sequence, residents give thoughtful interviews about their lives in Yellow Springs. The history of the town is explored through archival photos and verbal anecdotes from Ohioans of various generations. Most of the vignettes are intentionally surreal, examples include a breakdancer who speaks while posing during a challenging upside-down dance move. Another moment shows a young woman rollerblading and an older woman working out with weights. While the delivery of the message may be comical, the weight of their words is to be taken seriously. Through interviews, we learn of the historical importance of Yellow Springs. This includes ancestors' settlements after slavery, Antioch College, Ohio's Trail of Tears, and the unexpected relationship with Coretta Scott King.
Creative Liberties (Mostly) Pay Off
Director Catalina Alvarez crafts clever ways to reinvigorate the traditional documentary formula. The most noticeable and impactful method is through the sound. The focus is primarily on the audio because these vignettes are all re-stagings of the subjects' previous audio interviews. Alvarez gets meta by having them perform their own previously recorded media.
In one vignette, a DJ's interview is set to a lo-fi hip-hop drum track with every few words getting remixed. Another vignette uses voice manipulation across two interviews, where the original speakers' voices are dubbed by another person. These manipulations add an exciting element to a niche subject that could have been considered monotonous due to its hyper-specificity. The film's misstep comes from the creative decision to have overlapping dialogue. This effect results in muddying the interview's sentiment and made me wonder if I was having technical issues.
Takeaway
The experimental documentary genre is continuously pushing boundaries and Sound Spring is a welcomed new entry. Catalina Alvarez boldly shows what's possible in this art form, and while not every move she makes pays off, the risk alone is worth championing.
'The Luckiest Man in America' Review: Get Rich, Scam Trying
An underdog story is usually an easy crowd favorite. Throw in a large cash prize, like Slumdog Millionaire, and you'll no doubt have a box office winner. Director Samir Oliveros doesn't stray far from this tried and true formula in The Luckiest Man in America. The result is an enjoyable yet mediocre historical dramatization that doesn't move the needle much one way or the other. The film opens nationwide this Friday, April 4, 2025.
Big Dreams Require Bold Actions
Based on actual events from 1984, The Luckiest Man in America stars Paul Walter Hauser as Michael Larson, an unemployed ice cream truck driver from Ohio. A huge fan of the "Press Your Luck" game show, he is ultimately selected to compete in an upcoming episode. This marks a life-changing moment for Michael, who makes it known that any prize money will be going towards ensuring his daughter's wellbeing. Michael's initial game show debut is rocky. He quickly loses any acquired amount of money due to his poor judgment, as well as curses on TV. Michael Larson is the epitome of an underdog engaging in a losing public battle.
However, after a quick commercial break, Michael's luck begins to change. His bets start paying off big time, and he quickly racks up thousands of dollars in winnings. The game show host (Walton Goggins) is in disbelief, as are the other contestants and studio audience. Michael's winning streak also catches the attention of the control room, who are quick to act. What they discover about Michael is beyond their wildest dreams. Behind the dopey small-town facade is a calculated mastermind who is using mental tricks and memory patterns to beat the system at their own game.
A Moderately Tame Thriller
The Luckiest Man in America is an enjoyable movie for those who want surface-level entertainment. The film's billing as a "thriller" does feel a bit misleading though, as "drama" feels more accurate. The story itself is a fascinating one and filmmaker Samir Oliveros' instincts to bring this to the screen are applauded. Even if the film feels flat due to the lack of character development, there is no question that Paul Walter Hauser makes for a compelling leading man. Had the film delved deeper into Michael's psychological development to truly get a dynamic portrait of this complicated man, it would have been more satisfying.
Takeaway
If you're looking for a fun and lighthearted watch, The Luckiest Man in America may be the film for you. One has to wonder though if a documentary would have been more compelling than this scripted version. Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable cinematic escape that clocks in at a sharp 90 minutes. The Luckiest Man in America premiered at TIFF in 2024.
'Humantis' Review: A Short Arthouse Indie With a Big Message
Identity and belonging are the key themes of filmmaker Paris Baillie's incredible animated short Humantis. The experimental stop-motion film uses mystical praying mantis-like creatures as a vessel to symbolize a universal human experience of denial and transformation. Humantis made its World Premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and won the jury award at AFI Fest.
A Journey Through Experimental Stop Motion
Humantises, a praying mantis/orchid hybrid with human-like capabilities to feel emotion, are masters of deception. They move around the world in a cluster. All looking, acting, and moving the same. However, when one rogue humantis begins to unintentionally change color, its outward difference is met with shame and embarrassment. It struggles to blend in and finds itself an outcast. It's only when the humantis meets a similar-looking creature that it realizes there is no point trying to hide from this inevitable change. Embracing the transformation, the humantis eventually learns its otherness is beautiful and something to be proud of.
The Beautiful Humantis World
The craft behind Humantis is excellently produced. In addition to the mesmerizing stop-motion animation, the film is without dialogue. Only the score and sound design aid the film's sonic journey. This decision to forgo any language is always a calculated risk, and in this case, it most definitely serves the film for the better. The choreography is admirable as well, a delicate art form that Baillie masterfully succeeds in directing.
Takeaway
Humantis is a beautiful arthouse indie film that may be short but packs a big message. It's an impressive feat for Paris Baillie, who is not only credited as director and writer, but also composer, editor, and cinematographer.