Morgan Rojas

'Lead and Copper': An Exposé On The Horrifying Flint Water Crisis

The Flint, Michigan water crisis will forever be remembered as one of the worst public health disasters in American history. The human-created disaster spanned 2014 - 2016 and tens of thousands of lives were forever damaged by their local government's carelessness and corporate greed. In the documentary Lead and Copper, filmmaker William Hart investigates why Flint officials made the deadly water supply switch in the first place and the severe consequences the community still faces today.

I'd bet that a majority of Americans have never been to Flint, but the opening few minutes of the film do an excellent job of making the audience feel as if we had spent our whole lives there. Sweeping shots of the city, the rolling hills, and robust rivers portray a picturesque community that made up this small but mighty town. All was well in Flint until April 2014, when the city irrationally changed its water supply source from the Detroit-supplied Lake Huron to the Flint River. At the time, Flint residents were paying the highest water bill in the United States at around $230 a month–a shocking statistic that the film lays bare in bold lettering. The local governing officials were becoming fed up with the price gouging and decided to switch to a cheaper, albeit riskier, option. Behind closed doors, it was decided that the municipality water would come from the Flint River, which was meant to be a band-aid, not the solution, to the wider water accessibility issue.

Flint residents familiar with the local river didn't even want to swim in that water, let alone drink it. Quickly, it became blatantly obvious that the switch was the wrong course of action. The community complained of yellow/brown water that resembled cooking grease pouring out of their faucets. People were getting sick, their hair and skin had become visibly damaged, and that wasn't even the worst of it. To everyone's horror, the city was denying there was anything wrong. People turned to buying bottled water in bulk to shower with and wash their dishes. It was unsustainable, costly, and unfair. Eventually, city officials couldn't deny the issue any longer. These people, under their watch, had been poisoned.

The stories that survivors of the water crisis tell in such detail throughout the film are enough to make you gag in disgust, both at the tainted water they were subjected to as well as their local government. William Hart interviews many people who came to the same conclusion nearly 10 years ago, which is that this happened because Flint officials valued money over human lives. Exposed emails to and from city officials further confirm the theory of turning a blind eye to the lead and copper rules and regulations. The lack of action by those in power signaled that human lives are expendable, especially ones that may run along racial or economic lines.

The film itself is presented in a typical documentary format, including interviews with subjects in their home or business and the inclusion of archival footage from court proceedings and council meetings. The score comes across as a little heavy-handed at times, yet on the whole, the film does an excellent job of recapping the water crisis as well as providing a compelling human interest story about the resilience of the Flint residents. One quote that really struck a chord comes from Elijah Eugene Cummings, the politician and civil rights advocate who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Maryland's 7th congressional district from 1996 until his death in 2019. Cummings perfectly sums up the course of thinking that we should all be leading with, especially those in positions of power and influence: "We don't inherit our environment from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

by Morgan Rojas

'Dream Scenario': Nic Cage Delivers Brilliance in This Existential Tragicomedy

I'm convinced that Norwegian writer/director Kristoffer Borgli found a way to enter into my dreams and subconscious. That's the only way I can explain how Dream Scenario and his previous film, Sick of Myself, feel so tailor-made for me. A dark comedy about a flawed protagonist struggling with loneliness, sign me up! Distributed by A24 and produced by Ari Aster, Dream Scenario is visually stunning, completely original, and most excitingly: refreshingly weird. In a somewhat meta role for Nicolas Cage, who is used to his "memeification" at this stage in his career, Dream Scenario is a film I didn't want to wake up from.

Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) is a middle-aged, married, father of two. He is a tenured professor at the local university and is content with his life in upper-middle-class suburbia. Everything about Paul is ordinary, and that is fine with him. He is comfortable with the way things are. Each day carries on just like every other until, in a bizarre turn of events, Paul is informed that people have been unexplainably dreaming about him at night. His daughter, his students, his colleagues, and his former ex-girlfriend have all seen Paul in their dreams, which are surreally depicted in various degrees. What starts out as a couple of strange coincidences turns into an international phenomenon when total strangers report seeing Paul appear in their dreams as well. Soon enough, this ordinary man becomes the most talked about person on the planet, catapulting him into a worldwide celebrity with a fan base that the Kardashians would be jealous of.

Just as quickly as his 15 minutes of fame falls into his lap, it ruthlessly begins to fade. The dreams that were once harmless sharply turn into night terrors, with people fearing for their safety, even if they are close to Paul in real life. Paul initially had no control over his stardom and now realizes that his downfall is out of his hands as well. His wife (Julianne Nicholson) grows frustrated with Paul's explosive behavior at home, his children (Jessica Clement and Lily Bird) become embarrassed by him, and his managers (Michael Cera and Kate Berlant) become desperate to secure opportunities for their once-celebrity client. In a twisted turn of fate, Paul's rise to fame and subsequent fall into obscurity leaves him destitute, heartbroken, and delusional.

Through Dream Scenario, Kristoffer Borgli explores themes of modern celebrity and hive mentality with sharp, edgy humor. The premise is totally wacky and yet with every scene, I fall deeper in love with Paul Matthews and start to develop a sense of protectiveness around him. The script is something special and only could have been brought to life by one man: Nicolas Cage. His performance is masterfully measured and equally unhinged in all of the right moments (Paul Matthews and Paul Hunham from Alexander Payne's The Holdovers would definitely be the friends who drink scotch and complain about their bratty students in an alternate universe). Cage is magnetic in both solo scenes and acting alongside the always fabulous Julianne Nicholson. Cage agrees with the film's specialness, saying, “It was one of the best scripts I’ve read, quite frankly, and I think it’s my best performance and probably the best movie I’ve ever made.”

On the craft side, exceptional editing by Borgli acts as an omniscient character that further aids in punchlines and humorous moments. The score by composer Owen Pallett is much more grounded than the film itself, mirroring the stable and steady life Paul had before he shot to stardom. An assortment of strings and simple melodies from a grand piano create a classical sound that is unexpected for this zany of a film. As a chamber music composer, Pallett brings his experience working with esteemed groups and artists–including The National Ballet of Canada, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Frank Ocean, and Sigur Rós–to this dark comedy. The Dream Scenario score could have easily gone in the direction of Son Lux x Everything Everywhere All At Once or Colin Stetson x Hereditary, but the decision to explore simple, more organic sounds feels like the right call here. While the score breathes, it allows the stellar sound design to get noticed.

Dream Scenario is one of the most unforgettable films of the year and will no doubt put Kristoffer Borgli's name in the mainstream consciousness. Fans of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Curb Your Enthusiasm will find tonal similarities abound in Dream Scenario although the film successfully carves out a niche for itself as a wholly original concept. It's not a stretch to say that Nic Cage may find himself the darling of awards season once again. Wouldn't that be a dream come true?

by Morgan Rojas

'Shadow Brother Sunday': Alden Ehrenreich Crafts a Tight, Tense Debut Short Film

Any time a well-known actor steps out from behind the lens and into the role of a filmmaker, it comes with an additional layer of pressure. After starring in a string of big-screen hits, including Netflix's Fair Play, Disney's Solo: A Star Wars Story, Elizabeth Banks' Cocaine Bear, and the Coen Brothers' Hail, Caesar!, Alden Ehrenreich proves that his expansion into directing has come by way of learning the tricks of the trade from some of the industry's best. The experience of working with top-tier directors effortlessly translates onto the screen in his short debut film, Shadow Brother Sunday. After watching the film, it's easy to recognize that the guy's got talent, and hopefully, this is just the beginning of a very storied and fruitful filmmaking career.

In Shadow Brother Sunday, which Ehrenreich wrote and directed, he transforms himself into Cole, an aspiring musician whose jealousy toward his famous brother seeps into dangerous territory. When Jacob (Nick Robinson), an actor on the rise, returns home to attend the premiere of his latest film with his family, the general mood in the household is celebratory and bright. That is, until Cole enters and brings with him a dark cloud of negativity and gloom. Frustrated with his financial situation and seeing an easy opportunity for quick cash, Cole entertains the idea of selling his brother's personal information to a gossip site. The decision weighs on Cole; he loves his brother, yet feels entitled to the same amount of success that Jacob is currently basking in. Time is ticking, and Cole has to make a choice: stand by his brother, or sell him out.

Ehrenreich uses the film's 15-minute runtime to craft a concise drama. The pacing hits the right tension notes and ends on a cliffhanger that will hopefully be addressed in a feature-length adaptation (one can dream!). As a filmmaker, Ehrenreich wanted to create as much authenticity for the actors as possible, which is why his performance is immersed in method acting–gaining over 20 pounds to fully embody Cole's uncomfortable physical state. He also set up dinner parties so that the faux family could get acquainted off-camera and organically develop their relationships.

For transparency's sake, Ehrenreich didn't claim to take this project on alone. Shadow Brother Sunday is equipped with backing and support that most directors in the short film space only dream of, including Francis Ford Coppola serving as Executive Producer and Elizabeth Banks moderating the premiere's Q&A. Still, Hollywood legends aside, the film could hold its own

As Ehrenreich continues down the directorial path with confidence and passion, I believe he could follow a similar trajectory to Bradley Cooper (Maestro, A Star is Born). Shadow Brother Sunday premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and won a Special Jury Award for Excellence in Filmmaking from the Salute Your Shorts Film Festival. It qualifies to be considered for a 2024 Academy® Award.

by Morgan Rojas

In 'Four Daughters,' Heartbreak Blurs the Lines of Reality

Winner of the Golden Eye for Best Documentary at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Four Daughters is a film of defiance. Directed by Oscar-nominated Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, Four Daughters expertly blurs the lines between fiction and non-fiction to tell the origin story of Olfa, her four daughters, and the generational trauma that casts an overwhelming shadow on their shared future. This isn't your traditional documentary, not in the slightest. While the events are real–tragically so–the storytelling approach is entirely unique and singular. Not only has Kaouther Ben Hania crafted an unforgettable work of art with Four Daughters, but she may have also invented a new genre of film.

Olfa Hamrouni is a middle-aged mother living in Tunisia with her two younger daughters, Eya and Tayssir. Her two older girls, Ghofrane and Rahma, left the family home years ago after becoming radicalized by extremist groups in their hometown. This loss has been nearly impossible for Olfa and her younger girls to accept. There was no closure in the form of a "goodbye," no see you later, just absence one night, leaving the remaining family with guilt, anger, shame, and sadness. Reacting to this missing piece in their previously tight family circle, director Kaouther Ben Hania reimagines what life would be like if Ghofrane and Rahma returned home. Casting professional actresses as the missing eldest daughters, including acclaimed Egyptian-Tunisian actress Hend Sabri as Olfa, Olfa is reunited with her missing girls through re-enactment scenes and given the opportunity to heal past wounds and unpack complicated family history together.

Recounting moments from her life through intimate interviews, Olfa is also present in many of the reunification scenes. However, another actor steps in to play her in scenes that become too upsetting (including scenes of sexual abuse and violence). This is method acting taken to an extreme and such a stunning process to observe as an audience member.

Under the guidance of director Kaouther Ben Hania, the family re-enacts specific scenes in an effort to express their feelings toward "Ghofrane" and "Rahma" and work through their family issues which, it turns out, is quite traumatic. In one example, a man playing Olfa's partner, Wissem, is in a scene that depicts addiction and sexual abuse. The confrontation from the younger girls (Eya and Tayssir) gets to be too overwhelming for the male actor, who calls off the shoot and leaves the scene, needing to smoke a cigarette in an effort to come down from the emotional toll of the scene.

Ghofrane and Rahma's homecoming may be manufactured, but the feelings their presence evokes are real. It's obvious that this acting is a form of therapy for Olfa, Eya, and Tayssir, who vulnerably relive their own trauma in this safe setting. Behind the camera, the string composition by composer Amine Bouhafa is a hauntingly beautiful representation of melancholy. Each note carries with it a sense of forlorn longing and heartbreak.

The magic of Kaouther Ben Hania's Four Daughters is its ability to incorporate performance art within a documentary without feeling inauthentic. It never strays from the purpose-driven mission of searching for inner truth. The sad truth is that Olfa may never get her two daughters back but, if this film offers even the slightest respite from that devastating reality, then it will have served its purpose.

In theaters on November 3 in Los Angeles, with expansion to follow.

by Morgan Rojas

'Alone Together' Offers Jordan Peele-Inspired Gothic Horror

Dysfunction runs rampant in director Will Kresch's tightly woven horror film, Alone Together. Considered a "bottle movie" for its primary use of only one location, Alone Together tells the story of one woman's attempt to escape the shadow of her trauma–both physical and emotional–and the lengths to which she is willing to go in her fight for survival. Set against the COVID-19 backdrop, one of the scariest parts of the film is having to relive the pandemic all over again.

Have you ever felt alone despite being in a relationship? That is the case with Nassdja (DeAnna S Wright), a woman at her wit's end who, seemingly going against her intuition, continues to stay in a toxic relationship with her aggressive boyfriend, Luke (played by the director's brother, Matthew Kresch). As COVID-19 ramps up and forces the couple to shelter in place, they decide to go into lockdown together at Luke's family's cabin in the woods. The location is remote and far away from family or friends, and with unreliable wifi, they will essentially be living off the grid. Nassdja convinces herself that this could be their chance at re-connection but immediately upon entering the house, she feels a rush of uneasiness overcome her. Horror sets in when she realizes that they are not alone.

Alone Together drops viewers into brute intensity from the jump, and the heaviness of the film never really lets up. What starts out as reality-based conflicts evolve into intense, psychedelic visions with haunting malevolent spirits, making for a trippy and shocking turn of events. This transition from normalcy to otherworldly catastrophes keeps the audience engaged and guessing at every turn. The film really shines during the dream sequences, which are fantastically executed from all sides. The colors, music, erratic camera angles, and editing all work so well. Alone Together offers Jordan Peele-inspired horror and delivers tenfold on maximizing the gothic, dark undertones.

Co-writer/director Will Kresch set out to make a film that felt unforgiving, and it's safe to say he succeeded. Kresch summarizes, "I wanted to remind people what it's like to feel under siege by loss and pain, and be forced to mine their souls to uncover the strength and grit to fight to survive. To hack through all that agony and find yourself standing over the mangled corpse of your malefactors, with a bloodied grin, celebrating that tangy coppery taste on your tongue, because like life itself, I believe movies are best when they are thrill rides that reflect reality in all its pain and exhilaration."

by Morgan Rojas

Jason Momoa Narrates 'Deep Rising,' an Ecological Wake-Up Call

Ever since I became scuba certified last month, I have taken an even deeper interest in the health of our ocean and the well-being of the incredible creatures that call it home. The experience of existing underwater–even for just an hour–is unlike anything I've felt before. My senses became much more fine-tuned to the sights and sounds of this abundant, alien-like ecosystem, and I felt an unexpected connection to my pre-historic roots. Director Matthieu Rytz's documentary Deep Rising calls our attention to the existential threats that face this beautiful landscape and arms audiences with information about the devastating reality that we are barreling toward if we don't make major changes, fast.

Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, lends his commanding voice to the film as he narrates throughout this ecological wake-up call. "We are tied to the ocean," he says stoically. "It has always shaped human lives." As humans have evolved throughout the centuries, we have learned how to adapt to our environment. In the case of Deep Rising, the problem we face today is the fact that we are pulling resources from the ocean without understanding its complexities and the cause and effect of such actions. The resources at hand are deep sea nodules containing highly sought-after metals. As capitalists discovered these nodules' potential to become the new source of energy to fuel the earth and the economy, mining these rocklike objects became a top priority with little regard to how disrupting the ecosystem could have devastating effects.

Through fly-on-the-wall coverage, Deep Rising exposes the people and businesses behind the for-profit motives of greenlighting massive extractions of metals that are deemed essential to the electric battery revolution. The bigger picture that the film tries and lacklusterly succeeds in driving home is the fact that we should be developing alternative methods for harnessing energy that do not involve destruction, such as hydrogen. While Rytz has a justifiable cause for creating this film, the story itself is presented in a very dry manner. Footage from committee hearings, press conferences, and business pitches tend to come across as sterile and stand in stark contrast to the whimsical, effervescent sea life we’re lucky to get a peek at up close. There is creative respite in Ólafur Arnalds’ score, which is by far the standout of the film. The Icelandic composer creates a sense of icy foreboding with vast and deep notes along with consumer-friendly house music on a loop.

Deep Rising is an urgent geopolitical and scientific documentary that carries a strong message: the bottom of the seafloor is home to the most unimaginable life forms that have existed since the beginning of time, so why do we humans feel that it is our right to take their resources for ourselves? As Rytz elegantly states, "In order to address the climate crisis, we must protect the biodiversity of our ocean and as humanity is fast devouring the finite resources of our Blue Planet, we are witnessing the sixth mass extinction before our very eyes. While the world’s human population represents a minuscule 0.01 percent of all living things, our own body mass consists mostly of the primordial ocean and microbes. Protecting ocean biodiversity then, is not just about securing the future of turtles, dolphins, whales, and all the other amazing sea life we love and cherish. It is bigger than that. Because the biosphere does not belong to us; we belong to it."

For fans of: Leviathan, Chasing Coral

by Morgan Rojas