Chicago International Film Festival - (My) Day 2

Three Days in September

Released:  October 16^th, 2015

Starring:  Irena Ristic, Kamka Tocinovski, Adem Karaga

Directed by:  Darijan Pejovski

Written by:  Igor Ivanov Izi, Darijan Pejovski

Personal Bias Alert:  likes women-centric stories

8.5 of 10

              A slow-burn thriller, Three Days in September is all about what people aren’t saying.  Most of the characters don’t know each other or haven’t seen each other in years.  Their secrets run deep and don’t come out easily, but as they’re all isolated in a remote town, it’s only a matter of time before the veneer comes off.  It’s as classic a story as you can get, and first-time director Darijan Pejovski plays his characters and their surroundings nearly perfectly.  His Q&A referenced influences from film noir and ‘70s American cinema, an apt representation of the film’s gritty entertainment.  You’ll connect with his leading ladies very easily, but you won’t quite be sure why.  In the end, they’ll take you down a path you weren’t aware that you wanted to take, but in Pejovski and these excellent actors hands, it’ll be impossible to resist.

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Full Contact

Released:  October 17^th, 2015

Starring:  Grégoire Colin, Lizzie Brocheré

Directed by:  David Verbeek

Written by:  David Verbeek

Personal Bias Alert:  not big on abstract storytelling

1.5 of 10

            Upping the arthouse ante is Full Contact, a decidedly ambiguous film about a French drone pilot.  The first section is rather straightforward, with the military man bombing targets from a secure facility in Nevada.  One of his targets, though, turns out to have been based on bad information, and the second and third sections unravel the mental and emotional consequences of such an act.  While there’s nothing wrong with going abstract, Full Contact goes about it in all the wrong ways, with textbook film school visual metaphors and minimal dialogue.  The second section is an almost unbearable ‘wandering through the wasteland’ type scenario, complete with an underwater sequence and a dog that gazes knowingly into the pilot’s eyes.  If you were one of the people who complained about the similar sequence in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, then avoid this film like the plague.

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James White

Released:  November 13^th, 2015

Rated:  R

Starring:  Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh

Directed by:  Josh Mond

Written by:  Josh Mond

Personal Bias Alert:  dislikes movies about irresponsible adults

6 of 10

            When a group of NYU graduates band together to make their first films, sporadically great things can happen.  Josh Mond’s James White sprang from just such a group, which has already produced the memorable Martha Marcy May Marlene.  With his debut feature about a troubled twentysomething caring for his dying mother, Mond shows a willingness to dig deep into characters and hold on their less than attractive sides.  This, along with some strikingly close camerawork, leads to some riveting moments that just lift James White out of the restless slacker mold that has fatigued many viewers (including myself).  Dragging it back down towards this branding is the casting of Girls star Christopher Abbott as the titular James, who successfully pulls off the role without ever making it feel like too much of a stretch.  There’s excellent supporting turns here by Cynthia Nixon and Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), but the clichéd self-destructive behavior exhibited by James often is nothing more than tiresome.  A broader scope to pair with the well-observed smaller moments may have made this film into something great, but it’s still a solid, if familiar, little indie.

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They Look Like People

Released:  January 25^th, 2015

Starring:  MacLeod Andrews, Evan Dumouchel, Margaret Ying Drake

Directed and Written by:  Perry Blackshear

Written by:  Perry Blackshear

Personal Bias Alert:  generally averse to low-budget asthetics

7 of 10

            You may have heard whispers about The Look Like People, as it has been racking up festival awards throughout 2015.  It’s a micro-budget psychological horror film, light on the horror but heavy on the suspense, centered around two friends reconnecting while one of them possibly goes insane.  It’s that or there’s an alien invasion on the way, and by the end, it’s hard to tell which outcome would be worse.  That’s because much of the movie’s charm is in watching the two young men find in each other a partner more solid than they’ve otherwise encountered.  There’s a pleasure in watching movies about genuinely good people, and these two guys form one of the sweetest friendships you’ll see this year.  The film is noticeably limited by its budget, and a bit more money for effects may have upped the horror aspect to a more respectable level.  Still, the little group of friends who made this film deserve to reveal in the recognition they’re getting, and hopefully someone acknowledges them with a healthier budget.