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Performances are offhanded and engaging, as the actors create characters who are colourful and passionate, fully aware of the difficult situation they're in and also able to enjoy life as it comes. Even though they're rarely on-screen together, because one is ostensibly behind the camera, Martini and Appleton have terrific chemistry as smart, confident sisters who are like opposite sides of a coin. Byrne adds a superb energy all his own into the mix, as do the fine performers in smaller roles along the way.

While it's not quite a time-travel movie, it still deals with some of the same brain-bending ideas, especially as simply knowing what's going to happen changes the way people behave, and thus reroutes the paths ahead. This allows Legge and cowriter Macfarlane to let their imaginations run wild with possible histories and potential anomalies. But everything that happens feeds into the involving story of these siblings whose genius changes the world. Whether they make it better or worse is the salient question.

themes, language, violence

8.Mar.23

In the demanding central role, Koch finds sympathy as a smart and almost absurdly beautiful young man who finds himself in a mind-boggling situation that will require a lot of quick thinking. His chemistry with Colon has some terrific textures to it, a lovely mix of affection and brotherhood that adds huge waves of feeling to everything that happens. Malone chomps happily on the scenery as the impatient, always-desperate Alice, while Patton develops his own specific style of menace as the predatory Rich.

It's difficult not to feel like the script would have benefitted from a couple of rewrites, simply to bolster the plot and eliminate a number of loose threads. Characters continually do things that don't quite make sense, while the setting itself raises questions that go unanswered. But Smith shows real skill at scene-setting, playing with expectations and pushing genre boundaries with this buggy premise. Indeed, the drugs that are being smuggled add a fantastical zing that could turn this into cult classic.

themes, language, violence, nudity

17.Mar.23 flare

As things get increasingly frenzied, the actors somehow manage to balance the hysteria with deeper authenticity. In the central roles, Coles, Grande, Iwata and Ricketts are equally larger-than-life, and while all are loud and hilarious, each actor manages to find his own interesting angles. Together, their camaraderie is fabulous, extending to an eye-catching climactic drag performance. Alongside them in what begins as a thankless role, Logan eventually finds some spicy textures.

Even as things get increasingly outrageous, there are earthy issues swirling throughout the subtext in most scenes, touching meaningfully on issues of race and homophobia that run throughout society. So even if the madcap events spiral in mainly comical ways, the film raises some big questions that force the audience to think even as we're giggling. The movie may never generate a proper scare, but it's silly enough to be consistently entertaining. And the deeper stuff going on between the lines keeps us engaged.

themes, language, violence, sexuality

28.Mar.23