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 Shadows off the beaten pathIndies, foreigns, docs and shorts...
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A CELL PHONE MOVIE |
OUR HAPPY PLACE |
RENT FREE
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| See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 22.Jun.25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A Cell Phone Movie Review by Rich Cline | 
 Is it streaming?
|  As the title indicates, this meta-comedy was shot on a mobile phone. It looks great, skilfully filmed in wide-screen and sharply well-edited too. Actor-filmmaker Will Sterling is a charming lead, and the comedy is warm and off-the-cuff, with a continual stream of witty gags about trying to make a no-budget movie. Even more engaging are the thoughtfully serious sequences that dig deeper into the characters and situations. Living in his car, 36-year-old Will (Sterling) is an aspiring actor-filmmaker in Los Angeles. But no one is returning calls about his sci-fi horror screenplay, his acting teacher (Obee) is losing patience with his pushy approach, and his agent has dropped him. So he decides to make a movie about making a movie, asking for a loan from his sister Katie (McCuen). Fellow acting student Tessa (Glanville) takes the lead role, while other classmates reluctantly admit that a gig's a gig. But as filming gets underway, a mobster (Marino) warns him to stop or else. Amusing observations fill each scene without ever pushing for a cheap laugh. For example, the audition montage is less about the goofy actors than Will's unpolished script. And the workout montage is enjoyably ridiculous. Events seem to be conspiring against him, from an intervention Katie stages to the theft of his car. The movie is also full of references to films and filmmakers that are both smart and hilariously stupid. And there's a wildly over-the-top gag at the end, plus some terrific clips in the credit sequence. Sterling plays this fictional version of himself as likeably awkward, so he's easy to root for as he nurtures his elusive dream. After pursuing it for nearly two decades, he's still hopeful. As Tessa, Glanville gives a nicely offhanded performance as a friend who confronts Will to write about something personal. She also gives him someone to properly talk to, without tipping over into the usual romantic cliches. Other characters also add strong textures in scenes that are both funny and reflective. With an improvisational style, Sterling takes knowing jabs at a range of bigger themes, from the film industry to personal aspirations. Sharp asides include comments on union paperwork and how studios have become slaves to diversity. And at the centre this is the involving and sometimes even moving story of a guy with daddy issues who is tired of always being told no. Or even worse that he should become a YouTuber.
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| Our Happy Place Review by Rich Cline |
|  dir-scr Paul Bickel prd Paul Bickel, Raya Miles, David Ho, Tracie Thoms with Raya Miles, Paul Bickel, Tracie Thoms, Eugene Byrd, Allysun Faso, Carmen Serano, Terry Gingles, Hedia Anvar, Nicole Gabriella Scipione, Tarah New, Olivia Harris, Lauren Han release US Dec.24 dwf, UK Jun.25 rff 24/US 1h29 Is it streaming?
|  Opening with an intense swirl of home-movie clips, this increasingly gruesome horror is assembled with remarkable skill, making terrific use of Californian mountain locations. Along with the spurts of jarring editing, actor-filmmaker Paul Bickel also grounds everything in an eerie emotional honesty regarding love and mortality. So as the film encompasses elements of ghost stories and slasher movies, it also becomes a staggeringly twisted exploration of subconscious fears. Injured and covered in mud, Raya (Miles) inexplicably wakes up in a woodland meadow then follows a road to find her way home, clean herself up and take care of her bed-bound, nonverbal husband Paul (Bickel). The next morning, this happens again, so she video-calls her best friend Amy (Thoms) for advice. But nothing seems to work, including trying to create some Christmas normality at home. She still wakes up outside, the house begins to feel off, and her dreams turn increasingly violent. Then one morning she finds herself in a hole with a shovel. This Groundhog Day structure adds to how Raya feels trapped with Paul, caring for him day after day. Flashbacks reveal her happy life with lively friends before Paul's illness, while nightmares show her fragile mental state. Meanwhile, cinematic touches cleverly create freak-out moments, usually as something unexplained happens in the background of a scene. Repeated imagery involving an axe is unnerving, and where all of this goes is downright horrific. Miles is engaging as the exhausted Raya, longing for the normal life that's now a distant memory. This is vividly conveyed, along with how Raya feels like she's losing her mind. Meanwhile, Thoms adds a blast of energy as the overdramatic Amy, who clearly has too much going on in her own life. Her reactions to Raya are caring and also provide some light relief. And Bickel has terrific presence in cheerful flashbacks, creepy dreams and even in Paul's near-comatose reality. Obviously, Raya is terrified of losing Paul, and that forces her to grapple with the idea of her own death. "I feel like you're killing me," Raya sighs to him at one point. But her everyday tedium is now interrupted with a terrifying swirl of nasty visions and internalised fears. The film becomes increasingly bonkers as the narrative progresses, with menacing imagery that add fuel to Raya's worrying mental health issues. Then a chilling revelation seeps into the narrative to provide a shocking series of final kicks.
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| Rent Free Review by Rich Cline |
|  dir Fernando Andres scr Fernando Andres, Tyler Rugh prd Fernando Andres, Temple Baker, Jacob Roberts with Jacob Roberts, David Trevino, Bill Wise, Frank Mosley, Kristin Slaysman, Macon Blair, Lorelei Linklater, Molly Edelman, Neal Mulani, Sarah J Bartholomew, Zeke Goodman, Carson Barwinkel release UK Mar.25 flare, US 27.Jun.25 24/US 1h33  Is it streaming?
|  Sharp and funny, this comedy finds its humour in characters who are desperate to get on with their lives. The film has a superbly loose charm, spiralling through its narrative in a way that makes things feel enjoyably unpredictable. Filmmaker Fernando Andres tells a story that's consistently amusing while serious things swirl around under the surface in virtually every scene. So it becomes a bracing exploration of friendship. While his friend Jordan (Trevino) visits him in New York, Ben (Roberts) suddenly becomes homeless, reluctantly returning home to Austin. One there, Jordan's girlfriend Anna (Edelman) leaves both of them without a place to live. So Ben and Jordan begin working odd jobs to survive, couch-surfing to save rent money so they can move back to New York together. The question is how long friends like party boy Caleb (Goodman), ex-girlfriend Abby (Bartholomew), school friend Neil (Mulani) and his boyfriend Gio (Barwinkel) will put up with them. They even move in with Ben's dad (Wise). It's never clear what Ben wants to do with his life, as he spends more time looking for anonymous sex than a job. He just knows that, as a gay man, New York is more suitable than Texas. Jordan is more focussed on finding work as a photographer. Their crowd of friends is notable for casual drug use and fluid sexuality, depicted in a way that's unusually honest. Although the continual inebriation makes them irresponsible and sometimes thoughtless, it helps that their hearts are in the right place. Roberts and Trevino are earthy and honest as likeable guys who are the architects of their own problems. Both actors play weaknesses without blinking. Ben is childish and rude, unable to control his urges or his actions. Jordan relies on Ben to keep him moving forward. Their camaraderie and fall-outs are played with easy chemistry, adding a will-they or won't-they vibe. It's fascinating to see how this odyssey tests and changes their friendship. It's also a bit frustrating to watch a film in which the protagonists have virtually no impulse control. Thankfully, the characters are unusually nuanced, with telling details added in about even the most marginal figures. This is a textured exploration of how, for some people, growing up takes rather a long time. And whether there is hope for either of these guys isn't the question: the point is that they are learning to take control of their lives for a change.
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