Shadows on the Wall | Arthouse Films

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On this page: BIG BABY | FALL 2 | MISSION

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 11.Sep.26

Big Baby
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir-scr Spider One
prd Spider One, Krsy Fox
with Brandon Scott, Krsy Fox, Adam Marcinowski, Torio Van Grol, Kate Freund, Catherine Corcoran, Jordan Elsass, Radek Lord, Chaz Bono, Sierra McCormick, David Howard Thornton, Tracie Thoms
release US 7.Aug.26,
UK 11.Sep.26
25/US 1h42

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Writer-director Spider One has some fun with the horror genre, playfully juggling stalker movie cliches as well as the quirks of a creative person's imagination. Along with colourful production design and a self-aware script, there are also some deeper ideas in intriguing discussions relating to bullying and retribution. But of course the main point of the movie is to freak out the audience and some already frazzled characters.

Savaged by podcasters about his last movie, horror screenwriter Adam (Scott) is now doubting his supportive wife Kate (Fox), who reminds him that he's earning a decent living doing something he loves. But he's struggling to start his next script. One night, he dreams about a giant baby man (Marcinowski) attacking Kate, and he begins writing. But now he's having blood-soaked visions during the day too. So as the screenplay comes together, Adam begins to think Big Baby is real. Then other characters from his script seem to appear, begging him to save their lives.

Adam doesn't take criticism well at all, snapping at Kate when she asks a question, even though she tries to encourage him at every step. Along the way, there are also dramatisations of the lurid but intentionally smart script Adam is writing about a man who was tormented as a child and wears a rubber baby mask to get revenge. Adam begins to behave so erratically that Kate suggests he stop working on the project. Naturally, Big Baby doesn't want him to stop.

Using humour and warm banter, the likeable Scott and Fox create a nice sense of the relaxed relationship between Adam and Kate. So the growing strain between them feels real, as Adam's perception begins to blur, which of course profoundly unsettles her. And Scott plays Adam's mental spiral as a full-on breakdown that's genuinely worrying. A range of smaller roles, both real and characters in Adam's script, add comical and grisly flourishes, sometimes at the same time.

Darkly unsettling sequences punctuate the film, both in dreams and reality, orchestrated like classic scary movie moments that are grotesquely violent. Enjoyably, all of this is linked to Adam's creative process, amusingly exploring where ideas come from and where they take us. Meanwhile, what Adam experiences is genuinely unnerving. And the slasher scenarios are inventively frightening and gleefully gory enough to keep genre fans happy.

themes, language, violence 28.Aug.26

Fall 2 aka: Fall 2: Deadpoint
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
scr Jonathan Frank, Scott Mann
prd David Haring, James Harris, Mark Lane, Scott Mann, Christian Mercuri
with Harriet Slater, Arsema Thomas, Tom Brittney, Virginia Gardner, Einar Haraldsson, Juju Journey Brener, Evie Mann, London Nuovo, Jordan Coleman, Adam Rose, Andrey Kasushkin, Grace Caroline Currey
release US 4.Sep.26,
UK 11.Sep.26
26/UK 1h37

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Once again playing gleefully with our innate fear of heights, this vertiginous thriller traps two women in an impossibly high place, then forces them to also deal with past traumas. The Spierig brothers bring a strong horror sensibility, continually tightening the tension while the script throws all sorts of scary stuff at our heroes. Much of this is both predictable and preposterous, but it's also a lot of fun.

To honour her late sister Shiloh (Gardner in flashbacks), Jax (Slater) is convinced by the up-for-it Luce (Thomas) to tick off the next daredevil trip on Shiloh's list: the precipitous Mount Kwan plank walk in Thailand. Rickety, under-maintained and subject to abrupt weather changes and earthquakes, the hike is illegal. But local guide Jon (Brittney) is willing to take them for a price. As they ascend thousands of feet up sheer rock, then traverse the shaky planks with their rusty safety chain, a landslide traps Jax and Luce on a corner called the Devil's Elbow.

With their radio dangling far out of reach, they hear that Jon is alive but can't alert him to rescue them. What follows are days and nights of high-altitude terror, orchestrated to keep the audience in full freak-out mode. Watching Jax and Luce walk across creaking, wobbly planks is superbly unnerving, as we feel each juddering shift. And the filmmakers come up with a rather impressive range of perils, including shocking injuries and, naturally, plot twists.

Slater is engaging as a young woman afraid of everything. She knows she needs to deal with this. Intercut with this ordeal is a scary skydiving incident with Shiloh that cements her timidity. As the more gung-ho Luce, Thomas brings sparky personality that creates uneasy camaraderie between Luce and Jax, adding to the gurgling tension. And Brittney's hunky Jon is clearly far too nice for us to trust him. So we worry about him being their only hope.

Like the 2022 original, this movie that forces us to lean away from the screen, vividly feeling fear as well as overwhelming relief whenever an obstacle is overcome. So when characters are dangling over seemingly bottomless drops, we must remind ourselves that it's a movie. The plotting is so nonsensical that any thematic layers feel absurd, but at least the issues that swirl around in these characters' heads help bring them to life in a way that makes us feel like we can survive this terrifying situation with them.

themes, language,violence, 22.Jul.26

Mission
Review by Rich Cline | 3/5

dir-scr Paul Wright
prd Kate Byers, Marie-Elena Dyche, Lowri Roberts, Alex Thiele, Linn Waite
with George MacKay, Rosy McEwen, Emun Elliott, Emma Naomi, Roslyn Paterson, Hazel Beattie, Liam Hughes, Kelly Freemantle, Oliver Boyd, Matilda Thomson, Bryce Hendricks, Isela Hamilton
release UK Aug.26 eiff
26/UK BBC 1h23

EDINBURGH FILM FEST

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George MacKay delivers a raw, full-bodied performance in this dark Scottish drama, adding ripples of emotional resonance to what is otherwise a blurry, rather disorienting odyssey into mental illness. Writer-director Paul Wright uses kaleidoscopic camerawork and editing, a whispery voiceover and only the vaguest hints of a plot, so the film begins to feel both indulgent and simplistic. And yet the depth in MacKay's presence makes it riveting.

Feeling disconnected from everyone and everything, Dylan (MacKay) angrily quits his job in a hotel after a smarmy new boss James (Elliott) arrives. And he decides to simply give in to his instincts for the next week, finding an abandoned cabin in the woods that he can live in. He also frees a zoo animal, parties with random people in clubs and tries to connect with a former coworker, Becky (Naomi). He also calls his sister Claire (McEwen), reminiscing about their childhood. But his thoughts turn increasingly dark, most notably when he finds a gun.

As the swirling imagery becomes increasingly impressionistic, the film begins to shift more toward the horror genre, with repeated fires and knives adding serious menace alongside that ominous pistol. The spiralling visuals are often edited strobe-like and out of focus, intercut with a collage of newsreel clips and home video footage of the young Dylan (Boyd) and Claire (Thomson), accompanied by Dylan's hushed, stream-of-consciousness narration.

The film feels deeply internalised, digging into Dylan's increasingly unhinged mindset. Mackay throws himself wholly into this role, allowing us to see Dylan's soul as it writhes within his body. It's even more remarkable because the film otherwise gives us so little to go on. Dylan isn't suicidal, but he has violent thoughts, and there's some grim self-harm involved as well. McEwan has several strong moments in a very fuzzy role, and Elliott is a standout as the relentlessly despicable James. Anyone would snap in his presence.

With very little apparent narrative structure, the film is essentially a meandering collection of images assembled in a way that evokes the bleak descent of a fragile mind. It's artful and intriguing enough to keep us watching, but the approach is never as powerful as the filmmaker thinks it is. And it also feels over-egged as it tries to push its important points without ever making them clear. Even so, there's a staggeringly unfiltered honesty that lingers in MacKay's eyes.

themes, language, violence 4.Aug.26

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL