Weekend Movie Roundup:
Lovely, Dark, and Deep, Drive-Away Dolls, The Zone of Interest, and Stopmotion
I watched far too many movies over the weekend, so now you get to hear about them in the order that I watched them. Enjoy!
Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2024) directed by Teresa Sutherland
The first film I watched over the weekend was the directorial debut from Teresa Sutherland which just became available to watch via VOD. It’s a quick (87 minutes) little horror film about a park ranger (Georgina Campbell) taking a position at a forest park with an unusually high number of disappearances that may have a supernatural cause. The film never holds your hand or dumps exposition. Instead it allows the audience to get just as lost and confused as the protagonist as she attempts to understand what is happening. I thought it was a solid and sufficiently spooky movie worth watching.
Drive-Away Dolls (2024) directed by Ethan Coen
It’s strange to see a film directed by only one of the famed Coen Brothers, but that’s exactly what Drive-Away Dolls is. It’s essentially a raunchy road trip comedy featuring two lesbians (Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan) driving to Tallahassee in car with some cargo in the trunk that wasn’t meant for them. They become embroiled in a case of murder and political intrigue while navigating their precarious love lives (or lack thereof). It’s incredibly goofy and raunchy in a way that previous Coen Brothers films rarely are. After watching Joel Coen’s deathly serious adaptation of The Tragedy of Macbeth from a couple of years ago, I’m led to the conclusion that Joel is the serious one while Ethan is the jokester. Drive-Away Dolls is a fun little romp, but it never achieves the heights of previous Coen Brothers movies.
The Zone of Interest (2023) directed by Jonathan Glazer
Where do I even begin with a film like this? The movie follows Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig Höss (Sandra Hüller) as they try to raise their family in their beautiful dream home in Poland. That dream home just happens to be right next door to the Auschwitz concentration camp of which Rudolf Höss is the Nazi commandant tasked with carrying out the extermination of Jews in the most efficient manner possible. Virtually everything the audience sees is from the perspective of the Höss family as they go about their lives. At no point do we ever see any of the horrific atrocities taking place just over the walls separating their home from the concentration camp. Instead we constantly hear those atrocities happening via the ambient sounds of gunshots, screams, dogs barking, and trains being unloaded. It’s the most effective sound design and editing in a film that I have ever experienced to the point that I felt physically nauseous at times. It’s an examination of how easily people can become nonchalant and comfortable with true evil so long as their own lives are comfortable. I cannot recommend this film highly enough, and I believe it will become required viewing for future generations.
Stopmotion (2024) directed by Robert Morgan
Stopmotion is a delightfully deranged little horror flick from Robert Morgan who is best known for his work as a stop-motion animator. His first live action feature is (very fittingly) a story about a young woman named Ella (Aisling Franciosi) who works as an apprentice under her mother who happens to be a critically acclaimed stop-motion animator. When her mother becomes unable to finish her latest film due to health issues, Ella tries to finish it for her. As she becomes more and more consumed by her work, she begins to suspect that her creations might be taking on lives of their own. I really enjoyed this film, and the stop-motion animation used throughout looks fantastic. It really helps provide a unique look to the film that separates it from other modern horror films. It’s definitely worth watching if it is showing in your area.
I saw the trailer for “Drive-Away Dolls” and thought it looked great. Haven’t watched it yet, but Geraldine Viswanathan is so great in Miracle Workers that I know I will see it sooner rather than later.