“Not everyone is meant for this life. It’s a huge commitment”

Myra Soriaso is a student filmmaker who found her knack for storytelling after discovering microcinema in 2018. In 2021, her first short documentary Panambi, co-created with her besties Jane and Katya, premiered internationally at Ji.hlava International Film Festival. She debuted as a fiction filmmaker in 2023 at Qcinema International Film Festival with “A Catholic Schoolgirl”, which won the QCShorts Gender Sensitivity Award.

The film begins setting the tone, with a black screen where we hear the sound of girls praying. The next shot focuses on the protagonist, Kaya, a young girl who is following the prayers of the nuns in an all-girls Catholic school, although she also seems deep in her thoughts while doing so. Another nun, Sister Agnes, works with her on her chanting, with the girl being evidently disappointed that her teacher will be leaving by the end of the semester.

Sister Agnes then introduces the girl to some other nuns, praising her singing voice and her overall performance in the school. The nuns are working in the kitchen and Kaya offers to help, with Sister Agnes showing how to slice mangoes this time. A cut finger results in a more intimate discussion, with Kaya asking about love and the lack of romance the particular path holds for those who pledge themselves to God. Sister Agnes opens up about herself in order to guide her student. One more ‘episode’ follows though.

Myra Angeline Soriaso shoots a film that deals with the concept of LGBT love within a catholic setting, in an effort to highlight both how difficult the particular path can be, and how teenagers can experience their newfound sentiments and their effort to become of the cloth. The combination works quite well, creating an atmosphere that is secretive, intimate and mysterious, with the voyeuristic aspect in particular working well in that regard.

Considered that the short essentially deals with temptation, having a model such as Sharon Idone playing Sister Agnes definitely hits the spot, with her presence justifying what Kaya feels. The scene between the two close to the end brings the whole thing down to reality, while another one, with the jam on the report card adds a very meaningful and visually impressive metaphor about what happened, and what will probably happen in Kaya’s future.

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Lastly, that the ‘confession’ takes place in a space where another kind of confession is supposed to happen, adds a very appealing note to the movie, which is both intelligent and quite smart. Some scenes could have been handled a bit better regarding what is happening, but overall, the context here is rich and well-presented.

Ora Palencia as Kaya highlights her sentiments, eagerness, and inner turmoil in eloquent fashion, even if her role is quite laconic. Martika Ramirez Escobar captures all the aforementioned with artistry, with the voyeuristic scene being the apogee of her work. Maria Estela Paiso’s editing results in a mid-tempo that works well for the style of narrative here, allowing a full story to unfold in less than 16 minutes.

“A Catholic Schoolgirl” is another excellent short film from the Philippines, which highlights that we are bound to see even more interesting things from the country in the following years.

Fresh Kills, 2024.

Written and Directed by Jennifer Esposito.
Starring Emily Bader, Odessa A’zion, Jennifer Esposito, Domenick Lombardozzi, Annabella Sciorra, Nicholas Cirillo, Ava DeMary, Stelio Savante, Franco Maicas, David Iacono, Anastasia Veronica Lee, Taylor Madeline Hand, Maya Moravec, Nicole Ehinger, Luciana VanDette, Amanda Corday, Annie Pisapia, Camryn Adele Portagallo, Colleen Kelly, Beatrice Pelliccia, Charlie Reina, and Bettina Skye.

SYNOPSIS:

Follows the story of the loyal women of an organized crime family that dominated some of the boroughs of New York City in the late 20th century.

A film for anyone who wonders about the specifics of what goes on in the lives of the mothers, daughters, and granddaughters part of a mobster family household, writer/director/producer/star Jennifer Esposito’s Fresh Kills, for all its clunky pacing and overreaching ambition, is fresh and packs a cumulative punch about this inescapable lifestyle.

Spanning several points in time across the 1980s and 1990s while primarily fixated on tightknit sisters Rose and Connie, Fresh Kills homes in on how these girls, especially as they grow up, couldn’t be any more different from one another, especially when it comes to the privilege of wealth and the expectations of being born into a family dynamic where the women stay at home while the men are involved in the Staten Island Mafia.

Played by Anastasia Veronica Lee and Taylor Madeline Hand as young girls before turning things over to Emily Bader and Odessa A’zion upon growing up, the former, Rose, is the quiet one (you would be forgiven if you assumed she was mute during the first 15 minutes or so) whereas Connie is upbeat and playful. Connie is seen encouraging Rose to “fly” by spreading apart her hands while being boosted on top of her knees. It’s a silly game they play in front of their new home, still innocent of what their father, Joe Larusso (Domenick Lombardozzi), does for a living. Moments later, an unnerving dialogue exchange is overheard in the garage, somewhat clueing them int to different extents. Little do the girls know, it seems no women born into this type of toxic family dynamic truly get to fly, at least independently.

Then there is the matriarch Francine (Jennifer Esposito), aware and horrified by much of her husband’s actions. At one point, in hysterics, she exclaims that she needs to get away. Yet, much like Connie when she ages, she sticks up for this spoiled lifestyle, whether from fashion, a spacious home or simply being blessed with a healthy family. Once upon a time, she did dream of being something more, apparently approached to get into modeling, yet instead ended up around the arm of Joe. Naturally, Connie becomes her favorite since she is the one to embrace and carry on the more traditional roles, whereas Rose finds herself talked down to over having goals beyond marriage and motherhood.

There is the instinct to label Francine a bad mother for trying to enforce such a status quo, and even the screenplay from Jennifer Esposito never fully gets around fleshing out all of the multidimensional characters; she comes across as a complex figure. She is someone who gave up on her dreams and has not chosen to actively go against a daughter trying to make something of herself (Rose is interested in beauty just like her mother was) and escapes something that she knows has been dysfunctional, hostile, unhealthy, and traumatic for quite some time.

The performances from Emily Bader and Odessa A’zion are also rich, going beyond playing two characters gradually transitioning into opposites. Connie is played with such tornado-like ferocity, preaching family first and asserting that she has made the right choice in getting married and having a child, one suspects that she is trying to convince herself just as much as she is verbally tearing her sister down. Meanwhile, Rose gradually tries to come out of her shell and embark on a different path, but at every turn, she is devastatingly and tragically reminded of what she has been born into and might never escape. Naturally, Domenick Lombardozzi is wisely kept off to the side (this is not a mobster movie about the crimes themselves), but is also part of an emotional scene with Rose that ends on such a powerful note you can’t help but pity him. It’s a vicious, towering toxic masculinity takedown.

As mentioned, the pacing in Fresh Kills is sometimes off, with jumps forward in time frustratingly undercutting other developing character dynamics. One also wishes Jennifer Esposito felt more confident as a filmmaker, doing away with unnecessary needle-drops to heighten the importance of certain moments. However, she does find cohesive, full-throttle momentum for her passion project in its third act, which is riveting, heartbreaking, and empowering, retroactively shading in more depth to what comes before.  

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com

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1 of 5 | Joy (L) meets Anxiety in “Inside Out 2.” Photo courtesy of Disney/Pixar

As Joy catches up the audience on Riley, she explains Riley’s new interests and developing beliefs that form her sense of self. Just when that sounds way more organized than human personalities really are, puberty turns it all into chaos.

The sorts of issues Riley has at 13 are universal and relatable. Though she is attending an ice hockey camp, trying to impress high schoolers, the specific situation speaks to general tendencies to hide parts of ourselves to impress new people or overthink our interactions.

Those tendencies are represented by brand new personified emotions. Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) vie for control of Riley’s brain and cause her to act out.

Personified emotions have emotions and character arcs of their own. Joy is actually not happy when Anxiety succeeds at helping Riley anticipate negative outcomes.

It’s not a stretch to suggest that anxiety can overtake other emotions in teenage years, sometimes for the rest of life. But Joy has to learn that denying other valuable emotions also can make things worse.

Inside Out 2 has a sophisticated take on anxiety. While a healthy amount can protect Riley, making too many projections on possible outcomes can make her spiral.

Anxiety alone cannot produce confidence. That Anxiety learns that lesson at age 13 bodes well for Riley’s future.

The film uses the Inside Out milieu to address a new stage of life. The Toy Story films did that, too, as each sequel was really about what happens when children outgrow their toys, or their actual childhood.

Those are the themes but the story is that Riley trashes her sense of self to fit in, making Inside Out 2 a literal quest for Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust to rescue Riley’s sense of self from volatile new emotions.

Like the imaginary friend in the first film, the emotions encounter some other remnants of Riley’s childhood. Those artifacts make fun references to children’s shows and video games without overstaying their welcome or usefulness to the story.

The catacombs of Riley’s mind have changed since Joy last had to explore them and Riley’s imagination has been updated with new interests. The actual mechanism connecting Riley’s beliefs and sense of self looks like Avatar in the mind with bright lights and colors.

The physics of how the emotions traverse Riley’s mind work more at the behest of narrative convenience. They have fun encountering puns on sarcasm and brainstorms that manifest literally in her mind.

Puberty also introduces a crew of construction workers handling the chaotic rebuilding, who are blatantly blue versions of the Minions. That’s fair, though, because Minions were blatant rip-offs of Pixar’s green aliens from Toy Story.

Perhaps the most impressive animation is the hockey scenes. Pixar artists animate ice skating and puck-handling worthy of the Mighty Ducks.

Inside Out is the franchise that could most naturally run forever, as there are intimate possibilities to explore pivotal life moments from this interior perspective. Follow Riley to college, postgrad life, her wedding, having kids, growing old.

Spinoffs then could explore other characters’ emotions because every single person’s life is unique.

Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.