Review: Twisty thriller ‘Piggy’ seeks justice and more

‘Piggy’

Early in writer-director Carlota Pereda’s twisty thriller “Piggy,” a teen named Sara (Laura Galán) is confronted with a dilemma. After getting teased mercilessly about her weight by the ladies at a public pool, Sara sees her bullies violently kidnapped by a stranger who handled her with kindness. She ought to run instantly to the police. However these youngsters are jerks, and he or she wouldn’t thoughts if she by no means noticed them once more.

Expanded from an award-winning quick movie, “Piggy” is a masterful mixture of darkish comedy, social commentary and uncooked suspense. Sara is a no callous child. She doesn’t need anybody to get harm. However she’s accustomed to being ignored or misunderstood; and the longer she goes with out telling anybody what she noticed, the tougher it turns into to say something in any respect. Pereda by no means desires the viewers to turn into too glib about what is perhaps occurring to the abductees. However she additionally desires us to know that this film is in the end about how difficult the scenario is for Sara.

In its remaining third, “Piggy” takes a flip towards horror, with scenes of torture and gore as Sara tries to actual some justice. However Pereda and her crew preserve an clever method all through, with stark lighting that retains the concentrate on faces and our bodies, displaying how all these characters — not simply Sara — are weak to abuse, each bodily and emotional. It doesn’t take a slasher to show a child’s life right into a horror present. Their friends and fogeys just do advantageous.

‘Piggy.’ In Spanish with English subtitles. Not rated. 1 hour, 39 minutes. Out there on VOD; additionally enjoying theatrically, LOOK Dine-In Cinemas Downey

‘Darkish Glasses’

Followers of the pioneering Italian thriller director Dario Argento can be happy to listen to that “Darkish Glasses” — his first film in 10 years — seems to be and feels extra just like the visually putting and psychologically slippery suspense photos he made within the ‘70s and ‘80s than it does his wildly uneven assortment of artwork movies and exploitation movies within the ‘90s and ‘00s. Ilenia Pastorelli hits precisely the fitting notes of lethal seriousness and operatic exaggeration, enjoying a traditional Argento protagonist: Diana, a top-dollar escort who’s blinded whereas escaping a serial killer and has to regulate to her situation in time to battle off her attacker yet another time.

Argento followers also needs to mood their expectations, although. “Darkish Glasses” isn’t a delirious masterpiece like his “Suspiria” or “Tenebrae.” It’s a modestly scaled and at instances unusually relaxed character examine — by no means particularly intense or surprising. A lot of the movie is about Diana’s friendship with a younger orphan, Chin (Xinyu Zhang), who helps her overcome the trauma of her assault and turns into her eyes as they attempt to escape the killer.

Nonetheless, there are set items scattered all through “Darkish Eyes” which are as unusual — and as surprisingly stunning — as the most effective of Argento, beginning with an unnerving opening sequence that sees a gaggle of individuals in a park gazing at a photo voltaic eclipse. The good Argento movies had been by no means nearly titillation and blood-spatter. They’re about how the world typically appears unknowably mysterious, in methods each harmful and awe-inspiring.

‘Darkish Glasses.’ In Italian with English subtitles. Not rated. 1 hour, 26 minutes. Out there on Shudder; additionally enjoying theatrically, Laemmle Glendale

Patch Darragh, left, and Stephen Lang within the film “Outdated Man.”

(Jason F. Vasquez / RLJE Movies)

‘Outdated Man’

One wet night time within the Smoky Mountains, a well mannered younger man who calls himself Joe (Marc Senter), disoriented and misplaced, knocks on a cabin door and finds a cantankerous aged hermit (Stephen Lang). A contentious dialog ensues between the 2, earlier than they finally settle right into a calmer chat, swapping tales about their lives and explaining why they every disappeared into the wilderness. However all through the lengthy night, it’s clear one thing is off-kilter. Why did Joe really feel compelled to return to this specific cabin? And precisely how lengthy has this previous man been dwelling right here?

“Outdated Man” director Fortunate McKee and screenwriter Joel Veach don’t have particularly startling solutions to those questions. Their film resembles a kind of super-psychological mid-Twentieth century stage performs exploring problematic masculinity through a mixture of absurdism, metaphor and hyper-realism. Within the case of “Outdated Man,” there are supernatural parts woven into what’s a really talky, largely predictable psychodrama.

However, this movie is a superior instance of how flavorful dialogue, proficient actors and glorious staging could make one thing acquainted actually pop. Although shot totally on one small inside set — with faux rain and sound results establishing some ambiance — this film is completely absorbing. It virtually doesn’t matter what these two guys are speaking about. The exact method they’re framed and the a number of ranges the actors discover of their performances inform their very own story: about individuals who wrestle to coexist with others, and the way loneliness consumes them.

‘Outdated Man.’ Not rated. 1 hour, 37 minutes. Out there on VOD

‘The Curse of Bridge Hole’

Regardless of a intelligent premise, respectable particular results and an amiable tone, the horror-comedy “The Curse of Bridge Hole” by no means makes the bounce from “mildly nice time-killer” to “entertaining.” The movie is best-suited to viewers who wish to get a bit spooky season buzz with out being subjected to something scary or gory — or something that requires their full consideration.

Marlon Wayans performs Halloween-hating science trainer Howard Gordon, who strikes his household to a quaint small city, the place an historic spell causes all of the skeleton, pumpkin and zombie decorations on his neighbors’ lawns to spring to life. Working alongside his teenage daughter Sydney (Priah Ferguson, of “Stranger Issues”), Howard has to reverse the curse, even when it means drawing on the supernatural hoo-hah he detests.

Director Jeff Wadlow retains the film’s tempo fairly brisk; and all of the menacing Halloween creatures look cool. However “Bridge Hole” by no means approaches the manic, harmful power of a “Gremlins” or “Tremors.” When the Gordons first drive into this Halloween-crazy city, Howard jokes that it seems to be like they’ve taken a unsuitable flip right into a Occasion Metropolis retailer. That’s how this complete film feels: exuberantly festive, however not precisely “enjoyable.”

‘The Curse of Bridge Hole.’ TV-14, for language. 1 hour, 31 minutes. Out there on Netflix

‘Rosaline’

Primarily based on Rebecca Serle’s younger grownup novel “When You Had been Mine,” the romantic comedy “Rosaline” retells William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” from the attitude of Juliet’s cousin: the girl Romeo was swooning over earlier than he locked eyes on his real love. Kaitlyn Dever performs Rosaline, a free-thinking younger noblewoman who has little use for the poetry-spewing, sword-fighting guys on the swanky Verona social gathering scene — that’s till her suitor, Romeo (Kyle Allen), switches his affections to her cousin Juliet (Isabela Merced). Then Rosaline goes into sabotage mode.

Director Karen Maine and screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber comply with the lead of too many current interval romances, throwing trendy slang, attitudes and music right into a story set many centuries in the past. However even with the Gen Z-friendly touches — and Dever delivering a successful efficiency — “Rosaline” nonetheless feels frustratingly stale. The movie follows alongside the fringes of the “Romeo and Juliet” plot with out discovering something new or humorous to say about it. As a substitute, the actors all seem like they’re enjoying dress-up, inhabiting characters they’re not invested in, as a result of the entire underlying idea of this venture is that there’s no cause to take any of these things critically.

‘Rosaline.’ PG-13, for some suggestive materials and transient sturdy language. 1 hour, 36 minutes. Out there on Hulu

‘Accident Man: Hitman’s Vacation’

The punchy, witty 2018 motion film “Accident Man” got here throughout like a mixture of “John Wick” and a Man Ritchie movie, with the expert martial artist Scott Adkins enjoying employed killer Mike Fallon, who focuses on making his deaths seem like flukes. The sequel “Accident Man: Hitman’s Vacation” pits Mike and a few of his colleagues towards a succession of colourful assassins, all focusing on a mob boss’ creepy son. As with the earlier image, Adkins co-wrote the screenplay with Stu Small, although this time the veteran British thriller director Jesse V. Johnson has been changed by newcomers George and Harry Kirby, who tip the tone from tongue-in-cheek self-reference to one thing extra akin to a live-action cartoon. The shtick nonetheless works although, due to Adkins’s singular mixture of brutishness and bodily grace, and because of the Kirby brothers’ relentless tempo. This can be a film for adrenaline junkies who wish to watch as many slapstick fights as can match into about 90 minutes of screen-time.

‘Accident Man: Hitman’s Vacation.’ R, for sturdy bloody violence, pervasive language and transient drug use. 1 hour, 37 minutes. Out there on VOD; additionally enjoying theatrically, Laemmle Monica, Santa Monica

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