Author: Natalie Teasdale

I want to share with other movie fans those amazing films that get under your skin and stay with you for days: the scary ones, the funny ones; the ones that get you thinking. With a background in creative writing, photography, psychology and neuroscience, I’ll be focusing on dialogue, what makes a great story, if the film has beautiful creative cinematography, the soundtrack and any movie that successfully scratches the surface of our existence. My aim is to always be searching for that ultimate movie, to share what I’ve found to be interesting (whether it be a great soundtrack, a great director or links to other information of interest) and to give an honest review without too much fluff. BAppSci in Psychology/Psychophysiology; Grad Dip Creative Arts and Post Grad Dip in Creative Writing. Founder of GoMovieReviews.

Bones and All

Rated: MA15+Bones and All

Directed by: Luca Guadagnino

Screenplay by: David Kajganich

Based on: Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis

Produced by: Luca Guadagnino, Theresa Park, Marco Morabito, David Kajganich

Cinematography: Arseni Khachaturan

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Chloë Sevigny, Michael Stuhlbarg, Madeleine Hall, David Gordon Green and André Holland.

‘I didn’t mean to scare you.’

Bones and All is more drama than horror, where the focus is on the ordinary to make the monsters more believable.

Maren (Taylor Russell) is like any other teenager: she makes friends at school, plays piano, her dad (André Holland) sets a curfew.  He locks her in at night.

That’s the first clue that something’s not quite right.

Then at a girls-night-in, Maren tears the flesh from the finger of her new friend.  And it’s time to move on.  Again.

Maren is an eater.

She’s pretty good at being on her own.  When she goes in search of her mother (Chloë Sevigny), she finds out there’re other eaters out there.  And they can smell if there’s another one around.

That’s when she meets Sully (Mark Rylance).  With a matchstick in his mouth and a feather in his hat, he’s hard to miss.

Lee (Timothée Chalamet) is also an eater.  But he doesn’t eat human flesh in his y-fronts like Sully.  He dosses around, eats because he has to; and the rest of the time, he tries to be his normal self.

Lee’s the friend Maren never knew she could have.

They’re kinda sweet together.  In between the eating.

There’s a strange poetry to the filming of Bones and All (cinematographer, Arseni Khachaturan), with shots like a tableau to illustrate moments of Lee and Maren’s journey:  shots of blood, daisies in a glass jar, the empty rooms of a sanitised house, a beaded necklace left under a bed.

It’s quiet to make those moments poignant but also makes the journey slow and dry at times.

This is offset with the layering of Maren’s father, Frank’s voice on a cassette, telling her story; added together with flashbacks to nightmares as Maren and Lee struggle to be who they are, to be eaters.  To eat people to live or the only other alternatives, suicide or being locked up.

Maybe love will save them.

It’s a point of difference, director Luca Guadagnino (some of his previous films: A Bigger Splash (2015) – loved it, Call Me by Your Name (2017) – award winning, and Suspiria (2018) – which I also enjoyed) giving the film a tone of normality; making the story about love, about the journey, about the ordinary, about the monsters.

With all the different threads and strangely quiet tone, it just didn’t quite pull together for me.

All the story’s there, but the tone didn’t hit quite right.

I enjoyed hearing the tapes from Maren’s father talking about her backstory, her origin more than the drama of it.

The film was made to make the eaters more human with a love story and family drama.  They just happened to eat people – ‘how dare you make this harder.’

And we never find out why.

 

She Said

Rated: MShe Said

Directed by: Maria Schrader

Produced by: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner

Executive Produced by: Brad Pitt, Lila Yacoub, Megan Ellison, Sue Naegle

Based on the New York Times Investigation by: Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett and the Book, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

Screenplay by: Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle with Samantha Morton and Ashley Judd.

‘He took my voice that day, just when I was starting to find it.’

It’s sobering to remember back to the times before the #MeToo movement, the moment when women found a voice to say, enough.

And the spark that began that conversation, to begin to unpack the silence around the systemic abuse of women and the system that protected those that thought it was OK to sexual abuse women was the New York Times investigative journalists, Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor.

Based on the book, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement, and the article written by the two journalists, Twohey and Kantor, ‘Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades’ (2017), She Said the film, shows the events leading up to publication; the interviews with women silenced by pay-offs and shame and coverups.

Back to when Rose McGowan spoke, no, shouted what needed to be said, to try to fight the machine built to protect abuses while ignoring the abused or even inflicting more punishment on those who dared to speak out.

And so the silence continued.

Reminiscent of Spotlight (2015), the film follows Twohey and Kantor as they work through the research: the meetings, making calls, the reviewing with senior editors, the back and forth – have they got a story here?  Are the rumors true?  Will anyone go on the record against Harvey Weinstein?

As the executive running two of the biggest names out there, Miramax and the Weinstein Company, Weinstein was able to intimidate and silence survivors with settlements and non-disclosure agreements for decades.

But after an article in the New York Times was posted about the claims of abuse against Bill O’Reilly leading to O’Reilly being fired from Fox News (in 2017), they could say, as investigative journalists, their article made a difference.  They were heard and when advertisers started to withdraw from Fox News, the powers that be were forced to take action.

And from that perspective, perhaps there was more to these rumors, making the story of Weinstein’s abuse was worth pursuing.

It’s an emotive story but shown through the clear-eyes of the journalists putting the story together.

Director Maria Schrader says. ‘It’s a very dramatic story, with strong characters up against steep odds and a powerful antagonist, crisscrossing the globe and jumping back and forth in time. This material was so rich to begin with, the task was teasing out its particulars, not heightening or overdramatizing what was already there.’

The abuse isn’t shown in the film, as Schrader notes, ‘I am not interested in adding another rape scene to the world,’ she continues. ‘We’ve had enough of them.’

Instead, the damage is shown by seeing a young Irish girl, 1992, excited to become part of the movie business as a runner, to flash forward to 2016, to see that same girl running down a busy street in New York with tears streaming down her face.

After so many pieces of the story filtering through the news over the years, it was interesting to see the linear picture, to see the story of Weinstein’s downfall and the beginning of a movement that literally changed the world.

I found the leads, Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan as the journalists, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey in the film likeable, relatable; scary how the stories are relatable.  And including Ashley Judd as herself (I’m a big fan of Judd and this just makes me admire her more) in the film and the audio taped while a wire was used to catch Weinstein in the act made an emotive storyline a powerful one.

Not a film I would normally enjoy watching, but there’s a careful constraint here, so the story can be heard rather than turning the audience away.

 

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris

Rated: PGMrs. Harris goes to Paris

Directed by: Anthony Fabian

Based on the Novel by: Paul Gallico

Screenplay by: Carroll Cartwright, Anthony Fabian, Keith Thompson, Olivia Hetreed

Produced by: Xavier Marchand, Guillaume Benski, Anthony Fabian

Starring: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, Anna Chancellor, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Rose Williams.

To make the invisible, visible.

It’s 1957 London – it’s foggy.  Mrs. Harris (Lesley Manville) holds a package.

‘What’s it to be Eddy?’  She asks of the package, of her husband who’s been missing since 1944.  ‘Good news?  Or bad news?’

It doesn’t matter what a flip of a coin will determine.  Mrs. Harris will always want to believe in the good.

One of her clients she cleans for, a want-to-be actress named Pamela Penrose (Rose Williams) tells her,’ You’re an angel.  What would I do without you?’

Mrs. Harris wants for nothing; and puts up with a lot.  She spends her time with best friend, Vi (Ellen Thomas), whom she met while building planes during the war.

Then while cleaning for Lady Dant (Anna Chancellor), Mrs. Harris sees it.  The dress.  The camera focusses on her face of wonder, the world around her a blur as she takes the lilac dress, handling the beading, her face glowing.  It’s a Christian Dior, Lady Dant explains.  ‘When I put it on, nothing else matters.’

Mrs. Harris dreams.

Then when life seems like it’s never going to get any better, she wins the Pools.  That’s when she decides she does want something: she wants a Christian Dior dress, from Paris, for 500 quid.

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris is superficially a lighthearted tale, showing the very best of human nature, while also exploring Sartre’s philosophy of existentialism in, Being and Nothingness (1943).

The theme of perception and nothingness is introduced when Mrs. Harris meets French model, Natasha (Alba Baptista) who’s found to be reading Sartre, who also wants to be seen, not in a wonderful Christian Dress, but as someone more than a pretty face.  It’s that invisible being made visible thread that drives the film so yes, it’s about a woman wanting a beautiful dress but more than that, she deserves to be seen.

And the Parisians take Mrs. Harris and her down-to-earth humour and niceness and honesty into their hearts.

Because she’s a wonder, with cash to spend on a Haute Couture dress.

They love her for it.

She’s reminded, ‘Remember in France, the Worker is King.’

All except the manageress of the House of Christian Dior, Claudine Colbert (Isabelle Huppert) who resists the indelible Mrs. Harris.

Dior is exclusive.

There had to be some challenge to the story of the English cleaner who charms her way into the exclusive House.

I admit I got teary at times, mostly when Mrs. Harris was misunderstood or not seen, for being too nice but then to be understood, to bring the lightness up again; the film’s about an intelligent, honest and kind woman wanting to feel beautiful, to be acknowledged.  And that always strikes a chord.

Yes, it’s a little frothy, the wonder in Mrs. Harris’s face as she swoons at the Dior dresses, but the dresses are beautiful and there’s a consistent dry humour that balances the sweetness.

This is a delightful watch with some thought-provoking moments if you’re looking for it, that lifts.

 

Bros

Rated: MA15+Bros

Directed by: Nicholas Stoller

Written by: Billy Eichner & Nicholas Stoller

Produced by: Judd Apatow p.g.a, Nicolas Stoller p.g.a and Josh Church p.g.a

Executive Produced by: Billy Eichner and Karl Frankenfield

Score: Marc Shaiman

Starring: Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane, Guy Branum, Miss Lawrence, Ts Madison, Dot-Marie Jones, Jim Rash, Eve Lindley, Monica Raymund, Guillermo Díaz, Jai Rodriguez and Amanda Bearse.

‘Hey, what’s up?’

It’s a classic Grindr introduction.  And all that’s required to hook-up.

But it’s not a relationship.

Bobby (Billy Eichner) doesn’t want a relationship.  He’s independent, has his own Podcast and is an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.

Bobby’s been around, he knows what gays are like: ‘I support them, I don’t trust them.’

Then he meets the super-hot, ‘grown up boy scout’, Aaron (Luke Macfarlane).

He doesn’t want a relationship either.

‘I hear your boring.’

‘Cool.’

They’re getting to know each other.

Directed by Nicholas Stoller (think, Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) and Get Him to the Greek (2010)), Bros has the usual romcom formula, including the classic romcom run.

In the Q&A post screening at the Melbourne Premiere, yep, I was there.  It was fun.  Nicolas explains the decision behind the making of the film, ‘That it be honest, have a happy ending, and be really funny.’

And Bros has all those things.

Worth noting here that the entire cast in Bros is LGBTQ+ – an achievement Eichner noted in the discussion and highlighted how it was difficult for actors to land a role with their sexual orientation stating most gay roles were played by straight actors.

So there’s a genuine focus on the LGBTQ+ community in the film.

The film’s one of the deeper explorations into a gay relationship that I’ve seen, not being gay but being in a gay relationship – or, pretending not to want the relationship, the insecurities.  Like it’s just the beginning to know who they’re supposed to be in a relationship.

It gets emotional, exploring topics I hadn’t really thought about before like injecting testosterone to look good and why are you complaining because you like me looking this way?

And there’s a fair bit of gay sex.  Not so graphic to be porn, but enough to see the enthusiasm.  And the feeling of lying on the warmth of another human’s chest.

I admit I didn’t get all the jokes or jargon.  But there were plenty of moments that provoked a good belly laugh, appealing to my dry sense of humour – like Aaron and Bobby having a serious conversation while a guy tries to park his rent-a-bike in the rack, right in between the couple.

The look on the face.  It just tickles.

Billy Eichner is great as Bobby: he’s dramatic and funny in his anger and love and emotion.  Aaron describes Bobby as getting angry at things is your brand.  Which is apt.  And it has to be said, Luke Macfarlane as Aaron is hot.  I’m sure he appeals to many all over the Kinsey scale.

There’s just a bit too much emotional drama for me, not because it was about a gay couple, it was actually refreshing to explore the different tone and issues to unpack surrounding a same sex couple; I just enjoyed the comedy more than the serious moments.

 

A Taste of Hunger (Smagen Af Sult)

Rated: MA Taste of Hunger (Smagen Af Sult)

Directed by: Christoffer Boe

Written by: Tobias Lindhold & Christoffer Boe

Produced by: Louise Vesth & Sisse Graum Jørgensen

Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Katrine Greis-Rosenthal.

Danish with English Subtitles.

‘If you ask me what I want

I’ll tell you.

I want everything.’

A Taste of Hunger is about the journey of a chef wanting to fulfill his dream of being awarded a Michelin Star.

Going back ten years, it was when Carsten (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) met Maggie (Katrine Greis-Rosenthal); when she tasted his fancy food at a party no-one else wanted.  When she told him that he deserved his own restaurant. That’s when he knew what his life was.  A dream.  A Michelin Star. Together. That’s what they hunger for.

It’s a film more about the relationship between Carsten and Maggie, and their family of two children, Chloe (Flora Augusta) and August (August Christian Vinkel), and the sacrifices they make to have everything.  But can they have everything?  Eventually, something has to break.

The journey of food and the subtleties of relationship are intertwined, told in chapters, named after the tastes: sweet, sour, fat, salt and heat.

The food adds the sensory to an emotive mystery as Carsten makes food worth fighting for but becomes so focused that nothing else matters beyond what’s on the plate.

Then Maggie finds a letter, typed, anonymous, addressed to Carsten: ‘Your wife is in love with someone else.’  She hides the letter, knowing it will destroy all they’ve worked for.

The knowing looks and play of dialogue lead an emotional investment as Carston describes creating a dish requiring the same elements as attributes needed in a relationship: attention, dedication and passion.

Knowing actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jamie Lannister in, Game of Thrones (winning him a Primetime Emmy Award in 2018), it was refreshing to see him in this role as a native Dane.
He wears the suit of an obsessive chef well, and he’s a man you believe to be in love.

The relationship between Maggie and Carston is the centrepiece of the film offset with the warm aesthetic of the restaurant with the light shining up through moss onto the branches of a small tree – an echo of Maggie looking up into the autumn leaves of a tree in awesome relief when they find out they’ve successfully purchased a place for their restaurant; their dreams coming true.

Along with the relationship’s dynamics, the looks; the children, brother and sister, are given space and relevance in the story as well, adding weight to the pressure of having everything, and the price to be paid.

There’s attention to detail in the portrayal of the story, like the echo of the tree, like the title of each chapter overlaying the view of each setting and giving each stage of the relationship a taste: sweet when they first meet, sour when the story of their relationship begins to turn.

The detail in the telling adds that emotional tone, drawing me in so the journey of their relationship was felt, the need for that dream of being awarded the Michelin Star understood.  It means everything.  But not without everything else.

 

Don’t Worry Darling

Rated: MDon’t Worry Darling

Directed by: Olivia Wilde

Screenplay by: Katie Silberman

Story by: Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke, Katie Silberman

Produced by: Olivia Wilde, Katie Silberman, Miri Yoon, Roy Lee

Starring: Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne and Nick Kroll.

‘We shouldn’t be here.’

Victory is a company that wants to change the world.

Together, all those living in their desert community, all the couples living in the community, are living their most perfect life.

It’s like taking a step back to the 1950s: neighbours come together and have drunken dinner parties; the whole setting is heavy cut crystal, the men in suits and skinny ties, the women in dresses and heels, the music is swing and jive.  It’s frothy and fun.

Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) can’t get enough of each other while best friend Bunny (Olivia Wilde) is jokes and smiles with her two cute kids.  It’s a dream life.  All in the community are thankful.  They revere the head of the company, their leader: Frank (Chris Pine) and are in awe of his wife, Shelley (Gemma Chan).

All is well.

Except for those weird flashbacks.

And Margaret (KiKi Layne) a friend and neighbour who’s become unwell: ‘We shouldn’t be here.’

Don’t ask what job all the husbands are driving to every morning – it’s for the company.  Top secret.

Discretion is the solution to chaos.

The tension builds gradually with hints that signal, all is not right at Victory.  The earth shakes.

While Alice cracking empty eggs becomes a metaphor.

She hums an unfamiliar tune.  Because if the song didn’t come from the records in their home or over the community radio – where did it come from?

The build of story is backed by the silence intertwined with sound off-kilter.  It’s an uneasy feeling, but has a subtle touch, handled by director, Olivia Wilde (who also stars as best friend, Bunny), while performances from Florence Pugh and Harry Styles drive the story.

There’s great chemistry between these two as husband and wife, while Harry pushes his luck with a somewhat British accent, he holds the character well to reveal layers.

The standout is Pugh as Alice, believable as she catches glimpses of what’s underneath the community of Victory.

And that’s all I’m giving away.

This is Olivia Wilde’s second feature as director, and while I was gripped by this film, this wasn’t as cohesive as her first feature, Booksmart (2019).

And there’s a glossing-over of backstory, particularly the community’s leader, Frank and wife Shelley.

But there’s good pacing here, building on that feeling of being trapped as the story slowly tightens its grip.

 

Fall

Rated: MFall

Directed by: Scott Mann

Written by: Scott Mann, Jonathan Frank

Produced by: Christian Mercuri, James Harris, Mark Lane, Scott Mann, David Haring

Cinematography: Miguel ‘MacGregor’ Olaso

Starring: Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mason Gooding.

‘No trespassing.  Danger of death.’

Let me start by saying, I’m scared of heights.

So from the opening scene of vertical views down onto rock-climbers hanging onto cliffs and leaping for another hold.  My heart was pumping from the get-go.

And it didn’t stop.

Fall is relentless in ratcheting up the tension, truly, edge-of-seat viewing.

But there’s cheese.

Adrenaline junkies, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey), hubby, Dan (Mason Gooding) and best buddy, Hunter (Virginia Gardner) push their limits together.

Seemingly unstoppable, until the worst happens, leaving Bec devastated.  And her dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) concerned she’ll never snap out of her deepening grief.

It’s when Bec looks like she can’t go on, best buddy, she’s-my-cherry-pie, Hunter has the cure: climbing an abandoned radio tower via a rusty ladder, 2000ft into the air.

Time to tame fear, ‘And kick it’s arse.’

Cue the strings in the soundtrack.  Cringe.

Up to this point, I wasn’t convinced I was going to get into this movie, I’d just be on edge because of that insane height, standing on a pancake platform, Bec and Hunter about to fall any second.

Then those rusty bolts started rattling.

The camera work here pushes that feeling of vertigo and the thought of falling is always there as the girls hang off the edge of the tower to take selfies.

There’s a lot from Hunter’s online persona, Danger D and #LifeOverDeath moments.

But this, ‘kick fear in the dick,’ mentality gradually won me over – you get the vibe though, a bit twee.

Then the shots widen, pushing the sky into the background of these crazy climbers as the bolts start to fall and I’m gripping the arms of the chair.

It just keeps pushing that tension to the point I was thankful for some of the cheesy drama of the story.

It’s not ALL tension; there’s some room to breathe.

But wow not much.

Be prepared for a bracing thrill and some unexpected moments in this intense survival film: worth seeing on the big screen.

 

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Rated: MThree Thousand Years of Longing

Directed by: George Miller

Written by: George Miller and Augusta Gore

Based on the Short Story, ‘The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye’ by: A. S. Byatt

Produced by: Doug Mitchell and George Miller

Starring: Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton.

‘Whatever it is, I’m sure it has an interesting story.’

Three Thousand Years of Longing is a film about stories, about a narratologist, Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) and her fateful discovery of a bottle containing a Djinn (Idris Elba).

Alithea lectures about stories, the old mythos, the science, the metaphor; how people have told each other stories to escape the chaos of the world.

Alithea’s a solitary creature who finds her feelings through stories.  And she’s content with that.

So when the Djinn asks what she desires – she has no answer.  Alithea wishes for nothing.  Besides, she’s read all the stories, she knows that with wishes granted, there is always a cost.

She recites the story of the magic fish discovered by three fishermen, who grants them one wish each.  The first fisherman wishes to be home, his wish is granted, and he disappears.  The second fisherman wishes to be playing in a field with his children – his wish is also granted.  The third fishmen becomes lonely and wishes that his friends were there with him…

Even the jokes about wishes end badly.

But if the Djinn is ever to escape his prison, Alithea must be granted three wishes of her deepest desires.  To convince Alithea that she must desire something even if she doesn’t realise it, the Djinn begins his story.

There’re stories within stories in this film as the Djinn weaves his narrative into a fantastical tale of queens and kings, of sultans and love.

Each chapter is given a title such as, ‘Two Brothers and a Djinn’ and, ‘A Djinn’s Oblivion’.

He’s had a lot of bad luck over his thousands of years of imprisonment.

It’s a sweeping tale with decadent settings of harems and bazaars full of colourful glass bottles, gadgets invented by a hidden third wife who’s frustrated by her bridled genius.

It’s a colourful escapism which is the point of the film (stories within stories).

In the production notes, director and writer, George Miller (Babe (1995), Happy Feet (2006) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)) is quoted: Alithea Binnie is a narratologist. She studies stories throughout the ages. “We seemed to be hard-wired for story” poses Miller. “Why?”

Miller read British author A.S. BYATT’s 1994 short story ‘The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye’ in the late 1990s. “It’s a story that seemed to probe many of the mysteries and paradoxes of life, and so succinctly” Miller states.

The Djinn laments his idiocy of finding himself trapped because of his love of a woman’s company and Alithea finds she has a desire afterall.  There’s a letting go, coming together, letting go to be together.

It just takes a few circles in the film to get there.

I kept thinking, Oh, OK, that’s the end.  But then there’s another part, another chapter.

It felt, ambitious.

But it all comes back around in a satisfying way.

Alithea is free, she’s solitary, she can be and want without losing herself; the reaching out lets her know herself by understanding the Djinn, by the two of them discussing life.

It’s a magical film but also grounded because the characters are genuinely relatable: delightful.

 

Orphan: First Kill

Rated: MA15+Orphan: First Kill

Directed by: William Brent Bell

Screenplay by: David Coggeshall

Story by: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Alex Mace

Based on Characters Created by: Alex Mace

Produced by: Alex Mace, Hal Sadoff, Ethan Erwin, James Tomlinson

Starring: Isabelle Fuhrman, Rossif Sutherland, Hiro Kanagawa, Matthew Finlan and Julia Stiles.

‘Welcome home, Esther.’

The prequel to, Orphan (2009), Orphan: First Kill takes the story back to Esther’s (Isabelle Fuhrman) origins, back to Estonia 2007.

But back in 2007, Esther isn’t, ‘Esther’.  She’s Leena.

Incredibly, Isabelle Furhman has returned in the same role and yes, is believable.

Many in the audience will know of Esther’s disorder, hypopituitarism where she’s essentially an in-proportion dwarf making her look like a child even though she’s an adult woman in her 30s.

As do the psychiatrists in the film, treating her in the Saarne Institute.

Opening with the same emotionless bloody violence that Esther is capable of, there’s no surprise or hiding who she really is, so the prequal is layered differently.

I wasn’t sure what concept returning story writer, Alex Mace along with original screenwriter, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick was going to come up with after the big reveal was already known – that the innocent 10-year-old girl Esther is in fact a psychotic, manipulating, murdering, adult woman.  But Mace and Johnson-McGoldrick have teamed up with new screenwriter, David Coggeshall and director, William Brent Bell (Separation, (2021), The Devil Inside (2012), The Boy (2016)) to create something, dare I say, playful.

Here, Esther manipulates her way into a wealthy American family, The Albrights.

Their family came over on the Mayflower and built this country.  They ‘mean something.’

Esther finds another man to fall in love with (Allen, (Rossif Sutherland)) while hating her new, ‘mummy,’ (Julia Stiles as Tricia is fantastic in this role) while her older brother, Gunnar (Matthew Finlan) remains suspicious of his returned little sister.

Let the manipulation and killing begin.

I was bracing for a bit boring and more of the same, but as the film progresses, I was drawn in and ended up having a lot of fun watching this new perspective of Esther.  Fun.  In a good way.

Prequel Orphan was better than expected and that’s all I’m going to give away, except to say, gotta like a wry sense of humour in a horror movie.

Fire of Love

Directed by: Sara DosaFire of Love

Written by: Shane Boris, Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput, Sara Dosa

Produced by: Shane Boris, Sara Dosa, Ina Fichman

Executive Producers: Carolyn Bernstein, Greg Baustead, ben Braun, Josh Braun, Jessica Harrop

Narrated by: Miranda July

Archive Footage: Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft.

Maurice and Katia met in 1966.

The story goes, ‘The café closes.  It begins to rain.  They will never leave each other.’

Fire of Love is a documentary about two people who found each other, who shared the same passion: volcanoes.

Maurice a geologist and Katia a chemist, both are fascinated by the same phenomena in their own unique way.  The relationship of the couple and their relationship to the volcano is the driving force of the documentary, shown with care, attention to detail, turning the footage taken by the couple, Maurice recording video, Katia always with her camera, into a poetry.

Narrated by Miranda July, the story of the lives of Katia and Maurice is told with shots from above a coffee cup, the coffee disappearing to illustrate the time when they met, the conversation, the beginning of their shared obsession.

Paper lithography of mountains growing out of the earth change the texture of the documentary and are used to show the movement of the tectonic plates beneath, along with split screen of nature shots by Katia so there’s this constant flow of imagery as the audience gets to know the couple while they document and educate the world about the volcano.

This is a beautifully crafted documentary using video footage and images captured by the volconists as they travel the world, chasing the volcanoes as they erupt.  It’s mind-blowing to see humans standing in front of such a force of nature as the heat from the centre of the earth melts rock so it spews into the sky and runs like a river, destroying everything in its path.  And there they stand, in silver suits, awe struck.  Obsessed.  Nothing could be better than being right there as a volcano erupts.

The relationship of the pair is a running thread through the doco, but it’s also about the science, their exploration and documentation of what was still a mystery.

Their passion to chase erupting volcanoes from: Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Hawaii, Zaire in Africa, Colombia in South America, Japan, was at the same time as the tectonic plates of the earth were being mapped.

They were mesmerised by the ‘red’ volcanoes as they stood before exploding showers of red rock, revelling in how small humans are in the face of such heat and power.

There’s a philosophy at play here, to understand what makes two people put themselves in danger, in front of such force, knowing that at any moment they could fall or miscalculate.

Their curiosity was stronger than their fear.

They go on the interview circuit, captivating the world with their stories of standing in front of such danger.  Maurice explaining in one interview that he didn’t want volcanoes to be categorized, going as far as saying classification is abusive.  He wanted each volcano to be seen as unique.

But after witnessing the devastation of 25 thousand lives lost after an eruption in Colombia (despite scientists warning of the potential eruption), their focus shifts from the ‘red’ volcano to the ‘grey’, named after the ash from these killer volcanoes, to better understand the danger, to try to predict an eruption to warn people, to save lives.

Fire of Love is a fascinating documentary that’s both exciting and poetic, romantic and philosophical.

A truly unique experience that I enjoyed from the start to its poignant finish.