{"id":19605,"date":"2023-01-31T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=19605"},"modified":"2023-02-02T13:58:27","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T21:58:27","slug":"vodepths-what-to-see-and-avoid-on-demand-this-week-57","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/vodepths-what-to-see-and-avoid-on-demand-this-week-57\/","title":{"rendered":"VODepths: What to See (and Avoid) On Demand This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lesbians figuring out their lives highlight this week\u2019s minor VOD releases, which also feature ancient gods, a menacing rapper, and a kid vampire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blood <\/em><\/strong>(Select theaters January 27; VOD January 31):<\/strong> It\u2019s been quite a while since journeyman director Brad Anderson<\/a> (Session 9<\/em>, The Machinist<\/em>) was considered a rising horror auteur, and Blood <\/em>isn\u2019t likely to put him back on the horror A-list, although it has a few effectively creepy moments. It\u2019s too downbeat and plodding to be particularly scary, treating its version of vampirism more like a terminal illness than a supernatural power. Nobody ever uses the V-word for what happens to young Owen (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) after he\u2019s bitten by an aggressive dog with glowing eyes, but his uncontrollable craving for blood makes it pretty obvious. Owen\u2019s mom (Michelle Monaghan) goes to any lengths necessary for her son, and the filmmakers draw some weak thematic connections to her struggles with drug addiction and custody battle with her ex (Skeet Ulrich). The drama is mostly flat, and the true horrors of Owen\u2019s condition only manifest when the movie is nearly over. Grade: C+<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immortal City Records<\/em><\/strong> (Tubi January 27):<\/strong> More of a soap opera than a thriller, this Tubi original about an aspiring singer caught up in nefarious activity at an Atlanta record label takes its time getting around to the underwhelming danger. Mostly, Drea (Mea Wilkerson) endures mild workplace harassment from her bosses, legendary rapper Eight (RonReaco Lee) and his wife and business partner Sapphire (D. Woods). Drea learns that their previous assistant went missing, but she doesn\u2019t seem too concerned about it, instead focusing on jump-starting her career and flirting with hot young rapper T. Strong (Terrence Green). Writer-director Patricia Cuffie-Jones (a veteran of made-for-TV Christmas movies) delivers a cut-rate version of Lee Daniels\u2019 hip-hop drama series Empire<\/em>, culminating in a brief, suspense-free confrontation. The characters\u2019 motivations are inconsistent, the mystery is almost entirely nonexistent, and the supposed bangers that put the label on the map sound like knock-offs designed to trick Spotify algorithms. Grade: C-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petit Mal<\/em><\/strong> (Select theaters January 27; VOD January 31):<\/strong> A movie about a throuple who are making a movie about being in a throuple, based on the filmmaker\u2019s real-life throuple relationship, this Colombian drama is loaded with self-reflectiveness, although it rarely weighs down the simple narrative. Writer-director Ruth Caudeli and her actual partners star as a trio of lesbians who seem to live in domestic bliss. They play word games and wear matching pajamas, but their dynamic is destabilized when Laia (Caudeli) departs for a long-term work assignment in another city. Marti (Silvia Var\u00f3n) and Anto (Ana Mar\u00eda Ot\u00e1lora) seem lost without the more dominant Laia, which Caudeli represents by shifting from color to black and white once Laia leaves. The fractures in the relationship are minor, though, and Petit Mal<\/em> is quiet and slow-paced, relying on the actors\u2019 often wordless interactions to convey the characters\u2019 emotions. It\u2019s sometimes too sedate for its own good, but even the most mundane moments have an appealing, honest vulnerability. Grade: B-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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