Josh Bell
This week’s fringe VOD releases explore the dangers of shark-infested waters, rock-star palazzos, underground gambling dens, and Florida storage facilities.
Electra (VOD and select theaters May 2): Landing somewhere between Saltburn and psychedelic cult classic Performance, director and co-writer Hala Matar’s debut feature takes all of those films’ empty posturing without any bold artistic vision to make up for it. Co-writer Daryl Wein plays a writer with multiple secret agendas, ostensibly working on a profile of mononymic rock star Milo (Jack Farthing) while staying at a lavish Italian villa owned by Milo’s performance artist girlfriend Francesca (Maria Bakalova). The characters are more interested in playing tedious psychosexual games with each other, while Wein’s Dylan and his photographer girlfriend Lucy (Abigail Cowen) scheme against their hosts. Matar uses florid chapter titles, cumbersome music video-style interludes, and random bits of non-diegetic sound to distract from her overwrought yet undercooked narrative, which eventually degenerates into rote, pseudo-shocking violence. Wein is miscast as a devious grifter, and Farthing is equally unconvincing as a charismatic celebrity. Cowen and Bakalova fare slightly better, but all of the characters are so sloppily defined that their belabored betrayals mean nothing. Grade: C
Fear Below (VOD and select theaters May 2): It’s not exactly a major achievement to deliver the year’s best shark-attack B-movie, but that shouldn’t take away from what director and co-writer Matthew Holmes has accomplished. This 1940s-set Australian production succeeds as a pared-down crime thriller as well as a shark movie, effectively deploying the deadly underwater predator at strategic intervals. Hermione Corfield stars as Clara Bennett, an eager employee at a low-rent dive company run by alcoholic combat veteran Ernie Morgan (Arthur Angel). When a local gangster loses a van full of stolen gold bullion at the bottom of a river, he hires Ernie and his crew for a salvage operation — which is interrupted by an angry bull shark. Holmes builds as much tension with the gangsters as he does with the shark, and the extra obstacle of the old-fashioned diving equipment amplifies the suspense. The sharp, well-acted Fear Below showcases distinctive characters and pointed social commentary without slowing the momentum or distracting from the gruesome kills that viewers expect from the genre. Grade: B+
Flaming Cloud (Film Movement Plus May 9): Chinese filmmaker Liu Siyi may be aiming to evoke classic Disney animated movies, but her treacly fairy tale more often resembles the plastic weightlessness of a Disney live-action remake. Liu puts a spin on the story of Sleeping Beauty, with her main character cursed to send other people into a deep sleep (albeit temporarily) whenever he kisses them. After traumatizing his childhood first love, Sangui (played as an adult by Xianxu Hu) is determined to break his curse and reunite with her, but that entails lengthy detours spent with other one-dimensional characters, including a reclusive former pop star (Yao Chen) who now calls herself a witch. Chen is a major star in China, which may be why she sings multiple sentimental songs while Sangui waits on the sidelines to continue his quest. The sense of wonder is muted by the meandering story, and the message about true love is more sappy than inspirational. It’s a flimsy, garish exercise in ersatz nostalgia. Grade: C
Unit 234 (VOD and select theaters May 9): Middle-of-the-road comedy veteran Andy Tennant (Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama) seems like an odd choice to direct a lean, Die Hard-in-a-blank thriller, but he proves surprisingly adept at crafting no-frills suspense. There are so few frills in Unit 234 that even the opening title card looks like a placeholder, but all that Tennant and screenwriter Derek Steiner really need are a versatile single location and some dependable workhorse actors. Isabelle Fuhrman plays Florida storage facility owner Laurie Schuyler, who’s working solo when she encounters shady businessman Jules (Don Johnson) and his henchmen, demanding access to a storage unit where they’ve stashed an apparently unwitting victim of organ trafficking (Jack Huston). Laurie decides to fight back, and Tennant makes creative use of the corridors and caches at the facility, once the somewhat protracted set-up is out of the way. A late-film twist brings added dimensions to Johnson’s menacing power player, although the efforts at pathos are less effective than the chases and confrontations. Grade: B-
Lucky Star (VOD May 13): Movies about gambling addicts almost invariably spiral into increasingly desperate, often violent situations. Canadian writer-director Gillian McKercher strenuously avoids that sensationalism while still creating an affecting portrait of a man whose life is constantly on the verge of falling apart. Harold “Lucky” Lee (Terry Chen) might look like he has it all, with a successful small business, a loving wife and two daughters, and a beautiful house in the Calgary suburbs. But he’s piled up numerous debts both legal and illegal, and his alleged recovery from gambling addiction is a barely maintained façade. His penchant for making quick, secretive deals leaves him vulnerable to a tax-lien scam, and soon he’s down another $10,000. McKercher keeps the movie at a steady simmer of unease, while exploring complex family dynamics that go beyond Lucky’s addiction issues. The low-key performances and drab everyday locations recall fellow downbeat Canadian gambling drama Owning Mahowny, although McKercher allows her characters slightly more hope — once they’ve reached their emotional rock bottom. Grade: B
