Josh Bell
In this week’s low-profile VOD releases, unexpected arrivals of money and letters cause problems, a new mother sees possible demons, and a lone survivor fights her town’s worm-people.
Icefall (VOD November 4): Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky is a long way from his 2007 Oscar-winning World War II drama The Counterfeiters, helming a sort of off-brand Jason Statham thriller, with Bulgaria standing in for Montana. Joel Kinnaman plays the Statham role, as a taciturn military veteran who stumbles across a case full of money rising from the depths of a frozen lake, where a plane transporting stolen cash had crashed months earlier. The criminals who stole the money want it back, setting up a confrontation with Kinnaman’s Harlan and local game warden Ani (Cara Jade Myers). Dodgy special effects aside, Ruzowitzky stages some decent action, including a couple of standout moments involving bear traps. Everything in between is pretty dire, though, from the tedious infighting among the criminals (led by Danny Huston as their ruthless boss) to the budding connection between Harlan and Ani to the clumsy and mildly condescending depiction of Native American spirituality, featuring the late Graham Greene in one of his final roles. Grade: C+
The Beldham (VOD November 7): Postpartum horror has become a familiar subgenre, and writer-director Angela Gulner offers a basic but dependable take on the formula, right until an infuriating final twist. Single mom Harper (Katie Parker) and her newborn daughter move in with Harper’s mother Sadie (Patricia Heaton), who’s recently retired and is renovating a creepy old house. At first it seems like Harper is there to help her mother, joining Sadie’s boyfriend Frank (Corbin Bernsen) and in-home caretaker Bette (Emma Fitzpatrick). But it soon becomes clear that Harper is the one who needs help, following an unspecified breakdown. Thus when Harper starts seeing visions of a shadowy figure trying to take her baby, there’s the obvious question of whether the house is actually haunted, or Harper is mentally unstable. Gulner builds up some eerie atmosphere, and Heaton channels her sitcom-mom energy (from stints on Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle) into something more menacing. But the ultimate answer is such a manipulative, sentimental cheat that any previous intrigue immediately evaporates. Grade: C+
Wormtown (VOD November 7): Director Sergio Pinheiro and screenwriter Andrew James Myers evoke an entire post-apocalyptic world within the confines of a small town in this surprisingly affecting sci-fi movie about mind-controlling worms attacking humanity. While others have fought against the invasive parasites, the residents of Ashland, Ohio, have welcomed their new worm overlords, thanks to the cult-like leadership of Mayor Joshua (Jim Azelvandre), who broadcasts a message of unity and obedience over local radio. There are a handful of holdouts, including former teacher Jess (Caitlin McWethy), who eventually escapes to a nearby Amish compound that has stayed worm-free. The worm infestation serves as a metaphor for authoritarianism and social conformity, but Wormtown is more than just a political allegory. The filmmakers create meaningful relationships among the central characters, making for heartbreaking moments when Jess has to face impossible decisions. McWethy keeps the story grounded in recognizable emotion, and the understated effects give the absurd premise a sense of grim urgency. Grade: B+
Don’t Trip (Tubi November 7): Produced via Tubi’s recent partnership with Kickstarter, writer-director Alex Kugelman’s debut feature would fit alongside any mid-level Tubi original, with solid production values and a half-baked story. After an ominous opening, the majority of the movie plays out as an awkward buddy comedy between aspiring screenwriter Dev (Matthew Sato) and spoiled Hollywood scion Trip (Will Sennett), the son of a high-powered producer whom Dev hopes will finance his passion project. The obnoxious, overbearing Trip is so believably irritating that his scenes are all unpleasant to watch, and Dev is a spineless whiner with murky artistic motivations. The belated shift into thriller territory isn’t clever or exciting, even with a welcome appearance from Fred Melamed as Trip’s dad. If Kugelman has anything to say about the perils of the movie business, it’s buried amid belabored, unfunny jokes and drawn-out attempts at suspense. Dev’s girlfriend occasionally chimes in as a voice of reason, and the whole situation could have been avoided if Dev (or Kugelman) had just listened to her. Grade: C
300 Letters (VOD November 11): This Argentinian dramedy opens with a montage of social media videos featuring insufferably cutesy gay couple Jero (Cristian Mariani) and Tom (Gastón Frías), and the subsequent story doesn’t make either of them any less cloying. Jero returns home one day to discover that Tom has walked out on him, leaving behind a box of 300 letters, one written on each day that they spent together. Reading the letters is meant to give Jero a better understanding of their relationship, but flashbacks reveal only that they’re both shallow and self-obsessed, and Jero’s supposed emotional growth as he processes the breakup is meager at best. The movie is unabashedly horny, and Jero spends most of his time shirtless (even when posting a heartfelt explanatory video online), so there’s a lively, upbeat tone even during Jero’s moments of despair. That just adds to the superficiality, though, and director and co-writer Lucas Santa Ana’s observations about double standards in queer dating culture are as empty as the vapid commentary in Tom’s letters. Grade: C+
