Josh Bell
This week’s minor VOD releases feature stories of real-life bear attacks and mine explosions, plus an Irish demon, a Danish cult, and an international curling competition.
Grizzly Night (VOD January 30): Anyone watching a movie titled Grizzly Night in hopes of seeing a nasty creature feature about a rampaging bear is going to be sorely disappointed. Anyone looking for a thoughtful true-life drama about a pivotal incident in the history of environmentalism and endangered-species conservation will likewise be disappointed, since Grizzly Night unsatisfyingly splits the difference between those two disparate purposes. Set in 1967, it’s based on an actual incident in Montana’s Glacier National Park, when two young women were killed in two separate bear attacks on the same night. Director Burke Doeren puts together an expansive ensemble cast worthy of a disaster movie, but fails to give any of them interesting personality traits. Either because of budgetary limitations or a misguided sense of decorum, the attacks themselves occur offscreen, and bears are glimpsed mainly in what looks like stock footage, set apart from the human characters. The period details are spotty, and the message about responsible stewardship of nature is muted at best. Grade: C
Pike River (VOD and select theaters January 30): The real people at the center of this New Zealand docudrama are worthy of all the admiration that the movie gives them, even if the movie itself is less compelling. Part of the problem is that the actual events involve years of incremental successes and setbacks, as Anna Osborne (Melanie Lynskey) and Sonya Rockhouse (Robyn Malcolm) fight for justice for their loved ones following a mine collapse that killed 29 men. Named after the mine itself, Pike River covers more than seven years of hearings, lawsuits, and protests, with the two women leading the charge even as others lose hope. It’s an ongoing process that expands to national politics, including the election of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (who has a cameo as herself), and the filmmakers struggle to give it a satisfying narrative structure and manage the substantial supporting cast. Still, Lynskey and Malcolm find the mix of determination and vulnerability in their characters, making it a worthwhile personal journey even if the larger purpose remains unfulfilled. Grade: B-
The Morrigan (VOD February 3): The Morrigan is a pagan goddess who was slain along with her female followers by the ruthless patriarchy of the Catholic Church, so she should probably be the hero of this underwhelming folk horror movie, rather than the monster to be vanquished. Writer-director Colum Eastwood hints at this idea by pitting archaeologist protagonist Fiona (Saffron Burrows) against institutional sexism and a handsy, condescending colleague, but once Fiona accidentally unearths the Morrigan on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, all of the complexity disappears. At that point, The Morrigan becomes just another crappy demon-possession film, with Fiona’s sullen teenage daughter Lily (Emily Flain) sporting glowy eyes and a growly voice as she channels the Morrigan and starts killing people. The solution is a standard-issue exorcism from a Catholic priest, which makes The Morrigan as unoriginal as it is unpleasant to look at. The murky visuals complement the mumbled incantations, along the way to a predictably cheap jump-scare ending. Grade: C
The Roaring Game (VOD and select theaters February 6): Curling is such an inherently goofy-looking sport that it shouldn’t be difficult to make an effective comedy about it, but writer-director Tom DeNucci still fails miserably with this threadbare, unfunny effort. There’s barely any curling until the final half-hour, and the story is mostly about the romantic woes of smarmy slacker Rickey (Darin Brooks), a onetime college hockey star who now works as a janitor. Via a series of pointlessly convoluted circumstances, Rickey and a crew of misfits end up as the U.S. men’s curling team in the legally-distinct-from-the-Olympics World Games, although all Rickey really wants is to get back together with his ex-girlfriend, a member of the women’s hockey team. DeNucci clearly doesn’t have the resources to depict an international sporting event, and the curling comes off as an afterthought to the strained misadventures of Rickey and his pals, including fending off empty threats from a gangster (Mickey Rourke). The annoying, self-satisfied Rickey doesn’t deserve either the girl or the championship. Grade: C-
Acts of Love (VOD February 10): At first, it may seem like actors Cecilie Lassen and Jonas Holst Schmidt have a bit too much chemistry to be playing siblings, but the reason for that soon becomes sickeningly apparent in this self-consciously provocative Danish drama. Hanna (Lassen) has been living for seven years in what is clearly a cult, when her estranged brother Jakob (Schmidt) arrives under false pretenses and attempts to extricate her. Instead, he gets drawn into the cult’s disturbing rituals, including elaborate re-enactments meant to recreate past trauma. Hanna and Jakob have plenty of that to explore, and director and co-writer Jeppe Rønde frustratingly teases the audience with the obvious outcome. There are still some powerful moments of catharsis thanks to the strong central performances, but most of Acts of Love feels like its own cult indoctrination, including the questionable deployment of child actors to represent Hanna and Jakob’s younger selves. At a certain point, the obsession with past abuse starts to come off like celebration. Grade: C+
