This week’s low-profile VOD releases feature UFOs, ancient Incan martial arts, circus folk, and a possible sexual assault by swan.
Acidman (VOD and select theaters March 31): Over the course of four narrative feature films, director Alex Lehmann (Blue Jay, Paddleton) has proved to be a master of the intimate two-hander. His latest, which he co-wrote with Chris Dowling, is a return to more low-key storytelling after the sci-fi rom-com Meet Cute. There’s still a sci-fi angle of sorts, as eccentric recluse Lloyd (Thomas Haden Church) insists that he’s spotted UFOs in the sky above his isolated rural home. That’s just one concerning development that Lloyd’s daughter Maggie (Dianna Agron) discovers when she tracks him down after years without contact. Maggie has problems of her own, and father and daughter warily open up to each other over the course of a few days together. There are no melodramatic revelations or overwrought confrontations, just two people quietly unpacking their feelings, often in meaningful silence. Church and Agron both give excellent, heartfelt performances, and the movie never settles for easy answers. Grade: B+
Summoning Sylvia (Select theaters March 31; VOD April 7): If the characters from Fire Island decided to vacation at a haunted house instead, the result might look something like this silly but endearing horror comedy. Writer-directors Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse go light on the horror, never truly aiming to scare the audience, but the prospect of ghostly encounters is enough to shake up the four gay friends spending a weekend at a lovely vintage house known for being the site of grisly murders. Ostensibly a bachelor party for Larry (Travis Coles), the trip takes a turn for the macabre after Larry’s friend Nico (Frankie Grande) leads the group in a séance. They may or may not have conjured a ghost, but they definitely have to deal with the arrival of Larry’s painfully straight future brother-in-law Harrison (Nicholas Logan). The jokes about Harrison’s suspected homophobia rely on too many contrived misunderstandings, but most of the humor is exuberant and good-natured, just like the main characters. Grade: B
Fist of the Condor (Select theaters April 4; Hi-Yah! April 7): In the U.S., martial artist Marko Zaror shows up in minor roles in movies like Alita: Battle Angel and John Wick: Chapter 4, but in his native Chile, he’s the main attraction. Fist of the Condor gives Zaror a showcase along the lines of Tony Jaa in Ong-Bak or Iko Uwais in The Raid, and he makes the most of the opportunity, both in front of and behind the camera (as the fight choreographer). The rudimentary plot and characterization are less impressive, even with Zaror playing dual roles. Although they’re on opposite sides of the battle for an ancient book of secret Incan fighting techniques, there’s little to distinguish the twin brothers — one is a stoic badass, while the other is a badass stoic. The gritty, unadorned fight scenes are exciting and creative, but the story barely holds them together, petering out just when it seems to be building to a climactic showdown. Grade: B
Balloon Animal (VOD April 7): For most young people trying to figure their lives out, running away to join the circus represents an enticing escape, but restless 24-year-old Poppy Valentine (Katherine Waddell) has the opposite perspective. She’s spent her entire life in the circus owned by her father (Ilia Volok), and she longs for something more stable. While the circus is stationed outside a small town, packing up for the end of the season, Poppy tentatively explores her options, starting with an awkward but handsome local guy (Michael David Wilson) who takes an interest in her. This isn’t a romance, though, and writer-director Em Johnson is just as interested in Poppy’s relationships with her father and the circus friends who form her surrogate family. The movie is a bit meandering and shapeless, but the individual elements are strong, especially the bittersweet atmosphere of the dismantled circus. Poppy never quite finds herself, and the movie struggles in the same way, with periodic moments of grace. Grade: B-
Leda (VOD and DVD/Blu-ray April 11): An abstract, dialogue-free take on the Greek myth of Leda and the Swan, director and co-writer Samuel Tressler IV’s black and white film is confounding but occasionally beautiful. Available in both 2D and 3D, Leda is at first visually striking but quickly becomes repetitive, returning to a handful of motifs over the course of its brief 75 minutes. The Greek myth involves the god Zeus disguising himself as a swan to impregnate the human Leda, and the movie’s Leda (Adeline Thery) does encounter a swan and appear to be pregnant. Tressler presents just enough of a narrative to make it frustrating when he fails to follow through, and it’s futile to attempt to discern an overarching story. As the movie turns toward horror, Tressler’s efforts to make a swan seem menacing are mostly laughable, and any evocative power from the early haunting imagery has dissipated. Grade: C
