VODepths: What to See (and Avoid) on Demand This Week

In this week’s fringe VOD releases, a heartwarming documentary and a sardonic thriller take down the hellscape of capitalism, a novelist and a trans woman go on fraught journeys into their troubled pasts, and an Irish girl meets the ghost of one of her ancestors.

A Greyhound of a Girl (VOD November 1): With its verdant rolling hills, Irish flute-drenched score, and voice performances from Sharon Horgan and Brendan Gleeson, this bland, innocuous animated movie strains hard to seem as Irish as possible, although it’s a multi-national co-production from Italian director and co-writer Enzo D’Alò. That explains a weird running joke about the low-quality pasta cooked by the main character’s mother, which her grandmother calls “as Italian as Bono.” The movie is about as Irish as a Bono impersonator, but it’s a sometimes sweet, well-intentioned story about grief and generational legacy, as 11-year-old Mary (Mia O’Connor) deals with the impending death of her grandmother (Rosaleen Linehan) while communing with the spirit of her late great-grandmother (Charlene McKenna). The supernatural aspect is a jarring intrusion into a more grounded story about Mary’s ambitions to become a chef, and the various thematic elements fit together awkwardly. The retro animation is simple but sometimes shaky, and A Greyhound of a Girl similarly never quite finds the right balance of sincerity and blarney. Grade: C+

Starring Jerry as Himself (Select theaters November 6; VOD November 8): Although it’s produced on a much smaller scale, this docufiction hybrid fits perfectly alongside The Beekeeper and Thelma in the year of the senior citizen scam movie. Florida-based Taiwanese immigrant Jerry Hsu plays himself in a series of re-enactments about the long-term con that bilked him out of his life savings, while his family members remained unaware. Director Law Chen presents those scenes like a suspense thriller, as Jerry is duped into believing that he’s carrying out a mission for the Chinese police to root out an international money launderer. It’s pretty obvious what’s really going on, but Chen puts the audience alongside Jerry to show how easy it was for him to get roped in, and the Hsu family are endearingly awkward performers in the cinematic reconstruction of their own lives. There are serious messages here, but as in those other movies, they’re presented as part of an entertaining, engaging narrative with a protagonist who’s nearly as charismatic as Jason Statham or June Squibb. Grade: B+

American Meltdown (VOD November 8): The righteous fury at capitalist exploitation from the two leads in writer-director Andrew Adams’ debut feature comes off as a watered-down take on Fight Club, and the dark comedy is as toothless as the social message. Still, stars Jacki Von Preysing and Nicolette Sweeney have strong chemistry as a pair of misfits who find common ground in taking down (a small part of) the system, and Adams’ points about predatory landlords and the indignities of the gig economy are well-founded. After getting laid off from a contract job and returning home to the aftermath of a break-in, Olivia (Von Preysing) meets free-spirited pickpocket Mari (Sweeney), who encourages her to forcefully reject the obligations of mainstream society. There are hints at a more dangerous agenda, but Adams rejects that potential complexity in favor of easy fist-pumping moments of victory against cartoonish authority figures. Olivia engages in wanton destruction of everything she previously held dear, and the movie just makes it look like a fun, Instagram-friendly road trip. Grade: C+

Heather (VOD November 8): It takes a much more sophisticated talent than writer-director Anthony Repinski to make the premise of this thriller into anything other than cheap exploitation. Repinski casts trans actress Pooya Mohseni in the title role, but that’s the extent of the sensitivity he shows toward the subject matter, as Mohseni’s Heather kidnaps and tortures the man who bullied her in high school. There a few brief moments that offer some psychological intensity in the dynamic between Heather and Travis (Nick Mathews), but they’re far overshadowed by the gross, sub-Saw torture scenes and the overwrought posturing of Heather’s fellow vengeance-seeker Robby (Colin Bates). The reveal of Heather’s true identity calls back to problematic trans representation in movies like Sleepaway Camp, and the cameo appearance from Sean Young evokes unfortunate memories of her transphobic character in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Those references could be subversive and transformative, but instead they’re emblematic of Repinski’s propensity for cheap shock value over measured suspense and believable characters. Grade: D+

Okie (VOD November 8): Director Kate Cobb and writer Kevin Bigley muddle what could have been an effective low-key drama about a writer returning to his hometown by focusing on confusing surrealism and mental instability. Successful novelist Louie Mulgrin (Scott Michael Foster) takes a trip back to the rural Illinois town where he grew up, ostensibly to collect some things from his late father’s house. Instead, he reconnects with his old friend Travis (Bigley) and his ex-girlfriend Lainey (Cobb) and finds increasingly dubious reasons to stay in town, while neglecting his vaguely defined “meds.” There’s an uneasy vibe between Louie and everyone he encounters, since he’s used unflattering details from their lives in his books, but Cobb and Bigley engage only superficially with that moral dilemma, and Okie is nearly as condescending about its small-town characters as Louie is accused of being in his writing. By the end, the filmmakers have created so much doubt about what’s real and what’s imagined that any possible emotional resonance has been completely lost. Grade: C

Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He's the former film editor of 'Las Vegas Weekly' and has written about movies and pop culture for Syfy Wire, Polygon, CBR, Film Racket, Uproxx and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.

Back to top