"You look like Gwyneth Paltrow on food stamps"I knew absolutely nothing about this film before I watched it, nothing at all. Only the fact that one of my friends said I would love it- and boy did I. The film follows a gender studies college student, Danielle, who is a bisexual Jew, and is unaware and clueless as to what she wants to do in life, while is heavily dependant and scrounging money from her generous parents to afford her flat. Her only form of income currently is the odd babysitting job and through a sugar daddy app where she is hired as a sugar baby and exchanges sexual favours for money. The film becomes heightened right from the get-go, when Danielle attends a Shiva gathering, a traditional Jewish event held after a burial, where she bumps into her sugar daddy, Max, which is the genesis of awkward encounters to follow. Unaware to Danielle, Max has a wife, Dianna Agron, and an 18-month-old daughter and from this moment on, this claustrophobic, queer, Jewish black comedy pursues into a cumbrous ordeal for our protagonist. The film begins with multiple fake orgasms, from our protagonist, while she is straddling her sugar daddy, Max, in her transactional sexual encounter. After their transaction is over, the two converse as she lies about needing money to go to law school and Max gives her a wad of money and an expensive bracelet, which is a plot device that comes in later in the film. As I have explored before in my other work, films around sex work tend to be stigmatized and have various stereotypes around them. When looking at older films that surround sex work such as Pretty Woman (Marshall, 1990), our leading lady is presented as a damsel in distress archetype that needs saving from her rich male "customer." In Shiva Baby, our protagonist doesn't need saving but finds sex work as a way to make her feel powerful and in control, and a play to explore female empowerment which is something I applaud the director and writer, Emma Seligman, for portraying as it presents a new side to sex work films as this powerful side is usually concealed. When Danielle arrives at the Shiva, she is greeted by innumerable members of distant friends, acquaintances and family. This paired with the screaming baby and hectic energy is a perfect device to present the claustrophobic feel throughout the entirety of the film. One of the themes that runs heavily throughout the film is that of a Jewish comedy as the film features stellar comedic performances from Danielle's parents, played by Fred Melamed and Polly Draper. Melamed has the repetitive gag of losing his phone, whereas Draper is unlike the Jewish mother stereotype and cares for her daughter's wellbeing above her own. This film is also features themes of queer identity, as while Danielle is having her mental crisis as she is coming to the realisation that her sugar daddy is a past employee of her real daddy and that he is married and has a child and on top of this, the numerous attendees at the Shiva are constantly commenting on her weight, her past lover, Maya, Molly Gordon is also at the Shiva. Maya is also going to be attending Law school which is one of the lies she told Max as she said she was going to Law School, almost like she is trying to mimic Maya. Although the two have an uneasy encounter at first, Maya acts as a safety net for Danielle while she experiences the her turmoil throughout the narrative.
The film's star Rachel Sennott is absolutely incredible in the film and delivers the succinct with such ease as her character deals with the hour of panic. Although the film isn't exactly visually stunning, given the lack of location and the compact set, this does fit faultlessly in the film's claustrophobic theme and is ideal for the film's small budget. Director, Emma Seligman also grew up in a Jewish community herself and therefore is the most qualified candidate to present this satirical display of this in Shiva Baby, her first feature film, and her short film, of the same name. At just twenty-five and a female director, this is a huge triumph and is so inspiring as she brings a feminist voice to sex workers which brings the powerful view of sex work further into the mainstream. This film is very compact, not just through the claustrophobic setting, but through the film's duration. It is only 77 minutes long which makes it immensely engaging as the audience witness Danielle's hour long frenzied nightmare.
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"You're losing sight of what's really important...your health"
This film is 100% Riz Ahmed's passion project, having stared, co-produced and co-wrote it with the director, Bassam Tariq. Riz Ahmed's presence in the film is extremely intense and personal, engaging the audience through the entirety of the narrative. The film is first and foremost a drama about British vs Indian culture, family, representation and being a Pakistani rapper, which is something I found highly unique as I have never seen a film about that subject before.
Riz Ahmed plays Z, a Pakistani rapper who is edging towards the height of his fame when a US tour is on the horizon and could achieve him the level of fame he always wanted. He wants this fame to try to get his voice heard. Riz returns home to Wembley, London before his tour, he reconnects with his traditional Pakistani parents that of which his father doesn't agree with his choices in life and his music. Then, after a night with his parents, he is immediately admitted to hospital after contracting a rare muscle disease which means he lacks the ability to walk or do anything for himself and is advised to donate his sperm as the kemo-like treatment will destroy his sperm forever. Due to this he faces giving up his spot on the tour to his rap-rival Majid and coming to terms with his culture and family history.
This film presents a constant battle. In the main a battle for the star Z as he battles this disease. It is heart-breaking as an audience to see him go from the film's opening- a bold rapper that knows his space (the aspect ratio is fairly small, 1.33 : 1, and he fills the space) to him sat in a hospital chair, an over the long shot looking down at him, he looks small and weak. He goes immediately from being this confident musician to loosing his courage and becoming scared so so quickly, its so jolting for the audience and you sympathise with the character on a huge level. Although we get the idea that Z dislikes his family traditions and is trying to escape them by touring the world, it is also very evident that he wants to be successful to give his culture a voice. In one ethereal scene where he is hallucinating, he imagines himself having a rap-battle with a black rapper who says that Z is trying to be something he is not and that is black. He also becomes very stereotypical using Pakistani stereotypes such as corner shops, taxi cabs and curry. Z then tackles this using his own voice about his culture, showing the diversity in British culture and the minorities amongst it. The voices that have their stereotypes but are not usually heard.
Riz Ahmed gives the performance of his career here. I thought it was incredible. So heartfelt and although his character can sometimes be very selfish, we sympathise with him as we know what he's going through and what he wants to achieve in life. His father, Alyy Khan, also gives an honest performance. In certain scenes we see a point of view shot of Z looking at his father and his eyes look as though they're looking right through us. His eyes are also so emotive and you can see the pain through them as a reaction to the treatment his son is enduring. Although this film is heart-breaking, it is also fairly satirical and funny especially the really sweet ending that ties the film together perfectly.
More actors of this ethnicity need and deserve to receive rolls this good in films. Don't let the talent presented here be wasted! "Look after your sister"
I had no idea what this film was about and had absolutely no expectations but I leave the film now with a face covered in floods of tears from what I just witnessed. This is an incredibly heart-wrenching and powerful debut by director Cathy Brady and is a triumph for female cinema! It perfectly balances the kitchen sink gloomy imagery, with light-heartedness and well-written female protagonists.
The film follows two estranged sisters who grew up on the factitious Ireland border and deal with their past relationships and the trauma they buried deep about their mother's death when they reunite with one another, all set with the backdrop of the political divide in Ireland due to Brexit. I found this film extremely melodramatic. It constantly juxtaposes and jolts in-between happiness and and upset as the sisters deal with their grief of the mother's passing. This can be seen near the opening of the film when the sisters are listening to a tape they made back when they were children about having Christmas in July, it then jolts to sadness as Kelly, Nika McGuigan, puts on her mother's red coat that she was found in when she died, immediately causing Lauren, Nora-Jane Noone, to spiral into a dark emotional state, which continues throughout the majority of the film. The film, although it has its happier moments, oozes tragedy and heartbreak, right up to the closing credits where it is revealed that one of the stars of the film, Nika McGuigan, lost her battle to cancer in 2019. Her performance in this film, alongside Nora-Jane Noone's is absolutely breath-taking and I haven't seen a pairing this amazing in cinema in quite a long time. What these women created together is truly extraordinary. The film begins with Kelly, who has been missing and homeless for years, is on a ferry home to return to her sister. She is pictured as dirty and weathered and feral as she is stealing leftover food from people's plates on the ferry and when she returns to her sisters home she appears as a stray dog, traipsing her muddy footprints over her sister's cream carpet. Through the opening shots of Kelly, the film opens through beautiful, ambient shots of trees and nature, where Kelly has spent her time when she went missing. The lighting throughout the entirety of the film is very muted, presenting the mundane reality of life and the trauma that has loomed over both sisters throughout their life. We are then introduced to Lauren who has a basic job working in a warehouse, scanning packages. We immediately see the sisters as different from each other as Lauren is well kept and has a home and a partner and Kelly is completely the opposite and returns to her life to flip it upside down.
There was no day better to watch this film than today as it is mental health awareness day and this film hits close to home with that topic. In the film, their mother is discussed as committing suicide when the sisters were young. You could debate that this was due to the pressures of having a domestic role and motherhood. Throughout the film, Lauren is haunted by her past, as the film features frequent flashbacks to her time as a child and eerie shots of her mother in the iconic red coat, used throughout the film, looming over a cliff edge.
The dynamic between the two sisters is very engaging and interesting for an audience. Kelly is extremely child-like and innocent, possibly as a result to the death of her mother at such a young age and having to be raised by Veronica, a family friend who shows a great dislike to Kelly throughout the film. Kelly is presented as puerile through the scenes where she is swimming in a pool with a trio of children, seeing how long she can hold her breath underwater and in one pivotal scene where Kelly believes she finds a suicide note in her mother's red coat and Lauren screams at her to go to her room, showing that she has taken on the mother role for Kelly and protects her. Despite the difference in maturity in both characters, Kelly does bring the child-like and more adventurous side out of her sister, whether that takes them swimming in a lake, overlooking the city on a hill or dancing like crazed animals in a small pub to the song "Gloria" by Them playing on the jukebox. This scene ends with them racing down the streetlamp-lit streets of Ireland, banging on shop shutters and climbing on cars. This scene presents a relieve and alleviates the sisters. The theme that runs through the aggregate of the film is that of grief and trauma. The sisters reuniting causes the catalyst for this grief that they now have to deal with when they have tried so hard supress it. This is presented through the ethereal shots of their mother and also the scene when Kelly is getting her hair cut for Veronica's 50th birthday party. The camera crosscuts between Kelly's reflection in the mirror to Kelly out of the mirror. When the hairdresser discovers who her mother is she starts discussing it and the sound becomes muffled as Kelly tries to supress it and it it sometimes cut through the sound of the scissors, brilliantly exhibiting how their traumatic past has affected her. Both actors were absolutely sublime in the film and are two breakout performances. It is a real shame and a tragedy that McGuigan will never get to see this film on scene but she certainly did herself justice and it was an incredible performance to end on. Those closest to her and those that worked on the film should be extremely proud. "Never waste your pain"
Saint Maud follows the story of a pious nurse who becomes devoted to saving the life of one of her patients and attempts to convert her views to that of her own.
The film is set in the seaside town of Scarborough, England and features multiple establishing shots of dull arcades and the gloomy, vast landscape, constantly shrouded in a dingy aesthetic, conveying the sad atmosphere of the film and that Maud, our protagonist, isn’t exactly in paradise. At first we see Maud going on sombre, lonely walks around the arcades, the crowds of people around making her seem more alone. She is pictured as a devoted catholic with an image of Mary Magdalene around her neck. When we are aware of Maud’s occupation, we come to realise that she could possibly be named after Saint Maud, the Saxon queen known being religious for caring for the sick. Maud seems rather sweet as she begins to look after her patient, Amanda Köhl, played incredibly by Jennifer Ehle. Amanda was once a well known dancer and choreographer who after developing neurological disease, is bound to a wheelchair. The film begins to be fairly satirical with the dialogue between Maud and Amanda but things become sinister when Maud discovers Amanda’s sexuality and “sinful” ways, believing this is the cause of her illness and that she has been sent by god to save her. Amanda and Maud’s interactions definitely act as a catalyst for the film’s main drama aspects and heightened moments. It’s also very hard not to see the comparisons of Amanda to Norma Desmond from Billy Wilder’s Sunset Blvd (1950) and I thought this was a brilliant homage so such an iconic character. There is also this juxtaposition between the two characters as although they get on at first and Amanda listens to Maud’s religious ways and thoughts, they definitely do clash as Amanda does not follow Maud’s ways. Maud also struggles with her own beliefs and her devotion to God. Although Maud seems like a good nurse at first (almost angel- like in her white attire) this changes when she bumps into her old colleague, Joy (Lily Knight) and things reveal themselves to be not as they seem. The film then takes a huge roller-coaster turn, taking the audience on so many twists and nightmarish turns; making the audience question Maud and how truthful she is being and what she is hiding.
When things take a turn for a worst the film begins on its road to horror with homages to The Exorcist (Friedkin, 1973). It also reminds you of a female First Reformed (Schrader,2017).
The film looks like a nightmare, the lighting was constantly either dreary or very dark and the camerawork was always up close and personal to Maud, so the audience didn’t have a choice to look away from the nightmare. Some scenes the audience witness things they’ve probably never seen on film before-like the feet-nail scene pictured in the trailer, making it terrifying and unique, unlike horror films you tend to come across nowadays that repeat themselves. Morfydd Clark gives the best performance of her career. This is such a chilling performance, picturing a girl’s mental state spiralling out of control that I imagine was very challenging to portray. As quite a new actress I am very excited to see what is in store for her career. This is an absolutely phenomenal debut from director Rose Glass who has created a champion for female cinema with this film. She manages to make a film about a woman’s mental state so cinematic and although Maud is making wrong choices, we manage to see the film from both Maud’s point of view and an outsider’s perspective. The constant religious imagery paired with the tense atmosphere could make audiences feel like they are having a religious experience. This is also unlike anything I have ever seen before. Towards the ending it takes a very metaphorical approach which I highly appreciated given the formulaic horrors we see nowadays. A24 has taken on some really interesting horrors recently such as Robert Eggers The Lighthouse (2019) and The VVitch (2015) and Ari Asters Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019)- Saint Maud is no exception to these horror masterpieces. It was so refreshing to see something like this and the choice to release something new in the cinema was incredible and should be applauded! |
AuthorMegan Hilborne is a freelance film writer and graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2020 with a degree in film. ArchivesCategories |