2/19/2018 0 Comments The Strange Ones [DVD]With: Alex Pettyfer, James Freedson-Jackson, Emily Althaus, Gene Jones. “The Strange Ones” is a ponderously opaque and tediously elliptical drama about two brothers who go on the road and into the wilderness after the violent murder of their father. Except maybe they aren’t brothers after all. And perhaps one of them doesn’t exist. And, quite possibly, the murder didn’t happen the way we’re initially shown it did. And the younger sibling might be somewhere else all the time. And well, OK, you get the drift. There’s a point beyond which it’s difficult to believe anything that happens on screen, and impossible to care what is supposed to be real or not. Unfortunately, the movie continues for a lengthy stretch after that, until it literally trudges into a deep, dark hole. Received a special jury award for his “breakthrough performance” as the younger of the two siblings — whose name may be Jeremiah or Sam — and there is something undeniably impressive about the way his enigmatic expression and faraway stare can somehow lend a smidgen of credibility to whatever possible reality the movie suggests for the troubled adolescent at any given moment. Something similar can be said for the older (and hunkier) Alex Pettyfer, who proves sufficiently flexible to handle anything thrown at him by co-directors and Christopher Radcliff (who expanded this indie feature from their 2011 short of the same title) while he plays the sexually ambiguous Nick. But the actors’ efforts — and those of supporting player Gene Jones as a character who alternates between fatherly and Fagin-like — come off as earnest contributions to a lost cause. Film Review: 'The Strange Ones' Reviewed at SXSW Film Festival (competing), March 11, 2017. Running time: 81 MIN. Production: A Stay Gold Features presentation of an Archer Gray production in association with Gamechanger Films and Storyboard Entertainment. (Domestic sales: WME. International sales: Cinetic.) Producers: Sebastien Aubert, Michael Prall, Eric Schultz, Shani Geva, Daniela Taplin Lundberg. Executive producers: Anne Carey, Paul Finkel, Ozo Jaculewicz, Mynette Louie, Jason Potash. Crew: Directors: Lauren Wolkstein, Christopher Radcliff. Screenplay: Radcliff. Camera (color): Todd Banhazl. Editors: Radcliff, Lauren Wolkstein. With: Alex Pettyfer, James Freedson-Jackson, Emily Althaus, Gene Jones. 'The Strange Ones' is an assured movie that makes a number of big, bold choices with confidence (such as the card-shuffling editing, also by the directors. Lauren Wolsktein and Christopher Radcliff’s haunting tone poem goes places few films dare to go. The Strange Ones is a solid movie on first watch that becomes a seriously good movie on second watch. Maybe that's a poor framework for an endorsement. The Strange Ones in US theaters January 5, 2018 starring Alex Pettyfer, James Freedson-Jackson, Emily Althaus, Tobias Campbell. Mysterious events surround two. Lauren Wolsktein and Christopher Radcliff’s haunting tone poem goes places few films dare to go. Perhaps no film at SXSW this year will leave audiences in a darker mental place than The Strange Ones, an expansion of the acclaimed 2011 short of the same name. The striking directorial debut of both Lauren Wolkstein and Christopher Radcliff, previously known for their incredible short films, continues their pattern of taking severe trauma and deconstructing it in deeply complex and cinematic ways. With the subject matter of films like Mysterious Skin and the subdued, nature-heavy craft of recent works like Krisha, the film rises above most indie features of its kind that tackle child abuse and accomplishes something far more sophisticated and sinister. The film’s titular “strange ones” are young Sam (played to perfection by James Freedson-Jackson, a star in the making who recently won the fest’s Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance) and the older, rugged Nick ( Alex Pettyfer, in a frightening and dangerously sensual performance). The two are introduced to us as brothers on a road trip, but things are most definitely not what they seem. Nearly every detail and moment in the first hour of the film hold crucial importance, whether it’s a lingering close-up on Sam’s bare back as he swims, or Sam feeding Nick a sandwich. By the time Sam delivers an eerie monologue to the owner of a motel where they are staying (“You don’t know who he is,” he warns her of Nick), viewers will know that this film’s subject matter and the places it will go with it will be anything but easy. Without giving too much away, the film is almost split in two in its structure, focusing first on the brothers’ roadtrip and then the aftermath and deeper implications of its events. While this may suggest a weak tone shift for many, it’s a brave and intelligent way to look at the film’s themes, and both halves contain haunting and effective moments that give us a thorough look at the psyche of its characters. Both halves of the film depend largely on the chemistry between Freedson-Jackson and Pettyfer, and the gamble pays off: they’re electric together, the danger and unsettling nature of their relationship slowly revealing itself both through their scenes together and Wolkstein and Radcliff’s masterful usage of close-ups and inserts. Shot beautifully by Todd Banhazl and amplified by a gorgeous, moody score from the always-great Brian McOmber, The Strange Ones is able to elevate its performances and story with the masterful craft behind it. Indeed, the film is above all a tone poem, an elusive and ever-subtle evocation of the ugly and complicated emotions that develop between a pair as damaged and, well, strange as Sam and Nick. As the film elaborates on the horrifying truth behind their connection, it never goes for the easy way out; it is much bolder and braver than most films of its kind in how it approaches it. As with all great films, it takes an angle that we may have never thought of before, and one we may not soon forget. [ Our review of The Strange Ones originally ran during SXSW 2017, but we’re re-posting it now as the film opens in limited release.].
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