RELEASED: July 5th, 2024 (limited)
RUN TIME: 2:16
GENRE: DRAMA
SYNOPSIS: Follows Ingrid, Ian and Ivy, three unique strangers who find each other in an uninhabited condominium. They discover they actually have a lot in common, and start wondering whether they might be each other's salvation.
Written & Directed by Jeff Lipsky
Starring: Claire Milligan, Serra Naiman, Bryan Mittelstadt
I sat with this movie for a while. I watched it twice in fact all the way though, and for the interview I did with Jeff (which you can watch at the end of this review) I watched several key scenes over and over again.
On a filmmaking level, this movie is pristine. The lighting, the audio, the framing, the structure, and the acting are all top notch in a way that if you are a fan of that sort of thing it will blow your socks off.
Not many are though and a lot of people are going to have a problem with this movie, if not for its static nature and heavy dialogue, then for its audaciousness.
I am not sure if you can count me among those, however. I obviously appreciated my first observation, a movie with this level of filmmaking has to be applauded. It is really fascinating and amazing on so many levels for its prowess and its technicality. There is also not a word wasted in this movie, and for a movie that relies on that to tell its story, that is both amazing when it works and rough when it doesn't.
I will be the first to say it doesn't always work for me. There are spots where it is repetitive and that's when it loses me. However, some moments are downright chilling, powerful, and just plain, wow. That's when this movie shows its teeth and they are sharp.
I love the dynamic of the 3 main characters and for me, it's really anchored by the approach Claire Milligan takes and how she commands not just the strengths of the other 2 characters but their weaknesses. She has this amazing monologue from 108 stories high that is incredibly powerful and one of those wow moments. It's this interesting turn in her character where there is a bit of innocence wrapped in sinisterness. The choices Claire made and the playful nature in which she gives a look here or a reaction it is very unassuming and works so well to create an underlying tension that leads to a very amazing 3rd act crescendo that is part of those wow moments for me.
Serra Naiman plays one of those frustrating characters for me and her devotion to that in her craft is a testament of how well she had a grasp on the character. The same, somewhat, seems true about Ian who most of the time plays the line that makes his character one moment this and another moment that works so well when it leads you where your mind thought it might.
I like that each of these characters has moments where you are quite sure their motivations are pure or that they aren't being a little more villainous than genuine and vice versa.
I think though, the truest power of this film, is how raw it is emotionally and how uncensored it is physically. That, combined with the idea that you see a lot of what is coming or building and yet Jeff's style to slow it down and push the dialogue helps sell the moments that just punch you in the face from essentially left field.
I am also a huge fan of the neat little moment in which we transition out of the story for about 15 minutes into this very unique dreamscape/flashback sequence. I think most authors would appreciate how this is done and that's all I am going to say about it.
There is so much to absorb here. It is heavy with emotional baggage carried so promptly and so well by not just the 3 leads but the 3 ancillary characters I enjoyed the most, Lou (Andrew McGrath), Abigail (Russell Koplin), and Marian (Savannah Schoenecker). Each had very impactful scenes that played well in the overall scheme of the chaos as they tried to make sense of it for us.
This is a really interesting look at relationships, dysfunction, and the power of loneliness and addiction that I think if you can just get over its static nature or its sheer unapologetic audacity and actually listen you may really be affected by it. It's not perfect but then again neither is life and in that manner, it stays true to itself.
You can rent or buy and watch it here: https://amzn.to/3ZMzAYc
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