DRAMA. “Love Lies Bleeding.” / “Filthy Animals.” / “Americana.” / “Mass.” / “Hot Summer Nights.”

“Love Lies Bleeding” (2024, Fawesome) romantic thriller. The lesbian relationship between a reclusive gym manager, who is estranged from her powerful father, a sinister businessman with a criminal history, and an ambitious bodybuilder gets wrapped up in the father's web of violence and coverups. 

       As expected, critics praised this silliness. Rotten Tomatoes: "Lust and violence collide to powerfully pulpy effect.” While I thumb-up the involved performance of Kristen Stewart as the reclusive Lou and Katy O'Brian as the bodybuilder Jackie, I don’t really dig the fantastic plot and the whoa! “supernatural” bit. Besides the two leads, all the rest are confectionary caricatures. 🎥💻📽

“Filthy Animals” (2024, Amazon Prime) crime thriller. Set on Christmas Eve, it follows two outlaw misfits—a thrill-seeking drug enthusiast, and a bodybuilder out of rehab—who hunt down child sexual predators, until a mysterious woman derails their mission. 

       The premise is unmistakably relevant. So it's hard to miss this movie. Yet while some critics heap praises for this indie project, I wasn't very impressed how it's done.

       Writer/director James T. North had a sublime intent but his handling of a supposedly compelling storyline felt shallow. At first I thought this was a comedy or something. And leads Austan Wheeler and Ryan Patrick Brown don't have any allure at all. It'd be different if they were Jesse Eisenberg and Scoot McNairy. 🎥💻📽

“Americana” (2023, Hulu) crime thriller. Set in South Dakota, a priceless, sacred Lakota Ghost Shirt falls onto the black market. An eclectic group of outcasts and criminals violently clash as they all scheme to get their hands on the artifact. 

       No complaints about the performance grade: Halsey, Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Eric Dane, Zahn McClarnon, and the boy Gavin Maddox Bergman. The plot is quite cogent as well. I am buying it. As well as the characters Penny Jo Poplin (Ms Sweeney), Lefty Ledbetter (Mr Hauser), and Cal, the kid who believes he is the reincarnation of Sitting Bull.

       But all these failed to mesh or tie up with the premise. What we get is a series of disjointed sequences that ended in a shootout. In the first half of the movie, writer/director Tony Tost kept me very interested. But it went gung-ho all the way to the finish.

       I concur with Rotten Tomatoes in saying this movie “blends gritty charm, compelling performances, and cultural resonance,” but it lacks “narrative focus and (marred by) inconsistent execution.” 🎥💻📽

“Mass” (2021, Plex) drama, written and directed by Fran Kranz in his directorial debut. Grieving parents meet to discuss a tragedy involving their sons.

       The film received widespread acclaim for its acting and screenplay; at the BAFTA Awards, Dowd received a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

       Add Martha Plimpton, Jason Isaacs and Reed Birney, there's no question about the ensemble performance. This is pretty much it, the entire show–all four of them talking about a common tragic tragedy. A one-act play, more than it is a full-length feature movie. 

       Anyhow, it's hard to take or listen, without other action or sequences going on, but I can't say this is an awful movie, because it is not. 🎥💻📽

“Hot Summer Nights” (2017, Netflix) neo-noir coming-of-age crime drama. Set on Cape Cod in the summer of 1991, the plot follows Daniel Middleton, a teenage boy who becomes entangled in the drug trade. Stars Timothee Chalamet.

       A charming young cast (listed by the always amiable Timothée Chalamet) and a story trajectory that started fine, it was easy to fall for this grim coming-of-age feature. There's energy, there's drama. But everything evolved into a sappy chaos, even incredibly unbelievable (sic). 

       Yet still, the directorial debut of Elijah Bynum (also the writer) exudes promise. 🎥💻📽