I sit in with CKTB morning show host Steph Vivier to have a look at movies in theatres and streaming including the wonderful “Anora,” the intriguing “Conclave,” the interspecies bromance “Venom: The Last Dance,” the revenger thriller “Seeds” and thr rock doc “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” on Disney+”.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to tie a bowtie! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the ecclesiastical thriller “Conclave,” the revenge drama “Seeds” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Road Diary.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: Directed, written by and starring Kaniehtiio Horn, the revenge thriller “Seeds” sees Ziggy, a Toronto bike courier and Mohawk brand ambassador for Nature’s Oath Seed Corporation, called back to her rez to look after her aunt’s house. The happy homecoming is marred by spotty Wi-Fi—making it difficult for her to post on Instagram—and something more sinister that forces her to protect her family’s legacy, their stash of special corn, beans, and squash seeds.
CAST: Kaniehtiio Horn, Graham Greene, Patrick Garrow, Peter Keleghan, Dallas Goldtooth, Meegwun Fairbrother, Morgan Bedard, Josh Bainbridge, Dylan Cook, Cherish Violet Blood, Bonnie Whitley. Written and directed by Kaniehtiio Horn.
REVIEW: A revenge drama about legacy, genetic memory, social media and a cat named Potato, “Seeds” is a tense thriller that delivers its message with plenty of humor before the going gets gory.
Writer, star and director Horn starts things off on an optimistic note, as her character Ziggy signs a deal with a big company that will allow her to leave her bike courier gig and become an influencer full time. She establishes a light, breezy tone, clouded only by Ziggy’s anxiety about being on the rez Wi-Fi and her cousin’s (Dallas Goldtooth) ominous warning about the company she now represents. “They control the seeds to control the food to control the people,” he says. “They are the enemy.”
Soon though, strange things start happening in her aunt’s remote house. The place is ransacked and there are furtive shadows in doorways. The jump scares become real scares when the film’s themes begin to coalesce in the third act.
As Ziggy, Horn is motivated by a deep connection to her heritage, which manifests itself in the film’s grimly funny finale as she allows her “ancestor’s rage to take over.” No spoilers here, but the character becomes involved in a life-or-death situation, one that summons generations of wrath.
It’s memorable, but for my money, not quite hardcore enough. It is horrifying in its idea, but not exactly in its execution. Revenge movies like this trade on hyper violence, and, for once, I wanted this scene to be squishier.
Still, thematically, the finale works and is capped by a memorable final image.
At a quick 85 minutes “Seeds” features great performances— Graham Greene, as the host of a television true crime show who speaks to Ziggy in her dreams and Goldtooth are standouts—and succeeds both as a revenge drama and an expression of Indigenous legacy and power.
“Alice, Darling,” a new psychological drama starring Anna Kendrick, now on VOD and in select theatres, is a portrait of a woman who rediscovers both her essence and courage in the aftermath of an emotionally abusive relationship.
Kendrick is Alice, a young woman under the control of her emotionally manipulative artist boyfriend Simon (Charlie Carrick). In the film’s opening scene, she is out for dinner with best pals Sophia (Wunmi Mosaku) and Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn), but is anxious, agitated, repeatedly checking her phone and bristling when her friends joke about the waiter having a thing for her.
When the three plan a remote weekend get-a-way to celebrate Tess’s birthday, Alice lies to Simon and spends the whole time on tenterhooks.
“You can’t tell your life partner that you’re going on a trip with our best friends?” asks Tess. “I can’t think of a bigger red flag than that.”
“I don’t know how any of this is any of your business,” replies Alice.
Tensions between the friends bubble over during the time away until Alice comes clean about the nature of her relationship with Simon.
“You never know what is going to make him angry,” she says. “I spend all this time trying to be good. Trying to be better. I’m never good enough.”
Just as it seems the clouds have lifted and smiles appear on their faces for the first time in days, Simon, who has been unable to reach Alice, shows up at their cabin. “You look different,” he says. “She looks like herself,” say her friends.
In a brisk ninety-minute running time, “Alice, Darling” conveys the warning signs of Simon’s gaslighting, and the effect it has on Alice. Simon’s brand of abuse is insidious. “He doesn’t hurt me or anything,” she says. But he does get into her head, using his narcissism like a shroud to cloak her own feelings and desires. Simon’s actual role in the film, in terms of screen time, is fairly brief, but his presence is felt throughout.
Carrick personifies the kind of malevolent, arrogant jerk who demands to know, “Why would you hurt me like this?” at the slightest of provocation, but it is Kendrick’s work that gives the movie its power. In a performance that mixes the introspective with the physical, she portrays Alice’s turmoil. From pulling her own hair out, to her hollow-eyed stare, Kendrick is an authentic and believable victim of Simon’s brainwashing.
Director Mary Nighy (daughter of recent Best Actor nominee Bill) relies on Kendrick to carry “Alice, Darling’s” weight. The film wraps things up a bit too tidily at the end, but the power of Alice’s story remains undiminished.
