SYNOPSIS: “Morningside,” a new indie feature starring two-time Juno Award winner Fefe Dobson and now playing in theatres, is a multi-pronged story of seven characters as they navigate life, and creeping gentrification, in the tight-knit Toronto suburb of Scarborough.
CAST: Fefe Dobson, Oluniké Adeliyi, Alex Mallari Jr., Lovell Adams-Gray, Kiana Madeira, Joanne Jansen. Directed by Ron Dias.
REVIEW: A fractured portrait of a place and a place in time, “Morningside” does a good job of weaving together disparate stories to form a narrative whole. The structure is complex, but the content is down-to-earth, essaying themes of resilience, hope, gentrification and tragedy. It’s a broad canvas, but captivating characters keep the piecemeal story cohesive and compelling.
From a young man with dreams of opening a resort and a security guard who wants to become a police officer to an influencer with an eye on a career in music and the threat of gun violence, the film touches on a wide array of topics and characters until they dovetail in a dramatic finale.
Director and co-writer Ron Dias and writer Joanne Jansen end on a bittersweet note with an effective coda that says a great deal about gun violence without ever actually mentioning gun violence. It’s one of the film’s most effective scenes (NO SPOILERS HERE) because it juxtaposes the promise of what might have been with the grim reality of what is.
“Morningside” captures the spirit of its Scarborough, Ontario neighborhood—locals will recognize many landmarks—but it isn’t just about a vibrant geographical location, it’s about the people who make the neighborhood, for better and for worse.
SYNOPSIS: “The Fire Inside,” a new sports drama now playing in theatres, is the true story of one of the greatest female boxers of all time, Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, an athlete from Flint, Michigan who became the first woman in American history to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the sport.
CAST: Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, Oluniké Adeliyi, De’Adre Aziza. Directed by by Rachel Morrison.
REVIEW: “The Fire Inside” is a story of struggle and success set against the world of boxing, but like all good sports movies it’s about so much more than corkscrew punches and bobbing and weaving.
An underdog story, when we first meet Shields (played by Jazmin Headley as a child, by Ryan Destiny as a young adult) she is an eleven-year-old from difficult circumstances looking for an outlet for the rage and frustration that plague her. She lands at the Berston Field House, a community centre where former boxer Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) takes her under his wing.
Six years later, with his training, Shields becomes the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.
Cue the fist in the air and end credits.
Except that’s only part of the story. Most sports movies stop after the big game, or in this case match, but “The Fire Inside’s” script by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins deepens the movie by detailing Shields’s struggle post her first big win.
It’s a story of inequality—she is paid less in expenses than her male counterparts—and professional setbacks—no endorsement deals came after she medalled—that threatened to sink her personally and professionally. It’s here the specific story of a Flint, Michigan boxer becomes a universal tale of fulfilling your dreams, of overcoming obstacles and never saying no, despite the naysayers.
Cinematographer-turned-director Rachel Morrison does sturdy, propulsive work in her directorial feature film debut, vividly evoking the disappointment of what happens when glory fades and the fight for survival must continue.
“The Fire Inside” is a rousing, inspirational, heart-on-its-sleeve story of trauma and grit, with terrific performances from Destiny, whose ferociousness covers her hurt, and Henry, who radiates warmth and encouragement. It’s a sports movie with a twist, one that defies the usual triumphant formula to go deep and reveal the price of success and failure.
In director Charles Officer’s crime-noir “Akilla’s Escape,” now on digital & VOD, a drug robbery goes sideways, opening the door for the title character’s reckoning of his past, and the future of the young man who held a shotgun to his head.
Drug dealer Akilla (Saul Williams, who also composed the film’s score with Robert 3D Del Naja) wants out. Marijuana is about to become legal in Canada, but his days as a violent, mid-level drug runner are over.
Almost.
His ‘retirement” is postponed when he walks in on the robbery of one of his boss’s operations. As shotgun and machete wielding gang members invade the place, Akilla locks eyes with Sheppard (Thamela Mpumlwana), the youngest of the thieves. As things turns violent, Akilla subdues the teenaged Sheppard, knocking him unconscious.
Instead of seeking revenge in the name of his employer, Akilla forms a bond with the young man, recognizing in Sheppard parallels to his own life and the trauma that put them both on the path to a life of violence.
“Akilla’s Escape” is a stylish crime story laced with social commentary. What it lacks in pulse racing action scenes, it makes up for with tense, tightly wound performances, illustrations of toxic masculinity and a nicely rendered story that jumps back and forth in time.
Taking on a double role, Mpumlwana plays both Sheppard and, in flashbacks, young Akilla. It’s a clever casting trick, but it works to skillfully reveal the similarities in their lives. The two characters may have been led down a similar path, but Mpumlwana’s work ensures the characters are distinct and interesting throughout.
The core of the movie is the rock-solid performance from Williams. World-weary and contemplative, he’s part criminal, part social worker and is the film’s heart and soul.
“Akilla’s Escape” is a study of how generational trauma and poverty shapes lives. It errs on the side of exposition in several scenes, but the power of the story lies in what isn’t said as much as what is. The film is at its best when Williams and Mpumlwana are showing, not telling. In those moments “Akilla’s Escape” is powerful, mature and impactful.
Check out episode three of my new web series, “In Isolation With…” It’s the talk show where we make a connection without actually making contact! Today, broadcasting directly from Isolation Studios (a.k.a. my home office), we meet the director and star of the soon-to-be-midnight-movie-favourite “She Never Died,” Audrey Cummings and Oluniké Adeliyi. In my review I called this “a snazzy horror film with equal parts gore and gags… Come for the bloodshed, stay for the subtext.” Join us and find out about the virtues of vinegar water, making a movie in 15 days and how to pass the time during the pandemic. Come visit with us! In isolation we are united!
“She Never Died,” a feminist riff on the 2015 horror-comedy “He Never Died,” and new on VOD this week, stars Oluniké Adeliyi as Lacey, an indestructible, immortal killing machine whose humanity makes her vulnerable.
Lacey lives on the streets, killing people she figures no one will miss, ie criminals. But she’s not trying to clean up the streets. Far from it. She hunts and kills the baddies for food. She gouges out eyes as entrees, and is always careful to remove the fingers for later. “They fit in my pocket,” she says. “And I need the bone marrow.”
When grizzled Detective Godfrey (Peter MacNeill) gets wind of her abilities—surviving a gunshot to the head—he makes an offer. If she’ll agree to rid the world of the evil brother and sister team of human traffickers (Noah Dalton Danby and Michelle Nolden) he’ll find her a decent place to hang her hat.
She agrees, and with the help of Suzzie (Kiana Madeira), a young streetwise woman rescued from a life of being sold by some very bad men, carnage ensues.
Canadian director Audrey Cummings has made a snazzy horror film with equal parts gore and gags. It’s not a horror comedy so to speak, but thanks to some clever scripting it’s a ton of fun with humor emerging organically out of the unusual situation. Combine that with the film’s brisk pacing and you have a movie that could become a midnight madness favorite.
“She Never Died” relies on some old school special effects to deliver the bloody stuff, but lo fi though they may be, they pack a punch.
The blood and guts are fine, but the movie’s strong point is Adeliyi‘s work as Lacey. Even though she only has a handful of lines the film passes the Bechdel test (the film features women who talk to each other about something other than a man) and proves that Adeliyi doesn’t need pages of dialogue to create a compelling character. When she isn’t in motion, killing the villains, Lacey’s scenes with Suzzie give the film subtext about surviving trauma and the power of community that deepen the story and the characters. Come for the bloodshed, stay for the subtext.
Despite its rather abrupt ending—perhaps it’s meant to whet the appetite for a sequel, but it feels incomplete—“She Never Died” distinguished itself as a good and gory character study with a style and feel all its own.
SYNOPSIS: “Morningside,” a new indie feature starring two-time Juno Award winner Fefe Dobson and now playing in theatres, is a multi-pronged story of seven characters as they navigate life, and creeping gentrification, in the tight-knit Toronto suburb of Scarborough.
