HELLBENDER (full review at Screen Realm)

Hellbender is an indie horror from directing / writing / acting family Zelda Adams, John Adams and Toby Poser.

Izzy (Zelda Adams) and her mother (Lulu Adams) live in a remote forest some distance from the nearest town. Izzy is home-schooled and, for fun, they play in a band together – Hellbender. Her mother is over-protective, not letting Izzy go to town or school or have any friends. So Izzy spends her days hiking and exploring the large acreage of their property, while her mother runs to town for supplies, forages in the woods… and practices witchcraft.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:

https://www.screenrealm.com/hellbender-movie-review-shudder-horror/

IMDB: Hellbender

DRIVE MY CAR (DORAIBU MAI KÂ) (full review at Screen Realm)

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car is a thoughtful and enigmatic character drama, based on a short story by celebrated author Haruki Murakami.

Yûsuke (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is a successful theatre director, married to TV executive Oto (Reika Kirishima), they share a complex, creative relationship together. One afternoon Yûsuke returns home unexpectedly and discovers Oto having an affair with a young actor, Kōji (Masaki Okada), but he does not say word.

Yûsuke loves to drive his car, a red Saab, and run lines on his way to work. Oto records scenes onto cassette for him to play against. It is during one of these rehearsals when Yûsuke is involved in a small accident. Although unharmed, at the hospital Yûsuke learns he has glaucoma and will lose his sight in one eye. Not long after the crash a tragic event disrupts their life forever.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:

https://www.screenrealm.com/drive-my-car-movie-review/

IMDB: Drive My Car

PALM SPRINGS (full article at The Guardian Australia)

Palm Springs, in the words of Andy Samberg’s character, Nyles, is “one of those infinite time loop situations you might’ve heard about”. Which serves as the baseline for a hugely enjoyable, feel-good romantic comedy that incorporates a compelling science fiction element and a nice bit of existential dread to stop things getting too sentimental.

Nyles and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) meet at a wedding in Palm Springs. After an eventful reception, Sarah follows Nyles into a cave in the desert where she steps into a glowing red light, only to awake once again, on the morning of the ceremony. It becomes clear that an earthquake opened up a fissure in space/time, and in entering the cave the pair became caught in time loop, doomed to repeat the day of the wedding forever.

Read the full article at The Guardian Australia:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/feb/04/palm-springs-feel-good-infinite-time-loop-romcom-serves-side-order-of-existential-dread

IMDB:
Palm Springs