To Leslie

Director: Michael Morris
Starring: Andrea Riseborough, Allison Janey Marc Maron, Andre Royo, Owen Teague, Stephen Root, James Landry Hebert, Matt Lauria
Running Time: 119 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)  

There's no mistaking the fact that Michael Morris' To Leslie is all about its gut-wrenching lead turn from English actress Andrea Riseborough as a destitute, alcoholic single mother who squandered her lottery payout. We're shown the consequences, after she's pushed away family and friends, still struggling to escape a tarnished reputation and cycle of self-inflicted emotional punishment. There's actually not much to the story, with a plot comparable to any number of low-budget indie dramas focusing on similarly tortured characters. And yet due to its disarming honesty this still feels like a wake-up call in the midst of bigger, more attention-grabbing releases. The surprises are minimal because the plot doesn't require them, excelling instead by serving up an unflinching look at what's become of this woman's life and why. 

As a low-key character study, this hits familiar notes, but has a lived-in quality stays with you, making it easier to understand why Riseborough pulled out all the stops in drawing eyes to a film and performance that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. With a career built on how anonymously she slides into each role, this is her biggest disappearing act, bolstered in part by a co-star who hasn't gotten nearly the attention he deserves. All of this would seem tired or cliched without the power these performances breathe into the material, resulting in one of the more painfully realistic recent takes on alcoholism depicted onscreen.

When Leslie Rowlands (Riseborough) won $190,00 in a West Texas lottery six years ago it was supposed to cure all her personal and financial troubles. Instead, she blew it on liquor and is now a penniless alcoholic living out of motels, roaming the streets and hitting bars. After being kicked out of her latest residence, she reunites with estranged 20 year-old son James (Owen Teague), who agrees to let her move in with him provided she doesn't drink and looks for a job. Their arrangement barely lasts a day, with Leslie hitting the bottle again and spiraling downward.

Old friend Nancy (Allison Janey) and her boyfriend Dutch (Stephen Root) temporarily allows Leslie to stay with them, but they're quickly fed up with the late night boozing and send her packing. After being found sleeping outside the local motel, its manager Sweeney (Marc Maron) offers her work and a free room, much to owner Royal's (Andre Royo) disapproval. Generous and patient with his new employee, Sweeney gives Leslie what could be a last chance at getting sober and changing her life's direction. But with a town full of people constantly reminding her of the past, it'll be an uphill battle.

Leslie's gone completely off the deep end, but what really stands out are everyone's reactions to her. Son James is forced to be the parent, disciplining and caring for his mom as if she's a child, while others choose to either ignore the embarrassing public displays, enable her, or just express a mixture of sometimes justifiable pity and anger. Sweeney is the only one to offer help without judgment, a reaction that at least partially stems from his own history. But the problem is that Leslie's already been given chances and couldn't stay sober long enough to capitalize on them, manipulating those closest to her to feed this ongoing addiction. 

In one particularly humiliating scene, Leslie gets wasted at her hometown bar and publicly acts out, oblivious to how it's being received. And while you do sympathize with her frustrated son, there's a whole contingent of bored, miserable townsfolk more than willing to rub her nose in it. Sweeney's the exception in that he's almost too trusting, sticking himself out there for Leslie in ways that could personally and professionally damage him. Maron impresses as this lonely, benevolent man whose interest in her plight is genuine, even as he second guesses the practicality of his risky commitment. 

Maron makes for an ideal sparring partner, delivering his most natural, low-key screen work thus far, elevating Riseborough in the process. Speaking with a Texas twang and appearing almost unrecognizably gaunt and disheveled, she somehow conveys Leslie's plight without resorting to histrionics or showy mannerisms. The character puts on a show, but it's a tragic one, through which you see glimpses of a better person occasionally peeking through. 

Beyond getting sober, the toughest part for Leslie is reconciling the awful choices she's made with where she is now, admitting she deserves help before betting on herself to accept it. The film opens with home video footage of her lottery win, and while the amount isn't a colossal windfall, her reaction reveals just how big a difference it could have made. Beaming enthusiastically about goals and plans that never come to pass, the money ultimately proves to be more of a curse than any kind of life improving reward.

Writer Ryan Binaco (whose tightly woven script is partially inspired by his own relationship with his mother) shows how Leslie continues to run from that lotto victory while struggling to regain whatever hope it once represented. The ending is somewhat convenient but earned, providing a tangible glimmer of hope she'll now have to follow through on. But regardless of how depressing it may be to revisit, To Leslie is still somewhat of a hard luck redemption story, bolstered by a performance that ensures the film won't be so easily forgotten.                     

You People

Director: Kenya Barris
Starring: Jonah Hill, Lauren London, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eddie Murphy, Sam Jay, Travis Bennett, Molly Gordon, Deon Cole, Andrea Savage, Elliot Gould, Rhea Perlman, Mike Epps, Bryan Greenberg, Matt Walsh
Running Time: 118 min.
Rating: R

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★) 

Say this for Kenya Barris' Netflix culture clash rom com, You People: It's funnier than not and many of the jokes land. There's also an inspired premise at its center that positions the film as a more unruly, pessimistic Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. Because it's efficiently made and you grasp the intent, it really comes down to your willingness to be bludgeoned with different variations on a similar joke for the sake of enduring an occasionally awkward sit. Barris (who created TV's Blackish) and co-writer and star Jonah Hill would probably tell you that's the point, and while it scores for not holding back and being refreshingly un-PC, this was never going to be the smoothest ride given its material.

Anyone in need of a harsh reminder that marrying someone means marrying their family, just imagine spending two hours with the wacky, ignorant in-laws here. But considering the lengths the script goes in depicting their self-righteous prejudices, the ending amounts to the proverbial wave of a magic wand. And therein lies the film's conundrum of attempting to reconcile its humor with more serious social commentary. There's this feeling it doesn't quite get there, even if its talented cast does admirable work in balancing the tone. We're at least reminded how good Hill is, creating a relatably insecure character with noble intentions who contends with a bunch of nonsense that brings him to his breaking point. Unfortunately, it's possible viewers might reach theirs first. 

When thirty-five-year-old broker and cultural podcaster Ezra Cohen (Hill) meets fashion designer Amira Mohammed (Lauren London) after mistaking her for his Uber driver, they go out to lunch and embark on a relationship, sharing a mutual attraction despite dissimilar backgrounds. Ezra's family is Jewish, with parents Shelley (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Arnold (David Duchovny) outwardly enamored by the fact their son's dating a Black woman, a point they embarrassingly hammer home to display how open and tolerant they are. That they do this while holding up lesbian daughter Liza (Molly Gordon) as an example of their progressiveness only magnifies their tunnel vision.

Amira's parents Fatima (Nia Long) and Akbar (Eddie Murphy) are devout Farrahkhan supporting Nation of Islam followers, with him far preferring his Black daughter to date a Muslim. After Ezra and Amira move in together and he contemplates proposing, a joint family dinner goes spectacularly wrong, leading to increased tensions when the engagement is announced. With Akbar publicly humiliating Ezra at every turn, Shelley cluelessly and disrespectfully parades Amira around town for diversity cred, oblivious to how uncomfortable it's making her future daughter-in-law. As the wedding approaches and the tension of their parents' behavior weighs on Amira and Ezra, both start wondering if what they have together is strong enough to withstand their feuding families.

Most of the best moments come from Hill's flustered, deadpan reactions to the constant ribbing and humiliating abuse his character receives from Murphy's Akbar. And while the latter is too humorless a character to even mildly empathize with, there's still a lot of mileage in seeing two talents like Hill and Murphy bounce off each other for the first time. Similarly, there's no telling how much worse this could have been without actors the caliber of Murphy and Louis-Dreyfus, who put their own unique spins on what could have easily been walking stereotypes. Lauren London is likable and engaging as Amira while an opening credit montage featuring Ezra's Black culture podcast with friend Mo (Sam Jay) is an early highlight.  

With the exception of an early gag involving Duchovny's Xzibit obsessed Arnold doing his best John Legend, he and Nina Long are curiously sidelined, their characters lacking personal agency, merely taken along for the ride with their respective spouses. Well directed by Barris with solid performances all-around, it has a repetitive quality that starts to wear thin in the second half. Much of that can be attributed to Shelley and Akbar, whose antics are rooted in the same kind of misunderstandings and everyday prejudices that drive issue oriented sitcoms. But then it keeps going, with characters less resembling real people than lightning rods for controversy. And once the film starts tackling racism and anti-semitism head-on, it feels tonally off, especially when Barris has to take this in for the landing. 

Regardless of how much rumored work was required getting Hill and London on the same page as a believable couple, they're mostly fine together, as any lack of chemistry isn't the film's biggest problem. They share an easygoing rapport that does seem more platonic than romantic, but it's really the chaos surrounding them that wears thin after a while. Following a surprisingly strong start, the concept just seems to run out of gas before reaching an easy conclusion. In aiming to function as a fun, socially relevant time capsule, You People marginally succeeds, but with the pieces of a better movie strewn and scattered about. 

M3GAN

Director: Gerard Johnstone
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Stephane Garneau-Monten, Lori Dungey
Running Time: 102 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)   

Over-the-top, creepy and hilarious, M3GAN doesn't hold back in expressing the dangers of having technology parent your kids. Of course, whenever we see a talking, lifelike doll in a horror movie our minds turn to Child's Play, and even if the comparison is understandable, there are attributes that cleverly differentiate this title character. Rather than relying on a supernatural origin story, the script focuses on  making a larger point, but not at the expense of taking itself too seriously or forgoing the fun. Director Gerard Johnstone knows he's making a satire and embraces it, while also realizing that details help. By showing us how this toy comes about, its manufacturing process and planned marketing tactics, the inevitable payoff carries more weight. It's more deliberate and restrained than you'd expect, eventually leading to what everyone came for.

Given its PG-13 rating, there isn't a lot to excite gore fans, but that's unnecessary when most of our satisfaction derives from watching the cracks in M3GAN's artificial intelligence start to show. It helps that the animatronic doll design, with its dead eyes, preppy attire and sarcastic jabs has a unique, bewildering presence. Everything about her is almost aggressively unnatural to the point of parody, yet remarkably realistic at the same time. You'd also see how kids would immediately gravitate toward it, impacting their social and emotional growth. This combined with an already traumatized child's need for companionship spells trouble, leading to an unapologetically absurd experience that also contains some real ideas.

When a young girl named Cady (Violet McGraw) is involved in a car accident that kills her parents, her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams), a roboticist at Seattle's Funki toy company, is contacted to take legal custody. A workaholic with little time to look after a child, Gemma's been using the company's resources to secretly develop M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android), a human sized toy robot doll designed to provide companionship to children. After some initial flaws with the model prompts Gemma's irritable boss David (Ronny Chieng) to terminate the project, Cady's enthusiasm for the idea motivates her to complete the prototype. 

After a successful presentation where David's convinced of the toy's potential, M3GAN gets fast-tracked, while at home acting as both best friend and parent to Cady, providing the support Gemma couldn't muster. But when the doll starts operating independently and resorts to violence to protect Cady, Gemma suddenly has a more serious problem. In underestimating her niece's attachment to M3GAN, Gemma's plans to shelve it could carry disastrous consequences for a young girl who's already been dealt a tragic enough loss. 

The film does a great job showing just how unprepared Gemma is to be a mom, assuming the responsibility of taking her sister's child in, then doing little else. And when it comes to discussing the fatal accident that left Cady parentless, Gemma simply avoids it, throwing herself into work. It's impressive how Williams plays the role since on paper the character possesses traits that should make her irredeemable in viewers' eyes. But she allows us to take Gemma's actions in context, conveying fear and inexperience rather rather than maliciously harmful intent. If parenting really does require on the job training then there's still a long way to go. Though maybe not, since she's decided M3GAN can just do it instead. 

Young Violet McGraw is heartbreaking in a scene where an injured, emotionally fragile Cady becomes a pawn in an uncomfortable corporate demonstration to get the robot approved that crosses the line into child endangerment and exploitation. Cady emotionally unravels until M3GAN comes to the rescue, offering consolation as cheering executives see dollar signs. Unnerving to watch, the sequence best represents the unchecked ramifications from kids using advanced technology. Or more accurately, being used by it. As a result, we have the rare instance of a horror movie therapist who isn't a kook, but someone expressing legitimate psychiatric concerns about a child's welfare that deserve to be heard. 

Physically portrayed by child actress Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis, M3GAN's entire look and demeanor might be biggest reason this all works, especially when you start noticing changes in her personality, facial expressions and speech the more territorial she becomes. What's scariest is how it uses tech that already exists, but ramps it up, imagining how such an endeavor would unfold without forethought and under the worst circumstances. The script feeds into our cynicism, as we don't doubt a toy company would try something similar provided they could make it work and turn a profit. 

M3GAN's worsening behavior doesn't suddenly mean she has a mind or human feelings of its own. That's the easy way out. Instead, it's implied her breakdown could almost entirely be attributed to design flaws, with the darkly humorous implication being that she just needs some more testing and adjustments. We don't know whether her murderous rampage is a reprogramming issue, but that she only targets perceived threats to Cady suggests this isn't unbridled, misdirected madness. They're probably saving that for the sequels. But in effectively shifting between incisive social commentary and campier moments like M3GAN dancing or singing Sia's Titanium, there's reason to believe Chucky finally has some competition. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, José Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael B. Jordan
Running Time: 161 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

It's usually a bad sign when a sequel gets released and you find yourself struggling to remember all that happened in the previous film. But in the case of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, that might not be be such a bad thing considering how much this revolves around starting over. While the original came out in 2018, it may as well have been decades ago given all the speculation surrounding how Marvel Studios and director/co-writer Ryan Coogler would push the the franchise forward after star Chadwick Boseman's tragic passing. Just the idea of continuing seemed crazy given how much that movie's success rested entirely on his shoulders. Of course, we always knew they'd just forge ahead and do it anyway. But if it's true that the superhero genre isn't dependent on actors or stars for success, this could stand as the toughest test yet.

Moving past the initial uproar of someone else potentially "replacing" Boseman, the key was always in not making it feel that way by honoring his legacy. It's a difficult line to walk, but luckily the franchise's overarching themes and tone do make this slightly less challenging. Marvel was never going to put the series on the shelf, but it's better to do it now while the responsibility of doing right by Boseman, his family and fans hang over them. So it comes as a relief that Coogler accomplishes this by crafting a story feels like a natural progression for the universe and its characters. Realizing the best approach is often the honest one, everything springs from that cataclysmic loss, resulting in one of the more un-Marvel like movies in their canon.

After failing to save her terminally ill brother King T'Challa from a mysterious illness with the heart shaped herb, Shuri (Letitia Wright) and all of Wakanda mourn him, including his mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett). A year later Wakanda is now facing pressure from other nations to share their vibranium, soon finding themselves under attack for the resource. But when the U.S. military utilize a vibranium detector to locate a potential supply underwater, they're violently thwarted by a group of blue-skinned, water breathing Talokans led by Namor (José Tenoch Huerta Mejía). 

With the CIA inaccurately blaming Wakanda for the attack, Ramonda and Shuri are paid a visit by Namor who demands they bring him the scientist responsible for building the detector or he'll attack their nation. But once Shuri and Okoye (Danai Gurira) confront the scientist, an MIT student named Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), chaos ensues. With Namor holding Wakanda responsible for the vibranium battle and determined to wage war on the surface world to protect Talokan, Shuri's faced with a choice: join him or suffer the consequences.

A prologue covering the death and funeral of T'Challa makes abundantly clear the challenge Wakandans will face without their king. It's only logical the story would now shift to his sister Shuri, and whatever controversy surrounded Letitia Wright's continued involvement with the franchise, she delivers as the film's centerpiece. If increasing her character's importance was the right call from a narrative standpoint, nearly all of Wakanda's universe is also expanded here, allowing others to shine in ways they couldn't in the preceding entry. So while it's difficult for anything to compete with the personal stakes of T'Challa vs. Killmonger, this next chapter avoids direct comparisons, as Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole present a fresh set of obstacles, using elements from the original film as their blueprint. 

A commanding Angela Bassett is given a much bigger stage as Ramonda, conveying the character's pain of losing a son, protecting her only daughter and keeping Wakanda safe from outside forces. It's just unfortunate that the blue-skinned, indigenous, water breathing Talokans and colonization plot will likely draw endless Avatar comparisons because this story holds up pretty well on its own. Keeping the focus where it belongs, Shuri's torn between spirituality and science, this time with an angrier edge due to her brother's death. The eventual feud with Namor is more complex than expected since he's not exactly a one-dimensional villain, just as driven by the need to protect his people as Shuri, but utilizing dangerously aggressive, gatekeeping methods that lead to all out war. 

Lupita Nyong'o's stealthily skilled Nakia is in a far different place both literally and figuratively, with the actress given more to do this time around, reentering the fray with a renewed outlook and motivation following T'Challa's death. Dominque Thorne makes for a spunky sidekick as Riri, with the young genius from Chicago serving as a clever counterpart to Shuri while playing a vital role as the plot progresses. Martin Freeman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have limited but functional roles as CIA operatives tied to the vibranium conflict, providing some fun interplay between some of the heavier action scenes.

With Namor believing a weakened Wakanda is ripe for the picking now that Black Panther is gone, someone else donning T'Challa's suit becomes as inevitable as the person who needs to do it. Coogler handles this as well as possible, leading to an ending that leaves enough on the table for future installments. The only caveat is that after a surprisingly enthralling two and a half hours, we still get a requisite CGI battle to close things out. But even that plays unusually well, thanks in no small part to the attachment we have to these characters. It's also one the rare times a Marvel mid-credits scene feels essential, serving this saga rather than potential cross-overs. That makes sense since the original film's biggest attribute was standing out from the pack. As a purposeful continuation that respectfully keeps the ball rolling, Wakanda Forever stays true to that, while also managing to navigate some emotionally difficult terrain.      

The Fabelmans

Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Julia Butters, Judd Hirsch, Jeannie Berlin, Robin Bartlett, Keeley Karsten, Sophia Kopera, Sam Rechner, Oakes Fegley, Chloe East, Jame Urbaniak, David Lynch, Greg Grunberg
Running Time:151 min.
Rating: PG-13

**The Following Review Contains Plot Spoilers For 'The Fabelmans'**

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Considering how everyone's story often looms larger than life in their own minds, that impact must feel heightened for Steven Spielberg, whose childhood has so informed his work as a filmmaker that the idea of a movie inspired by those memories may seem like a self-indulgent formality. But because it's been frequently alluded to through the years, there's a curiosity factor in seeing how his parents' divorce influenced the director who'd go on to make future classics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. 

It's not a coincidence those three aforementioned titles spring to mind while watching The Fabelmans,  as each combine that childlike sense of wonder prevalent in Spielberg's filmography with his recurring theme of broken families. While the latter motif has either consciously or unconsciously permeated his films, this marks the first time as an audience we get front row seats to watch him sit on the psychologist's couch as he processes it. You can almost feel through the screen how personal and raw it still is, as if we've been given unrestricted access to details only those closest to him should know. And yet, there's still that universal appeal present that's categorized so much of what he's previously done. 

To Spielberg's credit, he goes all in and rarely pulls punches, further solidifying our belief it's more than "loosely inspired" by real events.  Jumping off the little we already knew, these feel like things that would have happened, but also how you imagine he'd present it. The family dynamic is universally messy enough to feel relatable, before the story to some fascinating places in the second half, retaining the idea that a series of events at a key point can set someone on a trajectory, regardless of whether they're ready. Clearly, the divorce carried life-altering consequences, but what's most interesting is how the implosion of a traditional marriage meant something far different in the 50's and 60's than it does now, making it that much easier to see how this event would so dramatically affect him.

It's 1952 in Haddon Township, New Jersey when pianist Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams) and her computer engineer husband Burt (Paul Dano) take their eight-year-old son Sammy (Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord) to see his first film, Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth. Traumatized by the train crash scene, Sammy can't sleep or get it out of his head, determined to restage it with the toy train set he got for Hanukkah. With his mother's permission, he shoots this crash with an 8mm camera, which leads to him make movies starring younger sisters Reggie, Natalie and Lisa. But when Burt gets offered a new job at GE in Phoenix, the family relocates, with Burt's best friend and co-worker Bennie (Seth Rogen) also coming along. 

As a teen, Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) continues making films with his Boy Scout troop, before shooting a family camping trip, the footage of which leads to a heartbreaking reveal about mom Mitzy. While an angered and distraught Sammy stews over this shocking discovery, Burt gets promoted, causing another move to California, this time with Bennie being left behind. Facing bullying and anti-semitism at a new school, Sammy temporarily abandons filmmaking and begins dating classmate Monica (Chloe East), a devout Christian who quickly falls for him. But with his family crumbling, the urge to pick up a camera remains, as does his dream of making movies in Hollywood.

This contains so much family shenanigans early on that you have to assume it was directly drawn from the Spielberg's memories since it's simply too crazy to believe otherwise. Running a robust two and a half hours, the film leads with lighter, comedic material (one including a pet monkey), that frame the picture of a family whose happiness is on borrowed time. It also marks a rare instance of the director going way over the top to make a point we're not sure he'll get around to. For a little while we wonder if he has one, until the surprise arrival of former film industry vet uncle Boris (Judd Hirsch) to berate and inspire Sammy, prophetically laying out the sacrifices ahead of him in having to choose between family and art. Hirsch's brief, electric performance has been rightfully praised, but works best when viewed as setting the groundwork for a more memorable encounter Sammy experiences later.

Sandwiched between a practical, scientific father dismissive of his filmmaking "hobby" and an artsy, free spirited mother encouraging him to reach for the stars, Sammy's soon hit with the realization all isn't what it seems with his parents' marriage. Spielberg and Tony Kushner's script isn't subtle about Mitzi and Burt orbiting different planets as spouses, and while some criticism has been leveled against Michelle Williams' flighty, occasionally downright bonkers portrayal of Mitzy, that was likely the intention. And if it's supposed to be an exact facsimile of Spielberg's actual mother, all you can really do is commend him for actually going there since Mitzy is...a lot. And it's safe bet that parts of this character will be recognizable to many, emotions flailing as the rest of the family anxiously await her next cringeworthy public display.

Spielberg probably felt he had to cast Williams' since it's unlikely anyone else could navigate a part this tricky and unflattering, filled with highs and lows. It's a better performance than most think, and given how it supposedly skirts the line between lead and supporting, eats up enough time to claim the movie mostly belongs to her. Dano disappears into the brilliant, but straight-laced Burt, whose disinterested demeanor and milquetoast personality subtly feeds Mitzy's inferiority complex. And yet you feel for him, realizing he's doing his best with all that's on his plate. Ironically, Seth Rogen's one of the film's more subdued aspects, bringing a goofy charm to Bernie, who we recognize as possibly providing Mitzy more of what she needs than her own husband.

There are some really powerful scenes, such as a family member's death, another involving daughter Reggie's (Julia Butters) embarrassment at her mom's exhibitionism and a handful charting Sammy's reaction to Mitzi's seemingly unforgivable transgression. The idea that Sammy filters everything that happens through movies begins with his restaging of the train crash but becomes even more pronounced when he splices together the single worst moment of his young life. If it seems as if the  anti-semitic bullying comes out of nowhere, that's because these things often do. And not only is it the strongest section of the film, but arguably the best narrative stretch Spielberg's had in years, in no small part due to newcomer Gabriel LaBelle's performance. 

We've seen many failed attempts from directors at casting their onscreen surrogate, but LaBelle's the real deal, undeniably great at conveying just the right amount of awkwardness, humor and angst as he single-handedly carries the remainder of the picture. And toward the end, the actor even begins to physically resemble the shaggy haired Spielberg we've seen in photos and footage from that period. Sammy's whirlwind relationship with the very religious Monica supplies the film with some of its biggest laughs, but what hits hardest is this unexpected arc with school bullies Logan (Sam Rechner) and Chad (Oakes Fegley). His filming of senior Ditch Day leads to the understanding of just how much power he wields behind the camera to tell the story he wants, while maybe even also earning a certain degree of begrudging acceptance. Watching, you wonder if Spielberg intended this as a dig at critics who have long cited the director's populist sensibilities as blunting the full creative potential of his output.  

Whether Sammy makes the choice he does to be liked or simply because it was right for the project is a question even he can't completely answer. But it leads to the film's best scene, a school hallway confrontation that crackles with a verbal and physical intensity we haven't seen from the director in years. The sequence frames everything preceding it to mean more in totality, as does an ending that sees Sammy meeting his hero, legendary director John Ford, played with cantankerous bluster by an ingeniously cast David Lynch. It's a cameo that needs to been to be believed, and even then, you still may not believe it. And it's all capped off with a clever visual gag that deserves mention as the one of the more indelible final shots of Spielberg's career.

Subverting expectations and playing better the longer it sits, the film avoids sappiness and is even a little messy, which comes as a relief considering the director's reputation for playing it safe. After Schindler's List there was no going back, almost as if Spielberg realized that delivering crowd pleasing blockbusters to the masses no longer held the interest for him it once did, as he moved toward historically based, character driven dramas. But whether it's the nostalgia of digging into his own past or again working with kids, you kind of feel that spark return here, combining the best of both Spielbergs. And by now tackling the one issue that's colored his entire journey, we're left wondering whether The Fabelmans can even be judged on its own terms, or is best evaluated as a reflection of the man who made it.                            

Barbarian

Director: Zach Cregger
Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick, Richard Brake, Kurt Braunohler, Jaymes Butler, Kate Bosworth, Brooke Dillman, Kate Nichols, Sara Paxton
Running Time: 102 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

There's a clever misdirection in Zach Cregger's Barbarian that'll cause viewers to second guess their original suspicions. It's a jarring transition intended to take the story somewhere exciting and unexpected, and for a while it does, successfully pulling off a reversal that has us on pins and needles. We're eager to see how the scenario plays out, knowing that comes with the hope it can join a handful of horror films released over the past few years that transcend the genre to become something more. But hype can be a movie's worst enemy, and while watching, I couldn't help but wonder whether my reaction would be the same not knowing the enthusiastic response it's already gotten from critics and audiences.

Atmospherically directed and at times genuinely terrifying, it's easy to understand all the praise and even agree with much of it. A lot of that comes early, before the curtain's pulled back with a reveal that's initially mind blowing, until later planting the film in more traditionally familiar territory. It's still delivered exceptionally well, but there's sort of a comedown in realizing it might not be going to those unexplored places after all. Instead, we get an effort more along the lines of The Hills Have Eyes and Texas Chainsaw remakes, with shades of 1973's The Baby. But even as the frustration of elevated expectations loom large, it's hard to complain about what we do get, which is better made and more rewarding than those titles by a considerable margin. 

When Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) arrives at an Airbnb rental house in a rundown area of Detroit the night before a major job interview, she discovers it's been double-booked and is already being occupied by a man named Keith Toshko (Bill Skarsgård). After they process this awkward dilemma and it's clear she'll have no place to stay, Keith suggests Tess crash there for the night while he sleeps on the couch. Initially suspicious of his nervous demeanor, she reluctantly agrees, as they spend the evening talking and discovering shared interests. 

Despite finding her door mysteriously unlocked during the night, Tess returns to the house the next day after the interview, only to make an unnerving discovery in the basement, where she's then trapped. Meanwhile, in a seemingly unrelated event on the West Coast, an actor named AJ Gilbride (Justin Long) is about to be fired from an upcoming TV series due to rape allegations from a co-star.  But as a captive Tess fights to stay alive, her chances of survival dwindle when sordid, disturbing details of the home's darkest secrets start to unspool, tracing all the way back to the man who owned the property decades ago.

For the first third of the picture, Cregger orchestrates a clever cat-and-mouse game with the audience when Tess arrives at this house in a dangerous neighborhood, only to find this man there. She's not yet privy to just how awful the area is, mainly because her primary worry is the unexpected guest. And it's this section that proves to be a masterclass in suspense, preying on the instantly relatable conundrum of not knowing how much trust is acceptably safe to put in a complete stranger. Of course, that goes double for a single young woman, and in a great performance, Georgina Campbell conveys every bit of that fear, to the point we can see and sense it in every exchange she has with him, both through voice and body language. Skarsgård's a long way from the evil Pennywise (or is he?), expertly playing Keith with socially awkward, nervous vibes that seem Norman Bates-like on the surface, but could also be read a few different ways. 

Either Keith's a Ted Bundy clone setting his trap or legitimately a nice guy just as uncomfortable about this accidental double booking, if that's what it actually is. When the ice starts to break between them, Tess seems more vulnerable and at ease, causing greater concern for her safety as we never let go of the chance something more sinister is happening. This is all while Skarsgård still manages to simultaneously invoke the feeling that this guy can be trusted and taken at face value, with Cregger triggering the same kind of doubt in viewers that Tess and other women in similar situations experience. 

The film won't again duplicate the heights it reaches when Campbell and Skarsgård initially share the screen, as their characters have an odd, compelling chemistry that can't exactly be defined. It eventually will when we get our answer about Keith, but their scenes are so compelling it's almost impossible not to wish it took up the film's entire running length. As Cregger likely intended, what follows it isn't quite the same, with Tess' excursion into the basement's hidden catacombs and corridors resulting in a claustrophobic sequence that scares in ways similar to 2006's The Descent. 

Whether the reveal of what's in that basement matches all the anticipation is up for debate, but a 1980's flashback featuring Richard Brake as the home's creepy former owner and the injection of Justin Long's AJ do take the story in a wildly different direction. Noticeably cast against type, Long chews into the role of an arrogant, self absorbed TV star (and possible rapist) embroiled in a "Me Too" scandal, giving the actor his most prominent showcase in a while. Seemingly unaware of what he's walking into, AJ is finally forced to reconcile the kind of person he sees himself to be with the one he actually is.

Once Cregger lays all the cards out on the table, you wouldn't be wrong in assuming it creates narrative complications for a premise that started so strong. Some may love the first half, but check out when  last act comes around, even if the reverse could undoubtedly hold true for just as many. But through it all, he still does a fine job consistently maintaining tension and keeping us guessing with his solo directorial debut. So even if it's tempting to consider what could have been, a challenge lies in being able to lay out a path superior to the one Barbarian ultimately succeeds in taking.