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Review by Sean Boelman
Toni Collette stars as Jan Vokes in Euros Lyn’s DREAM HORSE, a Bleecker Street and Topic Studios release. Credit: Kerry Brown / Bleecker Street & Topic Studios.
Dream Horse is the type of uplifting drama based on a true story that seems tailor-built to be a crowd-pleaser, and for the most part, it succeeds. Generally adorable, even if it is pretty unexceptional in most regards, few people will love this film but it’s also nearly impossible to dislike.
The movie follows a Welsh community who decides to breed a race horse in the hopes of making it big. It’s another horse racing underdog story, a niche already met by better films about more notable horses. It hits all of the expected beats in a way that is effective or satisfying, if not particularly original. One of the issues with the movie is that it doesn’t have much of a regard for a clear timeline. It feels like the film is jumping from one major event to the next without leaving any time for there to be a deeper level of character development. It has more emotional complexity than the Wikipedia article on Dream Alliance, but the story isn’t much deeper. The messages that the movie offers about being dedicated to one’s dreams and coming together as a community are nice, albeit not the most profound. For a film meant to shallowly inspire, it’s good enough — a tale of a group of everyday people who beat the odds in order to achieve something greater. 
(L to R) Brian (Owen Teale), Nerys (Di Botcher), Gordon (Brian Doherty), Jan (Toni Collette), Howard (Damian Lewis) and Maldwyn (Anthony O’Donnell) in Euros Lyn’s DREAM HORSE, a Bleecker Street and Topic Studios release. Credit: Kerry Brown / Bleecker Street & Topic Studios.
Neil McKay’s script does a good job of developing the central character, but fails in exploring anyone else. The rest of the community is made up of straightforward stock characters whose purpose is to serve the development of the protagonist. Perhaps even more frustrating is that the jockeys that ride Dream Alliance are basically a non-factor in the movie.
Toni Collette does a good enough job in her lead role, but there isn’t anything particularly special about her performance. It’s a straightforward role in a simple film, and she is more than likable enough to make it work. No one in the supporting cast really gets a chance to shine, even Damian Lewis, who is supposedly the main supporting player. As a whole, the movie looks fine, but with horse racing movies, there is a lot more that could be done. This is shot like a sappy drama rather than a sports flick, and as a result, the races themselves aren’t that exciting. Instead, what we get are a series of plain, if pretty-looking, sequences in desperate need of some kineticism. Dream Horse is a competent and inoffensive film all-around. For those who are looking for a wholesome and encouraging time at the movies, this conventional underdog tale certainly fits that bill. Dream Horse is now in theaters and hits VOD on June 11. Rating: 3.5/5
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Review by Sarah Williams
Seemingly positioned to be the annual male-gazey low-budget horror advertising lesbian leads that inevitably turns up on VOD every year, The Retreat surprises by taking tired slasher tropes and instead giving the power back to its leads. A fairly straightforward cabin in the woods meets The Most Dangerous Game romp is gory, yet has a bleeding, beating heart beneath the surface.
Sarah Allen and Tommie-Amber Pirie star as new couple Valerie and Renee, who spend a weekend at a Canadian bed & breakfast, enticed by a professed atmosphere of inclusion, and the friendly gay married hosts that are advertised, on a trip to help plan a wedding. What they find, however, is a trap many before them have fallen into, where hunters are out for blood, and they have to fight their way through the night. So much queer horror exists in character only, not commentating on any intersection between identity and the coming action, or worse, does so in a ham-fisted manner. The Retreat is an oddly clever take on the ‘rainbow-washing’ brands use to obtain a niche of customers, plastering on a facade of acceptance, pride, and solidarity just to corner another niche of the market without any radical action of tangible support. Here, it’s not just quarters spilled, but blood. 
Hunters out for blood of the visitors, prominently a gay audience drawn in by promises of community, await them, and a You’re Next-style slasher progresses. It's formulaic at times, and sometimes falls into some predictable story beats, but solidly bloody. Though a clever social satire, there are some moments that feel like they’re poking fun at the class of some of the ‘white trash’ locals, but this isn’t exactly unusual in genre film. Allen and Pirie have an easy chemistry, and its lovely to watch their relationship strengthen through the night. Both play atypical final girls, smart and well-versed on the classic horror movie mistakes, and its nice to have heroines who act like they’ve seen Halloween and Scream at minimum.
What elevates The Retreat is the potential secondary metaphor, that it can be read as a satire of how queer horror fans are baited with promises of seeing ourselves onscreen, only to be mocked, fetishized, or have the characters placed there for us brutally slaughtered at the start. I’d worried this would be exactly like so many of these films, only to be pleasantly surprised that the gays get to win, and poke fun at this a bit in the end. The Retreat is now available on VOD. Rating: 3.5/5
Review by Sean Boelman
One of the most frustrating things about the coming-of-age genre is that, even though these films are about a protagonist coming into their own, they are all too often unable to do their own thing. Blast Beat certainly has some noble ambitions, but it gets a bit too caught up in conventions to live up to its potential.
The movie follows a teenage metalhead/science prodigy who sets out to achieve the American Dream along with his Colombian immigrant family. There have been plenty of really powerful films about people pursuing a better life in America, and Esteban Arango’s feature debut threatens to join their ranks at multiple occasions but always redirects before it can go anywhere. Perhaps the biggest issue with the movie is that it is trying to juggle too many things. The protagonist is struggling with his identity as an immigrant, a metalhead, and a scientist, but the script doesn’t do a good enough job of exploring the clash between his various passions and obligations. There really aren’t enough immigrant stories committed to the screen, and so this is a step in the right direction in that regard, but there are still more nuanced ways to explore these themes. More often than not, the immigrant-centric parts of the story are tear-jerking rather than a genuine way of addressing the topic. 
Something that is a big let down in the film is the lack of development to the central brotherly dynamic. At a certain point, the movie becomes much more interested in the protagonist than his brother, coming at the expense of the audience’s connection to the film. Although the central arc is well-written, the rest of the characters could have used a lot more work.
There is also something left to be desired in the metal portion of the storyline. This isn’t quite a music movie because the music ends up becoming a comparatively insignificant portion. Had this been a bigger focus of the script, with the addition of a killer soundtrack and a bit more style, this could have felt a lot more distinctive. That said, the acting in the movie is genuinely strong. Real-life brothers Mateo and Moses Arias obviously have a great deal of natural chemistry, which goes a long way in making the film tick. The supporting cast is also very good, with solid turns from Daniel Dae Kim and Wilmer Valderrama. Blast Beat has some very strong acting that prevents it from being an entirely forgettable entry in the genre, but it shows a lot of promise on which it can’t deliver. We need more movies like this, just with a greater sense of originality. Blast Beat is now available on VOD. Rating: 3/5
Review by Sean Boelman
[L-R] Madisen Beaty as Bethany, Inanna Sarkis as Alice, Ella-Rae Smith as Helina, Djouliet Amara as Rosalind, Suki Waterhouse as Camille, and Stephanie Sy as Yvonne in the horror SEANCE, an RLJE Films and Shudder release. Photo courtesy of RLJE Films and Shudder.
Simon Barrett has written some really great horror films in the past, so it’s understandable why horror fans would be excited for his feature directorial debut. Seance starts off really strongly, but by the end, it becomes clear that it isn’t nearly as smart as it thinks it is, settling for a lot of B-horror tropes.
The movie follows a young woman who arrives at a prestigious private school after the death of a student as the school is stricken by a string of tragic occurrences. It’s ultimately a very convoluted approach to a story that isn’t that complex, with lots of red herrings and misdirections meant to throw the audience off but which really just draw the viewer out of the film. For much of the first half, the movie is driven by the atmosphere more than anything else, with Barrett’s directorial style doing a lot of the heavy lifting in making the film entertaining. When it becomes more mystery-heavy heading towards the end, it’s a lot less satisfying if only because it is very predictable. Visually, the movie is much stronger than a lot of B-movies, seemingly because of Barrett’s appreciation for the genre. The style feels like a wonderful throwback to horror classics and proves that Barrett is just as gifted behind the camera as he is behind the typewriter. And the kills, while brief, are impressively executed. 
[L-R] Stephanie Sy as Yvonne, Inanna Sarkis as Alice, Madisen Beaty as Bethany, Djouliet Amara as Rosalind, Suki Waterhouse as Camille, and Ella-Rae Smith as Helina in the horr or SEANCE, an RLJE Films and Shudder release. Photo courtesy of RLJE Films and Shudder.
That said, in trying to juggle so many different elements, the film fails to fulfill one of the basic needs of the horror genre, and that is a strong message. It often feels like the movie was made more for the purpose of experimenting with style and tropes as opposed to being a cohesive and satisfying picture of its own.
The character development is one of the biggest weaknesses of Barrett’s script. The film follows this central group of girls, but all of them are depicted as pure archetypes. And in trying to force motivations into the final act, the movie completely fumbles anything that could be considered an interesting character arc. Lead actress Suki Waterhouse basically carries this film on her back, delivering the only performance that is even somewhat subtle. Although the rest of the cast fits their roles well, they are all giving turns that feel over-the-top. This is particularly the case with Madisen Beatty, who is trying altogether too hard here. Seance is a passable horror flick, one that is much more inspired than a majority of its peers, but it still has a lot of issues. Regardless, the demand for this type of movie is consistent, so it will find its audience. Seance is now in theaters and on VOD. Rating: 2.5/5
Review by Sean Boelman
Although the Marvel television shows that have gotten the most buzz have come from Disney+ (and previously Netflix), there are other content-makers putting out great Marvel-based content. Streamer Hulu is behind the adult animated show Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. which, while lacking the bite of the medium but still somewhat edgy, is entertaining when it is allowed to do its own thing.
The series follows genius supervillain M.O.D.O.K. as he struggles to balance family life with his corporate plans to take over the world. A lot of it plays out like a sitcom, certain portions even feeling like an animated workplace comedy, but these bits of parody are nowhere near as effective as the dark humor that flows through a few of the episodes. There is a very nice flow to the season, each of the ten twenty-five minute episodes building nicely into a compelling overall arc, yet having compelling individual conflicts of their own. Admittedly, this batch of episodes does peak early though, with the third episode being the funniest of them all. A recent trend in comic book media has been to turn villains into anti-heroes, and some examples are more successful than others. Although M.O.D.O.K. is a compelling character, there was still a lot of room for his inner arc to be explored. Unexpectedly, the villainous corporate pencil-pusher has a more complete and satisfying development than the eponymous character. 
If there is something left to be desired by this show, it is that there isn’t enough world-building. One of the great things about animation is that it can be expansive and creative. Apart from two or three episodes that tie in characters from other worlds, the series doesn’t do much in that regard. It feels like another superhero property, just in an animated format.
That isn’t to say that the series doesn’t look good — the animation style is great and can create a sense of humor even when the writing is lacking in laughs. And there are a few really strong set pieces, including the big epic one in the finale, that are quite fun to watch thanks to the energy of the visual style. Of course, the voice cast is also a highlight of the series. Patton Oswalt gives a memorable turn as the titular B-grade supervillain, elevating the character from the ridiculousness of the comics into something genuinely fun. And in the supporting cast, Aimee Garcia, Ben Schwartz, and Beck Bennett all do a great job. Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. may not quite break out of the Marvel mold to deliver truly great adult animation, but it’s a step in the right direction. It’s undeniably fun, and the level of passion the cast and crew have for the project is infectious. Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. streams on Hulu beginning May 21. Rating: 4/5 |