Film Fight 2022: October

#FF22 Don't Worry Darling is an entertaining mess of a film.

The production design and general look of the film is top notch, with real Bioshock vibes. Florence Pugh, too, is excellent. The twist is predictable, but aspects of it are eye-rollingly bad.

Good enough, but light.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 2, 2022

#FF22 Hatching is a fun, if at sometimes, silly horror.

A young, Finnish girl rescues a motherless egg, and in the process creates something creepy. The performances and pacing are solid, but there's very little subtext here; everything is pretty clear.

Good enough.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 The Woman King is an excellent, historical action film, with a great cast.

One light romantic subplot aside, the various threads all work well. The film fleshes out its characters fully, beyond just being incredibly tough women. Looks fantastic too.

Great action film.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 Luckiest Girl Alive is a bit of mess.

It jumps into heavy-handed narration, that tells rather than shows, and has some very out of place moments. There are a few scenes with appropriate weight, but they're the exception. Tonally all over the place.

Fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 No Exit knows what it is: a lightweight, low-runtime, strangers in a cabin horror-thriller. On that level, it works.

The film won't surprise you much, the strokes being used here are broad, but it does its thing well. There are a handful of well-done gruesome moments.

Ok

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 Amsterdam is a mess on all levels.

An incredible cast who are tonally in different films; a meandering plot with leaden pacing; showy direction that distracts; horrible structure with intermittent narration; and wildly unnatural dialogue.

Some funny lines, but pretty bad.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 The Banshees Of Inisherin is a bleak, black comedy in the vein of McDonagh's other works.

The performances here work well, espcially Farrell's nice but dim farmer and Gleeson's dour and uptight musician. Some difficult moments punctuated with real laughs.

Well executed.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 30, 2022

#FF22 Emily The Criminal sees Aubrey Plaza go from petty criminal to something bigger, as her circumstances (and attitude) force her towards wider confrontation.

Fun, clear plotting, and a solid cast make this a relatively easy to watch drama.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 30, 2022

#FF22 The Innocents is a Scandinavian horror about some very young kids with difficulties, who gain growing powers.

There are some very difficult to watch scenes in here and the last act drags, but there's a creeping dread throughout that makes this compelling.

Decent.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 30, 2022

#FF22 Barbarian is about a woman who finds her AirBnB is already occupied but quickly realises that's not her biggest problem.

The pacing here is excellent with several switches in context as we learn more about what's happening. Fantastic direction.

An excellent, modern horror

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 30, 2022