Strange But True, which starts today in state galleries, carries strange and painful details.
It is rare to watch this kind of film today, and it is much humble than Marvel's annoying heroes, because it broadcasts feelings and humanity from the characters despite the brutality they are subjected to. Here is a girl who has proved herself well in recent years, Margaret Qualy, daughter of former American actress and model Andy McDowell.
Kwale launched the television series The Leftovers, confirmed her talent in Novitiate and then appeared as the abusive girl of the Manson clan in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." All these are good roles in strong works, and her beautiful performance in this film lends credibility as an achievement in her record despite the humility of the project compared to her previous work.
Puzzled
Melissa (Kwale) appears pregnant at the beginning of the film, and declares innocently that in her guts a child of a young man was with him, and died five years ago. Melissa points out that it was a miracle. The viewer is puzzled: do you believe her or believe that she believes herself? This confusion explains Quali's beautiful, strange and mysterious performance.
Philip (Nick Robinson) is a photographer recovering from a foot injury and lives in the home of his divorced mother, Charlene (Amy Ryan), with whom he often argues. At the root of this simple family dispute lies the tragic incident of this family: the death of Philip's younger brother Ronnie (Connor Jesp) in a car accident five years ago.
Not surprisingly, when Melissa (Kwale) appeared at the door of the family and told them that Rooney was lying in his grave as the father of the child in her belly, it was no surprise that Charlene was cool to the idea and Melissa was subsequently expelled.
Phillip, like his mother, decides to show Melissa and her sympathizers, uncertain how she got pregnant from his deceased brother, while his mother, a former public library employee, decides to unravel the mystery by spending hours online at the public library looking for answers in research articles on alternative pregnancy theories. .
Philip's research results in bringing the rest of the film to the mystery circle: his father, Richard (Greg Kinner), a hospital doctor who was on duty when his son died, reinforcing the hypothesis that Richard took a sample of Rooney's liquid and froze it for five years and then gave it to Melissa. Philip arrived at Mela's adoptive parents Gail and retired cop Bill (Blythe Danner and Brian Cox). The film was written by Eric Garcia of John Searles' novel of the same title, which he published in 2004.
Strangeness generated a contradiction
There is a peculiarity in the film, which was filmed in three weeks, may be due to the citation process that took more than 10 years. Today, it is possible to conduct such research on a smartphone or even an iPad.
The strangeness is born of contradiction, as the characters of the film in some scenes use smart phones, as if the film falls at two different times at the same time. The film, directed by the Englishman of Indian descent Rowan Athel, employs a lot of mystery, inspired by classic films such as the famous Dutch «disappearance» 1988 and Gone Girl in 2014.
The film proceeds in the direction of horror, supported by a scene of a clairvoyant or a woman connected to the underworld, but it does not return to the scene or divination and takes another trend towards psychological suspense and mystery. The film has a special performance from Qualie, Kenner and Ryan, while missing the opportunity to exploit the character of Cox and extract a performance from the man commensurate with his character.
Robinson is the victim in this text, as Garcia did not succeed in writing his character dialogues well, as well as the scene that tells the beginning of the film, and says: "If we knew all the truth, would we be less afraid .. or more?" The phrase is weak and unnecessary.
In another scene, for example, he combines with the clairvoyant. He begins with the dominance of the divination over the person of Philip and his ability to tell him what is on his mind.
The writers and writers, who are largely liberated in their quotation from the novel, employ the method of showing only the details necessary for each scene, keeping dialogues at the lowest level, and it is important not to drown us in the chatter of the long explanation. The method is effective because the text revolves around two axes, the first of which is the character of the conflict against anyone who met them except her adoptive parents.
The second axis is the pursuit of the counter-party (Philip and his mother) to obtain or discover information (demystification). Atheel plays with the mystery card until the last quarter of an hour, revealing the surprise, and then he has only the thrill he normally uses and not the level of mystery itself.
Technically, the ideals of Slow Motion Technique and the parallel montage are used to navigate between chronologically different events of the same story, the purpose of which is to increase terror, stir curiosity and breathlessness. The film is captivating as long as the viewer does not know its direction, if it was a horror or fantasy about a pregnant girl from the ghost of her deceased friend .. The mystery here gives the film a surreal touch.
Tension at its peak
The film excels at filming, building the ambiguity around Melissa's pregnancy, and when tension peaks and the surprise unfolds, the film becomes shocking and psychologically painful. Nothing will be revealed, but when Melissa thought her pregnancy was a miracle, she was telling the truth from her perspective! This film is good and worth watching.
• Athel plays a mystery card until the last quarter of an hour, reveals the surprise.
• Robinson is the victim in this text, as Garcia failed to write his personal dialogues.
Qualy's beautiful performance in the film lends credibility as an achievement in her record.
• 2004, the year John Searles quoted the film with the same title.
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