Shadows on the Wall | Arthouse Films

Shadows off the beaten path
Indies, foreigns, docs and shorts...

On this page: DO US PART | THE SUMMER BOOK

< < I N D I E S

See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 5.Aug.26

Do Us Part
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir-scr Reed Arnold
prd Reed Arnold, Nic Vannatta, Xander Black
with Kelly Russo, Travis Laughlin, Reed Arnold, Crystal Day, Laura Elizabeth Delhauer, Ashley Renee Scott, Seth Andrew Miller, Mimi Gee, Bret Decker, Virginia Linder, Gray Brackett, Justin Gwin
release US 7.Aug.26
26/US 1h33

Is it streaming?

There's a snappy tone to this romantic comedy, which spirals around a screwball situation at a wedding. Actor-filmmaker Reed Arnold keeps things light and funny, but he also works more serious emotions into the story. At its centre, this is about the lingering power of unexpressed feelings. So the humour emerges organically through confused characters who care for each other, even as they continue to mess things up.

Just hours before his wedding ceremony, Ryan (Laughlin) and his best man Mark (Arnold) discover that their university friend Rose (Russo) has turned up uninvited. And it's been years since they last spoke to each other. The problem is that Ryan was once in love with Rose, and she now sees this as her last chance to tell him that she loves him too. A few more secrets will need to come to light before Ryan is ready to walk down the aisle with Julia (Delhauer). The question is who will end up with whom.

Flashbacks reveal Ryan and Rose becoming close friends over the course of their studies, then distance grew between them when she moved to New York. There are also cutaways to ridiculous slapstick situations on the wedding day. These are a little distracting from the important conversation at hand, but they definitely lighten up the tone. Ryan, Rose and Mark need to face the truth and work through some intense issues they've never confronted.

Even if the script is a bit too clever, natural performances keep the characters sympathetic. This is especially impressive in the case of Arnold's Mark, a fast-talking womaniser who is unapologetically inappropriate but is also a loyal friend. He tends to blurt out things he really shouldn't, and fails miserably to squirm out of the holes he digs himself. Russo and Laughlin are playing more thoughtful people, even if both Rose and Ryan have rather overwrought reactions to each momentous revelation.

As things escalate, the situation actually comes to blows. And the words are even more vicious. As romantic entanglements become increasingly knotted, it's the narrative's serious trajectory that is engaging, even when it turns sentimental. Everything hinges around things that have been held in for some reason but need to be said. In some ways, the main point here is that most of us do stupid things when we're young that are likely to cause problems later, especially in combination with whatever life throws at us.

themes, language, violence 1.Aug.26

The Summer Book
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir Charlie McDowell
scr Robert Jones
prd Kath Mattock, Kevin Loader, Alex Orlovsky, Duncan Montgomery, Aleksi Bardy
with Glenn Close, Anders Danielsen Lie, Emily Matthews, Pekka Strang, Sophia Heikkila, Theo Zilliacus, Ingvar Sigurdsson release Fin 31.Jan.25,
US 19.Sep.25, UK 7.Aug.26
24/Finland 1h35

Is it streaming?

Beautifully shot in Finland's picturesque archipelago, this gently lyrical film carries a wave of nostalgia as it primarily takes a child's eye view of a pivotal season. Adapting Tove Jansson's novel, director Charlie McDowell and writer Robert Jones craft an observational film that explores natural rhythms of life for family members from three generations. It's essentially a slice-of-life movie, with a few events that focus the emotions.

In the family's summer cabin on an isolated island in the Gulf of Finland, curious 12-year-old Sophia (Matthews) sends the summer with her thoughtful father (Danielsen Lie) and her feisty but frail grandmother (Close). His wife has just died, so the father keeps busy with chores and his work as an illustrator. Sophia hangs out with Grandma, enjoying her stories as well as island secrets. There are also adventurous excursions to spy on a neighbour couple (Strang and Heikkila) and their teen son (Zilliacus). And Grandma seems to know this is her final visit here.

As she deals with the loss of her mother, Sophia hasn't quite grasped the nuances of time, or what her grandmother means when she says that life is long. Sophia's questions constantly trigger Grandma's childhood memories of this place, playing her old music and reliving her former escapades. Oddly, there's never a glimpse of a sauna, but Grandma does like taking naked strolls through the trees.

Close is lovely as an elderly woman trying to help her son get through his personal pain, reminding him that she won't be here forever. Danielsen Lie brings his engaging charisma to this soft-spoken man, planting a tree as a way of moving forward and helping his daughter in the only way he knows. And at the centre, Matthews sharply captures the mindset of an inquisitive, if rather sullen, young girl trying to make sense of her place in the world.

Everyday events fill the running time. Grandma potters around, repairing the moss along the island's rock slabs, stealing a quiet cigarette before Sophia finds her. She also whittles a small fleet of ships. The film astutely contrasts the perspective between these two women at different points in their life, although the concluding swap in point of view feels wrong. Still, there are delicate connections among this mother, son and granddaughter, creating a remarkably hushed film that celebrates nature's ability to ground our feelings in reality.

themes, language 3.Aug.26

< < I N D I E S
See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL