Shadows on the Wall | Arthouse Films

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On this page: HOKUM | OMAHA

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 22.Apr.26

Hokum
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir-scr Damian McCarthy
prd Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Derek Dauchy, Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde
with Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Will O'Connell, Michael Patric, Austin Amelio, Ezra Carlisle, Brendan Conroy, Mallory Adams, Sioux C
release UK/US 1.May.26
26/Ireland 1h41

Is it streaming?

Playfully invoking Irish folk horror stories, this nutty movie throws so many random elements at the screen that we can't help but laugh in between the jump scares. Writer-director Damian McCarthy creates an enjoyably sinister atmosphere using both sets and nature, then springs all kinds of nastiness on a protagonist who, frankly, deserves it. It's indulgently grubby and very silly, but a darkly edgy undercurrent keeps it gripping.

To scatter his parents' ashes, novelist Ohm (Scott) travels to the remote hotel in Ireland where they spent their honeymoon. He immediately gets on the wrong side of the staff with his snappy grumpiness to receptionist Mal (Coonan), maid Fiona (Ordesh), groundsman Fergal (Patric) and especially bellhop Alby (O'Connell), coldly dismissing his aspiration to be a writer himself. Ohm thinks tales of a witchy ghost in the locked honeymoon suite are hokum, but a shaggy man (Wilmot) living in the woods piques his interest. Will he survive long enough to look into all of this?

This story takes so many crazy turns that we can barely keep up. Flickering flashbacks and hesitant conversations reveal Ohm's troubled back-story: his mother died young and his drunken father turned angry. There are also cutaways to the novel Ohm is struggling to finish, about a conquistador (Amelio) hunting buried treasure in a desert with an urchin sidekick (Carlisle). Stir in a sneering hotel owner (Conroy), a gun in a box, a seriously menacing basement and a body in the dumbwaiter.

While this never comes together coherently, Scott delivers a remarkably vivid performance as a jaded cynic who has lost his faith in everything. As we discover what is driving him, we glimpse his haunting underlying emotions. It's a committed turn with a few big moments of physicality and lots of shattering jolts. Around him, the supporting ensemble amps up the creepy vibe, suggesting impending doom with each arch of an eyebrow or click of a crossbow.

Largely contained within this bonkers hotel, the story gets stuck in circles in the second half, struggling along with Ohm to find a way out of its narrative dead ends. Essentially this is a movie with a lot of terrific visual ideas skilfully strung together with some engaging emotional subtext. So it's entertainingly scary, creating suspense that pays off with chilling imagery rather than gratuitous gore. But it's the witty flourishes, and the sense that anything might happen next, that make it worth a look.

themes, language, violence 30.Mar.26

Omaha
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir Cole Webley
scr Robert Machoian
prd Preston Lee
with John Magaro, Molly Belle Wright, Wyatt Solis, Talia Balsam, Rachel Alig, Max Carpenter, Lisa Carswell, Janelle Fore, Ketrick 'Jazz' Copeland, Daniel Edward Mora, Christina Cooper, Emma Keifer
release US 24.Apr.26
25/US 1h23

SUNDANCE FILM FEST

Is it streaming?

With a warm, gentle pace, this road movie follows a fragile family on a journey that feels momentous even while the reason remains unstated due to its specific point of view. The underlying emotionality sometimes feels overwhelming along the way, and director Cole Webley lets these feelings drive the narrative, honing in on how people often express themselves simply in the way they look at each other.

At dawn, Martin (Magaro) wakes 9-year-old daughter Ella (Wright) and younger son Charlie (Solis) and they set off with their dog Rex, driving cross-country. Grieving the loss of their mother, the children struggle with situations along the road, while Martin tries to keep his emotions in check. He encourages them to have fun swimming in a hotel pool or flying a kite on the salt flats. And when Ella finally asks her dad where they're going, he simply says "Nebraska". Then they hear about the Omaha zoo, and now there's something to look forward to.

Events are seen through Ella's eyes. She doesn't understand why they have been evicted from their home, but she can plainly see desperation in her father's face. Indeed, the siblings feel his pain, and they overhear his hushed, tense phone calls and begin to see that he has spent everything he has to make this journey. But even in this confusing situation, they retain a sense of playfulness.

Magaro is beautifully understated as a preoccupied dad trying to hold himself together for his children. He digs deeply into this wounded man's soul while also finding wonderful rhythms with his young costars in both lighthearted and difficult scenes. Wright and Solis have terrific screen presence, offering creating improvisational scenes. Their cheeky humour is hilarious. And they adeptly portray how children absorb what's going on around them, even if they don't have all of the information.

Indeed, it's difficult to pinpoint just what makes us feel so sad while we watch this film. The connection between this father and his children is lovely, but the feelings barely under the surface are wrenching. Webley shoots each sequence organically to isolate small but meaningful moments, only to reveal the chilling truth in the final moments. It's an involving, moving little film that worms its way under the skin and breaks the heart. And there's a glimmer of hope as it reminds us to ask for help when we need it.

themes, language 20.Apr.26

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL