Fantasia International Film Festival - Week 2 Film Reviews

Fantasia International Film Festival Film Reviews

Week 2

Sadly, the 29^th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival is coming to close on Sunday.

But I’ve got more films for you to put on your watch list, as well as the big Cheval Noir Award winner, MOTHER OF FLIES.

Grab that popcorn and let’s get started!

 

MOTHER OF FLIES

Written and Directed by John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser (The Adams Family)

MOTHER OF FLIES took home Fantasia’s top honor, the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film, the first feature from the United States to win Fantasia’s Cheval Noir Award for Best Film in the festival’s 29-year history.

The film is a haunting, poetic look at death, and a project that hit close to home to The Adams Family and their own experiences battling and surviving cancer.

Shaken to her core after being diagnosed with cancer, young Mickey (Zelda Adams) turns to necromancy to heal herself after conventional medicine fails to help. Her father, Jake (John Adams), is skeptical but his skepticism takes a backseat to support his daughter’s decision.

Solveig (Toby Poser), a witch in the Catskill Mountain forests, guides Mickey through a journey of discovery, ritual, and blood. But what Mickey doesn’t know is Solveig’s past and her relationship with death.

The cinematography is beautiful and the soundtrack only heightens the experience that Mickey goes through with Solvieg.

Solveig’s rituals aren’t for the weak in the stomach and may be a bit triggering for some.

Additionally, the film purposefully shows and tells the parallels between witchcraft and religion.

With the line “One day to die, three days to rise,” many with think of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, when it happens to be the general rule for necromancy. As Solveig’s past gets revealed over the course of the film, religion’s hypocrisy is sharp and poignant.

MOTHER OF FLIES is a film that will hit hard for some viewers; others may not enjoy the folk horror aspect and want something more.

But MOTHER OF FLIES is a stunning feat of storytelling.

Shudder picked up MOTHER OF FLIES so watch for its upcoming release.

The Adams Family also provided Fantasia viewers with a personal note about MOTHER OF FLIES, and it just goes to show how much devotion goes into these indie projects.

FILMMAKERS’ NOTE

The human body has a habit of dying — too soon, too late, often painfully.

As a family whose personal narratives serve as fuel for our imaginations, it was only a matter of time when we faced our stark history - every family’s history, really - with cancer. Beyond the visual conversation about life, death, and the transformative (and sometimes dangerous) powers of belief systems, this film is a bold middle finger raised at our own ugly experiences; to transform pain into something new, resurgent, alive - and yet, inevitably, still brutal.

We had the most wonderful time bending concepts of being alive, being dead, and the liminal realm between the two, which fed our exploration of necromancy in connection with two women who have very intimate relationships with death.

At the crossroads of breath, body, and belief lies magic. Mickey’s body grows death inside of her, and so she desperately believes in a magical cure offered by a witch in the woods. Solveig, slithering between states of raw bone and fully fleshed body, wields her death-magic - but for whom? Behind every trick hides truth; behind all pain waits love.

MOTHER OF FLIES, shot almost entirely in the Catskill Mountain forests we call home, is our fairytale manipulation of the darkly shadowed, yet love-lined pathways between a human life and death.

- The Adams Family

 

HELLCAT

Written and Directed by Brock Bodell           

HELLCAT received a Special Jury Mention in the New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature 2025, and it was well deserved.

And while I want to share my full range of emotions watching this fresh, unique film, the less you know about HELLCAT, the better.

In return you’ll get a high stake, tense film that will leave you guessing and then blow your mind with a surprise ending. It’s one of the top film endings I’ve ever seen.

I predict HELLCAT will be a film that gets talked about in genre circles for years to come. Don’t get left out of that circle!

 

THE WAILING

Directed by Pedro Martín-Calero

Written by Pedro Martín-Calero and Isabel Peña

THE WAILING is a very different, profound film experience.

The first 5 minutes of the film jolts you and you’re not quite sure what you’ve got yourself into. Then the rest of the story ebbs and flows and builds up to a heartbreaking ending.

Co-scripted by Isabel Peña (THE BEASTS, THE CANDIDATE), THE WAILING was part inspired by the writing of Mariana Enríquez and “is a nightmarish supernatural allegory for the structural violence that continues to permeate society.”

In modern-day Madrid, Andrea’s world is being turned violently upside-down, haunted by a terrifying entity that she can neither see, understand, or explain. Twenty years ago, thousands of miles away, in La Plata, Marie is being tormented by the very same presence. A third woman, Camila, has a gut-wrenching understanding of what’s happening, but nobody will believe her. In their darkest moments, each will hear the same, terrible sound. A ghostly wailing will overwhelm their senses.

THE WAILING is told in chapters from four different female points of view. They all build up to shocking conclusions but the ride to get there starts to feel slow during Chapter 2 until you reach the climax of the film. This slowness makes one of the essential characters feel more flat than the others.

Additionally, as each story does get wrapped up, I had some lingering questions as the credits rolled.

For film goers who enjoy slow burns with a shocking reveal, this is a great film to check out.

 

THE WOMAN

Directed by Hwang Wook

Written by Hwang Wook and Lim Dong-min

THE WOMAN is a fascinating character-driven thriller.

It all starts with an innocent exchange of strawberries and a secondhand appliance. The encounter takes a dark turn for Sun-kyung when it precedes her classmate’s suspicious suicide. She suspects the owner of the vacuum is involved with his death, and she’s willing to prove he’s guilty of it.

It is very hard to like the main character, Sun-kyung. From the beginning, something just feels off.

And that is what makes this psychological story so intriguing to watch. Just as you think you know where the story is going, or you figure out a hidden clue, something happens that you are not prepared for.

Additionally, the commentary on fake news hits hard as the repercussions come to light.

This a great film for character study.

 

 

HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO

Directed by Tsai Chia Ying

HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO is a layered narrative that explores love, grief, and the emotional burdens we all carry.

Chia Ming and Yu Hsin form a deep bond through hiking, so deep that Chia Ming plans to propose during one such trip. However, the journey does not unfold peacefully. A mysterious force targets Yu Hsin, repeatedly taking her life in horrifying ways. Chia Ming, unfortunately, is trapped in a time-loop and forced to witness her death over and over, yet powerless to stop it. What went wrong? Why Yu Hsin? Everything seems to start from another hiking incident that happened on this very mountain years ago.

HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO is inspired by Mountain Gremlins, one of Taiwan’s scariest urban legends from the 1970s involving an evil spirit, wearing a yellow raincoat and bamboo hat, who is said to appear in heavy fog. Those who make eye contact or follow their guidance, often vanish without a trace.

This urban legend is one of Taiwan’s three major supernatural myths. And HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO retelling of the myth is both disturbing and heartbreaking.

For in this retelling, spirits don’t just stick around for vengeance and unfinished business.

A layered time-loop story can feel tedious in most films, but  HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO makes it work, and worth the ride. One of the biggest reasons it works for this film is its ability to show true humanity and the impact of grief differently and effectively in each layer.

This is a sad but well-written story to watch unfold. Stay watching past a few of the credits for a surprise revelation.

 

FOREIGNER

Written and Directed by Ava Maria Safai

MEAN GIRLS fans, meet FOREIGNER, its bubble-gum horror cousin.

Yasamin (Rose Deghan), or Yasi, is an Iranian teenager who wants to fit in. She lives with her father, Ali (Ashkan Nejati), and her grandmother, Zoreh (Maryam Sadeghi). She’s new to Canada and worries she won't make any friends at her new high school. On her first day, she meets a trio of pastel-clad chirpy girls: “Queen Bee” Rachel (Chloë MacLeod, SUGAR ROT) and her followers, Emily (Victoria Wadell) and Kristen (Talisa Mae Stewart, THE CASKET GIRLS). They are intensely interested in Yasi, having never met an Iranian person before, and their insidious racism pushes her to assimilate into white Canadian culture.

Yasi desperately wants to fit in, so she does whatever it takes to become a 2004 cookie-cutter teen like her new friends and dyes her hair blonde like her late mother and Sarah on her favorite sitcom. But those golden locks aren’t a golden ticket to acceptance. When her fading Iranian identity awakens a dark force within, Yasi becomes defiant to her family, rejects her culture, and threatens to destroy her loved ones and the new life she’s building in Canada.

FOREIGNER starts off like any bubbly, teen movie. Parts even feel similar to MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING.

But as soon as Yasi experiences her first day of school, the vibe quickly shifts and viewers get pulled into an eerie, uneasy world of racism and assimilation. It’s a fresh look into what immigrants are consistently faced with when moving to a different country. It’s especially eye opening as most of the statements or acts may come across as innocent, but they are anything but that.

The best piece of imagery to show this is the box of hair dye Yasi purchases called “Die Blonde.”

FOREIGNER is Ava Maria Safai’s first feature film, and she should be a voice on your radar.

 

 

BURNING

Directed by Radik Eshimov

BURNING is a gripping mystery told using a very well-done, thought out Rashomon effect.

In the midst of the chaos of a neighborhood fire, gossip starts in a local convenience store. People are wondering why such tragedy would happen to a family that was already on the brink. A drunk, a neighbor, and his wife each offer a different story. Farida (Kalicha Seydalieva), the mother-in-law, practiced black magic; Asel (Aysanat Edigeeva), the wife, lost her mind; or maybe Marat (Ömürbek Izrailov), the husband, was worn down by life. What went wrong? Perhaps, the fire was lit long before.

Each story changes the main villain behind the fire, but they never feel redundant as each offers new clues into what led to this tragedy.

When you do get to the truth, it’s even darker than expected.

But the real gut punch is the reveal that today’s human nature would rather speculate than get involved to know the truth and make a situation better.

It’s an impactful film about the consequences of our in-actions.

 

 

THE UNDERTONE

Written and Directed by Ian Tuason

THE UNDERTONE is one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. And it is still lingering under my skin.

What do you do when you have limited time with your dying parent? You wait. And that’s what Evy (Nina Kiri, THE HANDMAID’S TALE, THE HERETICS) does as her mother lies on her deathbed, at home instead of a hospice.

This deathwatch is solitary, but she has The Undertone, a paranormal podcast she co-hosts with her friend Justin, where she’s the resident skeptic to his more open-minded views. They explore “all things creepy,” which helps her concentrate on something other than her mother’s inevitable passing.

When Justin receives an email with ten mysterious audio files from an anonymous sender, the duo listens to them on air. Each recording becomes increasingly sinister, and Justin starts to hear disturbing discoveries with nursery rhymes and weird sounds. As Evy does some personal investigation into the audio files, her mother’s house soon becomes a claustrophobic nightmare.

The build up of tension and anxiety are top-notch in THE UNDERTONE, mainly due to director Ian Tuason’s camerawork and skin-crawling sound design. The viewer never leaves the house. Not even when Evy leaves for one night. My stomach hurt once the credits rolled.

Religion, religious symbols, icons and myths are key to increasing viewers’ anxiety as they go down the rabbit hole with Evy and Justin. Many viewers may have done similar searches in their past – but with far less detrimental consequences.

Mother and child relationship dynamics go deep in THE UNDERTONE, with Evy coming to some devastating conclusions that lead to a climax and ending that completely overwhelms the senses.

There may some lingering questions once you are able to walk away from the film, but it will continue to haunt you in subtle ways.

I haven’t been this shook by a film since PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.

I highly recommend you do not watch alone, and trust me, you won’t want to leave the lights on when you go to bed.

 

 

 

Bring Her Back Review

Bring Her Back 

Dir: Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou

Starring: Sally Hawkins, Billy Barratt, Sara Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, and Sally-Anne Upton

1h 44m

Filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou's much-anticipated follow-up to the 2023 genre hit "Talk to Me" is a chilling domestic horror thriller that, while less structured than their debut, is still an undeniably effective second feature for two impressive storytellers. "Bring Her Back" explores themes of unresolved trauma and grief through an unflinching lens of violence, featuring a stunning performance from Sally Hawkins as a menacing foster parent. With "Talk to Me," the two directors crafted an unpredictable supernatural story, expertly composed with scares. "Bring Her Back" showcases the filmmaker's growth through a character-driven drama that evokes dread in more ways than expected.

Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sara Wong) are siblings who experience the trauma of losing their father unexpectedly. Andy, struggling with nightmarish visions of his deceased father, desperately pleads with the social worker (Sally-Anne Upton) on their case to stay with Piper, who is blind, until he can take custody of her when he turns eighteen. The siblings find themselves in the care of Laura (Sally Hawkins), a former social worker who cares for her son Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips) and is trying to build a happy foster home, all while trying to recover from the unresolved pain of the tragic drowning of her daughter. Laura's true demented motivations come to light, and Andy and Piper must escape before it's too late.  

The mystery surrounding Laura's intentions, along with the constant dread seeping into the atmosphere of the film, establishes a story that builds towards a terrifying reveal. Whether a creepy cult ritual stored on a grainy video cassette or the odd behaviors of Oliver, who remains locked away most of the day, "Bring Her Back" patterns the film with a little bit of every horror characterization one could count. Children in peril, an evil parent, strange rituals, a possessed child, and a squirm-worthy scene of violence are just a few of the building blocks for this film. There are a few moments where all these inspirations come together successfully, but more often, many of these scare tactics get in the way of the fascinating characters. 

Sally Hawkins is the anchor for the entire film, delivering a performance that draws a strong comparison to the character of Annie Wilkes, played by Kathy Bates in the 1990 film "Misery." Hawkins has a kind smile, and early in the movie, the motherly gentleness of her character is a welcome contrast to the spooky happenings. Billy Barratt and Sara Wong have great chemistry as brother and sister. Barratt, whose character is manipulated throughout the film by Laura, does a great job of shifting between being self-conscious, stemming from the trauma of finding his father dead, and becoming self-aware of everything happening to his sister. Wong is charming and the sole vessel of what little humor is instated into the relationships between the characters. As the film builds to its bleak and cruel climax, it's these characters and their relationships that make the final moments so effective. 

"Bring Her Back" struggles to connect all the ideas it introduces. However, the composition of characters and the performances of the actors build emotional drama that makes the visuals of violence and ominous atmosphere more effective than they might have been otherwise. It is undeniable that Danny and Michael Philippou are voices to acknowledge and filmmakers to watch in the world of horror filmmaking. 

Monte's Rating

3.50 out of 5.00

Exorcist: Believer Review

Exorcist: Believer

Dir: David Gordon Green

Starring: Leslie Odom Jr., Ellen Burstyn, Ann Dowd, Lidya Jewett, and Olivia O'Neill

2h 1m

"The Exorcist" continues dominating "top 10" discussions for horror movie fans every spooky season. And it should be in every conversation; the 1973 classic is a stunning and terrifying experience that delivers on many cinematic levels. Every sequel of the original, along with any film dealing with demonic possession or exorcism, emulates the William Friedkin film with varying degrees of success. 

"Exorcist: Believer," helmed by David Gordon Green, attempts to reexamine the religious themes and recreate the startling scares of the original film. Unfortunately, it seldom comes close to conjuring a meaningful scare. It suffers from a muddled storyline that would feel like just another run-of-the-mill exorcism film if not for its title and some nostalgia with a returning character. Aside from a few unique horror designs and some committed performances for two young actresses, "Exorcist: Believer" is disappointing. 

The film begins in Haiti with a young married couple whose vacation is interrupted by a natural disaster, an event that forces Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) to choose between saving his severely injured wife or their unborn child. Victor reluctantly chooses his child's life. 13 years later, Victor and Angela (Lidya Jewett) live in Georgia. Angela yearns to know more about her deceased mother while Victor is doing his best to be the sole parent of his maturing daughter. After school, Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia O'Neill) go missing in the nearby woods after trying to summon Angela's mom. A frantic search ensues, and after three days, Angela and Katherine appear in a nearby barn with no recollection of what happened to them. But the two young girls have returned home with something unholy inside them, an entity that wants their souls. 

"Exorcist: Believer" begins with an intriguing setup, one that immediately situates the lead character, Victor, in a tormenting circumstance of life and death for the woman he loves; it's a decision that will define every action moving forward for the character. Victor, portrayed by Leslie Odom Jr. as a protective father and science-focused skeptic, anchors the wildly uneven story. While initially promising, the film abandons much of the emotionally driven father/daughter character development for unsatisfying nostalgic callbacks to the original movie, even bringing back the elegant Ellen Burstyn for an uninspired character arc. David Gordon Green, who co-wrote the script with Peter Sattler, seldom achieves new directions that separate his film from other exorcism films of recent memory. Without the nostalgia to continuously remind the viewer, there would be no need to connect it to the original classic. 

One of the critical issues with this film is the narrative, which never quite decides if it wants to showcase a battle of good versus evil or would instead pursue the intense and frightening horror show components. This tone imbalance and lack of character development turn the film into a clip show of storytelling elements that never come together meaningfully or scary. 

A few scenes offer chilling and unsettling moments, specifically the two young girls' deteriorating physical and emotional states. There is also some startling imagery, seen through strobing light effects, that reveals a monstrous entity that continuously haunts the thoughts of the two possessed girls. Unfortunately, much of "Exorcist: Believer" feels lost within its need to honor the past and excel beyond the many imitators. 

Monte's Rating

2.00 out of 5.00

Thanksgiving Review

Thanksgiving

Dir: Eli Roth

Starring: Nell Verlaque, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Milo Manheim, Addison Rae, Gina Gershon, Rick Hoffman, and Patrick Dempsey

1h 47m

Director Eli Roth returns to the gory genre roots that sparked his career with a holiday horror movie teased with a fake trailer in 2007's "Grindhouse." "Thanksgiving" is a mean-spirited, often hilarious, gory slasher film that sets its placemat at the table of the best Thanksgiving horror films. Roth, a more than 20-year veteran of horror filmmaking, infuses "Thanksgiving" with grotesque effects, characters you love to hate, and holiday glee used in the most inappropriate ways. 

After Thanksgiving dinner in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the local megastore is readying for the annual Black Friday sale. The promise of a free waffle maker drives the angry crowd into a frenzy, and they break through barricades and eventually into the store. Three people are dead, and dozens are injured in the event. The following Thanksgiving, a masked killer utilizes the name of real-life colonist John Carver and, in full pilgrim attire, begins stalking and killing the greedy people who played a role in the deadly events the previous year. 

The 80s-styled trailer from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's "Grindhouse" was one of four faux teasers to start and bridge the double-feature event. Eli Roth's Thanksgiving-inspired trailer felt the most authentic as a throwback slasher film. 

Roth expands and fleshes out the story as a modern horror-comedy, introducing the film with the worst kind of holiday consumerism behavior, which quickly fuels the vengeful masked killer while incorporating creative ways to punish the awful people of Plymouth. Much of the narrative execution rests on the shoulders of simplistic slasher movie troupes and paper-thin characters. Eli Roth has a particular character style in all his films; an easy term for these characters would be "toxic," and they populate the small town. It's hard to feel any sympathy for the residents of Plymouth, especially the young men who are walking bundles of testosterone in varsity letterman's jackets. The characters' behavior in the film's early moments makes everyone fair prey and easy to cheer for John Carver during the many ingenious sequences of gory violence. 

From the beginning moments of the film, the admiration in style and structure of old-school holiday-themed slasher movie vibes is on solid display. Roth and writer Jeff Randell craft "Thanksgiving" as an updated homage to 1980s genre cinema. The memory of the former faux trailer from "Grindhouse" arrives in different ways throughout this film; reimagining these moments is fun to watch. Where the trailer went for shock value, with extreme scenarios, the feature-length film is still graphic with its much better makeup effects but made for a broader audience interaction. 

Combining old-school vibes amidst a new-school influence offers some laugh-out-loud moments of satire. "Thanksgiving" never loses grasp of its campiness but maintains an intelligent understanding of the mystery underneath the masked John Carver character. While the unwinding of the plot in the final act struggles to retain its tight pacing that hides some of the B-movie seams, it doesn't keep the film from being a crowd-pleaser. 

There are only a few quality Thanksgiving horror films. Yes, the 1987 lesser-known "Blood Rage" is suitable for a few laughs with an eager theater audience, and the 2014 horror-thriller "Kristy" will satisfy with its suspenseful action. Still, the catalog for Thanksgiving horror is few and far between. Director Eli Roth understands the audience on target and the history of films within this subgenre, making "Thanksgiving" an easy addition to celebrated seasonal scary movies.  

Monte's Rating

3.50 out of 5.00

Talk to Me Review

Talk to Me 

Dir: Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou

Starring: Sophie Wilde, Miranda Otto, Otis Dhanji, Alexandra Jensen, and Joe Bird

Remember when shaking hands with an evil spirit would've been a terrifying experience? In Danny and Michael Philippou's haunting and horrific scary movie "Talk to Me," teenagers in Australia don't flee in fright from the encounter but instead willingly invite demonic possession into their lives and film every second of the terror for social media. It's an ingenious narrative setup, one that doesn't seem so unrealistic in the world today, that allows the genre storytelling design to push its sinister sights far into the depths of fear, revealing through violent methods a story about grief and isolation that builds an unnerving sense of dread that slowly permeates the entire tale.  

The story begins at a house party where a young man barricades himself in the bedroom in an environment of loud music and conversation. When a concerned friend breaks the door down, pulling the troubled young man through a gathering of curious teens recording every second on their phones, the party ends with a startling act of violence. Danny and Michael Philippou do a great job of establishing the dark tone for the film from the beginning, establishing a sense of panic that leads to chaos, all while maintaining an uneasy tension throughout. 

Mia (Sophie Wilde), a lonely and grief-stricken young woman, is recovering from a traumatic event, spending most of her time in the home of her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and Jade's little brother Riley (Joe Bird). The close friends organize a party to play a macabre game featuring a sculpted contorted hand. As one partygoer describes it, the hand belonged to a medium, and their embalmed appendage resides inside the sculpture. Mia, eagerly volunteering, accepts the challenge to play the game. The rules are simple: shake the hand and recite the words "talk to me." Immediately after saying the phrase, Mia sees a frail woman sitting across the table. Mia utters the words, "I let you in," and her body becomes possessed by the spirit. 

Compelling horror films have a way of tapping into shared emotions, utilizing those universal sentiments to induce a specific kind of fear in each viewer. One of the most vital components of "Talk to Me" is its ability to connect themes surrounding grief, loneliness, and love and manipulate them as a vessel of fear to target those interconnected feelings. Mia's character is a culmination of all these feelings; the tragic loss of her mother makes her trauma an easy source of manipulation for the tortured souls brought forward by the handshake. 

"Talk to Me" builds an atmosphere of unrelenting dread. Initially, the tone is structured to offer a few moments of brief fun. However, once the friends organize the possession party, where they all take turns inviting the spirits into their bodies, the film reaches its threshold for good vibes and becomes consistent with scare tactics. These terror-inducing moments have strength because of the well-crafted characters, who are all likable and sympathetic on different levels. One of the best relationships in the film exists between Mia and Riley, who have a sibling-like relationship built on trust and compassion. When bad things happen to these two characters, the film's horror hits much harder. As Mia falls deeper into the spell of the possession she invited, her emotions begin to betray her good intentions, influencing her decisions in sinister ways.

Sophie Wilde is exceptional in the lead role, composing a nuanced character while being so affected by the different emotions entering her life. While in the trance of the possession, Wilde unleashes intense mannerisms, making the character feel like an entirely other person through the eyes. Playing young Riley, Joe Bird does superbly in a subtle emotional role that turns aggressively physical. The entire movie rests on the shoulders of these character constructions and performances. Without Sophie Wilde's ability to convey the highs and lows that the character is experiencing or Alexandra Jensen's commitment as the sole tie that binds the friends together, "Talk to Me" would still be an accomplished film but not an emotional one that lingers with you long after the credits role. The combination of unrelenting horror and sincere humanity makes the film so scary.

"Talk to Me" is currently the best horror film of 2023. Its ability to create a haunting atmosphere peaked with unnerving tension and supported by creative genre subversions and superb performances, makes it an exceptional horror experience.

Monte's Rating

4.00 out of 5.00

Barbie Review

Barbie

Dir: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Simu Lui, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell, and Ariana Greenblatt

1h 54m

The introduction for Greta Gerwig's vibrant live-action film "Barbie" features a film homage from one of the greatest science fiction films ever. It's the most unlikely of openings for the pretty-in-pink Mattel toy icon but, surprisingly, suits the silly yet sincere effort that creatively brings to life a witty and subversive story of changing times and shifting cultures. Director Greta Gerwig demonstrates a keen command of style and satire throughout the film, crafting a summer blockbuster that asks all the questions both admirers and naysayers of the most famous doll want answers for.  

Barbie Land is a world inhabited by the Barbie's being played with by humans. And, in Barbie Land, everything is perfect. The weather is always beach-appropriate. Dream houses are perfectly curated. And the fashion is runway approved. On top of everything, society functions effectively and peacefully with various influential Barbie's throughout history playing critical roles in every aspect. One Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives harmoniously with daily hangouts at the beach, nightly highly choreographed dance parties, and constant admiration from the Ken's, specifically one Ken (Ryan Gosling) who is determined to win Barbie's appreciation.

One morning, after having a distressing thought the night before, Barbie wakes up, and things are different. Her shower isn't refreshing. She falls off her house. And she quickly realizes that her heels are touching the ground! After meeting with Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), who is always in the splits and has permanent marker lines on her face, she journeys to the real world to find her owner and return things to normal in Barbie Land. 

Greta Gerwig understands that crafting a storytelling segue to connect Barbie meaningfully to the real world is the hardest part. Like other toy crossover films, "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers" come to mind; creating a meaningful story with engaging characters is always the most challenging aspect and often makes or breaks a film's success. Greta Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach ingeniously bring Barbie to visually stunning life with a story centered on female empowerment, historical changes influencing gender roles, and the evolution of a cultural icon. The film does this all with a heavy dose of satirical humor and genuine sincerity for the representation of Barbie in the lives of young children. These topics are played with abundant fun through memorable musical setups, amusing dance choreography, and wonderfully constructed designs that feel transported into the Barbie Dream House. Gerwig curates Barbie Land with fascinating designs that are equally silly but inventive. 

Margot Robbie is sublime as the lead Barbie. The slow transition of the character, which starts as blissfully ignorant and morphs into self-aware confidence, is an excellent composition for Barbie's realization that the real world is cruel towards women and that the many identities women must embody are unfairly complicated. Robbie perfectly embodies the emotional arc. 

The supporting cast is also terrific throughout the film. Ryan Gosling hilariously portrays Ken as a hopelessly devoted heartthrob who arrives in the real world, learns about patriarchy, and returns to Barbie Land to make it his "Kendom." Gosling is having so much fun in this role. Kate McKinnon portrays Weird Barbie with perfect oddball qualities, Michael Cera is deadpan funny as Ken's forgotten buddy Allan, and America Ferrera grounds the comedy with a tender portrayal of a mom trying to reconnect with her daughter and manage the many facets of the world women must traverse.

The film moves with ease, maintaining a level of undeniably charming fun. As Gerwig begins to explore more in-depth what Barbie means in the cultural landscape, whether the representations are good or bad for young girls, the narrative shifts with an abundance of equally thought-provoking and extremely confounding ideas. While moving through these narrative discussions and on a path towards the eventual solution for Barbie's conundrum of new challenges and emotions in the real world, the film balances ideas that struggle to find a clear direction for the character. The answer to the question of Barbie's good or bad representation is ultimately positive but not without proposed complications. 

"Barbie's" third act soars with ideas, moving towards a finale that struggles to find a good place to end. Still, the film finds a way to conclude with a pitch-perfect punchline. Greta Gerwig found a way to make a Barbie movie that surprisingly honors the legacy of the toy doll while also providing heartfelt and humorous meta-commentary concerning the negative and positive representations found throughout shifting cultural times. "Barbie" is a journey of self-discovery at its core, one that, in the expert care of Greta Gerwig, proves to be a joyous display of female strength and solidarity.

Monte's Rating 

3.50 out of 5.00