Ed's Review Dot Com

Blinding Edge Pictures, Blumhouse Productions,

James McAvoy, Anya Taylor Joy, Betty Buckley, Jessica Sula, Haley Lu Richardson, Sterling K. Brown, Kim Director, Lyne Renee, Brad William Henke, Sebastian Arcelus, Neal Huff

Kevin (James McAvoy) is suffering from a Split Identity Disorder. His doctor, Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley) is treating him with a little success, but is only aware of 23 of different personalities. Unfortunately there is a 24th that she is not aware of. When one of Kevin’s personalities kidnaps three girls, he takes them to a basement that is securely locked, soundproof and not easy to escape from where he holds them and prey’s on their minds until #24 shows up to do horrible things to the girls. This M. Night Shyamalan psychological thriller hit theaters this week and is certainly very suspenseful and quite shocking.

I have had a love/hate relationship with Mr Shyamalan. Some of his work I really liked, and some I just did not get. Surprisingly my list of the ones I didn’t like are on many people’s favorites list, and likewise, those I really liked, many people despised. This one I got a real jolt out of. The best thing about M. Night Shyamalan is that you must know as little as possible about the film going in, and try to see it right away before the ending gets spoiled. A couple times he has truly broken my mind. Sixth Sense is something I NEVER saw coming until the “Oh Crap” moment at the end. The Village was also one of my favorites as well because I never could see what was coming when the poor girl got out of the forest. What a shock that was to me. This one is not quite as shocking, but it was very, very suspenseful and I enjoyed every second of this film. Jame McAvoy had a blast playing all these different characters, and he slipped between them so perfectly that we really got to learn the personality of each of them as if they were separate people. Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) really nailed this movie. I have seen here is several very suspenseful movies, particularly in The Witch and in Morgan which I really thought was a gem. She is a wonderful little actress, and I will do my best to watch out for her in the future. I thought this film was very suspenseful and quite entertaining, and I didn’t see the reason for all the hate. The public seems to like it though, as it has won the first two weeks, although granted there isn’t a lot of stiff competition at this time of year. This is rated PG-13, but it would be pretty darn scary for kids under 13, so I would take that into account. There was a small child in the theater when we watched it, not a toddler, but definitely elementary aged, and it seemed a bit intense for someone that small. It is actually a though provoking suspense film, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was a pleasant evening.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Modoc Spring,

Mekhi Phifer, William Sadler, Sterling K. Brown, Derek Roché, James McCaffrey, Rebecca Creskoff, Lizzy DeClement, Bernadette Quigley, Luke Robertson, Marisa Brown

A small town sheriff and his deputies receive a call about the first ever bank robbery in this little town at the same time as a mysterious African-American stranger shows up in town. He has a rather combative attitude and is not helping himself very much with his wise-cracks and claims of racism. But he’s a black stranger in a white town. The suspect has a slew of secrets and is not very worried until his partner who is part of the plan does not show up when he’s supposed to. Things turn very deadly quite quickly and nothing is what it appears to be.

This is one of those hidden gem, indie movies with a really perplexing story. The subject is whether or not the town is racist, and if they treat a black suspect differently than a white one. But like an onion, you peel off layer by layer to find something else underneath. There is so many layers to this story, and it’s beautifully told. Not a mainstream movie by any means, but many reviews give away too many secrets, so I am purposefully keeping this as vague as possible. Essentially there are many tales to tell here, and everyone ends up taking a hard look at themselves. It’s excellent acted by a variety of very good actors who develop the characters very well. I think we have to give a great deal of credit to the screenwriters as well, as it’s a really good little script. Don’t judge the movie by police protocol and there are certain unbelievable elements to the story, and it depends a great deal on coincidence which is pretty far fetched, but there is more than one turn in this movie. I watched it streaming on NetFlix, but you can find this movie many places. It was well worth the time I spend on it. Most streaming movies at NetFlix are either very old classics or not too hot, but this was one that really sparked my interested. I found myself intrigued by the story, and though I didn’t expect a lot going in, I was really touched by the ending of this story. This is one I highly recommend for the classy way this story unfolds. Excellent job, guys.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog