FILM & TV REVIEWS

Just a couple of K!dZzz opinions...

MANODROME - Incite on The Incel

This film's exploration into a man's descent into the "Incel-Sphere" is chaotic, tense, and at times, horrific.
Jessie Eisenberg is in peak form, riding waves of extreme anxiety to mental breakdowns. Filmed in the city of Syracuse, (Jade Jupiter's home city btw) the feel of the film is gritty, and working class, and a sense of desperation lingers over the main character and his pregnant girlfriend as he contemplates just how ready he is to bring a son into this world, when he, himself doesn't feel like a whole man.
The character falls in with an Incel group led by Adrian Brody, where in a mansion in Upstate New York, this collection of men spend their days spewing "alpha" rhetoric and shitting on working women. It makes an outsider come to understand how a man who has little value in himself and his life, could easily blame another group of people (women) for their shortcomings and confidence issues- especially white men...
SPOILERS
Eisenberg's spirals into madness when his girlfriend abandons him with his baby and he finally comes to the realization that he is gay (possibly bisexual) and has acted on his urges with a man from his gym. With a gun in hand, he makes a mad dash for the incel mansion, hoping they can somehow absolve him of the homophobic murder he has committed, but as a reflex to the cops circling the mansion, Eisenberg shoots Brody in the head, leaves his son and kills himself. 
This film gives all outside parties a peek into the door of fragile, misogynistic, and homophobic white men and how they can take down the world with them, the moment they decide they hate their own lives...A terrifying reality of this world, but especially the United States.

FRESH - Cannibalism Incorporated

Aaaaannndddd this is why we don't do dating apps...
A well-paced, thrilling, and at times comedic take on the cannibal trend happening in film in the last decade, Fresh was a breath of fresh air in the way they chose to tell the trope.
Sebastian Stan has a "Ted Bundy" quality to him; charismatic, willfully ignorant, and flips at the drop of a dime, showcasing a surprising performance to fans of the Marvel Universe.
Daisy Jones plays emotionally exhausted with the dating scene realistically, but not so much that she seems naive. Her performance is subtle, introspective, and cunning.

SPOILERS
When the bunker in Stan's home is revealed and the multiple other captured girls are shown, we finally discover the sinister business that Stan works for. An elite Billionaire's subscription club where boxes are shipped containing remnants and personal belongings of the kidnapped girls along with cuts of their body parts for consumption. 
Jones's escape, along with her captured friend, Molli, is triumphant and bloody, leaving a fun resolve for the story....minus two buttcheeks...

THE EYES OF MY MOTHER - Understated Horror

In a countryside farmhouse, a Mother and Daughter are interrupted by an intruder who poses as someone in need...chaos ensues...
The performances in this film are lovely. Understated and natural, but great. We'll save all the details, but how the intruding man is dealt with is....jarring...

COME TRUE - Mind-blending horror

 Sarah, a homeless insomniac, participates in a clinical trial in which the phenomenon of Sleep Paralysis is studied. The trial soon blurs the lines of reality and dreams when Sarah begins experiencing "shadow figures" in real life- or- maybe real life? Her sleep pattern is all off, but she has high suspicions that the doctors of the trial are not being honest with their patients.
The dream sequences are fluid and disorientating all at once; blending images, thoughts, and landscapes in a way that echoes how we really dream at times. Worth a watch for its budget vs. production value alone.

HELLBENDER - MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS, METAL & WITCHCRAFT

Written, directed, and acted by real-life Mother-Daughter duo, Toby Poser & Zelda Adams. This low-budget film crafts a special world of seclusion as the daughter is homeschooled and plays in her mother's metal band with- only her mother, all under the guise that the daughter has a rare sickness that prevents her from normal socialization.
The Mother is into witchcraft and encourages her daughter to embrace her magik side, which begins to give the daughter hallucinations and powers. When she meets the neighbors she discovers that her sickness never existed and her powers ignite, beginning her climb to liberation.