Festival Reviews

FREAK ME OUT FILMS AT THE 2022 SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL

The biggest film festival in Australia is the Sydney Film Festival which was held for twelve days last 8-19 June 2022, with so many film premieres from prestigious film festivals such as SXSW, Toronto, Tribeca, and British Film Institute (BFI}, among others.

The Freak Me Out program of the festival features award-winning and festival-recognised films "from the weird and wild side of world cinema," comprising of horror, slasher, and even zombie films, and pretty much the darker themes and content. Here are some of the highlights of the program

https://sff.org.au/

FAMILY DINNER

Easter get-together will never be the same with this tense psychological potboiler that simmers with unfolding strangeness and unease. This Tribeca thriller is about a family catch-up turn gruesome that is far from being your family movie. Cleverly fusing the idea of hunger and deprivation with the shock of human immortality, this spine-chiller builds up to its tried-and-tested recipe for a final meal on familial death row. Losing weight is torture in itself but could even be worse when a trusted family member is in charge of that torture.

SISSY

Now this darkly comedic coming-of-age romantic tragedy was an SXSW slasher horror genre success, and what an achievement for the Aussie filmmakers who concentrated on story and character to make this work. The sisterly childhood connection between Sissy and Emma ended violently with the intervention of bully Emma. They reunite in adulthood, and although that touch of female bestie love can be construed as more unrequited romantic longing and frustration on the part of Sissy, it was never really actualised. What this horror slasher film does well, however, is good character development paired with exceptional performances to elevate the psychological tensions that become physically violent in the end.

LEDA

Exquisitely filmed and meticulously edited, this dark Greek myth retold mesmerises with its suspense and shock aesthetics sans dialogue, like an ethereal dream fantasy with an immediacy that imprints on your mind like a recurring nightmare. Rendered in gothic black and white, this is best enjoyed in 3D, with imageries that are best preserved as sensual art forms menaced by the ghastly dark themes invoked by this hypnotic film experience.

SALOUM

Imagination dizzyingly runs amok with this tumultuously uninterrupted mix of action and myth-mystic genres spanning incredible diversity within African traditions and milieus. There is no rest or recovery for this devilishly wicked ride, and that swirling dust of death encapsulates the exotic allure of that vast continent of tribular rivalry. Fast-paced editing, witty dialogue, and an inventive plot elevate this supernatural action flick into an original style all its own.

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Rolmar Baldonado

Films for the cineaste. Were you moved, transported? Did you laugh, cry? Was it cathartic? Were you disturbed, affected, riveted? Did it make you think? Freelance film editor, cineaste and cinephile Twitter: @film_critik Twitter: @rolmar Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/filmcritik/

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