April 29th in Birmingham, AL: When I saw The Grand Budapest Hotel, the trailer for this film was attached and it piqued my interest because it was dark and I couldn't tell what the hell was going on. When I wrote the April Film Preview, I mentioned that the trailer gives nothing away and that according to the film's summary it was about "an alien in human form is on a journey through Scotland." Based on the ambiguous trailer I was hoping it wasn't a stupid comedy like Paul but I took a chance anyway. I liked director Jonathan Glazer's other feature, Sexy Beast, a lot so there was that as well.
I am not very technical when it comes to film. Granted, I can usually tell between a location shoot and a sound stage and I can recognize a steady cam shot but this film had a look that it's exterior shots were all done outdoors and without public knowledge. There's also very little dialogue. It's very difficult to tell what is going on. Anyway, the opening scene sees a dude dressed in motorcycle leathers retrieve a female body from a ditch by a highway and throw it in the back of a van. Inside the van it is stark white and a naked woman strips the clothing off the girl who was thrown into the van, both of whom appear to be Scarlett Johansson.
Definitely not the interior of a cargo van.
The motorcycle dude leaves and ScarJo drives the van into town in search of 18-25 year old men. ScarJo then attempts to pick up dudes under the pretense of "being lost" or needing "directions." Apparently 18-25 year old males aren't to cautious when being approached in a van being driven by Scarlett Johansson as she has no trouble finding willing participants (funny how aliens figured out that males will follow a pretty girl anywhere without question). She brings her victims to a house with a creepy all black interior, she walks along taking off her clothes and the dude follows doing the same (there's several full male frontal shots so be warned if that skeeves you out) until the dude starts to sink into some black fluid.
Still hoping for sex with ScarJo until fully submerged that is. Then that's all she wrote.
While in the black fluid, which isn't really fluid because the victim still breathes apparently. Until this happens...
Yeah, that's an "Edgar suit." - MiB reference btw (aliens).
It's not a grizzly death but it doesn't seem all that fantastic of a way to go, especially when you remove the part about sex with ScarJo. She's looking for single males who are just out by themselves and who live alone (no muss no fuss I guess). She runs into a dude at the beach who's by himself and living in a tent. ScarJo starts working him when the dude runs off to try to help a family,the wife went in to try to save the dog then the dad leaves the kid to try and get the mom. Doesn't end well. The swimmer (who's a Czech on vacation) is knocked unconscious and taken back to ScarJo's lair. The motorcycle dude returns to the beach to remove any traces of the swimmer, leaving the crying kid on the beach.
Things are now full throttle strange. ScarJo then goes after a dude with facial Neurofibromatosis. She feels pity for the poor guy and she allows him to live (for awhile at least, the motorcycle dude is very thorough). ScarJo gets in the van and drive until it runs out of gas. She finds herself in a small town where she is helped by a man who takes her his home. He feeds her, gives her a room for herself and generally shows her some kindness. Meanwhile, there's actually four motorcycle dudes and they go out to search for ScarJo because they need more victims I guess.
ScarJo leaves after a botched sexual encounter with the kind man and runs into the woods (again, nothing good ever, ever happens in the woods). As she's strolling aimlessly through the forest she runs into a fellow who seems to think sexual assault might be a good way to go, so let's call this dude Rapey McRaperson. McRaperson attacks ScarJo but stops as her skins starts to peel after he rips her clothes. ScarJo then reveals her true self but it's all short lived as Rapey douses here with gas and lights her on fire. The End.
This is not a bad film per se but I wouldn't begrudge someone who doesn't like it as I myself sat dumbfounded for stretches of time. The dialogue is almost nonexistent and there's no music to give away the plot. Which is ok, the film takes you on a trip and it doesn't tell you where you're going. So it's not very predictable. As for the acting, it's not Shakespearean by any standards because there seems to very little of it because of the lack of dialogue, keep in mind ScarJo's victims are Scottish men so some of them need subtitles. When ScarJo isn't trying to score victims she doesn't talk, she just has s glazed look on her face, like an alien would have if they were in a body out together like ScarJo. Right? Anyway, I'm on the fence with this, it's not a bad film but I would only recommend it to certain people but make no mistake, Glazer made a decent, indie, low budget sci-fi film that has merits. It was "experimental" if you will.
Thank you for your time.
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