EIFF '26 Days 4 & 5
Emotional rollercoaster that the first batch of EIFF films were, our last two days also brought in a host of bizarre contenders and a number of interesting shorts previewed before screenings.
Unfortunately, the breadth of human experience portrayed in the films we went to see: both redemptive and atrocious, was somewhat reflected in our real-world encounters at this year's festival too. One of the rudest ableist, body-shamey & homophobic wastes of skin in the audience tried to start shit with us one evening; but honourable film staff provided back-up and reassurance afterward. Legends of hospitality, truly! Being a filth-spewing bigot in a staunchly queer-friendly cinema in this city is one helluva stupid move, mate. 😑 As is actively doing everything you can to put yourselves in conflict with others when you're given chance after chance to apologise and back down. Having that entitled idiot flee with his cowardly tail between his legs was cathartic, but no-one should have to put up with casual cruelty from strangers. Sadly, society right now is causing all the abusive arseholes to feel emboldened to start this kind've throw-down in public. Not letting them get away with it can feel intimidating, but insisting on politeness and clapping back when necessary is pretty vital. Being supportive and standing united with those trying to speak the truth can be enough as well. Be defiant!
Despite everything, we persevered and enjoyed our movies on these last two days...
[SHORT] "The End of Times"
Sweet documentary-style short about a collective of disabled schizophrenic creatives making a film about the end of the world. They vote on its method of destruction, deciding on 'Asteroid' as the most interesting option to dramatize. Workshopping the responses of the community and improvising scenes with the knowledge that all of humanity was about to end, there is both pathos and serenity, culminating in acceptance and celebration of the world's fate. An all-round wholesome watch with a nice streak of absurdist dark humour. 3⭐
Shot entirely in black & white film stock on an absolute micro-budget, this delightful British comedy is incredibly endearing. Opening in our protagonist Jim's apartment; a top floor flat in central London, he is surreally accosted by the tiny pincers of a very out-of-place crab. Merely confused by this encounter, he goes to work to find that no-one is pleased with his foley edit for their current film project... an intergalactic crustacean romance. His overly-demanding studio team and their crazed celebrity film director are adamant the existing sound be scrapped. The director sends Jim out on location to capture the most perfect soundscape and narrative voice; recalling a young sandwich lady from the set who had a beautiful voice.
It is only when he reaches his destination in the rural fishing village of Pincer Point that things start to fall into place for Jim. On this island, fisherman's shanties carry on the sea breeze from far out at sea, the crabs can grow to the size of small dogs and young people with potential keep on vanishing mysteriously from the settlement. Sadly, it seems the sandwich lady with the voice of an angel has also fallen victim to these disappearances. Old fisher tales hold a lot more weight in this far-flung place, and Jim must make the choice between ascending to sound-mixing legend and risking his very soul... or returning home in disgrace.
Incredibly tongue-in-cheek, this movie owes a lot of its madcap humour to legendary low-budget director Roger Corman; whose epic film-making ambition always outstripped his means. With old film stock, mad dreams and an iconic Pythonesque sense of humour, this production is a highly enjoyable cinematic romp with the bones of a true cult classic! 4⭐
[SHORT] "IDYLL"
A succinct short about the dangers of celebrity worship and AI hallucination. In a world where celebrity lifestyles are sold on Virtual Reality headset through a series of micro-transactions, a down-on-her luck kitchen worker gets drawn into the delusion of one particular influencer's 'Life' experience. Increasingly enamoured by the promise of escape this virtual life provides, the worker spends higher increments of her paycheque on upgrading the 'realness' of her experience. Soon the line between her virtual life and the real people it's based on begins to blur.
A cautionary tale about the way the world is currently headed: with ordinary folks believing they're in relationships with their chatbot or being persuaded to kill themselves by a manipulative algorithm. A lot of the horror here lies in the fact we are already near this level of corporatized AI integration, mere steps away from this hellish unreal dystopia. 3⭐
Overall a heart-pounding ride of a movie about twists of fate and the lengths parents will take after the loss of a child. Marie & Paul are two young parents who have remained together for the good of their toddler. Paul cheats, Marie starts arguments, both doubt each other's commitment. But they have remained together through the struggles of new parenthood and are hoping moving out to an upmarket farmhouse outside the city will give them a new start. Then during a housewarming bloc party, their son just vanishes. Some say the land their farmhouse lies on us special. A local who once lived there as a child tells them that there is a way to return anything and anyone that has been lost. A cave lies below the wooded hill, and within it, endless probability of a second chance. All is not quite as you may initially guess though.
I enjoyed the twists and turns this movie takes you on. Though I admit it was sometimes hard to find anyone to root for as the parents here are both utterly despicable people in different ways. Their lost baby swiftly becomes a prop for both their overbearing egos. It shows that though the circumstances of fate may change, the essence of people often remains the same at their core. The movie does a really good job of subverting initial expectations, and kept me guessing the twist right up until the reveal. Overall a very solid genre thriller. 3⭐
"Skintown"
If I had a penny for every film this festival about a bromance kindled through fatherly abandonment and dance music that gets tragically ripped apart, I'd have two pennies... but it is odd that it happened twice. This movie was incredibly good craick; an ink-black comedy, tense drama, heart-warming euphoria and utter heartbreak all bundled up in one.
Set during the IRA ceasefire of 1994, this is the tale of one wild night for our protagonist Vinny and his best mate Jonty to make enough money to escape his small Northern Irish town of Enniskillen and all of the shit associated with The Troubles. Vinny's fed up of the threat of trigger-happy British squaddies, the factionalism of all the various insurgent groups, the hypocritical politicians and the constant damn Orange Marches held to taunt the townsfolk. Peace seems unachievable and he wants to run but his savings are constantly diminishing. Getting caught up with two bolshy Ulstermen, Vinny and Jonty are tasked with selling on a stolen bag of Ecstasy at the local rave. Right under the noses of the paramilitary dealers who have the club staked-out. With the help of an AWOL black squaddie Wilson, and their bonkers gal pal Eileen, the night is set for tension, wild chases, drug-fuelled euphoria and ultimate heartbreak as the cease-fire starts to crumble around them.
With incredibly similar central themes to "The State of Us", I admittedly wasn't quite as crushed by this tale, but it still had me in proper tears. From sobs to bursting into dark bouts of laughter, this film managed to tap into some specific paranoias from childhood. Those who say the 90s were an idyllic, peaceful time are woefully misremembering. Even if you were a wee kid, you'd have picked up on the tensions of The Troubles, fears after Lockerbie, the Dunblane Massacre, refugees fleeing Bosnia and other low-key atrocities bubbling under the surface. Something so fittingly reflected in the purposeful escapism of the music & youth movements of the time. This movie captures the full emotional push-and-pull of all that latent anxiety wonderfully. This movie feels like a specific state of being. 5⭐
[SHORT] "Lesbian Ditch Day"
An oddity of a short that begins with a light-and-cheery story of queer joy as two Catholic schoolgirls ditch a day of high school to explore young love: only to break the fourth wall on production and flip the script. Last minute changes to the film's script invoke queer rage for becoming "yet another coming out story". A wryly funny experience with a whiplash switch to dead seriousness. Enjoyable, but a touch awkward in pacing. 3⭐
This was a well-crafted, riveting and at times quite funny story that sadly falls short right at the end. I really wish it didn't, as it really looks like everyone had a lot of fun making this movie, and played up their roles whole-heartedly.
Elliot is a young graduate who is offered a job working in a contemporary art studio under the charismatic and domineering risqué artist Erika Tracey. Sensing his repressed sexuality and eagerness to please, she immediately sets about grooming him for an attachment-free sexual fling with her. Never mind that his existing relationship with his goal-oriented girlfriend is pretty-much on the rocks, but the overwhelming nature of an intense, non-negotiated Dom/sub dynamic swiftly starts to erode all other relationships in his life. Though he believes he is a fully consenting partner, the power dynamic is grossly off between them and it soon becomes clear that Erika is the most manipulative of lovers. Things turn hard off the rails, and Elliot's life basically falls apart as a result.
Unfortunately I feel that the overly light-hearted conclusion has led many folks to misread the seriousness of the script's core issues. I've seen reviewers read the movie as pure comedy - simply a kinky romp. It really isn't. To me, there's very clear filmmaker intent to portray Erika as an absolute monster - and rightly so. She grooms a far younger man in her employ; gives zero clear boundaries around their BDSM limits; pressures Elliot into sexual situations he's initially unsure of, forcing sexual encounters with other people that she never clears consent with; publicly shares illicit recordings; gives him roofies (and possibly assaults him whilst he's out of it); then implicates him as a suspect in her death/disappearance as a way of financially saving her own ass. Pure unredeemable villain behaviour. In the end does she face justice for this abuse in any way? No. If anything, she gets a new shot at fame. What's worse is that because he did actually care for her, possibly even love her, Elliot cannot seem to free himself from the memory of her.
In the final scene, this is played off for laughs... which yes, is a bloody awful ending. An utter tonal misstep, it messes with what could have been a fascinating look at the dangers of breaking on to the kink scene for the uninitiated. The power dynamic of older women is rarely touched-upon in film, and it's a shame here that the seriousness of Elliot's trauma is waved away in that last scene. Though it has some genuinely hilarious moments, laughter becomes more and more difficult as the intensity of Erika's manipulation increases. In our cinema, a few nervous chuckles became incredibly forced by the end. For me this is yet another case of "Are the Straights okay???" - something I've seen replayed over and over in movies like 'Babygirl', 'Spiltsville' and 'The Invite' in the past couple years. Y'know... I really don't think they are, folks! Please. Stop. Using. Kink. To. Mend. Your. Emotional. Inadequacies. 4⭐
"Mission"
A trippy, surreal journey into mental ill health and worldly reconciliation. Dylan is a middle-aged man on the verge of a suicidal breakdown. He cannot connect with other people and is struggling to see his place in a world that seems so unforgiving and bleak. His work is monotonous, the girl he cares for keeps him at arms length, and his once close relationship with his sister is disintegrating. Giving himself one week before he ends it all, Dylan ditches all his worldly belongings, moves into a shed on the edge of an old quarry lake, and starts a spiralling path into hedonism, self destruction and radical self-acceptance. He sets off fireworks with rowdy lads in the streets, is honest about his feelings to the girl he loves, dances with knives at a goth house party and gets into sexual situations where he feels out of his depth. He breaks a monkey out of Glasgow zoo, feeds it and sets it free. However, in seeing its reluctance to fend for itself, he's driven into an even deeper depression. He sets out to scare his former boss who has relentlessly bullied him, but ultimately only ends up wounding himself. Cyclically, the monkey returns to him as comfort in his moment of need. Its presence coaxing him to finally go reconnect with his sister.
This is easily one of the most intense visual and audible experiences of the festival. It is open and honest in its portrayal of depression and possibly the mania that goes alongside it. There are moments of sheer hope and joy, sliding to utter misery, misfortune, desolation and nihilism. I found it quite an overwhelming production. Uncomfortable at times. It nevertheless gets its message across with surreal, dream-like clarity. 3⭐
"Snapshot"
A decent horror story take on media deception and misinformation around the Jack the Ripper case. Claiming to be found footage from the first moving picture camera in 1888, the whole movie is filmed as if through a pinhole camera in sepia. Of course, there were no cameras capable of this until after the turn of the century, but this also cleverly plays into the mutability of the facts so central to the narrative.
Plot-wise, it is a tale of an all-women's ghost hunting society formed to contact the dead after the first sensationalised East End murder. Our avid moving photographer Tamworth, follows the exploits of this group of women, documenting their unseen lives, loves and misdeeds. But the footage found has been recut and pieced together from multiple reels, its sound remixed from its wax cylinder recordings. The filmmaker becomes voyeur; enamoured with one of the girls, and documents his own inevitable absorption into the Ripper legend. What shines through this editorial male gaze are the vivid and unapologetic lives of the women. I was a little worried the narrative would veer too close to painting all the victims as prostitutes as was done in the press at the time to distract and dilute sympathy (and has since been proven false by Hallie Rubenhold in her carefully researched book "The Five"). However, the movie is very careful to cast its majority male commentators & narrators as highly bias and unreliable in their conclusions about the victims. Those who are involved in the street trades are mostly characterised well, though there is a bit of sensationalism around the baby trade and East End crime that maybe didn't need to be included to make for a riveting tale.
The heart of this movie is centred around dispelling the way media can be used for misinformation, and it actually does a good job of this. It's cut frenetically at times in a way that is deeply unsettling, purposefully deceiving and out-of-sequence. I really appreciated the Q&A after this one too, as the creators made a point to be staunchly anti-GenAI and anti-smartglass spyware. I have deep respect for the ethos of this production overall, even if a few moments could have done with re-takes for line flubs, sound balancing or over-dramatic moments that could have been more subtle. 4⭐
Now that EIFF is over, it looks like 'Skintown' (reviewed above) went on to win the competition strand this year, so well done! They bagged themselves the Sean Connery Award for Excellence in Filmmaking and a 50k prize for future projects, which is fab.
Did you know... an advert for that Award literally plays before every single film? It describes how the bronze casting was made, the design process, what the award is meant to evoke and how honoured the previous winners are to have received it. Lovely stuff of course, but ooft you will know that advert by heart, probably by the 3rd screening. We ended up seeing 15 feature films, 4 short films and 2 hours of animated shorts in total. So me and Bunny had wild fun whispering "Did you know..." and sub-quoting the trailer on Connery's "rugged Scattish heritage" and how the winner could "go on to be the next Martin Scorsese". This banter carried us through in high spirits to the end of this year's festival.
I think our personal favourites were probably 'Out There' and 'The State of Us', but the sheer ridiculousness of other films were well worth the watch too (and were great fun to discuss afterward). Hopefully we'll both be back onboard for some more GFF films in the new year. 🎬
