GFF '26 Days 4 & 5
So the festival wrapped Sunday evening, but my last day in Glasgow was on Saturday. Bunny joined me for the full scheduled programme both these days and we nipped out for Korean BBQ and hotpot on our final evening, as a well-deserved treat. I think I may just have a Film Fest convert on my hands!
This second round of films was a bit curious, and at times quite bizarre. We got guest promo packs from one premier showing, which I feel is a bit unusual for the Scottish indie film circuit, but was a nice little risqué surprise to tie in with the movie's theming. The Frightfest, which runs the horror portion of the GFF programme, also gave out free sticker packs (which I am always a fan of). And though the festival is now over, my GFF-branded dark green baseball cap eventually arrived today. I'll just have to rock it next year.
In total, 17 feature-length movies attended this year, and much fun was had! Let the reviews commence...
"The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford"
This film is a contemplative look at the tension between Scottish heritage, the local community and the tourism brought in by big budget TV productions. Altogether an interesting one for me, as I work in the heritage sector.
Narrated from the omnipotent viewpoint of Sir Douglas Weatherford, enlightenment philosopher, biologist and laird, this shade's memory seems to be searching for someone to champion his work and remember him in the modern era. Enter Kenneth, local tour guide. After the death of his wife, Kenneth deep-dived his family genealogy and discovered he was a distant descendent of Sir Weatherford. Unfortunately, his newfound pride is soon quashed by the appearance of a film crew in the local village. They are filming for the fantasy TV show "The White Stag of Emberfell", and seemingly have no awareness or interest in local history. Saddened and increasingly enraged by the usurping of his Weatherford tours, Kenneth tries to form a connection with the show's lead star but encounters the dismissiveness and uncaring side of showbusiness. On top of this tension, Kenneth slowly starts to realise that venerating the "Great Man" might not be all it's cracked up to be. Judged even by the standard of his time, and like most wealthy landowners, Weatherford was not a kind person. Kenneth must come to terms with the sins of the past and shatter the hold Douglas Weatherford's memory seems to have over him.
I found the story touching as I've heard the balance communities have to strike between promoting their own heritage and accepting the boost to community funds that hosting a major production can bring. The stakes are clearly very heightened here, and sometimes its hard to feel sympathy for a man who clearly takes his vendetta too far. But I must congratulate the film for bravely and righteously tearing down the myth of "the great man". So many old families still viciously defend these long-dead patriarchs over the reputation of their family name. As this tale tells; sometimes it is okay to let go of heroic legacies and recognise ancestors can be flawed humans without directing that shame at their descendants. 3⭐
A tentacled creature falls to earth on a meteor in the prehistoric era, burying itself in the primordial soil and hunting humanity as it evolves. Its caves are rediscovered by our protagonist Olivia's grandad in the 1970s, leaving shaky evidence on his Super8 before disappearing himself. Now Olivia's mum has vanished in chasing the Bone Keeper too; meaning she and a team of caving experts and scientist buddies must follow in her family's footsteps.
Oh, "Bone Keeper", what you might have been! Your core concept is sound, and your monster so fascinating. I love me a good cave-based horror! Possibly my favourite horror movie of all time is "The Descent". The inherent liminal space of caves, combined with a creature that absorbs and stores your bones along with it's prey's collective memory over millennia? That's honestly badass. The horrific nature of this thing's communication with humanity could have been quite the haunting psychological mind-fuck.
Sadly, what we get is a very standard kill-everyone-off gorefest with bad science; majorly unlikeable stock characters; and a script in desperate need of editing. The entire first half of the movie is an over-bloated exposition dump. Being that the creature is shown in full AI-generated glory within the first minute of the film, there is no suspense. The large group of protagonists stand around reaffirming things about the creature that we have blatantly seen and that they canonically already know from family journals, yet are surprised at these 'facts'. The character dumbassery here is truly next-level - dare I say - "Prometheus" level: where 'scientists' can magically tell the contents of a biological sample by glancing at it; willingly saunter over to what they know is a dangerous new species; get infected by slime that they have verified contains parasitic life but never acknowledge; and... fuck... determine a hot spring cave-dwelling creature's slime to be hydrophobic when the rest of the movie the creature is only ever (possibly) a little photosensitive at best (but only to electric torchlight somehow?). The plot holes likely arise from the script trying to be too many things: "The Descent" meets "Alien" meets "The Thing" but with none of the redeeming qualities about those movies. Honestly, almost all the characters are hateful, dismissive, annoying or just blatant misogynists, so most of the time I was just hoping they'd hurry up and become monster chow. Even Olivia, the obvious Final Girl of the situation, acts so incredibly idiotically about everyone's safety - including her own - that I just can't bring myself to care.
Then, right at the end to add insult to injury, we get a "LOL tentacle-rape pregnancy!" fake-out ending before Olivia wakes up to that part having all been a dream. Guys. If you know me at all, you know I can't stand the "It was just a dream" trope, and this was the worst possible iteration of this. Primo trashiness. Please say the script wasn't written by AI too (because it sure loves its janky image generation, and the plot feels so very hap-hazard). A cave horror flick with an excellent creature concept that sadly does not deliver on any of its heightened dramatic promise. 1⭐
What starts out as a potentially slapstick premise: a small film crew sent to Orkney to create a pornographic propaganda film for the British armed forces during WW2, turns surprisingly serious as the participants uncover their various reasons for being there. Extremely believable and well-acted, this is definitely another favourite of the festival for me.
It turns out each of the production crew are in precarious situations with the law. Making this lewd film for the War Office has given them a way out of their predicaments. Most are civilians, refugees or disgraced home front officers fallen on hard times. Each is having trouble reconciling themselves with what they have done or failed to do, easily finding a form of connection with each other's plights. Unfortunately, their lead actor Tyrone Higgs is just back from active military service and is pretty-much on the verge of a violent psychological breakdown. Suffering from PTSD, substance abuse, a deep guilt from the horrors he was involved in but also highly psychopathic tendencies; his path crosses that of a downed Nazi pilot trying to surrender. Taking him personally captive instead, Tyrone quickly loses his grip on reality and things start to spiral out of control.
A surprisingly sensitive look at duty, exploitation, desperation and hidden sexuality during the war era. I honestly loved the way this story was told; capturing a frankness and positive acceptance of sex workers that I so rarely see in cinema. It may not be based on real wartime orders, at least beyond hearsay, yet it is created with an honesty that made it feel fully grounded in history. 5⭐
"The Restoration at Grayson Manor"
A wildly fun, melodramatic romp in the style of high-society 80s soap operas and campy cult horror. I expected this one to be a bit outrageous, and it definitely delivered!
Boyd Grayson is the sole heir of the grand ol' Grayson Manor. However, as a flamboyant and unrepentant gay, he is determined the family line shall end with him. His mother, a rich and precocious heiress, cannot let this stand. A talented pianist, Boyd suddenly loses both his hands in a freak poppers-exacerbated shattered mirror incident. His lover also sadly does not survive this tragedy. Mrs Grayson contrives to get him a new pair of subconsciously nanite-driven prosthetics, both so he can play his beloved piano again and as a snide way of saying thank you for saving her life in the accident. Under her watchful eye, a rogue doctor, charming male nurse and eccentric Cuban physiotherapist are brought into the grand house to aid in Boyd's recovery. But nefarious deeds are afoot, or rather... ahand! Dastardly plots that dare to violate the young queer Grayson's bodily autonomy in search of an heir! Yet with these newly detachable autonomous prothesis, Boyd may yet still have the last laugh.
There were some uncomfortable moments skirting consent issues throughout, but the overall tone was so completely absurd and overwrought that the issues never hit as needing serious confrontation. All the characters here are acknowledged as truly awful to each other and the world around them, so the heightened violations and revenges all seem bizarrely fated. It was really nice to have a cast discussion at the end too, despite having only seen Chris Colfer in "Glee" prior and remembering quite clearly the fandom exuberance about his angelic queerness in a mainstream American prime time show. Here he was quite the dastardly prima donna! What can I say - the lad has range.
Prepare for a ludicrously wild ride of murder, mutilation, drugs, dongs, debauchery and decadence. And as always, beware idle hands! 4⭐
"Violence"
A very competent splatterpunk movie that straight-up feels like a late 80s/early 90s videogame. You know the one (or many) where a bad guy has taken your woman and you must battle your way through the streets to win her back? Yeah, now cross that with the dingy dystopia of Escape from New York, the wild vulnerabilities of John Wick and a smattering of the shock cinema of Jon Watters. That's this movie. It's surprisingly good fun, if a little overboard at times.
Henry Violence is an ex punk junkie turned straight-edge rocker. He is still indebted to Jimmy Jazz, a drug kingpin who was once his guardian and now runs narcotics through Henry's addict girlfriend Charlotte. When two straight-edge vigilantes destroy Jimmy's stash, Henry is told to bring them to justice by the end of the night or lose everything. Chased by one of Jimmy's enforcers, not trusted by other straight-edge rebels and also on the bad side of opposing kingpin Watter, Henry must choose his ally's carefully. His name ends up ringing true as he takes brutal punishment to get revenge on Watters, waylay the punks who carried out the heist and ultimately get out from under Jazz's thumb. Can he and Charlotte survive the night time dangers and escape the city by daylight?
Going in, I worried this might be a little overly silly and a bit throwaway. But it's a film with a good bit of heart, weirdly likeable characters and some impressive dystopian future 1980s worldbuilding. Perhaps the "bathe in blood" aesthetic could have been used a little more sparingly (maybe for the final showdown with Jazz so it would have a tad more impact), but honestly the wider splatterpunk vibes really worked for it. 4⭐
Fully hand-drawn French animation with a surreal, existential plot and masterful use of light. This is the tale of Helene, the last remaining member of an ecological resistance group who loses her nerve in an armed attack on a mansion compound. Her compatriots are lost, but she enters a world of brass statues, sentient flowers and immortal wildlife existing between life and death where she has the opportunity at a second chance. With the help of her activist cell leader Manon's ghost and the memory of her inner child, she must find a way to both save what lives she can whilst taking the wealthy leader's compound to enact lasting progressive change.
This is a strongly visual and experiential piece, with little of the plot or motivation being explained. Throughout is ever-present imagery of the cayote pack and the lost sheep. They appear in the mansion's garden statuary; they appear in the forest in between life and death, stuck in an endless hunt; and they stand for the two driving forces in Helene's conscience. Emphasis is put on these two aspects of human instinct for survival: either choose the safety of a secure future under the status quo, or take up arms in activism and risk your life to ensure the world changes for the better. It did really well pairing poignant longing with an overwhelming emphasis for radical action. Inspiring! 4⭐
A ponderous, crushing but ultimately hopeful tale of young women's education in Pakistan. We follow Rabia on the day her local school in a poor fishing village is closed. Officials say her teacher has become possessed by a Jinn and the school is now haunted by these troublesome spirits. She journeys across the village to discover whether the tales of Jinn possession are true. Superstitions among residents are strong, but the more affluent people in town seem to think the closure is merely due to corrupt officials turning the building into a "ghost school" to claim funding but not deliver on teaching. She learns a lot both about human nature and local beliefs on her journey, but is constantly stalled in her plans by those who refuse to listen to a little girl. Rabia has a real fire to learn and advocate for herself, but societal systems seem to stand in her way of this at every turn.
The story flirts with a bit of magical realism and eventually becomes queerly gender affirming in it's conclusions. However, this is definitely one of the slowest-paced films of the festival. The events take place over the course of a whole day from dawn into night, so it does feel like an arduous journey as we follow Rabia in long-held static shots and extended cut sequences. Be prepared for an extremely slow-burn tale as it unravels, but I find it's a film that allows for a lot of consideration and thoughtfulness whilst watching. 3⭐
"The Garden of Earthly Delights"
Hands down, the most traumatising watch of this film festival. I found it incredibly emotion-filled and evocative, beautifully filmed as well. I also can't deny it's a vital piece of cinema that I recommend people see to inform themselves. But bloody hell this is the definition of a difficult watch, and I honestly don't know if I could put myself through it again. I knew this movie was going to be brutal going in, but did not expect the sheer level of deep-seated anguish and anger it brewed in my chest.
This is the harrowing coming-of-age story of Ginto, a young queer boy from the slum district of Manila. Framed against a background of casual death and robbery, pervasive drug use among the youth and sex tourism driving the city's trade, its ultimately a story of child exploitation. Though Ginto's escape through crystal meth use is visually stunning; the gravitas of the awful situation he's been put in should not allow the audience to be lured into these scenes' deceptive beauty. One of these trips ends disastrously, and he is thrown into a notoriously brutal Phillipino jail. His slightly older sister has been trying to protect him through selling her body to buy them both tickets to emigrate to Denmark. She gets near the goal they need for their escape only to have to pay an extortionate bribe for her brother's freedom.
The discovery and flourishing of Ginto's growing queer identity is truly portrayed beautifully here. He receives immediate acceptance by the trans & two-spirit individuals around him; whether in his time in prison or friends of his sister from the sex industry. It's the one thing I cling to as a point of redemption and hope in a world that is rigged to tear this boy down: a crucial link to his country's heritage,a queerness of gender that had been accepted as holy until colonisation tried to erase it. Every attempt at freedom and validation is cruelly repressed by his poverty, manipulated by his friends and employers, and eradicated by colonial demand for flesh as a resource. As we witness Ginto's story, there is also the story of a paedophilic Dutch sex tourist arriving in Manila, and his journey of shame up until the two character's paths cross. It is a bleak inevitability that weaves its way continuously through the film, and is utterly stomach-churning. This may be a coming-of-age film, but it is also the tale of a stolen childhood.
The talk after the screening was also hard-going. The director is from a documentary background, with experience of filming the lives of Manila's street kids. From that, he was driven to chronicle the scars of what multiple colonisations have wrought upon the Philippines; this was the film that emerged. The cast is entirely drawn from kids with lived experience, and whilst intimacy coordination and fair pay for their roles was paramount, their current life struggles are very real and ongoing. A truly exceptional film, that I may never watch again. 5⭐
And that was the final late-night film of my festival. A wrap for my GFF '26, and honestly so tense by the end that a nerve caught in my shoulder and painfully froze-up my arm for the entirety of the following day. As a whole though, a really spectacular line-up for the festival. Definitely a few movies I'm a little sad to have missed, but there's only so much time in a day and money in my wallet - so I'm pleased to have caught everything I did. Also, having a companion to mull over films and matcha with was lovely, so I dearly hope Bunny can join me again.
Until next time, avid reader!
