Posts tagged Mindfuck films
MOVIE REVIEW: mother!

There is extreme thematic and visceral content in mother! that will rattle even the toughest souls.  Metaphorical imagery and symbolism are everywhere, and the number of literal and figurative interpretations of what is implicitly or explicitly transpiring can kill as many brain cells as it multiplies.  The film begs endless questioning. Surviving and absorbing the film becomes a maddening experience.  In the end, what is evident to celebrate is also categorically impossible to fully condone.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Get Out

To come right to the point, “Get Out” is an 104-minute living embodiment of a slow-burning WTF moment that just keeps growing with every new detail.  And it’s glorious for being that very thing.  More psychological thriller than the spattered horror it’s being billed to be, Jordan Peele’s directorial debut is subversively edgy and devilishly clever.

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Invitation

Adorned with the weights of divorce, loss, and tested friendship, “The Invitation” wears those issues like a cloak to hide its real menacing intent and implications underneath.  Karyn Kusama’s film holds a marvelous poker face that siphons your piqued curiosity and unraveling attention.  “The Invitation” might be labeled as a horror film, but it far better fits the prodigious “mindfuck film” subgenre.  Enjoy the steady increased heart rate and spinning cerebrum this film has to offer.

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Gift

Movies are the place of fantasy where the realities of normal domestic life can be bent and distorted.  In the genre of thrillers, that quality can swing from peaks like "Rosemary's Baby" and "Fatal Attraction" to the gutter of cheesy TV films on the Lifetime Channel.  Independent of their quality is their suspension of disbelief towards the fictional elements of each film.  Some movies do too much and descend towards ridiculousness from a sharp premise that is supposed to hook us in.  Every now and then, a mystery/thriller hits the right chords to haunt you just enough to both harrowing and still tangible. 

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MOVIE REVIEW: Ex Machina

"Ex Machina" has much more good than bad and much more surprise than contrivance when it comes to traversing the mine field that can be the science fiction topic of artificial intelligence, especially with a potentially damning title like that.  The high-minded science is there.  The ominous ambiance of implications and ramifications is properly defined.  "Ex Machina" is very smartly created and makes the list of good (excuse my language) "mindfuck" films, joining the excellent and underseen "The One I Love" from last summer.  But, it's still missing that next edge of sharpness or gear to ascend to the next level.  

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MOVIE REVIEW: The One I Love

“The One I Love” is a thinking film that skews much closer to the romantic comedy vein of its trailer, but offers just enough icy and sobering implications to get that hamster wheel moving in your head that will nudge you ever so slightly to the edge of your seat.  You won’t be gripping your arm rest or partner’s hand in tension.  Rather, you’ll be retreating to crossed arms of curiosity and chin-rubbing intrigue and attention.  Clever smiles outnumber dropped jaws.

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