"Lovely, Dark, and Deep" and "#Manhole" [Fantasia International Film Festival Reviews]
Lovely, Dark, and Deep - Georgina Campbell was terrific in last year’s horror hit Barbarian. She’s even better in Teresa Sutherland’s Lovely, Dark, and Deep, which had its world premiere at Fantasia. She plays Lennon, a park ranger stationed at an outpost in the middle of forest. After stumbling upon a missing woman, a variety of bizarre events begin to unfold. It soon becomes clear that the section of the park she’s in possesses a dark secret – or maybe she’s just losing her mind from the isolation.
In the lead role, Campbell skillfully conveys how Lennon is grappling with a past trauma and how her current situation triggers a sense of guilt and responsibility festering inside. Sutherland knows how to properly shoot in darkness, so the scenes set at night are creepy but still easy to see. More horror filmmakers need to learn that skill. The story, meanwhile, goes to enjoyably twisted places, especially at the end, which has a nihilistic kick. Lovely, Dark, and Deep is an atmospheric chiller with an appealingly human center.
#Manhole - “Ordeal movies” have been wracking viewers’ nerves for a long time. This Japanese thriller puts a novel twist on the concept. Shunsuke (Yuto Nakajima) is a hotshot salesman at a real estate firm. On the night before his wedding, he parties with friends and colleagues, getting seriously drunk in the process. He falls into an open manhole while walking home. The ladder is broken, making it impossible for him to climb out. Rain, an injured leg, and a malfunctioning GPS app are a few of the elements conspiring to keep him down there.
#Manhole is more than a film about a guy stuck in a perilous predicament. It’s also a satire of social media. With no means of signaling for help, Shunsuke turns to his cell phone, using a Twitter-like platform to ask the public to locate him. Relying on strangers online brings with it a whole other set of issues. The plot’s resolution is extremely far-fetched, but for the most part, there are enough “What would you do in this scenario?” moments to make for tense, claustrophobic fun. Director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri and writer Michitaka Okada keep finding ingenious new layers of tension to add.
