There were a number of truly excellent films at this year's Fantastic Fest, and I'm only one little writer. We've already reviewed a number of excellent works from Austin already, but we don't have the time or space to give all of them the ample credit that they deserve. So we've brought to you a selection of capsule reviews of some of the titles we saw at the Fest this year- the good, the bad, and the anime -- all in 300-or-so words or less.
Let the record state categorically that Joachim Trier is a different person than Lars Von Trier, as I had at least 20 different people ask me if the dude who made Thelma was the same guy who gave us all the gross-out cock mutilation in Antichrist. The former Trier, last seen directing the underwhelming drama Louder Than Bombs, turns his hand at a story very familiar to us all: That of the coming of age of a teen telepath (Elli Harboe), both in the discovery of her powers and in her struggle with the controlling nature of her religious parents and the misunderstanding kids at school.
It goes to places you wouldn’t necessarily expect, and offers a fascinating perspective on the queer experience as it relates to superpowers and gorgeous cinematography courtesy of Jakob Ihre, but it’s a very nuts-and-bolts genre film outside of the trappings of the extreme cinema (we get it, guys, strobes make some people in the audience have seizures — you don’t have to use them all the time).
That’s a bit unfair, though, as Trier uses epilepsy to posit a possible real-world explanation for Thelma’s issues, and her seizures are both uncomfortably realistic and used at dramatically fascinating points. His depictions of the horrors of these abilities and having such little control over them are unparalleled, and one pivotal scene, involving a family member, is sure to upset a great deal of the audience.
It’s played beautifully and tragically, and it’s by far the most affecting scene in the whole film. Thankfully, there’s no pig’s blood involved in any of this, and Thelma remains the kind of wonderfully etherial exploration of god-like abilities that you’d hope it would be, and it’s well worth seeking out if you’re the kind of sci-fi fan who enjoys hiding their Heinlein behind a copy of Sight and Sound.
