Sherra

John and Pearl going down the lake, with Pearl singing her song alongside the mesmerizing score… the pale moonlight glistening onto the waters has never looked more beautiful.

This was… kind of incredible? What an outstanding debut feature from Alexander Ullom, especially for it being made for only like $50k?? This deserves to be in the same conversation as stuff like *Obsession* and *Backrooms*. I understand why it maybe isn’t, it’s not nearly as widely available and probably doesn’t have the same mass appeal - not that those two movies are completely commercial, or that this one is completely avant garde and unapproachable or whatever, but it is a more understated, subdued, almost wistful in its approach in a way that doesn’t readily produce the same satisfying, traditional movie moments like the other two. Those movies might be doing some things better than this one, but this really felt way more my speed. Stylistically, it feels so assured and intentional. In terms of characterization, it comes off natural, grounded in dialogue and behavior that feels familiar and real. Its premise is incredibly straightforward, but within that focused narrative framework it creates room for itself to sow seeds of complexity in thematic and emotional notes. It taps into a kind of existential doom particularly experienced by the generation portrayed in the film and the generation making the film (and the generation watching the film, in my case), through feeling, mood and style rather than overwrought story/plot concerns. It renders the dread, uncertainty, confusion, regret, bizarre comedy, even just the Sisyphean “keep on keeping on” of the unexplainable limbo that is modern early adult life in a perfect conceptual capsule of cosmic, philosophical horror. I don’t know if this makes sense at all but it felt like the layer of metaphysical that’s presented is always known, by the film and by its characters, allowing the film to continually move without needing to explain or rationalize itself. The film patiently lets its characters investigate and sit with the nature of their predicament while letting the viewer think about what’s to be gleaned from it all. There’s a lot to chew on, for something so seemingly gaunt. It’s also tonally really well packaged, jumping from tense to pensive to funny and playful with ease. The sound design is really well done too, matched by a bare yet highly evocative score. The images are well realized (I love seeing trees envelope everything and endless asphalt speed by), even if at times capped by simplicity or budget constraints (even within the simplicity there’s some interesting stuff going on with lighting, aspect ratio and grain!). It asks more questions than it does provide answers, which is probably where it will lose viewers looking for a more satisfying summation of everything (spoiler alert for Life™ - that’s not really how things play out!). Maybe it doesn’t do everything it sets out to perfectly, or in the most refined, well stated manner but man, this is the kind of stuff I love and want to see more of. I’m glad Neon picked this up and is putting it in theaters after Letterboxd highlighted it in their video rental store a while ago (the story of how it all came together is crazy, you can hear it hilariously told by an out of breath Ullom [here](https://youtu.be/gQZuQ9IBgWA?is=rwtANpzPbGs5ioWh)). Hopefully it takes off and we get more cool stuff from Alexander Ullom soon. We’ll see how it evolves in my mind with time but right now this is up there for me as one of the best of the year so far.

I’m usually a defender of late stage Ridley Scott, and I think all of his recent work is super underrated, ranging from pretty good to great. Unfortunately though, this is easily the most dull thing he’s made in a long while. It’s not even aggressively bad, there just isn’t really enough **movie** in this movie. There’s moments I liked but it’s mostly just a waste of a great cast. Some really baffling creative decisions too, even from a technical standpoint, which is weird because it’s usually the one area at least where Ridley is firing on all cylinders. His last few movies have definitely struggled with subpar scripts but there’s always traces of his filmmaking muscle and directorial sauce to them, whereas here it feels like the lack of narrative/structural focus has infected the style and overall filmmaking as well. Again, not really “bad” per se (Erik Messerschmidt is a good DP, and there’s some decently shot stuff) but definitely a step down from what I usually expect from Ridley. Kinda just felt like no one’s heart was in it. I’m still a Ridley Scott season pass holder though, I’m glad he’s still making stuff, I hope he continues forever and I will always be there opening weekend.