“Sarah Plays a Werewolf”
As far as coming-of-age stories are concerned, “Sarah Plays a Werewolf” is the antithesis of something like “Anna and the Apocalypse.” Where the outcasts in the latter are surface-level “movie” outcasts, the titular Sarah (Loane Balthasar) has an isolation and loneliness that runs deep. Plenty of movies have dealt with depression and thoughts of suicide in teens, but rarely has a film been this immersive in putting you in the headspace of said teenager. The layers of Sarah digging into her role for the upcoming school play, along with the role-play she has done in therapy sessions with her father (a therapist), coupled with the matter-of-fact lies she’ll tell her friends and her family to the point where you’re not sure what’s real and what isn’t, create a disorienting experience that truly captures the mindset of someone dealing with depression. “Sarah Plays a Werewolf” can be a maddening watch, and the stark conclusion – while thematically rich – feels like it’s filmed a bit clunkily and thus dilutes the impact, but neither of those things derails what is ultimately a rich experience. [B]
“Shirkers”
In 1992, director (and then-teenager) Sandi Tan set out to make “Shirkers” – an avant-garde piece of cinema about a killer named “S” who would take out the wicked and liberate others – in her home country of Singapore, along with her friends Jasmine and Sophie, and her mentor, an older American named Georges Cardona. The film was supposed to go into post-production but instead, Georges disappeared for nearly 20 years. In 2011, Sandi receives a call that Georges has passed, and has kept all of the film negatives preserved in pristine condition. Part love-letter to renegade cinema and part piece of investigative journalism, “Shirkers” is a unique and beautifully realized documentary about facing the ghosts of your past, finding their reasoning, and not letting them haunt you. It’s also a piece of great entertainment. The rapport between listening to Jasmine as a subject being interviewed by Sandi in the director’s chair is a delight. And the footage we get to see from “Shirkers” is strange, provocative, interesting, and leaves you wishing you could see the final product. It serves as a reminder and a cautionary tale to young artists everywhere to follow your dreams, but make sure it’s with people you trust. [A-]
“Time Share”
The setup for “Time Share” – two families accidentally get booked at the same room at a luxurious timeshare resort and both have to stay there and make it work – is ripe for an odd-couple comedy-of-errors. Instead, it takes a pitch black route and becomes more sinister and thought-provoking, albeit one that is still very funny. Pedro (Luis Gerardo Méndez) shares a kinship with Rosemary in “Rosemary’s Baby” or Chris from “Get Out,” where he senses that things are wrong and off-kilter immediately, but everyone around him assures him that everything is fine and that it’s all in his head. A sitcom setup with a horror movie pace is a fascinating mixture that never misfires. “Time Share” exposes the dark underbelly of what it’s like to work at a luxurious resort, and how people are so quick to sign themselves over to what is most certainly a scam in exchange for feeling included in something. Like “Model Home,” the assured sense of tone works in its favor, but its themes are more streamlined and its message is heard loud and clear. [A-]