Tallulah (2016)

Score: 1.5 / 5

It's my first review of a Netflix film, so I thought I'd start on a light note: A fun little crime dramedy about motherhood. I was wrong.

Tallulah or "Lu", played by Ellen Page, really wants to be a gypsy. Travelling around America in her van, living off stolen credit cards, and actively avoiding planning any kind of future with her boyfriend Nico (Evan Jonigkeit), she seems content with a life some of us might call miserable. When Nico expresses a desire for more, she argues vehemently until he abandons her one night, igniting her desperate search for him. She travels to NYC, where Nico's mother lives, though she hasn't seen him in two years.

Her only hope dashed, she decides to steal from guests in a fancy hotel, only to have one of them to mistake her as housekeeping staff. Intoxicated and about to go cheat on her absent husband, the woman leaves her toddler in Lu's care, who stays because the woman is obviously dangerously neglectful and abusive. Eventually, Lu kidnaps the child and takes it to Nico's mother's place, where they attempt to eke out an ab-normative family life together. Of course, the toddler's mother comes to her senses and soon the police are looking for the kidnapper.

Tallulah is an absurdist melodrama, and if you like those kind of things, this might appeal to you. Unfortunately, it's so confused and meandering that I found myself choking more than giggling on its improbabilities. Whereas the absurd humor of, for example, David Lindsay-Abaire's earlier scripts resides in sharp focus on otherwise bizarre and unnatural topics, the humor here tries to rest on vague, unilateral caricatures and clichéd tropes on otherwise familiar, tired narratives. For me, the whole movie doesn't work because you don't care about anyone; the film doesn't work to make them sympathetic or even understandable. They're all whining, miserable assholes who do stupid, illegal things without any regard for consequences and manage to still, somehow, be dull and uninteresting the whole time. I quit Mad Men in season two for the same reason; why do I need to see hour after hour of terrible people doing terrible things to each other for boring reasons?

Okay, that's a lie. There is one saving grace in the film, and that is in Allison Janney. Playing Nico's mother, she features prominently and injects a lot of heart into her performance. She is the sole sympathetic voice in the movie, and it's a testament to her work that she makes the picture watchable. Even though her character is thinly written and also makes some bad choices, she at least steals the part she was given. Even the movie seems to understand that she is its soul; the final scene is about her realizing her own value and taking her life back. Why wasn't the movie named Margo after her? Ellen Page doesn't deserve title characters. The only other good part of Tallulah is Tammy Blanchard, who plays the toddler's mother; she's entrancing to watch in her emotionally heightened, intoxicated pseudo-stupor, but the character is so infuriating I still have trouble defending it.

So I won't anymore. Don't waste two hours on this flick.

IMDb: Tallulah

The Invitation (2016)

Score: 4 / 5

If you're looking for something dark and heavy to curl up with this winter, The Invitation awaits you right now on the Netflix. And while I usually don't care for spoiling plot points and climaxes for you, this time I'll refrain as much as possible. Not because this movie is a big mystery or unpredictable, but because the way in which it presents itself is so beautiful that summarizing it here would lessen the dramatic impact for you.

The film concerns a dinner party, one thrown in rural Hollywood Hills by Eden and her new husband David, who have been mysteriously absent from social life for the last two years. Invited are sundry past friends -- Tommy and his boyfriend Miguel, Clara, Ben, Gina, and Choi who is apparently running late -- and Eden's ex-husband Will and his new girlfriend Kira. Eden and Will had divorced while trying to cope with the sudden death of their young son, and each has dealt (or, rather, not) with that pain in vastly different ways. It's the first time this group has been together since that tragedy, and tensions run as high as their curiosities.

Most of the film is a riveting drama, focusing on the interactions of these individuals as they navigate the tough waters of maintaining social graces in awkward situations. Slow, calculated shots follow each of the players through their anxieties as the plot unfolds. There's something a little off about David and Eden, and once they reveal their whereabouts for the last two years, the thrills begin to mount. Careful writing and a gorgeous score work seamlessly together, heightening the already fabulous set and costume design, fashioning an elitist atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia.

Between the red herrings and devastating revelations, we as the audience are drawn into an acute awareness that these people are suffering not because of their current situation, but rather because of the polite constraints of their culture. Eden and David have seemingly sought out an answer for their pain and a means to escape the imprisoning niceties of society, and while the others are at times enamored or infuriated by it, none is more disturbed than Will, who slowly breaks down as he re-lives the tragedies of his past. Ultimately, of course, all hell breaks loose, and as their respective weapons are drawn, our cast neglects any form of decency and their baser instincts take control.

It's not really "horror", and if you're looking for action or wit, this isn't for you. As a keen observation of social graces and a piercing satire of the same, however, the film is a masterpiece, and one that requires a nice glass of wine and a darkened room to fully enjoy. Immersive and absorbing, the film offers a fairly unique vision that, while far from perfect, will stay with you for a long time after. Accept the Invitation, and see where it takes you.

IMDb: The Invitation