Film critic Steve Prokopy continues his coverage of the best in new and genre films from Fantastic Fest.
Bring Them Down
As the new Irish film Bring Them Down begins, we see two women in a car driven by an unseen driver. The older woman in the car is the driver’s mother, and the other is his teenage girlfriend. The driver’s mother tells him she’s leaving his father, and the driver immediately accelerates on the rough dirt road until he causes an accident that kills his mother and disfigures the girlfriend. And from that moment on, we understand that Michael is a man driven by emotion, even if it shatters the lives of those around him.
The film jumps forward a couple decades, and Michael (played as adult by Christopher Abbott) is still torn up about the incident to the point where he hasn’t really lived much of a life outside of helping his father (Colm Meaney) on their picturesque, but still somehow emotionally crushing, sheep farm. The girlfriend, Caroline, has since married another man (Paul Ready), whom she lives with near Michael and his father. She has a nearly grown son, Jack (Barry Keoghan), who also has issues with his own demanding father.
Written and directed by Christopher Andrews, Bring Them Down is actually a story told twice, from two different perspectives—Michael’s and Jack’s (some have referred to this as a Rashomon-style story, but if you understand the differences in the stories being told in that landmark Kurosawa film, you then understand that this movie is not the same). Each version has holes in the narrative that are filled in by the other, and the result of this style of storytelling is like watching the final pieces being placed in a puzzle. Both versions are a tale of conflict centering on Michael’s flock of rams, two of which go missing only to supposedly turn up dead on Jack’s father’s farm. But when Michael goes to the local sellers market to replace his two dead animals, he notices them among his rival's flock, and the beginnings of a war break out.
Emotions run high, but not all of them are negative. It’s clear that Michael and Caroline still have feelings for each other, and that she fully regrets marrying her bully of a husband who is in over his head with other investments. Jack takes it upon himself to help his father earn some extra cash by swiping the ram—and much worse as the film goes on. Before the film is done, Michael’s emotional trigger is pulled, and he resorts to a level of retaliation I would never have anticipated, only to discover (through the obtuse storytelling) that he may have gotten his revenge on the wrong person.
The acting couldn’t be more perfectly misery-driven, with Abbott once again building a character so complex and conflicted that it digs under the skin and into your gut. Something of a spiritual sequel to 2022’sThe Banshees of Inisherin, Bring Them Down is another example of that very specific brand of Irish isolationism that can drive some people mad, causing a type of harm that hurts everyone involved. Not an easy film to watch at times (those who have sensitivities to simulated animal harm should stay clear), but it is damn well done.
Get Away
Admittedly, I was hesitant to attend the screening of the latest film written and starring Nick Frost and directed by Dutch director Steffen Haars, because they recently did another film that I saw earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, Krazy House, which is easily the worst thing I’ve ever seen at that prestigious fest.
Thankfully, Get Away is nothing like that film-that-will-not-be-mentioned, and is in fact a play on The Wicker Man. This time it’s the Smith family from Britain looking to spend a quiet vacation on the small Swedish island of Svälta, during the local festival known as Karantan. The locals don’t like having outsiders on the island during the festival, but when one of the residents rents out his home without consulting with the local council, they aren’t given much choice, and the family—made up of Frost, Aisling Bea as the mother, Sebastian Croft as the son, and newcomer Maisie Ayres as the daughter—sets up shop in their new digs and begins exploring the terrain, much to the annoyance of the islanders.
There are hints of Midsommar and other folk-horror cinema at work here, as the family and audience wonder what exactly this festival is and whether blood will be spilled during it. The Smiths go about their vacationing—swimming, hikes in the woods, and attempting to chat up the locals whenever possible. Meanwhile, back on land, there’s an investigation going on into a murder that may be the work of a killer who may have stowed away on the ferry that brought the Smiths to the island, adding a bit of tension to the proceedings. There’s plenty of dark humor and bits of cruelty at play, as well as a few moments of outrageous behavior that will likely take audiences by surprise.
Get Away is far from perfect, but it has at least one major tonal shift that I can’t wait for people to see, and Frost and company are particularly convincing as a squabbling family just trying to get some value out of this unusual outing. I especially liked Anitta Suikkari as the elder of the island, who looks like a walking mummy and is so wonderfully nasty and expressive. The film grows darker and bloodier as it goes on, and the ending is quite satisfying, depending on who you’re rooting for. And honestly, after Krazy House, Get Away seems like a damn masterpiece.
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