Rated TV-MA (Contains Language Including Talk of Violence, Sexual Material, Drug and Alcohol Use)
Now Streaming on Apple TV+ Across the United States, phones connect us with each other. They help us through our daily lives, acting as computers, assistants, and sometimes necessary entertainment. They’ve become more than we ever thought they would be. But what if phones had the ability to connect us to something else? Over the course of one year, nine different groups of strangers across the country are finding themselves in increasingly strange situations. Their phone calls are getting rerouted to something unknown, something that defies all know laws of physics and the universe. Though at first it seems like some divine force is giving them a second chance at certain decisions, they quickly realize that messing with this phenomenon may cost them their lives. That’s about as vague a summary I can give without spoiling much of the story, as this series is very hard to describe. Calls, an English language remake of a French series, is very unique in terms of its presentation. The show has no visible characters and is told entirely from their phone calls. All we hear are the cellular conversations, represented visually through abstract images. But we never see the characters or what they see. The horror of this show lies in what we, the audience, conjure up in our minds based on what we are hearing. It’s a relatively new way to approach storytelling, but it’s something that is absolutely worth exploring. Because Calls is something truly special; a “visually” stunning and immersive experience that goes into so many twisted directions over the course of its nine episode first season. Now when I say visually, obviously I mean the images that are used to help represent the conversations between the characters and the situations they’re in. For example, one episode is a call between three characters. Each of their respective text is displayed on a point of a triangle, symbolizing the core relationships between them. The abstract digital shapes are gorgeously rendered and really help the audience to visualize the story. These relationships are successfully brought to life by a very talented ensemble cast. The vocal performers include Karen Gillian, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Mark Duplass, Rosario Dawson, Aubrey Plaza, and many other recognizable names. All of them give great performances that make us see them as their true characters. Not just big names speaking lines, but real people caught up in strange and terrifying situations. But I have to give extra credit to Aubrey Plaza. Ever since she started playing more serious roles, like the 2019 Child’s Play reboot, she’s shown that she really has range as an actress. Her role in this series has a big part, both narratively and emotionally, to play as the mystery unfolds, and she is able to pull it off with a very committed vocal performance that perfectly captures the wide range of feelings she’s being put through. All of this is in service of a story that comes together at a perfect pace. The show’s central mystery continuously pulls the rug out from under you in very interesting ways, making you think one thing before twisting it into something completely different. It also does a great job of crafting believable characters that get you emotionally invested in their separate stories and making you care about their eventual fates. Calls has its own unique personality, and it succeeds just on that alone. It’s a great mystery series that takes full advantage of its unconventional presentation to deliver something investing and entertaining. While it is currently unclear if Apple will renew the series for a second season (though this season comes to a satisfying conclusion), I think that this format of storytelling is something worth expanding upon.
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Rated R for some full nudity.
Now Playing In Theaters and Streaming on Hulu After losing both her job and her husband, Fern (Frances McDormand) doesn’t have much left in the world. She decides to give up most of her belongings and travel the country as a nomad; working seasonal jobs and living in a van. As she moves from place to place, she comes across more people reeling from the 2008 financial crisis, and overtime finds herself more at home without a home. There isn’t much more to the plot. It’s a rather simple tale that just fellows a year in Fern’s life as she becomes adjusted to her new life on the road. However, just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact, as many film reviewers have already declared, Nomadland is one of the best films of 2020. Watching this, I got the same awestruck feeling that I had when I saw Soul for the first time. Words almost can’t describe how beautiful this movie is. Probably the best things about it is how natural it all feels. There’s something about the way writer/director Chloë Zhao structures and presents the film that makes it feels less like a movie and more like a window into Fern’s new life. Everything from the screenplay to the handheld camera shots to the sound design feel real. The screenplay is really the biggest contributing factor to this naturalistic feel. The dialogue between the characters feels like real conversations. They talk about real things while occasionally stumbling over each other’s words or struggling to find a way to continue. We’ve all had moments like that between us and other people, and this movie is one of the best examples of how to properly portray that type of speech. But it’s also the technical departments that help achieve the feeling as well. The cinematography and sound design invoked certain feelings in me. I felt like I was truly with Fern in places like the Amazon factory or the various camps she lives at. It’s not everyday that we get a low budget independent film that feels this immersive, and it saddens me that I wasn’t able to see it in an IMAX theater. The look of the film really captures the overall tone of the film. Fern’s situation isn’t exactly the greatest. She chooses to live on the road after a series of circumstances basically force her to do so. The look of the movie is dark, dreary, and almost barren. It helps to portray the kind of wasteland feel the country went through around that time, and to some extent, still going through now. The performance of Frances McDormand is also worth highlighting. It’s probably her best role since her Oscar winning role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. She does an amazing job capturing the character of Fern and all of the emotions she’s forced to go through over the course of the film. While she may not speak that much, her expressions and body language speak volumes. Even the supporting cast does fantastic in their roles. David Strathairn deserves major props for his captivating and emotionally powerful role of Fern’s roadside companion Dave. But the film features numerous real nomads in supporting roles, like Bob Wells and Swankie. Both of them, among others, are wonderful despite little to no acting experience before hand. It also helps add to the realism to have real nomads act as Fern’s mentors. Nomadland is a poignant and beautiful character study that feels very timely in our age of consistent financial struggles. With so many normal people unable to afford homes, it seems like more are turning to this style of living. And while it may not be the most glamorous lifestyle, this movie shows that home is really where you feel the most at home, even if it’s not in a building. |