Saint Frances
Getting rave reviews, the film Saint Frances (with a great turn by Kelly O’Sullivan) is about thirty-four-year-old Bridget. She is a server in a restaurant, meets a guy at a party who also is a server, and they have a brief affair and then Bridget gets pregnant and decides to abort. While she has no regrets, she catches a break when she takes over nanny duties from her friend for mixed race Lesbian couple Maya and Annie (Charin Alvarez and Lily Mojeku). They have an adorable young daughter – six-year-old Frances (Ramona Edith-Williams) and a baby son. While Maya suffers from post-partum depression, and work-ahololic Annie is never home, Bridget gets closer and closer to Frances – their bond becomes very strong – but Bridget still seems to be lost in life, something is missing. Will she find it in Frances, or from perhaps a handsome guitar teacher, or from Maya and Annie whose life is less than perfect? O’Sullivan really shines in this film which she wrote herself. While very formulaic with scenes set up to make you cry, a few over the top, predictable and a bit unrealistic, Saint Frances is still a touching film.
Released across digital platforms on 17th July.
Infamous
A great new film – the Bonnie and Clyde for the Facebook generation – is Infamous.
Bella Thorne gives an explosive and amazing performance as Arielle Summers, a young woman who always wanted to be famous. She is a waitress who lives with her mom and her mom’s fat and vile boyfiend in a small town – too small for her. She tells her group of friends that she wants to leave that loser town and make it big, be famous – no matter what. She then meets Dean Taylor (Jake Manley), a blond haired and blue-eyed Justin Bieber/Bard Pitt type who has just recently moved to town to live with his father after a stint in prison. Their meeting is electric – they immediately fall for each other, and have a great time together. But after an accident where Dean’s father dies leaves them no choice but to get out of town. But they need cash, and quickly. So they start robbing convenience stores, gathering lots of cash, and lots of likes on social media as Arielle posts their robberies. But it’s a mistake, and they are too quickly identified, and after shooting a cop who stops them, there is then no turning back. Arielle will become famous, Infamous – for all the wrong reasons. Writer and Director Joshua Caldwell has written a great film, and directed it in the style of the 1994 film ‘Natural Born Killers.’ ‘Infamous’ is dynamite and will leave you breathless.
To be released across digital platforms on 31st July.
Ghosts of War
It’s WWII and five American soldiers are assigned to stay in a French Chateau. The previous soldiers who were assigned to stay there rushed out of the house quickly. Why is that? The house is full of ghosts – and not the friendly kind. So the new squadron of soldiers are left to their own devices – not only worrying about German Troops patrolling the countryside but also more so the ghosts within the house. The house, formerly occupied by the Nazi high command, turns these hardened soldiers into terrified men as the ghosts are unseen enemies that are hard to fight, a battle far more terrifying than anything seen on the battlefield.
Released across digital platforms on 17th July.
The Vigil
A young man is hired to watch over a body for one night but it’s not going to be a peaceful night.
Dave Davis plays Yakov, a former Hassid who has lost his faith. He needs money as he is having a hard time getting a job, so a rabbi calls him after a dinner party and tells Yakov that he has a last minute job offer – to be a shomer (watching over the dead body of a community member) for a recently deceased Holocaust survivor. Of course the night is not peaceful. The house, and the body, appear to be haunted, and the film pulls out all the usual lights flashing, ghosts appearing, body levitating, insects crawling devices – it’s stuff we’ve seen before. While Davis and the late Lynn Cohen (who played Magda in Sex and the City) as the deceased wife are good, supernatural film ‘The Vigil’ is neither super or natural – it’s just silly and not even scary.
To be released in cinemas on July 31 in the UK and Ireland
Reviews by Tim Baros