The Last Front - Film Review

 

World War I was hell, anyone who knows about it will agree with that, and the name will spark images of muddy battlefields, trenches, and conditions that were like hell on earth. But, the war was more than just those kinds of battles, and The Last Front, despite the name, takes a look at some of the earlier confrontations in that war through the eyes of a widowed farmer thrust into a position where he has to lead a resistance force against a cruel invader. 

Iain Glenn stars as Leonard Lambert, a Belgian farmer and father of two young adult children, daughter Johanna (Emma Dupont), and son Adrien (James Dowie). Leonard spends most of his time managing his small farmstead, and occasionally having to deal with the budding romance between his son and the daughter of a local doctor, and how their different social classes makes their young love forbidden to their parents. It's a simple life, one that is broken when a group of German soldiers arrive in the village, seeking to take whatever supplies they need, no matter what they must do to take them.

The Germans are led by Lt. Laurentz (Joe Anderson), a particularly twisted and cruel individual. The first time we meet Laurentz and his men they're travelling through a small town when a panicked inhabitants takes a shot at them. This results in every home being raided, and civilians being dragged out into the streets for execution, no matter who they are. Larentz is a villain, pure and simple, with no shades of grey to be found. As such, when he descends on Leonard's community the residents are faced with few choices, die, run, or fight. Despite not wanting to fight, and wanting to take a peaceful way through life, Leonard soon finds the leadership role of the fledgling resistance force thrust upon him. 

Iain Glenn has a great energy to him that really seems to suit the role he's playing in The Last Front. He has a weariness and quiet, gentle way of speaking that you feel like he's a man who's seen a lot of the world and has grown wise from it. He's kindly, and projects a lot of warmth, yet is also able to switch that off and become a fierce fighter. It's many of the qualities that he brought to his character across eight seasons of Game of Thrones, and so those that might be checking out The Last Front because they recognise Glenn from there will likely feel very comfortable with his performance here.

And Glenn isn't alone in delivering a great performance, as the film seems to go out of its way to put some great talent on the screen. Joe Anderson is superb as the monstrous Laurentz, a character who's so one dimensionally evil that in some ways he feels like a bit of a throwback to older movies where filmmakers didn't necessarily want much nuance to their antagonists. Despite this, he's still a great character, largely because he's so despicably nasty that you don't really care that he's a bit of a caricature and you just want to see him get what's coming to him. Anderson makes you hate his character, and keeps ramping up your disgust for him; which is exactly what you need in a film like this. 

The rest of the supporting cast do decent jobs too, and whilst none of them stand out on screen as much as the two leads they all deliver solid performances. The younger cast bring a lot of passion, especially the two young lovers desperate to defy their parents and the class system they're born into. It is very noticeable that a film about Belgium and German characters is populated by British actors, and there are some times when things feel very British, one character yelling 'oy!' like he's down the pub for example, but after a whilst you get lost in the characters and their stories and forget about the slightly off accents.

The Last Front is the first film from director Julien Hayet-Kerknawi, but it doesn't feel like he's stumbling around to find his style, or that he doesn't understand the filmmaking process as some early directors do from time to time. The film is very well shot, and the production values are very impressive for what is a fairly small production. The film looks great on the screen, and the night scenes, illuminated by the flaming torches the characters are carrying with them, really pop and impress.

Someone looking for a more nuanced film, one that presents the idea that people on both sides of World War I were humans, with complexities, motivations we can perhaps understand, and morals skewed by their governments will likely be a bit confused by the way that The Last Front does things, as it takes a much older approach to war movies by making the villains truly evil and the heroes morally good. It's a simple period action affair, but one that presents itself with great charm and care to deliver a decent product that you can't help but enjoy it.

The Last Front is available in UK cinemas from 1st November.

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Studio One Forever - Film Review

 

Queer spaces have become a fairly common sight in modern times, with most large cities having at least one bar catering to the LGBTQ+ community. Of course, that's not always the case; I grew up in a town that has never had a queer space, but is also rampantly homophobic. Times are still hard, but they also feel like they've mostly gotten better. If you ask most queer people about the history of queer bars and clubs they'd name the Stonewall Inn, but there's another place that deserves to be spoken about, Studio One.

Opened in 1974 in Los Angeles, Studio One was a disco dance club, filled with drinks, drugs, and topless men, and a live music venue that would host some of the biggest names in Hollywood as both acts and patrons. Created during a period where homophobia was rife, where two men simply holding hands on the street would be enough to get them a beating from the police, and when raids on queer establishments was a regular occurrence, the opening of Studio One was an act of defiance in a world that punished the queer community. However, thanks to the desperate need for a space such as this, and the glamour of LA, Studio One not only survived, but thrived.

The new documentary film, Studio One Forever, delves into the history of the establishment, featuring first hand accounts from the people that called it home. The documentary was spurred on in large part by that fact that in 2019 a development plan proposed the destruction of the building where Studio One was once based, a building seen as a historic landmark by many. Thanks to the fact that two of the people on the council were once patrons of the bar during the 70's and 80's, attention was given to the situation, and the community was called to rally to save this piece of history.

The film charts this journey, but also goes into the origins of Studio One. We learn about the need of the space, hearing first hand accounts of how hostile LA was to queer people at the time, and how Studio One gave them a place where they could be themselves. Through interviews, and using footage and photographs from the time we're able to see how much Studio One meant to people, and are able to witness the open joy of young queer people able to be themselves, to dance, celebrate, and love openly. 

It's interesting to see the duality of Studio One as well. One side of the building was a heaving dance club, filled with shirtless, sweaty men dancing to loud music, an experience enhanced by both drink and drugs. The other side, however, is presented as a more 'high-class' establishment, with a stage where live performances would be held to a room of seated guests who were wined and dined across the evening. This latter part of Studio One, named the Backlot, would host names like Sammy Davis Jr, Joan Rivers, Tina Turner, and Paul Newman. The club was a creature of two halves that somehow worked together to create a unique space that was able to go beyond just the queer community, and became an icon of the city.

For those that we see campaigning the city to keep Studio One alive, these were the stories they shared, the successes, the celebrations. However, the film also shows us the darker side of this history as we move from the 70's into the late 80's and early 90's, to the height of the AIDs epidemic. Anyone who knows about the AIDs crisis knows how much it harmed the queer community, so much so that many have twisted the narrative of the disease's history into being a 'gay disease', despite it affecting anyone and everyone, no matter their sexuality or gender. But, because it was harming the queer community the most a response to AIDs was slow coming, and many, many lives were lost.

This is the most affecting part of the documentary, as the film covers this period. The people who were there at the time, who are speaking now list name after name of those who were lost. They describe how one week their friends would be alive, and the next they'd be dead. A treasure trove of rediscovered photos from Studio One became a slideshow of faces of the dead. The people who speak during the documentary, people like Lloyd Coleman, Gary Mortimer, Gary Steinberg, Ron Hamill, and John Duran reach a point where they're unable to keep speaking more than once. We get to watch them relive the deep trauma of this period as they tell stories about people who were left to die by an uncaring world. 

Studio One Forever isn't just a story about a nightclub, it's a story about the people who called it home, who had it as a refuge, people who very few of are still with us today. It's a documentary about a unique and often amusing venue that would be entertaining enough on its own, but it's also a monument to those we as the queer community have lost, and a lesson as to why preserving this history is a hugely important thing. I never knew about Studio One before watching this film, but I came away believing that it's an incredibly important story, one that deserves its time on the screen.

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The Convert - Film Review

 

Colonialism has caused irreparable damage to the world, with numerous cultures having been completely erased by mostly European settlers who forced their way of life to convert those they could, and murder those they couldn't in truly terrible ways. Over the centuries since these cultures and nations have been damaged by colonial powers it's been hard for these people to even exist, let alone tell their stories. Thankfully, there has been more of a shift in the last few decades, with more and more people willing to not only listen, but to denounce the actions of their ancestors as horrific. I've enjoyed seeing this shift, and learning the more truthful history of these events and their impact has been hugely educational. As such, I was immediately intrigued by director Lee Tamahori's latest film, The Convert.

Set in the 1830's, the film follows the journey of Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce), a lay preacher who has agreed to travel across the world from his home in England to the new colony of Epworth on the coast of Aotearoa. Along the way the ship he's travelling on must stop to gather timber for repairs, and Munro leaves the ship to explore the new land he'll be calling home for the first time. Whilst exploring, he comes across a clash between two Māori tribes. The chief of one of the tribes, Akatarewa (Lawrence Makoare), is the father of a young Māori man serving on the ship he's travelling on, and so he's able to approach him and ask for mercy for two captured young Māori. Akatarewa agrees to let one live, in exchange for Monro's horse, and kills the others. Thus, Munro ends up becoming the guardian of Rangimai (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne), the daughter of another tribe's chief.

Continuing on his way to Epworth, with Rangimai at his side, Munro finds a tiny collection of cabins in a harsh and uncaring landscape. And those that call the town home are similar, showing little to no care for the young woman in Munro's care, refusing to give her much needed medical treatment. As Munro settles into his new home he sees the ugly side of the settlers, those that live on Māori land but show no deference to them or their culture. As Munro learns more about the indigenous people he tries to prevent a coming war between them; a decision that will forever change his life. 

For a film with a title like The Convert, about a preacher travelling to a land that we know used religion to try to erase the native people, and with a story that seems to try and place a white man into the middle of a situation where he could rise up to be the hero, I was worried about The Convert essentially being a white saviour story. Thankfully, the film subverts these tropes and expectations, instead telling a story about a man learning that he may be wrong about his place in the world, and that his faith and its applications might be incorrect. 

The Convert is told from the perspective of Pearce's Munro, and he's in almost every scene of the movie because of this, being our eyes and ears in this setting. Because of this, much of the film rests upon Pearce's shoulders, and how he plays Munro makes or breaks a lot of the film. From the very first scenes of the film he's shown to be a quiet man, one who's happier to watch and learn about others rather than taking the centre stage. He thinks before he acts, and seems to be guided by a strong sense of morality. This becomes even more evident when we reach Epworth, and he's faced with more outward corruption and hostility. You can see a quiet rage simmering away just beneath the surface, and the body language that Pearce has in some of these scenes feels like a man fighting not to explode into action. It's a wonderfully subtle performance, one that's paid off brilliantly later on in the film where we find out about the ghosts he's been carrying with him, and then with where the film leaves his character in the final scenes. 

But, this isn't just his story, it's a story about Aotearoa and its people, and as such the film populates itself with some fantastic characters and actors of Māori descent. Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne has the most screen time as Rangimai, a young woman dealing with the murder of her husband right in front of her, whilst finding herself suddenly thrust into a strange new situation as she's taken to Epworth. Ngatai-Melbourne is cold to begin with, wanting little to nothing to do with the man who now essentially 'owns' her. However, as time passes and she heals, and learns that Munro is in fact a decent man there's a wonderful sense of adventure and hope that comes over her. She's eager to learn to speak 
English, and her joy at the idea of going to the Epworth town dance is incredibly sweet. It's through her that we also learn a lot about Māori culture, getting to follow her as she returns to her people.

A great deal of the culture and history of these people is given to us via the character of Charlotte (Jacqueline McKenzie), a settler who has been mostly shunned by her own people for having married a Māori man and having had a child with him. Charlotte is Munro's only translator to begin with, and the only person willing to help him with Rangimai when she's sick, and a decent friendship forms between the two of them. She's able to provide Munro, and us the audience, with important information. It would have been easy to make her character quite flat and one-dimensional, but McKenzie injects a lot of heart and pathos into her. 

One of the stand out's for the film is Lawrence Makoare as the cruel Akatarewa. We meet two Māori chiefs over the course of the film, and whilst one is fairly kindly, willing to listen to reason, and seemingly quite benevolent, Akatarewa is quick to anger and violence. Makoare creates a character that you not only absolutely hate, but feel incredibly justified in doing so. He's a man revelling in his cruelty, who mocks the people at his mercy, and who wants to be seen as the biggest, badest chief around no matter how many people he slaughters to get there. It feels like Makoare is having a lot of fun with the character, and is enjoying playing the villain, and it really adds to the sneering, cruel quality of the character. 

As well as a fantastic cast, the film looks fantastic. The landscape of Aotearoa is put on beautiful display, from lush and gorgeous forests that stretch on for miles, to the fierce coastline that ranges from beautiful coves to windswept expanses of sand. We don't explore the nation a great deal, focusing instead on one small area, but from what we do see the beauty and danger of the land is portrayed wonderfully, and it very much feels like Aotearoa is a land that both challenges and rewards those that call it home. Some of the best looking parts of the film come in the latter half, when we visit Rangimai's home, and get to see how her people live. The settlement is gorgeous, with stunning wooden carvings decorating the gateway inside, as well as the buildings. These are mostly background details, but I kept finding my eye drawn to them whenever they were on screen, hungrily absorbing as much of the beauty of Māori art as possible.

The Convert is a film that would have been very different a few decades ago, where it would have played into the white saviour historical trope that we saw in films like Dances with Wolves, a trope that still continues on today even in fictional settings, with recent movies like Dune, and Avatar playing into this. Instead, The Convert feels like the opposite, it's a white man who's trying to exert his views and his will onto these people because he thinks it'll help them, but in the end ultimately fails. Instead, he's the one who has to learn, who has to see things from a different perspective. The Convert is an apt title because of this, and a film that I think deserves a great deal of attention.

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Interview with the Vampire Season 2 - Blu-ray Review

 

Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire is a global phenomena, and was even before the new television adaptation came into being. The book, which spawned a dozen other entries in what would become The Vampire Chronicles series was such a success that it inspired numerous other creators in the genre, and helped to propel the popularity of fan fiction (despite her turbulent relationship with it. I, like many other fans of the genre my age, watched the film adaptation at a young age, and it helped spawn a love of the gothic vampire genre. Because of this, when I heard that the series was being adapted to television is was excited to see what might become of this sprawling epic. However, it was a series that I had not yet found the time to watch due to other commitments, and my household watching some other shows. 

It wasn't until I was offered a review copy of the Blu-ray release of the second season that I found myself committing to actually sit down and watching the show. I turned on my television, found the first season of streaming, and fired it up. And was instantly hooked. Everything that I liked about the genre was here in spades, and the story that I remember from the film was fleshed out in fantastic ways, expanded and changed, with certain elements such as the timeline being changed and characters being altered slightly in such a way that the heart of the story remained, but was offered to me in a fresh and exciting new manner that (in a possibly contentious statement) I think I like more than the original version. I, much like a hungry fledgling vampire, devoured one episode after another, wanting more each and every time as I was sucked into this narrative, and before I knew it, I was onto the second season, and the reason for this review.

Season two opens big, with the story of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) and his companion Claudia (Delainey Hayles - replacing the previous season's Bailey Bass) having fled the United States after the murder of their sire, and Louis' abusive lover, Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid). Claudia, who in the previous season had delved into the history of the vampire in a desire to learn more about her origin, and wanting to find some decent vampires, drives the two of them across the ocean to Europe to search out others of their kind. However, this is the 1940's, and World War II rages on. We follow the two of them through the ruins of Europe, as they move from ancient castle to ancient castle, searching out signs of other vampires. Sleeping in pits during the day, feeding on wounded soldiers and Nazi's by night, the two of them have begun a life of misery. 

After some time searching for answers, answers that almost push Claudia to breaking point, the two of them find themselves in Paris following the conclusion of the war. Having heard much about the city from their maker, Lestat, they hope to find some peace and contentment, and hopefully a vampire or two. Thus begins the main thrust of the season, as Louis and Claudia discover a coven of vampires that have made Paris their home for centuries, and must try to figure out their place in the world that they've stumbled upon. And, just like with the first season, all of this is framed by our current time, where journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) interviews Louis and his immortal lover Armand (Assad Zaman).

The second season of Interview with the Vampire has a lot of heavy lifting to do. Much of the praise of the first season was laid at the feet of the central relationship between Louis and Lestat, and the chemistry the lead actors had. Indeed, it's hard to deny that their abusive, tragic love story was one of the main draws for that initial season, and even if you came away from the show not liking those aspects I think it'd be impossible to deny that Anderson and Reid gave anything less than one hundred percent in every scene. With Lestat gone from the narrative the show would have to focus instead on the relationship between Louis and Claudia, and the recasting of Claudia could make or break the season. 

Bailey Bass was amazing in the first season, and had tons of infectious energy that made it impossible to hate the character of Claudia. She brought youthfulness to the role, portraying the child made into a killer in a way that was incredibly believable. Hayles, in contrast plays the character quite differently. This is a Claudia much changed from the girl who was made into a vampire at 14. An adult in mind, and hardened by her experiences, Hayles brings a mature, almost world weary energy to Claudia in the opening episode of the season, and you very quickly forget that this is a different actress in the role. Changing a lead character, especially one much of the season pivots on, is never easy, but Interview with the Vampire makes it seem almost effortless. As soon as Claudia crawls her way out of the ground, dressed like a refugee of war, smeared in dirt and blood, Hayles makes the character her own with a depth and sense of sorrow that she will carry for the rest of the season.

One of the biggest departures for the show is the huge shift in locations. The first season was set almost exclusively in New Orleans, and the location felt almost comfortable, and whilst we could watch times change around our immortal characters the character of the city melded into the background somewhat towards the end. The change to Europe offers something very different, and the opening episode makes for a dramatic change. The ruins of Europe are dark, almost nightmarish, and a huge departure from the warm lights and comforts of the first season. It's following our characters at their lowest, and the visuals reflect that in some beautifully grim locations and costuming.

It's the relocation to Paris where the season comes into its own. It brings a fresh sense of life into the characters and the narrative following the dour opening. There's a renewed sense of hope in Louis and Claudia, something that only increases when they discover a coven of vampires hiding out in the open as part of the Théâtre des Vampires, where the coven 'pretend' to be vampires to a paying audience. Everything about Paris looks gorgeous, from the small cafes and bars that Louis spends his nights in, people watching, to the monuments and iconic places we visit with them, to the old and somewhat rundown theatre the coven call home. Paris almost becomes a character, one that informs the look and feel of the season and changes Louis and Claudia.

Assad Zaman is promoted somewhat this season thanks to the reveal in the final episode of the first season that he was not the human servant of Louis in the present day, but instead an even older vampire, one able to walk in the sun. Paris is the place where Louis would first meet Armand, where the two of them would fall in love, and so he enters the interview alongside his companion. Zaman is a wonderful addition to the story, and the small trick that the show played with him in the first season makes the viewer want to learn so much more about him here. His relationship with Louis becomes a big part of the second season, and acts as a nice counter to Louis' previous lover. We're given the chance to watch Louis learn to move on, to leave the trauma and the love of his past behind him and embrace a new chapter of his story with Armand, even if he's unsure if that's something that he wants to begin with. It's a very different energy to Louis and Lestat, and it brings something new to the series that I think fans will really love seeing.

Speaking of Lestat, despite his 'death' at the end of the last season this doesn't mean that the show is done with the phenomenal Sam Reid just yet, as the guilt that Louis carries with him manifests in the world around him. Louis sees Lestat wherever he goes, haunted by the man he both loves and hates. This allows for Reid to stay in the series, and for him to approach the character from a different angle. This isn't Lestat, it's Louis' mind playing Lestat, and as such this version of the character does feel somewhat different, a lesser version of him. This doesn't mean that Reid isn't playing him as well, in fact it means he's got a more difficult performance as you start to see parts of Louis coming through this fake Lestat here and there. Reid does this fantastically, and at times it's incredibly subtle, and you can miss it if you're not looking for it, but it allows the character to be used in some interesting scenarios the show hasn't done before, and leads to some truly beautiful and haunting scenes.

Much like with season one, the second season does a lot of new things with the story, and it's very much making Rice's novel it's own thing. This is not a criticism, and if anything I found myself more invested in it because of this. A large part of this is thanks to the knowledge I had of the story beats, mainly learned from the film adaptation. This made certain aspects of the story all the more exciting for me. I remembered what happens with the vampire coven, I remember where this chapter in Louis' story leads, and I found myself unable to stop watching because I was desperate to find out if that's where the series would go, or if they could avert those events with their new interpretation. 

Alongside the episodes, the Blu-ray offers some behind the scenes extras. Each episode comes with a small five to ten minute behind the scenes that shows some of the making of, and features interviews with the cast and crew. There's also a two minute blooper reel, and a 45 minute larger behind the scenes piece that contains more than the shorts, but does also feature some of the moments from them in it. Perhaps it's the length of most of the extras, or the fact that each of them ends with a 'stream now on AMC' screen at the end, but it comes across feeling like most of these extra features have been collected from social media promotional material and thrown onto the disc. I would have loved more, and something like episode commentaries with cast and crew would have been amazing; sadly, outside of the episodes the discs do feel a little barebones. 

Interview with the Vampire was a show that I was wanting to watch, but wasn't sure when I was going to get round to it, and it ended up as a show that I binged two seasons of in a week and am excitedly waiting for the third season of. I found every single episode to be some of the best made, best written, and stunningly acted episodes of TV that I've seen in a long time. The series will appeal to fans of the source material thanks to the creative chances it takes, with the changes it introduces, and the new vision the showrunners are crafting. And new fans are going to be sucked in by how absolutely amazing each and every episode is. The show feels like a masterclass in how to adapt books, and I hope that this show ends up becoming one that people talk about in the highest regards, because it absolutely deserves it.

Interview with the Vampire Season Two Blu-ray, and the Season One & Two boxset, are released on 7th October 2024.

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Things Will Be Different - Film Review

 

There's a lot of things that you can do with time travel, a lot of tricks to the genre, rules that are never consistent, and interpretations of the science that no two stories ever really feel the same, often within the same franchise (Doctor Who rewrites the rules ever few years it seems). But despite this, it can sometimes feel that people never really take any big leaps with the concept, that there's not really a new idea that feels like it's giving you something fresh and captivating. Fortunately, Things Will Be Different, the debut feature from writer/director Michael Felker, might be one of the more intriguing entries in the time travel genre in decades.

The film follows brother and sister Joseph (Adam David Thompson) and Sidney (Riley Dandy), who have come together to pull off a robbery. We never learn what their crime entailed, other than Sidney ran out without her bag of cash and Joseph managed to rescue it, but it's clear that neither of them are professional criminals, and that this was more a crime of both opportunity and desperation. They just need one big score to help them out in life. But, not being hardened career criminals how do they expect to hide out from the law? Well, Joseph has a pretty unique safehouse. 

Having been given a journal by one of the regulars in the bar he works at, Joseph has a series of instructions that lead the siblings to a remote farmhouse that promises to get them away from the long arm of the law. Inside the farmhouse they follow the book's instructions, and moving the hands on a couple of clocks in a specific order, open a locked door. The door take the two of them to an impossibly large space, where they put a code into an old rotary phone, speak a Latin code phrase, and hang up. Stepping out of the closet they walked into, they're transported to a version of the farmhouse outside of time. 

The farmhouse provides them with food, drink, and booze, along with a few pieces of entertainment like a CD player, and an old TV and VHS. Now all the two of them need to do is wait there for two weeks, as that same time passes back in the real world, allowing for them to escape the ensuing police hunt. However, when they try to return home they find the way back barred, and instructions waiting for them. Now they're caught up in a huge plot, one that shows that the house outside of time is merely the tip of the iceberg, and that if either of them ever want to get back to the real world they're going to have to play along with their unseen masters. 

Things Will Be Different does not give the audience many answers, and you're going to come away with questions. So, if that's not the kind of thing that you usually enjoy this might not be for you; but for fans of things such as The X-Files, Twin Peaks, or the Remedy video games such as Control or Alan Wake, this is going to be right up your alley. And I'm squarely in that second camp. Felker has a very strong idea of the kind of story that they want to tell, and it's one of mystery and character interaction first and foremost.

Much of the film is dedicated to our lead characters, and there are large parts of the early part of the film, before their plan derails, where we're treated to interesting conversations between the two of them. Their story feels pretty decent, with their less than perfect relationship having a lot of truth to it, and played in such a way that you feel a lot of empathy and care for the two of them. It's clear that Joseph has guilt for his past actions, and Sidney cares a great deal about her young daughter and is willing to do anything to get back to her. There's very real chemistry between the two of them, and the sibling relationship feels very believable; the times where they're laughing and having fun, and the times when they're screaming at each other. 

But the film isn't just a character study of two people trapped in a single remote location. This is a sci-fi story. The way that the film handles time travel is done very well, and the use of different places operating on different time in order to communicate with each other, or send the other items to help them is something that I can't really remember having seen a film do before. There are certain elements to the film, such as watching the characters figuring out how to communicate with those that control the farmhouse, and things suddenly changing around them, that feel more like a puzzle game than a movie. You can see the characters beginning to understand things, connecting the dots, and it reminds me of the way you'd progress a video game forward. 

I mentioned the game Control earlier in the review, and there were a number of times when watching that this kept popping into my head. The strange science, the mystery organisation, the vintage tech, it makes me think of that universe. And even some of the writing made me think of that too, where you're given half truths, small reveals, and simply have to go along with things and you try and fit what you've just learned into the puzzle you've been building in your mind. I don't know if Felker is a fan of Sam Lake's work, if any of that art inspired this story, but with Lake being one of my favourite creatives my comparison to him is absolutely a badge of honour on my part.

Things Will Be Different sits at an hour and forty minutes in length, and the entire movie flew by for me. Considering how much is squeezed into the film I was surprised at how quickly I reached the end. It felt like what I'd seen was barely scratching the surface, and that there was much more that could have been done. I won't go into specifics so as not to ruin the ending, but it becomes clear at a certain point that there is a lot more in this story that we don't see, and that if we were to see everything this would be a multi-season television series instead of a film, and part of me really wanted that. I wish I could have spent more time here, that I could have learned more about this world and its mysteries. Unfortunately, there is only so much a single film can cover, and I'm happy to end craving more. Like I said, coming away with a load of questions might not be everyone's favourite kind of film experience, but I'm going to be more than happy thinking about this film for weeks to come. 

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