Weekend Watch: Amulet And The Rental
Actors turned directors unleash hell in different ways
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, two films by actors making their full-length debut behind the camera.
If you were to list actors who would make their feature-length directing debut with gruesome, contained, searing and surreal body horror, Romola Garai probably wouldn’t make the cut. Which makes Amulet all the more surprising, and welcome for it. Citing films such as The Babadook and the work of David Cronenberg as influences (the claustrophobia of the former and the gloopy deconstruction of human nature and bodies from the latter certainly shine through), Garai has more on her mind than simple gore.
Amulet is the story of Tomaz (God’s Own Country’s Alec Secareanu, a soldier stationed in an unknown European forest in the middle of a conflict we never see nor are particularly concerned with. In one time period, he meets a young woman named Miriam (Angeliki Papoulia) and shelters her. In another, he’s older, a homeless refugee in London working odd jobs and haunted by something. Part of that has to do with a strange figurine he digs up in the forest back in the past and part… Well, that would be telling. Forced from his squalid shared digs by an arson attack, he’s granted sanctuary by Sister Claire (the always impressive Imelda Staunton), who offers him a place to stay with Magda (Carla Juri, at first all barely suppressed nerves and aching to live a more normal life) in exchange for maintenance around the house. Magda, you see, is caring for her elderly, sick mother, whose banshee wails of pain echo through the house. But this is a horror movie, so you know that’s not the end of the story.
The film might have a man as its putative lead, but Amulet is much more about women, and how they’re treated, how they react and how they process. The three women who drive the story – war-weary survivor, world-weary carer and charming religious type all represent different ideas of living as a woman in the world, and Garai is careful to shade them all in (Staunton’s role is much smaller than the others, but she has the veteran ability to make it work). Secareanu is also solid, experiencing the terror that Tomaz must go through as he starts to learn more about Magda’s creaking, rotten house.
Talking of the film’s primary location, Garai, in coordination with cinematographer Laura Bellingham and production designer Francesca Massariol, turns the house into a horror of its own, the camera swirling around the decaying walls and with long shots of grimy surfaces – it’s horror by way of Terence Malick. Adding to the unsettling feel is composer Sarah Angliss, who brings Norwegian Kulning to the score.
For fear of giving too much away, I won’t discuss the end in detail, save to bemoan the fact that it doesn’t quite live up to the rest of the film, heading into more predictable (yet bonkers) territory, and never quite wrapping up satisfactorily. Still, as a debut effort – not counting Garai’s short, Scrubber – this is still impressive and marks her out as one to watch.
Amulet is out now in limited release across the US and is available to rent from these sites. A UK release should be forthcoming.
The Rental is much more straightforward in its themes and storytelling. This one comes from Dave Franco, more normally found in comedies and cropping up in the movies made by his brother, James. Here, though, he has a chance to show what he can do, rounding up the likes of Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, Jeremy Allen White and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night’s Sheila Vand to star. The setup of the film is your basic two-couples drama. Stressed company man Charlie (Stevens) takes wife Michelle (Brie), slacker brother Josh (White) and his work partner Mina (Vand), who also happens to be dating Josh off for what he hopes will be a relaxing weekend at a beautiful cliffside house, booked online. There’s a little tension from the start, not least when Mina confronts the house’s manager Taylor (Tony Huss) about the fact that he denied her application to rent, and welcomed Charlie’s an hour later. Secrets between the couples start to surface, Josh’s dog goes missing, and things just get nastier from there.
Franco, writing (with indie veteran Joe Swanberg) as well as directing, is smart enough to let his cast breathe early on, establishing dynamics with shorthand before letting the thriller angle take over in this psychological thriller. If anything, it’s a little disappointing when the story switches from the group hanging out and making mistakes to the final act. How Franco and his collaborators choose to wrap things up feels rushed and a little sloppy. There’s not much that feels fresh about the plotting and while the cast all bring their various character types to life well, you rarely worry about them later in the film.
Should you rent this particular Rental? I’d say it could have benefitted from some extra construction work first, but if you’re in the mood, it’s worth it.
The Rental is out now in limited release in the US, and available to rent on these formats. A UK release date has yet to be announced.