A24
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Animal Collective, David Lynch and the Marines: Elegance Bratton on The Inspection
While it’s been 35 years since the release of Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick’s U.S. Marines drama that featured R. Lee Ermey showering young male recruits with derogatory four-letter words, numerous films have sought to further emphasize the dehumanizing nature of military training bootcamps. At first glance, it might appear that The Inspection, writer-director Elegance Bratton’s narrative feature debut, fits comfortably within those expectations. Set in the early 2000s, the film opens as Ellis French (Jeremy Pope) has been kicked out of his mother’s (Gabrielle Union) apartment for being gay and finds himself at a homeless shelter in New Jersey. […]
by Erik Luers on Nov 18, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale
The first trailer has arrived for Darren Aronofsky‘s dark drama The Whale, which stars Brendan Fraser in a highly-anticipated comeback role for the actor. The film had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September before screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival. A24 will distribute the film stateside. Based on the 2012 play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter (who wrote the screenplay), The Whale follows a 600-pound man named Charlie (Fraser), a reclusive former English teacher who attempts to re-connect with his estranged 17-year-old daughter (Sadie Sink). Hong Chau […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 8, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter
One year after releasing The Souvenir: Part II, the final chapter of her meditative meta-memoir project, British filmmaker Joanna Hogg returns with her sixth feature film, The Eternal Daughter. The mysterious and captivating trailer for the forthcoming A24 title was released today. The film stars Tilda Swinton, one of Hogg’s Souvenir collaborators, who occupies an intriguing dual role as an artist and her elderly mother who spend some time visiting an old family property. Though it used to be a sprawling mansion, it now exists as a modestly-sized hotel that the duo check into for an extended stay. While the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 1, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun
The trailer has arrived for Aftersun, the feature debut from Scottish writer/director (and former 25 New Faces of Film) Charlotte Wells. The film chronicles the relationship between a doting father and his pre-teen daughter, specifically through the lens of a formative vacation they took to a resort in Turkey. After premiering at this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week to much acclaim, Aftersun was selected for further festival programming at Telluride, TIFF and will now screen at the 60th New York Film Festival. The film’s official synopsis reads: At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Sep 27, 2022 -
“Emotional Heartbreak Can Be Dangerous”: Ti West on His Technicolor X Prequel Pearl
Pearl, Ti West’s prequel to the 70s slasher-inspired X, is a far more claustrophobic study of psychological ruin and bodily decay than it is a gory exercise in picking off victims one by one. Unburdened by the heavy prosthetics and dual role that defined her performance in X, star and co-writer Mia Goth, that film’s de facto villain, gives a gloriously unsettling performance as the now titular character depicted during her early 20s in 1918. Pearl lives under the domineering thumb of her German mother Ruth (Tandi Wright), cares for her Spanish flu-stricken father (Matthew Sunderland) and desperately yearns for […]
by Natalia Keogan on Sep 16, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Lukas Dhont’s Close
A24 has released a trailer for Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s second feature, the melancholy coming of age story Close. The film won the Grand Prix (shared with Claire Denis‘s Stars at Noon) at Cannes, four years after Dhont’s debut feature Girl won the Caméra d’Or and Queer Palm in 2018. Close follows two 13-year-old best friends, Léo and Rémi (Eden Dambrine and Gustav de Waele) who spent an idyllic summer strengthening their unique bond. When they arrive back at school, however, the two are harassed by classmates over the nature of their relationship. Embarrassed by these insults and accusations, Léo […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Sep 7, 2022 -
Magic, Misdirection and the Amazing Kreskin: Michael Bilandic and Owen Kline on Funny Pages
Director Owen Kline texted me recently to let me know he was in my neighborhood, so we linked up in Washington Square Park to see what was good. He’d just gotten back from Cannes where his debut feature, Funny Pages, was a smash hit. I was excited to hear some glamorous, and hopefully debaucherous, tales from the Croisette. Instead, the very first words out of his mouth were, “Pick a number between between one and a thousand. And don’t tell me what it is!” He looked me dead in the eyes, on some mentalist shit, scribbled furiously on a clipboard for […]
by Michael Bilandic on Aug 25, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection
A24 has released a trailer for The Inspection, the narrative feature debut from writer/director Elegance Bratton. However, this isn’t a total departure for the filmmaker, who previously directed the 2019 documentary Pier Kids about queer homeless youth in NYC. Similarly rooted in non-fiction, the story behind The Inspection is one taken from the Bratton’s lived experience as a gay man who enlisted in the military during the aughts. The film follows a fictional version of Bratton named Ellis French (Pose‘s Jeremy Pope), a young gay man who enlists in the Marines during the height of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell […]
by Natalia Keogan on Aug 23, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Ti West’s Pearl
Watch the trailer for Pearl, the second film from director Ti West to be released this year. Back in March, we got the ’70s slasher throwback X, and Pearl is a prequel that charts the origin story of X‘s geriatric killer. Mia Goth, who co-wrote the screenplay with West, stars as the titular character during her young womanhood. While filming X, Goth portrayed both the film’s final girl and crazed killer. It appears she sheds the extensive prosthetics and dual performance in Pearl. The film will be released in theaters by A24 on September 16.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jul 26, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Owen Kline’s Funny Pages
Watch the trailer for Funny Pages, the feature debut from writer/director Owen Kline. The film follows a young cartoonist (Daniel Zolghadri) whose artistic aspirations go against the conformist sensibilities of his suburban surroundings. Produced by Josh and Benny Safdie, the film will be released by A24 in select theaters and on demand on August 26.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jul 20, 2022
