KRISHA (2015)

10/14/2016 - Krisha (2015) - 8-/10

Amazing film and one of the best inaugural filmmaker efforts I have seen since Jeff Nichols, Denis Villeneuve, Jeremy Sualnier, or Steve McQueen. A marvelous mixture of emotions, smartly put together and driven home by a blockbuster performance by Krisha Fairchild.

So tightly woven, with laughs, uncomfortableness, empathy, a horror like dread. A facsimile of true human emotional range and a relatable family setting. Extremely well done for a master director, let alone a newbie.

This narrative is myopic in scope, but the extreme fixation on the namesake character’s mindset/point of view only sinks us into her troubled mind. Wonderful job of emersion into her distressed life, evoking our empathy but also disturbing us as we see her crumble. This is definitely reminiscent of “A Woman Under the Influence”; perhaps a “lite” version.

This is not a perfect film. It still needed a little polish, some of the supporting talent was not up to snuff, and it could have used a tad more depth. That said, I loved this film. One of my favorites of the year. Spectacular film-making in a fundamentally studious and intense manner. It was personal and showed that with talent and gusto, a great film can be made without all the cash, bells & whistles. I am very excited to see what Trey Edward Shults does next.