Krisha

(50th KVIFF) The surprise of the festival for me. A film that, based on the notes, didn’t look particularly enticing (another indie drama about a mother trying to rebuild the relationship with her son, I thought) and I added it to the schedule only as a possible filler in case of a long wait between more interesting movies. But Shults’s feature début took my breath away. The Jury Grand Prize and the Audience Award at SXSW are neither an accident nor a mistake. A film so formally disarming, so vibrant and full of kinetic energy is not something you see every day in dramas. It has an engaging score that gets very loud at times, with an editing that intentionally, rather than rationally, alternates between several synchronous and diachronic events, and a camera that performs energetic approaches, zooms, and turns. Everything reflects with precision the temperament, mood, fidgetiness and thoughts of the protagonist, Krisha, a quirky and emotionally unstable, sixty year-old woman who really wants to have a second chance, but is afraid to ruin it, and it’s that very fear that actually increases the risk of ruining it. Formally, really one of the most intoxicating films I've seen (not only) this year. It’s a pity that this exceptional work was hidden in the Another View section and in smaller theatres. If this was made by a rookie, with only friends and family as actors, hats off. I can’t wait to see what Shults will come up with next. And it seems that in his next film, It Comes at Night he’ll have a go at horror. 85 % (11.07.2015)