Beautiful Criminals

Art returns to crime genre with Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Film as a commercial medium, especially in the modern film world, can overshadow film as an art form. With big money and big stars comes big expectations, so there are times that filmmakers have to make compromises to their visions in order to make something that will appeal to a large number of people.

It’s not often that an independent filmmaker like Dallas writer/director David Lowery can secure a starry cast and remain true to himself, but Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is one of those rare situations. It follows Bob and Ruth (Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara), two Texas outlaws separated when Bob takes the fall for their crime spree. It then becomes Bob’s sole mission to somehow make it back to Ruth, no matter what obstacle lies in his way.

The film is one where not much seems to happen even though there’s a lot going on.

That sounds like the plot to a crackerjack thriller, but Lowery is not interested in telling that kind of story. Taking inspiration from movies like Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Bonnie and Clyde, Saints contains the essence of those films but leaves the crime part almost completely out.

Instead, the film, in Lowery’s words, luxuriates in the aftermath of the crime, seeing how the separation affects Bob, Ruth and others in town. That includes Skerritt (Keith Carradine), the father of an accomplice, and Patrick (Ben Foster), a policeman involved in a shootout with them who does a poor job at hiding his affection for Ruth.

Consequently, the film is one where not much seems to happen even though there’s a lot going on. Lowery takes his time, teasing out the inevitable Bob and Ruth reunion for as long as possible. You come to understand that Lowery is more interested in setting an overall mood for the film — arty and somber — than delivering moments you normally expect in the crime/western genre.

This type of filmmaking is not for everybody, and even those who proclaim to like it may find the goings to be a bit slow. But the benefit of it is that every main actor gets to showcase his or her skills. You may not understand why Lowery takes so damn long to get the point, but at least you can appreciate his wisdom in choosing the actors he did.

The film is also one of the more beautiful ones you’re likely to see this year. Lowery and cinematographer Bradford Young have a knack for using light and shadows in such a way that they speak volumes for a particular scene, even when little is being said.

So, yes, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is more art than commerce, but by touching on the familiar themes of previous like-minded films, it still gives more than enough for the average movie-goer to enjoy.

Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck play outlaw lovers in Ain't Them Bodies Saints.

Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck in Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Photo courtesy of IFC Films

Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck play outlaw lovers in Ain't Them Bodies Saints.

Movie Review

Faces of Death returns with modern twist on cult horror film

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death

Photo courtesy of of IFC Films

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death.

True horror fans will likely be familiar with the 1978 cult film Faces of Death, which purported to be a documentary showing real-life killings in gory detail. It didn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop rumors from continuing to spread for decades. Now, almost 50 years and multiple sequels later, comes a new version of Faces of Death, an actual movie that pays homage to the original in interesting ways.

Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works at a YouTube-like company called Kino as a content moderator, flagging videos that violate the company’s policies. This means her job often involves seeing some truly despicable things from all manner of depraved people. One day, though, she comes across a video that seems a little too real, and after seeing more similar videos, she starts to believe they’re genuine murders.

Going against her company NDA, she starts to investigate the videos on her own, which puts her on the radar of Arthur (Dacre Montgomery), who is actually kidnapping people and killing them on camera through methods seen in the original Faces of Death film. It’s not long before Arthur tracks her down, with a plan to make her one of his next victims.

Written and directed by Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) and co-written by Isa Mazzei, the film is not so much scary as it is creepy, with the occasional gross-out sequence. The idea of having someone emulate the killings in the cult film is a good idea, and pairing it with the modern-day attention economy - in which content creators go to increasing lengths for clicks - is a clever twist on a concept that other films have done.

The film as a whole is a commentary on how social media and video sharing sites have often decided to prioritize profits over the well-being of their users. Margot is shown allowing videos involving violence and sexual assault to stay on the site while nixing ones depicting how to use Narcan or demonstrating putting on a condom on a banana. Josh (Jermaine Fowler), Margot’s boss, is even explicit in the company mandate that outrageous videos drive views.

While Arthur has the makings of a good villain, there are few attempts to make him seem truly diabolical. His kidnappings often seem more spur-of-the-moment than calculated, and even though he has a well thought-out dungeon at home, the house’s location in the suburbs seems to make him vulnerable to easy discovery. Goldhaber and Mazzei leave more than a few unanswered questions along the way that take away from the intensity of the story.

Ferreira is yet another actor from Euphoria who’s capitalizing on her exposure from that show. She plays Margot’s increasing anxiety well, and when the action ratchets up in the final act, she meets the moment in a satisfying way. Montgomery returns to the vibe he had while playing the evil Billy on Stranger Things, and even though his character doesn’t fully live up to his potential, Montgomery sells his evil for all it’s worth.

The new Faces of Death may not be what some are expecting given the reputation of the previous films, but it’s a solid horror/thriller that uses the brand as a launching pad into something different. It doesn’t make much of a dent in the scare department, but it does give its violence and gore a degree of relevance in today’s often desensitized world.

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Faces of Death is now playing in theaters.

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