#Middlebury #DVDs
“A Vigilante” (R) – Sadie (Olivia Wilde) is a domestic abuse survivor whose preferred method of therapy is revenge, a service she doles out for the similarly situated women and children she meets. Her abuser remains free, and as she consolidates her resolve, she tracks him down for her own kill-shot of closure. It would be easy to have made this strictly a revenge fantasy – Sadie is broken, but also strong and real. The vengeance she exacts is satisfying. While Wilde balances her vigilante with glimpses into the battered victim beneath, director Sarah Daggar-Nickson shares a holistic focus that goes beyond the rage.
Isabella Huppert, Chloe Grace Moretz in “Greta” (Focus Features photo)
“Greta” (R) – A handbag that’s been left on a subway is returned by a good Samaritan to Greta (Isabella Huppert), a grateful but lonely piano teacher. The do-gooder, Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz), has recently lost her mother, and Greta strikes up a friendship with the young woman. But it turns out Greta is a crazy stalker, and Frances fights to break up with her … then things get weird. This is a psychological thriller with moments of demented levity, but it also contains gaping, level-9 plot holes that had me rolling my eyes and adding my own commentary. It sure was fun to watch Huppert’s crazy lady antics, though. And I enjoyed Maika Monroe in the role of Frances’ roommate Erika.
“Lords of Chaos” (R) – In a story that’s as dark as the music it chronicles, Rory Culkin stars as Euronymous, self-appointed founder of True Norwegian Black Metal and spawner of the band Mayhem in mid-1980s Oslo. The film follows the black metal doctrine and its adherents that form a loose group based out of Euronymous’ music den/record store named Helvete (Hell). In a space where dark influences are magnified, youthful nihilism can be counted on to breed true chaos. When fan-turned-band-member Varg (Emory Cohen) ups the ante in a power struggle with Euronymous, church burnings, suicide and murder result. Based on real events and starring a trio of celebrity sons and siblings including Jack Kilmer and Valter Skarsgard in addition to Culkin, it’s absolutely not for the kids.
“Climax” (R) – Director Gaspar Noe’s fantasy dance drama centers around a group of dancers gathered at an old school-building to rehearse a complicated and arresting routine. The evening sees a successful rehearsal and filming, so they celebrate with copious libations, including an unbeknownst-to-the-partakers LSD-laced sangria. As the night wears on, the hallucinogenic performers degenerate into dramatics, hedonism and criminal destruction. I’d say it “stars” Sofia Boutella, but that’s simply because she is the only actress among a troupe of professional dancers, and unfortunately it shows. Although if you’re a fan of modern dance, hysteria, violent orgy scenes and trippy cinematography, you are in the very select target audience.
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© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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