OBSERVER: Rourke’s Reviews
The Call
(MA). 111 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix.
It’s not often that a remake improves on its original source, but The Call does just that, reformatting the material to entertaining, full-blooded effect.
Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) returns home to see her mother (Kim Sung-ryoung), who is in hospital suffering from a brain tumour. Having lost her mobile phone on during the trip back, Seo-yeon pulls out an old landline phone to use in the meantime, but when a terrified young woman by the name of Young-sook (Jun Jong-seo) calls one night saying her stepmother is trying to kill her, it’s a connection that will lead the two down a unique, but dangerous, path.
Though the specific plotting is different, the narrative arc of both films is generally the same, but where the 2011 version, The Caller (**), failed to capitalise on what is a terrific premise (due to clumsy writing, dull direction and poor performances), the 2020 incarnation is a much smarter beast, pushing both set-up and possibilities to the absolute limit.
The first half in particular is ingeniously plotted, and although it stumbles a little by allowing the race-against-the-clock aspect to overshadow the intricate plot turns in the second, there is still plenty to admire and enjoy (imagine a darker mix of the romantic mega-hit Il Mare (2000) and The Phone (2015)).
Debutant writer/director Lee Chung-hyun shows incredible confidence and skill in executing this tale, especially when it all could have easily fallen on its face early on. Lee is also backed up by a first-rate technical crew.
The performances by both Park (#Alive) and Jun (Burning) are superb, and without their sterling work, the film wouldn’t have gripped as much as it does.
Where the original film-makers seemed afraid to fully explore the unusual premise they had concocted, those at the helm of this remake on the other hand have been fully prepared to cut loose, resulting in a clever, top-shelf thriller that should keep viewers on the edge of their seat.
RATING – ****
Petite Maman
(PG). 74 minutes. Now available on DVD.
Using every second of its compact running time to beautiful effect, this gentle but moving drama delicately details the loss of a family member, but seen through the eyes of a young child, who deals with that loss in a way. The movie opens with Nelly (Josephine Sanz) saying goodbye to a number of elderly residents at an aged care centre, whose rooms were located near her late grandmother’s. Travelling with her mother, Marion (Nina Meurisse), while her father (Stephane Varupenne) drives in a separate vehicle towing a storage trailer, the family make their way to Marion’s childhood home in the country, where she can go through everything and decide what to keep.
As the two adults go through this process, Nelly explores the woods Marion did as a child, and discovers a fort her mother made, but also meets another young girl who must live in the area (Gabrielle Sanz). The girl introduces herself as Marion, and invites Nelly back to her home, but when that home is the same one she had left earlier, the term ‘time travel’ comes to mind.
Writer/director Celine Sciamma (Portrait Of A Lady On Fire) delivers a wholly engaging effort, which quietly works its way to a satisfying, heartwarming conclusion, never once wallowing in cheap sentiment or nostalgia.
Sciamma brilliantly looks at how a major family tragedy can open the mind of a child, becoming aware of not only what the loss means, but also the detailed stitching that connects past, present and future. The time travel scenario is a clever set-up to examine what makes a family history, and how mindsets, ambitions, and personal behaviour is influenced from one generation to the next. The two girls are exceptional, while the adult performers offer fine support. Petite Maman is a magnificently sweet film, filled with moments of insight and genuine tenderness, and is definitely must-see viewing.
RATING – ****½
The Platform
(R). 94 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix.
Highly relevant and depressing in equal measure, this unexpectedly visceral thriller provides much food for thought, as it largely presents humanity at its absolute worst, while that small sliver of hope has to fight long and hard to make an impact. Set in the near future, the story takes place in a uniquely designed underground prison, where the cells are placed one on top of the other, descending hundreds of floors.
Each cell contains two prisoners, and in the centre is a rectangle-shaped hole, where a platform is lowered from floor to floor.
The sequel, also available on Netflix, is worth watching, but doesn’t match the original.
RATING – ****
Aaron Rourke