The
Midnight Swim (2014/Candy Factory DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: D Film: B
Sarah
Adina Smith's The Midnight Swim (2014) is an interesting piece
on feminine loss and is equal parts surreal and experimental. In
addition, this is the best use of POV/found footage-style filmmaking
I've seen in quite a while. Smith's style here is inspired by David
Lynch and Terrence Malick in that its style is both creepy and
realistic - not spelling anything out for the audience but letting
their own imaginations take form.
Three
Sisters, June, Annie and Isla (Palladino, Burdge, Lafleur) reunite
when their mother disappears in her lake-side home off of Spirit
Lake. June decides to document the trip on camera which documents
the three sisters seeing each other in quite a while, stepping into
the shoes of their deceased mother, and trying to decide what to do
with this property. Dead birds start showing up, footage strangely
gets recorded that nobody shot, behaviors start to change and a pull
towards the lake seems to be irresistible to June - who even goes out
when everyone is sleeping for a swim. The last act of the film
leaves a lot up to interpretation and the ending comes out of
nowhere, which will madden some but I found it to be pretty clever.
There are many ways this movie could go and it never really takes the
safe route.
From
a filmmaking standpoint, I would say that this is quite an
accomplishment - this low budget movie looks and sounds like it costs
millions of dollars with breathtaking cinematography and editing,
though I'm betting it didn't cost much under a million to produce.
With no big name actors, it's astonishing how the film feels organic
and natural throughout with breakout performances by Aleksa
Palladino, Lindsay Burdge, and Jennifer Lafleur. I totally bought
that these girls are related and have a long history with one another
- which shows that the Director got the performances out of them that
she needed. There's also a cameo by Donnie Darko (and highly
recognized character actress) Beth Grant, plus an interesting
performance by Ross Partridge as well. A winner of several film
festivals and a critical hit, The Midnight Swim isn't a horror
movie or a thriller... but something in-between.
Presented
in standard definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the
film looks and sounds fine for the DVD format. Seeing that the film
is mainly meant to be a documented experience, the absence of high
definition in this particular release isn't too maddening, though it
would benefit to pick up some extra details. The sound mix is a
standard, lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track, that also sounds fine for
the format.
Aside
from the awesome slipcase packaging and cryptic menu, the disc has no
extra features.
If
you're looking for off-beat and cerebral, then I would give this disc
a spin.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
