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Glasgow Film Festival · 2020

Glasgow Film Festival 2020

Future Cult

Programme

15 films · 11 reviews

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5 Is The Perfect Number (5 E Il Numero Perfetto)

When a hitman's relative is ambushed and killed, it is the start of a war that will be marked in bloodshed, betrayal and dishonour.

(Country: Italy, Belgium, France; Year: 2019; Director: Igort; Writer: Igort; Stars: Toni Servillo, Valeria Golino, Carlo Buccirosso)

Blood Machines

Review preview for Blood Machines

Narratively slight but stylistically lush.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Two space hunters are tracking down a machine trying to free itself. After taking it down, they witness a mystical phenomenon: the ghost of a young woman pulls itself out of the machine, as if the spaceship had a soul.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Raphaël Hernandez, Savitri Joly-Gonfard; Writer: Raphaël Hernandez, Savitri Joly-Gonfard; Stars: Elisa Lasowski, Noémie Stevens, Joëlle Berckmans, Anders Heinrichsen)

Full review

Deerskin (Le Daim)

Review preview for Deerskin

The director proves a master of the tragicomic as he observes one man's slip from midlife crisis to madness by way of obsession.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Georges, 44, and his jacket, 100 per cent deerskin, have a plan.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Quentin Dupieux; Writer: Quentin Dupieux; Stars: Jean Dujardin, Adèle Haenel, Albert Delpy, Pierre Gommé, Laurent Nicolas, Coralie Russier, Stéphane Jobert, Franck Lebreton, Marie Bunel, Panayotis Pascot, Youssef Hajdi, Simon Thomas, Tom Hudson, Maryne Cayon, Thomas Blanchard)

Full review See: Quentin Dupieux in conversation on Deerksin

Ghostmaster (Gôsuto Masutâ, Ghost Master)

A frustrated film director unleashes a hellish, demonic spirit that possesses his lead actor. As crew members are picked off one by one in increasingly gory ways, he has to figure out how to stop the curse.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2019; Director: Paul Young; Writer: Ichirô Kusuno; Stars: Mizuki Itagaki, Takahiro Miura, Riko Narumi, Yuki Shibamoto)

James Vs His Future Self

Review preview for James Vs His Future Self

The comedic interplay between the two leads has that intimate quality like squabbling between family members.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Hyperactive nerd James is obsessed with making time-travel a reality. Then some old dude pops up urging him to ditch that dream and embrace a normal life.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Jeremy LaLonde; Writer: Jonas Chernick, Jeremy LaLonde,; Stars: Jonas Chernick, Daniel Stern, Cleopatra Coleman)

Full review

Jesus Shows You The Way To The Highway

Review preview for Jesus Shows You The Way To The Highway

Jesus Shows You The Way To The Highway reboots the genre by both using and subverting its conventions.

Jane Fae · 3.5 out of 5
Two CIA agents are tasked with the perilous mission of destroying the Soviet Union, but as they enter a VR simulation their mission turns into a delirious trap, with the fabric of reality unravelling around them

(Country: Spain, Estonia, Ethiopia; Year: 2019; Director: Miguel Llansó; Writer: Miguel Llansó; Stars: Agustín Mateo, Daniel Tadesse, Guillermo Llansó)

Full review

The Long Walk (Bor Mi Vanh Chark)

Upon witnessing a car accident that leaves a young woman dying in the woods near his rural home in Laos, a boy discovers that her spirit is destined to wander the road for eternity. Decades on, the boy remains haunted by past family traumas and seeks redemption with the aid of the spirit that he met all those years ago.

(Country: Laos; Year: 2019; Director: Mattie Do; Stars: Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy, Vilouna Phetmany, Por Silatsa)

Luz: The Flower Of Evil

Review preview for Luz: The Flower Of Evil

A work of such singular vision that it scarcely seems like the product of a team.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Widowed preacher and leader to a small mountain community, El Señor has preached to his followers that a new messiah will appear and shepherd them into a new era. His faith is absolute, regardless of how many false prophets he has to go through. But the faith of his three daughters is beginning to waver.

(Country: Colombia, Canada, US; Year: 2019; Director: Juan Diego Escobar Alzate; Writer: Juan Diego Escobar Alzate; Stars: Yuri Vargas, Jim Muñoz, Conrado Osorio)

Full review See: Interview with Juan Diego Escobar Alzate about Luz: The Flower Of Evil

Millenium Actress

A journey through the life and career of a reclusive former actress.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2002; Director: Satoshi Kon; Stars: Fumiko Orikasa, Shouzou Iizuka, Masaya Onosaka)

Nobadi

Review preview for Nobadi

Markovics intentionally pushes viewers out of their comfort zone.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A grumpy pensioner hires a migrant from Afghanistan to bury his dead dog.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2019; Director: Karl Markovics; Writer: Karl Markovics; Stars: Heinz Trixner, Borhanulddin Hassan Zadeh, Konstanze Dutzi, Maria Fliri, Simone Fuith, Edmund Jäger, Julia Schranz, Sven Sorring, Heinz Trixner, Borhanulddin Hassan Zadeh, Konstanze Dutzi, Maria Fliri, Simone Fuith, Edmund Jäger, Julia Schranz)

Full review

The Other Lamb

Review preview for The Other Lamb

The way ahead may be a little pre-destined but the director let's the tension drip through every beautifully shot moment by cinematographer Michal Englert - with the sort of imagery that could see her film achieve its own cult appeal.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A young girl begins to question her place in the religious community she was born into.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Malgorzata Szumowska; Writer: CS McMullen; Stars: Michiel Huisman, Raffey Cassidy, Denise Gough, Eve Connolly, Kelly Campbell, Isabelle Connolly, Ailbhe Cowley, Juliette Crosbie, Mallory Adams, Zara Devlin, David Fawaz, Michiel Huisman, Raffey Cassidy, Denise Gough, Eve Connolly)

Full review

Spookies

Review preview for Spookies

Some films only ever really work with an audience – in this case, preferably a drunken one.

Jennie Kermode · 1 out of 5
A sorcerer tries to sacrifice a group of people inside his house with the intention of using their vitality to revive his wife.

(Country: US, Netherlands; Year: 1986; Director: Eugenie Joseph, Brendan Faulkner, Thomas Doran; Writer: Thomas Duran, Ann Burgund; Stars: Felix Ward, Maria Pechukas, Dan Scot)

Full review

Tammy And The T-Rex

Review preview for Tammy And The T-Rex

Tightly paced and styled after the manner of a 1940s creature feature, this is a film peppered with bad jokes and innuendo yet played absolutely straight between its two leads.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
When Michael is mauled by some big cats at the local zoo, a mad scientist transplants his brain into a full-sized animatronic T-Rex! In order to be reunited with his high school sweetheart, Tammy, Michael will have to stomp and chew his way through all who stand against him.

(Country: US; Year: 1994; Director: Stewart Raffill; Writer: Stewart Raffill, Gary Brockette; Stars: Denise Richards, Theo Forsett, Paul Walker)

Full review

The Twentieth Century (The 20th Century)

Review preview for The Twentieth Century

Every cherished symbol of Canadianness is here, from maple walnut ice cream to a fleetingly glimpsed but narratively influential narwhal.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A faux biopic that charts the roller coaster rise to power of famed Canadian Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Matthew Rankin; Writer: Matthew Rankin; Stars: Dan Beirne, Sarianne Cormier, Catherine St-Laurent)

Full review

Violet Evergarden

Review preview for Violet Evergarden

There is much to admire about this film.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A disabled former soldier devotes her life to writing letters on behalf of others and struggles to come to terms with her own feelings about the commanding officer who fell in love with her.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Taichi Ishidate; Stars: Yui Ishikawa, Minato Kotobuki, Aoi Yuuki)

Full review