My Father Die

This was part of Frightfest 2016 and it was really good. Now it has quite a few flaws overall, but just the rawness and the way it deals with things plus the way it is framed and filmed, all make up for it. Some may feel it is too "arty", especially the black and white shots of it (flashbacks) will be the target of that criticism.

But it all makes sense (well apart from starting something and crazily enough not having finished it ... then again that creates a sort of magic aura that transcends this into a different dimension) in the end. And it is based on Freud partly of course. In the sense that sons want to replace their dad. In this case, the dad is not a nice one at all.

A lot of violence and a lot of crazy things happening, but all with a purpose

Greetings again from the darkness. Pre-judging movies is just something that naturally happens for frequent movie watchers, and a pleasant surprise can create a joyous experience. Such is the case with the feature film debut from Sean Brosnan (son of Pierce). With no shortage of entries into the Family Revenge-Action-Thriller genre, it takes something special to standout, and though it targets a (very) limited audience, those that give it a shot will likely be impressed.

It's the style that we notice from the opening black and white segment, where two brothers are hanging out and joking together as the older one offers up some typical teenager advice on "romance". An exceptionally brutal and violent attack leaves Chester (Chester Rushing) the older brother dead, and Asher (Gabe White) the younger brother deaf.

We flash forward to a time when Asher is an adult who takes care of his mother, and prepares for revenge against his father. That's right … the monster of a man responsible for the violence that changed the course of Asher's life was his own father. The pursuit of revenge is something we've seen on screen many times before, but it's the performances and the look of the film that make this one worth discussing. Joe Anderson stars as the adult Asher, and he conveys wide emotional swings with no dialogue. Instead, we are guided by the narration of his younger self – and this is some of the most poetic narration you'll find outside of a Terrence Malick movie. As terrific as Anderson is, and as much as we empathize with his character, it's Gary Stretch (former British boxer) as his father Ivan, who provides a villain so despicable that we find ourselves anxious and rooting for Asher's violent revenge.

There is mention that serving in Vietnam destroyed Ivan's soul, but it's rare to see a man with no conscience and one who is capable of such carnage. Director Brosnan offsets this creature with the black & white flashbacks, and creates a contrast of beauty vs brutality. It really messes with your head and emotions. Marc Shap is the cinematographer and he shows a wonderful eye for both nature (much of the film takes place on the bayou) and personal interactions (both calm and frenzied). The film also makes good use of sound – and no sound, both of which are effective.

Make no mistake, this is not an easy movie to watch and won't be to the taste of most. Violent revenge is not really condoned or condemned in the movie, but it seems clear that if you are taking that path, make sure you do it right the first time! Young Asher's narration tells us that "revenge is not noble, but it's human" … a sentiment that rings quite true. What's also true is that Sean Brosnan is an exciting new director to keep an eye on, and maybe the first ever to include a closing credits tribute to Irish playwright John Millington Synge.

Society is going down a drain.

Once again, another so called cult film resorting to human sewage to try and cause an emotional impact because, it seems, audiences are so desensitized that in order to keep them awake they have to be fed vile and despicable imagery.

I wonder what makes directors and writers to film a scene where a teenager masturbates while watching other teens having sex. How authorities allow this to happen? This is worse than porn because in porn the actors are not supposed to be underage.

After that, I could not stomach to sit through monstrosity. I fast forwarded pausing every now then to sample what was going on, and, of course, what one sees is a succession of human depravity, deviancy and the usual depiction of human misery.

Skip it. I believe watching a dead cat rot in an alley has more entertaining value than this aberration.

This movie hits me on a very personal level.

It resembles much of my relationship with my father. I never knew why my father started or why he couldn't stop drinking. I am certain that not many IMDb users can relate to violent childhood memories but this film goes beyond that.

The poetic voice-over, the spectacular scenery, resembles Terrence Malick's doing and the violence on a Black & White screen, punctuated at key points in the story, resembles Quentin Tarantino's work.

I don't have much to say about this gem, but that it captures how it feels to be born in a family with a violent past and how good men chose to make different decisions in life.

It's spot on. Uncomfortably so.

Yet beautiful.

Thank you, Sean Brosnan

When I think of revenge in cinema I think of "Oldboy" (2003), "Dead Man's Shoes" (2004), "Blue Ruin" (2014), "Lady Vengeance" (2004), "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" (2002), "Django Unchained" (2012), "Kill Bill" (2003;2004) "Gangs of New York" (2002), and even "John Wick" (2014). Now after seeing this masterpiece of revenge, "My Father Die" is now on that list.

"My Father Die" is as you already know, a deep southern Gothic revenge film, and is the directorial debut of Sean Brosnan. The film starts off with two brothers (Asher and Chester) walking around talking about sex and meeting up with a girl (Nana) so that Chester can have sex with her. As Asher keeps on watch for the two his father (Ivan) pounces when he's not looking and hits him so hard upside the head that he ruptures his eardrums. Ivan then confronts Chester and beats him to death in a fit of rage while the recently deaf Asher watches. Jump twenty years later where Asher is taking care of his overly obese mother who does nothing but sit on her bed and watch the local church sermon. Ivan is recently released from prison and Asher plans to exact his revenge upon his fallen brother. And so ensues one of the best revenge films I've seen.

The film is so well acted by the entire cast, mostly the three main stars Joe Anderson (Asher), Candace Smith (Nana), and Gary Stretch (Ivan). These three actors did a magnificent job bringing their characters to life. Joe Anderson was magnificent as he never said a word in the film and yet you could empathize with his character so much. Gary Stretch was unbelievable, if you thought he was bad in "Dead Man's Shoes", you have no idea how much more bad he is in this film. Stretch is just absolutely brutal and brings so much tension and suspense in every scene he is in.

Brosnan's direction is fantastic, he never loses control of the brutal and religious aspects the movie brings. He developed the characters so well and took time to really make them feel real. The cinematography is overall very good, when it comes down to the cinematography of a very low budget film I'm not so harsh on it considering that money is not very abundant, but the film looks beautiful either way.

Throughout the film I couldn't help but see Brosnan's satire on Southern religion. I am not completely sure if it was intentional, but if it was good job. Periodically in the film a painting of Saturn eating his children is seen, which not only symbolizes the characters in the film but also gives the film a religious quality to it which I thought was interesting.

I honestly don't know what else to say, this is a great revenge film with unique characters that we empathize and despise, a great story, acting, and direction. Sean Brosnan debuted with a powerhouse of a film and I will without a doubt be looking forward to what he has in store next.