Fashionista

A woman (Amanda Fuller) who uses clothes as an emotional crutch discovers her life is not as ideal as she thought...

Director Simon Rumley has assembled a small stable of actors well-known for their recent horror contributions. We have both Alex Essoe ("Starry Eyes", "Tales of Halloween") and the perennial favorite Ethan Embry ("Late Phases", "Devil's Candy"). Leading the way is Amanda Fuller (Rumley's "Red, White and Blue", "Starry Eyes", "Cheap Thrills", and more recently "Last Man Standing"). If for no other reason, this cast makes the film worth a watch.

The counterbalance is Eric Balfour, a man with very wolflike features, which makes him perfect as the seductive third party to lure in Fuller's character. Balfour was in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but interestingly enough also appeared in "Can't Hardly Wait" with co-star Embry. Frankly, Balfour's list of horror credits being so short is a surprise, as he has exactly the right look for it.

The cinematography has a strange, unnatural color palette, which seems to be Rumley's trademark. He (or cinematographer Milton Kam) used a similar device in "P is for Pressure". Perhaps not coincidentally, "Pressure" also had a certain plot element revolving around fashion / modeling. So is this another trademark of Rumley's: the love of clothes? Like the characters in "Fashionista", does he have a "special connection to clothes"? Well, without the addiction or running naked through stores, of course.

The film in general is quite good, though it does take a bit to get going. If you watch only the first half, you get a story about a second-hand store and infidelity. But it shifts gears in the second half to addiction and even darker themes, clearly treading into horror territory. We even get some interesting visual nods – a "Tenebrae" poster, and a "stitch woman" in a dream, which is unlike anything seen in film (the closest that comes to mind is "May").

"Fashionista" screened July 29, 2017 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. It is not the most conventional of horror stories, but that may be its strength. Simon Rumley went quickly from being a new face to being on the front lines for the next generation of genre fans. This film clearly adds to his already notable resume.

This is one of a kind for sure. A concept which is not new, but still feels fresh.

Reminds me of a mix of Momento, Black swan and Gone Girl! One of these movies where you would benefit from a second screening, as everything is shut out of sequence. As I have seen this movie on a festival and it was my 7th for the day, you might have an easier time watching it, when your brain is actually still on 100%. The story will soak you in and confuse you at the same time. I actually cant wait to watch it a second time.

I've always been a big supporter of Eric Balfour and he is actually pretty perfect for this role. I am not totally satisfied how the story of his character is concluded though, but I'm happy to see him in a good movie again after such a long time.

If you are in for a different kind of cinema experience, give this movie a chance, be focused on what is happening and have fun dealing with all those puzzles pieces later.

Rare sub 5 score for me. Art for the sake of art.

Empty. Takes a theme/concept and just tries to justify an "art" film or "psychological thriller" out of it. And this is where the crux lies...film has no idea what it wants to be.

Writing around a Mcguffin. The writing doesn't carry the story. So the director just tries to create an almost Hitchcock paranoia to the film. Mangles all the cuts together. Flipping in and out of time and scene with no real direction other than to artificially create confusion. You suspect the director is trying to show mental health issues by way of random scene cuts, but ultimately fails.

Anyway, at about the 1h30m point, the film way overstays its welcome, delves into some over the top "artistic" representation of mental health issues, and just loses any semblance of crafting anything out of the previous 1.5 hours. It almost feels like the writers and directors give up.

What is really troubling is that the movie focuses on a current overly dramatic trauma as being the cause of mental health issues rather than trauma during formative years. The main character obviously has mental health issues throughout, but the writers choose to completely ignore what formed these issues in the first place.

And finally, the ending is just devoid of humanity.

I read another review where the reviewer was telling us how good and strange the movie is ... but only gave it 5 out of 10. Which is kind of strange, because the things he was admiring, are objectively good. So while I am giving this movie the full score for its scope and for the fact it does not take any prisoners and dares to go places others are not going, I do understand that this won't be for everyone - in fact, quite a few will not like this.

That doesn't mean that the movie is bad, quite the opposite. It is slow (so keep that in mind) and it does seem to switch gears halfway through. The first half being almost about something else. But not really, because it is a setup. And it is also allowing for repeat viewings. There is so much to discover and there are so many questions left for the viewer to answer for themself. If you like that concept and like being challenged, like a movie that works with images/colors and knows the craft of direction and mystery storytelling, this is the movie to watch for you

Very confusing and bizarre film. The cinematography looked bad. All the characters wasn't likeable. The only thing was Alex Essoe. Terrible film.