Glorious

You've heard of "paradise by the dashboard light," but how about "cosmic horror by the bathroom stall?" This feels like a new, imaginative approach to the genre, even as all the hallmarks remain in one form or another. The blood and gore looks great, as do all the other fanciful visuals we're treated to at one time or another. Ryan Kwanten gives a solid performance as protagonist Wes, making the hapless man relatable as he's stuck in an extraordinary predicament, and it's an absolute joy to be greeted with the dulcet tones of J. K. Simmons' voice as he brings the unseen entity to vivid life - what can't Simmons do? I assumed I'd have fun, but 'Glorious' is even sharper than I'd have given it credit for before I watched.

One could easily see this realized not as a full-length feature, but as a short film, or arguably even (with some modifications) a stage play. The singular setting and small cast of characters both feed into that sense, and with that, all due commendations for the production design and art direction that turn an ordinary highway rest stop into not only a particularly dingy and uninviting one, but a den of nightmares and visceral splendor. It almost seems part and parcel of such a locale that a story told therein should carry certain tones, so it's fitting that for as towering as the possibilities are of the tale, and dark, 'Glorious' also carries a considerable undercurrent of cheeky humor that helps the Bathroom Horror to feel centered. The screenplay fashioned between Joshua Hull and David Ian McKendry is unexpectedly balanced and mindful in that regard while it still tells a complete, compelling, and relatively small story. There's a weird sort of complexity in the chief characters, bite and wit in the dialogue, and sufficient earnest variety in the scene writing to slightly open up the narrative in surprising ways.

Much credit as well to filmmaker Rebekah McKendry for tight direction. I very much enjoyed her feature debut, Christmas horror anthology 'All the creatures were stirring,' and 'Glorious' bears a similar offbeat sensibility, though surely refined in the few intervening years. By no means is the most grand and imposing example of the genre space it plays in, but nor is it intended to be - sometimes the best thing a storyteller can do is to approach honored material from a new angle, and I'm inclined to think McKendry, McKendry, and Hull quite succeed in doing just that. 'Glorious' deftly scratches the itch for cosmic horror while in concept seeming like a more low-key microcosm of Horror, Broadly. The specific flavors here may not appeal to all, but I'm delighted by how the movie tries something a little different and still ends up a the same delicious, thrilling place. As far as I'm concerned 'Glorious' is a very well made, highly enjoyable romp, and is well worth checking out if you have the opportunity.

Glorious (2022) follows a man who is stuck in the rest stop toilets with a mysterious man talking to him from the adjacent stall. This film had a unique concept, but the execution was somewhat poor and it just didn't capture me attention as much as I was hoping. However there were some elements I liked and the ending really saved it for me!

The effects were fairly poor, but I do understand this was due to a lower budget, the cinematography was actually pretty good though! I liked some of the camerawork and angles and I really liked the bright, vibrant colour palettes!

The sound design was alright in this film, but didn't have anything special about it really. The soundtrack was decent and somewhat comedic at times, and the score was a bit odd and unfitting. Nearer the end, the score improved a lot and I wish it was like this all throughout the duration!

JK Simmons as the Voice was great casting, and he was so instantly recognisable! The acting and line delivery was all around pretty good, especially from Ryan Kwanten playing the lead, Wes. I wasn't keen on how his character was written at first, but did grow to like him a bit!

The humour was alright and got a couple of laughs out of me, but was a bit too ridiculous sometimes. I found the humour ruined the tension and was used too often, if it was a little more toned down I feel this could've worked better. The film had a few drastic tonal shifts for comedic effect, which somewhat worked.

The pacing for the film was alright, but a tad messy at times. For the most part I was entertained, although there wasn't much tension. The plot twist near the end was phenomenal and caught me off guard big time, it was by far the best part of the film. It had such a dark ending which I appreciated!

Originality, good actors, out of the box.

The only thing I can say is: start watching and you won't stop.

No big company would do such a creative movie.

This movie is the proof that you don't need to make your movie long and time consuming to make it enjoyable and intriguing. This is super gross and disgusting masterpiece. Why gross and disgusting? You'll understand once you've watched it. The movie is very simple, it only involved a few actors and actresses. The locations weren't much either. Just the road and a rest stop. But the plot is intriguing, a concoction of mystery, horror, comedy, drama and fantasy. Ryan Kwanten is really good at acting, no doubt about that. He's good at comedy, drama and horror. And the plot twist at the end really hits the spot as well. At least for me. That's why I had to rate this movie higher than 5. I wanted to give it a 7, but the grossness of it made me lower it to 6. I gotta warn you, if you're going to watch this, make sure you're not eating. Trust me. I'm doing you a HUGE favor here.

As an avid Lovecraft fan, I kinda knew what I was in for and that it would have some good twists and cosmic lore. I was pleasantly surprised by the layers, actors and the very dark final twist, that gave it a delicious aftertaste. The movie wasn't perfect, but for a low budget cosmic horror movie, it was pretty great. I would have liked the main character to be written a little more cerebral and cool headed, but that's just me.

I think the part that made me cringe the most was all the touching of the toilet in the restroom. It set a pretty disgusting atmosphere, which turns out to be quite appropriate in the end.

Overall, very unique and entertaining.