Stolen Season

This film gives us a glimpse of realism through the eyes of the modern day woman. Relevant social issues, and top notch acting, make this film a stand out.

Pascal Payant has become one of indie cinema's most singular figures of late. His slick, eerie style and penchant for perfectly beautiful actors has now become a signature with this sophomore follow-up feature. His first feature, On The Horizon, is what set him on this path in the first place and is available On Demand through Amazon and iTunes. It has many elements of what makes a Pascal Payant film so distinctive: raw emotions that are amplified by self destructive characters who mask an inability to communicate, a pop-based soundtrack and a heavily aesthetic eerie filming style that gives a sense of stepping out of time and looking at a very private story through an artistic framework. This film is not as deliberately glossy as his first attempt, but the emotional tempestuousness is in the same register.

The film involves Abbey Siegworth, amazing unknown actress portraying therapist Ariane Longwood, desperately trying to connect with Logan (Matthew Bilodeau), her son she was forced to surrendered for adoption 17 years ago, and the tsunami wave of scorching pain she is enduring ever since. The story also focuses on the combative relationship between Logan, prickly 17 years old heartthrob, who is rebelious, and his no-nonsense, conventional adoptive mother Kristen (Challen Cates) who is doing her best to ignore the repeated displays of temper by her son and just decided to start therapy for both of them. The therapist has a personal agenda with the boy and Abbey Siegworth plays the role with a combination of world-weariness and blithe indifference, and turns in a tremendous, complicated performance, elevating the film to an A list level. Late in the film, the monologue Ariane delivers-in which she becomes almost insane with despair-is one of the most breathtaking instances of film acting I can remember in years. For Siegworth's acting alone, the film is a must-see. Add to that Bilodeau's own petulant performance, and Payant's knowing eye for character detail, slick camera set-ups and assured direction, and Stolen Season becomes a blissful character study.

Payant knows how to lock into this affective fixation and rides it for as long as he can, and I can assure you it's never exhausting or satirical for viewers. The reason is because Payant has no desire to hold back, and he keeps us on our toes with ever creating plot twists that are never too much or unrealistic, even when flirting with incest. If there's a relationship as toxic as the one between Ariane and Logan, he's going to ignore all pretences and be as honest as he can about it. The art of film is not there to soften the pain of abandonment and cool the bleeding scars between mother and son. Exposing its ugliness and intensity is the very thing that allows for cathartic closure. He exorcises these demons because it is a property of the healing process, and he is as generous as can be about it.

There is a fearlessness to Payant that I admire as a filmmaker. I'll admit that I want him to get famous and to show his films outside of the streaming distribution circuit. He deserves to get into theatres and reach the generation of moviegoers that want something else than studio tentpoles superhero movies.

A beautifully crafted story, full of surprises. This gripping drama follows a woman desperately trying to re-connect with the son she gave away as a teen. With it's striking visuals and authentic performances, this film is well worth the watch!

Storywise, Pascal Payant crafts a dark suspense thriller that gets under your skin. Our protagonist Arianna with a troubled past goes into spiral obsession finding the "truth" while her brother with "good intentions" consistently intrudes. You start to question which sibling needs the most help. Pascal however contrasts the tension with gentle moments when they share their childhood moments together at their former home. In addition, we also get a positive sense of Arianna's professionalism as someone who "rebuilt there life". Actress Abby Siegworth's nails this quite well, as someone masking her obsessive journey.

On a visual standpoint, it is always exciting to experience Pascals work. His minimal crew and organic way of filming keeps me wondering how he shot the scripted moments and the larger scenes that was likely a live-event. From his signature natural-lit spaces, horizons and nightclubs, Pascal brings us back to Senior year through the storys centerpiece Logan. We are engaged in the character's Motorcross shots and a memorable live-Football game serving as a breaking point for the character. Pascal again pushes the envelope bringing an "immediate" non-studio look serving the story. I enjoy that immediacy feeling as if I am there.

Some more visual highlights building the suspense was the "revelation" scene in the driveway. The choice to use a simple Flood light heightened the "truth" conveying Arianna's life is about to crumble losing everything and her profession. In addition, my definite highlight was the climax where she is positioned before a Cathedral structure. Dramatic, exquisitely framed and symbolic of what she has been through and her fate. Furthermore, Pascal's choice of Ocean motifs drove the story and were not merely there for "editing transitions" but rather life renewing its source through Ebb and Flow. He understands the psychological impact of visuals with content.

Overall Pascal crafts and delivers his signature visual work leaving you an haunting impression. From highly intimate scenes, large set-pieces on top of synth music on a subject of Adoption and Obsession. In terms of his second feature, Pascal's message to the indy filmmakers is to be "unflinching, that there are no excuses to not make your own film"

Payant's stunning cinematic stylings uplift and provoke as we follow these fragmented characters piecing together the powerful parts of themselves. Beautifully shot, expertly executed with stellar performances from the cast. A gripping piece , honest and insightful. Fresh, resonant and charged.