Starfish

The good: the lead is breathtakingly beautiful. Good actress too. The cinematographiy is very clever and eyecatching. The bad: a "thriller" this ain't. It could be bottled and sold as a sleep aid. I literally fell asleep halfway through.

I really enjoyed this movie. It's one of those movies that gives you just enough information to keep you interested but keeps you in a place where you are never fully sure of what's going on. It is abstract and beautiful with a great soundtrack. I walked away from it knowing that I really enjoyed it but not knowing exactly how to express why. I recommend it. Not for movie-goers who demand an explosion every 30 seconds.

Dead ultra-hipster gives clues to her sleepy and ditsy model friend to thwart an alien invasion.

Some movies you have to "pause" when you go to the bathroom. This is the kind of movie that you can "start it" go wash your car come back and you would have missed nothing. In a one women show the turtle got voted "best new comer"... seriously though there's nothing here. Productuon values are good. Virginia Gardner the lead and only character in the movie is very good. The writer/director had nothing to say no story to tell. Well he did have a story to tell but seems he chose not to tell it or lost it in editing. Just kidding this movie was not lost in the editing room. Starfish is what you get when you have a kernel of an idea and a slightly smaller kernel of imagination. (6 turtle puns deleted out of respect for the 3 people who will read this review)

I've been excited to see "Starfish" since I saw the trailer a month or two ago - my expectations were wrong, but not in a bad way.

"Starfish" is a worthy entry in the indie sci-fi genre, it reminded me of the works by Zal Batmanglij & Britt Marling, and also Von Triers "Melancholia". Visually it's quite impressive actually, very simple, but carefully executed. Cinematography is rich and creative, editing's crafty and done with a sure hand, there's a subtle amount of decent cgi & color grading is on point. The visual atmosphere is accompanied by a fitting, raw original score.

The story is narrow, questions won't be answered & that's alright. Be warned and don't come looking for substance and logic in "Starfish". While there's not a lot of action (close to none) & the pacing is slow, even draggy at moments, it's the atmosphere and emotional side of the story that should hold your attention, it did hold mine, to some extent. Feel for the character, watch in silence and you might just get mesmerised by the simplest things - there were a few, short movie magic moments. Personally, I liked the drama part more than the sci-fi part, there are thoughts put in this film, however metaphoric. The main character, by the way, is acted out well, props for that.

A lot of people say that "Starfish" is unique - I disagree, it's been done before, different styles, maybe less style. There's no doubt that this is a style-over-substance kind of movie & I happen to love them. Oh and I would hardly call this a horror movie, it's a sci-fi drama. Who do I recommend this to? Art-house lovers, low-budget indie sci-fi fans & for those who like style-over-substance slow-burners. Those were my honest thoughts on this inside-out-indie avantgarde flick. My rating: 6/10.