What Comes Around

Greetings again from the darkness. Not long ago, cable movie channels were filled with late night flicks that were easy enough to watch, and even easier to forget. Unfortunately, that description fits the second feature film from director Amy Redford (daughter of screen legend Robert Redford). Scott Organ adapted the screenplay from his own play, "The Thing with Feathers", and the title of the film has been changed ... it played the 2022 Toronto Film Festival as ROOST. It's one of those times where some individual pieces are better than the film as a whole.

Grace Van Dien ("Stranger Things, CHARLIE SAYS, 2018) stars as Anna, who is on the verge of her 17th birthday. She has been secretly online chatting with an older "college boy" named Eric. In a virtual 'meet cute', they read Emily Dickinson poetry to each other and talk for hours. Since he lives 900 miles away, the two have never met, but in typical teenage fashion, Anna says "he gets me." As an unexpected birthday surprise, Eric (Kyle Gallner, THE FINEST HOURS, "Interrogation") shows up at her door and drops off a thoughtful present. All of this is happening as Anna's mother Beth (Summer Phoenix, sister of Joaquin and the late River) announces her engagement to her cop boyfriend Tim (Jesse Garcia, QUINCEANERA, 2016).

The proverbial 'stuff' hits the fan when Anna introduces Eric to her mom. Not only is Eric a bit older than he let on (and the college story was a fabrication), his aw-shucks and overly apologetic demeanor don't seem to charm anyone except Anna. But more than that, there's a twist here that causes a cosmic shift in all of these relationships.

Grace Van Dien is the great-granddaughter of the late and legendary Robert Mitchum, and she's worked non-stop the past ten years, though I've only seen her in a couple of things. She clearly has screen presence, although this role doesn't stretch her much at all. I do hope she's offered some more challenging projects moving forward. The bulk of the film's second half focuses on creepy manipulation and the grooming of teenagers ... a hot and important topic lately due to the vulnerability of teenage girls. The message is appreciated, but this one would have benefitted from some script polishing so that the dialogue was more realistic.

Opens on August 4, 2023.

Roost is an uncomfortable film to watch, so there's your warning! The story centres around the relationship of three people: Anna, the 16 year-old falling for a guy she met online played by Grace Van Dien; Beth, Anna's mom played by Summer Phoenix; and Eric, the guy Anna talks to online played by Kyle Gallner. Just with that very minimal description of the film, I'm sure you can already sense some of the drama that ensues.

The film is absolutely uncomfortable, as was it's intention. There were many 😬 moments on my end, and it was evident that many people felt that way too. Grace and Summer are a good mother-daughter duo, sometimes overacting, but overall good. The real stand out in the film is Kyle Gallner; he was fantastic!

The film explores trauma, more specifically unprocessed trauma and how it can affect the lives of those around us. If this triggers you at all, maybe this movie should be a pass.

Definitely a provocative and twisted story, Roost was a film I picked just because it suited my schedule, but I am incredibly glad I was able to see it.

There is much to like with this movie. Grace Van Dien and the ever excellent Kyle Gallner are the two best reasons to watch this movie. Both are utterly convincing in their roles.

The direction and the editing, on the the other hand are, well, sub standard, is the polite way to say it. Some shots are dwelt on for too long and some of the scenes feel that they are 'acted' rather than having two people having a real conversation. The other actors are quite awful.

There is a nice little plot twist that comes in about half an hour into the movie that stops it falling into a schmaltzy Hallmark type movie.

Is it worth a watch? Kind of, but with some reservations.

I just don't want you to get hurt.

Then why are you hurting me?!

Anna is almost 17 and nearly half the age of the strange man at the door. "I love him" Anna says, "he just gets me." However, Anna's mother Beth and her fiancé, the chief of police, are not so convinced. It isn't long before they are all in a shouting match. "Get out of my house!" Beth screams. Emotions are running high at the start, but they are turned up many more notches before all is said and done.

I thought I knew what was going to happen in Roost, but I was so wrong. There are twists to the turns, and reversals to the turnarounds. Roost is so tense and timely. Summer Phoenix (Beth) and Grace Van Dien (Anna), who is from the Robert Mitchum family, do not let their famous relatives down.

"This is what happens when you don't deal with your stuff," said director Amy Redford who was present at this Toronto International Film Festival world premiere screening. She did such a good job of highlighting that there is good and bad, perils and possibilities, in each of us. She claimed that not understanding her own child aided her in directing this film. "Listening and understanding help us get to a better place" she said, "honesty is always age appropriate."

A couple interesting twists, but the acting by Summer Phoenix is so so bad that there is no chance for this movie to be taken seriously. Grace Van Dien tries and plays the role well enough. Kyle Gallner shines here. With better dialogue and acting, this could have been a really successful psychological thriller. As it stands though, it's a dark and twisty Hallmark movie. I have to keep writing about this movie, so I will mention that Anna's outfit choices are interesting. Maybe this is how some teens dress these days, but I saw a lot of outfits that read professor/librarian, which felt off. And that's all I have to say about that.