Fishbowl

Greetings again from the darkness. In the not so distant past, folks who lived in small towns felt like there were no secrets - everyone in town knew each other and what they were up to. Thus, the proverbial "fishbowl" of the title. Of course, these days, people in towns and cities of all sizes voluntarily advertise their every waking moment on social media, making privacy and gossip relics of a bygone era. Brother-sister co-directors Alexa Kinigopoulos and Stephen Kinigopoulos (first feature for both), working with a script by writers Piero S Iberti, Maria Stratakis, and (co-director) Stephen Kinigopoulos serve up a taste of small town life in the good 'ol days.

"In Bishop, you either talk or you're talked about." So says our narrator Belle over the slow-motion opening montage. She's the oldest of three sisters who live with their father and attend a local Catholic school. All members of this family are broken in their own way, and it's made clear this is due to the beloved mother/wife no longer being around (though initially we aren't sure what happened). Belle (newcomer Belle Shickle) is the rebellious one, though not quite as self-assured as she likes to think. The middle girl, Rachel (Emily Peachey), is sensitive and stunned when her friend tells her they can't hang out anymore - even for her birthday. The youngest, Jessa (newcomer Caroline Coleman) hasn't spoken a word in the 4 months (actually 118 days) since mom has been gone. Their dad (longtime stuntman-actor Rick Kain) is a mess, bouncing from over-zealous religious fanatic to forsaking it altogether, and then back again.

We see the family faced with hostile reactions in the community, at school, and even at church, where the priest suggests it would be better for everyone if they stayed away. Dad is drawn in by Tele-Evangelist Ron Peltz (Bobby J Brown) who is hocking his $1000 "Save Me Now" program as protection from The Rapture, which he proclaims will arrive on September 29. Close to foreclosure on their house, the dad plops down the grand, and forces his daughters to go door-to-door trying to "save" the neighbors from the end of the world.

A countdown to the final days also includes the teenage sisters trying to find their way in this new world. We get flashbacks to when they were younger and family life with mom (Judith Hoag, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES) was pleasant, despite dad's alcoholism at the time. The three sisters cling to each other, but grow more concerned for their father and themselves. A particularly telling sequence has them defying their father and attending a costume party dressed as a devil, a nun, and a princess. It doesn't end well, and sets up the finale.

The Kinigopoulos filmmakers give the movie a dreamy/surreal look and feel, and perhaps Jeff Nichols' far superior 2011 TAKE SHELTER is the closest comparison. The four lead actors are fine (especially Ms. Shickle), but the background actors are exaggerated and distracting - perhaps this is done on purpose to help us understand what the family is going through. Pretty significant observations are offered up on small towns, parenting, church-goers, faith as a crutch, and alcoholism. It's not an easy watch, and one that will probably not have mass appeal. It's the type of movie that fits easily into the line-up of many film festivals, as that's the environment where it is most likely to find appreciation. Available VOD October 27, 2020

Kicked the can and triggered memories of my own catholic school daze in a rush and a flush. Back in the days when the only play at recess was: go out long. I remember loving the girl's uniforms; especially the ones for gym class. The way I'd always feel hormonally pensive during morning mass. How Jesus' wounds looked so feminine up there on that splintery cross. The stained glass for a stained class scarlet-lettered by original sin. So glad I deprogrammed myself soon after graduation. I digress.

Considering that the majority of this film's cast was in fact composed mostly of newcomers, I think they pulled it off. No, it's not as glossy or lachrymose as the Virgin Suicides, or as cracked out wacky as Take Shelter, two I'd compare it to, if only on a thematic and atmospheric level. Yes, there are a handful of half-daft moments (mostly offered up by the ancillary and tertiary characters, overuse of trans-fat yellow hues and some very poor framing) but these are overshadowed by solid, emotive performances by the father and three sisters. Belle, in particular, is incandescent and has the kind of on screen presence that makes you take pause. Hell's Belle in that Devil's costume would make even Dante blush. She's her own inferno. Dug the way the family's dull home is sort of the objective correlative of a Christian psalm about the meek inheriting the Earth. Deeply dug the rapture imagery, the father's hypocritical self-deceit manifested in recurring battles with bottles, the dueling themes of escape, and the well-timed/executed tragic flashback scenes, too. The televangelist Peltz was spot on realistic with the old compensate for my lack of sincerity with avarice-fueled charisma. He had the swagger of a young Jimmy Swaggart. I also loved the haunting soundtrack/score. The spectral vocals reminded me a little bit of the creepy nuns singing some of the darker hymns from back in the day (Under the Weight of the Wood comes to mind). The at times dirge-like music complimented the languid pacing of the film, not unlike the watery church wine used to do for that dry paper wafer during communion. Amen!

It's a really engaging drama about a family falling apart because of the mother's death. 3 girls who attend a Catholic school have to deal with their father's depressed mental state, worsened by his growing religious obsession with a televangelist cult which he joins as a last ditch attempt at fixing things. The feeling of everything falling apart is prevailing throughout the entire movie. I didn't quite get the ending, it was all built on implications, but it was clear enough to make assumptions. I felt engaged in what's happening to the characters and felt their emotions. It's a nice, if only pretty depressing, movie.

Really poorly directed and written, here we have another "movie" that has "reviews" by someone who was involved in the production. Look at the other "reviews." 2 sentences, written exactly the same.

"Awesome!"

So we're to believe someone watched this amateur production and thought it was as good as the Godfather and gave it a 10?

It's not. It's terrible. When you see the amazing 2 sentence reviews for a movie, and they're all written the same, it's shill reviews that aren't real.

Take it from someone real.

This movie sucked.

This is a beautifully filmed movie about a family tragedy unfolding in a small judgmental town (hence the title). Although tragic, the three sisters remained loyal and supportive of one another and surprisingly to a father with an irrational paranoid parenting style. As other reviewers mentioned, the dialog is sparse, but the creative evocative imagery moves along the dual story lines of a missing mother mystery and preparing for the end of the world.

We thoroughly enjoyed this movie recommend you take a watch.