Backrooms

So I haven't watched any of director Kane Parsons' YouTube videos which, as I have read, led to the making of this film, his first feature-length movie. I went in cold except for the trailer. I recommend doing the same if possible. What's it all about? It follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the owner and operator of a discount furniture store in a warehouse area, circa 1990 - Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire. Clark performs cheesy TV commercials dressed as a pirate with a wooden leg. Clark is in therapy after the demise of his last relationship. His store is sad with ugly and outdated pieces that scream grandpa's couch. And no customers. The store also seems to have some serious electrical issues. Clark discovers a secret passage to another part of his store that looks like '70s or '80s office space. It's like Clark entered The Twilight Zone if it were a Guggenheim Museum art installation. Clark's therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) also has her own messed-up childhood backstory, which plays a role when she enters the backrooms in search of the missing Clark. Backrooms is like if you took Matthew Barney's Cremaster 3 and gave it characters and a plot. Or if you took Synecdoche New York and turned it into The Maze Runner. It's kind of like the 1997 Canadian film, Cube if the world was turned to a yellow-beige and you added bad furniture. If all of these film references are too obscure, no worries, you can still go get happily lost in Backrooms. It's strange, like doing mushrooms in your friend's basement that hasn't been updated since the early '90s - you may have a bit of a panic attack trying to find your way out. Catch this conundrum in a dark theatre room or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available.  

I Love Boosters

This is Boots Riley's second directorial feature. His first was Sorry to Bother You which made my top 22 films of 2018 on my very first blog entry here on the Marquee. Had I started doing this earlier, I would have written a full entry about it. That film is about a black man working in a call center. It was bold, colourful, satirical, irreverent, pissed-off, arty, original, intelligent, and entertaining. Riley went on to make a TV series, I'm a Virgo, which I have not seen (but now I intend to). I Love Boosters is a bananas ride and all the adjectives I gave to his first film apply to his second. I loved it and thought it was a mess at the same time - like some of the ludicrous fashion designs that are the subject of this film. What's it all about? A gang of women are stealing and reselling high-end clothes from Metro Designers, a fashion empire run by Christie Smith (Demi Moore). Each store has its own primary colour - all the clothes in one location are yellow, for example. It's a gag and it's a hoot. Although it is a mockery of the fashion world, the designs remain outrageous and fun - The Hunger Games of primary colours. Then the film goes into the realm of science fiction with a teleportation device - a Chinese worker has teleported from China, where all the clothes are made. Her plan is to steal the clothes back as ransom to get workers some rights. She teams up with the boosters and all hell breaks loose. It becomes unhinged. A slapstick, Three Stooges, car-chase, roller-coaster of action. It's kind of like Everything Everywhere All at Once but add in a demon (LaKeith Stanfield - who is also the lead in Sorry to Bother You) who sucks women's souls out of their bodies through their coochies. Yeah, it's pretty wild and it's not for everyone. That said, it has to be one of the most interesting films of 2026 and I feel like I need to watch it again. Anxiety in this film is literally depicted as a giant ball of ATMs, computers, advertising, bills, phones, clothes, food, etc. rolling and roaming the streets of the city like an Indiana Jones boulder. It's brilliant. Go find something to wear and head to the cinema to catch this original film (not a cheap knock-off). Or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available.  

Silent Friend

If Sound of Falling was your cup of tea, then I have another one for you. If you don't know what I'm speaking about, not to worry, I'll explain. What we have here is another long (2.5 hours), beautiful, German art film which is slow and spans three different time periods, with three different stories all revolving around scientists and their relationships to plants. I know, it might sound boring as all hell, but trust me, it's great. Hungarian filmmaker, Ildikó Enyedi, has made a complex and gorgeous film. If you are willing to give some time and patience to this film, like watering and taking care of a plant, you will be rewarded with a bouquet of emotions. The first story, if we take them chronologically, takes place in 1908 with Grete (Luna Wedler) who is studying botany. This part of the film is shot in black and white. Breaking into a scientific men's world in 1908 is as unpleasant as poison ivy (if we continue with the plant metaphors). Grete takes up the new art of photography as a way to make ends meet - her pictures are stunning. The second story take place in 1972 and it looks like Enyedi did her best to make it look as though the film stock was from this time period. If you cried when Tom Hanks lost Wilson, his volleyball in Cast Away, well this film will give you anxiety over a geranium. Someone could argue that there is too much anthropomorphizing going on here - I don't care, I loved it anyway. The last story takes place in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Brain scientist Tony (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) is stuck by himself on a large university campus when he turns his research towards a tree and discovers an unlikely friendship as a result. The film explores our relationship with plants but also the relationships we have with each other, and how we treat one another. There is a meditative quality to the film, spiritual pantheism, an interconnectivity of all living things. You will come out feeling like you just walked through a lovely afternoon at the botanical gardens. So go grab your watering can, block out the sunshine, and go plant yourself in the dark theatre of the Mayfair, or the Bytowne, or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available. 

Widow's Bay

I don't recall writing about a series before having finished it. Well, there is a first for everything. Widow's Bay is now streaming on Apple+. A horror-comedy is how I would classify it. Normally, this isn't the sort of thing I would enjoy. Often it doesn't work. For reasons I'm not altogether sure of, this works great. Perhaps because all the gags are played straight, deadpan. Dead is right. What's it all about? Matthew Rhys (The Beast in Me, The Americans) plays Tom Loftis, Widow's Bay's town mayor. Widow's Bay is a small, one-sheriff, island town. Oh, and the island, it's cursed. However, Tom wants it to be the next Martha's Vineyard. He is hoping that a positive article written by a New York Times reporter will help turn the island's reputation around and start bringing in boatloads of tourists. The show has a kind of parallel to Jaws, if it was told from the perspective of the mayor. Instead of a shark, it's a curse. And the curse is deliberately vague, so we can have multiple different horror tropes, and each one gives us a fresh episode - a Gilligan's Island of horror stories: Haunted fog, evil sea sirens, books of witchcraft, etc. Like Chief Brody in Jaws, the Mayor has a quirky old secretary, who has vision problems and a propensity to leave her job early every day. Everyone seems to be working against poor Mayor Loftis. It's a hoot. The tone is something similar to Steve Miner's 1985 film, House. It has an almost nostalgic feel to the show, with elements of John Carpenter's The Fog and Prince of Darkness. Grab your lifejacket and sail your boat immediately to Widow's Bay. Streaming on Apple or grab it from Movies 'N Stuff when available. 

The Plague

Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams) - I have said it before but in case you weren't following along, I will say it again: I will follow Mr. Edgerton wherever he goes. He continues to pick material which is always smart and engaging. He only has a supporting role here in The Plague as the coach of a young boys' water polo camp. Our main protagonist is Ben (Everett Blunck), a geeky kid from out of town who is just trying to fit in with the well-established pack of boys led by Jake (Kayo Martin). "Jake" - a name reserved for the cool kid and I can hear  Anthony Michael Hall saying it in Sixteen Candles. Pardon me, I digressed. Also in the water polo camp is Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), who all the kids say has the plague because he has a bad skin rash, which I believe is eczema or psoriasis. They run away from Eli and if anyone comes into contact with him, they run to the tap to wash off "the plague." Kids can be downright cruel. Mean rotten little bastards, which is the whole subject here. When Ben tries to form a friendship with Eli, suddenly he finds himself on the outside of the clique. . .  and wait, what is that red bump forming on his skin? It's well-worn territory, The Lord of the Flies being the major pig head on the pole. Why should you watch this one then? It's gorgeous - the underwater shots are particularly hypnotic, upside down, you will be spun around like poor Ben. It also verges on body horror (which may or may not be your thing). The main reason to watch is the performances of these young men. Kenny Rasmussen as Eli is a standout - his dance scene in the rain is wow. These young actors are going to go places. Catch this in a rep theatre if possible, streaming, or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other

This is simply a beautiful film. It's a documentary about famed American photographer, Joel Meyerowitz and his unfamous wife, Maggie Barrett (although, after this, I suspect that might change). Joel was born in 1938 and is now 88 years old. He married Maggie (his second marriage) in 2001. This is Maggie's fifth marriage. Maggie's own life journey is something of a rollercoaster, having spent time in a mental hospital, struggling with drug addiction, finding recovery, and ultimately becoming a therapist herself. Maggie is also a writer. While she never landed a traditional publishing deal, she has written at least four novels, a collection of stories, and a play in which she starred. Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other is a portrait of navigating aging, fame, relationships, and love. It is very personal, and both Joel and Maggie go all in here, in what I might call a kind of performance art of the personal. They are each on full display, holding nothing back. There is a scene when they return to their New York apartment after living in Tuscany for many years, and Maggie has a completely unhinged breakdown while Joel hangs on for dear life - remaining calm. Given her history, one could write her off as unstable, but that feels too simplistic. I think we have all been there - a displacement of aggression, grieving the loss of their Italian home - we hurt the ones we love most because they can usually take it. This was not edited out. There is a lot of raw material here. It's also one of the most aesthetically pleasing films I've seen in a very long time. Each shot is a photograph, which feels fitting for Meyerowitz. It's like looking through a gorgeous coffee table book. You will want to spend time with Maggie and Joel. Catch it in the theatre if possible, or rent it at Movies 'N Stuff.  

Lee Cronin's the Mummy

Lee Cronin, who's that? That was my first question. I'm not great with names, especially as I get older. Google/IMDB tells me he's the director of Evil Dead Rise. I loved that movie! I suppose name recognition is important and I suppose it helps distinguish this film from The Mummy franchise starring Brendan Fraser or the recent The Mummy outing with Tom Cruise. This film has nothing to do with those - and honestly, it could be called, Evil Dead Egypt. Before I get into it, if you aren't a fan of The Conjuring or The Exorcist, you might as well stop reading, because this film is not for you. If you are, then you are one of my people. What's it all about? Charlie Cannon (Jack Reynor) is working as a journalist in Egypt with his wife Larissa (Laia Costa) and their two kids when their youngest, Katie, goes missing. This alone is horrific. It gets much worse. Egyptian authorities find her eight years later - in a coffin that looks like it was designed by David Cronenberg. Yeah! Not so fast! Katie seems to have something physically wrong with her, and her mental state is full-on sarcophagus cuckoo. Katie's mom is convinced that all Katie needs is a good supportive, loving home and things will go back to normal. Charlie is not convinced. I think the audience is on Charlie's side. This is a mix of body horror, supernatural possession, and one of the worst hangnails you have ever seen. You may need therapy and a pedicure after watching this one - it doesn’t just get under your skin, it gets under your nails. Catch this one in the dark crypt of a movie theatre, or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available.