Folk horror with some interesting narrative twists elevated by twin lead performances.

I just love it when a director knows how to shoot a film, you know? Forgive me stating the painfully obvious – after all, I’m reviewing a film, and that’s usually the topic of discussion – but it doesn’t happen as much as you’d think. The intricacies of shot composition, the holy glue of editing, the soul in the audio design, the breath of the movement; all too often, a filmmaker can overlook these important things, prioritizing bombast and spectacle over any human connection (Ballerina, or more precisely Len Wiseman’s parts of it) instead of interesting technique laid over actual character work in amongst the noise of everything else (Thunderbolts*. What a film.)

That means when a filmmaker clearly loves their craft, and deploys it in fascinating ways, it can elevate a genre story you’ve maybe seen before into something special.

Continue reading “Film Review: Birthrite”