Bad Day for the Cut – Ireland – Chris Baugh

A middle-aged farmer seeks revenge in the feature debut from Chris Baugh. A slow-boil genre film with some brutal instances of violence throughout. The comparisons to Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin are unavoidable, and while this film doesn’t do anything particularly new, it’s the details that count. Donal’s mother is murdered and when the people responsible send muscle to kill him, he turns the tables and makes his way to the top with the help of one of his attackers. The details behind the murder of his mother and fantastic comedic timing in its action scenes strengthen a sometimes predictable affair. Not sure how accessible this film will be, but a great choice for people who like high tension revenge thrillers.

7 Minutes – Italy/Switzerland/France – Michele Placido

A group of women are workers’ representatives at a textile factory that is being sold to a French corporation. If they want to keep their jobs, they have to agree to losing 7 minutes from their 15 minute lunch breaks. The 11 women argue the issue, many of them swaying back and forth. Based on a play that is based on true events, this single space drama is a crowd-pleaser that unfortunately did not work for me. The broadcasted performances, cloying soundtrack and obvious story arc left me feeling cold and disinterested by the close. The characters all take turns explaining their case, each of them hitting on some important issue or subsection in Italian culture. By the time the pregnant woman goes into labour, I was rolling my eyes and checking my clock. That isn’t a spoiler; you can see the plot point coming five minutes in. I can imagine that many people would like this one. The myriad of themes will hit home for somebody.

Good Manners – Brazil – Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra

Oh maaan! There are so many things to like about this movie! And then there is the second half which falls to pieces and features one of the worst child performances I’ve seen in years. A genre bending werewolf movie with a gorgeous colour palette and some stylistic musical touches that are surprising and delightful. Clara (Isabél Zuaa) is hired as a nanny by the 2-month pregnant Ana (Marjorie Estiano). During a full moon, Clara finds Ana sleepwalking, eyes bright yellow, eating meat out of the fridge. Ana’s bump grows at a high rate and her sleepwalking continues every month. The bond between the woman grows and when the baby is finally born, a particularly gruesome scene, Clara is forced to take up a role as parent to the… child. Along the way we get low-key musical numbers. No dancing, just singing and music. If only there were more of that and less of what comes in the second half as the directors fall into every genre pitfall on the way to what could be a satisfying ending that is marred by lousy CG and badly directed child actors. I always say that the sign of a great director is somebody who can make kids give great performances. Here we have two directors and neither seems to have any idea what to do with this boy. In stead they give him way too much to do and too little help to complete the illusion. I honestly felt bad watching this. So much promise and ambition, but an unfortunate conclusion. Horror fans should check this out for the hilarious and twisted birth scene in the middle.