The Huckleberries Vol. 6 - Send Help & Whistle

    Obviously we want to have an area for reviewing new films here at The Film Encomium, but we want to send a message with our methodology. That message is a simple one: Don’t forget about the fun. 

     Yes, film can be transformative, prophetic, and groundbreaking. It can also be none of those things and still be a damn good time, and we want to validate both of those experiences. If your aim is to indulge in self-aware satire that thrives as a parody of itself, we recommend the Coen Brothers—but if you want to become well-rounded, we still recommend identifying with a nice superhero origin story once in a while. 

     It is from the balance of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn that we draw inspiration for the title of this section. Tom is clever; Tom is great. If there were one of those boys we were going to try to get into Harvard, it would be young Mr. Sawyer…but he will always need his Huckleberry. 

     We all need our Huckleberries. Art needs its Huckleberries. Sometimes beauty is in the little things and reasoned reflection. Other times beauty is loud, bright, and bold. In the interest of providing our readers with a comprehensive experience, we are not willing to skip The Huckleberries. 

     So, with that in mind, here are two engrossing flicks that dropped in theaters recently. The first will burn terror into the back of your eyeballs while somehow making your heart feel light at the same time. The second will have you listening over your shoulder for the rest of the night. Enjoy!

Send Help -

It can sometimes be difficult to gauge what the anticipation levels are for upcoming films in an age of social media. This particular film got a lot of advertising attention, and there seemed to be a general sentiment amongst the public that this was due to the production company wanting to fill seats for a movie they were concerned would underperform. Now, let’s not go assuming any of us know what is going through the minds of studio executives, but after seeing this film it certainly appears that those concerns were wildly off base. 

Sam Raimi’s career has fluctuated between game-changing, genre-defying masterpieces and contributions that sometimes settle for a more base level of entertainment. Even those amongst us who would consider themselves Raimi diehards are certainly willing to admit there have been peaks and valleys. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this attempt is one of his peaks. It would truly be reasonable to walk away from your first screening of Send Help with the conclusion that you have a new favorite entry to his filmography—and this is amongst bona fide classics. 

The advertising itself may have been the work of a savant. For those of you who have somehow avoided the trailer for this movie, there are a couple highly repeatable moments in it, one of which is when the dickhead boss—played by Dylan O’Brien—says to the passengers of his private jet “Take your seats…if you’re a LITTLE BITCH!!” This moment not only serves as an ear worm that sticks in your head, but also comes up fairly early in the actual storyline of the film. So, when the moment comes and O’Brien’s character does NOT say “little bitch” it does a lot to help immediately teach the audience that the trailer has not adequately prepared them for the experience they just signed up for. 

What an experience it is, once it gets going. An absolutely unhinged roller-coaster through cringe, barbarism, and poetic justice. There are certainly no heroes in this story, but you can’t throw a jagged rock without hitting a villain. Anchoring all the insanity is a pair of career-redefining performances from both O’Brien and Rachel McAdams. The vast majority of screen time is spent following their changing dynamic, and they jointly channel one of the greatest costarring interactions we’ve seen in recent memory. Raimi deserves plenty of credit for drawing this out of them, but the factor that sets this film apart from the pack is undeniably the gripping manner in which those two drag us along through every agonizing moment of character development.

There is naturally a subsection of the population that will never empathize with Sam Raimi’s particular blend of humor, violence, and social commentary. If you catch a showing of this film, you are in for a bloody mindfuck of reassessing corporate culture and patriarchal values through the lens of Lord of the Flies. That may not be everyone’s idea of a fun afternoon at the theater, but for those of us who have followed his career with glee and adoration, the sight of Raimi’s twisted psyche being brought to vivid and glorious life once again is a welcome sight indeed.

Whistle -

I love that films like Whistle are becoming such a prevalent part of the cinematic landscape (in fact, I’m cooking up a whole feature about it, which I will link here when completed). Horror that is self-aware and doesn’t overcompensate used to be one of the constant draws to the theater for many people. This film is one that helps reinstill that tradition. If you have a group of friends you like to share fright nights with, get them together for this one.

This is director Colin Hardy’s third foray into feature-length horror, and it is likely to be his most well-regarded so far by critics and audiences alike. Based in Aztec legend, Whistle allows us to really solidly check off the “possessed artifact” section of our annual horror bingo card, and that’s always a nice itch to scratch. Some critics will focus on this particular tale’s rather vague backstory, but there is give and take with something like that. The film doesn’t waste a whole lot of time explaining itself, and as a result allows us to dive headfirst into the mayhem. 

At the heart of it, this is a slaughterfest in the most exquisite sense of the term; and as such, spending an hour on character building would have stalled this plot out before it got started. Instead this film chooses to lean on a magnetic cast, build a quick web of somewhat cliché high school relationships and the associated hurricane of hormones, throw in a genuinely haunting youth minister, and let the bloodbath commence. Our beloved X-23 herself Dafne Keen is in the lead role, with Sophie Nélisse taking on the part of her paramour. While those two shine the brightest, Nick Frost and Michelle Fairley also add a bit of seasoning to a cast of spirited young performers.

This film may not be one that rolls through awards season, but it is helping to bring something much more important back to the movies. Indeed, this is the very sort of film The Huckleberries were conceived for. This is a film to watch with a group of friends or a jumpy date. It is the type of spooky spectacle that will get people back out at the Big Screen. 

Go see it on opening night, and think of us here at the Encomium if you get reminded of Spider-Man at any point. 

~The Film Encomium~