Rustling Noises in the Attic: STOPMOTION and BRAMAYUGAM

Overview:
Stopmotion review ****
Bramayugam review ***1/2
TV Picks for March 2024

STOPMOTION

UK, d. Robert Morgan, 1h33m, ****, In cinemas now

At the best of times, the life of an artist is one of lonely toil and crippling self-doubt. Imagine on top of that you are an independent stop-motion animator, and it takes hours of painstaking work to yield a mere second of footage.

First-time feature director Robert Morgan has first-hand experience as an animator, and he made this profession the center of his gnarly new live-action horror film. Ella works long hours into the night on her creepy passion project with puppets she has made pains to create with materials that are more organic and textured than the usual plastics or clay. She loses all track of time in the windowless room required for complete control of lighting her environments, her days and nights blend together, and her friends at college are starting to question her state of mind. In the liminal spaces between full wakefulness and sleep, her creations seem to move on their own.

Aisling Franciosi is a great lead actress; she has to sell a lot in this film completely on her own, with perhaps only an idea of what the final animations would look like. The animations are great, but as a "visual storyteller" Robert Morgan also knows the importance of a rich soundscape, and it is memorably effective in this dark nightmare.

BRAMAYUGAM

India (Malayalam language), d. Rahul Sadasivan, 2h20m, ***1/2, In cinemas now

Thevan, a folk singer of low caste in medieval Southern India, escapes slavery into the deep jungle. After days of walking, he finds himself desperate for food and water, and cut off from advancing further by a raging river fueled by monsoon rains. Suddenly he stumbles into the grounds of a seemingly abandoned mansion, the outer walls crumbling, the courtyard thickly overgrown with chest-high weeds, so he enters and breaks open a coconut for the refreshment inside.

But the mansion is occupied. He is caught and brought before the owner - a brahmin - who occupies it with only his cook to serve him. Thevan's beautiful singing voice is the only thing he has to offer the brahmin in payment for what he has taken. The lonely brahmin insists that he stay for a week, or longer; Thevan can't refuse "generosity" from someone at the top of the Hindu caste system.

Bramayugam has incredible production design; horror is still a rare genre in Indian cinema, but this is a statement film that they can do something on the level of American company A24. The high contrast black-and-white photography (and sweaty, testosterone-fueled cabin fever) has already drawn comparisons to The Lighthouse. The sound design is also incredible: there are creaks and bumps in the attic at night, the monsoon rains drip through cracks in the roof, the swollen river laps at the basement of the house. The unsettling brahmin chews narcotic betel leaves and clears his sinuses loudly.

He is played by Mammootty, a 72-year-old actor of incredible range who has been a major star in Malayalam cinema for over 40 years. It's amazing how much he transforms here (he appeared in one of my favorite films of 2023, Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam) and has the fearlessness to play someone so utterly gross. But Malayalam cinema has survived by being a hotbed of innovation and experimentation. They have to stand out in a country where five languages earn a higher share of total box office (and by a wide margin).

The only misstep for Bramayugam is its length; the 90-minute first half starts to drag and feel too repetitive. However, the 50 minutes after the intermission are brilliant, with some genuinely surprising twists and a satisfying conclusion that comments on the evils of India's caste system (which is frankly well-worn territory in Indian cinema). The best compliment that the movie can receive is not that it resembles an A24 film, but that it feels as rich and haunting as a Japanese yokai ghost story.

What I'm Watching: March TV

SHOGUN

FX and Hulu, Series started on 2/27

I've already seen the first 2 episodes of this, and it's spectacular. Originally set to start filming in Japan in 2019, they held it back to develop further, and there are few TV shows that look as thoroughly researched and designed as this one. Hiroyuki Sanada, one of Japan's greatest movie stars, is part of the producing team, a true multi-national collaboration. This is the TV event of the year.

A SHOP FOR KILLERS

Hulu, Series first aired in January and is ready-to-binge

An early hit for Korean TV this year, A Shop for Killers follows teen girl Jeong Jian who lives with her uncle and discovers that he is involved in a network of assassins straight out of John Wick. The popular show stars some major actors from Korean TV & movies; "K dramas" are known for their twists and turns, but this one also promises to have intense action sequences in every episode.