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SXSW 2025: WE ARE STORROR: Michael Bay’s Parkour Documentary Will Be One of 2025’s Greatest Docs
I’d never heard of parkour super group Storror before watching this film. That didn’t matter.
I was hooked by this invigorating documentary from the title card, and found myself crying as the credits rolled and the crowd rose to their feet to applaud the Storror crew and the master of Bayhem himself, Mr. Michael Bay. Apparently when Bay decided to add some parkour elements into his action film 6 Underground, he sought out the best in the world and found them in the Storror crew, who have achieved a global following through their YouTube channel. Their working relationship got on so well that they linked up during the COVID era and after years of work, churned out this remarkable documentary We Are Storror.
The pitch was easy for me. Michael Bay directed a documentary about parkour? In other words, the frenetic and groundbreaking camera work of, say, Ambulance, combined with the anxiety-inducing energy of climbing doc Free Solo? Count me in without any further details needed. (Although, in Free Solo, you kind of knew you weren’t going to see this guy fall. That’s not always the case here!) And yes, there were moments of extremely thrilling and harrowing stunts, captured by the Storror guys themselves (they’re accomplished content creators), as well as some (what else can I call them but:) action set pieces that feel engineered for a level of Bay energy that befits the man himself. But above and beyond the sometimes nauseating and always spectacular parkour stunts, which were born for the YouTube era and have innate cinematic qualities to them, there’s a fascinating beating heart at the core of the film. And believe it or not, even if you’ve never even heard of parkour, much less done it, the film is highly relatable and emotionally resonant.
Storror are a squad of 7 guys who started messing around as children together in London, filming various pranks, stunts, and daring acts of tresspassing. There are two sets of brothers in the crew, and together they have a lifelong bond formed that’s so far lasted 16 years and led them to being one of the premiere YouTube channels in the United Kingdom. The film isn’t just a flashy capturing of their daring exploits. It’s a genuine look at the pure pursuit of art, damn the consequences. It’s a portrait of growing up, growing older, and growing apart. It’s a reflection on the fleeting nature of our lives and the limitations of our bodies. It’s men pursuing a passion, together, and being remarkably open, honest, and skeptical of the paths they’ve chosen. It also jumps around in time covering roughly 16 years that endears you to the guys, and grounds you in their journey (all of which is masterfully edited).
You’re watching these guys risk their lives over and over again, and sometimes you feel like their mother, wanting to “tsk tsk” them and tell them to get down from there before they hurt themselves. But then you’ll see them prepping, planning, choreographing, and doing all the safety work they can. And then the drones take off, the needle drops, and you watch pure, unbridled beauty in motion happen on the big screen and you understand that these are artists and athletes, pushing the boundaries of the human experience in a way that is instantly meaningful, nay profound.
I can’t relate to jumping from rooftop to rooftop, and I never will. But I can connect with having to make a choice between your family/career/safety and your art. I can resonate with what it means to have to commit so fully to something that you’ll be letting down your team if you half ass it. We can all relate to searching for meaning, connection, and purpose. And that’s central to the experience of We Are Storror.
But it also kicks incredible amounts of ass. These guys are showmen. They’re visual artists. This doc takes us with them to exotic locations as they design stunning parkour sequences and then we see them. Clear as day. With popping color and soaring aerials. They see cities from an entirely different perspective than we do and James Gunn or Matt Reeves’ Batman teams would do well to hire these guys to give us the most breathtaking rooftop chases we’ve ever seen. It’s a remarkable cinematic experience and I’ll be forever grateful I was able to see this on a big screen. The film has not scored distribution yet and I’m hopeful that a theatrical distributor will snatch it up and show this on the biggest screens in the world. (Cough, IMAX, cough).
Bay is a proven master of spectacle with really little left to prove at this stage of his career. And as much as we all love his gloves off excess, this Bay fan tends to connect most with some of his more grounded (for Bay) offerings, like the aforementioned Ambulance, or Pain And Gain, or even 13 Hours. At Bay’s direction here, the Storror crew opened up, stripped down (sometimes literally), got vulnerable, and made this film about pushing boundaries, seeking purity, and understanding when to change. It’s a character study filled with humanity, even when flirting with superhuman capability. It’s a singular cinematic experience viewers won’t soon forget.
And I’m Out.
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SXSW 2025: O’DESSA an Oddly Compelling, Wonderfully, Weird, Fairytale
O’Dessa which just screened at SXSW is a story we’re all very familiar with. A post-apocalyptic world, ruled by an evil dictator, with a mysterious prophecy promising that a young hero will rise up and save said world — that being said, it’s still quite different.
The “Rock Opera’s” setting is “another time, another place”, where we are introduced to the film’s namesake O’Dessa played by Sadie Sink, of Stranger Things Fame. She lives in the mountains and farms a mysterious oil-like substance, called Plazma, with her dying mother. The prophecy goes, “the seventh son of O’Dessa’s family will be the one to free the land with their music”, but while O’Dessa is indeed the seventh generation child, she is a daughter; but still, she is told she has power to be the one.
The film sidesteps this formality by making 19 year-old O’Dessa masculine presenting, because gender is just a label – an abstract concept in this fairytale, and this allows the film to add its unique spin on the formula as also we gender-swap some more of these more well worn character archetypes. When her mother dies in the opening act, we discover O’Dessa is the last of a line of “Wanderers” – a group who travel and lift the spirits of the downtrodden through song. This designation has the young woman channeling a fifties rockabilly vibe, by immediately cutting and slicking back her hair, paired with her deceased father’s magical six string hoisted on her back.
It’s not long on her quest the guitar is stolen, which puts O’Dessa on course to Satylite City, where the evil dictator Plutonovich (Murray Bartlett) broadcasts his hypnotic TV station that has the world in a doom scrolling death grip. O’Dessa’s quest is sidetracked however not only by losing her guitar, but her newfound love for a handsome cabaret singer/dancer/man of the night Euri Dervish (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) who plays the role of the sexy femme presenting fatale in this adventure. While the film bills itself as an “epic rock opera”, the musical stylings of O’Dessa leans a bit more organic/country and folksy rather than electric.
O’Dessa feels like a mashup of The Apple and Six String Samurai, with some Teen Spirit thrown in for good measure. That said, I will say what the film lacks in originality, it more than makes up for it in its approach to world building and the diversity of said world. The fact instead of the tradition male hero we have a woman, and her troubled traditionally female love interest is a black man, is something that definitely makes this story standout – as well as its defiant spirit. It’s something I know in our current socio-political climate will probably result in some conservative pearl clutching, given Sink’s Stranger Things Pedigree, but it feels organic and authentic to this world presented here.
While Sink attempts to embody the reluctant hyper masculine hero archetype however, she does so to varying degrees of success, not due to any dearth of performance, mind you. But costumes that are simply too big for her, making the 19 year-old Sink appear as a child playing dress up at times rather than the actual hero saving the world. While Sink can indeed sing, and she does beautifully, I feel like her musical stylings sadly, never quite evoke the same emotional resonance of her male co-star. Harrison Jr. on the other hand, is a powerhouse of song, emotion and chaos on screen, basically stealing the film out from under his co-star whenever he has the spotlight. He definitely has his Defying Gravity moment, which eludes Sadie.
The pair together thankfully have the kind of chemistry that’s palpable, delivering a relationship that will help you overlook some of the film’s weaker moments, solidifying the heart and soul of the piece. I personally think that’s a more interesting story than this whole post-apocalyptic narrative, but that’s just me. I also thought for a musical this film, possibly should have had more songs and maybe experimented with more genres of music. When all is said and done, O’Dessa is an oddly compelling, fascinating and wonderfully, weird fairytale that I hope will find an audience. It’s such a hard sell, especially given the current political cycle we’re in, but like its protagonist I think it has the heart to persevere to someday find those that resonate with this heartfelt ode to the outsiders.
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SEVEN VEILS is a Haunting Examination of Trauma
“I’ve been asked to make this personal…so I will.”
Reading up on Seven Veils, I found out that the reason behind writer/director Atom Egoyan’s latest film was due to an offer he received some time back to revive the classic play Salome for the stage. Understandably, the director found such a task daunting and refused. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what such an undertaking would do to a creative were they to say yes. The amount of creative energy and the toll on their psyche were notions that fascinated Egoyan to the point where he had no choice but to explore them. The experience was a perfectly organic jumping-off point for any story to be birthed from, driven by curiosity and inspiration. Simply put, it’s the kind of stuff great films are made of. The question that remains, however, is: Is Seven Veils a great film?
In Seven Veils, theater director Jeanine (Amanda Seyfried) is asked to mount a new production of the opera version of the classic Salome as a tribute to her late mentor. However, when challenges start to present themselves in the form of a difficult leading man (Michael Kupfer-Radecky), a troubled home life, and dark recollections from the past, Jeanine starts to question her sanity.
From Opening Night to All That Jazz to Black Swan, the theater space has continually proven to be the perfect backdrop for madness to take place. It’s no wonder then that from the offset, the world Jeanine inhabits doesn’t feel right. As a director, she keeps coming up against roadblocks thanks to her temperamental lead actor and producers not wanting her to make any changes to the piece, even though she says the ones she intends to make would be small, yet meaningful. Seven Veils credibly portrays the creative process of a director tasked with reinterpreting a famous work and how they try hard to put that aside so that their own artistic sensibilities can exist. The rehearsal scenes showing an unwavering Jeanine trying hard to express her vision all feel real and invigorating to watch. Additionally, the narration from her character matches the haunted quality of the film. It’s a device that works since she is, after all, haunted by her past with both her mentor, Charles, and her father. There’s always a haunting quality about theaters and the ghosts of both performers and characters that have existed there never having left. For Jeanine, this is certainly true.
While Seven Veils shows Egoyan in top form, some aspects of the film feel a little stilted. The lack of subtlety when it comes to certain plot points does come off as a tad amateurish for a filmmaker of Egoyan’s pedigree. Likewise, much of the film’s more telling moments don’t seem to have much room with which to breathe, making the storytelling come off as somewhat jumbled and rushed. There’s a finesse that’s noticeably absent early on when it comes to making the narrative feel cohesive and the film does feel like it starts to lose steam the moment it starts venturing into Jeanine’s home life, despite this being such a vital part of her journey. Egoyan manages to rebound in the second half, however and can make a classic premise feel intense and relevant. A subplot with prop master Clea (Rebecca Dilliard) feels like a distraction that the film doesn’t need, at first. Eventually, though, the way it mirrors parts of Jeanine’s past becomes one of the film’s most telling aspects. Finally, seeing how a lot of the roadblocks Jeanine is facing seem to trace back to the fact that a woman is directing a text written by a man and historically interpreted by men cannot be ignored.
Seven Veils offers Seyfried’s most complex and layered performance to date. The actress is surrounded by an assortment of talented actors, such as Kupfer-Radecky, Dilliard, and Mark O’Brien as Jeanine’s estranged husband. However Seyfried remains the centerpiece. The actress has never been fully appreciated for how much of an internal actress she is. Here, she conveys so much with only looks, glances, and a very specific physicality. There’s something quietly intoxicating about the way Seyfried takes Jeanine to more intense levels from her diary entries, to rehearsals, to her recalling of the past she shared with Charles. With so much to work with and many places to take her, the role of Jeanine is just the right fit for Seyfried at this exciting stage in her career.
For those who may be unaware or don’t remember, Seven Veils represents a reunion between Seyfried and Egoyan, who last collaborated back in 2009 on the erotic thriller Chloe. At the time of that pairing, the director was still trying to not let his Oscar-nominated film The Great Hereafter define him while she was still looking to go beyond the comedic image set forth by the popularity of Mean Girls. Since then the two have amassed bodies of work which have seen them venture to places both dark and daring. Egoyan’s 2016 film, Remember, was a harrowing experience, while Seyfried gave herself to the powers of transformation in projects like Mank and The Dropout. Their work together on Seven Veils shows the fruits of their respective journeys as artists and proves inspiring enough to make us hope that there’s yet another collaboration in the future.
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SXSW 2025: IT ENDS Defies Genre to Forge Its Own Path
“The road goes on forever” is maybe less of a party than it seems.
One of the joys of festival hopping is discovering new talent, innovative voices that capture your attention. It is equally exciting to get to spread the word about them. Thus the fact my first film of this year’s SXSW was It Ends, the debut film from writer-director Alexander Ullom, was delightful. Because it not only features the eye of a promising auteur, but also a young cast brimming with talent.
Four college friends decide to go one last trip before their lives splinter off. But as they attempt to get away to their lives as reluctant adults, they find themselves on a secluded road that seems to have no end. When they attempt to U-turn their way back the way they came, they find themselves trapped at a dead end. And when they try to leave their car? Crazed people emerge from the woods that surround them, desperately attempting to get in their car.
Thus we join them on the road, a seemingly unending journey. Eventually they also realize other strange circumstances. They never grow hungry. Their car can’t run out of gas. They don’t need to sleep. Are they dead? Are they being punished? Why would God allow this? Is there a God? These are all the questions that the passengers ask themselves. But also, who would win: a man with a gun, or 50 hawks? You know, the important questions of life.
The contrast of these tones, a nightmarish trap that is the backdrop for a road trip hang movie, makes for a contrast that immediately feels fresh. Imagine if 90s Linklater made a post-apocalyptic zombie movie and you are approaching the vibe. This is a road trip movie, but the destination is unknown and unreachable.
Perhaps the greatest tool Ullom has at his disposal is the great cast he has assembled for himself. While this is not any of their first film, Mitchell Cole, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, and Phineas Yoon exhibit such naturalistic chemistry you fully buy their longstanding friendship. And with only four actors to lean on, the pressure is put on each of their shoulders. But the cast, lifted by a breezy and confident script, create a naturalistic space to explore the supernatural. Each actor takes moments for being the lead, others to play support, but with both the confines and structure, their assemblage is the central concern.
Which is where the central metaphor for It Ends lies. The journey before us is unknowable, unseeable. But the passengers we carry along side us define the journey. Viewers who are seeking concrete answers may leave the film disappointed, but the central purpose for this journey is to recognize how important what, and who, you bring along with you truly is.
Genre-rise, It Ends is tricky to pin down. It is nominally a horrific scenario to consider, but the heart of the film isn’t in the tension. Rather, it is in the connection, the human experience. The end result is a piece that feels singular and somewhat outside easy classification. While it lacks some degree of flash, partially due to being put together on a shoestring budget, it uses its setting of seemingly endless tree-lined streets to good effect. It is a deeply thoughtful, spiritual film about the odd circumstances of life, eternity and whatever might come after. -
Pattinson, Pattinson, and Ho Prove a Memorable Trio with MICKEY 17
“Our entire life is a punishment.”
In the past, I’ve found myself referencing Paul Auster occasionally. The quintessential New York writer, and godfather of the postmodern detective novel, Auster was one of the most prolific authors of his generation whose most notable work, The New York Trilogy, remains an early exercise in meta storytelling. “City of Glass” is the first story in The New York Trilogy and is about a depressed private eye who is hired to track down a man only to briefly encounter another man who looks just like him. Narratively, the story is as far removed from Mickey 17 as can be. However, the idea of a man unexpectedly running into his true self is proudly on display here with Mickey 17.
In a dystopian future, a space employee named Mickey (Robert Pattinson) holds down a job as an expendable, an employee whose mere function is to go out and investigate the frozen planet his superiors are trying to colonize at deadly risk to his own life. Fortunately, Mickey has allowed himself to be copied/cloned and sent back onto the planet over and over again all in the name of research. However, when the 17th version of Mickey accidentally survives, it causes him to come face to face with Mickey 18, setting into motion events that will threaten everything.
Bong Joon Ho’s adaptation of Edward Ashton’s novel is definitely not going to be for everybody with its complex plot and high-concept ideas. Even describing the film in logline form to someone takes some serious creativity. Mickey 17 makes some big swings but thankfully has very few misses. For a film that offers space creatures, various forms of death, some gross-out moments, and a tongue-in-cheek nature throughout, that’s saying a lot. Its view of a dystopian future is eerie enough to instill dread, especially when it comes to the heavy political plot points that are an inevitable presence in a movie like this. Admittedly, some of these elements are rather heavy-handed, but then again so are the real-life inspirations they derive from. Thank goodness this is a funny movie that’s chock full of dark humor, particularly in the way everyone treats Mickey’s station in life as the most normal thing in the world. With an architecture that’s almost impossible to predict and a director unafraid of blending genres, Mickey 17 is endlessly fascinating and never boring.
Going back to the Auster mention before, it’s clear that the author’s landmark work influenced Mickey 17, even if indirectly. A lot is going on both under and above the surface in Mickey 17, but the ideas of isolationism and the individual are deceptively at the forefront when it comes to Mickey himself, who more or less exists as a ghost, a non-entity within his own life story. Mickey is such a sad character, but one who finds purpose the only way he can allow himself to until he finds himself bolstered by what happens when he finally ceases to die. The film does a good job of distinguishing the two Mickeys we see and presenting them as the dual sides that live within all of us. This comes through most when Mickey 17 first encounters Mickey 18, his other, who inspires him to finally be an active participant in his own life. This allows Ho to play with, and genuinely explore, the concept of self and society against a sci-fi backdrop, the likes of which the screen has rarely seen before.
Mickey 17 also gives audiences the chance to see yet another side of Pattinson as he continues his journey as an actor not afraid to tackle roles that are both challenging and unconventional. The way he plays the Mickey we see in the beginning as someone who never caught a break, and the later Mickey as a fearless renegade, shows Pattinson as an actor with countless abilities. Naomi Nackle is an invaluable presence as Nasha, the only woman Mickey could ever connect with, while Steven Yeun is great as Timo, Mickey’s supposed friend, whose alliances are always changing.
Mark Ruffalo is on hand for villain duties as Kenneth Marshall, the leader of the spaceship. To say the actor is doing a full-on Donald Trump impression would be too easy. Yet there’s no getting around what his performance seems inspired by. Finally, complete with tiny whispers in her husband’s ear, Toni Collette as Kenneth’s wife Ylfa, seems to be having a ball doing a version of Nancy Reagan, albeit one with far more flair and maniacal qualities than the former First Lady ever had.
If it feels like the moviegoing public has been hearing about Mickey 17 for what seems like ages now, it’s because they have. The movie has seen more release delays than any movie with a cast/crew pedigree like this one should have to see. Numerous reasons were cited for the delays, but it’s hard to see the principal one being anything more than uncertainly about the movie’s commercial prospects. This is a valid concern since the film deals with unpleasant (somewhat political) topics and asks a socially-exhausted audience to laugh at them. I, for one, can’t imagine mainstream audiences willingly taking on such an ask, but I also can’t imagine how anyone who sits down to watch Mickey 17 not embracing the ride.
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SXSW 2025: ONE MORE SHOT. Personal Growth through Time-loops and Tequila
An Aussie comedy about a temporally tinged mid-life crisis
Minnie (Emily Browning, Sucker Punch, Legend) is stuck in a rut, she just doesn’t know it yet. Personally and soon to be temporally as well. Coming off a rough shift at the hospital where she works as an anesthetist, a random encounter with an ex and his heavily pregnant new partner, brings the stagnation of her life into sharp focus. She’s 36, single, her friends view her as unreliable, and she’s currently squatting on the sofa at her best friend Flick’s (Anna McGahan) house. Down in the dumps, she’s inclined to cancel plans to bring in the new millennium at a Y2K party hosted by their friend Rodney. (Ashley Zukerman). That is until she learns that her old flame Joe (Sean Keenan) will be there fresh from a return from working overseas. She digs out a slinky red dress and a 10 year bottle of tequila and upon arrival is hit with the sobering reality of Joe’s new girlfriend, an ensuing marriage proposal, and a collision with glass door. A dejected swing of the tequila later and Minnie finds herself back on the doorstep at the start of the night. Confusion, and a few more experimental shots of tequila, gives way to the realization of what has transpired and Minnie starts to see how she might shape the evening to get herself a better future.
When done right, the time-loop genre is the perfect device for both comedy and reflective emotional arcs. The obvious benchmark is Groundhog Day. In recent years we’ve had Palm Springs bolster the ranks with its irreverent charms, and River deliver a refreshingly sweet and quirky temporal tale. One More Shot sets itself apart by adopting a more mature temperament, a comedy for grown-ups if you will, and a plot that revolves around the personal growth of the protagonist rather than an romantic resolution.
Writers Gregory Erdstein and Alice Foulcher wisely avoid delving into answering the how or why of it all, instead focusing on the emotional journey. For Minnie, the reality check earlier in the evening is followed by a missed chance at a kiss with Joe, something than informs her “what could be?” way of thinking and her efforts to try and bend the timeline to her whims with each successive reset. Taming time and the variables within each loop obviously aint that easy, and it feels like Minnie is being put through the various stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, all before a final level of acceptance that the only thing she can really change is herself. Yep, it’s personal growth by way of time-loops and tequila.
One More Shot is well directed by Nicholas Clifford. Snappily paced and smartly structured with the loops well used to push the plot forward, elicit a laugh, veer in a wackier direction as Minnie vents her frustrations during a loop, or deliver another bit of personal information about the rest of the group. The chemistry works well between the supporting cast, conveying a lived in vibe as well as some of the long bubbling tensions you’d expect from such a group. Browning is spot on with her portrayal of this flawed but undeniably winsome woman, which is key to what makes the film draw you in and also its message. That now and then, we all need to take a bit of time to work on ourselves.
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Is WIN OR LOSE the Best Thing Pixar Has Ever Made?
Pixar’s first attempt at an original TV show is a home run.
Pixar has been in an unenviable position for a while now. Between multiple films being shipped directly to streaming, having to resort to half-hearted sequels, and a general sense they have lost their touch as the leaders in big budget animation, it is hard to argue their glory days are ahead of them. Instead it seems they are drafting on the remaining goodwill of their past successes, seeking for a new identity.
The good news is they may have found it, at least creatively, with their latest venture. And it comes from a fairly surprising medium: television. Namely Win Or Lose, the first ever fully original television series from the studio (RE: not a spin-off from one of their movies, which they have done twice now.) Centered on a middle school co-ed softball team, Win Or Lose is a remarkable achievement in storytelling, telling a fractured narrative that reveals depth, empathy and shocking maturity. I initially thought it was easily the best thing that Pixar has made in a decade; I increasingly am potentially convinced it is the best piece of entertainment Pixar has ever made.
Told in eight episode, each showing the same week-long period from a different perspective, Win Or Lose follows the players of the Pickles, and the adults in their lives, as they prepare for the State softball championship. But that’s really just the table setting. The actual meat of what makes Win Or Lose special is the way it uses that format to show remarkably moving, often heartbreaking human portraits of the inner lives of both kids and adults.
One episode follows Laurie, the daughter of the Pickles’ coach who worries that she won’t ever live up to her father’s expectations; this manifests in the person of a wisecracking, anthropomorphic sweat bubble who voices her inner self-doubt and imposter syndrome. Another focuses on Mr. Brown, the umpire for the softball games who is attempting to rebound from the one who got away, but uncertain if he should expose his real self or project a manufactured persona.
In fact, masking over insecurities is a running theme throughout the show. The viewer sees the actual identity of characters portrayed through dynamic magical realism, but in ways that only exist within their own heads. One of the delights is to see characters pop up in other episodes and realize we know something that those around them don’t; when we see Laurie obsessively working out in the background of another episode, we know it is because she believes that is the only way she can prove herself to her dad. Early on in the show we meet Yuwan, Pickles pitcher and obnoxious jokester. In his own episode, we learn how he uses humor as a defense mechanism to protect his sensitive inner self. His heart is literally made of cardboard.
Even the release schedule for the show feels intentional. Episodes come out on Wednesday, two at a time. While this is standard for Disney+ shows, it also allows the creators to pair episodes in interesting way. One pair includes Rochelle, the Pickles’ catcher who sees herself as having to function as an adult to make up for the immaturity of her charismatic mother, only for the paired episode to show her mother Van drowning in her own anxieties and frustrations as a young, single mother.
The only frustration with Win Or Lose is knowing it could be even better. Two more episodes remain to be released, one focusing on the Coach of the Pickles and one focusing on star player Kai. Kai was originally planned to be explicitly a trans girl, which naturally matches a lot of themes of interior life that the show focuses on. Unfortunately, due to cultural pressures and wanting to avoid blowback, Disney made the executive decision to change this, much to the frustration and pain of multiple creatives involved. Kai’s episode is set to premier next week, so I am curious to see how much they changed this depiction.
Despite this unfortunate corporate meddling, everyone involved with the show should be delighted with the final product, a profound work of compassion, empathy and love that digs at both the melancholy associated with being a kid and the anxiety that never quite escapes us into adulthood. It is a triumph in television storytelling, and suggests the depth of talent at Pixar has never been better. Hopefully it is a beacon for a golden age for the historic, groundbreaking studio.
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Criterion Review: Guillermo del Toro’s CRONOS
A macabre morality tale that lets del Toro dip his toes into vampiric legend
Guillermo del Toro (Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, Mimic, Hellboy) has carved out a name for himself as a filmmaker of unparalleled vision. This goes beyond the technical aspects of shooting a film, or composition of visuals, this is a man invested in every small detail of what goes into the look and feel of his films. This was even apparent in Cronos, his debut feature back in 1992, a film that nestled into his unofficial Spanish language trilogy alongside The Devil’s Backbone, and Pan’s Labyrinth, each creatively exploring ideas around myth, mortality, and morality.
Opening in the 16th century with an alchemist who has crafted a device that can prolong life, albeit at a great cost. An Earthquake brings an end to his sordid experiments. Hundreds of years later this cursed trinket is uncovered by elderly antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) who through handling the device uncovers it’s secret. His encounter with the device that starts dialing back the years, but the cursed artifact unleashes not only a craving for human-blood, but the interest of wealthy industrialist Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) who has long sought the scarab as a way to prolong his own life. He dispatches his nephew Angel (Ron Perlman in blunt force mode) to recover the resurfaced relic from Jesús, setting a bloody scramble in motion.
Cronos is a macabre morality tale, one that lets del Toro dip his toes into vampiric legend, leveraging tales of immortality into a haunting fable. His predilection for exploring monsters and villains is at the core of the, the two not being equitable. While Jesús is tempted by this object and being turned by it’s transformative abilities, he remains grounded by his warmly realized relationship with his granddaughter, Aurora (Tamara Xanath). Dieter uses those around him, even family, to serve his ongoing lust for power. A fitting parallels to the undercurrents of addiction that accompany vampiric lore. The film is certainly melancholic in tone, encircling aging, death, and decay, but tempered by some dark humor and playfully gnarly body horror. The thing that lingers is that beating heart that del Toro puts at the core of all his films, here echoing a warning about losing humanity when we gain at the expense of others, and championing the way we should seek to live on in the cherished memories of our loved ones.
The Package
Originally shot on 16 and 35mm, this 4K transfer and restoration comes supervised and approved by director Guillermo del Toro. The package looks to contain the previous Blu-ray treatment from the 2010 Criterion release, so a immediate comparison is possible.
Density levels are much improved, especially in darker scenes, while the range of color and contrast is appreciably heightened. Grain levels also feel stronger, but not in a distracting or artificial way. There is a definite tint towards more green hues which might discourage some, but with del Toro signing off on the transfer, this suggests a shift towards an intended palette. Extra features are very well supported with:
- Optional original Spanish-language voice-over introduction
- Two audio commentaries, one featuring del Toro, the other producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall: Both reinforce the idea of del Toro’s creativity and decisive impact upon the look and feel of the film. Specifics to even small details are gleamed, as well as inspiration drawn from history, literature, and cinema in general. Superb commentaries
- Geometria, an unreleased 1987 short horror film by del Toro, finished in 2010, alongside an interview with the director: an early work where you can see some of the seeds for Chronos being planted
- Welcome to Bleak House, a tour by del Toro of his home office, featuring his personal collections: If you think the glimpses into del Toro’s imagination are wild, wait until you get a load of his home. A treasure trove of curios, collectables, and movie memorabilia
- Interviews with del Toro, cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, and actors Ron Perlman and Federico Luppi: Short, but well informed interviews with key members of the cast and crew that cover aspects of the films production, look, on-set memories and the experience of working with del Toro
- Stills gallery captioned by del Toro
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh (and several other new essays on the film) and excerpts from del Toro’s notes for the film: Within the liner notes booklet
- Cover by Mike Mignola – The creator of Hellboy!
The Bottom Line
Cronos is a finely crafted debut from Guillermo del Toro, showcasing a potently raw but fleshed out vision that reflects both the creativity and heart that has fueled his storied career ever since. Criterion’s 4K transfer of Cronos is resplendent, and supported by a wealth of extra features that enrich appreciation for the film, as well as the filmmaker.
Cronos on 4K-UHD is available via Criterion now
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CAPTAIN BLOOD: Codifying the Romantic Swashbuckler [Two Cents]
![CAPTAIN BLOOD: Codifying the Romantic Swashbuckler [Two Cents]](https://i0.wp.com/cinapse.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Captain-Blood-Art-1.jpg?resize=1140%2C1425&ssl=1)
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me
Alex Raymond’s poster for 1935’s Captain Blood Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to [email protected].
Flashing blades, roaring cannons, daring rogues swinging through the air to the aid of their true loves and to battle dastardly villains – there’s a definitive image, however ephemeral in exact detail, that comes to mind when you hear the word “swashbuckler.” Stories of romantic adventure in this vein stretch back at least to the days of Alexandre Dumas’s Musketeers, Baroness Orczy’s Scarlett Pimpernel, and Sir Walter Scott’s Wilfred of Ivanhoe, and they’ve been mined for cinematic adaptation and inspiration almost since the birth of the medium, and their influence can be seen from Jack Sparrow’s Caribbean to galaxies far, far away. This month sees Cinapse’s team looking at nearly a century of swashbuckling sagas from their black-and-white roots to the brand-new reinventions of the form to examine why these tales are so enticing, so timeless, and who told them the best.
The Pick: Captain Blood (1935)
Errol Flynn as Captain Peter Blood Kicking us off in style is the 1935 adaptation of Rafael Sabatini’s historical adventure Captain Blood. Like many productions of this era, Blood was a second pass at a story that had initially been made as a silent film, which Warner Bros. decided to come back to after 1934’s The Count of Monte Cristo breathed new life into the Hollywood swashbuckler. Both Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland were second choices for their respective lead roles, but their blistering chemistry and natural talents helped turn Captain Blood into a huge hit for the studio and made the young leads into high-demand movie stars. Join the buccaneers at Cinapse to find out if this high seas adventure still has some wind in its sails.
Captain Peter Blood and his loyal crew The Team
Ed Travis
Part of me championed the idea of a month’s worth of swashbuckler programming at Cinapse JUST as a great excuse to finally cross Captain Blood off my list of shame.
I had a great time with it and am thrilled to have finally seen this seminal cornerstone of action cinema. I’m not sure it absolutely blew my socks off and enters a hallowed place of all-time greatness for me, but I highly enjoyed it and will spend my brief word count singing some specific praises that I wanted to single out.
First of all, this is a full on action movie. To some degree I feel like the modern understanding of an action movie didn’t quite coalesce until the 1980s, but here we have this 1935 rip roarer that is relentlessly paced, building to an all out massive action/battle set piece aboard pirate ships that rivals shit Peter Jackson was putting on the big screen in the Lord Of The Rings franchise. There’s model work and set design happening here that puts Star Wars to shame. That bit is just kind of mind blowing and makes you wonder how Michael Curtiz was even able to pull this off.
I also appreciated the epic scope of the story. It’s dated today, but you knew in 1935 you were being treated to a globe-spanning, years-passing epic when you have like a dozen title cards that walk you through big happenings. I didn’t mind. Actually, it kind of made me want those title cards to come back into style. Maybe a lil on screen text would help me not have to watch an entire Marvel TV series, for instance, to understand what’s happening in the latest chapter of the MCU? But I digress.
Through the first half of the film I feared there simply wasn’t enough sword fighting or rope swinging for my swashbuckling tastes, but we’re in good hands with a frankly cold and grim tale of slavery and autocracy that is building to a satisfying showdown of good versus evil for the entire final act.
Errol Flynn charms, Olivia de Havilland dazzles, Michael Curtiz flexs, and a dashing good time is had by all.
Lord Willoughby (Henry Stephenson), Arabella Bishop (Olivia de Havilland) and Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) Brendan Foley
The only real knock against Captain Blood’s legacy is that it can’t help but feel like a rough draft for the Technicolor perfection that is The Adventures of Robin Hood. That film takes every necessary lesson from this one, doubling down on what works and delivering the definitive great adventure film.
But, hell, Captain Blood is still A great adventure film. Flynn swaggers and swashbuckles his way into movie star godhood, de Havilland is luminous throughout, and Basil Rathbone comes darn close to stealing the whole thing with his too-brief turn as a saucy French villain. You can feel the fingerprints of Captain Blood on most every pirate film going forward, as Curtiz so perfectly realizes the iconography of the genre that everyone else afterwards can use his work as a free cheat code.
In particular, the grand duel between Flynn and Rathbone amidst the crashing waves on a tropical beach is perhaps the entire ‘swashbuckling’ aesthetic in miniature, emblazoned onto celluloid forever.
Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone dueling on the beach in Captain Blood Brendan Agnew
Watching Captain Blood is a slightly surreal experience, because – on the one hand – it’s very much a movie still reacting to the advent of the “talkies” and the (when it was made) modern approach to filmmaking (complete with the occasional interruption of narrative text block shepherding the audience between scenes, settings, or periods of time). Eric Wolfgang Korngold is on hand for the rousing score, but it’s not as nuanced or reactive as his later work in the genre, and it’s far more obvious here than in, say, The Adventures of Robin Hood that the stunt team was having to work around Flynn’s relative inexperience with fencing.
However, there’s still an undeniably potent core that comes through even so many decades later. Not only in how Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland have insane chemistry and could burn down Port Royal with their movie star sparks, but also in how deftly Casey Robinson’s screenplay adapts Rafael Sabatini’s historical adventure novel which condenses years into 2 breathless hours. Not only was this fairly early in Hollywood’s history of adapting (relatively) recent works, but it was also a complex period production with the army of costumed extras and set-and-model work that there wasn’t exactly a proven blueprint for at the time. However, the confidence with which director Michael Curtiz blazes through the story of Dr. Peter Blood’s journey from pacifist surgeon to slave to pirate iconoclast makes it a small wonder he had The Adventures of Robin Hood and Casablanca in him.
For all that there’s more than a few elements of this movie that feel like a first pass at what would work even better in later collaborations, you can also see the straight line that connects this film to modern successors like The Princess Bride, Cutthroat Island, and Pirates of the Caribbean. And the beats still hit, from the cathartic escape and capture of a ship by Blood’s fellow slaves to the massive 2-on-1 ship battle finale in the harbor of Port Royal. The romance and swashbuckling and delightfully explosive models lose none of their potency for being able to see some of the seams, and the story of a man trying to live comfortably only to be radicalized when oppression finds him at home has proven all too timeless.
Theatrical poster for 1935’s Captain Blood And with that, we weigh anchor and bid adieu to the good captain and his bonny lass. Our indomitable crew covered this creative team’s direct follow-up back in 2020 when we marked the passing of Olivia de Havilland with our merry band covering The Adventures of Robin Hood, but if you’re still hungering for more buckling of swash, we have many more in store for you.
March: Swashbuckling Adventure On and Off the High Seas
Our month of Swashbuckling continues all March, culminating in the two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel!
March 10 – Cutthroat Island (Tubi / Hoopla – 2 hours 4 minutes)
March 17 – Hook (Digital Rental / Purchase – 2 hours 21 minutes)
March 24 – The Court Jester (Digital Rental / Purchase – 1 hour 41 minutes)
March 31 – The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan (Hulu – 2 hrs 1 minute) / Milady (Hulu – 1 hour 55 minutes)
And We’re Out.
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In Honor of Demi Moore
“This is my real world.”
The Academy Awards have come and gone and we are still living in a world where Demi Moore doesn’t have an Oscar. The actress had come closer than ever this past year with her turn as Elizabeth Sparkle in the dark comedy/body horror tale, The Substance. With the kind of buzz she hadn’t enjoyed since her breakout role in Ghost some 25 years earlier, and with a list of accolades as long as your arm, the Oscar was hers to lose, which she sadly did.
Even after all of the hoopla and acclaim that The Substance brought, it cannot be overstated just what the film did for Moore. The film challenged her in ways that were compelling to behold from the physical aspects to the raw emotions she was called upon to supply. Elizabeth’s scene in the mirror where she was tearing apart at her face touched a nerve within all who saw it and showed a side of the actress that many never knew existed.
For some, The Substance was a comeback for Moore, the dreaded word used when people assume an actor/actress has been away from the business when most times they were just turning out projects that got very little fanfare. This was certainly the case with Moore, who in between her high-profile turn in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and later visibility with a role on Empire and an insightful 2019 memoir, turned in high-quality work in an eclectic lineup of films.
In honor of the reappraisal Moore has gotten as an actress in the wake of The Substance, I thought it was worth revisiting some of those films that spotlight not just her draw towards different kinds of projects, but her eternally underestimated versatility as an actress.
Bobby
Emilio Estevez turned to writing and directing for his passion project about a day in the life of the men and women at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel as they prepare for a visit from Bobby Kennedy on that fateful day in 1968. Acclaimed upon release in 2006, Bobby offered audiences a great snapshot of the late 60s that spoke to the mood of the country and its many tensions. A standout among them was Moore as Virginia, a one-time movie star who has spiraled into alcoholism and can barely get it together to perform at that night’s event. Her monologue as she’s getting ready sees her consumed by great pain and self-loathing before summoning up the strength to take the stage for a stunning rendition of “Louie Louie.”
Mr. Brooks
Moore hasn’t taken on too many outwardly commercial films in recent years, preferring to stick more to the indie and arthouse scene. One exception was this 2007 thriller that starred Kevin Costner as a family man/serial killer and the Police Detective (Moore) determined to catch him. Detective Tracy Atwood was a jolt of a role that afforded Moore a rare female lead turn in a wide-release feature. It also just so happens that the character is worthy of her talents. Besides trying to capture a serial killer, Tracy has to contend with a messy divorce and the return of a criminal she helped put away years ago. But the best aspect of the movie is the cat-and-mouse dynamic between Costner and Moore that lasts right up until the end, making Mr. Brooks a thrilling piece of genre fun.
Flawless
There was a touch of Alfred Hitchcock-lite in this playful mystery caper reuniting Moore and Michael Caine after 20+ years since co-starring in 1984’s Blame it On Rio. In 2008’s Flawless, Moore plays Laura, a banking executive in 1960s London who takes up an offer from Caine’s elderly janitor, Hobbs, to pull off a diamond heist as revenge for being passed over for promotion. Even though she’s the audience surrogate, Laura nonetheless remains a highly watchable presence thanks to the character’s desperation, which Moore maintains a firm handle on and doles out at an incredibly precise level that works for the film’s numerous twists. Flawless didn’t receive much notice when first released, but it’s just the kind of mischievous gem that’s always a pleasure to discover.
The Joneses
Moore and David Duchovny star as Kate and Steve Jones, the heads of a seemingly perfect family who are actually stealth marketers, brought into upscale neighborhoods to befriend those who live there and subliminally convince them to buy the various products they’re secretly tasked with selling. This satirical 2010 comedy came out at just the right moment with a take on consumerism that was never timelier. Moore’s given a lot to work with in her portrayal of Kate, a woman who is defined by the role she’s taken on. The Joneses takes a serious turn near the end, but never loses sight of its aims, culminating in a pivotal scene in the final act when Kate is faced with leaving behind the world she knows and returning to the one she fought to escape.
Margin Call
Writer/director J.C. Chandor’s feature debut was one of the buzziest titles of 2011, eventually getting an Oscar nomination for its screenplay. Moore once again shines as part of an ensemble in this story about the top heads of an investment firm who are faced with an upcoming financial collapse. As Risk Manager Sarah, Moore takes a frosty character and reveals her vulnerabilities, which first and foremost includes carving out a career that has seen her rise in the ranks only to realize it will be her head that rolls first. It’s one of the most restrained performances Moore has ever given and her choice to not overplay her scenes speaks greatly to the journey that Sarah herself has taken on her way to the top.
Moore is one of those actresses whose name conjures up immediate big-screen favorites, from the classic (the aforementioned Ghost) to the reappraised (G.I. Jane), to the cult (Nothing But Trouble, anyone?). Even if most in and out of the industry didn’t always recognize the actress over the movie star, the kind of work she was able to deliver more than speaks for itself. Besides The Substance, Moore has also enjoyed recent TV success thanks to two of the most high-profile producers today with parts in Ryan Murphy’s Feud and Taylor Sheridan’s Landman. With speculation suggesting that she’s set to take over season two of the latter series, and with an intriguing role in the new feature from director Boots Reily already in the can, it looks like the industry can’t wait for more Moore.
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