Review: ‘Disclosure’ is an emotional nail biter that warrants discussion.

From writer/director Michael Bentham, a film that hammers home the notion that “there are two sides to every story, and then there is the truth.” DISCLOSURE follows two couples who go to war over an allegation of child-on-child abuse. Australian documentary maker Emily, and her journalist husband, Danny, are reeling from an allegation of abuse their 4-year-old daughter Natasha has made against a local politician’s 9-year-old son, Ethan. Ethan’s parents, Joel and Bek, arrive unannounced at Emily and Danny’s house intent on convincing the couple that Natasha’s allegation is a fabrication. Accusations, arguments, and the ultimate search for leverage turn their civil conversation into a vicious confrontation.

Couple Vs couple tangling over abuse allegations between their children is one of the most visceral watches of the year, especially as a parent and former teacher myself. Disclosure boasts glorious performances and incredibly effective editing. Geraldine Hakewill, Mark Leonard Winter, Tom Wren, and Matilda Ridgway are simply outstanding and the use of a stationary camera allows the focus to remain on the nuanced beats within each scene. Long takes add to the tension and push a voyeuristic, “How long have you been standing there?” type of position for the audience. The dialogue is so weighty that you cannot separate your feelings from the characters. That’s great storytelling. We also explore the dynamics of gender roles, political fallout, past trauma, and marriage. One of the most intriguing is the way men communicate and the way women do. The avoidance, passive-aggressiveness, versus directness, is fascinating. At one point all bets are off and these couples will do anything to protect both their children and their own self-interest. Whose side will you be on? The fact that this is based upon a true story makes the entire thing all the more horrific. This is a lose-lose scenario no one wants to be a part of, but it does beg a larger discussion in the #MeeToo era: believing victims, victim shaming, trauma treatment, and all that comes with it. Writer-Director Michael Bentham gives us a bold film that deserves your attention. The film makes its North American debut tomorrow. Take a look at the trailer for a peek at what the audience is in store for.

DISCLOSURE arrives on VOD on 6/30 and DVD  7/7

Review: ‘Battalion’ – Save Your Time & Money

Battalion

Release Date: January 9, 2018

Run Time: 1 hour 34 minutes

Reviewed By: Reel Reviews Over Brews

After a war against an enemy from another world breaks out in the South Pacific, a group of freshly recruited U.S. Marines are sent to the front lines.

Save your money and wait until Battalion ends up on the SYFY channel at 3AM one week night and even then, save your time. The acting, the graphics, the sound, and the story line were all terrible. With Unlimited Graphic Design Service available, they could have created the best graphics. The story line was hard to follow. It had potential, in the beginning, but didn’t follow through. I sure wish I could get that hour and a half back… if I could, I’d spend it on another Infinity War session! Actually, you’re even wasting your time reading this. I wish I could find one minute aspect that was worth talking about, but unfortunately there isn’t. Maybe they were going for the Sharknado plan, where it was so bad that it turns out to be good… well, they missed there too. Battalion reminded me a bit of Starship Troopers, but much, much worse. Like a high school AV class version. Hopefully you’ll take my advise and skip this one and let’s keep our fingers crossed they don’t try to make a sequel.

Reel ROB Rating: 1.5 out of 10 stars

Post Credits Scene: No

We want to thank our friends at Reel News Daily for allowing us to do this guest review!

Review: ‘The Misguided’

The Misguided

Theatrical Release: January 26, 2018

Guest review from Reel Reviews Over Brews

University dropout Levi (Caleb Galati) is a young man incapable of holding down a steady job and has a reputation of taking advantage of his romantic partners for his own selfish reasons, especially in gaining financial support. Having suddenly become single and homeless, he begrudgingly has to approach his overbearing big brother Wendel (Steven J. Mihaljevich) for temporary help with a place of residence until he can sort out his troubled relationship. Wendel truly loves Levi, and is a captivating and manipulating personality with a special talent of drawing others toward him. He has big dreams for himself but is ill equipped to fulfil any of them, being a drug addict and part time dealer with a deficient memory. He also struggles with personal sexual and mental issues and a fear of loneliness. Shortly after lodging with his brother, Levi begins a romance with his Wendel’s ex-girlfriend Sanja (Jasmine Nibali), and plans to start a new independent life for himself with his partner in a new city to finally become self-sufficient. But when he learns of a deadly predicament Wendel faces, his loyalties between those closest to him and his sense of familial duty become divided, and a reciprocal sense of duty to assist his bro results in a tricky scheme of subterfuge.

When we first heard about The Misguided, we kept reading how this would be Katherine Langford‘s (13 Reasons Why) first film role. This got us extremely excited as we loved her in the Netflix hit. Well, we found ourselves disappointed on this end because although, yes, it was her first film role, it was a very minute role with very few scenes.  Jasmine Nibali did however do a spectacular job as the lead woman. Between Nibali and Mihaljevich the acting was far better than expected. We found ourselves really enjoying Nibali and couldn’t get enough of Mihaljevich‘s dark story. The premise of The Misguided is great! Feels as though you are watching an in-depth documentary. A classic story between love and family. We didn’t see the ending coming either. Those however, are the only few things we liked about The Misguided. We found it extremely hard to follow. It was very jumpy and things weren’t cleared up before they threw us into the next scene… and we get that’s what Shannon Alexander was going for, but it just didn’t work for us. With a few tweaks and (in our opinion) a little more Katherine Langford, The Misguided had potential to be a top movie this year. If we were to give it a second watch, we do think we’d understand A LOT more. Thus making it more enjoyable (even earning a higher rating from us), but it doesn’t seem likely we’ll be getting around to that anytime soon…

Reel ROB Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Post Credits Scene: No

We want to thank our friends at Reel News Daily for allowing us to do this guest review!