Tribeca Film Festival 2019 Review: ‘Charlie Says’ flips the script on the Manson girls.

 

Charlie Says

Charlie Says, directed by masterful filmmaker Mary Harron and written by Guinevere Turner, tells the familiar story through fresh eyes—those of Manson’s most devoted girls, van Houten (Game of Thrones’ Hannah Murray), Patricia Krenwinkel (Sosie Bacon), and Susan Atkins (Marianne Rendón). Thanks to a devoted prison educator who slowly draws the women out from years of a madman’s mesmerizing and abusive spell (Matt Smith), the women’s story is told in eerily detailed flashbacks, forcing them to reflect on the path that leads them to such unforgivable crimes.

This is not a story about Charles Manson. This is a story about three women who were manipulated by a mentally ill man who convinced them they were loved. Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins, and Leslie Van Houten, all came to be followers of Charles Manson because they were lost and looking for someone to make them feel important. It’s the performance from Hannah Murray, Sosie Bacon, and Merritt Wever that catapult this story forward. Wever, in particular, is the heartbeat that guides these broken girls into reality. Bacon represents every girl that needed Manson (played by Matt Smith with a quiet but fiercely alarming power) to be their father figure. Murray, as Leslie, is the audience. You feel for these ladies through intercut flashbacks and prison scenes. Each like a peek behind the curtain and into the insanity of a man who thought the Beatles were speaking to him through the ‘White Album”. These women were brainwashed sex slaves. It wasn’t until a feminist teacher Karlene Faith, with enough empathy to teach these women, did anyone begin to realize that they too were victims alongside those murdered. The film is chilling. The structure is disturbingly effective. You end up caring about these women who history has taught us to loathe. Charlie Says is not about Charles Manson. I’ll say it again. Charlie Says is not about Charles Manson. It is about the victims he kept closest to him.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Mary Harron is the writer and director of films including American PsychoThe Moth DiariesI Shot Andy Warhol, and The Notorious Bettie Page. Her television credits include episodes of The L WordSix Feet UnderBig Love, and Oz, and, most recently, The Following (FOX), Constantine (NBC), and Graceland (USA).

12 Tribeca Film Festival movies already picked up

HBO has already snagged two documentaries: The Apollo (Opening Night), about the legendary Harlem theater, and At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal, which is pretty much self-explanatory. Introducing younger audiences to the delightful Dr. Ruth Westheimer will be Ask Dr. Ruth acquired by hulu. At 90 years old, she’s still leaving her mark on the world. IFC Films will release Charlie Says from director, Mary Harron. I’m just glad they waited to make a movie until after his death. Same goes for the Ted Bundy story starring Zac Efron, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, which Netflix picked up at Sundance.

After premiering at the Berlin Film Festival, Goldie looks to be a promising tale of the pursuit of happiness. The latest Halston documentary seems to be less talking heads than Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston, which played at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. Dan Krauss won best documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013 for The Kill Team and has now made a narrative of the same with Nat Wolff and Alexander Skarsgård from A24.

In the documentary, Leftover Women, the story surrounds the effects of the gender imbalance of the “one child” policy in China. A24’s second release is the summertime drama, Low Tide. The documentary acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, Maiden, tells of an all-female crew in 1989 who competed in a prestigious yacht race. And last but not least, is The Quiet One from Sundance Selects, telling the story of Bill Wyman a founding member of The Rolling Stones that walked away from it all to be his own legend.

  1. The Apollo (HBO)
  2. Ask Dr Ruth (hulu)
  3. At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal (HBO)
  4. Charlie Says (IFC Films)
  5. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (Netflix)
  6. Goldie (Vice Media, Fox)
  7. Halston (The Orchard, CNN Films)
  8. The Kill Team (A24)
  9. Leftover Women (MetFilm Sales)
  10. Low Tide (A24)
  11. Maiden (Sony Pictures Classics)
  12. The Quiet One (Sundance Selects)