Review: In theaters today, Eva Green and Chai Fonacia star in ‘NOCEBO,’ a mysterious revenge horror mixing ethics and folk healing.

NOCEBO

In NOCEBO, a fashion designer (Eva Green) suffers from a mysterious illness that confounds her doctors and frustrates her husband (Mark Strong) – until help arrives in the form of a Filipino nanny (Chai Fonacier) who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.


After a mysterious phone call and a simultaneous encounter with a mangy dog riddled with ticks, Christine’s physical and mental health rapidly declines. Suffering from sleep apnea, nightmares, forgetfulness, and sharp, debilitating pains at any given moment, her already vulnerable marriage and successful fashion design career teeter on the edge of destruction. When Filipina Nanny Diana arrives at her door, Christine does not recall sending for her, but the extra set of hands proves life-changing, for better or worse.

Diana’s integration into the family lands somewhere between awkward and essential. Husband Felix and young daughter Roberta (they call her Bobs) are caught in the middle, allowing for gaslighting from Felix and growing distrust from Bobs. Add in the class distinction with Christine and her family living in a lavish mansion, while Diana arrives with nothing but a single suitcase, mostly filled not with clothing. Writer-director Lorcan Finnegan utilizes flashbacks of Diana’s life to illustrate the glaring contrast. Little by little, the audience begins to piece things together, but not before being disturbed by the effects of Diana’s folk healing methods.

Finnegan uses the color red in many specific instances; lipstick, curtains, and, most impactfully, Christine’s lucky shoes. The color is a sumptuous visual punch set against the mostly jewel-toned house. Finnegan understands the assignment.

As the story progresses and the truth reveals itself, your view of each character shifts. Eva Green plays Chrissy with both a manic and ruthless angle. She is a master at living inside the skin of a character, and Christine is no exception. Chai Fonacier is Diana. This juicy role allows us to see Fonacier’s massive range. I would watch her in all the things, as they say.

Radek Ladczuk‘s cinematography, which I loved in Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook and The Nightingale, is just as emotionally jarring in both overt and subtle forms. The closeups of hands, small objects, and facial features pull the audience into the overall mystery of Christine’s ailment and the impact of her family.

*********The next paragraph has a bit of a spoiler. Skip it to keep the mystery intact!*********

*******SPOILER ALERT*******

In the credits, just after the music tracks, I noticed bold text reading, “Justice for all Kentex workers.” A quick Google search led me to a story from 2015 in Manila in which a factory fire killed 72 factory workers after they were trapped on the second floor. Metal grates on the windows prevented them from escaping a horrifying death. We have heard so many of these same stories of unsafe sweatshop conditions. NOCEBO I pulls directly from the 2015 tragedy, making the film all the more terrorizing.

****** End Of Spoiler Info******

NOCEBO boasts a jaw-dropping and shockingly dark finale. Mixing folklore and revenge horror never miss. The term “nocebo” comes from the Latin to harm. The Oxford definition reads: “a detrimental effect on health produced by psychological or psychosomatic factors such as negative expectations of treatment or prognosis.” Finnegan slickly lulls you into one genre, then pulls the rug out from underneath us. The truth will either set you free or destroy you. NOCEBO is here to remind us all.


RLJE Films will release NOCEBO in theaters on Nov. 4, 2022 and on Demand and Digital on Nov. 22, 2022. The film will stream on Shudder at a later date.



Directed by Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium) and written by Garret Shanley (Without Name), NOCEBO stars Eva Green (Casino Royale), Mark Strong (1917), Chai Fonacier (Jesus Is Dead) and Billie Gadsdon (Cruella).





Samuel L Jackson in new trailer for Tim Burton’s ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’

MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
Fantasy-Adventure
Release: September 30, 2016
Director: Tim Burton
Screenplay by Jane Goldman, based upon the novel written by Ransom Riggs, published by Quirk Books
Producers: Peter Chernin, p.g.a.; Jenno Topping, p.g.a.
Cast: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Chris O’Dowd, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp, Ella Purnell, with Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson
SYNOPSIS
From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans alternate realities and times, he uncovers a secret refuge known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, Jake realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies. Jake must figure out who is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is.
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN Official Channels
HASHTAG: #StayPeculiar

20th Century Fox has released the FIRST trailer and poster for Tim Burton’s ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’!

MissPsRGB[1]

20th Century Fox has released the FIRST trailer and poster for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children! From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. Check out the trailer below!

When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans alternate realities and times, he uncovers a secret refuge known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, Jake realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies. Jake must figure out who is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is.

The film stars Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Ella Purnell, Allison Janney, Terence Stamp, Rupert Everett with Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children hits theaters everywhere September 30, 2016!

Battle of The Actors Round 2 Match-Ups! Actors Round of 32! Girls Rule!

Untitled-1Last Week Christopher Lee, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, and Edward Norton advanced into the Sweet 16 with Robin Williams beating Denzel Washington to move on. This week is the last matchups of the round of 32…ladies! You’re up

Brad’s Bracket:

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Jeremy’s Bracket:

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Liz’s Bracket:

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Melissa’s Bracket:

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Michael’s Bracket:

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Battle of The Actors Round 1 Match-Ups Part 8! Final Match-Up of Round 1!

Untitled-1Last Week Orson Welles, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Johnny Depp and Bill Murray moved on with Robert Downey Jr. beating Sean Penn to move on in the bonus match-up. This week, it’s the final women’s matchup of the first round! Lets get it on!

Brad’s Bracket:

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Jeremy’s Bracket:

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Liz’s Bracket:

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Melissas’ Bracket:

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Michael’s Bracket:

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‘Penny Dreadful’ Season 2 Trailer is Here!

2000px-Showtime.svgShowtime’s hit series Penny Dreadful is just around the corner and we here at RND could not be happier! The show is set to return on Sunday, April 26 at 10pm ET/PT and today the trailer for the new season has been released! You can check it out in the player below.

The new season will see continue to follow Vanessa (Eva Green) and Ethan (Josh Hartnett), Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), and Sembene (Danny Sapani), as they continue to wage war against the evil forces that threaten to destroy them.  Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), the Creature (Rory Kinnear) and Brona (Billie Piper) are also set to return.

“This season Vanessa and Ethan face new challenges,” says John Logan, series creator and executive producer, “and old enemies, and turn to each other for solace. Their intimacy grows as they are forced to confront their demons together.”

Safe to say we will be in for one hell of a ride come April 26th

 

Michael’s Review: ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’- But is it A Film to Die For?

sin city 2-main_poster

It’s been nine years since Robert Rodriguez helped bring Frank Miller’s graphic novel Sin City to the big screen. A stylish, visually groundbreaking film that thrilled audiences and turned a little known comic into a household name while grossing over $150 million globally.  After announcing the sequel in 2006, each year brought questions as to when we would see the elusive film. Rodriguez and Miller had one hell of a time getting this sequel into theaters. Nine years is a long time to keep an audience waiting for a sequel. Was Sin City: A Dame to Kill For worth the wait? Read More →

New Clip: ‘White Bird In A Blizzard’ From Magnolia Pictures

white bird in a blizzard

With a grin that reminiscent of Joaquin Phoenix‘s younger years, Shiloh Fernandez and Shailene Woodley heat up the screen in this new clip from Mysterious Skin director, Gregg Araki. Clip below. Read More →