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Review: ‘BEAUTIFUL BEINGS,’ Iceland’s submission for THE 95TH ACADEMY AWARDS®, opens TODAY in New York and Los Angeles next week from Altered Innocence

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BEAUTIFUL BEINGS 

A perpetually bullied young teen named Balli gets invited into a circle of aggressive classmates by Addi, a boy whose mother is a clairvoyant. BEAUTIFUL BEINGS is an enigma befitting The Academy’s attention. Initially, the film tackles familial dysfunction and violence. Midway, the narrative adds the supernatural element in earnest, changing the film in ways that gave me goosebumps.

Beautiful Beings

As we witness Balli’s emotional torture and beatings, Addi grows a conscience by entering Balli’s debris-ridden home. The boys have more in common than at first glance. Siggi and Konni complete this group of boys known for starting fights. Addi’s narration adds depth as he explains each boy’s tumultuous home life. The cyclical nature of violence is front and center. BEAUTIFUL BEINGS is often intense and grueling to watch. But the performances captivate so thoroughly the audience pushes on. Once Addi begins to feel the power his mother passed onto him, the story takes another visually stunning turn.

The exploration of toxic masculinity is countered with the study of male friendships. The emotional highs and lows swing wildly during the two-hour runtime. The film appears to take place in the early aughts. I assume this is key in including the term “retarded,” which echoes nearly a dozen times. As a mother of a child on the spectrum, I cringed each time I heard it. That is my only complaint with BEAUTIFUL BEINGS. As a whole, this film is unique, fearless, and crucial viewing.

Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s Crushing and Surreal, Multi-Award-Winning Coming-Of-Age Drama — Opens 1/13 at Quad Cinema in NYC & 1/20 at Laemmle Glendale in L.A.

Original title: Berdreymi
Starring: Birgir Dagur Bjarkason, Áskell Einar Pálmason, Viktor Benóný Benediktsson, Snorri Rafn Frímannsson, Aníta Briem, Ísgerður Gunnarsdóttir, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson
Written and Directed by: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Produced by: Anton Máni Svansson
Specs: 2022 / 123 Minutes / In Icelandic w/English Subtitles / DCP / 1.85:1

World Premiere: Berlin International Film Festival – Panorama 2022 — Europa Cinemas Label Winner 
Off Camera International Festival of Independent Cinema — FIPRESCI Jury Award Winner
Taipei Film Festival — International New Talent Competition – Special Jury Prize Winner
Thessaloniki Film Festival — Open Horizons Audience Award Winner 
Stockholm Film Festival — Best Screenplay Winner

ABOUT ALTERED INNOCENCE
 
Altered Innocence was founded in 2015 with a focus on bringing international and cutting-edge LGBTQ and Coming-of-Age cinema to North American audiences. Notable releases have included the Cannes Competition film KNIFE+HEART and the U.S. premiere of Spain’s previously unreleased cult title ARREBATO (RAPTURE).

 

Review: ‘Thirst’ sinks its teeth into cult status.

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The addict Hulda is arrested and accused of murdering her brother. After she is let go because of insufficient evidence, she meets Hjörtur, a thousand-year-old gay vampire. Together they fight a cult while being investigated by a rogue detective.

Gloriously gory and unapologetically in your face, vampire horror-comedy Thirst is a movie about a girl and her unlikely gay best friend. Poor Hulda just wants to stop being blamed for a bunch of murders and find someone to care about her for the right reasons. Poor Hjörtur just wants to play with his food, and as The Prince of Darkness, he can damn well do what he pleases. The performances are wildly funny and the chemistry between Hjörtur Sævar Steinason and Hulda Lind Kristinsdóttir is simply electric. The visual gags, quite literally, are unforgettable. The overt sexualization of the men is genius. If you know nothing going in, you know everything soon enough.

It could have been made by the same filmmakers as genre film fest favorite Fried Barry. The colors, the camera work, the visual mindfuckery. They are cut from the same weird and wonderful cloth. In Thirst, the amount of practical fx and blood are equal parts laughable and joyous. Genre fans will literally cheer. The relationship between Hulda and Hjörtur is what stays with me 12 hours after viewing. You could write an entire television series on their dynamic and I would be there to watch it. The climax of the film is nothing short of a spectacular splatterfest. Combined with the over the top power ballads(which I’m pretty sure is my favorite aspect), this is sure to reach cult status. Stick around once the credits start to roll. Your ears and eyes won’t be sorry.

Direct from a well-received festival run, where it played such fests as ScreamFest 2020, London FrightFest, and Out On Film, Thirst comes to DVD and Digital 12/1 from Uncork’d Entertainment.

From directors Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Gaukur Úlfars comes a high-energy thrill fest with some of the most creative films to grace a screen in years. Hjörtur Sævar Steinason, Jens Jensson, Hulda Lind Kristinsdóttir, Ester Sveinbjarnardóttir, Birgitta Sigursteinsdóttir, and Birna Halldórsdóttir star.

Direct from a well-received festival run, where it played such fests as ScreamFest 2020, London FrightFest, and Out On Film, Thirst comes to DVD and Digital 12/1 from Uncork’d Entertainment.

Review: ‘BRAVE MEN’S BLOOD’ is film festival worthy.

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Brave Men's Blood posterCorruption in the police force is not a new topic. In Olaf de Fleur‘s new crime thriller, BRAVE MEN’S BLOOD, treachery is brought to the forefront with a script filled with twists and turns. BMB_Web_res_2In order to take down a major criminal organization, the ambitious head of the internal affairs unit of the Reykjavik P.D. decides to investigate a corrupt police lieutenant. Tipped off about the lieutenant’s criminal dealings by a former crime kingpin, now imprisoned, he places a female former narcotics officer undercover to spy on him. These actions set him off on a dangerous path as he aims to catch both the lieutenant and the drug lord.BMB_Web_res_4 (1) This film is truly an ensemble piece. Two stand out performances are those our of hero, Hannes, played extraordinarily by Darri Ingolfsson. Perhaps best known for his villainous role on the final season of Showtime’s DEXTER, Ingolfsson gives us every emotion in the spectrum with ease and a spirit that you instantly root for. The other key role in the film is played by Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson. By the end of the  film, you will be calling this man a master.  BMB_Web_res_5We are privy to the intimate lives of both the good and the bad. Hrafnknell Stefansson and Olef De Fluer‘s screenplay is most definitely award worthy. I could easily see this film play at both Tribeca and New York Film Festival. It is unexpected, frustrating, heartbreaking, action packed, and altogether satisfying for both the avid film buff and the average movie goer. The film is in mostly Icelandic ( not to fear, it is subtitled) with moments of English dialogue. Never does this take away from the action and flow of the story. The dialogue is so great, you’ll be glad in the end that you’ve read every syllable. I highly recommend this thriller gem. You will not see what’s coming next.

You can catch Brave Men’s Blood on VOD Tuesday, September 8th.

Starring:
DARRI INGOLFSON
AGUSTA EVA ERLENDSDOTTIR
INGVAR E. SIGURDSSON
SIGURDUR SIGURJONSSON
ZLATKO KRICKIC
HILMIR SNAER GUDNASON
Written by:
HRAFNKELL STEFANSSON
and
OLAF DE FLEUR

Heartland Film Festival 2014 Jeremy’s Review: Ragnar Bragason’s ‘Metalhead’ Is Pure Icelandic Wonder With a Sparkling Performance by Lead Thorbjorg Helga Thorgilsdottir

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meatalhead posterFew countries produce as consistently high quality of film as Iceland. In my estimation, that is. The quantity of films that it produces is low, well at least those that somehow cross the pond and make it onto American screens, usually at film festivals such as Heartland. There are four Icelandic films that I’ve seen in this manner – Nói Albínói, The Seagull’s Laughter, Of Horses and farm animals that areatrained and live at this Horse Retirement Farms. All are unique in their own way, most of them are depressing (an aspect of Scandinavian film that I tend to enjoy) but still manage a way to get a laugh or two in just in case, and all have a laser-pointed direction on what makes their characters tick and tock and they do it so well. Ragnar Bragason‘s Metalhead is no exception.
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