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Choke
USA 2020
produced by Gregory Hatanaka, Chris Spinelli, Shane Ryan (executive), Nicole D'Angelo (executive), Kelley Daniel (executive) for CineRidge Entertainment, Cinema Epoch
directed by Gregory Hatanaka
starring Shane Ryan, Scott Butler, Sarah Brine, Lisa London, Sal Landi, Chris Spinelli, Barry Sattels, Brynda Mattox, Nicole D'Angelo, Tania Fox, Joycelyne Lew, Saige Spinney, Bella Cruz, Jennifer Field, Benny Tjandra, Hailee Lipscomb, Anthia Gillick, Steve Cattani, Megan Cordero, Connor Tribole, Christina Lo, Sophia Colón Roosevelt, Adam Weston Poell, Johnny Mask, Veronica Farren, Adrian Jimenez, Nick Russo, Amber Cedillos, Jacquelin Reyes, Jinglin Du, Tony T.L. Young, Ximena Lizbeth Cordoba, Warren Hong
written by Gregory Hatanaka, music by Toshiyuki Hiraoka
Brandon
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Brandon (Shane Ryan) meets 17 year old Jeanie (Sarah Brine) on a train,
they get to talk and take an instant liking in one another. Of course,
Brandon also has fantasies of strangling her to death, but hey, he's a
serialkiller by trade. Only he doesn't go through with his urges, and the
two become friends, eventually lovers, and it seems Jeanie really grounds
Brandon. Robert (Scott Butler) is a homicide cop whose job starts to get
to him, and on top of that he has never really overcome the separation
from his wife (Bella Cruz), and thus he seeks help from therapist
Stephanie (Lisa London), but Stephanie has her own agenda. The two soon
become a couple, and Stephanie warms Robert to the ideas of weird
cultleader Stanton (Sal Landi). Eventually, the two stumble upon Jeanie,
who before long becomes Robert's lover, and they take her to one of
Stanton's "seminars", where he promotes self-strangulation. Brandon
sees the changes in Jeanie, as she becomes more and more fascinated by
(self-)strangulation, and he doesn't like it one bit, also because this
awakens old urges inside himself - and eventually he comes to realize he
has to direct his rage against Stephanie ... Now this is by no
means your typical serialkiller movie, rather an associative mood piece
that asks the viewer to come to one's own conclusions, a big puzzle that
might not have just one single solution. And that's achieved because the
film is told in a way that might be non-linear, that might
be made up in part from dream images, that might tell more than one
truths - and the result is rather fascinating indeed, not in the least
thanks to strong performances and a rich imagery, which really help to
bring the film in all its unpredictability to life. True, this might not
be everyone's cup of tea as it's a film that challenges the viewer, but
for those who're up for this, it's a rather unique ride.
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