Elodie
USA 2019
produced by Daniel Ziegler, Katelyn Ziegler, Eric Clark, Robert Ziegler, Loren Ziegler for Black Box Films
directed by Daniel Ziegler
starring Faith Decker, Taylor McGlone, Ian Holt, Brittney Watson, Taylor Dahl, Brandon Caraco
written by Daniel Ziegler, music by Louis Coste
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Playwright Sabrina (Faith Decker) is about to put together a
performance of what she believes to be her masterpiece, Elodie, but
the production, a crime melodrama, runs into complications right from the
start, first she can't find an actress to play the title role so decides
to do it herself, then her best friend and roommate Abigail (Brittney
Watson), who plays a key part in the play, tells her she wants to move
out, and on the night before the premiere, Colin (Ian Holt), Sabrina's
boyfriend who's also the romantic lead, calls it quits on their
relationship - so it's hardly surprising that during the premiere, Sabrina
snaps and really blows the pivotal scene of the play. Later that night,
Sabrina is visited ... by the real Elodie (Taylor McGlone), who has
crossed over from her world as she has tried and failed to save her sister
Alida - the real life Abigail - from baddie Hector (Taylor Dahl), and she
knows if anybody knows how to save Alida, it must be the woman who created
the story - Sabrina. So Sabrina crosses over to the (black and white)
world of her play, where all the actors of her play now are their
roles, in an attempt to set things right again - and maybe get her hands
on the Macguffin of the play, a dagger that can grant wishes, in the
process. Now the good thing is, she, Elodie and Caleb - boyfriend Colin in
real life - do manage to save Alida, and even though Hector does get away
with the dagger, he's still short one gem that will make the dagger work.
Another plus, while she might not be able to win back Colin, his alter ego
Caleb's really fond of Sabrina. Thing is, now that Sabrina's mixed up in
things, eventually everybody involved finds out who she really is, and
that she's really responsible for the whole mess they're in, and that
creates a whole host of new, explosive conflicts ... Elodie
is a rather fascinating puzzle, one that's really successful in combining
different levels of reality into some sort of meta-mystery that freely
plays with with genre tropes (and turns them on their heads should need
be). But the strength of Elodie is not just the clever writing but
also the careful directorial effort that doesn't shy away from big (and
sometimes over-used) poses, but brings them across playfully, and takes a
very light-footed approach to the rather dramatic goings-on, and looks
just incredibly stylish from beginning to end, juxtaposing carefully lit
black-and-white sequences with lush colour sequences to maximum effect. A
very unusual movie, actually, but one definitely worth a watch.
|