Hot Picks
|
|
|
Eli
USA 2019
produced by Trevor Macy, John Zaozirny, Matt Alvarez (executive), Jenny Hinkey (executive), Melinda Nishioka (executive) for Intrepid Pictures, Bellevue Productions, MTV, Paramount/Netflix
directed by Ciarán Foy
starring Charlie Shotwell, Kelly Reilly, Max Martini, Lili Taylor, Sadie Sink, Deneen Tyler, Katia Gomez, Austin Foxx, Kailia Posey, Parker Lovein, Lou Beatty jr, Jared Bankens, Nathaniel Woolsey, Mitchell de Rubira
written by David Chirchirillo, Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, music by Bear McCreary, special makeup effects by Fractured FX, visual effects by Spin VFX, Eye-Spy Productions
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
Young Eli (Charlie Shotwell) has strange disorder of his auto immune
system that makes him allergic to pretty much everything - dust, air, and
whatnot -, so much so that he has to sleep in a protective tent and can
only go outside in a protective suit covering his whole body, including
face. But finally, his parents (Kelly Reilly, Max Martini) have found Dr.
Horn's (Lili Taylor) clinic, where she claims she can cure children with
Eli's condition. Of course, Eli wants to get healthy, but the clinic
freaks him out, especially since it seems to be haunted, something Dr.
Horn blames on hallucinations caused by his treatment. Oh, and the
treatment, it pretty much resembles torture, to the point where Eli is
strapped to the operating table. In all this, Eli has only one friend
Haley (Sadie Sink), a girl on the outside he can only speak through thick
glass as the clinic is hermetically sealed off from the outside so no
bacteria can come in. But everything Haley says makes Eli doubt that he
will be cured here, as things point in a very different, much darker
direction. Eventually, Eli breaks into Dr. Horn's office and looks up the
files of former patients, to find out that none of them survived the
treatment. Things take a turn yet darker when he finds out this isn't a
clinic at all but a house of exorcism, and his parents have tricked him
into coming here because - well, apparently he's the son of the Devil ...
and I'm not sure how that explains his condition, but apparently he didn't
have it at all (though previous events proved otherwise) and was only made
believe he did. And now he's to be done away with. Thing is, now that he
knows who he is, he all of a sudden also has ESP powers ... There
is some cleverness in this film, as it at first promises to be your
typical haunted house movie, with all the scares and shocks firmly in
place, and the unusual setting doing little to distracting genre
conventions - quite the opposite, actually. And then the third act turns
everything on its head, playing 100% against expectations ... but
unfortunately, "some cleverness" doesn't mean the film's really
clever. As a matter of fact, the surprise finale fails to convince, it
negates way too much that has been happening before, and it fails to
properly explain things away. So really, the resolution, including some Scanner-like
effects, comes off as rather ridiculous. On the plus side though, the film
is well put together and atmospheric, and makes the most out of its
central location. It just could have done with a better (and indeed better
structured) script ...
|
|
|