As part of the Narrative Feature Competition at this year’s South By Southwest Film & TV Festival, REELING has such a great premise with the movie’s opening shot also featured right here in the visual display! I was so eager to see what this one was all about.
About: After a life altering accident, Ryan struggles to fit in with old friends and family at a birthday luau on his family’s homestead. As the pig slowly roasts in an imu pit and the partygoers cut loose, the celebration boils over when Ryan uncovers the missing memory of when his life took a tragic turn.
Reaction: REELING is a strange but pretty affecting feature from filmmaker Yana Alliata who has a claustrophobic hand on the visual style here, utilizing long takes with wide-angle lenses to really make you feel the struggle that Ryan is going through as he finds out, through a somewhat strange party in itself, that his past was compromised by a close friend of his. This is a bit of a hard watch at times where we really feel like we are inside the head of our lead and can’t get out, but I also feel like I have never seen a movie like this presented in such a unique manner. Short and sweet at only 76 minutes (this may be a challenge for some distributors to put such a short movie in release), REELING has a couple of rough patches here and there in pacing, but it more than makes up with its setting and such a unique premise that I can’t help but like it when I think about it. I also quite liked the Jon Brion, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE soundtrack that serves as its pulse. Bonus points in that it was executive produced by Werner Herzog!
This is one of the many movies playing in this year’s South By Southwest Film & TV Festival. For more information on the festival, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!