Ex Machina Review

The Frankenstein template has endured as one of the most retread themes in literature and art since Mary Shelley first conjured her modern Prometheus in the early 19th century. A brilliant, troubled scientist creates an intelligent robot that becomes self-aware. The creator fails to acknowledge the individuality of its creation and yadda yadda yadda, the robot rebels and kills its master.

It’s only natural that most viewers will go into Alex Garland’s Ex Machina expecting this rehash, albeit glossed up and put in a slick new package. Despite following a great deal of well-worn territory, the film manages to engage its audience with its icy and efficient delivery and consistent undercurrent of malevolence. Garland (a respected screenwriter and novelist) gives his gorgeously designed film a muted tone that got way under my skin and rattled my guts even when I knew what to expect. And even when the plot feels familiar, Ex Machina‘s riffs on consciousness and sexuality are always intriguing.

Read the full review at the Orlando Weekly.

The Sisterhood of Night Review

I can’t imagine what it would be like growing up in a world drenched with social media and constant, instant connectivity. Kids’ lives and their self-images are radically different today than they were when I was a pup. This generation and the effects social media have on them have been explored in films before, but director Caryn Waechter and screenwriter Marilyn Fu’s The Sisterhood of the Night takes this ostensibly familiar material and delivers it through their own artistic and poignant filter. It’s a film made by women about young girls and it is that female-centered viewpoint that really propels The Sisterhood of Night above what would otherwise be an after-school special.

Read the full review at the Riverfront Times.