FREAKS
REVIEW BY:
A man and his daughter hide in a house, making up fake backgrounds as they do. However, when the daughter ventures outside she discovers the truth of not only who they are but what has been going on…and unleashes potentially catastrophic events…
I could reveal more of the story of this film, but I won’t. Like many films, the less you know going in the better. It’s co-written and directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein. The story is superb. It’s also clever in that you think the story is going one way, then it completely changes and by the end, you truly have no idea just where the story is going, with an ending that while not changing everything you’ve seen, does make you wonder which side you should be on.
They co-direct the film brilliantly, the early scenes uneasy as you wonder what is happening. There even a couple of effective jump scares. However as the story progresses and everything falls into place, story-wise, the tension never falters as it progresses, building to a truly impressive last act that is truly well thought out.
I’m not sure what the budget for the film was, but it does use it very well indeed. What visual effects the film has are very well done indeed and what it lacks in budget, it makes up for in its story and performances.
Emile Hirsch plays the the father (referred to as Dad only) and is damn good indeed. Amanda Crew plays Mary and her performance adds a lot of heart and emotion to the story. Grace Park plays an Agent who is looking for those deemed different and isn’t bad. Bruce Dern plays Mr. Snowcone, and brings a lot of the humour that is in the film. The supporting cast aren’t that bad either.
But this film belongs totally to Lexy Kolker who plays the daughter, Chloe. Simply put it is an astonishing performance, as Chloe develops from being the loyal daughter to someone who fully comes into her own in truly stunning and in cases, frightening ways. It will get overlooked but I reckon it’ll be one of the performances of the year.
It’s a brilliantly acted, directed, written and made film, with great visuals, design and music. There really isn’t a thing to fault in the film. I loved it.
I love the poster for this film, too, as seen above. The reason for that is very simple, it tells you nothing about this film, which is definitely the best way to watch this film, as it is a film full of hear and emotion, a film that is exciting, thoughtful, chilling in its own way and simply staggeringly good. Freaks doesn’t have the budget of the big blockbusters or probably won’t get the release those films get either, but Hollywood studios will have to go something to make a film that is this good.
Simply put, Freaks is one of the films of the year.
Rating: ***** out of 5
