Category Archives: Chicago Critics Film Festival 2023

Chicago Critics Film Festival 2023, Film reviews

Blue Jean Review

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The beginning of Blue Jean rolls with a contemporary tempo. The year is 1988, and the subject matter involves an individual whose sexuality is closeted. The film moves forward with the foundation of the main character just wanting to maintain her normal everyday life. Set in the United Kingdom, Blue Jean is an artistic portrayal of the value of one’s privacy, but also of one’s choices. Blue Jean is fascinating both in its poetic achievements and its empathetic journey towards the conflict that arises.

Blue Jean focuses on Jean who is played by Rosy McEwen. She is a gym teacher with a secret. She is a lesbian with a normal and uneventful life. It takes place in the year when Margaret Thatcher’s conservative government is going to pass a law which stigmatizes gays and lesbians. Jean is in a situation where she must be careful because of her sexuality. She visits LGBT night clubs and maintains a relationship with another woman. The situation comes to a challenging place when a student of Jean begins visiting the same nightclub. This student is Lois who is played by Lucy Halliday. Lois is a troubled student who is also closeted during a time when being attracted to the same gender is not accepted everywhere. The tensions rise for Jean because Lois makes choices that become alarming and even continues to be persistent with Jean outside of school. Jean does what she can to establish boundaries, but Lois is the type who will act out of spite. Blue Jean is a tale of emotion and sadness in an era when it’s hard to feel accepted for what the heart desires.

With the LGBT romance vibe being interrupted for Jean, Blue Jean possesses engrossing tensions that will shock audiences to the core with emotions. It is a film that involves an array of questions that weren’t unusual for the late 1980s. Why does Jean feel at a loss with herself? Why is Lois obsessed Jean? Is Jean disconnected? Is Lois disconnected? Is it even about feeling connected? Blue Jean is a realistic portrait of how it hurts to not feel accepted. The film’s artistic captivations are triumphant and fascinating. The power of wanting to feel loved and accepted is a universal feeling that audiences will experience in the eyes of Jean and Lois.

Blue Jean may start out slow, but this pacing gives audiences the idea of how a life of solitude may have seemed for those who were closeted back in the day. Jean is not a bad person; she just wants to live her life without impact. Lois on the other hand wants attention, but she cannot get it from acting out of frustration. As Jean has her escape in the nightclubs and her drives through the evening, audiences will sense how her solitude hurts sometimes. The movie is gut-wrenching, but it is also a poetic achievement in terms of how the director taps into factors of sexuality and people’s feelings of attraction. Four stars for Blue Jean.

Chicago Critics Film Festival 2023, Film reviews

Sanctuary Review

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I had a hard time deciding what I thought of Sanctuary. A film from independent film company Neon is usually artistically brilliant, with twisted scenarios. Sanctuary, though, seems to be more predictability over artistry. It does have a twisted outlook, but the film is more like a play with a lot of dramatic irony, rather than the dark comedy that it is billed as.

Sanctuary’s two characters are Hal and Rebecca. Hal is played by Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley is Rebecca. It is a dominatrix scenario, with Hal being an extremely wealthy client who arranges the meets with Rebecca. He believes that aside from his relationship with Rebecca his life is a joke and not exciting. His bizarre, sexual escapades with Rebecca is to help him escape his mundane life. However, when Hal decides that he wants to end Rebecca’s services, the film takes an ominous turn. Rebecca makes Hal believe that she will ruin his life by blackmailing or exposing his many dark secrets. All this turmoil Rebecca creates is where Sanctuary goes downhill for Hal, but creates excitement for Rebecca.

The sexual escapade of Sanctuary is where it becomes predictable. Hal may be getting his desires fulfilled, but is there more to why he has these desires? Rebecca’s sexual escapades with Hal is to her advantage, but is it really benefiting her? The performances of Abbott and Qualley just seem to lack the characterizations for a believable trap. Rebecca really doesn’t sell her claim to own Hal by her threats to destroy his whole life based on his choices and experiences with her.

The title of the film Sanctuary comes from the safe word that Hal and Rebecca develop to let the other one know that the escapade is going too far. Ironically, though, no one is “safe” in Sanctuary. Hal and Rebecca have built a relationship that causes both of them to have all kinds of weird and obsessive thinking.

It seemed to me that the tensions between Hal and Rebecca was more about a clash of egos rather sex. There are no romantic ties or connection between Hal and Rebecca in Sanctuary. There is just an array of personal flaws, bizarre settings, and scandalous realizations. The focus of Sanctuary seems to be on the gaslighting between Hal and Rebecca. Rebecca’s way of gaslighting is one that remains quiet, yet effective. Hal on the other hand cries with fear and anxiety to manipulate Rebecca.

In my view Sanctuary is a very poorly written dark comedy. Is “sanctuary” truly a word to ensure safety in this film? Hardly. The misrepresentations of this film takes it in an ambiguous direction. The film lacks ambition or any form of artistic direction. The artistry certainly can’t be found in the the gaudy red lighting that surrounds the apartment of Hal. Sanctuary was just not a very satisfying experience. Two and a half stars for Sanctuary.

Chicago Critics Film Festival 2023, Film reviews

Past Lives Review

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Friends are important, especially the ones we hold onto for many years. Past Lives is one of the best films on friendship I’ve seen. It shows how keeping the friends we have known for a long time reminds us of what to be grateful for in life. Director Celine Song makes her directorial debut with Past Lives, and it is a monumental achievement. The film is strong in portraying connections and memories, but also demonstrates how the past can play a positive part in the present world among close friends. It is a portrait that sends a message to be welcoming to those who have positive value to offer the world.

Past Lives gears on Nora (played by Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (played by Teo Yoo). They are childhood friends who have been out of touch though for ages. In their younger days, Nora’s family emigrated from South Korea. Two decades pass, and they find each other online. They begin to socialize more again and touch base frequently. Nora is married and her husband is Arthur (played by John Magaro). Arthur does not display any jealousy and is not against Nora reconnecting with Hae Sung. Hae Sung comes to visit Arthur and Nora in the United States. Both Nora and Hae Sung relive the many fascinations of their younger days and reconnect over what brought them joy. The powerful bond of friendship is still within their hearts.

Past Lives is one of the most beautiful films I have seen in terms of friends being there for each other. Nora and Hae Sung are on this journey of figuring out the curve balls life threw at them and how their cultures are different and intertwined. Arthur sees those elements as well. The powerful example illustrated in Past Lives comes in the long discussions and the realizations of how life has turned out for Nora and Hae Sung. While they are in their own universes, the message that is conveyed is to always keep the ones we care about in our hearts and be there for each other whenever we can.

The movie includes conversations regarding diversity and the director allows them to explore interesting territory. The discussions between Nora and Hae Sung do not serve any negative purpose. It is simply about them remaining friends and realizing they truly have not left each other. Their separation happened way before they were old enough to potentially fall in love.  They still have the heart for their friendships and find meaningful connection again many years later.

Again, this film is a masterpiece. The story is riveting, the goal is moving, and the film itself is a revelation of love among friends. Past Lives makes its audience feel the love that surrounds Nora and Hae Sung. It also makes them feel the love between Nora and her husband, Arthur. Past Lives opens the door to great possibilities by using fascinating elements in memorable cinematic moments. Four stars for Past Lives.