Cachexia is one of those films that psychologically challenges its viewers. The film involves an experiment going awry that is realistic with an unsettling and engrossing tone. Writer and director Alina Galimullina challenges her audiences by presenting a distressing situation. Taking place around Russia, Cachexia is one of the most real experiences I have seen in some time. The film left me with questions including whether the participants of the experiment will survive.

The film focuses on a group of college students in Russia. They agree to participate in a hunger experiment. The experiment consists of a professor locking the students in a basement for a few weeks to see how they can survive. The professor also broadcasts them being locked in the basement. The students seem excited about the experiment in the beginning, but as more time passes without food or water, they begin to suffer implications which create a dangerous scenario. With the professor’s broadcast growing, his judgments become poorer. Because the students are locked in tight quarters, they suffer various psychological problems and their resentment builds. They begin to hallucinate and are reminded of why they are doing this experiment, i.e., to replicate the Russian famine of the early 1920 in the Volga region.

Cachexia reminded me of The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015) only this movie showed more realistic and distressing elements throughout the study. Whereas The Stanford Prison Experiment takes place at a college, Cachexia tests its limits with hatred, frustration, and starvation. Galimullina is faithful to her vision of depicting hunger with Cachexia. It is a vivid and disturbing portrayal that may be hard for some to handle. However, I could not keep my eyes away from this invigorating experiment of a film. Cachexia is so incredibly fascinating.

Cachexia can be found through the Film Girl Film Festival virtually at filmgirlfilm.com. The fest runs through March 31. For those who like psychological tales with some horror blended in, Cachexia is that film. For those who can handle suspense like this, Cachexia is not to be missed. Three and a half stars for Cachexia.

In a post-pandemic world the big audiences are flocking to movies like Everything Everywhere All at Once, which is a comical multiverse film featuring superhero icons teaming up with other superheroes. The film includes plans gone awry, new superhero characters coming around, and many more twists. Unfortunately, although it has a creative style of filmmaking and it starts off strong, the creativity ultimately goes overboard, the film becomes exhausting, and it comes off as over-done.

In Everything Everywhere All at Once, Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, a Chinese immigrant who has personal and financial challenges. She is struggling with her daughter Joy, played by Stephanie Hsu, and her husband Waymond, played by Ke Huy Quan, as well as her tax lady, Deirdre, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. Evelyn suddenly falls into a virtual adventure where she realizes, in different universes, how her life could be if certain potential scenarios in her life happen or don’t happen.

The film did have its comical high points, especially from Yeoh’s performance. It also throws in some slapstick violence and has some silly dialogue that is entertaining.

The film relates a lot to a film that I love, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), which mixed lots of irreverent backstories blended into a multiverse. But unlike that film, Everything Everywhere All at Once has just too much going on—too many additions to the central story and too many unexplained backstories.

I’m not prepared to say that Everything Everywhere All at Once is a terrible experience, and some may be able to handle this crazy universe more than others. One experience was enough for me. Everything Everywhere all at Once is a film that will leave some in awe and others will be bored or confused. The film is clever on many levels, and I enjoyed bits and pieces, but not to a great extent. It just was not as spectacular as I was anticipating. Just two and a half stars for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

From my virtual experience taking part in the Film Girl Film Festival, I got the chance to experience Yucca Fest. In Chelsea Murphy’s directorial debut, her brilliant vision and craft makes Yucca Fest a heist film like no other. There are no explosions, no violence, but simply four friends, a concert festival, and lots of California scenery. I love Yucca Fest because it is a film that is both realistic and artistic. Yucca Fest speaks to the society we live in today which is filled with concerts, money, and risky decisions among young adults. More importantly, the film is presented faithfully through the eyes of Murphy herself.

Yucca Fest is the name of the festival, and the film takes place in the Joshua Tree area in southern California. The four friends are Summer (played by Monroe Cline), Pete (played by Jey Reynolds), Zach (played by Nicholas Harsin), and Kevin (played by Dale van Slyke). They are all young adults who make bad decisions involving pickpocketing and stealing money in a variety of ways. The friends realize they can score big money if they rob a music festival which they know is risky. The question that keeps the audience curious is if the friends can pull their plan off because someone else may be onto the money as well. Yucca Fest is a film of frustration and disbelief as struggling young adults aspire to a more fulfilling financial life. Sadly, their focus on the financial part of life leads to poor decisions.

What spoke to me about Yucca Fest were the decisions related to criminal behavior.  These are young adults who are engaging in conversations about how money impacts their lives. However, instead of enjoying the real experience of attending the festival, their focus is on the money they’ll make by stealing. It is a reverse money’s worth situation for the four young adults.

The setting in California enhances the film’s narrative of Yucca Fest. There are many stereotypical California characters in the movie, including those who love skateboards and trendy clothes, and who revel in the freedom the state has to offer. During this freedom, viewers are left wondering why the young adults are making such poor life choices. Murphy challenges her audience by making the situation overwhelming for the four friends. The magnitude of the heist is portrayed as both remarkable and astounding.

Yucca Fest is a film I will remember for being a very different, unpredictable heist movie. It is not one’s typical heist thriller, but it is clever and realistic with generous believability. Three stars for Yucca Fest. The film can be viewed on Filmgirlfilm.com as part of the Feature series in the Film Girl Film Festival. The festival runs March 25-31 and be accessed virtually. For more of my reviews, my site is movieswithtarek.com.