A Dark Song - Film Review

This post will review 'A Dark Song'.  By necessity, some spoilers are contained herein.  Please consider whether you wish to read further if you have not yet seen the film.

I recently watched A Dark Song as part of the 'Film Four' Halloween horror film run.  I am a huge fan of Steve Oram (an actor that also starred in Sightseers and The World's End) and so I was quite interested to see what this would show of his ability.

The premise of the film is that Sophia Howard (sympathetically played by Catherine Walker) is seeking to use a ritual in order to speak to her dead son.  The means by which she wishes to do so is via the occult.  Steve Oram plays Joseph Solomon - the mystic keen to separate Howard from her cash whilst also in return guaranteeing supernatural results.

The film starts off at quite a slow pace but builds quite nicely as Solomon leads Howard through the various elements of the ritual.  Things take a turn for the decisive when she agrees to be completely sealed in - with a fateful warning that crossing the boundary of the protective circle could lead them to being trapped forever.

The mood from this moment becomes ever more tense, with clear indications that the 'ritual' could take many months to overcome.  There's little in the way of light and comedy in this film and the topics are dark.  The death of Howard's child is gradually described, with spare tidbits given to the viewer indicating something particularly unpleasant, eventually it would appear possibly related to Solomon's chosen profession.  This adds a very dark undertone indeed to the whole film.

Oram's acting in the key role of Solomon I thought was excellent.  There were few moments where he did not come across as anything other than a fairly normal bloke, albeit with issues/insecurities but also a huge penchant for the occult.  Howard is played well by Walker too - given the storyline she carries the role with a depth and sadness that truly pulled me in to the storyline. 

The only element of weakness I saw - and this was likely to do more with the screenplay than the acting - was in the repeated scenes of Howard demanding "why is nothing happening?" when just a minute or two earlier we saw miraculous events of feathers (or something even more otherwordly) floating from the ceiling.

Given that there are really only two actors on screen shown for any length of time, the film really does hold up well.  The older I get and with more decent stuff appearing on the box, the happier I am to fast forward through something sub par.  I did not press the fast forward button once for A Dark Song.

Whilst I enjoyed the journey and arc of the film as a whole, I would question the ending Sean Byrne chose.  I could see why Sophia asked for her 'gift' and reflected her journey as a character.  It also wrapped things up nicely.  However, I saw a documentary that featured Byrne indicating his intention was to continuously ramp things up.  The viewer absolutely receives a reprieve by the time the credits roll.

I cannot round off the review without mentioning the sound production.  The incidental notes are just right, whilst the background music suitably amps up the tension in all of the right spots.  There is one specific point in the film however (very close to the end) that suffers from a piece of dialogue being quite muffled.  There is a reason for this in the visual representation of what is taking place but I had to see the 30 seconds or so at this point 2-3 times to get a gist of what was being said.

Overall, A Dark Song is a tense, intense little film that has a really rather unsettling atmosphere.  It deals with some very heavy topics such as introspection and loss.  It also has a straight laced Steve Oram playing an idealistic man with clear character flaws.  It is a curious piece of film that I absolutely recommend.

Final rating: 3.5/5.

Stranger Things 2 - Episode 2 Review

This review will be discussing the second episode of the second season of Netflix's Stranger Things. Since this show is on a streaming service accessible to all at the same time, and all episodes drop simultaneously there will be spoilers for the episode discussed and for the first season, if you haven't seen it (and you really should!). If you don't want to know anything and plan to watch the show then please come back to this review once you have. I recommend trying to go in unspoiled. But if you're just here for my take and/or don't care about spoilers then join me here in the upside down...

Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak

   Dang. If you want a great hour of television, who you gonna call? The Duffers! Or so it seems. I'm gonna take this review by characters in an effort to mix things up at least a little bit for you.

  The episode opens with a flashback to Eleven as we left her at the end of the last season, immediately answering a potential criticism of the previous episode. I love that. It's a confident show that doesn't feel the need to drag out answers in an attempt to create false intrigue. We know that Elle is back, we pretty quickly know how. It's not a grand or epic thing, her time in the upside down unexpectedly lasting minutes. And it could seem that her escape was too easy, given the tension built last season around the loss of Will, but then the show makes clear that it's only really possible due to Eleven's unique abilities so I'll give it a bare pass. We flash back a couple of times using clever framing devices to provoke Elle's uncomfortable memories and learn that she survived in the woods for a time, presumably by virtue of Hopper's snacks (tying up that cliffhanger nicely) and her developing psychic abilities, which we see somewhat brutally employed. We also get very intriguing glimpses of what seems like the upside down bleeding through to our reality (poor squirrel) which seem to be a central theme. More on that later. Finally it's good to see that along with her supernatural abilities Elle is growing her regular intellect too; words of the day, learning Morse Code and good old television contributing to a developing character whose awkwardness is still very well played even as she becomes richer and more interesting. There's a perfectly sensible explanation for her being in hiding and not approaching her old friends and all this culminates in a beautiful but heartbreaking scene when she repeats the sensory deprivation experiment from season one to reach out to Mike, so close but worlds away and with terrible timing. A shot of her with both blood from her nose and tears from her eyes being a directing and acting masterclass.

  As I touched upon, the next most intriguing character continues to be young Will Byers. His disturbing flashes of the upside down developing further and revealing the extent of the creature which is presumably this season's threat. Initially coming across as a gigantic Lovecraftian nightmare Will himself specifies that it is made out of shadow and is coming for him. Interestingly contradicting his line last episode that it was actually coming for "everybody else". His conflict and anguish are played brilliantly, both in social settings and his continued "visions". And he gets a super touching scene with Mike where they confide in each other about their pain.

  Speaking of Mike he doesn't get much else to do but what's there is great, if redundant. We already knew he was utterly devoted to Eleven and misses her terribly, the only new thing we learn is his distaste of new girl Max. The other boys' story consists of chasing after her affections through wonderful comedy scenes involving a lot of Ghostbusters references, some misunderstood English, a little social commentary and continued "adorkableness".

  Moving on to Max we get tantalising hints of her and her brother's story that are brief but very intriguing. We essentially find out that something happened which forced the family to move, and which he sees as totally her fault, and she quietly blames on him. We now also establish that he is a real asshole; drinking, smoking, abusing his sister and almost running over three of our main child group. Interesting developments all. His story links us to what I'm calling the tween storyline too as he attends a party that Nancy and Steve are at, even seemingly competing with the latter. This plotline is the episode's weak link for me. It seems like the writers are using Barb's death to rehash the love triangle from last season almost verbatim. The idea of exploring Nancy's guilt (she literally says that she and Steve killed Barb) is intriguing but using it to have Steve leave in a strop and Jonathan step in is repetitive and already tired. And this whole plot is the type of Dawson's Creek, teen soap-opera bullshit that a show of this quality should really be above. I hope it develops into a wild left turn but on this evidence that seems unlikely.

  Hitting the other minor beats then, the stuff we get with Hopper examining the continuing mystery of the poisoned pumpkins is interesting, as is his relationship with "the kid" Elle. His connection to Joyce is less so. We don't need another love triangle (see above) and the idea that they alone know what they do and are weirdly fine with it just lampshades the absurdity. Speaking of the absurd we get a brief scene with Reiser and co again sending someone through a dimensional breach, which seems to imply that they are somehow leeching power from the upside down. And that Reiser believes Will's portents of doom and is starting to worry, despite himself. Brief but excellent development. Finally Sean Astin's Bob continues to seem as bland as possible. This constant reinforcement has me convinced that he is either hiding a dark and sinister secret or true nature. Or that he is a dead man walking, potentially this season's sacrificial lamb.

  The episode ends with a bit of a damp squib cliffhanger if you've seen any promotion for this season. If not I'll just say that Dustin discovers an unseen something and it seems weird. Avoid episode three's title if you really don't want to know. The idea of ending by playing the full Ghostbusters theme over the end credits left me pumped and reinforcing the party atmosphere of the Halloween celebrations but ultimately also seemed like a case of having paid for the rights to everything about this movie and wanting to get value for money.

  In conclusion a solid episode with cracks beginning to show but still a lot of promise, flawless directing, outstanding acting and continually intriguing storytelling.

**** (4/5)

MM

Stranger Things 2 - Episode 1 Review

This review will be discussing the first episode of the second season of Netflix's Stranger Things. Since this show is on a streaming service accessible to all at the same time, and all episodes drop simultaneously there will be spoilers for the episode discussed and for the first season, if you haven't seen it (and you really should!). If you don't want to know anything and plan to watch the show then please come back to this review once you have. I recommend trying to go in unspoiled. But if you're just here for my take and/or don't care about spoilers then join me here in the upside down...

Chapter One: MADMAX

  Talk about starting off strong. This might be a very boring review as I can't find much to fault about this episode as an isolated season premiere of television. First, a little backstory. I was a big fan of Stranger Things' first season. It dropped with almost no advance buzz but word of mouth built up enough that I was completely aware of it and decided to give it a go. As a result of this hype I found the first season perhaps slightly overrated. Not bad by any stretch but a little slow to start and shy to show it's supernatural hand. But I didn't realise at the time that this was effective character building. The main group of children, the older teens and the various adults are all rich, developed and relatable and across the board are played brilliantly by great actors and actresses. And the second half of the first season blew me away, building up brilliantly into a highly entertaining horror/ mystery/monster movie hybrid to complement it's excellent period coming-of-age elements. I was pretty excited for the show to return, especially given the promise of the double cliffhanger ending. And with every new trailer I got more pumped as I just kept loving what I saw. One episode in and this seems justified so far.

  The episode is almost entirely set-up but that makes sense. There's a reason this is officially titled on-screen as chapter one rather than episode one. I imagine it's why the nine episode story is so ripe for bingeing but I personally want to savour it so I'm thinking of limiting myself to one episode a day. I'll still be done in nine days with far too long of a wait until season three. And so far this first chapter has me very interested to keep "reading", far more so than any of the first three episodes of season one. So it's even a vast improvement on itself in a way.

  The show and season opens with a rare pre-credits sequence which, somewhat surprisingly, takes place outside the main town of Hawkins. The reveal here that one of the random bank robbers we see is "8" (via a tattoo and some familiar psychic abilities) is a brilliant way to draw us in. It shows that there is a wider world of possibilities still to explore and that now the show has established itself it's not afraid to dive straight into the sci-fi/horror elements, as becomes clear later via Will. I absolutely applaud this.

  After the credits we rejoin our familiar faces and, dang, it immediately feels good to see them and settles us right back in. Establishing everyone's current status quo, all of which are believable and make sense, is handled without heavy handed exposition and so we are caught up quickly. This starts with the group of four boys (joined by the returning Will) hitting an arcade. At this point I should mention that the show continues to feel like a lost movie made in the actual 80s. The look and feel continue to be captured so perfectly. Anyhow this one scene alone introduces us to the titular Maxine, or MADMAX by the clever device of having her as competition who has overwritten the boys high scores. This allows the boys' competitive animosity to flip brilliantly into adoration on the discovery that this fellow nerd is a pretty girl. Perfect and entirely rings true. Even more interesting are the little hints about the character; she's moved from California, seems reserved but angry and is seemingly in conflict with her older brother, who accompanies but argues with her. The fact that he was played by the newest movie Red Power Ranger was a momentary distraction but he is a great actor and good on him. I'm intrigued to learn more about this family. The arcade scene early on establishes our potential threat as well as Will begins to see the world flash to the dark tones of the upside down with the hint of a giant and palpable menace approaching. Brilliant, creepy, and weirdly exciting in both the scenes we see of this.

Oh, and Hopper's exposition scene sets up his own mental state, the nature of general belief in the supernatural and a super intriguing mystery involving poisoned pumpkins.

  We are introduced to 80s stalwarts Sean Astin (The Goonies) and Paul Reiser (Aliens) next and both seem to be playing on their famous 80s roles. Whilst the feeling is that Astin's Bob is perhaps too nice and we suspect something without any real evidence (or at least I do), the show is not subtle about Reiser's character at all. Though he initially seems to be caring for Will's psychological well-being he is soon revealed to be another shady government type with a secret lab who is sending people into, or at least near, the upside down in hazmat suits and with flame throwers to take out a small, obscured, but clearly otherworldly creature or creatures. Brilliant. I need to know more, again!

  Without making this review too long there are a lot of great character moments. Steve Harrington's conflict between college and career, Nancy continuing to try and be there for him as her boyfriend and for her friend Jonathan Byers, Mike's wistfully longing for the lost Elle, and a great scene at Barb's parents which shows the nature of grief and hope as  potential denial as well as Nancy's guilt and devastation. Although I do wonder if this exploration was planned or a result of the huge explosion of #justiceforbarb as a cultural meme. We end the episode with the expected, and welcome, return of Eleven. Though this is not at all in the way we were expecting, throwing us straight into her already returned from the upside down and cared for secretly by Hopper. Though this better be explained more, like most of this episode as a set-up for a nine chapter tale it brilliantly raises questions and possibilities that we definitely want, nee need, to explore.

  In conclusion: great characters, great storytelling, great direction, great writing, great acting, great set up, great horror, great sci-fi, great mystery and a really great soundtrack. One wonders if the success of the show has led to more money for the rights to songs as the soundtrack is almost intrusive in its sheer amount of presence. This and the fact that it's impossible to judge how satisfying the answers to these threads will be are the only things keeping the episode from being perfect. That and my personal bugbear of needing to have every adult character smoking in practically every scene. But these are minor niggles in a near perfect example of how to do a second season premiere. Yep, Stranger Things is back.

****1/2 (4.5/5)

MM

American Horror Story: Cult - Episode 8 Review (Spoilers)

In this review I will be discussing the eigth episode of American Horror Story: Cult. At this point we are well over half way through the series and it's virtually impossible to discuss the episode without spoilers. Anyone who plans to view it has had ample time to catch up now and so in this review I will divulge plot points and character motivations to better explain my points and analyse the episode. This will not be an Episode Synopsis or Breakdown however. If you truly want to go into the episode blind and not having any future enjoyment of it spoiled then I recommend bookmarking this review and reading it after seeing the episode. If you don't mind spoilers however then dive in. 

Episode 8 - "Winter of our Discontent"

  Not to sound crass or tasteless but there are times when being a fan of AHS feels like being in an abusive relationship. Time and again the series starts out well but either burns out or takes a nosedive in its second half. And every new season I watch convinced that this will be the one where that'll finally change. Season Seven aka Cult is not that season. The quality of Cult is falling at this point, with 8 episodes out of 11 down, somewhere between fizzling out and falling off a cliff. I really can't see how the last three can be satisfying at this point. But let's just deal with the matter at hand.

  The episode starts off with some vindication for me as it's revealed that Dr. Vincent Anderson (as is now revealed to be his name) actually was unaware of Kai's actions. Although this does slightly stretch credibility, relying on Kai breaking in and stealing case files unnoticed, I forgive it because I was already aware going into this episode that Ally had been left with no ally or support. Everyone who could help her has either been killed or revealed as part of the cult and I couldn't see her staging a particularly interesting one-person defence. The scene also intriguingly sets up Kai's revelling in his new power, in this case over his older brother, whom he now insists refer to him by his title as "Councilman". It's an effectively chilling way to throw us into the credits as we get an increasing unease of Kai's true lust for power and control, and just what he could abuse it for.

  And we see that as we get into the episode proper. Kai has used threats and fear to establish martial law and gain his own personal security force. The women who were one time members of the group have been relegated to kitchen duties, much to Bev and Ivy's annoyance. But Winter still won't hear anything said against her brother and begins to relay a tale of how Kai saved her life years ago... This is where the problems in the episode start for me. We start off with some heavy-handed but relevant backstory that Kai and Winter were essentially internet trolls tormenting "SJWs", but things take a turn when one of their would-be victims invites them to his house. Things quickly veer from believably creepy to absolute horror cliche that utterly defies belief. That Kai, who had already lived the horror plot of his dead parents rotting in a home shrine, could end up unfortunate enough to bump into America's best prepared serial killer is just ludicrous. Not to mention the nature of the complex death traps in this haunted house of poetic justice are entirely unbelievable and completely derivative of both Se7en and Saw. In a series that seemed to seek to reflect our own society and it's ability to twist people we now totally undercut that with the revelation that it was Kai's encounter with this psychopath that really "changed him". In case you didn't get the point we subtly see him covered in blood from his first murder and then rising like a Phoenix in the bathroom mirror with his newly dyed blue hair. Blue hair!? This guy must have gone crazy. You could probably hear the eye rolls from my flat in mainland Europe. There are hints of good in these opening scenes; a blatant reference to The Handmaid's Tale opens the door to a road that the show nevertheless refuses to go down, as do later revelations about Detective Samuels deep-rooted and violent misogyny. This could have been rich real-life subject matter to explore but the show would rather veer into high camp now, which is a shame. Likewise the idea that encountering this one lunatic made Kai lose all faith in humanity and decide to "burn it all down" because he couldn't save everybody ruins this character. Especially as we see his madness increase. We now saw the show try to explain and justify where this comes from. There isn't a need to explain villains origins to make them sympathetic. Kai is like The Joker, if you try to explain or justify him then he's less scary. And society is more than capable of creating these types of monsters for far less noble reasons. And sometimes, scariest of all, no reason at all.

  It's at this point that the train comes completely off the rails. I can only imagine the intent was to show the depths of Kai's depraved insanity, particularly in service of Winter's push away from his influence. But things get so crazy and are played for laughs so much that it feels like you're watching the wrong show. As Kai implies incest, then revealed his idea for a "ritual" to conceive a "new messiah" and cemented this by attempting to engage in a threesome with his sister and the gay Detective. I really felt baffled. And when he started playing a pop song as a sacred tune for whenever a messiah is conceived and Winter snippily replied that the point of a messiah is to have only one, it felt like I was somehow watching an unexpected third season of Scream Queens. I have no idea what the writers of this scene were thinking but suffice to say it was obvious that their tongues were so far in their cheeks they were bursting through their face. This kills all tension and sense of versimilitude, throwing you out of the scene and the series. I can't stress enough how bad this was.

  Returning to Ally we get a welcome surprise as we see that she has invited a guest for dinner, her new Councilman Kai. In the best scene of the episode Ally reveals that she will do anything to win back her son and that Kai's tormenting has done what nothing else could: it has cured her. She now fears nothing. This is so interesting and would have been wonderful to explore, particularly with an Ally who has nothing to manipulate and nothing to lose facing a Kai with no power over her. But alas, she still has one weakness, as revealed; her son. In exchange for reuniting with him she betrays Dr. Vincent selling him out to his brother and revealing that he discussed with Ally trying to have Kai committed or arrested. And here's the point where I'm done with this episode, and season. As I've discussed in the past my least favourite season of AHS is Hotel, and the main reason for that is that there is no protagonist. Everyone in that season was twisted, monstrous, amoral and/or murderous so there was no audience surrogate to identify with. Cult has now potentially put itself in the exact same position. As will become even clearer later.

  The next scene follows Winter as she is continually beaten down by her brother's new regime. Being picked up by Detective Samuels he reveals how he ended up as Kai's "bitch". It's an interesting narrative diversion as it's revealed that he has deep seated homophobia and misogyny. Kai effectively gave him a justification for hating women and having sex with men. Winter, quite rightly, cuts through her brother's bullshit and despite the Detective insisting that it's more complicated than him being gay she hits back brilliantly with, "it's as simple as you like dick!". This triggers his violent, misogynist rage and in a tussle Winter pulls a gun on her attacker and shoots the detective straight through the head. So far, so interesting. Maybe Winter will be our new protagonist. She's definitely played brilliantly and seems wonderfully complex. And the clue was in the episode title after all. Interest was rising again at this point.

  And so we enter the final scene as Kai, his followers, his guards and some conveniently masked Clownz face a bound and cuffed Dr. Vincent and Bev. Kai intriguingly shows us that he learned his "pinky" linking ritual of trust from his brother then chillingly turns that on it's head and murders him for his "betrayal". Turning to Bev he accuses her of murdering Detective Samuels and it becomes clear that Winter has lied and set her up. So much for our new character to root for (although the conflicted looks Billie Lourd plays here give me hope). Bev gives a brilliant speech cutting straight through Kai (and people like him). She screams at him that he has no grand or noble plan, ultimately he is just an attention whore who has done everything in service of his own ego. She is taken off to be tortured for this, Kai deciding that she didn't deserve a quick death. Truth hurts Kai, she touch a nerve? We conclude the episode with a pan round to the clowns unmasking and reveal that Bev's old costume is now being worn by their newest recruit... Ally. Shock horror! Except not. As I've said I'm not the most savvy viewer but even I called that Ally was in one of those costumes at the very top of the scene. Having that as your big end of episode reveal lacks any impact and leaves the viewer just feeling disappointed. That's basic screenwriting! Sigh.

  Overall then a very slight improvement on last episode as it at least furthers our main plot. But we have now been robbed of motivations, mystery and any sympathetic main character. AHS not being able to conclude a full season continues. Three to go...

**1/2 (2.5/5)

MM

American Horror Story: Cult - Episode 7 Review (Spoilers)

In this review I will be discussing the seventh episode of American Horror Story: Cult. At this point we are well over half way through the series and it's virtually impossible to discuss the episode without spoilers. Anyone who plans to view it has had ample time to catch up now and so in this review I will divulge plot points and character motivations to better explain my points and analyse the episode. This will not be an Episode Synopsis or Breakdown however. If you truly want to go into the episode blind and not having any future enjoyment of it spoiled then I recommend bookmarking this review and reading it after seeing the episode. If you don't mind spoilers however then dive in. 

Episode 7 - Valerie Solanas Died For Your Sins: Scumbag

  AHS: Cult takes a predictably disappointing detour in Week 7, to address a vital and prominent issue with all the tact and skill of a bunch of murderous women cutting up a victim with a chainsaw. Appropriately enough.

  Well we should have known it was coming. In reflecting our current societal issues and fears we were always going to have to tackle the controversial F word... Feminism. We've already seen how Trump and his ilk manipulated and employed racism, fear of authority and a general persecution reflected in various plot elements this season. But one thing which has only been touched upon but vitally important is the issue of a gender divide.

"I moved on her, and I failed. I'll admit it.
I did try and fuck her. She was married.
And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, "I'll show you where they have some nice furniture." I took her out for furniture—I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn't get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony tits and everything. She's totally changed her look.

I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything."

  Once again AHS: Cult tackles an issue with disturbing and distressing apt timing, handling female (dis)empowerment in the week that the phrase "Me too" has been trending all over social media. This hashtag was encouraging women to show how widespread sexual abuse and harassment can be. This was prompted by revelations about sexually predatory behaviour and abuses of power used to sexually assault multiple women by Miramax's Harvey Weinstein and Screen Junkies' Andy Signore. But these latest transgressions are just fortuitous timing for the show, which would be more than aware of the battle of the sexes that was the 2016 election, especially in the wake of the comments above, from a recording of President Trump that leaked mere days before the polls opened. And he still won! This is ripe to explore and could have been an interesting thing to dive into, but in a much better way than we get here. We've all seen how cult mentality can develop from these victimisations; the pink pussy hats, the women's marches, heck even the aforementioned social media campaign. The nature of whether this can be a good or a bad thing would be so interesting to debate and explore. We don't really get any of this, as the show inexplicably ignores these to reach into a barely known (and partly fictionalized) history. I don't get the writing decision here at all, particularly if this is the only past example of a cult we see.

  From the outset we see how this episode will be different, the cold open establishing that we are in 1968, and introducing us to Valerie Solanas aka "the woman who shot Andy Warhol". She is played by renowned feminist Lena Dunham and oh dear. I've never rated Miss Dunham. Her brand of militant feminism doesn't sit right with me and I find her neither funny nor talented, in fact I often just find her offensive. Casting her here to portray the same exact things she is known for is the worst type of stunt casting and despite her valiant attempts at an accent she isn't a good enough actor to break through the ingrained idea that you are just watching Lena Dunham talk feminism again. Contrast this with how the AHS regulars can play multiple roles across, and even within, seasons and you see the difference. Heck even here Evan Peters, weirdly double cast as Andy Warhol, is convincing in the role. And we see the return of another two AHS regulars; Jamie Brewer and Frances Conroy. Both outstanding and completely convincing in character. But they aren't in the episode title!

  When we rejoin our main narrative it's just after the shocking events at Kai's "attempted assassination". Through news reports we learn that Meadow has indeed been identified as the shooter and not Ally. Which makes last week's ending all the more strange and annoying. It's also a huge weak point that there is no Ally in this episode at all. We just hear that she's been taken into custody and being held somewhere. So we're spending a whole episode not even dealing with the main character, pretty much the only likeable person we've met. Deeply unwise, another baffling choice. We see that the women of Kai's cult are being marginalised, now that he has gained the notoriety and power he craved as a result of Meadow's actions. This is as subtle as a sledgehammer and comes from nowhere story wise. The point is sold only by Adina Porter as Beverly, who we know insisted on "equal power" with Kai and never seemed convinced.

  Bev meets a woman; Bebe, who is revealed to have been Valerie Solanas' former lover and a member of a group she called SCUM (Society of Cutting Up Men). This intriguingly ties the two time periods together of this week's plot and confirms that we are indeed exploring another cult, by any other name. My issue with all of this is that I'm massively unclear what the episode is trying to say. When it's been so clear what message to take from the rest of the season I, for one, am baffled by the muddled handling of this. Is it saying that all women are a threat to be feared? That feminism (and thus other social movements) is a cult and a terrible thing? I assume, and hope, that the idea presented is that a militant version of anything can become a toxic cult (social movements, religion, national pride, etc). But this isn't even remotely delved into and is as clear as mud, if it even was the intention.

  Throughout these flashbacks to Solanas and SCUM we are provided with a fascinating exploration of the mind and motivations of a cult leader, they are also motivated by fear, in their case the fear of losing or not having a legacy. The apparent counterpoint here between Valerie and Kai is worthwhile and interesting so credit where it's due for that. But the whole portrayal of SCUM struck me as writers who are terrified of women; not made any less obvious by having two (naturally gay) characters who literally are. This is where the episode started to get actually offensive to me, peaking when the show tries to (completely fictionally) tie together the real life horrors of the SCUM murders and the Zodiac killings. I get how that feeds into feeling robbed of a legacy as Solanas isn't believed when she confesses to being SCUM's mastermind and her legacy does become intertwined with Warhol, another man taking her power. But bringing in such a heinous thing as a real serial killer for imaginary reinforcement of your point is lazy and unnecessary.

  Returning to our present day narrative the episode veers off the rails with some of the stupidest character actions and words I've heard from this show ever. It becomes apparent that Kai is aware of this splinter group of women and is obviously manipulating their behaviour. His lie to Winter that Harrison came up with the misogynist name MLWB (Men Lead, Women Bleed) is so obvious. We've seen nothing to indicate that these women are anywhere near stupid enough to fall for Kai's machinations, especially since they are explicitly aware of how they're used. It's all reinforced by Kai's own name for the group; FIT (Fear Is Truth). Is that sinking in yet? Cos we've only been reminded literally every week. Worse is that he says this actually TO Winter, but she still allows her fear to blind and corrupt her, and the other ladies. It's a terrible explanation for how they could become suddenly ruthless and does not make sense. In addition Ivy gets one of the most ridiculous lines I've ever heard. When Harrison defensively argues that she can't be precious about not looking after their wives, she retorts with the zinger; "I just drove her crazy, I didn't almost get her killed". Oh, that's okay then! Is this supposed to be funny? Cos I laughed out loud. So driving someone crazy is nothing? Not to mention all the times that Ally literally COULD have been hurt or killed! Nobody is this stupid! I realise it's episode 7 of 11 but you can't have characters get to where you want them entirely by plot necessity. It's like the writing is suddenly rushed in an effort to get where the plot needs to be, which has been a flaw in every season of AHS now for 7 series. Please learn!

  The episode ends with a brilliant final twist, which gets less impressive if you give it any thought at all. Kai's female supporters openly taunt him on the news report of Harrison's murder; referencing SCUM and how he isn't keeping his promise of law and order. Just when it seems like Kai is potentially coming undone he says to his house guest; "they're at their best when they're angry" and Bebe turns to face him and replies "aren't we all". This was a shock in the moment, and did cause a gasp. It also raises some interesting questions for me. Is Bebe actually the mastermind after all, not Kai? Did Kai just recruit her to test the women's loyalty? Or to make them scapegoats? It'll still be interesting to see how this develops.

  In conclusion then a very uneven and muddled episode. Some great performances, one terrible one. A very unclear message. Some great moments of actual horror in the "slasher" mould. But a seemingly unnecessary detour. The episode misses Ally and doesn't seem to hugely advance the main plot. And still no Twisty!

**1/2 (2.5/5)

MM

American Horror Story: Cult - Episode 6 Review (Spoilers)

In this review I will be discussing the sixth episode of American Horror Story: Cult. At this point we are well over half way through the series and it's virtually impossible to discuss the episode without spoilers. Anyone who plans to view it has had ample time to catch up now and so in this review I will divulge plot points and character motivations to better explain my points and analyse the episode. This will not be an Episode Synopsis or Breakdown however. If you truly want to go into the episode blind and not having any future enjoyment of it spoiled then I recommend bookmarking this review and reading it after seeing the episode. If you don't mind spoilers however then dive in. 

Episode 6 - "Mid-Western Assassin"

  There can be no better example of the significance and relevance of this season of American Horror Story than the real life events which directly affected the airing of this episode. In the wake of the horrifying and tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas the cold open was heavily edited. This was because it focused on an incidence of similar gun violence against a mass of victims in a realistic and brutal way. Art imitating life in the worst and saddest way imaginable, but maybe emphasising what a cautionary tale this season may have to be. This isn't horror for kicks, it's a terrifying warning of a real nightmare that is perilously close, and in some cases arguably already here. It's tough to watch, but enlightening, reflective and vital.

"My parents were Reaganites. I interviewed Barry Goldwater for my high school paper. I've seen conservatives up close — you're not a conservative. You're a reactionary. You use fear and the fantasy of a time that never was — when people "left their doors unlocked." People like Mr. Anderson, and Trump, are not the garbage. They are the flies that the garbage has drawn. It's time that we stop worrying about the flies and start hauling away the garbage."

  After the aforementioned edited cold open and credits we flash back immediately to rejoin Ally where we left her last week, fresh from Meadow's revelations. This seeks to ease the discomfort slightly and, as I predicted, gives us answers and a deeper dive without teasing this out for too long. It's good storytelling as we see Ally getting a call from Dr Vincent, having been called by a concerned Ivy. It's left in doubt obviously whether this is concern for Ally, or concern that she has been found out. It's also increasingly uncertain to me how complicit Dr Rudy is in all this. I realise he is related to Kai and has disdain for Ally and initially this looked damning, as did the fact that we've seen his patients be immediately killed utilising the fears they've confessed to him. But Cheyenne Jackson plays the part so well that I genuinely believe he is unaware of the cult's activities, and that he truly believes Ally is having paranoid delusions. He's also never been shown with the group and so definitely doesn't seem like a member. Interesting. Hanging up on the doctor Ally finally takes some action and goes to the neighbours house, sneaking past Detective Samuels and Harrison in mid-coitus and haphazardly rescuing a bound Meadow, despite her "clumsily" knocking over a toolbox on the way out. This didn't even register on first viewing but is potentially a genius touch. Ally then takes Meadow to the restaurant where she reiterates the cult's ubiquity, identities and that they do indeed include Ivy. She has a vendetta against Ally, presumably due to her voting for Jill Stein, and has been helping the clowns get access to their home. At this point the motivations and repetition seem a little flimsy and disappointing but this is a really minor quibble and is all relevant, developed or reversed brilliantly later on. When Ally insists that her wife has never believed in anything strongly enough to join a cult Meadow states that's how Kai gets to his acolytes; by identifying this emptiness and giving them something to believe in, which transitions nicely into a flashback to the Wiltons' "induction". Kai is explicitly shown to prey on Meadow's insecurity; being in love with a man who clearly feels nothing for her. He makes her feel attractive, special and loved. But then she overhears Kai repeating the same speech verbatim to Ivy that he used on her, about being special and "burning brighter than anyone". Buoyed by this betrayal she reveals her doubts about Kai. That a city council seat is meaningless in the grand scheme of things and he is a nobody whose great plan is terrible. The other group members then predictably turn on her and imprison her, with Kai threatening that they should tell the police that something awful has happened to her. So far the motivations and character development are top notch and completely engrossing as we cut back to Meadow insisting to Ally that Kai is too powerful and connected. They have to kill him! 

  Our next flashbacks introduce us to another AHS regular; the great Mare Winningham. She always gives an outstanding performance and that's no different here as she is introduced as a brilliant and instantly likeable character; a foil for Kai with the wisdom to see through and challenge his b.s. Naturally this doesn't end well for her when she announces her plan to run against Kai in the council election, leading Ally to run to her for help in the present moment after leaving Meadow with Dr Vincent. The ensuing scene is unsettling and unnerving as we see the cult close in on Sally despite her lack of fear and assurance that Kai will get nowhere in the long run. Kai does his usual trick of getting straight to the root of his victims fear though, here by ruining her reputation on social media declaring her past words a lie and announcing her suicide. This leads to the best line of the episode, if not the series;

Sally: "Nobody's going to believe any of that!"

Kai: "Of course they will. It's on Facebook."

Nail, meet hammer. I honestly laughed out loud at the satirical genius of this. It's the most succint expression yet of the cautionary reflection of our times that this season is trying to be, almost as if the writers are confirming that things really are as crazy as they seem, you're not imagining how bad things have got (like Ally is not paranoid) and they absolutely see it too. Brilliant. Amongst all this we also flash back to Ivy's meeting with Kai and her actual, true motivations. It's yet more brilliant writing and believable character development as she reveals that she has grown to resent Ally for being the one to carry their son, due to Ivy's inability to do so. We see her begin to believe that Ally is taunting her with her continued closeness to Oz, nursing him directly and leaving Ivy feeling unimportant. And of course Jill Stein didn't help (ha!) and nor do Ally's "bullshit entitled phobias" (aaaaahhh!).

  Finally we get even more genius as everything we thought we knew gets flipped on its head. We see Kai meeting secretly with the incarcerated Meadow and agreeing with her criticisms. He preys on her vulnerability again, insisting that she is actually special, so much so that she has to be the one to take his plan to get power to the next level. Cutting back to the shooting at Kai's organised speech rally we see that Ally has tracked down Meadow: she is the shooter! We see Kai in the past insisting that she has the strength to lie and deceive Ally and everyone to get him noticed, since "everybody loves a resurrection", touching on religious intolerance as motivation too. Meadow shoots and wounds Kai as Ally tries to reach her before Meadow calmly turns the gun on herself and delivers the chilling, brilliant and evocative line;

"this is the face of true love"

  

and then swallowing her gun barrel and blowing her brains out, leaving Ally and the audience reeling. Love, insecurity, fear. All have been exploited by Kai and the cult mentality. But even worse is that Ally is again left holding the gun, and it appears that she had shot Kai, killed Meadow and was the gunman who instigated the chaos. And all when she'd previously found her strength and self-determination.

  This episode was brilliant! Although I was initially disappointed that the show wasn't what I'd thought, expecting a straight up slasher thriller with possible supernatural elements. It soon became clear what the show is and what it's trying to say. Although we still got no Twisty, disappointingly, we do get a lot of answers, character explanations and reveals. We are even told that the strange chemicals were nothing, water trucks with dye used by Kai to make people untrusting and scared. Says it all really.

***** (5/5)

MM

American Horror Story: Cult - Episode 5 Review

In this review I will be discussing the fifth episode of American Horror Story: Cult in broad terms. However I will allude to, and may divulge, plot points and character motivations to better explain my points and analyse the episode. This will not be an Episode Synopsis or Breakdown and heavy spoilers will be clearly sign-posted. However, everyone's spoiler sensitivity is different and if you truly want to go into the episode blind and not even being coloured by my views then I recommend reading this after seeing the episode.

Episode 5 - Holes

  So, this cold open had a BIG reveal. Except it didn't. I'm the least perceptive television viewer in the world and even I guessed it in literally week one. It's a shame they made it so obvious as the feeling you get going into the credits shouldn't be; "Yep. And...?".
  So the opening introduces us to every member of Kai's cult. No real surprises but I appreciate the clarity. Still no word on why they chose the clown motif though. Also, lampshading that they wore the costumes for people who are going to die anyway doesn't make it any less ridiculous. It makes sense when terrorizing Ally or trying to get on the news but otherwise it was clearly for the audience's benefit, which was pointless since, as I said, there are no real surprises. Some do come later though but we'll get to that.

  This week things actually start to feel like a horror show. After a brief exposition scene between Ally and Dr. Rudy (which re-emphasizes her "trypophobia") we cut to the now-revealed clown gang committing a murder. I can't get into too much without spoilers but suffice to say that revenge plays a part in the choice of victim. It also becomes apparent that there is a twist and a bit more to this when we see that the victim had a gimp. It's a nice touch to use this horror weirdness to show how ruthless two of the gang are, and just how uncomfortable it makes one or two others. Kudos Ryan Murphy.
  Next up comes a real surprise as Ivy finds Meadow in a hole (get it?) six foot deep. It's not clear at first if Ally is hallucinating or this is real as she ignores Meadow's pleas for help, runs away and locks herself in. Dick move, Ally! But then she hears what appears to be the clowns trying to get through her door only for Meadow to jump up at her window (nice inverted jump scare) and she reveals to Ally that it's a cult, they're crazy murderers and EXACTLY WHO IS IN IT! This was a shock. Ally knows. In Episode 5. I have to see what happens with her next, and the episode seems to know that, so cheekily that's where we leave our favourite lesbian coulrophobe for this week as Meadow is bagged and dragged off. Loving the pace and storytelling so far after that weak opening.

  Our next scene is where I start regretting asking for more horror. One member of the cult introduced in the opening was clearly a red shirt (look it up if you don't know the reference) and, sure enough, the co-leaders decide to take out this weak link. But the manner in which they do so is truly horrific. I can watch a lot, and maybe it's just me, but I was super grossed out, relieved that more was implied than explicitly shown, and agonizing at the prolonged and disturbing suffering. I can't cite that as a complaint though because in my previous review I asked for horror and the show delivered. That'll teach me. Kudos again.
  Finally the episode gifts us with Kai's back story and a couple more cool reveals. If you've wondered where Kai and Winter's parents are or what the door with a rose pinned to it meant in Episode One well now you have answers to both of those questions. Oh, and they have an older brother, and we know him! I'll admit this was a cool shock, I suspected something was off about him but not the nature of this close, familial connection. Kudos a third time. The back story then gets very  interesting and very AHS. For the better and the worse. I have real issues with the plausibility of the last reveal but after discussing it things make a bit more sense in my "head canon" so only half an anti-kudos.
  In conclusion a very good episode which seems to have given away a lot but still leaves some things tantalisingly mysterious (No Twisty again, why the clowns?, seriously what is the deal with the green gas?). I'll be tuning in diligently for part six.

****(4/5)

MM