Sometimes it's nice to come across a movie that is outwardly vague about its story, and that truly, meaningfully lays out a mystery to unravel for the viewers. The only certainties we're fed to start with are the quietly searing electronic score of Bryan Hollon, lending to the building disquiet; the crisp cinematography and high production values, meeting the best indie standards of the 2010s; and the intimations of a relationship between Janie and Irma that at the outset somewhat recalls the manipulative, infantilizing, subtly destructive dynamics of the family in Yorgos Lanthimos' 'Dogtooth.' In the first act filmmaker Ben Cresciman teases us with a lot of intriguing tidbits that have no apparent connectivity and definitely no clarity, begging the question of what exactly is going on; bolstered by the music, there's a pensive intensity even early on - breaking through the overall soft tone - that helps to cement a fundamental psychological element to the picture. This sense is also borne out through Jason Jones' smart editing, sharp writing, Cresciman's smart, mindful direction, and not least in the nuanced yet fierce, potent acting of Sarah Hagan and Barbara Crampton. Even approaching the halfway mark 'Sun choke' has actually revealed very little, and one must either admire the restraint or lament the slothfulness.
With that said, it's at that halfway point that the film takes an astonishingly darker turn, making the prior sinister vibes seem like child's play. The mystery remains to be more fully unveiled, but with the silent insidiousness of a knife in the dark the feature demonstrates a major foundation of concrete horror. When it comes to that question of restraint or slothfulness, I'm happy to say I lean toward the former perspective; in most every way this built as a drama, and a mystery, but bent toward the most grim of genre flavors. While less common in the grand scheme of things, a good horror-drama can be just as impactful and captivating as any more plainly violent fare, if not more so given the underhanded tack, and I think that's just what Cresciman achieves here. I'm not going to sit here and say that I completely understand what the filmmaker was doing, nor that the sum total is perfect; in the back end it rather seems to me that this leans so heavily into lofty, artistic grandiosity and narrative obfuscation that it forgets the import of core underlying substance. This is an art film, to be honest, as much as anything else, and when all is said and done there are few definitive answers for all that is laid before us, or even answers to be readily interpreted.
Yet the cast is plainly excellent, also including Sara Malakul Lane alongside Hagan and Crampton, and everything from sound design to art direction is terrific. The stunts and effects are great. Whatever one takes away from the narrative at large it's engrossing and ferocious in and of itself, with superb scene writing that maybe does even more than the murky plot to anchor the proceedings and all contributions in turn. I do wish that I had something more firm to latch onto in terms of the story, and Cresciman's intent, but even at that I really do like 'Sun choke,' from mystification to ghastliness and back again. And with all that said, I can understand why this hasn't seemingly been met with a more significant reception; it exists on a level of distribution that struggles to attract attention in the first place, and even for as ugly and gripping as the tale gets as we see it, there's an aspect of uncareful construction overall - the foible of meticulously calculating every odd and end, but somewhat neglecting the center in the process. I'm glad for those who get more out of this than I do; at the same time, I wonder if I'm not being too rosy in my assessment. One way or another this won't appeal to all, and one should be cognizant of the tenor it adopts, but if you are open to the low-key and slightly more abstruse side of horror cinema, 'Sun choke' is worth checking out if you have the chance.
With that said, it's at that halfway point that the film takes an astonishingly darker turn, making the prior sinister vibes seem like child's play. The mystery remains to be more fully unveiled, but with the silent insidiousness of a knife in the dark the feature demonstrates a major foundation of concrete horror. When it comes to that question of restraint or slothfulness, I'm happy to say I lean toward the former perspective; in most every way this built as a drama, and a mystery, but bent toward the most grim of genre flavors. While less common in the grand scheme of things, a good horror-drama can be just as impactful and captivating as any more plainly violent fare, if not more so given the underhanded tack, and I think that's just what Cresciman achieves here. I'm not going to sit here and say that I completely understand what the filmmaker was doing, nor that the sum total is perfect; in the back end it rather seems to me that this leans so heavily into lofty, artistic grandiosity and narrative obfuscation that it forgets the import of core underlying substance. This is an art film, to be honest, as much as anything else, and when all is said and done there are few definitive answers for all that is laid before us, or even answers to be readily interpreted.
Yet the cast is plainly excellent, also including Sara Malakul Lane alongside Hagan and Crampton, and everything from sound design to art direction is terrific. The stunts and effects are great. Whatever one takes away from the narrative at large it's engrossing and ferocious in and of itself, with superb scene writing that maybe does even more than the murky plot to anchor the proceedings and all contributions in turn. I do wish that I had something more firm to latch onto in terms of the story, and Cresciman's intent, but even at that I really do like 'Sun choke,' from mystification to ghastliness and back again. And with all that said, I can understand why this hasn't seemingly been met with a more significant reception; it exists on a level of distribution that struggles to attract attention in the first place, and even for as ugly and gripping as the tale gets as we see it, there's an aspect of uncareful construction overall - the foible of meticulously calculating every odd and end, but somewhat neglecting the center in the process. I'm glad for those who get more out of this than I do; at the same time, I wonder if I'm not being too rosy in my assessment. One way or another this won't appeal to all, and one should be cognizant of the tenor it adopts, but if you are open to the low-key and slightly more abstruse side of horror cinema, 'Sun choke' is worth checking out if you have the chance.