Hey everyone! I have a few mini reviews to give you. These are all indie films that I had the privilege of screening. In the next few months I am going to be getting a lot of screeners for awards films so don’t be surprised if you see a lot of these mini reviews posts. So here goes!

Wander Darkly

Wander Darkly is a difficult movie to describe. It’s about a woman played by Sienna Miller who is struggling with being a new parent. She’s resentful of her partner played by Diego Luna and the 2 fight a lot. Then there is an accident and she might be dead, or is she?

The movie plays with time and perspective a lot with non-linear storytelling and a host of mini-reveals leading up to a big reveal. I really like Sienna Miller as an actress. I loved her in last year’s American Woman, which was very underrated. She’s great here and helps you to like a woman who can be shrill and argumentative (a tough quality to see in a young mother). She and Luna have good chemistry even as they are fighting and the emotion of the film works.

There are parts of Wander Darkly that feel aggressively indie like it was begging to be admitted to Sundance, which it was. Nevertheless, I recommend it. As I said on twitter it’s like Marriage Story if death was involved LOL.

7 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Mr Marvelous

Mr Marvelous is a short I was asked to review and it was sold to me as a dark Christmas short about a disgruntled mall Santa. It’s only 13 minutes long but I was a little disappointed at the Christmas aspects of the film. I won’t give away the spoiler (although the title kind of does) but it’s more about heroes than about Christmas.

I’m not sure what this short is trying to say. It didn’t inspire me or make me think about the world in a new way. It’s not a commentary on superhero movies, families, or growing older. It might be trying to be those things but it fell flat. It’s just 13 minutes so if you’re curious you can find it online but I’d honestly skip it.

3 out of 10

Frown Worthy

Busman’s Holiday

Busman’s Holiday is a film I bet will be more enjoyable to isolated audiences in 2020 than it might have otherwise been. It tells the story of man named Michael (Jamie McShane) who is hired as a private detective to try and find a distant cousin who has turned up missing in her travels around the world.

There’s a lot of escapism here with Michael traveling to Ireland, Australia, India and more, and that’s the main appeal in this film. McShane is likable as our rough-around-the-edges protagonist but he spends too much time in deep thought pondering the beauty of the earth. I wanted the search for the cousin to be more interesting!

Still, if you like movies such as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty than you might enjoy Busman’s Holiday. It’s certainly worth a watch for the travel footage alone. Beautiful!

6 out of 10

Smile Worthy

There you have it. I wouldn’t be surprised if I have another post like this in the next few days. It’s a busy time to be a critic! Hope you are doing well! Don’t forget to check out Hallmarkies Podcast and please consider supporting me on patreon if you appreciate what I do.