Sebastián Silva

Sebastián Silva’s Nasty Baby provokes reaction. It’s a murder story disguised as a low-fi Brooklyn comedy. It eases you into a world of artists in Brownstones, liberal family structures and artisanal cappuccinos and then sucker-punches your expectations with a late in the game twist. The polarizing response to Silva’s choice to derail the expected narrative was felt even before the film premiered. According to the director the film was rejected from the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival with the caveat that if he changed the ending they may reconsider. The film ended up premiering at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and will be seen in limited release Oct. 23rd, before an on-demand release a week later.

Special Mention: Sightseers Directed by Ben Wheatley Written by Steve Oram and Alice Lowe UK, 2012 This bloody, satirical road trip comedy is by no means as great as Terrence Mallick’s Badlands, but it is truly unique, strange, disquieting, and uncomfortably funny. Ben Wheatley is one of the most exciting genre filmmakers working in the …

Magic Magic Written by Sebastian Silva Directed by Sebastian Silva U.S.A./Chile, 2013 It is always an exciting prospect when new, young actors begin to make serious headway in film or television, proving their worth as performers and whose names cause movie goers’ head to perk at the mention that they are starring in an upcoming …

It’s become something of a cliché to draw links between any claustrophobic discomfort piece and the work of Roman Polanski. Magic Magic not only has the chamber piece qualities of the man’s apartment films and Carnage, but also the island locale and proximity to paralyzing waters of films like Knife in the Water, Cul-de-sac and The Ghost Writer; furthermore, it also shares a blonde protagonist losing her grip on reality à la Repulsion. It’s an easy film to play ‘Spot the Roman’ with, but the comparison is valid and not just superficial checklist-ticking in this case. If, as a whole, it never reaches the same heights of quality as the best of Polanski’s more horror-inclined films, Sebastián Silva’s unnerving and enigmatic thriller has scenes that certainly stand up to worthy association.