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One Movie Punch


Dec 6, 2019

Hi everyone!

It’s Friday, so we’re back with another Fantastic Fest review from Andrew Campbell. Today’s review I thought wasn’t going to make it, and I was getting really frustrated with him, but then someone sent me this awesome houseplant and now it’s fine, and I’m fine, and everything’s fine. You know what else is fine? Andrew’s previous reviews, which include THE POOL (Episode #656), critical darling DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (Episode #649), and ensemble film extraordinaire KNIVES OUT (Episode #652). I wonder who sent this flower? Oh! I guess you’ll want to check out our review for ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE (Episode #425) for... no reason.

Before the review, we’ll have a promo from the DC High podcast. Every episode, D & C provide a heaping dose of edutainment as they work their way through a high-school themed curse. You can find them on Twitter and Facebook @DCHighpod. Don’t miss their Reign of Terror 2019 guest review for HATCHET (Episode #613).

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Here we go!

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<< DC HIGH PROMO >>

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Hello film fans!

Stephanie here. Andrew seems to have caught a touch of the plague this week and his voice sounds like he spent the whole day screaming. The review itself is all his, but you’ll be hearing my voice instead of his raw scratchy one. Anyway, today’s movie is about a nefarious plant and if I was going to watch a movie about plant life, it would be something more like LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS or the real horror of 2018’s ANNIHILATION (Episode #400), both of which are streaming now on Amazon Prime.

Today’s movie is LITTLE JOE, the 2019 film from Magnolia Pictures, written by Jessica Hausner and Geraldine Bajard, and directed by Hausner. LITTLE JOE played the 2019 Fantastic Fest as a “sneak preview” - whatever that means. The first English language film from Austrian director Hausner, LITTLE JOE stars Emily Beecham as Alice a single mother caring for her son Joe (Kit Connor) while preoccupied with her genetically engineered plant species called Little Joe. As a senior scientist at a research company, Alice has developed a flower that, when cared for and spoken to, emits a red cloud of particulates containing oxytocin, essentially providing a source of artificial happiness. Frequently forced to work late monitoring her plants, Alice is often absent from her teen son’s life with late night take-out dinners becoming the norm. She makes an uncharacteristically poor decision to smuggle a single bloom home as a gift for her son, but before long young Joe’s personality begins to change.

The trailer for this film looks gorgeous, providing a setting for a great story. A stark, glass-walled laboratory staffed by a crew of meticulous workers tending to a grid of single-stem houseplants featuring a crimson puffball on the end. Alice’s bright-red bob of hair and the dark fluorescent grow-lights being the only other signs of color. The sterile, antiseptic lab clashes with the ominous soundtrack pulsating throughout. The film itself delivers in this regard, every scene well-shot with some creative camera angles and long pans.

The story is a slow burn, just as the trailer indicates, however it grows a bit thin with remarkably few twists or payoffs along the way. The conclusion is predictable and pedestrian, however the film does have an interesting subtext regarding antidepressants. Fortunately for folks like me who don’t always pick up on these things, the characters eventually have an overt conversation on the subject. With pharmaceuticals (or in this case, a potentially malicious chemical-emitting houseplant) that serve to artificially alter one’s personality to create happiness, at what point does the person become someone else altogether?

One thing that drew me to this film is the fact that Emily Beecham picked up the award for Best Actress at Cannes for LITTLE JOE. This seemed unlikely for a genre film such as this, however, Cannes has a recent history of recognizing actresses in horror and sci-fi films, including Charlotte Gainsbourg for ANTICHRIST and Kirsten Dunst for MELANCHOLIA, both stemming from the deranged mind of Lars von Trier. Unfortunately, I found Beecham’s performance to be rather pedestrian, along with most of the cast, which also includes actor Ben Whishaw as Chris, a co-worker at the lab and potential love interest for Alice. The film works to build suspense as Alice sees subtle signs that her son and co-workers are behaving differently, possibly resulting from Little Joe’s spores. But “subtle” is the key word here, the film sacrificing any real excitement for the restraint of being a light psychological thriller.

The obvious comparison here is to INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, either the 1956 film or the more well-known 1978 remake starring Donald Sutherland. There the plants are extraterrestrial rather than bio-engineered, but as they slowly begin to supplant people both mentally and physically, you get some genuine terror that has aged surprisingly well. LITTLE JOE starts with the same note, but all the fun parts are missing.

What makes LITTLE JOE fantastic? The Little Joe plant was scientifically engineered to be infertile, ostensibly to give the company control over the plant’s production once it becomes a commercially viable product.  However, as we know from a certain dinosaur, you cannot control nature’s intrinsic need to reproduce. In other words...

This is basically the low-stakes flora version of JURASSIC PARK and it deserves a few points for that.

LITTLE JOE is a slow-paced sci-fi thriller that rewards patient viewers with a meditative moral tale. Fans of lab-based thrillers such as GATTACA, CONTAGION, or Jeff Goldblum in THE FLY may enjoy this film.

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

Metacritic: 58

One Movie Punch: 6.2/10

LITTLE JOE (2019) is not rated and opens today in limited release.

Come back next Wednesday when Andrew will be returning with MARRIAGE STORY, starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. The latest from Noah Baumbach is a gut-wrenching story of love and divorce featuring two actors at the top of their game. You can expect Oscar nominations and possibly a few wins from this one. It’s been drawing rave reviews in a limited theatrical run and hits Netflix on Friday. Will you be ready to go by then, Andrew?

Oh, you’re sounding better already!