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Explore the world of original plots and unique storytelling with Sylvy, a film major and chronic indie fan. She will steer you toward the best that independent cinema has to offer at home and abroad, past and present.
Now go get the popcorn ready...
By Sylvana Fernandez
SherryBaby
Director: Laurie Collyer
Release Year: 2006
Anyone with an interest in the lives of prison inmates after their release should give SherryBaby a watch. The film chronicles Sherry Swanson’s (Maggie Gyllenhaal) return to New Jersey after serving three years on drug charges and her struggle to reconnect with her young daughter Alexis (Ryan Simpkins) while staying clean.
Alexis has been raised by Sherry’s brother Bobby (Brad William Henke) and his wife Lynette (Bridget Barkan), who has become protective of Alexis to the point of not allowing her to call Sherry “Mommy.” Gyllenhaal gives one of her most poignant performances to date, never becoming static and making her character relatable even though she is trapped by her past in more ways than one.
The scenes featuring Sherry with her parole officer and at her halfway house are some of the most thought-provoking, creating the empathy that seems to be lacking in conversations about rehabilitating former inmates.
Primer
Director: Shane Carruth
Release Year: 2004
A friend of mine told me that Primer is the type of movie that fans of the TV show Lost should look into. Figuring out how the plot of the movie plays out requires plenty of concentration but that’s half the fun of watching it. The other half is made up of how outright creepy it is.
Four engineers get together in a garage on weekends and nights to work on new devices that they hope they’ll be able to market, taking apart everything from their cars to their fridges to save on supply costs. When two of them – Aaron (writer and director Shane Carruth) and Abe (David Sullivan) – discover that a machine they’ve built is able to run without battery power and can turn back time by a few hours, they decide to keep it a secret from their partners (and the public) and start experimenting with it for their own personal use with chilling results.
Somewhere between a thriller, a murder mystery and a drama, Primer beat out the better-known Garden State for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival despite only costing $7,000 to make.
Candy
Director: Neil Armfield
Release Year: 2006
The description provided for Candy is fairly accurate: it’s about a love triangle between a boy, a girl and heroin. Candy (Abbie Cornish), an art student from a middle-class family falls for Dan (Heath Ledger) and decides they must share everything in life, including his experimentation with drugs.
When they get married, the addiction only gets worse, with eccentric college professor Casper (Geoffrey Rush) enabling their habit. It’s easy to guess that Dan and Candy’s lives start spiraling out of control, but what makes Candy noteworthy is the way director Neil Armfield represents their descent. As someone who gets squeamish at the sight of needles, I was happy that shots of actual heroin use were kept to a minimum.
Both Cornish and Ledger throw themselves completely into their roles and the product is intense and absolutely heartbreaking. Clever (and sometimes funny) dialogue, a gorgeous opening sequence and Rush’s complex supporting performance make this Australian film a must-see.
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