THE CAST – Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Lukas Gage, Elle Fanning, Tracy Letts, Pamela Anderson & Elena Anaya

THE TEAM – Karim Aïnouz (Director) & Efthimis Filippou (Writer)

THE RUNNING TIME – 94 Minutes

Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz assembles an all-star cast for his latest English-language film, “Rosebush Pruning,” an adaptation of Marco Bellocchio’s 1965 classic “Fists in the Pocket.” Widely regarded as one of the great works of Italian cinema, Aïnouz’s decision to remake such a revered film is both brave and unusual, even in an era when remakes are increasingly common. The result is consistently bizarre and deeply disturbing, which comes as little surprise given that Yorgos Lanthimos’ frequent collaborator Efthimis Filippou penned the screenplay. There are clear shades of “Dogtooth” throughout.

Just outside Barcelona, a dysfunctional American family resides in a beautiful, luxurious villa. They wear designer clothes and appear to have an endless bank account. Of course, they do not speak a word of Spanish or Catalan. The blind patriarch (Tracy Letts) is the root of the family’s dysfunction. He is sexually abusive and thoroughly reprehensible. We are told that a pack of wolves killed his wife (Pamela Anderson), which is only a minor absurdity compared to what follows.

The children are a co-dependent mess, with heavy incestuous undertones in their interactions. Ed (Callum Turner) is charming yet clueless, and his fixation on a Greek man he once met feels unsettling from the start. Jack (Jamie Bell) is the favored son and the only sibling with a life outside the family. Everyone loves him, especially the youngest brother, Robert (Lukas Gage), who has epilepsy and whose attachment to Jack veers into incestuous obsession. The fragile family dynamic begins to crumble when Jack attempts to move in with his girlfriend, Martha (Elle Fanning), the film’s only seemingly normal character. However, it soon becomes apparent that she is drawn to Jack’s wealth and quickly becomes entangled in the chaos that follows.

“Rosebush Pruning” is overwhelming in its relentless chaos. The narrative often feels secondary to the family’s outrageous behavior, prioritizing shock value and off-kilter set pieces over story progression. While the film attempts to critique the family’s obsessive and toxic dynamics, it frequently indulges in taboo for its own sake, leaving little room for subtlety in its outrageous black comedy. That said, the dark humor does land, and several scenes are likely to linger in viewers’ minds. One particularly grotesque moment features Letts’ character brushing his teeth and applying toothpaste somewhere other than his mouth while his son stands nearby in the bathroom. It is both agonizing and perversely funny.

This is arguably Aïnouz’s most Hollywood-centric cast to date. Tracy Letts delivers a genuinely unsettling and effortlessly deranged performance. Jamie Bell, known for “Billy Elliot,” gives the most restrained performance in the ensemble, which suits his character as the family’s most empathetic member. He conveys pent-up frustration convincingly. Callum Turner excels at portraying aimlessness, though his character is more perceptive than he initially appears. Much of the plot unfolds through his stalking of Jack, and he ultimately uncovers Robert’s scheme to eliminate anyone who stands in their way. He escapes the fallout and attempts to hitchhike back to Greece. Riley Keough is compelling as ever, while Pamela Anderson once again demonstrates her acting ability in her limited screen time.

Cinematographer Hélène Louvart shoots “Rosebush Pruning” in vibrant, sun-drenched compositions that elegantly capture the family’s lavish surroundings. Louvart continues to showcase her remarkable talent, leaning into the film’s absurdity and moving away from the grounded realism she brought to works such as “Happy as Lazzaro” and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” The visuals heighten the on-screen chaos to a mesmerizing effect. In one particularly striking sequence, shoes fly through a bright blue sky while Turner’s Ed fantasizes about penis sizes after receiving a provocative postcard from his Greek acquaintance. The film’s fixation on the ultra-wealthy indulging in taboo desires and incestuous dynamics is as strange as it is unsettling.

Like “Bugonia,” Aïnouz’s reinterpretation of “Fists in the Pocket” is likely to divide audiences and critics. Both films revisit singular, influential works, yet they possess enough stylistic flair to guide modern viewers back to the originals potentially. It is difficult to imagine universal support for a film that so deliberately crosses boundaries. For some, its extremity will be alienating; for others, its audacity will be exhilarating. “Rosebush Pruning” is undeniably well crafted, but as an absurdist comedy, it ultimately feels more provocative than profound.

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THE CAST – Iago Xavier, Nataly Rocha & Fábio Assunção

THE TEAM – Karim Aïnouz (Director/Writer), Wislan Esmeraldo & Mauricio Zacharias (Writers)

THE RUNNING TIME – 98 Minutes

Two men plus one woman equals trouble. And when it’s two men and one woman in relentless hot weather? Yowza. “Motel Destino” is a fine attempt by Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz to bring his own unique sensibilities to the erotic thriller. This popular genre amongst film fans had its last great burst in the eighties, with movies like “The Postman Always Rings Twice” and “Body Heat.” Modern life might have rendered society increasingly sterile and sex-free, but not in the setting of Aïnouz’s latest, where how people use their bodies to make trouble, good and bad, is very thoroughly explored.

Heraldo (Iago Xavier) is a young man with big dreams and little direction. He also owes some money to a scary drug dealer/painter named Bambina, who promises to release him from his debt if he shakes down a Frenchman who owes money to her. The night before, Heraldo goes out clubbing, meets a nice lady, and they book into a motel to hook up and have sex. It’s a wipe-down place where the doors lock from the outside, and there’s a hatch in the wall. Heraldo wakes up the following day to discover his new lady friend has taken the cash from his wallet and left without paying, meaning he’s stuck by himself with little to no resources at his disposal. The motel owner looks at him through the hatch and decides to let him leave his ID on the promise he’ll return with the money he owes her, so Heraldo runs out in a panic to take care of business. Things go so badly, and Heraldo is very soon back at the motel, with a gun hidden in his bag, to beg the owner, Dayana (Nataly Rocha), to let him hide out for a while. He’s good at fixing things and working for his keep. Dayana is sympathetic toward him, but her much older husband Elias (Fábio Assunção) isn’t until Heraldo repairs an air-conditioning unit he thought would need to be replaced. They make space in a shed in the back for Heraldo’s things, give him a hammock to sleep in, and set him to work. And not that the typically drunk Elias notices much, but Dayana and Heraldo can’t stop looking at each other as tensions and the heat externally and internally begin to rise for all three.

Elias is a selfish, incurious, and unkind man who treats Dayana as a possession, though she has had some good reasons for tolerating this unhappy treatment until now. Heraldo has had minimal schooling and is nearly alone in the world, but he doesn’t miss much, and his willingness to do the right thing is a complete surprise. “Motel Destino” is the opposite of many other erotic thrillers, where that willingness to help a lady in trouble follows the haze of desire. Here, it’s the other way around – Heraldo’s willingness to look after Dayana attracts him to her. And for Dayana, it slowly becomes a mutual attraction. It is also a Karim Aïnouz film, meaning there’s enough gratuitous nudity to power a nuclear plant. Nobody will win any prizes for guessing what happens next, as what follows is pretty predictable, but it’s rare for a film nowadays to be so blunt about the human body and its needs. Most notable is the film’s sound which is used to create mood and drive the plot, even if it is people having noisy, moan-filled sex that soundtracks the daily chores of those at the motel.

Would any antics here happen so easily in a more buttoned-up place? Or did the lousy behavior follow the hot weather? Unanswerable questions, of course, but it would have been better if the movie had tried to answer them. That said, cinematographer Hélène Louvart, who frequently collaborates with Aïnouz and recently shot the equally heated “Disco Boy” and “La Chimera,” does fantastic work ensuring the temperature stays at a fever pitch through his vibrant colors and use of neon lighting. Though it may not bring the genre back to its glory, the sweaty mood of “Motel Destino” will linger more than most and if that doesn’t do it, then the thumping club-like atmosphere of the film’s closing credits will certainly not leave your memory anytime soon.

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THE CAST – Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Erin Doherty, Eddie Marsan, Sam Riley & Simon Russell Beale

THE TEAM – Karim Aïnouz (Director), Jessica Ashworth & Henrietta Ashworth (Writers)
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THE RUNNING TIME – 120 Minutes

If you thought your relationship problems were tough, just be happy you weren’t married to King Henry VIII. The notorious English royal had six marriages, each seeming worse than the next. He wanted one annulled, got two women decapitated, and ended up being the most paranoid man toward the end. But, one woman outlived him and his reign of terror: Catherine Parr.

In director Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand,” King Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife gets to be at the center of her own story, which includes being a radical progressive not afraid to go against her king. With two stellar head-to-head performances from Alicia Vikander and a disgustingly unrecognizable Jude Law — who constantly makes viewers hold their breaths in fear — it’s a royal showcase that brings tension and courage to the screen.

Catherine Parr (Vikander) was remarkable in several ways. Among her accomplishments was that she was temporarily appointed regent while King Henry VIII (Law) was on a military campaign in France, which serves as the start of Aïnouz’s film. This appointment gave her an opportunity to exercise some control and spread protestant principles that were looked down upon by her husband. She even engages with the protestant preacher and radical Anne Askew (Erin Doherty), which, if seen by anyone, could possibly get the queen on the chopping block. After all, it’s not like the king hasn’t done that before. When the king returns and hears of Anne’s actions, she’s burned at the stake for treason, which sets Catherine off on walking a constant tightrope. Her husband, vile and despicable thanks to such a compelling performance by Law, grows increasingly paranoid of those around him. He has people test his food at all times, and his injured leg, which leaks puss frequently, makes him vulnerable to enemies. As a result, he is a living nightmare to deal with, and it makes Catherine feel like her life is in his hands any given day.

But, Aïnouz and Vikander never necessarily make Catherine out to be a helpless or hopeless woman. Even if Henry is much larger than her and holds all the power in the kingdom, she’s still cunning, knows precisely what to say to calm him down, and never backs down from protecting herself. Vikander’s poised and lively portrayal allows us to really feel for this woman and ultimately root for her against the unpredictably violent King. Even when the tide turns against her and others in the court try to take her down, Catherine still stands her ground.

Jessica and Henrietta Ashworth’s script makes the film accessible to modern audiences so that they don’t have to strain themselves much to understand old English, which seems to be a trend as of late. The writers do strangely leave out much of Catherine’s backstory, which includes being twice-widowed and having a previous romance with Thomas Seymour (Sam Riley). Their connection is seen sporadically on screen, which clearly makes Henry jealous, but it’s a mystery as to what actually happened between them. Some viewers also might not be pleased with how much the story strays from what really happened in real life, but it’s not the first film of its kind to deviate from history. From a costume and production design standpoint, the film nails the Tudor era in exquisite fashion.

“Firebrand” brings a dark modern lens to this royal story that will leave audiences with a shiver anytime Law lets his fury show. While the storytelling is not far removed from what would find in “The Tudors,” the performances take this film up a notch and make viewers want to root for its heroine. The story takes quite a bit of liberty with the truth, especially when it comes to Henry’s death, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, nor is it a reason to lose one’s head over.

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