Cutoff (2019)

Cutoff: Directed by Mike McPherson. With Jack McDonald, Britt McGregor, Nickeysha Lewis, Matt Melton. An isolated, misanthropic composer finds his sanity beginning to fray when a sinister presence invades his apartment.

“A pretentious stoner struggling with the aimlessness of life finds his filthy apartment invaded by a disturbing presence …u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWell, I didnu0026#39;t get this, and I suspect there was nothing to get. It starts out promising, with clever observations of the post-modern kind and an unsettling, atonal soundtrack. Then thereu0026#39;s some quick-fire dialogue with a heart-of-gold whore, but even at that stage the promise fades.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEven allowing for the micro-budget restrictions, thereu0026#39;s not a lot of craft on display: framing of shots and editing are very basic, and the sound design is disappointing given this is the baby of a movie composer. The figure of the disturbing presence is simple but original, yet so over emphasized that it loses its disturbiness. There is a theme in the replacement of the musical work with distressing noises, but not well worked out.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBiggest problem is the screenplay has little structure, doesnu0026#39;t play with structure, and uses way too much dialogue – I actually didnu0026#39;t care how it ended. The role of the whore, who was well played by the actor, fizzles out mysteriously and without pay-off. The story doesnu0026#39;t even serve as a plain tale of substance abuse, so itu0026#39;s very much a work in progress and shouldnu0026#39;t have had a green light from the producers. I recommend a look at Wild In Blue to see how to lay down substance for this kind of project.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI watched The Sonata a few weeks ago in the hope it would address the musical tritone in a visual way, but it didnu0026#39;t even go there. Same with this experience, which I twigged with the line: u0026quot;A something … F something.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall: a try, but not a nice try.”