Panic Fest 2020 - Day 2

So remember when I said that this shit was tiring? Well I started writing about day one on Sunday. I am just starting to write about Saturday and it is Thursday night, after the kids have gone to bed. I have just been dead tired. And I did not even make it back Wednesday night. (Editing will not end up being done until Tuesday.) So let's push on, shall we?

Saturday was the biggest day of the Fest for me. I saw movies in every one of the time slots, which ended up being 6 movies. I didn't end up seeing any of them with any existing friends, though I did have a few conversations throughout the day. It was Saturday that made me realize how much I have gotten used to watching movies with either bf1 or my twin. When I was in my twenties and working second shift hours at a video store, I would take one of my weekdays off about every month or so and go see 4 or three movies in a row at a movie theater, carefully timing them so that I would get out of one and go into another. Because I am a goody2shoes, I paid for all these movies. Of course. But I was used to not talking to people then. One year I even went to one of the Oscar screenings that had all five nominated movies in one day, all by myself. I don't think I talked out loud to a person, other than the concessions workers, that whole day. But times are changed and now even though I don't HAVE to have someone with me to go to a movie, I usually do, so it was a little bit lonely.

The first movie of the day was Sea Fever. This was a tense Creature Feature movie, almost all of it set on a single fishing boat where a scientist student has come on board to research the catch. Things look ominous from the start as the student is a redhead, which apparently is unlucky on ships. I really liked this movie. It built up slowly, with some great glory set pieces along the way. With it set almost completely on the one fishing boat which is out to sea, there is that classic nautical combination of claustrophobic ship setting while being abandoned on the big open ocean without any help. I also really liked their creature design. It definitely seemed other worldly beautiful, and also terrifying. 

It was at this movie that I struck up a conversation with another woman who is sort of local (lives about an hour away) and has been coming to the festival for several years. She made some remark about how come she always has to date people who don't like horror movies. As this is an issue that I also have, we made some casual chit chat before this movie and another one later in the day.

The second movie of the day was Rot. This is the movie produced by Beth, the woman that I had met during Extra Ordinary. Honestly, I had been planning on seeing something else that I thought either bf1 or my twin might join me for, but as neither of them was coming and I'd heard interesting things about the ending of the film, I went to see it. I'm glad I did.

This is a tight and tense movie in the vein of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, that centers on an overworked grad student and the radical changes in her boyfriend's behavior. My first notes on the movie after it was finished were "toxic masculinity fable written and directed by a man!" There are many parts that spoke to me, from some of the action taking place in a long-term care facility to the ways in which other people have their own opinions about your relationship. The curator was right, it did have the craziest last 15 minutes of any of the films. I don't want to spoil it, but if anyone sees it, and I do recommend you do, message me after to tell me what you thought of the ending.

I felt a little weird doing it, but after the movie was over, I took the chance to go up to the producer and tell her about the ways in which the film spoke to me and what I saw as the symbolism of certain things in the film, though they might not have been intended that way. She was so interested and open to hearing what I had to say and seemed to appreciate that I had really taken the time to think about it and talk to her. We talked a bit about other things as well and she asked for my number to try to do something as the fest went on. (She asked for my number!) And a Fest friendship was born. 

My third film of the day was Blood Vessel. Elevator pitch : Motley crew of Allied survivors of a U-boat attack find a deserted Nazi ship that has vampires on it. Many different countries are represented and everyone has a sad or traumatic story about the war. It was ok. I've definitely seen worse big budget horror and this was probably filmed on a much tighter budget. This may have also been the time of the day that I started to drag. The movie started at 3pm or so. Even during the week at my job, this is the time when I struggle to stay awake. 

Next come the two movies that I have some issues with calling horror movies, though I did find them horrific / horrifying. 

My fourth movie of the day was The Swerve. Insomniac mom / school teacher sees her life unravel as her husband tries for a promotion, her passive-agressive younger sister comes back from rehab, and a mouse takes up residence in her immaculate home. It definitely shows how someone unravels, as well as how the roles we get in our families as children and teens (the problem child, the perfectionist) can continue to mess with our heads, our romantic relationships, and our relationships with our siblings. You could posit that the horrific thing she's up against is her own mind, her own mental illness, and that is the thing she has to hope to survive, but I didn't feel like it was presented in a tense enough way for it to feel like a horror movie. I do think it is a powerful drama that showed me how a person can unravel to the point of doing the things she does. I would warn against seeing this movie though if you have issues watching movies with strong mental illness themes. 

The writer/ director and the producer stayed after the movie to talk about the long process of working on this script as well as taking a few questions, which was cool. I really do think interacting with the people who make the films and podcasts is such a unique experience that you can only get at a festival, and it made it so worth it to go. 

Next came Swallow. This was a stylized film about a new wife and mother-to-be who is dealing with Pica and starts eating non-edible, even dangerous, objects. I think if presented differently this also could have been a horror film but as the film was made it was more a drama with horrifying elements. Every time she puts something in her mouth that you know could be dangerous to her, you cringe and feel for her, but you usually see the result rather quickly. From the start, she has a very affected manner and it is telegraphed to the audience that this is not how she grew up long before we ever find out anything about her past. I did like her development through the movie and the confrontation at the end hit me personally like a gut punch. 

And one last movie for the day! At the last minute, the festival was able to get Synchronic, the film due out next year from Benson and Moorhead. The curator who introduced the film warned that some of the special effects work wasn't done but I still thought it looked pretty good. While still on a smaller budget, this is a big step up from the budgets that this directing duo have had in the past, allowing them bigger name actors and more effects. In the movie, a new drug Synchronic is popping up at weird emergency medical calls answered by EMTs played by Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie. While lifelong friends, the men have different lifestyles, with Mackie being a promiscuous bachelor and Dornan being married, with one kid starting college and another just having turned one. When Dornan's daughter gets mixed up with the drug, Mackie goes on a journey to help her. I dont want to say any more and give too much away. The journey of discovering the drug and how it works is a really fun ride. I also liked the focus on the buddy relationship between the two men, showing that any long term relationship, whether platonic, romantic or familial, can lead to many of the same resentments and issues, even while you still love that person. 

This night I also went back home and crashed. Do not pass go. Do not collect food at Taco Bell.