I’m Trevor with the Sasquatch Movie Minute at the final Park City Sundance and I am here with a BONUS review for JOSEPHINE

 

4 out of 5.

 

This film is directed by Beth de Araujo and stars Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan.

 

This film won all the big awards at Sundance yet this year, but it was very hard to rate because I couldn’t figure out WHO ON EARTH WOULD GO SEE THIS FILM!?! Its about an 8-year old girl who sees a horrific assault (shown in excruciating detail), and the trauma she suffers in her life as she attempts to process this experience. It feels like a horror movie, but there is no cathartic release, its not fun. This is a parent’s worst trauma nightmare played out on-screen for 2 hours. Yet, it is extremely well-made. The ideas about how we balance protection vs honesty as a parent is nuanced and the performances are lovely. But this is brutal and ugly and apparently a true story for the director, which is just so terrible she went through this. The ending is strong and unbearably sad; it reinforces the bitter cruel world we live in and the hard shell we need to grow to survive it.

 

Best scene. There is a scene at the house when police attempt to ask the daughter questions while the parents are trying to protect her. The camera spins around the room and mimics the out-of-control panic the characters and the audience feel.

 

Performance. Channing Tatum is ferocious here as the dad. He communes with his family through physicality and very traditional expectations of how men behave. Each decision he makes feels like one that I understand, but hope I would never make in that situation.

 

I’m sorry, I can’t recommend anyone see this! It is far too upsetting.