Wichita (2016) Directed by Justyn Ah Chong & Matthew D. Ward
Don't really know what to make of this movie. It's an odd blend of drama, thriller and slasher elements, which all sounds original and fun, but in the long run mostly works out as confusing and messy for the movie.
On the one hand I often admire and appreciate movies that are hard to categorize and really does its own thing, but once that 'thing' isn't anything all that interesting and effective it of course becomes hard to still like the movie.
I just really don't know what to make this movie. The blend of voyeurism, thriller, slasher and more serious dramatic aspects don't go together very well. The one thing too often gets in the way of the other. The drama, tension and horror aspects therefore rarely work out as anything effective. Things don't really flow and progress naturally enough. This definitely goes at the expense of the realism and credibility of the movie, while it's obvious that the movie still was going for a somewhat grounded approach. I definitely can see what this movie was trying to do with its main-story and character, but it's trying to achieve it all in a far too ineffective way.
The movie definitely makes some odd and very sudden choices with its story and main characters. It for instance really isn't all that credible, the way the main character develops and slowly descents into madness. It's not very subtle, despite the fact that it's really trying to be. This actually makes the movie worse to watch.
It's not like everything is terrible about this movie. It's actually still pretty well made, in the sense that it's a good one to look at. The editing, the camera-work, the make-up. It's all pretty good looking and deserves plenty of credit. But really, there isn't much else to the movie.
Too messy and ineffective as a movie to work out.
4/10
Watch trailer
On the one hand I often admire and appreciate movies that are hard to categorize and really does its own thing, but once that 'thing' isn't anything all that interesting and effective it of course becomes hard to still like the movie.
I just really don't know what to make this movie. The blend of voyeurism, thriller, slasher and more serious dramatic aspects don't go together very well. The one thing too often gets in the way of the other. The drama, tension and horror aspects therefore rarely work out as anything effective. Things don't really flow and progress naturally enough. This definitely goes at the expense of the realism and credibility of the movie, while it's obvious that the movie still was going for a somewhat grounded approach. I definitely can see what this movie was trying to do with its main-story and character, but it's trying to achieve it all in a far too ineffective way.
The movie definitely makes some odd and very sudden choices with its story and main characters. It for instance really isn't all that credible, the way the main character develops and slowly descents into madness. It's not very subtle, despite the fact that it's really trying to be. This actually makes the movie worse to watch.
It's not like everything is terrible about this movie. It's actually still pretty well made, in the sense that it's a good one to look at. The editing, the camera-work, the make-up. It's all pretty good looking and deserves plenty of credit. But really, there isn't much else to the movie.
Too messy and ineffective as a movie to work out.
4/10
Watch trailer
