Catching up with one of 2015's best films: Michael Almereyda's knockout EXPERIMENTER

TrustMovies has long had a soft spot for the films of Michael Almereyda, They're odd, certainly, but they've usually hit this viewer in ways that most other movies don't. His latest, EXPERIMENTER -- all about the life, career and experiments of behavioral scientist Stanley Milgram -- is, I wager, his best yet: the most accessible yet different of his entire oeuvre. The experience of viewing it is like sitting in on perhaps the best, most wonderful, rich and expansive high school or college class that you've ever taken: one that combines science, philosophy, behavior, ethics, and a whole lot more. Ever better, this writer/director (shown below) has expanded his own kit of moviemaking tools and tricks to include an array he's never offered up until now.

The result is a film that grabs us from the outset and hold us fast, as we meet Milgram (the always excellent Peter Sarsgaard. shown above, left, and below, right), his soon-to-be wife (the better-than-ever Winona Ryder, above, right, and below, left), and a host of subsidiary characters playing the helpers and participants in Milgram's notable experiments -- the most famous of which (from the 1960s) would be that little ditty in which folk were given instructions to shock their "partner" with increasing doses of electricity whenever a wrong answer was given until they were using enough "power" to render the recipient dead. A wide majority of these fine Americans (and later folk from other countries) willingly obliged -- making clear that the behavior of the Nazis during WWII (doing what they were told, no mater the consequence to other people) was maybe not so far afield from "normal" human behavior, depending on the circumstances. The results of his experiment did not make Milgram particularly popular among his peers (who earlier claimed nothing like this could ever happen) nor among the common folk who preferred to see themselves as, by nature, generally good and kind. More than anything else, I think, Milgram managed to puncture our deep-set capacity for hypocrisy and denial.

How Almereyda brings all this to fruition -- breaking the fourth wall, using an elephant out of nowhere and quite brilliantly, creating the 1960 and 70s with spot-on decor and often completely fake "theatrical" backgrounds, in the process making us understand and accept so much more than most movies even attempt -- educates us and entertain us in equal measure, giving insight into the life and mind of this quite special scientist and man.

In the fine and precisely-chosen supporting cast, a particular standout is Jim Gaffigan, above, playing one of the Milgram's most enjoyable "actor/helpers" in the experiment. From Magnolia Pictures, the movie got a limited theatrical release and some VOD play last year. It's now out on Blu-ray (the transfer looks spiffy indeed!), DVD and digital download. Do not miss it. (Having just watched it the other evening, I am adding it right now to my post on the Best and Most Underseen Movies of 2015. In fact, if TM had a list of "top ten" films, rather than "top 50," Experimenter would probably rest in that tier, too)

The surprise "find" of the year so far: Darren Paul Fisher's enchanting, original FREQUENCIES

This new film, as it moves along, sprightly and efficient, may remind you of everything from Primer, Pi and Pontypool to Never Let Me Go and 1984. That's quite a range, I know, and in the end, FREQUENCIES, doesn't necessarily rise above any of those fine and groundbreaking works, but it makes its own mark as an original sci-fi rom-com with a theme that questions whether we humans act as sentient beings who possess free will or are simply machines that can be persuaded to do the bidding of -- guess who? -- yeah, that one per cent.

In fact, how the film's writer/director, Darren Paul Fisher (shown at right) chooses to present the powers-that-be (or their representatives) is especially clever and interesting. But then, just about everything in this film is clever and interesting and simply beautifully assembled and acted. Other than Rob the Mob, Frequencies is now my biggest movie pleasure of the year -- with not a trace of guilt (as in guilty pleasure) to be found. Because TrustMovies had not heard of of Mr. Fisher previously, nor of anyone else connected to the film (including its excellent cast), I assumed this must be his and their "first time out." Wrong. The film's lead actors have made a number of other movies, and beginning back in 2001, Fisher himself has written and directed Inbetweeners and then Popcorn (2007), neither of which caused much fuss.
Frequencies surely will.

Taking place in either some future period (or maybe one of those alternate universes filmmakers seem to love), Fisher's tale tells of a time when one's "frequency" (which seems to be some kind of physics terms as used here), like one's IQ in our own time, is used to predict what level in life one can achieve.

Class is preserved via the fact that low frequencies can never hope to mingle with their high-frequency betters -- which makes it not a little difficult for our two kids -- who are immediately drawn to each other but kept separate, for, of course, their own good and that of society's at large. Indeed, when they do try to connect, furniture rumbles, the earth begins to shake, and who knows what else might happen when frequencies mix.

The movie follows these kids -- Zak and Marie -- from childhood (two photos up) through adolescence (above) to young adulthood (below) as they and one of Zak's best friends, Theo, try various projects and experiments to make the relationship work.

The movie is by turns funny and sweet, poetic and sad as it offers up science and philosophy, music and words, in a world that so closely resembles our own as to be perfectly understandable yet just out of reach. There has not been a movie in quite some time that hits its audience so firmly via the imagination, mind and heart.

And, oh, those performances! The two sets of kids are fine, but the young adult versions of Zak and Marie, played by Eleanor Wyld (above) and Daniel Fraser (below) are simply stupendous. It's rare enough to see young actors so vitally attuned to the moment. And when these moments are full of oddity and swift, sudden changes, it must be even more difficult to convey. Thanks to Wyld and Fraser and to the filmmaker's splendid use of their wonderfully expressive faces, we live through every one of these changes to the fullest.

Enchantingly smart and stylish in its approach to 1984-type mind control and the possibility of love, Frequencies uses science, sound waves and even pronunciation (shades of Pontypool!) to marvelous effect. In one scene alone, the slight change in the color palette speaks volumes and produces wonders.

The movie, intellectually stimulating as well as romantic, will keep you riveted -- with pleasure as much as suspense and wonder. And if the journey is more spectacular than the destination, I am happy to report that there is indeed a destination. Even if it the solution doesn't actually solve much, that may be the point of this witty, charming, ambitious piece of popular entertainment/art.

From FilmBuff (that very-smart-about-independent-film distributor, the entire existence of which is more than paid back by giving us this one movie), via the U.K. and Australia, and running 105 minutes, Frequencies releases in theaters this Friday, May 23. Here in NYC it's at the Cinema Village, at the Los Feliz 3 in Los Angeles (only on Thursday, May 22), and the Loraine Palace in Cleveland. Next week it'll open in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Atlanta, and San Francisco, with a wider rollout to follow. For those of you not living in the aforementioned cities, the film will hit VOD and iTunes this Thursday, May 22. So you've simply no excuse not to see it.

UPDATE! Frequencies is now available to stream on Netflix. 

So there's absolutely no reason for you not to see it.

It's Father's Day, so off to Vincenzo Natali's SPLICE we go!

Designed as the perfect, ironic fix for Father's Day (or even better, Mother's Day), as well as a great monster movie, Frankenstein film, and lesson on the do's and do not's of parenting, SPLICE is all of these and more -- a scary journey into transgressive behavior of many sorts, from the ethical to the sexual to the corporate.  So much better than the usual Hollywood horror show, though it bears the Warner Bros logo, it is a mostly Canadian production (remember Last Night?), and this, more than anything, I suspect, accounts for its being a tad too good for the megaplex crowd.  (Though I must say that the small audience with whom we saw it today at New York City's AMC Empire 25, seemed very appreciative.)

Directed and co-written (with Doug Taylor and Antoinette Terry Bryant) by Vincenzo Natali, at left, who earlier gave us Cube, Cypher and the charming "Quartier de la Madeleine" vampire segment of  Paris, je t'aime, Splice proves his most mainstream movie to date, in which he sacrifices neither intelligence nor style.  His pacing is terrific (the film runs 104 minutes but seems considerably shorter), his use of humor proves spare but pointed, his movie referencing is underplayed enough not to seem self-congratulatory, while his sex scenes employ a particularly disturbing combination of heat and danger. My daughter, who treated me to the film for Father's Day pronounced it better than she had expected, "more a real movie than just a horror film."

While the screenplay telescopes events, the life of its more-or-less "heroine," Dren, seems telescoped, too, so there is both art and justice in this approach. Natali has cornered a cast that is probably better than necessary to bring this all off, which only adds to the pleasure ahead.  Because Splice, as does much of the best science fiction, deals in questions of ethics and morals, needs and desires, its characters in particular must seem true and believable, and so this casting pays off quite well. 

Sarah Polley (above, left) brings an effective combination of intelligence, neediness, anger and pain to her role of the female half of a crack team of scientists.  She's maturing as an actress and a woman, and here, for the first time that I recall, there is little left of the girlish demeanor we used to see. Adrien Brody (above, right), via his usual intensity and nerdy sex appeal, while tamping down his sometimes-tendency toward Nic Cage-like craziness, plays Polley's other half.  They make a fine team. And, in the very interesting role of Dren is an actress new to me,  Delphine Chanéac (shown below).  She can't speak, but, boy, can she communicate.  Though helped by some small but spectacular special effects, Ms Chanéac is memorable indeed.

Splice -- which should strike a number of familiar chords in the minds and hearts of many parents -- probably won't remain in theaters much longer.  But if you have a fairly large, hi-def TV, the film should prove nearly as scary and every bit as thought-provoking and fun on your home screen.