The Lodge (2020) - Movie Review

The phrase ‘style over substance’ tends to get a bit overused in critical circles. Usually, it’s applied to films that are far more interested (or at least are perceived to be more interested) in showcasing cinematic style and craftsmanship over deeper textual or subtextual meaning. On its own, there’s really nothing wrong with it as a label or even as an artistic practice; hell, my favourite film of all time is very much style over substance, and that’s one of the reasons I like it so damn much. But then there are the occasional films that embody the phrase in a different manner. Films where both the style and the substance have equal work being put into them, but where one ends up succeeding the other for one reason or another. Unfortunately, this film fits into that category.

1922 (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: Farmer Wilf (Thomas Jane) has holed up himself up in a hotel to write down a confession. In 1922, in response to his wife Arlette (Molly Parker) inheriting 100 acres of framing land, he decided to kill her and take the land for himself. However, as he and his son Henry (Dylan Schmid) try to cover up their crime from their neighbours, the weight of Wilf’s actions starts to bear down on him. In an attempt to have more, he is about to lose everything.