Sundance Film Festival 2019 Report 8, Australian Domination: I AM MOTHER, TOP END WEDDING & LITTLE MONSTERS

This year at Sundance there were six films from Australia, and luckily I was able to catch three! I Am Mother, Top End Wedding and Little Monsters were all about as different as one can hope for in a grab bag of a moviegoing experience. Two were standouts among them, and all three had women that shined!

I Am Mother (Grant Sputore)

As only the second film I screened at Sundance I was immediately overwhelmed by the impression that I am Mother had left. As an avid sci-fi fan – one that is always hoping for, but ultimately struggling to find original fair – I was especially excited for Grant Sputore’s feature debut.

With homage paid to films like Alien, I Am Mother wrestles with the desire to be original, and ultimately wins. With a breakout performance from Clara Rugaard, this sci-fi thriller is every bit as suspenseful as one would hope. It is clear from the beginning that things aren’t as happy (in relative terms here, we are talking about a robot raising a child) as they might seem, but the reveals come in a timely and taut fashion.

Mother, as it’s known (voiced by Rose Byrne), is a droid raising the last human alive after an apocalyptic event. Mother is full mechanical hands on as she brings one of the thousands of frozen embryos to life. From here, Daughter is born.

As any teenager is, Daughter becomes restless and begins to question what she’s been told. Nothing challenges this more than when a mysterious, injured woman (Hilary Swank) shows up at the bunker needing assistance. Who is she? Can she be trusted? There are some intriguing dynamics at play within this story, some that could have used more depth, most importantly: what’s it like being raised by AI?

I Am Mother weaves the scenes together masterfully, with cinematic prowess that feels like it’s from a pro. The cinematography here is pointed and sharp, making each turn as flawless as the effects implemented to sustain. Much of the film is shot within the drab bunker, an excellent decision as it pinpoints a feeling of isolation and limitations. This, combined with a dreaded paranoia and deceit makes this a tense affair. What is Mother hiding? Is she really looking out for Daughter’s best interests?

Clara Rugaard as the only (supposedly) living human being, is phenomenal. She’s the quintessential survivor that you want to root for. She’s strong, intelligent, and despite growing up in solitude she’s resourceful and spirited. Hilary Swank does a efficient job in her supporting role, channeling the likes of the tough female sci-fi characters of the past like Ridley and Sarah Connor. She shows up just in time to leave a spiral in her wake, and with a star like Swank it’s tough to imagine anyone upstaging her, but Rugaard does.

With a terrific script by Michael Lloyd Green the team manufactures a tight, thought-provoking thriller. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the excellent design of the robot, who had actor Luke Hawker inside. Mother is a formidable force that seems as likely to coddle as she is to crush.

It’s required viewing for any sci-fi fan.

I was able to chat with a couple folks on the red carpet premiere (and gets some photos of some others) here’s my chat with the writer Michael Lloyd Green and actor Luke Hawker:

So, you were actually in the suit for the film?

Luke Hawker: Yes, so I went to a workshop in New Zealand and I was in charge of building the suit. I was a project supervisor on the team building it. During production we talked about who was going to wear it because it had to be tailor made. And I was a stunt performer and an actor, and the director was like “hey, do you want to audition?” And I was like, “Ah, yeah, okay!” And I auditioned, and I got the role.

You said you were a supervisor, did you have anything to do with the design?

Luke Hawker: So, the concept design was done by Christian Pearce who is one of our lead designers at the workshop. I worked a lot with him and Grant to facilitate the manufactured qualities and the physical qualities, so the design work I did is very much the base concept design that happened with Christian and Grant.

How long of a process was that?

Luke Hawker: It was about a year in design, and it took sixteen weeks to build the suit. 

Can you talk at all about the idea for I am Mother?

Michael Lloyd Green: Grant and I were at an age where all our friends were starting to have kids, and neither of us had, but he had just had a niece, and you start to question what it takes to be a good parent. And more than a good parent, a good person. And how do you be a good parent? We are all flawed, and you don’t want to pass those things on. We were having some philosophical wrestlings around those questions, also seeing an interesting phenomenon it’s becoming more and more common where kids are farmed out to technology. Whether that’s an iPhone, and iPad or a tv, a technology babysitter.

So, this film is very much an exploration of that. That ever growing relationship and almost dependence on technology, and is really sort of an area that we don’t know, where that going to end up with the future generation. 

We want to thank both Luke Hawker and Michael Lloyd Green for speaking with us!

Top End Wedding (Wayne Blair)

There’s a multi-generational storyline at the heart of Top End Wedding, and that warm center is one of several admirable strands. Love, family, and the beautiful Northern Territory of Australia all play an encouraging role, but ultimately aren’t enough to save this Sundance feature.

In its opening scene we see a bride leave her groom at the alter before she whizzes away on a boat. Jump forward and we’re given her daughter, a young and clumsy professional, on the eve of her own engagement. Miranda Tapsell (who co-wrote the script with Joshua Taylor) plays Lauren, the delightfully cute lawyer. Ned (Gwilym Lee), her soon to be fiancé, is quirky and adorable as well. In fact, these two are never really a problem within Top End Wedding.

Their relationship is authentic, the two have indisputable chemistry, and their jokes and zany escapades are bound to incur a tooth ache. So, what’s the problem? After the two become engaged and Lauren is finally seeing a push forward at her work, with her Cruella-like boss Kerry Fox, their perfect wedding is put on hold. Her father, played by Huw Higginson, is devastated after her mother disappears. The crux of the story follows these two as they rush to find her in time for the ceremony.

The film directed by Wayne Blair takes us through some enchanting and exotic areas of Australia. However, the story is stacked on with piles of rom-com clichés, filled to the rim with physical humor that becomes tiresome, and eschews the significant emotion until too late.

With chaos brimming, this road-trip eventually finds some semblance of dramatic heft. Even with the wobbly venture you can tell the film is a labor of love that the cast enjoyed making. Even when things are at their worst, it still has a warming quality that’s hard to ignore.

Top End Wedding was sweet, with its two leads creating genuine smiles, surrounded by the beauty of Australia’s top end. As the film hopes to explore the indigenous areas, and to provide some backstory for our characters who quite literally get “lost” along the way, it unfortunately evades its viewers too.

Little Monsters (Abe Forsythe)

Little Monsters is exactly the kind of movie you hope to screen at Sundance: fun, bold, and extremely hilarious. This cogent comedy shirks the misconception that you need some big new idea to make an imprint in the zombie genre.

Turns out, you just need to stuff your audience with well-timed humor and Lupita Nyong’o in a blood-stained sun dress playing Taylor Swift on a ukulele. Yes, this happens.

Immature Dave (Alexander England) has recently got out of a long-term relationship and moves in with his sister and her son Felix (Diesel La Torraca). He’s not exactly a positive influence, but the two together are comedy magic (I especially get a kick out of adults talking to children as if they are adults themselves). Just as he’s feeling particularly lost he meets Felix’s teacher Miss Caroline (Nyong’o), who is full of bubbly cheer. In a misplaced mission to gain her favor he volunteers as a chaperone on a field trip to a petting zoo.

The local military base/testing facility accidentally produces zombies (though they don’t seem that surprised by this) unbeknownst to the children and others there for a day of fun.

In an effort to conceal the dangers, Miss Caroline turns things into a game and the group is able to hide out in the souvenir shop. They aren’t alone either, lovable children’s singer Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad) is inside as well (kidding, he’s absolutely horrible) with Gad playing his usual boisterous – but slightly more loopy – role. The three are forced to work together to make it out alive.

Abe Forsythe‘s debut feature is insane, with gut-busting hilarity that had the audience in a continual uproar. The concept doesn’t seem original on paper, but with an great cast and smart script, it flourishes with an original voice. Forsythe has a real flair for comedic timing and slides into laughs with an admirable ease. He utilizes the star he has in Nyong’o every chance he has, who is absolutely fantastic.

All of the kids share their weight of the humor as well, as all of the cast makes this horror an all-around good (even feel-good) time.

Stay tuned for more of my Sundance 2019 coverage!