Tribeca Reviews: DUCK BUTTER, SEVEN STAGES & CARGO

There were many great and wildly different films premiering at Tribeca Film Festival this year, and several that I was lucky enough to screen. With still a lot left to come, here’s three of my diverse viewings.

Duck Butter (Miguel Arteta)

Alia Shawkat plays Naima, a struggling actress who just scored her first movie role on a Duplass Brothers production, and who share an early cameo. One night she goes out to the bar with her friend Ellen (Mae Whitman), and from there she meets the intense Sergio (Laia Costa). The two have an instant spark, sleep together, and discuss the idea of spending 24 hours straight. It’s about pressing on through boundaries, expectations, and fast forwarding what couples learn and experience over so many years together. Naima’s intimidated, but eventually relents.
It doesn’t quite go as planned.

Naima’s insecurities play a huge part in the movie, as she’s constantly at odds with her feelings. It’s a heady trip, and the two women have powerful feelings towards one another, but is it enough?
This is a women’s movie. They’re not shy, they’re not restrained, and I love it. Duck Butter is about sexuality, love and the (possibly) never ending quest for fulfillment.

Shawkat, who won female lead in the US narrative competition at Tribeca this year, plays the part beautifully. She co-wrote the script with director Miguel Arteta, which really comes through, as her lines seem hand-picked for her. Laia Costa’s Sergio is effectually wild, but also thrilling. I’ve heard references to her  being a “manic pixie dream girl” but I feel that’s a disservice to the performance. I’ve never seen a character just like Sergio before.

The two personalities complement each other well on screen, and while one might be a round peg and the other a square hole, they share chemistry. Since the majority of the film is just the two of them, it never would have worked if they weren’t so charismatic. Did I mention funny too? A film with two female leads, where they have sex every hour? The fact that this movie was made is refreshing in itself, and then for it to actually be compelling, and insightful? Bonus.

While some might be expecting shock, the unique Duck Butter ends up being honest and relatable, stripping bare the excess of what we often fear about ourselves and those we are with. There are some areas where the story spins, but it wasn’t enough to deter me. I wish I could say the entire 93 minutes enthralled me continuously, but even in its flaws I still cared enough to follow through. But isn’t that love? Miguel Arteta’s direction and use of frequented close-ups, ensures that Duck Butter is as personal as it gets.

After having its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Duck Butter hit theaters April 27th.

Seven Stages To Achieve Eternal Bliss By Passing Through The Gateway Chosen By The Holy Storsh (Vivieno Caldinelli)

With a name like that, you’re probably like me thinking “what the…?” That’s the point. Seven Stages is outrageous, in a good way. Claire and Paul (Kate Micucci and Sam Huntington) get a great deal on an apartment in LA, only to find out there is a caveat. Their bathtub is frequented by cult members to commit suicide, following the direction of their leader Reginald E. Storsh (Taika Waititi).

Instead of leaving they decide to stay, and eventually find solace in the Storsh’s teachings. They even decide to assist those looking to commit suicide in often clumsy, but hysterical ways. One of their first attempts is especially memorable, but eventually they mix up a liquid concoction of poisonous “bliss juice” to keep things simple. As time goes on the couple begin to lose themselves (and their mind) to the cult, letting it, comically, overtake their life. Even the local detective Cartwright (Dan Harmon) seems to be obsessed with the cult and hopes to profit with a screenplay.

The comedy flickers between playful and obscene, and the story bounces back and forth between strange and absolutely screwed up. It’s a reasonable place for this movie to be, and even with it’s faults, it’s quite hilarious. The parroting storyline embraces its attempt to disturb, as our leads are driven to murder.

Micucci and Huntington are both winningly committed to the absurdity, though some of their backstories are where Seven Stages went off the rails for me. The constant flux of cameos, many of whom were cult followers, were equally terrific, and Waititi was just as you’d like him to be: completely ludacris. Directed by Vivieno Caldinelli, Seven Stages is a feature debut that’s sure to not be everyone’s cup of kool-aid, but if you like your humor with a side of WTF, then this is your film.

Cargo (Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke)

While rare to find a zombie film that has anything new to say, it’s not impossible. Earlier this year The Cured gave us a different spin, and now Cargo does as well. The new film from directors Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke is expanded from their short of the same name.

When Andy (Martin Freeman) his wife Kay (Susie Porter) and their infant daughter Rosie’s seemingly quaint existence gets torn apart, Andy is forced on a journey and he only has 48 hours to find safety. Of course, they were never really secure, but had rather found distance from the epidemic destroying the world, by retreating to a houseboat. With his daughter on his back, and the infection coursing through his system, this survival flick begins on an intriguing note.

It’s a terrifying concept in itself: you’ve been bit, and have a deadly virus that makes you eat people. There’s nothing you can to do to stop it. People are scarce, and you have an infant child for whom you are the sole guardian too. What do you do? Cargo hovers between drama and horror quite efficiently, making you genuinely scared for Andy and his child. There’s a tension that’s undeniable, and you’re rooting for their survival, but you aren’t necessarily expecting it.

Along the way he meets Vic (Anthony Hayes) and Lorraine (Caren Pistorius) whose survival tactics and outlook on the disease differ dangerously from his own. He also encounters an intelligent Indigenous girl named Thoomi (Simone Landers) who keeps her undead father tied up, delivering him animal remains, to keep him close. This opens up an eventual solution for Rosie, and despite the interesting Thoomi, this is where I wish the movie was more consistent, because some of the script (written by Ramke) is underdeveloped.

There’s more humanity than horror, and Cargo maximizes on its casting choices and the outdoor shoots. The gorgeous but rocky outback is captured by cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson
with a keen eye. With Freeman’s endearing performance some heart also sidles in. He’s an ordinary man in an extraordinary circumstance, the question is, will his stop beating before he can find safety?

Cargo will be released on Netflix on May 18th.