LIKABLE FEMALE LEAD // A FILM REVIEW OF "I BLAME SOCIETY"
The art of the satire is a tricky one, one that many indie and Hollywood film directors try and fail at. Gillian Wallace Horvat's first feature film I BLAME SOCIETY takes aim at Hollywood, the film business and how we look at non-male filmmakers, flipping it on its head by embracing our true crime obsession. Gillian Wallace Horvat plays a warped fictional version of herself, a female director who has a quirky idea for a film that none of her friends seem to get behind. Some time ago, two of her friends jokingly make a comment that she would make a great serial killer (this also actually happened to the writer/director/star). She sees it as a strange compliment and is intrigued by it. With that jumping off point, she's decided to make a documentary exploring that subject and what it would take to be a great killer.
She starts off by telling this odd compliment to her best friend Chase (Chase Williamson, also playing a fictional version of himself and the films co-writer) and he laughs it off without a second thought. She then further explains that in order to think like a killer, she would need someone who was a terrible person, someone like his current girlfriend. Chase is no longer amused and the conversation becomes very awkward, ending with a cut to three years later, where Gillian is still working on the project (after a film about Israel fails to get off the ground) but she is no longer in contact with Chase. Her boyfriend Keith (Keith Poulson) tries to be as supportive as he can, but also thinks the idea is a twisted one. Yet she's not detoured and marches on, slowly diving deeper and deeper into the idea of what it would take to be a serial killer and what it would take to make a memorable film. To her, the two things complement each other and the strange, dark world that she has begun to create takes on a life of its own.
Satirizing everything from Hollywood filmmaking, white "bro" directors and the post #Me Too movement, Gillian Wallace Horvat has crafted a strikingly original, pitch black horror comedy, one that bites in just the right places. The awkwardness of her having to convince people about this project is layered wonderfully and the darkness that starts to overtake it all seeps in and is truly chilling. The entire film takes place in the world of Gillian's documentary, so there's nothing that she doesn't "tell the camera." She films everything, from her interactions with her boyfriend and friends to a painful producers meeting with two wannabee "woke" male producers. All of it feels like we are watching something unfold in real time, through the lens of someone still figuring it all out and watching that once she does, she can't control any of it. The entire cast is great, without any weak links to drag it down and Gillian herself makes a fascinating eye into the madness. It's well documented that the world of filmmaking and horror is a "boys game," one that doesn't take kindly to non-male voices easily. So every moment of I BLAME SOCIETY rings with a scorching the earth truth. Compelling and authentic, this is easily one of the best debut features of a director you'll see this year.
GRADE: A-
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Gillian Wallace Horvat STARRING Gillian Wallace Horvat, Keith Poulson, Chase Williamson, Lucas Kavner, Morgan Krantz, Alexia Rasmussen, Jennifer Kim, Devon Graye, Grant Coffey, Jonny Mars. NOW PLAYING IN VIRTUAL THEATRES AND ON VOD FEBRUARY 12th.