TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2015 // A FILM REVIEW OF "BACKTRACK"
The 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, runs April 15th-26th and features hundreds of features, documentaries, short films, and special events all throughout downtown New York City. The ArtsWire Weekly's three featured reviewers Mateo, Derek, & Chrisena are hitting the festival and bringing the reviews right to you! What you should see and what you should skip...
When I was a kid I used to trick the bus driver to pass my stop so I could go home with my friend that lived two streets away. It usually worked, but one day I totally got caught. He yelled at me and I ran off the bus and straight into my bedroom. I felt so guilty that I just hid in a blanket fort and waited for dinner. My guilty conscience was overwhelming at that age, making sure I could never tell a lie for very long.
In BACKTRACK, Peter Bowers (Adrien Brody) starts seeing creepy visions and spirits shortly after his daughter is tragically hit by a car. The visions become so intense that he follows the clues back to his old home town where he continues his ghost hunt. Eventually, his searching leads him to clues of a missing girl that was found in the wreckage, but the mystery only continues to spiral from there. I won’t ruin it for you, but I will say that the film had me on edge for every moment from start to finish. I did have the true villain figured out fairly early on, but I didn’t have it all worked out before the protagonist did, which was a nice design. I enjoyed the mystery element as well as the supernatural creepiness. I tend to scare fairly easily in horror flicks, but man, I jumped out of my skin at least three times.
Adrien Brody’s acting was also amazing as always. It wasn’t surprising that he was so good, but it was refreshing. I love seeing good acting in a horror flick. Brody’s gentle vocal patterns, luminous eyes and furrowed brow told the story of man willing to do the right thing no matter what the personal cost. He is always intriguing to watch on the big screen, but this role offered Brody the chance to be a man of action, and a hero to the meek. Which was absolutely wonderful to watch.
VERDICT: MUST SEE
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Michael Petroni STARRING Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, Robin Mcleavy, Bruce Spence, and Jenni Baird
Playing as part of The 2015 Tribeca International Film Festival. For tickets & schedules: http://www.tribecafilm.com
CHRISENA RICCI once went to a costume party dressed in an all black dress and black wig. No one there could guess who she was. So she shouted out, "I'm Christina Ricci, without the T or I and add an E!" Everyone stood there confused, she was annoyed, so she stormed off. She never returned to that apartment ever again. Which is fine, because she later realized she was at the wrong party. She now lives in New York City.