A quick break from London Film Festival coverage to speak about Val Kilmer's latest escapade, The Super. You think people would've learnt their lesson about run down apartment blocks by now but apparently not.
Patrick John Flueger plays a widowed Phil Lodge, the new superintendent, previously a police officer who moves into the building with his two daughters Rose and Violet, neither one of them seeming too pleased in their new home. Everyone's a suspect in this building after multiple mysterious disappearances of tenants, the most suspect of all being Walter (Val Kilmer), another superintendent who is dabbling in dark magic in the basement (who is hiring these people?)
The whole look is like a Fincher movie with a real industrial tinge to the colouring and the blue overheads being the only real light source throughout the apartment block with intermittent close up shots and quick time editing when there's emphasis on a motion or a moment. The movie is directed by Stephan Rick who has previous credits in television which is really prominent in the way this movie looks. It has the same aesthetic of a TV show which isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering its ever-growing popularity as a creative medium. BAFTA nominated John J. McLaughlin takes on the role of writer and definitely knows how to write a thrill but I feel as though his characters were lacking in qualities that'd make them feel lived in outside of the narrative. But he does create a real claustrophobia that is backed up well by Rick's direction.
You'll rarely catch me saying a movie could be longer but this is one that could've afforded an extra 10 to 20 minutes to tie up the multiple storylines it was trying to grapple with a bit better. There was a strange attempt to create an emotional outlet for eldest daughter, Violet, through Louisa Krause's role Beverly that wasn't entirely executed and could've been dropped or delved into further.
The film's strength outside of aesthetics is the mystery. It definitely is one of those films that is fun to piece together along the way and get wrapped up in the twists and turns. It's hard to say too much without giving anything away but the last 35 minutes is definitely where the film picks up the pace and starts to unravel what it's been keeping under wraps.
I wonder if we'll be seeing The Super 2 in the near future due to the very open ending and a mid-credits scene that leaves the audience asking: What's next?
Until next time
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