What follows is a night of psychological distress as Wendy faces personal demons and the dangers of existing in isolation in the wild. Karina Fontes is well cast and convincing as Wendy, a part-time summer employee at a mountainous state park where friends and supervisors alike appear to view her as a frivolous scatterbrain. The percentage of users who rated this 3.5 stars or higher. Unfortunately, Wendy, while well-meaning and determined, really is something of a ditz. What really stinks is that no one will talk about Karina Fontes come awards season. Prior to starting the publication in May 2016, she contributed to various horror publications and a member of Eli Roth's CryptTV. When she calls it in, the police tell her that she needs to secure the area and wait for their arrival. Stuck with no. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. 'Body at Brighton Rock' is not without marginal redeeming value. Body at Brighton Rock (Movie Review) April 26, 2019 by: Jake Dee. Movies have been trying to teach us for years that … Was it supposed to be funny? With Karina Fontes, Casey Adams, Emily Althaus, Miranda Bailey. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. It’s too small and too horror-related for anyone to take notice, but Fontes gives a subtle, earnest performance that more people should watch. Directed by Roxanne Benjamin. Brian Tallerico is the Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. The problem is that we rarely, if ever, experience that terror with Wendy. It takes a promising premise loaded with white-knuckle, things-go-bump-in-the-night possibilities and proceeds to do surprisingly little with them over the course of its slim 87-minute running time. Learn how your comment data is processed. A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote. But Fontes plays Wendy with such honesty and ease that she lulls us into her corner, standing with her as she faces challenge upon challenge. Of course, there’s a symbolic register in someone having to overcome her own fears of being unable to do something more challenging than she’s ever done before, but even that sense of triumph doesn’t translate, and is arguably betrayed by a goofy twist ending. Tyler is a teacher, librarian and the Co-host of The Geek Card Check Podcast. Adele Hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ Next Week With Musical Guest H.E.R. Coming Soon. Body at Brighton Rock Critics Consensus. Impressively consistantly wrong. However, this is no traditional horror film, and I love it for that. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. Come on! The intensity of Wendy’s situation ratchets up fairly quickly once she discovers she’s lost, and that intensity holds tight for a few scenes that follow. With Karina Fontes, Casey Adams, Emily Althaus, Miranda Bailey. Body and Brighton Rock is a close, tense nature survival thriller in which an inexperienced park ranger must stay with a body she discovers overnight until help comes.She then must contend with the tricks her mind plays on her. Body at Brighton Rock is a insidiously sinister piece of psychological horror. Copyright © Fandango. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Body at Brighton Rock‘s strength should be no surprise coming from horror short superstar Roxanne Benjamin in her feature film debut. She then must contend with the tricks her mind plays on her. Horrorific content by Jessica Gomez on March 19th, 2020 | Movie Review | Survival, Wilderness, Desolate, Isolation It’s about a green park ranger that loses her way in the forest, and is forced to bare the woods overnight while she waits for help. Stuck with no communication after losing her radio and with orders to guard the site, Wendy must fight the urge to run. |, April 16, 2019 Directed by Roxanne Benjamin. Her luck goes from bad to worse when she sees a mysterious man lurking around, yet she must survive the night in the wilderness alone, aside from the dead body. With these minimalist elements, Benjamin casts a nerve-fraying spell, playing tricks on the audience. What could go wrong? It’s more fun to cheer for a character that you really feel like you know — even if you just met them. All rights reserved. Lots of good outdoor shots (I grew up in a similar area so it brought back memories). So that her friend can stay back and flirt with a cute guy, she offers to swap into that tough assignment, heading out into the woods. Truly, she gets herself into her overnight mess. Wendy thinks it will be a walk in the park and goes on her way, but later gets lost and loses her map. And the bear attack was not realistic. By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy | Rating: 3/5 While Benjamin’s choice to give Wendy little to no backstory makes sense given the film’s overall efficiency, Body At Brighton Rock would be more memorable if she was fleshed out a little further. Body at Brighton Rock is the happy work of someone who misses when scrappy genre fare could have low stakes and still feel slightly dangerous; when filmmakers were empowered by the knowledge that a VHS of their schlock took up just as much real estate on video store shelves as a tape of the biggest Hollywood blockbuster. Body at Brighton Rock leaves some of its thrilling potential untapped, but the end result remains a solidly crafted outing that should entertain horror fans. | Rating: 2.5/4 Was not good enough, or bad enough to be good. After radioing it in, she attempts to describe where she is located and is instructed to stay with the body overnight so a team can investigate in the morning. Instead of being a MacGuffin sought by a group of adolescent boys, Wendy stumbles upon this one which catalyzes a change she didn’t realize she needed. 4/10 just because of the beautiful scenery. He has been a Film Critic for Ready Steady Cut since 2018. Benjamin has shown her talents in the anthology films “XX” and “Southbound,” but she gets just as lost as her protagonist with her feature-length debut, a movie that never justifies its scant running time or settles on a tone. Karina Fontes plays Wendy, the least experienced and responsible employee of a national park called Brighton Rock. |, July 31, 2019 |. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Tweet. Long Way Up episode 7 recap – what happened in “Peru”? From the safety of being indoors, of course. | Rating: C- “Body at Brighton Rock” is at heart a story of empowerment, as Wendy struggles to transcend her free-floating fears and entirely justified paranoia while facing the likelihood that, if there’s any rescuing to be done, she may have to rescue herself. Melissa is the owner and editor-in-chief of Horror Geek Life, and a Rotten Tomatoes-Approved Critic. Just below that it reads "Ticket Confirmation#:" followed by a 10-digit number. Body at Brighton Rock has solid performances and directing, but loses its intensity as it becomes too reliant on jump/noise scares. The performances were solid, and there is no question that Roxanne Benjamin is a director that will do, and has done, some great things within the genre. This article “Who is Leila in Netflix series Grand Army” contains spoilers. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. Sign up here. It simply never is. It’s fun, balanced, and scary enough to do the job. Film Review: ‘Body at Brighton Rock’ Roxanne Benjamin’s well-crafted thriller focuses on an unlikely heroine who faces danger during a long, dark night in the woods. Body at Brighton Rock is a good film, that falls just shy of greatness. The image is an example of a ticket confirmation email that AMC sent you when you purchased your ticket. Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers. It simply never is. Learn how your comment data is processed. CIFF 2020: Black Perspectives Program Highlights Diverse Voices, CIFF 2020: The Roger Ebert Award Returns to Champion New Voices, Immerse Yourself in Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project #3. Who is Leila in Netflix series Grand Army? Fontes is convincing and likable as the ditzy lost park ranger and that was a good enough reason for me to enjoy it. Ultimately, the body, much like the one at the center of Stephen King’s timeless novella The Body, symbolizes change and growth in its immature main character. Making her solo feature directing debut here after earning her spurs as a collaborator on “Southbound” (2015) and “XX” (2017), Benjamin methodically (and, for the most part, plausibly) paints Wendy into a corner by limiting her ability to communicate with home base after she’s ordered to remain in place and secure what may be a crime scene. Melissa served as an official film judge for the 2019 FEARnyc Horror Film Festival and 2017-2018 Women in Horror Film Festivals. Body at Brighton Rock is a survival horror film written and directed by Roxanne Benjamin (Southbound) and had its world premiere at the 2019 South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW). Partly to help a friend spend more time with her crush, and largely to prove she’s capable of handling responsibilities, she offers to switch assignments on the daily work schedule so she can post signs and police the grounds along a hiking trail. Please enter your birth date to watch this video: You are not allowed to view this material at this time. Roxanne Benjamin’s well-crafted thriller focuses on an unlikely heroine who faces danger during a long, dark night in the woods. She takes a wrong turn — several wrong turns, actually — and winds up atop a ridge deep in the backcountry. Don't have an account? Cinemark |, July 30, 2019 Naturally, dusk is approaching and, just as naturally, a search team won’t reach her until morning, so she must spend the night all alone in the woods. She’s got a map, flashlight, and other equipment, and it’s a bright sunny day. From the outset, Benjamin uses whimsical title cards, reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s style, that contrasts what will come later. Of course, that panic is amplified greatly when she spots a dead body from her perch. The wounds aren’t in the right place for a fall. Taken as a whole, her movie resembles nothing so much as an episode of some ’60s anthology series, à la “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” that traditionally spun stories at a measured pace while sustaining tension and raising mortal stakes. When she takes a wrong turn and ends up deep in the backcountry, she stumbles upon what might be a potential crime scene.