directed by:
Anna Russell written by: Keaton Morris-Stan genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller |
I mean, this is pretty much completely brilliant, ain't it? Between the surgical precision of the writing by Keaton Morris-Stan and the exceptional direction of Anna Russell, they've left you wanting for nothing more than exactly what you get in this short film. For what's about ten minutes in length, I really felt like "Method & Madness" was more than impressive. As the film opens, you immediately learn of the passing of Emily Summers and meet her surviving family members, her sister – aka Aunt Rachel, and Emily's daughter Kira—warning: spoilers ahead.
For a moment or two at the start, while Kira is expressing her displeasure over her mom being buried instead of cremated, and seeing Rachel doing her level best to figure out how to navigate an entirely new situation in life…I dunno…I assumed we'd be in store for a more typical & straightforward story than "Method & Madness" goes on to become. Well played, Keaton & Anna – you got me! I thought we'd be watching something kinda normal for a hot minute there - but it doesn't take long at all before the vibe in the music changes everything, and you start to get that knot in your stomach where your gut tells you that you're actually not going to be seeing anything typical at all. In fact, it's less than sixty seconds into "Method & Madness" that you start to suspect that there's a whole lot more to this story. Kira (played by Emma Kassel) seems distant but grounded, and she also feels she knows more about how the world works than her Aunt Rachel (played by Julia Maggiola) does. Of course, as any adult would view this film or a relationship like this, we know that's not the case – but Kira doesn't - at least for now. Instead of bursting that bubble, Rachel decides to allow Kira the opportunity to find out more about life at her own pace. Undoubtedly, she's already growing up way too quickly with her mother's passing, and I felt like I understood Rachel's "Method & Madness" from the very get-go. Again, credit where credit is due - Keaton's written a very strong part for Julia, and she executed her performance with the commitment that a role like this genuinely deserves. We're taken to a hotel for reasons we do not know, where Rachel passes by Melissa Marshall in the hallway for the very first time – they exchange glances, but for all we know, that'll be the last time they might even see each other as it would be for you and any random stranger you might cross paths with in a hallway of a new hotel. From her window view, Melissa (played by Keaton), spies Rachel grabbing a book from the trunk of her car well after nightfall, and if anything, I think that's the point where we as viewers really begin to understand that we're about to be in store for the twisting of a tale that no one could really see coming. It's obviously possible that Rachel just needed something to read to fall asleep, but at the same time, she looks more than a bit on the suspicious side, and something about this doesn't feel quite right at all. The next morning, that strange, unsettling feeling is confirmed by the meeting of Greg Lands (played by Kerry Malloy), who seems beyond creepy from the second that we're introduced to him. He's at the helm of some kind of 'wolf pack' of sorts, which is purported to be some kind of women's empowerment seminar – and yet helmed by a man that looks like he'd be the type whereby you covered your drink around if you were to meet him at a bar? Yuck. Points to Kerry, who does an excellent job of making us instantly uncomfortable in his presence. He continues to espouse fake virtues and concepts you could glean from some random volume of Chicken Soup for the Soul – and rather unfortunately, it seems like he's got a room filled with women who are falling for his gentle carnival barking schtick. I feel like as watchers…or at least I freakin' HOPE… we're all looking at this guy the same way…that we're seeing a snake oil salesman to the highest degree - and the lowest hanging fruit of our shared humanity. Rachel seems to get it even if Kira doesn't – and just as we start to wonder why Rachel continues to clutch that book she took out of her trunk in the dead of night, she literally bumps back into Melissa, who takes it right out of her hands, and steers this story in a completely different direction. Instead of outing Rachel and explaining what her intentions were, Melissa demonstrated a keen insight and understanding of what she was really going to do and proposed another way to go about her plan.
Rachel quickly responds to this idea, and Melissa is more than happy to play the role of the facilitator. What I love about the way this plotline shifts is that it really seems to be done in a very selfless way. What we see in the actions Rachel takes are actually much more based on what she wants to create in a future for her niece - and getting a modicum of justice for the passing of her sister. I think that's the thing about real wisdom, ain't it? We don't always get to know what the motives are for people that are wiser than we are, but we do benefit from the actions that they take on our behalf – and ultimately, I think that's what you find in how this tricky situation plays out between Greg, Rachel, and Melissa. The cast for "Method & Madness" may be small, but it's a tight one – I really thought they all tapped into the heart of their characters and let us see how they view this situation/story they're involved in. Russell does a stellar job at the helm with her direction and doesn't show us anything more than what's required to provoke our curiosity & keep us all watching intently - to figure this out and find out what happens. The writing from Morris-Stan is as solid as it gets, which gives Russell the means to really capitalize on how to tell a story like this the right way. No overblown effects, no unnecessary gore or violence onscreen…so much of what you'll see in "Method & Madness" is implied, yet by the end, we're all on the exact same page when it comes to concluding what actually transpired. As in, there's no doubt about what happened, or why for that matter – and when you're leaving out some of the most key details visually, you gotta hand it to Russell for achieving such impressive results & such a conclusive ending that we'd all universally agree upon. Beyond all that, I also think this is an important story to tell – whether you view this from the lens of vigilante justice or much-needed change in a society that's lost its way, there is "Method & Madness" in equal doses, but it all makes sense to us. Or, again, at least, I hope it all makes sense to us. I'm not here to advocate on behalf of using violence to achieve the ends of any kind of belief – but at the same time, I'd be lying if I didn't say I understand it. I'm going with a very firm four stars out of five here – I really enjoyed "Method & Madness," and I felt like it was thought-provoking in the right way. We need films and art like this that generate discussion on some extremely important issues, and it really felt like that was Morris-Stan's main priority with the writing. Combined with the expertise of Russell's steady hand in directing, you couldn't possibly miss what they were aiming for in making "Method & Madness" – and as a result, it feels like they've come up with a film that'll make you wanna cheer for the reasons behind its gritty ending. This is smart filmmaking from start to finish, with a cast that came in ready to get the job done. |
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