directed by:
Cody Clarke written by: Cody Clarke genre: Drama, Comedy |
“I’m not crazy, I swear.” When you SEE the scene that that piece of dialogue comes along with, you’ll question it as fact. There is very much, a high percentage chance that Writer/Director Cody Clarke IS crazy…and I am absolutely here for it. I wasn’t even ten minutes into “My Submission” before I realized where this film was probably going to go, and I just gotta tell ya folks, it’s such a deliciously unhinged idea. Not only is the writing clearly AMAZING from the first moments you’ll see, but Cody went and found himself the perfect actress to play the role of Allison Sonson, who plays Marissa Peterson. Trust me when I tell you, you’ll probably go through something similar as you descend into this madness…the light will come on, and you’ll have a notion or two of what the format is going to be in how the story is presented to us, but there is no possible way you could ever predict the multiple twists and turns the dialog takes.
It would be practically impossible to write a review about this movie without revealing a few things, so if I can share one piece of critical advice with you before we really get into the details here, it’s that there is nothing I can say that will ever do this movie the justice it deserves. In fact, at the risk of pissing off my editor here at IndyRed, I’m just gonna tell you to stop reading this altogether and go find yourself a copy of “My Submission,” because it will be far more amusing than anything I could possibly write. I’m serious! Scroll down this page, look for the “Watch Now” button, or do whatever you have to do to procure a copy of this film and WATCH IT. Put down your phone and give this your complete, undivided attention. Alright, now that that’s outta the way, we can get into the meat and potatoes here. Marissa is like my spirit animal y’all. If you’ve ever read one of my rambling reviews before in the past, then you know I don’t spend too much time worrying about saying whatever it is that comes to my mind - and she’s exactly the same way, for better or worse. The reality is, people who are like Marissa and me are highly likely to go way too far with just about any topic, and we totally LOVE to overshare. Then we regret oversharing. Then we regret regretting oversharing, and all of a sudden we’re back to square one, and we’re completely proud of the fact that we overshared. We practically become the true pioneers of oversharing, because no one does it like we do it. And it’s not like we’re trying to force it, you know? We overshare naturally, because it’s who we are. We probably don’t even acknowledge the way we overshare to anyone, even ourselves. We’re just being real with our thoughts and sharing a whole ton of them with everybody we come into contact with, so if that’s oversharing, then I guess that’s just who we are. Why would we change that? It would be pretentious to fake our way through life, wouldn’t it? “My Submission” demonstrates its brilliance immediately. If you want an idea of the basic framework for how this goes, it’s part audition, and it’s part therapy in real-time. Marissa is a wonderful trainwreck, and I never wanted to look away as she stared right back into the camera throughout practically every single scene you’ll see in Clarke’s movie. I mean, sometimes she’ll just freestyle dance, or fill you in on what just occurred in between the videos she’s been sending throughout the night to audition for a role in a different movie. It’s inception-esque in that regard, I guess, only instead of a dream within a dream within a dream, this is more like a series of quirky social nightmares strung together into one outrageous and crazy concept that seemingly has no end in sight. So strap in, folks, this gets fantastically strange! I want to be crystal clear about one thing, though - Clarke’s script is nothing short of extraordinary, but even with that being the case, it simply could not have worked without what Allison Sonson brings to the character. I would hire this incredible lady to play ANY part in ANY film right now if I were one of those Hollywood executives. It’s ironic to think of “My Submission” as being the ultimate reel for her work, which you’ll understand after you watch it, but that’s the truth - it shows what Sonson is capable of in an irresistible way. She’s powerfully deadpan to the point where you have to marvel at how much control she has over the dialogue and how to deliver it. When she’s ‘trying to act’ it’s awesome, but it’s even more badass when she combines that with these moments of slipping right back into the real her, where she’ll reveal an intensity in her eyes that will genuinely blow you away. You quickly recognize that she’s a master of the craft and can flip between dark comedy and deadly seriousness with ease, because she’s authentically built differently than the rest of her ‘peers’ tend to be. She reminds me a lot of Kaitlyn Dever in that regard, who was another actress that you could see was destined for greatness the first time you ever watched her in a scene, no matter what it was. As for Clarke…good lord…where do I even begin? How does a person possibly describe such a sensationally twisted mind? He wrote a perfect script, found the perfect actress to play the role, and handled his business like a boss, full stop.
There are many films that attempt to do things all in one take or in one room or with one actor/actress involved - and it’s fair to say that I’m usually a fan of most of them. That being said, it’s extremely rare to find one where the concept is a perfect pairing with the idea it’s working with. In this instance, it’s like hand in glove, y’all. Watching Marissa’s mental meltdown in a series of short videos intended to be her submission for a role in a film couldn’t have been a better fit for the style in which it’s shot. As for the dialogue, it’s thought-provoking, real, insightful, and more often than not, shockingly direct in ways that are pretty much guaranteed to make a whole lot of you out there extremely uncomfortable. As the film continues, you have to wonder where or IF she’ll ever decide to cut herself off, or if we’re strapped into a manic episode that plays like an X-ray glimpse into the afflicted. The way the waters get muddied is astounding - like the scene with Marissa crying on the bathroom toilet, for instance - there’s next to no way you would be able to tell if what she’s experiencing is real, or if it’s fake like she’s claiming it to be. You end up questioning almost everything she says to a degree, yet when she wants to throw the switch and signal that she’s being serious, you’ll feel just as compelled to take her at her word. So while I’m not necessarily saying the methods and approach are recreating the wheel, at the same time, we can’t not acknowledge how Clarke & Sonson made every piece of this puzzle fit together so seamlessly. Suddenly sitting up on the couch, Marissa proclaims confidently, “I’m probably smarter than anyone else submitting for this thing.” I cannot tell you how many folks with divergent personalities are among the most brilliant we have in society, but I’d readily be the first to tell you how very real that truly is. Folks like Marissa are relentlessly misunderstood. Listening to her take on the industry and how the process really works is a revelation - another part of this film that is key to understanding it. Kudos to Clarke once again for his iron grip on effective dialogue…it’s staggering how good this script is. Watching Marissa flip between her own understanding & willingness to play along, to the unbridled rage she feels as she stares us down the barrel of the camera…this is God-tier level work & they should both be extremely proud of what they accomplished here. And with that, dear readers, dear friends, I submit to you what I know for a FACT is the first movie that I’ve ever rated as a perfect five out of five stars. |
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