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Theater Camp

(12A) 92 mins

★★★★☆

THE young hopes and failed dreams of treading the boards are captured perfectly in Theater Camp.

This is a delectable mockumentary, shot with a naturalist lens to emphasise the low budget efforts of the unseen filmmakers documenting the misadventures at an upstate New York camp for wannabe actors.

PATheater Camp follows the misadventures at an upstate New York camp for wannabe actors[/caption]

Think Waiting For Guffman, School Of Rock and Hamlet 2, by way of Grey Gardens, and you’ve got an eccentric portrait of some lovable musical nuts in this riotous feature debut from Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman.

Each year, director Joan (Amy Sedaris) tours the state to recruit kids to AdirondACTS, her summer musical camp.

When a particularly impressive school performance puts her into a coma, her wannabe crypto-influencer son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) takes over and must prevent the camp’s closure.

Unfortunately, the apple fell far from the tree with Troy, as he can’t tell Miss Saigon from Wicked and the returning teachers are fuming about it.

In particular, Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Gordon) — two former campers-turned-teachers — are deliciously savage when it comes to their interim boss.

Their annoyance is shown in every glare, cutting admonishment and passive aggressive gesture as they spend the next few weeks putting on several shows.

Childhood friends in real-life, Platt and Gordon’s co-dependent chemistry is spot on.

Amos and Rebecca-Diana channel all their untapped musical theatre ego into the camp and from the moment they reveal the summer shows, with a hilariously intense accapella number, it’s clear how much they rely on the enthusiastic campers to feed their egos.

Amos’ insecure entitlement is potent and provides much of the film’s darkly comic but earnestly emotional selling point.

Alan Kim (from movie Minari) and Noah Galvin stand out as a precocious talent agent-in-training and a secretly talented stage manager, respectively.

The comedy chops of the entire ensemble, however, is outrageously sharp.

Laugh-a-minute storytelling, irreverent songs, biting dialogue and astute characterisation capture musical geekery in all its glory.

At the final curtain you’ll be wanting a Theater Camp encore.

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The Innocent

(15) 99 mins

★★★★☆

WITH a pinball plot that pings around unexpectedly, this charming screwball French crime caper is an awful lot of fun.

When young widower and marine biologist Abel (Louis Garrel, who also directs) discovers his mother Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg) is getting married to prison inmate Michel (Roschdy Zem), he is, understandably, immediately wary.

PAThe Innocent has enchanting performances and greater depths and fewer cliches than it could easily have slipped into[/caption]

Not only is Michel a burglary con, still serving time for his role in a heist, it’s also impulsive actress Sylvie’s third marriage.

While Abel tries to be supportive, he can’t shake his suspicions.Has his Maman’s latest husband really rehabilitated and turned his back on a life of crime, or not?

Determined to protect Sylvie, Abel turns amateur detective, ropes in his best friend Clemence (a superb Noémie Merlant) and sets out to reveal the truth about his new stepfather.

But his sub-standard sleuthing has unexpected consequences and changes his future forever.

This film has enchanting performances and greater depths and fewer cliches than it could easily have slipped into.

The Blackening

(15) 97 mins

★★★★☆

A WORTHY successor to the Scary Movie franchise, The Blackening gleefully tackles the black stereotypes of horror, and the culture, with boisterous flair and bite.

Directed by Fantastic Four and Ride Along’s Tim Story, the film has the set up for a typical horror film – a group of college friends reunite at an isolated cabin deep in the woods for a night of drug and booze-fuelled fun.

PAThe Blackening is a worthy successor to the Scary Movie franchise[/caption]

They are gathered to celebrate Juneteenth – an emancipation holiday for the African-American community – but not long after arriving they find the titular game and are quizzed about black history in order to survive the night.

What’s most refreshing about Dewayne Perkins (who also stars) and Tracy Oliver’s pacy script is that their characters are highly aware of what not to do in horror movies, which makes for even more laugh out loud moments.

Some pop culture references might go over the average viewers’ head, and the whodunnit element is pretty obvious, but there are more than enough meta jokes and gnarly hijinks to make up for it.