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Toronto After Dark Review: ‘Poor Agnes’ Captures a Tainted Love

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poor agnes

Poor Agnes is a stunningly shot psychological thriller that twists the blade and laughs at your discomfort.

Then film follows a young serial killer, Agnes (Lora Burke), who is disgusted by humanity. She’s a natural predator, killing for fun as often as she pleases. One day, a young man, Mike (Robert Notman), comes to her door to interview her about a friend that disappeared years ago. He soon falls into her dangerous trap, sparking a twisted and unhealthy co-dependency.

via Fantasia Film Festival

Poor Agnes hones in on the complexities of an abusive relationship. Dinner scenes between Agnes and her captive carry the weighty undertones of a domestic dispute waiting to happen. The fact that she may very well kill him is always there – Mike flinches away from her anger and tries to placate her sour moods.

The audience may wonder in frustration why Mike plays along – why he is willingly complicit in her heinous actions. It’s perhaps less symptomatic of Stockholm syndrome and more suggestive of Battered Person syndrome. Mike is held prisoner in this twisted “relationship” and the lines begin to blur between what he is subjected to and what he is participating in.

The idea of a female tormentor leading this dark dance is refreshing. There isn’t as much focus on abusive relationships with a male victim and they’re often dismissed by other men, causing them to go unreported.

Agnes is manipulative, violent, impulsive, and sociopathic. Actress Lora Burke is perfection in the role, delivering her lines with a cold distance. Her subtle facial expressions convey the tsunami of anger and frustration bubbling behind the surface. Her performance is compelling.

via Sudbury.com

Director Navin Ramaswaran deftly moves the puzzle pieces of Agnes and Mike’s relationship into place, highlighting the skill of his actors by allowing them to communicate the minutia of the each scene beyond the dialogue.

Poor Agnes is a complex and thrilling film that will stay with you long after the credits roll.

via IMDb

Featured image via Bad Feeling Magazine

For more Toronto After Dark reviews, check out Trench 11, Victor Crowley, and My Friend Dahmer

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New ‘MaXXXine’ Image is Pure 80s Costume Core

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A24 has unveiled a captivating new image of Mia Goth in her role as the titular character in “MaXXXine”. This release comes approximately a year and a half after the previous installment in Ti West’s expansive horror saga, which covers more than seven decades.

MaXXXine Official Trailer

His latest continues the story arc of freckle-faced aspiring starlet Maxine Minx from the first film X which took place in Texas in 1979. With stars in her eyes and blood on her hands, Maxine moves into a new decade and a new city, Hollywood, in pursuit of an acting career, “But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.”

The photo below is the latest snapshot released from the film and shows Maxine in full Thunderdome drag amid a crowd of teased hair and rebellious 80s fashion.

MaXXXine is set to open in theaters on July 5.

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Netflix Releases First BTS ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ Footage

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It’s been three long years since Netflix unleashed the bloody, but enjoyable Fear Street on its platform. Released in a tryptic fashion, the streamer broke up the story into three episodes, each taking place in a different decade which by the finale were all tied together.

Now, the streamer is in production for its sequel Fear Street: Prom Queen which brings the story into the 80s. Netflix gives a synopsis of what to expect from Prom Queen on their blog site Tudum:

“Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.” 

Based on R.L. Stine’s massive series of Fear Street novels and spin-offs, this chapter is number 15 in the series and was published in 1992.

Fear Street: Prom Queen features a killer ensemble cast, including India Fowler (The Nevers, Insomnia), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket, The Idol), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls, Above the Shadows), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Cinnamon), Ella Rubin (The Idea of You), Chris Klein (Sweet Magnolias, American Pie), Lili Taylor (Outer Range, Manhunt) and Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From, Perry Mason).

No word on when Netflix will drop the series into its catalog.

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Live Action Scooby-Doo Reboot Series In Works at Netflix

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Scooby Doo Live Action Netflix

The ghosthunting Great Dane with an anxiety problem, Scooby-Doo, is getting a reboot and Netflix is picking up the tab. Variety is reporting that the iconic show is becoming an hour-long series for the streamer although no details have been confirmed. In fact, Netflix execs declined to comment.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

If the project is a go, this would be the first live-action movie based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon since 2018’s Daphne & Velma. Before that, there were two theatrical live-action movies, Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), then two sequels that premiered on The Cartoon Network.

Currently, the adult-oriented Velma is streaming on Max.

Scooby-Doo originated in 1969 under the creative team Hanna-Barbera. The cartoon follows a group of teenagers who investigate supernatural happenings. Known as Mystery Inc., the crew consists of Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and his best friend, a talking dog named Scooby-Doo.

Scooby-Doo

Normally the episodes revealed the hauntings they encountered were hoaxes developed by land-owners or other nefarious characters hoping to scare people away from their properties. The original TV series named Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ran from 1969 to 1986. It was so successful that movie stars and pop culture icons would make guest appearances as themselves in the series.

Celebrities such as Sonny & Cher, KISS, Don Knotts, and The Harlem Globetrotters made cameos as did Vincent Price who portrayed Vincent Van Ghoul in a few episodes.

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