Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2018
Images from the Internet
Soft Matter
Directed by Jim Hickcox
Wild
Eye Releasing / Demon Janx / MVD Visual
72
minutes, 2018
www.wildeyereleasing.com
First
of all, the definition of "soft matter," according to the School of Physics and
Astronomy website, “is a convenient term
for materials that are easily deformed by thermal fluctuations and external
forces. In short, it refers to 'all things squishy'! Everyday examples include paint,
blood, milk, spreads and ice cream.”
This is an odd little film by a first feature director (he’s done some
shorts), and I don’t know what I was expecting. From the trailer, from what I
could cull, it seemed like a psychedelic hip-hop version of The Shape of Water. And some of that is
true. Especially the squishy hip-hop.
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| Mary Anzalone, Hal Schneider |
The film starts off with a prologue showing a duo of questionable
scientists, Grist (Hal Schneider) and Kriegspiel (Mary Anzalone), in an
abandoned hospice (a real, supposedly haunted location), who seem to be doing
experiments with fish and crustaceans, among other creatures, trying to humanize them for dubious means. It’s all
very Island of Dr. Moreau. Nobody
seems to really like each other much, and there’s lots of Nickelodeon-ish slime.
But the word that seems most appropriate about the whole feeling of the piece
is moist. Yeah, it is squishy and gross,
and deadpan humorous.
Next we meet up-and-coming graffiti artist Haircut (Devyn Placide) and
his friend Kish (Ruby Lee Dove II), the latter of whom, for some reason, has a
handlebar-style mustache (drawn?) (tattooed?) on her face. She wants to set up
an art show to promote ‘Cut, so guess where she picks as a locale?
Of Fish and Men (and Womyn) worlds collide of course, and we get to partake
in viewing the action. But this film is probably different than most you’ve
ever seen before, which in my opinion is a plus. Now, it’s not what I would
call arty as it’s a bit too non-cryptic and somewhat straightforward for that;
however it is both quirky and certainly imaginative to the point of little WTF details. A lot of films that rely on
“WTF details” annoy be because the quirkiness is there for the sake of ego and that
quirkiness. But this has a different feel to it, hence the term “imaginative.”
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| Ruby Lee Dove II |
For example, the space where the creatures are being created for the
sake of figuring out immortality (yeah, I know) is downright disgusting and
dirty – the stuff that was actually left in the closed hospice – not the sort
of laboratory setting one might expect for such a lofty goal. And the sheer
animosity of the scientists to both their subjects and each other makes one
(well, me, anyway) wonder if there is some kind of leaking gas or contaminant effecting
their personalities. Since we don’t meet them before the events, there is no real exposition to understand how
this is all affecting them. And then one of the creatures called Mr. Sacks (Bradley
Creel) starts to bust a move to a solid groove.
As for the creature on the cover of the box, he/she/it is referred to as
a sea god (Sam Stinson, voice by Mykal Monroe), with no explanation on how
he/she/it got there, who seems to live in a water bucket (see DVD cover). And
no one else, neither scientists nor artists, act as if there is a social contract,
but rather all seem to be motivating as if they are the ones who (soft) matter,
not the social good – even though they claim that the immortality for humanity
is their goal (more likely for themselves, as a piece of dialogue indicates).
Speaking of social, there is a very nice commentary on the art world as
two pretentious patrons of the arts, Miss Teath (Catherine Grady) and Rudolph (Mark
Blumberg) show up at Haircut’s show, and can’t tell the difference between the reality
of creatures on a killing spree and performance art (“Are they actors?” one
asks early on). Yes, some art – and I’ve seen my share – is so obtuse and pompous
– almost as much as some of its followers (remember Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen’s
Nuni and Nuni characters from “SNL”?). Even as destruction and eminent death
are close, one states, “I’ve never been to a better art opening.” I definitely
smiled at that one.
I don’t want to pass on the opportunity to mention some of the animation
that shows up every once in a while, including the use of blacklight. It just
adds to the whole wondrous WTF-ness of it all.
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| Mr. Sacks pumpin' the jam |
As for the extras, well, there are two
full-length commentaries by the writer and director. The first one
presented is Hickcox by himself (sitting in his backyard in Austin, Texas, at 2
AM). He rambles a bit as he still manages to say a lot of interesting things about
the actual shoot and location, techniques, and certain technical aspects. The
second commentary is Hickcox and academic / film historian Jason Michelitch.
Unfortunately, Michelitch was seeing the film for the first time during the
commentary so the talk is less deep about the meaning than it could have been. It’s a bit more interesting than
the other commentary, but I would have liked a bit more substance about signifying.
Also included among the extras is 2015 short lasting 12:07 called Slow Creep, which is an interesting take
on Ringu (aka The Ring), with a creature that follows a rented videotape and the
three teens trying to watch it. It’s a fun piece of fluff that’s worth the
view, and the sudden music video at the end is icing on the cake. The last
extra is a series of different film trailers, as Wild Eye Releasing is wont to
do with their – err – releases.
My fear is that this might be dismissed by people who just like blood
and gore, torture porn, boobs, and otherworldly serial killers. Sure, this has
a relatively straight narrative, but there is so much going on that is off the
beaten path that it’s easy to just give up rather than seeing deeper than the
weirdness and unusual elements that are consistent on both a low scale to a
grand level of bada-bing. If you want
to stretch your palate a bit, this might be a nice step.
