What I Saw at Fantastic Fest at Home 'Give Me an A' 'Amazing Elisa'

I would have loved nothing more than to travel to Austin, Texas to be part of Fantastic Fest as it unfolded September 22nd to September 29th. Sadly, I was not able to be there in person. Instead, I settled for covering Fantastic Fest At Home which offered selections from the Festival that were made available online. This included features and shorts, documentaries and a wild selection of new release movies that fit the uniquely Avant Garde reputation of Fantastic Fest. I've already had the chance to write about a pair of documentaries that I adored at Fantastic Fest, you can find my reviews of the wild A Life on the Farm and Lynch/Oz linked here. And I could not resist writing about the bizarre experience of the horror film All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, a full length review you can read linked here.

But sadly, I can't write full length reviews of everything I saw at Fantastic Fest at Home so here are several capsule reviews of movies I saw at Fantastic Fest. Two of these I was lucky enough to interview the director of the movie and you can find those interviews on my brand new Sean at the Movies YouTube Channel linked here. Like, subscribe, share and all that YouTube stuff.

Give Me Pity 2022

Directed by Amanda Kramer

Written by Amanda Kramer

Starring Sophie Von Haselberg

Release Date Unknown

Played at Fantastic Fest

Give Me Pity is a strange and bold movie that captures both the bizarre nostalgia of 70s and early 80s variety shows centered on celebrities and a fever dream of horrific proportion. Bette Midler's incredibly talented daughter, Sophie Van Haselberg stars in Give Me Pity as superstar Sissy St. Clair. There is no narrative per se in Give Me Pity, rather the film begins with Sissy St. Clair performing a lavish opening number for her very first variety special.

Director Amanda Kramer never breaks the spell of this gauzy nostalgia. Instead, she introduces visual elements, dreamscapes and nightmare imagery that can lead you to your own conclusion about what you are watching. For me, I settled on the idea of Hell and how this character, Sissy St. Clair's version of Hell was being forced to perform in this variety show for eternity as her mind slowly begins to crack and madness begins to set in. Again, that's just my interpretation based on a surface level observation. I'm not writing a full length review of Give Me Pity only because I need to see it again to ponder the many, many layers of Meta and Irony and deeper meanings behind the many songs and skits in the movie.

Sophie Van Haselberg is a revelation. She's incredible in this movie. I kept wondering why she looked so familiar and when I saw that she's Bette Midler's daughter, it clicked, I've seen her mom perform on shows not unlike the variety special in Give Me Pity. I can recall Bette Midler wearing similar costumes and crooning in the same way Sissy does in this movie. That's not to say that Van Haselberg is in her mother's shadow but rather that being Bette Midler's daughter adds a delightful layer of meta-commentary that requires another viewing to fully unpack. Give Me Pity is a must see when it becomes available.

Give Me an A

Directed by Anthology

Written by Anthology

Starring Virginia Madsen, Alyssa Milano, Milana Vayntrub, Rachel Torres, Regina Ting Chen

Release Date Unknown

Premiered at Fantastic Fest

Wow! I really should leave the review as that one word, Wow! Give Me an A is the most in your face and pointed horror satire I've ever seen. Nakedly political, the anthology of short films from female directors with female stars makes serious points about the debate over abortion or, more specifically, about how the abortion debate is really about women's bodily autonomy. While the extreme voices would like to say this is about 'killing babies' or other such nonsense, the reality of the debate is about whether or not women get to make decisions regarding their own body.

It's more than merely whether to carry a child to term. This debate in full affects whether women should be able to make any number of decisions about how they use their body. It's also about the rippling effect of these nakedly political decisions, masquerading as moralism, and the ways in which women's behavior is under attack, largely by a group of men whose oppressive conservatism, brought to its most powerful affect would prevent women from making decisions about their private lives, their healthcare, and other important aspects of THEIR life.

Give Me An A uses a series of fiery and supremely intelligent short films to make these points dramatically, horrifically, through science fiction, and through a scathing satire that demonstrates both humor and a stinging rebuke of those who would stand in the way of women making their own decisions about their bodies. This is one of the most exhilarating and exciting anthologies to come around in some time and a rare one that uses the form to make a trenchant and fearlessly political point.

Amazing Elisa (2022)

Directed by Sadrac Gonzalez Perellon

Written by Sadrac Gonzalez Perellon

Starring Asier Etxeandia, Ivan Massague, Silvia Abascal

Release Date Unknown

AKA Asombrosa Elisa

Amazing Elisa coalesces several storylines into a story about grief, recovery, revenge and reflection. The story follows a young girl who, in the wake of the death of her mother, claims to have superpowers. So convinced of her incredible new powers, Elisa or Amazing Elisa, has a friend stab her in the shoulder. According to Elisa, she will deflect the blade with her strength. It's a stunner of an opening sequence and a powerhouse statement of intention for the rest of the movie.

Whether or not Elisa has a superpower is not up for debate but her reasoning behind the idea and her commitment to the idea is a fascinating subject for a subplot that also involves her father, his grief and Elisa finding the man responsible for her mother's death. Will Dad seek vengeance, can he stop his supposed superhero daughter from trying to take revenge or will he join her? These are a few intriguing questions that play out in one of several interlocking plots in Amazing Elisa.

Other plots involve an artist and his recently wheelchair bound wife. The artist is desperate to get on with his life but his wife is not interested. She's more intrigued by consistently causing chaos in an attempt to gain her husband's full attention. Failing that, she chases off every caregiver he hires for her and she acts out in ever more outrageous ways after the couple is robbed while she's at home. You really cannot predict where this is headed or how it resolves, you need to see this movie to find out. The other plot is slightly more disconnected on the surface but gains a deeper meaning as the movie glides to a finish.

King on Screen (D0cumentary)

Directed by Daphne Baiwir

Starring Stephen King (Assembled Footage) Frank Darabont, Mick Garris

Release Date Unknown

Shown at Fantastic Fest

For my take on King on Screen check out my interview with Director Daphne Baiwir on my YouTube channel Sean at the movies.

Living with Chucky

Directed by Kyra Gardner

Starring Brad Dourif, Fiona Dourif, Don Mancini, John Waters

Release Date Unknown

For my take on Living with Chucky, watch my review with Director Kyra Gardner on my YouTube Channel.

Find my archive more than 20 years and nearly 2000 movie reviews at SeanattheMovies.blogspot,.com. Follow me on Twitter at PodcastSean. Follow the archive on Twitter at SeanattheMovies. Find interviews with directors and movie trailers on my YouTube channel also called Sean at the Movies. And listen to me talk about movies on the Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast. If you have enjoyed what you have read you can subscribe to my writing here on Vocal. If you want to support my writing you can make a monthly pledge or leave a one time tip here on Vocal.