Hello, here is something a bit out of left field. Sister Tempest is a movie that is not really available at the moment but I was given the opportunity to watch it early. I will now give it a quick review so you know what to look out for whenever this film is released in your region. Special thanks to Joe Badon, the director of the film, for giving me the chance to review his very peculiar movie.
With that out of the way, Sister Tempest is an indie Sci-Fi Comedy Horror thing. The plot follows Anne Hutchinson and her sister who have spent the last 10 years or so living a Nani and Lilo situation. Some bad things happen which leads to the baby sister vanishing from the movie, leaving Anne to have these “dreams”. She also befriends her new student, Ginger Breadmen. The two form a “unique bond” that sort of replicates what Anne had before with the missing sister. While all of that is happening we cut back to Anne on a trial recounting the events of this movie to a intergalactic space council in a black, black room. Also, also while both the main story and the trial are happening in the background there is a space white spandex documentary crew filming everything that happens for amusement purposes for the space council. The council still want to hear Anne’s side of the story because I should note I’m still trying to put it lightly.
As I have purposely been skipping over up until now, this movie is not afraid to get weird! It’s so fearless in fact, it feels like we’re along for the ride on someone’s bizarre drug trip. Anne’s dreams are so strange that it’s easy to question what’s real and what isn’t, and it wouldn’t be strange for the viewer to wonder if this is all necessary to the story. You also have the added fact its a non-linear narrative, so that’s a wonderful detail to consider when you have to debate what is a dream and what is reality. I can see this being the make or break point for many because I don’t think the writing and story really have that much going for it, if it wasn’t the film’s weirdness helping it along.
If I must be frank I had a good time watching this film, but mixed feelings started to pop-up once the credits began to crawl. My main problem is I’m not a fan of how this movie loves to bounce between an intense psychological horror between two mentally unstable women and a goofy comedy with weird alien people and their documentary crew. This style feels very intentional from the film-makers as it is the type of stuff you would find in a David Lynch film. It just was too much of a tonal shift and it never sat well for me.
On the plus side Anne’s dreams would be the highlight as they’re quite nonsensical, but amazingly find a way to remain charming with either a unique visual style or the colorful set of characters. Especially with how mesmerizing some of these shots are as I imagine this was filmed on a shoe string budget, but call me impressed. I also enjoyed the editing of the different sequences and the usage of numerous clips that kind of reflect what’s happening in the scene. Also like I’m Thinking of Ending Things it was fun to unravel what is happening on screen into what the film is trying to tell me, which kind of annoys me that they chose to spill the beans in the ending, but then again it was very satisfying to learn this information, so help me I’m mixed on a movie!
Overall I mostly enjoyed Sister Tempest. It’s another movie that demands many viewings, but unlike I’m Thinking of Ending Things, I think I might save my second watch for later, but right now we’ll talk about how you can watch this film. I asked Joe about this and unfortunately Sister Tempest is not available for streaming until next year, but this movie is being shown at various film festivals all over the world. So check out the Sister Tempest website for further updates on this movie. Okay that’s everything from me, Blog Complainer, leaving the scene.
