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Glasshouse
South Africa 2021
produced by Greig Buckle, Yolisa Phahle (executive), Nkateko Mabaso (executive), Kaye Ann Williams (executive), Allan Sperling (executive), Jan du Plessis (executive), Candice Fangueiro (executive), Shaamila Fataar (supervising) for Local Motion Pictures, Crave Pictures, Rigel Films, Showmax
directed by Kelsey Egan
starring Jessica Alexander, Anja Taljaard, Hilton Pelser, Adrienne Pearce, Brent Vermeulen, Kitty Harris, Robert Haxton, Morgan James Bosman, Will Greeff, Jarryd-Lee Kock, Junior Mpepo, Levin Peters
written by Emma Lungiswa De Wet, Kelsey Egan, music by Patrick Cannell
review by Mike Haberfelner
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The Shred, a toxin that makes people forget - and forget everything -
has pretty much reduced humanity to a race of mindless fools ... all but
Mother (Adrienne Pearce), her son Gabe (Brent Vermeulen) and her three
daughters, teenaged Bee (Jessica Alexander) and Evie (Anja Taljaard) and
little Daisy (Kitty Harris), who have made a timely retreat to their fully
sealed off glasshouse where plants see to it that they always have enough
fresh oxygen, and to ward off human intruders, they patrol the perimeter,
heavily armed and wearing oxygen masks to not fall prey to the Shred. Then
though a stranger (Hilton Pelser) enters the premises, and the fact that
he's wearing a gas mask is enough for Bee to not just shoot him but make
him a captive. Apparently the stranger has wandered the country, the
world, for years in search of a safe haven like the glasshouse, and thus
proves to be not only a model prisoner, it's also not long before he makes
himself useful, and befriends the three girls. Mother doesn't quite trust
him though but finds him useful while Gabe shows open dismay about the
newcomer, seeing his alpha dog status threatened - but at the same time he
has been affected by the Shred and his mind's slowly going. After a while
though, the stranger starts to manipulate the girls and gradually makes
them believe he's their long-lost brother Luca who back when has gone out
to explore what has been left of the world after the Shred hit. And it's
also not long before he starts having sex with Bee - which Mother is fully
aware of and even condones in a way, because once it becomes apparent that
Bee has become pregnant she has every excuse in the world to expel the
stranger from the glasshouse, for the simple fact that he'd be one person
too much for the plants in the glasshouse to provide oxygen for. Just, the
stranger has no intention to leave, and he doesn't shy away from anything
to stay put ... A very unique piece of dystopia as it doesn't
follow any genre formula and instead creates a world and then a world
within a world all of its own, with its own mythology as well as its own
logic. And while the film's deliberately slow-paced, it's also tense
throughout and manages to create a narrative whole without spelling
everything out, at times openly refusing to do just that, to the point
where things are never explained but readily felt. And an engaging yet
subtle directorial effort making great use of the film's wonderful
location, and a relatable small ensemble cast playing an interesting and
well fleshed-out cast of characters help to make this work quite so well.
Now be warned, this is not your typical party movie, and a film not
created to lift your spirits, but it will remain with you both mentally
and emotionally for quite some time for all the right reasons.
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