Ethan (Joe Swanberg) is a young and promising arthouse director, but
he's also depressed because filmmaking doesn't satisfy him any longer, and
possibly also because he doesn't feel he gets the recognition he thinks he
deserves. Ethan's actress-girlfriend Claire (Kate Lyn Sheil) meanwhile
gets the lead in a low budget werewolf flick, which is probably both
beneath her talent and way more shallow than anything Ethan has ever done
- and it will probably be her breakthrough film, too. Ethan gets jealous
of Claire, so to get back at her, he casts her best friend Charlie (Amy
Seimetz) in his next movie, a film about obsessive love ... in which he
plays the male lead and has many intimate moments with her. This of course
ticks Claire off, because during the shoot, Ethan will be much closer to
Charlie than he will be to her, but ... While shooting the werewolf
flick, Claire gets along with her director Ben (Ti West) increasingly
well, and he has the talent to make her feel comfortable in all kinds of
situations, including nude scenes and the like. Then though he tries to
get intimate with her. He immediately backs off after she pushes him away
after a passionate kiss, but that's enough to make things pretty awkward
between them. At the same time, Ethan shows less and less interest in
Claire, and it's only when she sees the passionate scenes between him and
Charlie in his film that it dawns upon her why. Upon having seen that,
Claire pays a visit to Ben and they have immediate sex. 2 years later:
Claire and Ethan are not a couple anymore but still friends, anmd they
pretend to see the whole thing that has happened back then from a more
sober, even analytical perspective. But Ethan still has Claire's prop-gun
from her werewolf shoot and a real bullet ... A
mumblecore-labelled indie arthouse flick that storywise might not sound
wholly original, and in its autobiographical approach as well as in its
topic, it might seem a bit reminiscent of some of the best films of Woody
Allen (circa mid-1970's to mid-1980's). However, in execution the film
does actually come into its own, telling its tried-and-true story with a
touch of irony (including a classic horrors-style musical score and
werewolf references aplenty), original imagery and a subtle yet involving
directorial effort. And while the film might not be the ultimate movie
about human relationships (but then again, which film is?), it's at the
same time touching and pretty entertaining to watch. By the
way: Silver Bullets will be the first film to be released in the
limited Joe Swanberg: Collected Films 2011-subscription - http://www.factorytwentyfive.com/joe-swanberg-collected-films-2.
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