Whelm

You can tell the director studies older films. Not in a bad way either... The cinematography is gorgeous, and there are scenes that feel like this movie is from another era. Hollywood doesn't make movies that feel like this anymore. Kind of reminded me of Road to Perdition but but done with the flavor of There Will Be Blood, or Assassination of Jesse James... but also with some Sergio Leone in there too. Hard to describe, but really impressive how it pulls you in. Even without big action scenes. I assume this had a small budget? The acting and music are really good too. I've never heard of any of the cast before, or the director for that matter, but this is a hidden gem! I found this on streaming, but wish I could have seen it in a theater because the cinematography was out of this world! The story twists and turns at times but its definitely worth multiple watches. Once you figure it out its actually quite emotional. Very surprising, and super unique. Feels like we'll look back on this one when the director makes bigger movies.

I saw Whelm at a 35mm Roadshow screening in Beverly Hills last year and was completely blown away to learn that this is Skyler Lawson's first movie! Wow. The cinematography and music are incredible. The performances are top notch too! Delil Baran is definitely an actor to look out for! Super intense. The narrative gets a bit out there at times, and takes some big wings, but thats honestly what I loved about it. You couldn't predict what was gonna happen and that was refreshing.

The whole team did a Q/A after the movie and it was very inspiring as a young filmmaker myself. The director and cinematographer even took the time to talk to me in the lobby after the screening. They definitely made a unique movie that swings for the fences on almost every level. Hope to see this team make more together! I recommend this movie to anyone looking for something different but high quality.