Coney Island Cousins

This movie was a pleasure to watch, it's a modern classic new york indie film that actually portrays accurate cultural representation!

This film follows two cousins who had a somewhat perverse raunchy past and one has left the city to flee the scene as well as family drama/trauma and the other seems to miss her sidekick, but lives on ferociously in their old "hood" in Coney Island. I can tell by the few shoot locations that the movie was actually filmed in New York which was so relieving.

It was also nice to hear actual Russian accents and see authentic New York characters, not people playing their idea of New Yorkers(I hope the actors are all from here, otherwise, strike that comment)!

Anyway the film starts with the two cousins meeting up in the city, the one who moved upstate decided to come visit her cousin for a night of fun, JUST between them, but New York cousin Yulia has other things in mind. They get picked uo by a friend who takes them to another friends house, and then chaos ensues.

You could not have prepared me for the twisty turn this movie took. I started out thinking it was going to be a thriller/psychological horror type of thing where someone was about to be traficked, and then it became an unexpected cunty dramedy. Watch it, you will be thoroughly entertained. I hate moves, and I was actually looking at the screen the whole time.

I will also say there was one black character in this movie, his name was Lucious and he sounds exactly like this one regular at a bar here in Brooklyn and I had to do a double take everytime he came into frame because I was so sure it was him, from the tone of voice, down to the literal dialogue, it was things Brandon would actually say! I can't help but wonder if that's who Lucious was based of off.

I will also say it was very relieving to not see a black man suffer at the hands of white peoples mistakes for the first time in film.

This movie was lighthearted and fun, it was well fleshed out, and left me wanting exactly what it should have, more of Val's story, wanting to slap Yulia and Val, and thinking only white women would get away with some ish like this.

What a pleasant surprise from an unknown indie director! This scrappy production makes the most of its (presumably) small budget and cast of lesser-known actors, delivering an authentic New York vibe and a compelling, often hilarious story. The tale of two estranged cousins reconnecting for one night in a certain Brooklyn neighborhood, Coney Island Cousins packs a lot of laughs plus some real pathos into its running time. The story stretches (but doesn't break) belief, and the pacing is fast and consistent. Loved the performances of a disparate group of actors all bringing their "A" game and seeming to have a lot of fun. Definitely a fun watch, and I'll be on the lookout for more from director Al Padilla.

What draws viewers to the "Coney Island Cousins" indie film is the expectation that it's about life in a working class Brooklyn neighborhood -- a district best known for its historic amusement park. However, the first thing this film's viewers notice is the change in demographics. Coney Island and other parts of Brooklyn have been well-known for their diversity for decades. Nowadays, a recent wave of Russians have been added to that mix.

The two main characters of "Coney Islands Cousins" -- Val (Diana Sillaots) and Yulia (Upa InSpace/I. Ginzburg) -- are among the Russian émigrés dealing with the daily grind of working class New York life.

These two characters, approaching middle age and working for the weekend like most folks, get together for a night of drinking and hanging out with a older male friend from the old country. However, when that friend accidently dies from a drug overdose in his apartment, the potential of these ladies' lives turning upside down (from deportation to being charged with a capital crime) become too real. This is where the film starts to take off.

The filmmaker, Al Padilla, uses such tension to reveal the unique character of modern-day Coney Island (similar to the famed TV series "Mr. Robot" -- which also took place there). That storytelling technique was also present in the 1991 sleeper hit film "Hangin' with the Homeboys". That movie, where veteran Hispanic character actor John Leguizamo appeared in his first art film, tells the story of four young African-American & Hispanic men from the Bronx who, bored with spending their free time in the outer boroughs, decide to venture into Manhattan on a night of bar hopping.

That fateful night caused those four characters to grapple with their own personal issues. One of the Puerto Rican "Homeboys" gets criticized for constantly selling out his racial identity in order to court women and dodge out of trouble with the police (at one point pretending to be Italian), while another (Leguizamo's character) confronts his painful inexperience with women. Meanwhile, one of the Black "Homeboys" pathologically blames racism for everything that goes wrong with his life.

What made "Hanging with the Homeboys" a sleeper hit was the fact that the audience was able to identify with that film's characters -- because these were folks that they likely grew up with.

It was such universal appeal that "Coney Islands Cousins" filmmaker Al Padilla tapped into when his movie's main characters were confronted with a life-threatening dilemma, and how they used their New York-bred street smarts to get out of it -- all while the audience is introduced to a side of Coney Island that only its locals were familiar with.

Al Padilla does a good job in using the tensions inherent in his film's plot to keep the audience engaged until the very end.

Padilla, a lifelong New York resident, has the potential to use other ethnic districts to tell compelling stories about the changes that its locals are facing, such as the gentrification of Williamsburg, Brooklyn; and the growth of the Dominican community in Washington Heights (upper Manhattan) (captured in the 2021 Lin Manuel Miranda hit movie "In the Heights").

That, along with the 80s New York (and Miami-bred) genre of Freestyle music, and how it preservers 40 years later (especially on YouTube and TikTok). That genre and its music makers have a story that's still begging to be told on the big screen.

All I can say is, these cousins may be chaotic, but by the time the film is over I was thinking, "I'd DEFINITELY hang out with these two!" The production values are a bit rough around the edges, but it does give a very home-movie, gritty feel to this edgy, dark comedy. Great ensemble, highlighted by the performances of the gifted and dynamic Diana Sillaots, the hilarious Upa Inspace, the authenticity of Rashad Bashir, and of course, the scene-stealing Gregory Korostishevsky. Add that group to the off-the-rails story set against the bright lights and broken promises of Coney Island, and you have a very watchable film. I could even see a possible sequel...maybe?

If anyone has been to NYC they know this grasps the essence of it all. Its raw, gritty, and real. You never have any idea how your night will turn out and what adventures or misadventures will ensue. Among the chaos that endures the entire evening there is a soft side to the madness and a comedy about it all, which is displayed greatly with the comedy stand up. The constant bombardment that is NYC never stops and neither does the duo on their night out. Embracing the idea that we all want to run away from it all but with nowhere to go, all you can do is hold tight and go with it. Job well done! Looking forward to Mr. Padilla's next film; I really hope there is another!