Glorious

Originality, good actors, out of the box.

The only thing I can say is: start watching and you won't stop.

No big company would do such a creative movie.

Glorious (2022) follows a man who is stuck in the rest stop toilets with a mysterious man talking to him from the adjacent stall. This film had a unique concept, but the execution was somewhat poor and it just didn't capture me attention as much as I was hoping. However there were some elements I liked and the ending really saved it for me!

The effects were fairly poor, but I do understand this was due to a lower budget, the cinematography was actually pretty good though! I liked some of the camerawork and angles and I really liked the bright, vibrant colour palettes!

The sound design was alright in this film, but didn't have anything special about it really. The soundtrack was decent and somewhat comedic at times, and the score was a bit odd and unfitting. Nearer the end, the score improved a lot and I wish it was like this all throughout the duration!

JK Simmons as the Voice was great casting, and he was so instantly recognisable! The acting and line delivery was all around pretty good, especially from Ryan Kwanten playing the lead, Wes. I wasn't keen on how his character was written at first, but did grow to like him a bit!

The humour was alright and got a couple of laughs out of me, but was a bit too ridiculous sometimes. I found the humour ruined the tension and was used too often, if it was a little more toned down I feel this could've worked better. The film had a few drastic tonal shifts for comedic effect, which somewhat worked.

The pacing for the film was alright, but a tad messy at times. For the most part I was entertained, although there wasn't much tension. The plot twist near the end was phenomenal and caught me off guard big time, it was by far the best part of the film. It had such a dark ending which I appreciated!

The premise alone should let you know if this is for you. Are you the kind of person would be amused by a Lovecraftian monster in a rest stop glory hole? Does that appeal to your sensibility?

While clearly low brow, it doesn't cross the line into gross out territory as much as it could have, and stays as classy as a movie that takes place entirely in a bathroom possibly could. While there's little that's expressly funny or scary, there's an intrigue to the somewhat novel concept, keeping you interested in how it will all play out. I'll admit that a good deal of the novelty comes from an appreciation for J. K. Simmons, that dude rules, and even though he's never on screen, I can picture him delivering the lines, and that makes me smile a bit.

Its feel is reminiscent of a horror short made for a show like Cabinet of Curiosities or Tales From the Crypt, and with it's lean runtime, it's not too far off from one of those. It's eye on the prize simplicity delivers the goods before it wears out it's welcome, giving you just what you came for, nothing more, nothing less.

If you don't like weird movies don't watch Glorious because weird is an understatement. I was actually entertained by it and so was my wife. The whole movie is filmed at one location, in one room and that with basically only one actor. Well there are a couple more actors but their part is short. Sounds like ingredients for a disaster but it wasn't. Ryan Kwanten that I only know from the good show True Blood where he played Jason Stackhouse gave a convincing performance playing his character. J. K. Simmons is never visible, he plays the narrative voice, a voice that is very easily recognizable. The story is mysterious and that's what keeps you interested. As for the horror parts it's bloody and gross but it's well done considering the low budget it has. In short I've seen way worse horror movies than Glorious, a movie that is worth a one-time watch.

As an avid Lovecraft fan, I kinda knew what I was in for and that it would have some good twists and cosmic lore. I was pleasantly surprised by the layers, actors and the very dark final twist, that gave it a delicious aftertaste. The movie wasn't perfect, but for a low budget cosmic horror movie, it was pretty great. I would have liked the main character to be written a little more cerebral and cool headed, but that's just me.

I think the part that made me cringe the most was all the touching of the toilet in the restroom. It set a pretty disgusting atmosphere, which turns out to be quite appropriate in the end.

Overall, very unique and entertaining.