Osiris review – Linda Hamilton drops in to rescue charmingly hokey space-horror

The fella-in-a-suit aliens resembling past pop culture beasties are a strength of an entertaining abduction adventure An entertaining-enough space-horror, a mishmash of storylines and character types that sees some special forces commandos abducted by a gang (herd? flock? troop?) of aliens whose intentions are aligned more closely with the likes of the predator than lovely little ET the Extra-Terrestrial. The pop culture off-worlders these beasties most resemble physically, however, are the xenomorphs from James Cameron’s Aliens – and not the massive multi-limbed queen, mind you, but the smaller foot-soldier guys who can be played by a fella in a suit. This fella-in-a-suit aspect is the one of the film’s strengths. You might argue that it hinders the willing suspension of disbelief, because you always know you’re looking at a fella in a suit. But in truth there’s something about the physicality of even the hokiest practical effect that is more enjoyable than all but the most skilfull...

The Whisper of Silence review – coffee-taster drama makes most of stunning locations

Alfonso Quijada’s feature follows a young woman gifted with an extraordinary sense of smell. It looks great, but fails to satisfy

This drama from El Salvador has several commendable features, starting with a tender, sympathetic central performance from Laura Osma as Josefina, a sweet young woman who discovers she has an exceptional sense of smell. However, something doesn’t quite smell right about the way the film clumsily layers uplift and violence, served up with excessively stylised visuals and sound. It’s as if writer-director Alfonso Quijada, better known hitherto as an actor and producer, doesn’t know if he wants to make a telenovela-style melodrama or something more elevated and arty – in the tradition of Claudia Llosa’s The Milk of Sorrow or Lila Avilés’s films The Chambermaid and Tótem – with long takes and oblique storytelling strategies. In the end, it fails to satisfy either ambition.

Josefina and her younger brother Alfredo (William Castillo) lost their mother not long ago and seem to have no father in the picture; they live with their godmother in a rural part of El Salvador. Josefina picks coffee on an estate owned by Don Villagran (Boris Barraza) while Alfredo is supposed to be going to school. However, he has taken to bunking off with some bad boys, as Josefina’s friend Dalia (Emy Mena) describes them.

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