Jasmin Savoy Brown – Cut To The Chase

Written & Directed By: Nick Johnson & Will Merrick

Story By: Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty

Cinematography: Steve Holleran

Editor: Austin Keeling & Arielle Zakowski

Cast: Storm Reid, Nia Long, Ken Leung, Megan Suri, Amy Landecker, Joaquim DeAlmeida, Tim Griffin, Daniel Henney, Lauren B. Mosley, Jasmin Savoy Brown

After her mother goes missing, a young woman tries to find her from home, using tools available to her online.

This film is a good mystery, and will especially be a pleasure for homes loose in the audience. Especially true crime podcast audiences, who get shoutouts, and the film makes you feel like you are experiencing one of them.

It’s all about the reveals, but letting us know just enough information to see if we can get there first.

The first film, SEARCHING, was about learning all about who the father-daughter was, different from who he thought she was, and a kind of race against Time. Which this film offers similarly to an extent. Both films are told through modern technology. This one has more at its disposal. As we have gotten more innovations over the years

This film seems to be more about things at once, buried from the past coming to light and seeking revenge. Also comes across a bit more smooth and streamlined yet not as shocking as the first.

This film is perfect for these days as it is innovative while keeping that procedural feeling and getting to know the lead character along the way

It also offers to show the appeal for older audiences getting to know the technology used so much so that shocked that it didn’t have cross-promotion with Apple to help sell because there is plenty of product placement

It also offers a new friendship for the main character to bounce off of who helps along the way

We are given glimpses throughout, yet we are taken on by putting this puzzle together in front of us yet it offers a chance for us to put it together before being explained so that it feels more interactive

The third act feels a little far-fetched and reaching

The film is a crowd pleaser and better to watch at home not necessarily the theater as it might feel a little more realistic, watching it on the screen

The film is satisfying, which is becoming rare these days. As even though this film has a gimmick, it still focuses on character and story whereas it seems at times a lot of films get lost in the gimmick, or promote the gimmick and sacrifice the other things that would make the film, satisfying or even good

This film is definitely a product of its time in the modern era. It’s over the top but lets you know what to look for in a modern-day mystery.

Grade: B

Written & Directed By: Alex Noyer
Cinematography: Danube Qin Wu
Editor: Hannigan Aukia & Virtti Virkajarvi

Cast: Jasmin Savoy Brown, Lili Simmons, James Jagger, Tessa Munro, Dana L. Wilson

Alexis recovered her hearing during the brutal murder of her family when she was ten. The visceral experience awakened synesthetic abilities in her and started her on an orphaned path of self-discovery through the healing music of brutal violence. She goes on to pursue a career teaching and experimenting to find new sounds. She is supported and loved by her roommate Marie who is unaware of the dark secrets behind Alexis’ unique music and the part she unknowingly plays. Faced with the likelihood of losing her hearing again, Alexis escalates the pursuit of her masterpiece through gruesome sound experiments and devastating designs. She won’t let anything stop her not even love.

The film sets itself up quite nicely as far as the story goes though it seems more interested in Detailing the kills and deaths than working on human emotions and connections.

As the main character is diabolical when it comes to kills to the point that she could easily be the next saw villain that is how intricate her traps abs weapons are, though instead of seconding to be a moral judge or leaving the victims fate up to a game fo chance.

She is more a killer who gets off on their deaths for a personal addiction. Where she sees music and colors and it gives her a kind of high that she can’t get enough of

Her time period and the events move up as she realizes she is losing her hearing again and must complete her masterpiece before she is totally deaf again.

She is an Audio engineer though it never explains quite how she picked up these other seemingly gifted engineering skills when. It comes to building her devices of death.

The film also seems to almost make it seem like her killing. Is hereditary when her father massacres the family earlier even though it seems more his killing was done after a mental break after fighting overseas in the military.

Though then again being introduced early to death and murder might just be ingrained for her.

Though the film seems to only want to bring. Up her emotional connections or some relatively basic actions into the film And make them more important or prevalent when the film needs these points to continue the storyline. To make the film appear to age. More depth and convention. Towards the second. Half of the film.

As so revealed she has been doing this most of her life we only know of a few incidents. Though learn that she did it while in foster care and not as a survival mechanism but just like at the beginning of the film as kind of something that makes her happy and lets her have a one-of-a-kind experience.

Not to mention it seems like most are attracted to her best friend in the film played by Lili Simmons as even the detective at the crime scene sort of seems to go out of her way to give her her card and really wants to talk to her about the case or anything else.

Also find it hard to believe that in all her killings no one was attracted to her in her more normal mode with a few of her eccentricities. As once she and her friend reveal they kind of have feelings for one another it’s supposed to come as a surprise even though they have been having a clearly platonic yet intimate relationship throughout. That could have easily been another example of everything being done out of frustration for unrequited love.

Where in fact she seems to hold out her cruelest punishment for the one person she loves and uses her to present and be her final masterpiece.

It would be easy to also attack the film for its protagonist to be a crazed minority and homosexual but the latter is only revealed in a later scene and the kills don’t seem dependent on that fact they are just who she is naturally and a disturbing homicidal trait that just so happens to be there

It’s a shame as the film does have promise and really wanted to like the film though at first the film seems a bit slow to get to its point then becomes more the audience waiting for her to strike next. Though soon it seems like they might be all the film has to offer is these kinds of heightened kill scenes. So that it tries to have depth at times but begins to become more monotonous. When it has the makings of something of more substance.

Not to mention it leaves quite a few questions. For instance, she says her family was murdered but we never see or even know the details of her brother’s death.

Grade: C-

Tag: Jasmin Savoy Brown

MISSING (2023)

SOUND OF VIOLENCE (2021)