By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Fantasia Film Festival 2021
Encore Performance Aug 16th
Coming Soon to Shudder Network
The best part of Hellbender is the punk rock performances which acts like intermissions this film’s story beats. This mother-daughter grassroots act is fantastic (we need a soundtrack release) and one detail I’m fairly certain this film is making is in how the matriarch is slowly controlling how her teen can express herself. From changes in makeup to full on goth (complete with a prerequisite black crown stolen from Mordor), Izzy (Zelda Adams) seems comfortable. When the outback of the New England world is her playground and there’s a babbling brook and a tiny waterfall in their private property, I’m jealous.
It’s civilization that this teen is told to afraid of. Her mother (Toby Poser) and grandmother experienced it, if the introduction is any indication, and they hate it.
Continue reading “[Fantasia 2021] Is It Just Rock n’ Roll in Hellbender?”
