Directed by: Dpyx
Starring: Catherine Annette, Nick Principe, Nikki Bohm, David Atlas
I love when a filmmaker makes something that puts me in a mood to watch other great films. It’s almost like whatever I had just watched had something special enough to remind me why I really love films. Recently, I have had the pleasure to review a few independent films. Most are not the best quality in story, character, originality, or style in any way at all, but Nobody Can Cool is one of the few exceptions. Writer/director team, Marcy Boyle and Rachel Holzman, known as Dpyx, have really done something special here, especially with the small amount of time and money they put into filming. I have seen similar big budget studio films that were released this year that could have made this film an ungodly number of times over but are heartless and infinitely less entertaining than this.
The film begins with a couple, Susan (Annette) and David (Atlas), heading out to a friend’s cabin for a weekend alone. When they arrive, they walk in on another couple, Len (Principe) and his pregnant girlfriend Gigi (Bohm), and right from the beginning things seem a little off with these two. While wary about the other couple, Susan and David decide to stay and try to enjoy their weekend. Later that night, their suspicions are confirmed when Susan is awakened by the sound of their car starting, and she finds that they have been locked into her bedroom. From that point, the simplistic story becomes twisted with secrets, and the tension between all four characters builds higher than I had anticipated.
The story seems pretty straight forward and some of the turns you can see a mile off, but throughout there is a subtle hint of mystery or an unusually high sense of unpredictability in each character. With each character having their own agenda, it almost seems at some points that each character is fighting for themselves, and it makes you wonder if they actually love the person with whom they begin the film. While this is a great asset to the film, especially to building its characters, it takes away any possibility of liking any one of them on a significant level. Only Len stands out as almost being likable because of Principe's eccentric and offbeat approach to the role.
If I had to pin down one thing that most thriller/horror films don’t get right, regardless of how big a production it is, it would be the tone. Nobody Can Cool nails it because Dpyx is able to create and effectively utilize a claustrophobic tension that builds perfectly for this story. Their ability to do so much with so little is a true credit to their knowledge of horror films, and after this great debut I am keeping an eye out for what they make next.
8/10
Andy Comer