There’s a new indie on the release block that not only looks friggin’ intense, but warrants your attention for a plethora of other reasons.
Always Shine, releasing in select cities on December 2nd through Oscilloscope Laboratories, comes from a pair of V/H/S veterans.
The thriller is directed by Sophia Takal, who starred in Ti West’s V/H/S segment “Second Honeymoon”, while it was penned by Lawrence Michael Levine (who also stars), who you may remember as the private detective in the V/H/S/2 wrap!
Furthermore, Always Shine features the single best up-and-coming actress, Mackenzie Davis, who stars in AMC’s must watch “Halt and Catch Fire” and will be seen in the forthcoming Blade Runner sequel.
We now have the official trailer for the dark and unsettling film, which also stars Caitlin FitzGerald, Alexander Koch, and Jane Adams.
Two women, both actresses with differing degrees of success, travel north from Los Angeles to Big Sur for a weekend vacation in Always Shine, Sophia Takal’s twisty, psychological drama. Both see the trip as an opportunity to reconnect after years of competition and jealousy has driven a wedge between them,but upon arrival to their isolated, forest retreat, the pair discovers that their once intimate friendship has deteriorated into forced conversations, betrayals both real and imagined, petty jealousies, and deep-seated resentment. As the women allow their feelings to fester, each begins to lose their bearings not only on the true nature of their relationship, but on their own identities.
Mackenzie Davis (“Halt and Catch Fire”) and Caitlin FitzGerald (“Masters of Sex”) give brave and raw performances as Beth and Anna, two women whose ideas of success are dictated as much by external cultural criterion as their own sense of self-worth. Beautifully photographed and assuredly directed by Takal, Always Shine wraps itself in an evocative shroud of dread and paranoia that lingers long after the final frame.
