Directed By Daniel DelPurgatio

Starring – Kue Lawrence, Corbin Bernsen, Alysia Reiner

The Plot – When a once-fabled campfire tale becomes real, a group of campers uncover a profound secret that questions their very existence.

Rated R for adult language, gore involving violence

MARSHMALLOW – Official Trailer

POSITIVES

I’ve seen enough movies set at a summer camp to know that nothing good ever happens at them, and while my preconceived expectations pertaining to these kinds of films lead to one singular vision for a majority of the time, I can say that “Marshmallow” is nothing like the film you are expecting, regardless of its familiarized execution during the film’s first half. This is very much a film that begins as a horror movie before transitioning on to a science-fiction thriller of sorts, with one major twist reveal during the film’s final twenty minutes that I not only didn’t see coming, but also applaud screenwriter Andy Greskoviak for inscribing so much ambition and curiosity to a film that has no problems deviating from conventionalism. This script lives and thrives in the ambiguity that lingers over the atmosphere like an episode of The Twilight Zone, and while a majority of our experience is spent trying to piece together the mystery’s scattered evidential pieces pertaining to psychologically stimulating dream sequences or bizarre actions of the characters involved, the curiosity factor never withers in the extent of its 86-minute run time, paid off remarkably by DelPugatio’s realized direction, which never strays far from the nostalgic innocence of childhood camp to manipulate the audience into a false sense of security conjured from either their appreciation for campy slashers or their own suppressed memories or traumas with a similar setting. Daniel’s control over the material enacts all of the highs and lows of adolescent escapism, all the while articulating this invisible fog of sorts that constantly hangs over this place, with equally meaningful production values pertaining to the film’s presentation and its editing that casually indulges in the imagery of such a distinct isolated setting. This is especially the case for those aforementioned dream sequences, breeding not only a suppressed psychological conflict that stings in the subconscious of our central protagonist, but also vividness in depiction that effortlessly blurs the divided line between fantasy and reality, often creating an intentionally disorienting element of clarity for the audience attempting to piece matters together. The performances from these characters are admittedly hit or miss in assembling a majority of child actors with little to no experience in their careers, but I did find the work of Kue Lawrence to be especially effective towards attaining the elements of empathy for the character of Morgan, whose tepidly tender deliveries zero in on the fear and helplessness of the character that only maximize in the explorations of what he eventually uncovers. Unlike so many other actors in the film, Lawrence isn’t thriving on melodramatics or exaggerated intensities in his various deliveries, instead zeroing in on the awkwardness of arranged friendships that makes his portrayal feel so grounded in reality, instead of cinematic transparency of those previously mentioned. Aside from Lawrence, there are some cameos from film veterans like Corbin Bernsen, Alysia Reiner and “Super Troopers” Paul Soter, to appraise legitimacy to the proceedings, despite an evidentially cheap budget to the movie’s production values, and while Bernsen and Reiner are relegated to a couple of scenes of credible dialogue and deliveries, Soter takes command in an entirely refreshing character from anything he’s previously commanded, reveling in the awkward humor of an authoritarian figure forced to speak directly to a youthful age group that he has no insight into, which crafts a couple of solid laughs in the movie’s favor. Most importantly, my single favorite element of the production pertains to Nicholas Elert’s entrancing themes underlining the film’s somberly creepy aesthetics, that taps into the essence of 80’s instrumentals, in order to appraise much of that aforementioned manipulation in creative agenda that has audiences seeing directions going one way. I’m a personal sucker for a synth-heavy score, especially when the compositions brandish so much variety and versatility in their individualized offerings, and with Elert maximizing so much audible personality in the movie’s favor, really channels this haunting essence made apparent with the fearlessness that he exudes with elevated volume mixing, offering him a memorable imprint to the film’s memorability that he will undoubtedly use to brandish a storied career as a sought-after composer.

NEGATIVES

Because I began the review chronicling the movie’s twists and creative ambiguity, that feels like the right spot to began illustrating its inferiorities, as the twist, while entirely leveling to the movie’s impact, isn’t executed in ways that effectively articulate the complete picture to put audience interpretations at ease, resulting in some unaddressed questions in logic that grow all the more apparent the longer that I think about it. I can certainly give enough credit for an idea that feels so unlike anything pertaining to kids that I’ve ever experienced, but the situational magnitude of the idea quickly overwhelms the reach of the movie’s execution, where even some long-winded exposition dumps near the movie’s end can’t even properly convey everything that goes into such a plan for the movie’s antagonist, resolving matters on a bit of an unfulfilling experience that will undoubtedly alienate certain audiences who like explanations as effortless and seamless as a movie can capably muster. In addition to this, I found a lot of the acting from the supporting child ensemble to be glaringly distracting in remaining focused to the developments of each scene, particularly once the tension is ratcheted with our protagonist coming directly into contact with the movie’s killer. Once this aspect is firmly established, the kids exaggerated emphasis becomes entirely apparent towards melodramatically channeling the integrity of a scene, but instead becomes the worst kind of laughably bad acting that comes to stall its momentum, with one such example now recorded and replayed endlessly on my phone, in which the main character wakes up two of his friends, with the second one giving a late and prolonged “WHAT THE FUCK?!!”. Some of this can easily be forgiven with the kid’s inexperience factors coming into play, however it doesn’t change the momentary distractions and dwindling investment any less, portraying these campy personalities in a movie that almost entirely plays it straight. Speaking of dwindling investment, the movie gets off to a bit of a rough start during its opening act, with very little frights or horror outside of the aforementioned dream sequences to tie us over, before things eventually pick up around the film’s midway point. If you’re someone with limited patience in slow burn cinema, this might be enough to alienate you entirely from the experience, especially if you’re not latching onto the characters and conversations as intended, but even for someone with faithful patience like me, I found the pacing to be especially dragging for a movie that doesn’t even clock in at an hour and a half, leaving the production to work overtime during the movie’s superior second half, in order to pay off the investment accordingly. Finally, while “Marshmallow” was obviously made for a minimized budget, I was only reminded of this fact with the special effects in gore, which attain little semblance of believability or even gruesomeness to satisfy with carnage candy. While this film certainly isn’t one of those that indulges in the grandeur of gore, I definitely could’ve used more of it to ratchet this limitless direction that the script takes in taking advantage of the vulnerability of children, with only a few brief and sparingly sporadic instances that utilize camera tricks, in order to cover up what is artificially apparent.

OVERALL
“Marshmallow” slashes and subverts campy horror expectations with a refreshingly thought-provoking exploration into suppressed grief and personal traumas that leads to one of the more unpredictable third acts elicited in recent memory with indie horror. While the inconsistent acting and unanswered questions leave slightly more to be desired in the transparency with the storytelling, the ambiguous atmosphere conjured by Daniel DelPurgatio entraps audiences by tantalizing their curiosity factors through 86 minutes of shapeshifting science-fiction, which fatigues every bit as much as it frenzies.

My Grade: 6.9 or C+