Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: OFFSEASON [SxSW Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]

Continuing a certain context in SxSW so far, the essence of ideals against isolation are an interesting form of commentary. In "Offseason" [Midnighters], Jocelin Donahue, who was last seen in "Dr. Sleep" as the mother of the younger girl affected by The Shine, here plays a lady who is drawn back to a island where her mother grew up. When her mother (played by Melora Walters) dies, she is pulled back due to a last wish. Much of the mystery, at least in watching it, is trying to figure out where the film was shot. In terms of tone and cinematography, the film paints an interesting picture, but really lacks in many ways the tension and/or the lore and motivations of what is going on (until much later). There is a abstract reference to mythology as well as "the curse" and while (again) it pays off a little later in the movie, a small flashback would have helped create more clarity (at least minutely). Donahue is quite good but she doesn't have enough to work with in terms of story. Joe Swanberg as her companion, even as a plot ploy, is wasted for the most part.

Certain sequences including a later one at a bar called The Sandtrap works well (almost in a "Wild At Heart" -- or even "Twin Peaks" sort of way) but again is not used to its best effect (though it does create the mood). There is the essence also of this film being made during the pandemic. The idea is good, the visuals are good...but it lacks emotion. To give too much else away would risk spoilers. But in all estimation, the ending epilogue is actually where the film needed to begin for context and, in doing so, might have really given a sense of stakes and loss. Besides Donohue (who again didn't have enough to work with or it just wasn't filmed), Richard Brake as a gatekeeper of sorts, takes a small role and gives it immense weight (as always does with a bit of sociopathic malevolence thrown in). His context really gives more a sense of what is at stake without having to know the greater consequence than the rest of the film. "Offseason" had potential and fulfills some of it but is also a missed opportunity of sorts because (even for the first half hour) it tries to set a mood without creating the underlying sense of dread (even in a modicum) which could have helped it much more. B-

By Tim Wassberg