Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SWALLOWED [Fantasia International Film Festival 2022 - Virtual]
The aspect of revenge stories bathed in the path of ruin per se are an interesting quandary. Especially in the horror genre per se, it takes a new way to look at things. What "Swallowed" [Official Selection/International Premiere/Queer Genre Cinema Spotllight] does is interesting in its own right because it puts a queer spin on this genre without completely losing both sides of its audience. This of course all depends on the graphic nature of the approach and the representation in addition to the actors playing the parts. The film itself here is a 4 hander in a way. Jena Malone here has to play Alice as the backbone by which the film balances since she initiates the issue that leads to the eventual end. The great thing is that she can channel unlikable while still showing a slight glimmer of empathy within her character despite the aspect of that her character in a way caused the problem. Cooper Koch plays Benjamin on which most of the story's emotional veracity is bathed in. His relationship with Dom, his bisexual friend (played by Jose Colon), despite the path it takes, does create stakes and motivation.
The film does up the notch when Mark Patton enters in and takes on a slightly different tone. But in playing this part (since he walked away from acting for years for a very specific reason) it brings back into focus the kind of characters that perhaps couldn't be played as much before but with a sense of entertainment, humor and darkness. The tone jumps back and forth and the location is restricted but is used effectively. The notion of the border which is an issue in the story is not really clear from the get go until Maine is name checked later in the movie so one gets the sense of the geography (plus the film was completely filmed there). Some of the images using the contrast of sunrise and nature in the texture of horror as the film approaches its climax does create a unique dynamic. And, of course, the ode to Wonderland, the nature of bugs and hallucinogenics (in a way and their idea of perception) ups the ante without being too specific in its reality (except in the limited but effective use of VFX at one specific crucial point). This idea of transformation (in its own way) serves an effective plot metaphor. B
By Tim Wassberg
