Goddess Of The Night

United by a need for the restroom, this was a classic mismatched buddy film of opposites attracting and quickly developing a friendship. To me it was just rock solid storytelling showing how people with traits that we admire can cause us to come out of our shell and grow.

Pickle Thugs have always amazed me with their really inventive VFX that goes outside the box for 48Hours but here the scriptwriting and character development was the crucial aspect of the film. The contrast between a woman apologetic for accidentally farting versus one happy to rock into the men's bathroom for a piss could not have been more clear. But even little seeds being sown about backstory such as one friend's having ditched her and showing that what she really needed to embrace life was a completely different buddy did not go unnoticed.

Something else striking to me was how it touched on themes of female empowerment. There was the metaphorical line that the confident woman subscribed to the mantra that you are the goddess of your own creation hence having the confidence to skip queues and say bold things, but said while intoxicated and about to doze off made it seem a bit superficial and comic. But to then link it to the actual summoning of the cult, and personal development through creation of the goddess persona for a payoff? It all added up so well thanks to the brilliant script.

The view from under the cubicles for Act 3 of the film was something that is really hard to cover in a review without spoiling the film so I'll try my best not to. It really worked for me, though, allowing the sort of elevated story arc that will have this competing come awards time. The severed ear, the impressive costuming, the unexpected pentagram all linked together for a mis en scene of raised stakes and tension that made the conclusion so satisfying.

Edit great. Performances on point. Sound so good. But the piece de resistance from a technical point of view...The Lighting. Oh my gosh the lighting!!! Salivating just thinking about the invigouring pink blue and purple paste hues that drenched the film in night club flavour without dipping into Wendng Refn neon-pastiche at all. So good.

This came very close to me giving perfect marks. I cracked up but the butt touching quip just didn't quite have as much impact as I felt it could have, and the costume change whilst glorious felt slightly implausible. Also I didn't really feel like all the elements drove the story for once by this amazing team, though the confidant aspect was to be fair done particularly well. But still absolutely fantastic.

Story: 4.5/5
Technical: 4.5/5
Elements: 3.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5