A haunted young woman spirals in the wake of profound loss, torn between her fractured emotional state and the reality-altering effects of a potent cannabinoid drug.
How do good actors end up in bad movies? They follow the leads of filmmakers who have unclear ideas or who make questionable choices. Case in point: Woodshock.
The answer to whether smoking kills lies beneath the surface of this abstract but ultimately empty-plotted first feature from sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, better known for having created the designer label Rodarte.
While the Mulleavys have a distinct command of tone and texture, the film is more a collage of striking images than any kind of a cogent whole built from them.
Defiantly inscrutable, "Woodshock" can test a viewer's patience, yet the filmmakers' consistent self-confidence creates an alluring, oddly hypnotic effect.
Kate and Laura Mulleavy ... give everything the hazy feel of a nearly forgotten dream. They have a knack for creating and sustaining a heavy mood, but that mood is overburdened by the questions that surround the narrative.
Orbiting her like vague moons are three young men-her concerned husband, her cagey boss at the dispensary, and an adenoidal young admirer-most of whom seemed as puzzled by the situation as I was.
Proof positive that skill in designing dresses does not ensure an ability to fashion a good film...so opaque, repetitive and dull that few viewers will have the patience to endure the entire thing.
The directors of Woodshock are Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sibling founders of the Rodarte brand. They clearly have an eye for fashion. As filmmakers, they clearly have an eye for fashion.
