2019 in Film Halftime Report: The Scenes

The Fight Scene – Ash Is Purest White

Even though Jia Zhangke’s latest – a beautifully textured portrait of China’s recent social and economic changes seen through the eyes of Qiao (Zhao Tao) – is partially set in the criminal underworld, Ash Is Purest White never contents itself with just being a gangster movie. However, at the end of act one, it thrillingly teases what a gangster movie made by Jia could look like.

As Qiao and her mobster boyfriend Bin (Liao Fan) are ambushed by a rival gang on the neon-drenched streets of Datong, Jia stages a miniature masterpiece – a bloody brawl reminiscent of John Wick, during which waves of assailants beat Bin into a bloody pulp, presented in viscerally pared-down fashion. All the while, Qiao patiently watches the spectacle from her car seat – thinking about leaving Bin to his fate in order to inherit his throne? – before grabbing a gun, ending the fight in a breathtakingly restrained show of cold-bloodedness, and setting the film’s actual plot in motion. — Alan @AlanMattli

Once Upon a Time – Us

Before Us even emerges from the underground, we are primed to fear the Tethered. Before then, we have already been sufficiently worked up and emotionally shattered by Lupita Nyong’o as she fears the return of her doppelganger. Yet when it finally comes, it doesn’t just bring terror to our hearts. Nyong’o further cements herself as the performer of January-June 2019 with her clearly creepy “Red” voice.

But beyond the otherworldly vocal patterns, the actual words she speaks in her opening “fairy tale” tells a horrifying story of brutality, a life forced upon her without any shred of consent, and escalating cruelties dealt to her for no other reason than that she was a “shadow” of her other self. And all the while, like with the rest of the movie, Jordan Peele ensures that this is somehow even more horrific the second time you hear it – as if it wasn’t already. — Robert @Robertdoc1984

Sneaking Home – Shazam!

Avengers: Endgame is my favorite movie of the year (so far), but I wanted to talk about a scene in another superhero movie that didn’t get enough love: Shazam!

The scene in question happens toward the beginning of the film, after Billy transforms into Shazam after saying the wizard’s name. He goes back to his foster home and upon seeing Freddy, goofy panic ensues. As he and Freddy sneak upstairs so as not to wake the parents, Billy forgets he’s a grown man and says goodnight, leading the mom and dad to think there’s an intruder in the house.

From there, the duo sneak into adorable little Darla’s room, and as he’s explaining how he suddenly turned into an adult, he says “Shazam,” and a giant lightning bolt strikes into the house, changing him back to a teenager and spooking the parents in the process. It was definitely a stand out moment moment to me because it was so unexpected, making it that much more hilarious. — Jessenika @jesssenika

Jewelry Box – Leaving Neverland

James Safechuck provides one of two main testimonies in Dan Reed’s extensive and exhausting documentary, Leaving Neverland. In the film, Safechuck and renowned choreographer Wade Robson detail the graphic sexual abuse they endured from Michael Jackson when they were children. Late in the film’s first half, Safechuck discusses a vivid memory that has played a pivotal role in the depression and pain that he’s felt afterward: Jackson crafted a mock wedding ceremony between himself and the very young boy. He even presents the ring that Jackson gave him on that day, now stowed away in a jewelry box, his hands shaking violently as he recalls the ring’s significance.

In this moment, the documentary’s purpose becomes clear: Nobody can truly comprehend the lasting mental and emotional repercussions of sexual abuse, and even if the facts of what Jackson did remain questionable, the crippling effect that he had on these boys is not. — Michael @MykeMurfee

Tripping – Climax

Climax’s most impressive achievement isn’t the stunning 10-minute dance sequence shot in one continuous take, it’s that Gaspar Noé manages to accurately depict a bad acid trip. The story focuses on a dance troupe’s party-turned-nightmare after they’re unwittingly dosed with LSD, and Noé smartly avoids cheap visual effects to build immersion, focusing instead on expressive performance.

Sofia Boutella is especially spectacular, perfectly conveying the violently shifting waves of emotion that come along with a heavily-altered state. Even those without experience with psychedelics can feel the overwhelming anguish, fear, and occasional ecstasy she grapples with. Her visceral reactions are palpable as we watch the sensations of touching skin, metal, clothing, etc. wash over her, eventually culminating in a scene where she goes from hysterically crying to passionately making out in a matter of seconds. Somehow Noé’s most restrained work to date, Climax perfectly captures the horror of managing a bad trip. — Kern @kernetcetera

Bus – The Perfection

After hooking up at their music school’s recruitment drive in Shanghai, former cello prodigy Charlotte (Get Out’s Allison Williams) and Lizzie (Logan Browning) nurse their hangovers and decide to go backpacking on a bus into the Chinese countryside. But as Lizzie necks ibuprofen and struggles to cope with escalating nausea and headaches it might be that something far more serious is wrong.

Make no mistake: Richard Shepard’s Netflix horror film is deeply problematic, with the last act’s handling of gender and abuse sharply dividing genre fans. However, despite this, the bus scene – which bisects the narrative like a blade – is a masterclass in claustrophobic intensity. Playing out in almost real time it’s uncomfortably long and digs into common experiences (feeling sick; trapped on public transport; unable to speak the language) before diving into full-throated body horror. It’s just a shame the rest of the film fails to hit such heights. — Tim @fatscoleman

That Changes Things – Void

The brilliantly engaging Finnish film by Aleksi Salmenperä, teeters on the edge of comedy and drama throughout. Life is serious business, sure, but there has to be laughs too. Here, like any good bittersweet portrayal of reality, both the pain and the humor come from the flaws of regular people. Here played exceptionally well by Laura Birn and Tommi Korpela.

Their relationship with themselves and the weight of their respective art fields, forms much of the film’s forward drive. That success and failure come and go both in matters of love and artistic endevours. Never predictable, a scene late on knocks you off your feet, just when you think you’ve figured these people out. It’s something you will likely never see occur on the grounds of a film studio anywhere else I would think. And that bond will never be the same. — Robin @Filmotomy

The Truth – Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

There’s an uneasy mellowness throughout Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. In the film, we watch Ted Bundy (Zac Efron) live a mostly normal life, spending time as a family man with his girlfriend Liz (Lily Collins), who never fully realizes how trapped she is by the monster under her own roof, even after they’ve separated.

But in the film’s final scene, days before Bundy’s execution, Liz visits him in prison, finally demanding answers. Ted has maintained his innocence to this point, until Liz makes her play: she shows him a picture of a headless body, the first time we see what Bundy has actually done in the entire film, and asks what happened to her head. The scene then cuts between Bundy assaulting the woman in the photo and Bundy spelling the word “HACKSAW” on the glass separating him and Liz. In an instant, Berlinger knocks down the facade and Liz knows the truth. In an otherwise uneven film, this scene masterfully contrasts dread and tension with a palpable sense of freedom as Liz exits the prison, conscience cleared. In this film, as in life, the truth has power. — Jeff @jeffzoldy