Freaks: Frightfest 2019 Film Review

I’m a bit nervous writing this one: Freaks is probably my favourite film of the year so far. I’m nervous because I have some fine lines to navigate here. I want to be honest, and tell you why I thought it was so remarkable; but I also want to be balanced. I’m liable to gush about it, but I’m wary of coming across like a hopeless fangirl. The last thing I want is to put anyone off (any lover of films should at least give this one a try) so please bear with me.

The focus of Freaks is Chloe (Lexy Kolker, Marvel’s Agents of Shield), a bright and imaginative little girl who lives with her Dad (Emile Hirsch, The Autopsy of Jane Doe). It’s clear from the start they have a close relationship, but perhaps a bit too close; Dad is extremely protective and panics when it looks like she’s going to go outside. Outside, he tells her, there are bad men who want to kill them. It takes a little while to grasp whether he’s just saying that to keep her in her place, exaggerating the situation or whether this is true.

Similarly, Dad can’t tell whether Chloe makes things up. She talks about people she’s seen, but he knows she doesn’t go out of the house. As relationships go, this one must surely be based on love and commitment. Neither of them know how to trust what the other says. They are perfectly cast, believable as parent and child beyond any doubt. We can feel and hear Dad’s anguish and exhaustion in everything he says; and Chloe can clearly see them too, which creates dilemmas when she discovers an instinct to rebel.

The majority of Freaks is filmed from Chloe’s point of view (the marvelous Kolker is in every scene); so very cleverly, the viewer cannot tell at first what she is really seeing. Sure, a kid on their own is bound to use imagination to put a limit on loneliness. But gradually, we get to understand her some more, and we understand the world she lives in… but only as much as she does. It’s a world in which “freaks” are feared and kept separate. Though this is a paranoid process, as “they look just like us”. Think of the paranoia towards the end of Carpenter’s The Thing, but possibly global.

The visual effects are beautifully done, watching Chloe interact with people who aren’t there, and blending rooms as if in dreams. Being seven years old, though, she has no reason to question her way of seeing. It’s only when she suddenly manages to leave the house that she discovers how much more the world has to offer – both good and bad – and many questions to be answered too. That world outside is strikingly bright and open, in comparison to the house where she lives. And after getting to know her restrictive lifestyle, full of rules, routines and gloom, we can really understand her temptation when she hears an ice-cream van outside.

Related from FrightFest 2019: Dachra

Emile Hirsch and Bruce Dern (who drives the ice-cream truck) are big names for a “little film”, as the creators have described it. But the real star of Freaks – in case you’ve not guessed – is Lexy Kolker. She reminded me of the young Drew Barrymore in Firestarter at first, but I quickly realised that she is a much better actor than Barrymore was at that age. This girl deserves to go far, and this film gives her the chance to show the range of her talent. The grown men do what we’ve always known they can do, but she is eye-opening, to say the least.

Freaks is not simply a gripping family drama, of course (though it is that). It also explores prejudice and the reasoning behind a totalitarian society, neither of which are straightforward. There is some rare observation in the writing, so that at times, either angle can be appreciated. It is also a “true” science-fiction story: things would not turn out the same way if the film had been set in a regular world. The parenting problems are written with care too. It’s never easy to work out whether to help your child fit in with others or stand out as unique, and in the world of Freaks it must be a terrifying responsibility.

(As an aside, I watched UglyDolls the day I saw Freaks for the second time. UglyDolls had a similar theme, about a world in which the main characters wanted to be accepted despite their obvious flaws and differences from their “perfect” fellows… but it couldn’t have been less successful, in my opinion.)

I was determined to write a balanced review. So I’ve looked at Freaks from every angle and I’ve watched it twice. I will no doubt watch it again and again, and keep looking for flaws; but so far, I’ve seen none. Depending on what else you’ve read or heard about this film, you might have the impression you’ve seen similar films before. But please trust me: this one’s a stand out.

In terms of the visual effects, writing, acting and overall package, you won’t have seen anything quite like Freaks. Written and directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B Stein, Freaks is both sci-fi and horror, that doesn’t look like either at first, and raises the standard for both too. I honestly cannot wait until more people have seen Freaks, so I can talk about it more openly.