Netflix

Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s THE PLATFORM: VOD REVIEWS: feature film debut is horror, sci-fi activism, and Orwellian dystopia done sublimely

Explorations of human reactions to confinement and food insecurity span from altruistic to needlessly cruel. Avoiding uniform verdicts on the characters’ behaviors and choices under these stresses, the film chooses instead to contrast approaches to fear, problem solving and the value of having a conscience. All of it veers into the extremes of those ranges and all of it is vital and wholly believable. In short, Gaztelu-Urrutia has accomplished the rare feat of shunning cheap exploitation in favor of a diligent expedition into what fundamentally makes our species tick.

TEN BURNING QUESTIONS: Skye Borgman’s ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT is a dream of impossibility for the true crime documentary enthusiast

Skye Borgman’s ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT is a dream of impossibility for the true crime documentary enthusiast. Tracing the two abduction/kidnappings of a pre-teen Jan Broberg by Bob Berchtold with the arguable permission of her parents, the film begins with a reality that is hard for one to wrap their head around, even acknowledging that the events of the film took place in the 70s and to a naïve Mormon family in Idaho – that two parents would stand by and more or less give permission to a man to take their little girl and even “marry” her.