24 Exposures (2014)

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

In this sexy thriller a photographer (Adam Wingard) who specializes in erotic photo shoots is suspected of murder when one of his models is found dead.When starring Adam Wingard and written-directed by Joe Swanberg, you expect AJ Bowen or Ti West to show up somewhere, but not this time. Wingard's directing has been hit and miss, so it was nice to see Swanberg at the helm this time. He knows how to make a simple picture look good. Audiences might get drawn in immediately from the really sweet opening credits sequence, sort of going for a neo-noir look.Some critics have called this a "soft-core porn", and one threesome scene does come across as quite gratuitous, not to mention the countless other times nudity comes into play. Was this necessary? Probably not. But it does effectively drive home the theme of jealousy, as it puts us right in the middle of the emotion: a photographer, even if completely innocent, runs the risk of making his significant other jealous. And this goes well beyond photography.Most reviewers were mixed to negative. One exception was Evan Dickson of Bloody Disgusting, who rated the movie 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "As a rule, if you hate what most people consider to be mumblecore, this isn't the movie for you. But if you're open to this somewhat shambolic riff on noir, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised." Regardless of what is "mumblecore" or not, this film stands on its own merits. Maybe the merits are not that strong and that makes it hard for the film to stand, but different viewers may take away different things from it. While clearly not the best in independent horror-thrillers being made today, it is far from the worst.

'24 EXPOSURES': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg (who recently made the outstanding 'DRINKING BUDDIES') wrote and directed this ultra-low budget mumblecore/slasher flick starring Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Wingard and Barrett are filmmakers too (mostly horror) and have worked with Swanberg before on films like 'V/H/S' and 'YOU'RE NEXT' (which they wrote and directed and Swanberg acted in). Many others in the cast have also previously worked with the three before; like actresses Helen Rogers, Sophia Takal and Hannah Fierman (all in 'V/H/S'). I like a lot of Wingard, Barrett and Swanberg's other work but this film, I'd say, is one of their weakest.Wingard plays Billy in the movie; a photographer who's made a career out of selling morbid fetish photos (mainly of naked women posed as dead people). His partner is his girlfriend Alex (Caroline White), who helps him hire models and sometimes invites them home for threesomes (with her and Billy). Barrett plays a depressed homicide detective named Michael Bamfeaux, who's been obsessing over his ex. He's investigating the murder of a recent model, that was hired by Billy and Alex for a recent shoot. More girls turn up dead, of course, and it looks like Billy could be the killer.The film is pretty exploitative; there's a lot of explicit sex, nudity and disturbing imagery. The main storyline, involving the twisted photographer, is pretty disturbing as well; especially because they present him as a pretty nice and mostly normal guy (who just really likes sex and twisted pictures). The movie tries to explore why Billy does what he does but it never really gives a satisfying answer. I did like the attempt though. I admire the movie's ambition and think it could have done a lot more if it wasn't restrained by it's micro-budget and poor production values. I always think filmmakers (and their films) deserve points for trying; especially if they're trying to do something unique and different, like this is.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/tlKg1V_0fqE