Lyle (2014)

A Masterpiece!

For having a relatively low budget, the film's style and overall art direction are immensely impressive.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

"Lyle" tells the story of a middle-aged lesbian couple that moves to a new apartment with their young daughter Lyle. When Lyle becomes the victim of a terrible accident, it soon becomes questionable if all just happened out of hazard or there's a more sinister plan behind it. Who can be trust anymore? The movie is of high production value for an independent film. I didn't feel so excited about the first half of the film but I have to say that the pace picked up and the tension started to rise in the second one. In my opinion, some of the mysteries could have been extended as they happen to come a bit out of the blue, the movie is rather short, so that wouldn't have been much of a problem. Nevertheless it is a film that keeps you guessing until the very end and at a certain point you can well adopt to the otherwise rather traumatized character.All in all this is one of the better independent movies within the genre. There is still some potential for improvement but especially the second half of the film is highly entertaining and will keep you caught in front of the screen.

First of all, this film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes which is basically unheard of and should tell you something. Also, if you read any of my reviews I live for indie horror films and I can be brutal in reviewing them but when I love something I get really excited. This is a movie to get excited about. Gaby Hoffman is so terrific and real and raw and crazy you can't take your eyes off of her. Is it like Rosemary's Baby? Sure, yes, but it's also different. And let's face it, every story is just a retelling of a story that came before it, and that's that. Nothing can be original anymore. But if they had done this film wrong, that would have been a shame. Instead this movie is wholly satisfying and entertaining.

LYLE is a well shot time waster seemingly filmed on a micro budget in a single apartment in New York. The story is about a woman traumatised by the accidental death of her child, a trauma which leads her to become paranoid and withdrawn, convinced that her neighbours are out to get her. When she falls pregnant, events begin to spiral out of control.If this all sounds a bit like ROSEMARY'S BABY then that's because it is very much a copy of the Polanski film, however it's a weak imitation at best. This is an indie film with nothing in the way of production values and no incident in the plot either. The main actress is pretty effective but that's not really enough to hold the viewer's attention for an hour or so. The realistic filming style is pretty decent and adds a level of dull realism to the production, but the cop out ending reinforces the impression that this is a waste of time.

This movie masquerades under the guise of woman-driven horror movie, but the reality, as they say, cannot be farther from the truth. This clumsily shot film centers around a main character, a pregnant lesbian woman, who loses her toddler when said toddler falls out a window. She then spirals downward into deepening insanity as she is determined to protect her unborn child from everything and everyone, and everyone, she thinks, is out to get her.It sounds like a fair premise, but the way it is told is very poorly done. The story is dull, hold no rhythm, and makes no sense. There is no rhyme or reason to her thought process or actions; even insanity must give some kind of twisted reason, but in this movie there is none of that. It tries to go into a five minute introduction to perhaps some kind of supernatural deal with the devil, but without explanation or further study it becomes pointless and confuses the viewer.As a horror movie, Lyle fails in a spectacular fashion. There are no scares, at all. There are no jump scares, no psychological thrill, and, perhaps worse of all, not even a single tense moment. The boring camera views and bleak colors do nothing to help this movie either.I am sad I wasted my time viewing this during free time better spent on virtually anything else. I would not give a single dollar to their next movie if this is the best they have to show for their lazy, half-baked efforts.