REIGN is a quite humanesque movie, both thematically and tonally. It cares deeply for its characters and the narrative. It's affective. It's profound. A short. And heavenly powerful.
In a pleiad of conventional war movies with good guys versus bad guys, with two extremes and nothing else; this one feels so real and touches upon the humanistic questions. There's no heroes or villains; it wasn't one person was right, one was wrong. Writer/director Kimberly Jentzen sees both of her main characters as a (human) victims of war. And perfectly shows us how helpless they are. Have a closer look at them.
Soldier Delano (Andrew Fognani) is facing a struggle between duty and humanity. With no physical wounds, he is a victim of the war. Fadwa (Sheetal Sheth), a victim herself, is the soldier's unseen scar of the war.
Great acting made it a pleasure for me to watch. to feel. to Hear the movie. Andrew Fognani and Sheetal Sheth were impressive here. Sheetal Sheth made me forget Sheetal Sheth the Actress and see her only as Fadwa whom she portrayed with uncanny perfection and 'raised' her from the soul. She speaks very little, but her gaze and facial expression says it all. Look at her face and eyes and nose or whatever — completely transformed. Fantastic. Try not to be touched by Fadwa. Try not to feel that dose of helplessness which Andrew Fognani perfectly brings to his character.
The supporting cast is excellent, as is editing and the cinematography by amazing (Oscar nominated) Jack Green.
What I really liked about the film is the fact that the director did not endeavor to trivialize and to convey the emotions of the characters with unnecessary explaining or through flooding with excessive dialogues. We have wordless scenes with a very strong emotional charge, primarily due to the excellent acting, great camera work, the use of color and the light, and perfect soundtrack. Susan Marder's music is fabulous. Viola, cello... She seems to simply know which sequence of notes will produce certain emotions.
Overall: excellent, sensitive and thoughtful. REIGN depicts war as something that harms all involved in and reminds us how all we are connected to each other as human beings. That is what reigns.
I was fortunate enough to see it at IndieFlix.
Highly recommended
