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fearsmagazine · 4 years ago

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THE RINGMASTER - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Danse Macabre & MVD

SYNOPSIS: Agnes and Belinda are working the night shift in a remote gas station owned by Agnes’ father. It is a slow night as everyone is at home watching a major sports final match their national team is playing in. As the night progresses they’ve become the prey in a deadly game of cat and mouse that ends when they unwittingly become the stars of a terrifying show streamed live on the dark web. Held captive by a sadistic ringmaster their survival instincts are stretched to the limit as an unseen audience decides their fate.

REVIEW: From “The Running Man” to “The Hunger Games” there continues to be a fascination with these grisly games of survival. Some consider these films “torture porn,” regardless of how the plots attempt to make a statement on humanity’s fascination with its own demise. Don Henley said it best in his song “Dirty Laundry,” “It’s interesting when people die, give us dirty laundry.”

This Danish film was first released in Europe in 2018 as “Finale,” which is also the same title of the novel by Steen Langstrup that it is based on. The film opens with a prologue that feels like a homage to the opening of the original prologue in James Whale's 1931 “Frankenstein.” The narrative cuts between Agnes and Belinda at the gas station and Agnes as she wakes up in the clutches of the ringmaster. The film narrative continues unfolding that way until they are knocked out and abducted. From then on the story focuses on the events surrounding their survival and escape from the ringmaster. By doing this the filmmakers allow the viewer to establish the relationship dynamics of these characters as they bait us with the horrors to come. They establish character traits that elevate the dynamics of the story and invest the viewer in the plot. Though this is in Danish, I found the English subtitles to be solid dialogue. There is interesting banter and even the henchmen’s are interesting lines. Overall, it left me interested in reading the novel it is based on.

The filmmakers do an excellent job covering the locations. They go from a small, but complex, gas station to a larger location with long corridors and numerous rooms. There are these small little touches to the set dressing that makes it feel like a film with a bigger scope. For instance, there is a painting one one of the walls where they are taken that they dwell on, which allows to add visual commentary to the film. The costumes are interesting and add some contrast to the locations. The cinematographer and director do a nice job of playing with the light and shadows to create tension and suspense, and also with the colors to play with the atmosphere.

There are seven players in the film, with a few other non speaking parts. Actresses Anne Bergfeld and Karin Michelsen play the film’s central characters Agnes and Belinda. They do an excellent job at creating these two complex women who reflect different social stations that might not otherwise be friends if not for having worked together. Even though there is this back and forth cutting to the narrative, their performances provide this organic flow to the narrative that takes the viewer along for the ride. Damon Younger is a charismatic actor who delivers a riveting performance that is part Pennywise the clown and part Hannibal Lector. He does not have that many scenes, but they all resonate.

Given American audiences I can understand why they changed the title from “Finale” to THE RINGMASTER. Filmmaker Søren Juul Petersen serves up a pulse pounding thriller with a crisp and gritty feel, and comes together with three amazing performances. There is some gore, but it is clearly not the point of the film. The film mounts in terror and suspense long before it shocks you. The film does so much with so little to deliver a film I found more effective than the recent “Saw” reboot, “Spiral.”

CAST: Anne Bergfeld, Karin Michelsen and Damon Younger. CREW: Director/Screenplay/Producer - Søren Juul Petersen; Screenplay - Carsten Juul Bladt; Based on the novel Finale by Steen Langstrup; Producers - Jacob Kondrup; Cinematographer - Tobias Scavenius; Score - Peter K. Nørgaard; Editing - Jacob Kondrup; Production Designer - Martin Hansen; Special Makeup Effects Artist - Martin Hansen; Visual Effects - Christoffer Kondrup. OFFICIAL: N.A. FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/FinaleFilmOfficial TWITTER: N.A. TRAILER: https://youtu.be/qhvl0goLif0 RELEASE DATE: On DVD, Blu-ray and Digital July 6th, 2021

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

#film review #movie review #the ringmaster #theringmastermovie #søren juul petersen #steen langstrup #anne bergfeld #karin michelsen #damon younger #horror #thriller #danish #joseph mauceri #joseph b mauceri

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