Had anyone seen Freaks (2018)?

Submitted by ExceedsTheCharacterL t3_zwu095 in movies

It’s a film worth watching. What surprised me is that it I read it cost only $2,000 to make. Wow, Steve Martin in Bowfinger was right I guess. It’s definitely low budget, but 2 grand? It has two fairly big-name actors (Emile Hirsche, Bruce Dern) who worked for less than minimum wage apparently. It’s a story that’s been told. People with superpowers exist, and they are an oppressed minority. We focus on a little girl and her father. Not the movie for you if you don’t like kids. I found her endearing, when she wasn’t disturbing. The main gripe I have with the film is the stupidity of the dad character. He pays a neighbor family to adopt his daughter so she can have a normal life I guess. The problem is that he barely knows them, and both the mother and their daughter are prejudiced against super-powered people. Both of whom didn’t even know she was superpowered. How could he possibly think this will work? He had also been training her to pass for “normal” and she is clearly not ready yet. She can barely hold even the most basic conversation without seeming abnormal. Bit of a clunky flick, but it has enough thrills, and world building to make it worthwhile.

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stanley_leverlock t1_j1xdfsm wrote

I really liked this movie. I'm with you, I'm pretty surprised it only cost $2k to make.

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Nobodycares2022 t1_j1x1cy3 wrote

I watched this movie and really disliked it. I found it dumb and boring.

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RatRob t1_j1xam5q wrote

One of the best x-men movies that’s come out recently. Really enjoyed it.

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OMG_Its_Negan t1_j1x3ak3 wrote

I mean 99% of the film is filmed in one room and the other 1% is filmed out in front of the house that that room is in.

Cheap

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TheNightBench t1_j1xiqdq wrote

I watched it recently and loved it.

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[deleted] t1_j1xsrff wrote

A great movie - passion project with a lot of heart. I loved it.

We need more movies like this, and less Marvel Disney Netflix Amazon CGI crap fests.

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fleeting-glimpse t1_j1y0m2h wrote

It's been a while, but I had thought he arranged the second family as a contingency because he(the dad) was known to authorities.

Also it becomes clear that the daughter develops powers shortly before the family transfer, and the dad only learned a couple days before. So he doesn't really have a baseline to know how not ready she is by the time he's sure his cover is blown.

I think it's pretty clear it would have worked if she didn't have powers, which was the case right up until the time. And it's not clear how certain it is she would develop powers at all, or what the odds of it being something relatively benign, so it could have been a very reasonable plan for what was essentially a shoot on sight fugitive to arrange.

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ExceedsTheCharacterL OP t1_j22yqch wrote

It definitely seemed to me that he was expecting her to have powers. If he didn’t at least consider the possibility, that’s pretty dumb.

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fleeting-glimpse t1_j238mcs wrote

Yes, he was expecting her to have powers. That is clear from the warnings about bleeding from the eyes, and her hiding that from him. The father he arranged to 'adopt' his daughter also knew that it was a possibility and that it would still be ok. The neighbor even tried to convince his terrified family still to take her.

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The problem is how powerful and violating the astral-projection/mind-control are. We, the viewers, just don't know how prevalent powers are or how often they can be almost completely benign (ability to talk to squirrels). Invisibility/temporal field/flying+shockwaves+strength are the other powers shown and they are counterable (we see each of them defeated) and don't violate a person's autonomy. Her powers are just beyond what everyone was expecting.

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Donald_J_Putin t1_j213f8l wrote

Emile Hirsch is in some of my favorite movies. It’s weird how his career has really sagged recently with a bunch of poor scripts. He kinda reminds me of River Pheonix in his prime.

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BatMally t1_j21l86p wrote

It's because he physically assaulted a movie exec at Sundance a few years ago. It was pretty violent, too. He choked her in a bar, in front of a room of witnesses.

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Gummy_yumyum t1_j1wrmaw wrote

I saw this as a kid and still have nightmares

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Nitroburner3000 t1_j1x30x2 wrote

You were a kid in 2018? How old are you now?

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Gummy_yumyum t1_j1x5k1l wrote

My bad. I saw the Tod Browning 1932 film

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Nitroburner3000 t1_j1x9qz8 wrote

I figured that was what you meant. Just being a wise-ass.

…and yeah, the ‘32 film was crazy nightmare fuel

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ToyVaren t1_j1xyijw wrote

I hated it copied the title from freaks (1932) so now i gotta type (1932) to reference the right film.

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