TIFF Kids ’17: Room 213

It turns out you are never too young for summer camp horror. At least Elvira and her sixth-grader friends will be spared the gore of the Sleepaway Camp and Friday the 13^th franchises, but they will still get plenty scared in Emelie Lindblom’s family-appropriate tale of terror, Room 213 (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 TIFF Kids International Film Festival.

Initially, Elvira and her roommates Meja and Bea had different digs, but plumbing issues forced them to move to the long-unused #213. Of course, there is a darned good reason why their room is traditionally shuttered, but the current crop of counselors doesn’t know or is just hoping for the best. Soon each girl has an item of great personal significance stolen. They immediately suspect each other, but a series of spooky incidents leads them to look for more supernatural explanations—like a ghost.

Mebel would fit the bill perfectly. There is indeed a history of sightings of the red-haired camper who died under mysterious circumstances. However, there are also boys at the camp, so there will be other causes of jealousy and angst. They will only be at Camp Something-with-Several-Umlauts for one week, but what the three girls see will haunt them all their lives, or so the Mary Roberts Rinehart-esque opening narration tells us.

For a children’s film with absolutely, positively no violence, Room 213 is impressively eerie. It is worth noting the Swedish title is Rum 213, as in “red rum,” so there you have it. Although younger viewers will easily identify with the sensitive Elvira, grown-ups will find it compelling to watch the youngsters dealing with paranormal encounters in a very realistic way. Elvira’s stormy BFF relationships with Meja and Bea also rings true for girls their age.

Wilma Lungren shines as the somewhat shy middle class Elvira, showing tremendous presence in nearly every scene. She also develops completely believable rapport with Ella Fogelström as the mean-ish rich girl Meja and Elena Hovsepyan as more economically disadvantaged Bea.

While Martin Jern and Emil Larsson’s adaptation of Ingelin Angerborn’s YA novel is rather short on answers, it ends up in a pretty cool place. Without question, it is way more satisfying than some of the midnight movies on tap for next week. Recommended for viewers of all ages who enjoy a good ghost story, Room 213 screens up north (Toronto) this Saturday (4/22) and Sunday (4/23), as part of TIFF Kids.

Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism

If you don’t work in publishing, you might not realize how many Harry Potter wannabes have been pitched, published, and forgotten since the series started hitting bestseller lists. It is easy to lump Lady Georgia Byng’s Molly Moon series in with the rest of the field of imitators, but at least they have a cute dog. They also have a nice theme of empowerment for young girls judging from Christopher N. Rowley’s big screen adaptation of her first adventure, Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism (trailer here), which opens this Friday in select cities.

Molly Moon is an orphan, whose pluck rubs Miss Adderstone, the mean-spirited headmistress decidedly the wrong way. Fellow orphan Rocky Scarlet is her best friend and probably future boyfriend, but they’re only eleven, so that will have to wait. Adderstone is so strict, Moon can only read quietly to herself when she sneaks off to the village library. It is there she happens across a rare hypnotism instructional book. This antiquarian volume really works, which is why bumbling smalltime crook Simon Nockman is so desperate to find it.

Experimenting with her new powers, Moon first mesmerizes Miss Adderstone’s snarly pug Petula with great success. She soon follows-up by hypnotizing Edna, the dreadful orphanage cook and Miss Adderstone. Life is suddenly livable in the waifs’ home, but when she neglects the high maintenance Scarlet, he up and gets himself adopted. Moon follows him to London, where things get even more complicated, thanks to Nockman.

Moon’s first outing is much more modest in scope than the Potters, but they skew towards a younger audience. Frankly, the closer you are demographically to Mademoiselle Moon, the more you are likely to enjoy her film. Still, grown-ups can at least appreciate her resiliency, as well as her aversion to self-pity and habit of accepting responsibility. Basically, she is a good kid who gets caught up in some unusual situations.

Young Raffey Cassidy is quite well cast as Moon, displaying an appropriately winning screen presence and plenty of energy. In contrast, Dominic Monaghan (from Lost and Lord of the Rings) would probably prefer to forget the shtick and pratfalls that were required of him as the nebbish Nockman. Emily Watson has probably never been as mousey and milquetoast as she is as Miss Trinkleberry, the only kind-hearted orphanage staff-member, which is certainly saying something. However, Joan Collins’ scenery-chewing appearances as Nockman’s villainous mother are rather amusing in a nostalgic kind of way.

There is nothing objectionable in screenwriter Chris Hurford’s adaptation of Byng’s children’s book and there is a good deal of merit to its spirited protagonist. With its respectable production values and Rowley’s healthy pacing, it makes a decent programming choice for kids (but it will not overwhelm their parents). Recommended accordingly, Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism opens this Friday (8/14) in theaters and also releases on iTunes.

Japan Cuts ’14: Hello! Junichi

Junichi Hayashida is a naturally empathetic kid. Unfortunately, that does not impress a lot of third graders. However, he might gain a little bit of confidence through time spent with his five friends and their bombshell student teacher. Being a kid is hard, but it still has its moments in Katsuhito Ishii, Kanoko Kawaguchi & Atsushi Yoshioka’s Hello! Junichi, which screens as part of the 2014 Japan Cuts: the New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Film (special festival trailer here).

Anna-Sensei makes quite an impression on everyone, especially Hayashida’s romantically frustrated homeroom teacher. However, he still only has eyes for Maeda. During art class, he found himself borrowing a bunny eraser from her, but he has yet to gird up the courage to return it. This is the sort of thing Anna-Sensei picks up on immediately. Initially, this intimidates Hayashida, just like everything else in life, except more so. Yet, he comes to trust her when she defends him and his mates when they get into a tight spot.

Although Junichi’s parents are well to do, he spends more time with more-with-it-than-he-seems grandfather. Unfortunately, his friend Masato Kuramoto’s home life is much more difficult. Money is tight, so his soon-to-be single mother must work multiple jobs. To help him give her special birthday, Hayashida and his friends agree to stage a special concert for her, with Anna-Sensei’s help, of course.

In terms of tone, Hello is reminiscent of Ishii’s The Taste of Tea, but it substitutes moments of wild but terrestrial zaniness for the magical realism of his Tochigi-set family pastoral. Co-directed with two of his workshop graduates, Hello balances a battalion of characters with ease. They mostly maintain a mood of wistful whimsy, but it still forthrightly addresses the issue of bullying.

Hikari Mitsushima, who took no prisoners in Sion Sono’s Love Exposure, once again becomes a force of nature as Anna-Sensei, the Miss Jean Brodie we always wanted. She develops some real chemistry with her young co-stars and looks great beating on the various adults who cross her. Still, young Amon Kabe distinguishes himself, carrying the narrator-chief POV duties like a good little soldier.

Likewise, Yohei Hotta and Rio Sasaki are remarkably compelling as the gruff but sensitive Kuramoto and the forceful aspiring pop idol, Kayo Tanaka. Frankly, the all the third grade supporting players are quite assured. It is some of their adult counterparts who get a bit shticky (but not enough to undermine the film’s good vibes).

Anna-Sensei’s magnetism is undeniable and her kids are all quite endearing. As a result, it is hard to imagine anyone would not be won over by Hello’s charm. Gentle but relatively true to life, it is perfect for family viewing. To that end, the Japan Society is offering a special $6 admission deal for children twelve or younger. Recommended with affection, Hello! Junichi screens tomorrow (7/20), the closing day of this year’s Japan Cuts.

Dying to Grow-Up: Snowmen

When Billy Kirkfield and his friends find a dead body in a snowdrift, it is cool for the ten year-olds in a Tom Sawyer way. On the other hand, it is also kind of a downer when Master Kirkfield’s narration explains how it foreshadowed his own death. The coming-of-age story has a ticking clock in Robert Kirbyson’s Snowmen (trailer here), which opens today in California and Colorado (but not New York).

Young Kirkfield is a cancer surviving, or so his parents tell him. Recognizing the signs from his last go-round as well as his parents’ nervous behavior, Kirkfield unfortunately knows all is not right. Still, some things are looking up. Kirkfield befriends Howard Garvey, a recent Caribbean transplant to the frozen north, who seems to have some backbone. They also enjoy the attention brought by their discovery of the corpse.

Yet, Kirkfield is too aware he has limited time to make his mark. Fearing he will be forgotten like the old man in the snowdrift, Kirkfield tries to organize his school in an attempt to break the one-day snowman-making record. In the process, he might finally woo his not-so secret crush Gwen and stand-up to the school bully, Jason Bound. Of course, as a coming-of-age story, there will have to be a lot of pain and embarrassment first.

Evidently, the MPAA deemed Snowmen was not sufficiently violent or sexual for New York audiences, despite its favorable reception at the Tribeca Film Festival. Granted, it can be rather manipulative. Yet, it has a good heart and a refreshingly on-target message about the value of friendship and human connections, compared to the hollow bragging rights of records and the like. It is a moral delivered with memorable grace by veteran character actor Christopher Lloyd as the twinkly-eyed town cemetery caretaker.

While the young protagonist can be a bit trying, he never has the psycho eyes depicted on the film’s latest one-sheet. In fact, he develops some rather endearing and credibly realistic chemistry with Demi Peterson as Gwen. Conversely, the stuff with the thuggish Bound is pretty standard issue stuff.

While Snowmen might sound too dark for juvenile audiences, it probably is not dark enough to satisfy them. There are no Byronic vampires getting impaled on stakes here, but there are some scenes with ice-balls, which are really dangerous. A nice, safe film, Snowmen opens today (10/21) in the metro-Denver area at the AMC Highlands Ranch and in other cities across the country.