One Eyed Girl

Last updated

One Eyed Girl
Oneeyedgirl2015poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Nick Remy Matthews
Written by
  • Craig Behenna
  • Nick Remy Matthews
Produced byDavid Ngo
Starring
CinematographyJody Muston
Edited byDavid Ngo
Music byMichael Darren
Production
company
Projector Films
Distributed byDark Sky Films
Release date
  • 30 April 2015 (2015-04-30)(Australia)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$1 million [1]
Box officeUS$6,273 [2]

One Eyed Girl is a 2015 Australian psychological thriller film directed by Nick Remy Matthews and starring Mark Leonard Winter, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and Steve Le Marquand. Winter plays a troubled psychiatrist who joins a cult after one of his patients commits suicide. It premiered at the Austin Film Festival in October 2014 and was released in Australia in April 2015.

Contents

Plot

After seeing several patients, Travis, a troubled psychiatrist, is contacted at home by a patient, Rachel. Travis invites her into his apartment, though he acknowledges this is unorthodox. As they talk, Rachel sees Travis take several pills, which he explains are to help him deal with the mounting stresses in his life. After they kiss, Rachel offers to help him, and Travis laughs derisively. Hurt, Rachel leaves his apartment and goes to the top of the apartment building, where she phones him. When he realises she means to commit suicide, he races upstairs, only to see her leap to her death. After one of his patients taunts him over this rumour, Travis reacts violently and is put on leave, though he angrily quits instead.

Grace, a young woman, hands out pamphlets on a train and invites Travis to a support group. Though dismissive, Travis takes one of her pamphlets. After drinking heavily and becoming depressed over his life, Travis attends the meeting. Travis is disgusted when the group's leader, Father Jay, a military veteran and former drug addict, forces a young member, Marcus, to confront difficult personal issues in public. As Travis leaves, Grace urges him to seek the group's support. After a suicide attempt in which he overdoses on pills, Travis calls the group before slipping into unconsciousness. Father Jay, Grace, and another member, Tom, arrive and induce vomiting, saving his life.

Travis wakes in a wilderness retreat, where Father Jay forces him to go through involuntary drug detoxification. Travis escapes his cabin, only to be recaptured and taken back after he collapses. Travis explains to Grace that he abuses prescription drugs and alcohol to avoid feeling anything, and she reveals her parents abandoned her, leaving her with no family but Father Jay. Though skeptical of Father Jay and his methods, Travis nonetheless agrees to continue his treatment. Travis changes his mind when Father Jay provokes an emotional reaction in Travis by nearly drowning him. Father Jay allows him to leave the compound, but Travis finds he cannot do so and instead begs Father Jay to help him.

Travis makes a breakthrough when Father Jay urges him to confront himself. Travis admits to self-loathing and blames himself for Rachel's death. A flashback to the day of her suicide reveals that Rachel called him on the phone before she jumped, but Travis did not attempt to save her by running upstairs. The other members all hug Travis and tell him that they love him. Travis' faith is shaken when he stumbles on Father Jay as he has sex with Marcus. Later, at a celebration, Grace kisses Travis, but his doubts only grow. Believing Father Jay to have forced himself on the vulnerable Marcus, Travis publicly confronts Father Jay and attempts to get Marcus to leave with him. Father Jay condemns Travis as a lying sociopath who has become jealous of Marcus' recovery, and Travis is banished from the group after being beaten.

As Tom drives him out of the compound, Grace calls for them to wait and joins them. Marcus emerges from the compound with a pistol and fires several shots at the vehicle. When Father Jay tries to talk down Marcus, Marcus shoots Father Jay, then kills himself. Travis attempts to aid Father Jay, but the others will not let him. Before Father Jay dies of blood loss, he advises his followers to avoid the inevitable police persecution. Tom leads Travis into the woods with a rifle but allows Travis to flee. After Tom kills himself, Travis instead returns to the compound, where he finds everyone but Grace has died by suicide. Travis follows her back to the city, where she takes a subway car hostage with a pistol. Travis convinces her to let the people go and takes the pistol from her. When the police storm the subway car, they shoot Travis. Later, Grace tells her story to a psychiatrist.

Cast

Production

The initial concept for the story did not involve a cult; instead, director and co-writer Matthews sought to explore alternate ways of thinking and living. The story evolved to include a cult when Matthews and co-writer Craig Behenna added a journey for Travis to find redemption and wisdom. Father Jay's philosophy is intentionally kept ambiguous, though they wrote a detailed biography for the character to aid Le Marquand's acting. [3] Casting used social networking sites to find what producer Ngo called a more authentic cast. [1] The 'Search for Grace' and 'Search for Marcus' online campaigns auditioned over 600 applicants from all over the world through Facebook and finally discovered rising stars Matt Crook to play Marcus and Tilda Cobham-Hervey to play Grace. [4] Filming began in November 2012. [5]

Release

One Eyed Girl screened at the Adelaide Film Festival on 18 October 2013; [6] an event described by the filmmakers as a "work in progress" screening given that the film at this point, had not yet been soundmixed or colour timed and required some additional photography. The completed film's world premiere was at the Austin Film Festival in the USA, on October 24, 2014, at the Paramount theatre. It was one of two opening night films of the festival that year. The film went on to win the Dark Matters Jury Prize, which was awarded to the film's two writers Nick Remy Matthews and Craig Behenna. [7] It was subsequently released in Australia on 30 April 2015. [2]

Reception

Though he faulted the pacing, Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "This engrossing, darkly tinged drama is an auspicious debut." [8] Jake Wilson of The Sydney Morning Herald rated it 2/5 stars and criticized what he said was the film's tendency to be declarative and heavy-handed. Wilson concluded, "Despite its flaws, this Australian feature exposing the dark side of a cult announces director Nick Matthews as a filmmaker of some promise." [9] Charles Maddison of The Independent Weekly called it "an absorbing psychological thriller" that deserves support from Australian audiences. [10]

Accolades

AwardCategorySubjectResultRef
ACS Award Silver AwardJody MustonWon [11]
ASE Award Best Editing in a Feature FilmDavid NgoNominated [12]
Austin Film Festival Feature Film AwardCraig BehennaWon [3]
Nick Remy Matthews Won
Beverly Hills Film Festival Best Film - Audience ChoiceWon [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Marquand</span> Welsh film director (1937–1987)

Richard Alfred Marquand was a Welsh film and television director active in both US and UK film productions, best known for directing the 1983 space opera Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy. He also directed the 1981 drama film Eye of the Needle, the quiet Paris set romance Until September, and the 1985 thriller Jagged Edge.

<i>The Amityville Horror</i> (2005 film) 2005 horror film by Andrew Douglas

The Amityville Horror is a 2005 American supernatural horror film directed by Andrew Douglas and starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, and Philip Baker Hall. It also featured the debut of actress Chloe Grace Moretz. Written by Scott Kosar, it is based on the novel The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson, which was previously adapted into the 1979 film of the same name, while also serving as the ninth film in the Amityville Horror film series, which documents the experiences of the Lutz family after they move into a house at 112 Ocean Avenue, Long Island. In 1974, real-life mass murderer Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed six members of his family at the same house in Amityville, New York.

<i>2:37</i> 2006 Australian film

2:37 is a 2006 Australian drama film, written, produced and directed by filmmaker Murali K. Thalluri and starring an ensemble cast including Teresa Palmer, Joel Mackenzie, Frank Sweet, Charles Baird, Sam Harris, Marni Spillane and Clementine Mellor. 2:37 was filmed in Adelaide, Australia on location at St. Ignatius' College. The story is narrated by six high school students whose lives are interwoven, each having their own personal problems and goals. The story takes place on an otherwise normal school day, during which, at precisely 2:37, a tragedy will occur.

Steve Le Marquand is an Australian-born actor, known both locally and internationally for his film and stage work.

<i>Needle</i> (2010 film) 2010 Australian film

Needle is a 2010 Australian independent supernatural horror film starring Michael Dorman, Jessica Marais, Travis Fimmel, Trilby Glover, and Ben Mendelsohn, and directed by John V. Soto. Needle is structured as a murder mystery, with six distinct clues pointing to one of ten suspects; the trailer is intentionally misleading.

<i>52 Tuesdays</i> 2013 coming of age film

52 Tuesdays is a 2013 Australian coming of age drama film directed by Sophie Hyde, with the screenplay written by Matthew Cormack and story by Cormack and Hyde. The film centres on a teenage girl dealing with the gender transition of a parent. The film showed at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it was not only nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, but won the Best Director Award. Over the following year it won numerous other awards and garnered global critical acclaim.

The Kettering Incident is an Australian television sci-fi drama program, first broadcast on Foxtel's Showcase channel on 4 July 2016.

<i>Girl Asleep</i> (film) 2015 Australian film

Girl Asleep is a 2015 Australian surrealist coming-of-age drama film written by Matthew Whittet and directed by Rosemary Myers. The film has been described as an extroverted fantasy dreamscape of an introverted teenage girl. The film is an adaptation of the successful theatre production, also written by Matthew Whittet, by Windmill Theatre in 2014 of the same name, that premiered at the Adelaide Festival. The cast includes: Bethany Whitmore, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Imogen Archer, Harrison Feldman, Amber McMahon, Eamon Farren, scriptwriter Matthew Whittet and Maiah Stewardson.

<i>The Invitation</i> (2015 film) 2015 American film

The Invitation is a 2015 American horror thriller film directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, starring Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman and Emayatzy Corinealdi. It premiered March 13, 2015 at the SXSW film festival and began a limited release on April 8, 2016, and through video on demand, by Drafthouse Films.

Tilda Cobham-Hervey is an Australian actress. She made her film debut in 52 Tuesdays, a critically-acclaimed independent film directed by Sophie Hyde, and has also appeared on stage. She appeared in the 2018 film Hotel Mumbai, and starred as feminist icon Helen Reddy in the 2019 biopic I Am Woman. In 2023 she starred in the Amazon Prime TV series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.

<i>The Intruders</i> (2015 film) 2015 Canadian film

The Intruders is a 2015 Canadian horror film directed by Adam Massey and written by Jason Juravic and starring Miranda Cosgrove, Donal Logue, Austin Butler, and Tom Sizemore.

<i>Goldstone</i> (film) 2016 film directed by Ivan Sen

Goldstone is a 2016 Australian crime thriller film directed by Ivan Sen. It is a sequel to Mystery Road (2013) and stars Aaron Pedersen, Alex Russell, Jacki Weaver, David Wenham and David Gulpilil. It was released in Australia on 7 July 2016. According to the film's end credits, it was largely shot on location in the small town of Middleton, Queensland, Australia.

<i>Hotel Mumbai</i> 2018 action thriller film directed by Anthony Maras

Hotel Mumbai is a 2018 action thriller film directed by Anthony Maras and co-written by Maras and John Collee. An Indian-Australian-American co-production, it is inspired by the 2009 documentary Surviving Mumbai about the 2008 Mumbai attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in India. The film stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Jason Isaacs, Suhail Nayyar, Nagesh Bhosle, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Remy Matthews</span> British-born, Australian-raised cinematographer

Nick Remy Matthews, ACS, is a British-born, Australian-raised director of photography who lives in Spain. In 2020 he was named "Cinematographer of the Year" by the Australian Cinematographer's Society. He was also named byVariety as one of the "10 Cinematographers to Watch" in 2019 for his work on Hotel Mumbai., a factual action drama depicting the Mumbai terror attacks, directed by long time collaborator Anthony Maras. The film stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher, Suhail Nayyar, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Tilda Cobham-Hervey and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2018 where Matthews was singled out for praise for his work on the film. Rolling Stone declare that "Even in the chaos of bullets and bombs — kudos to ace cinematographer Nick Remy Matthews — Maras creates a sense of actual lives hanging in the balance.". The Hollywood Reporter also praises the "...kinetic cinematography..." that enhances "...the idea that these are real events.". Variety describes the film as "Stunningly framed and photographed..." and as having a "...visual striking aesthetic."Washington Square News describes the film's cinematography as spanning "...cramped utility closets and breathtaking skylines, a visual treat from beginning to end."

<i>The Souvenir</i> 2019 film by Joanna Hogg

The Souvenir is a 2019 drama film written and directed by Joanna Hogg. A semi-autobiographical account of Hogg's experiences at film school, it stars Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke and Tilda Swinton.

<i>Burn</i> (2019 film) 2019 American thriller film by Mike Gan

Burn is a 2019 American horror film written and directed by Mike Gan. It stars Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Suki Waterhouse, Harry Shum Jr., Shiloh Fernandez and Josh Hutcherson.

<i>I Am Woman</i> (film) 2019 biopic about Helen Reddy

I Am Woman is a 2019 Australian biographical film about singer Helen Reddy, directed and produced by Unjoo Moon, from a screenplay by Emma Jensen. Tilda Cobham-Hervey stars as Reddy alongside Evan Peters, as her manager husband Jeff Wald, and Danielle Macdonald as rock writer Lilian Roxon.

<i>Flinch</i> (film) 2021 American film

Flinch is a 2021 American crime thriller film written, directed, and produced by Cameron Van Hoy. The film stars Daniel Zovatto, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Cathy Moriarty, Buddy Duress, and Tom Segura.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is an Australian drama miniseries created by Sarah Lambert and based on the eponymous novel by Holly Ringland. All seven episodes were directed by Glendyn Ivin, and were released by Amazon Studios from 4 August to 1 September 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 "Adelaide movie One Eyed Girl wins Jury Award at Austin Film Festival". The Numbers . 27 October 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 "One Eyed Girl (2015)". The Numbers . Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  3. 1 2 Whittaker, Richard (12 December 2015). "DVDanger: One Eyed Girl". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Cite press release: https://oneeyedgirlfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/ONE_EYED_GIRL_Press_Kit.pdf
  5. ↑ de Bruyn, Simon (4 November 2012). "Doomsday Cult Thriller ONE EYED GIRL Starts Shooting". Twitch Film . Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "One Eyed Girl (Outside 5000)". Adelaide Film Festival . 26 September 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "2014 Winners". November 2014.
  8. ↑ Scheck, Frank (3 November 2014). "'One Eyed Girl': Austin Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  9. ↑ Wilson, Jake (29 April 2015). "One-Eyed Girl review: Dark side of cult exposed in flawed but promising debut". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  10. ↑ Maddison, Charles (1 April 2015). "One Eyed Girl: an absorbing thriller". The Independent Weekly . Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Congratulations to all the 2014 VIC & TAS Awards Winners - Australian Cinematographers Society". www.cinematographer.org.au. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Awards 2015 | Australian Screen Editors". Australian Screen Editors . Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  13. ↑ "Nick Matthews Archives".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.