‘Old Flame’ Barely Warms [BHFF 2022 Review]
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Old Flame is advertised as, “A college reunion spirals into violence when two former lovers reconnect and rediscover a dangerous secret.” That led me to think they murdered someone in the past. Or would be trying to hide some terrible secret they are willing to kill over? I was a little disappointed when I hit play and got a glimpse of what seemed like attempted sexual assault. I made a note to include that content warning in my review and kept going.
Because this movie is also sold as a two-hander in a “theatrical three-act structure,” we have to assume that Calvin (Andy Gershenzon) is the perpetrator of the act we saw at the top of the movie. So, us getting to know more about him, his kids, and his responsibilities at this college reunion feels flat. We know too much and are waiting to see how we get to where we started. All his moments of talking about what a great guy he is are extra hollow. We all know this guy, and the movie confirmed he’s the monster.
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When Rachel (Rebeca Robles) appears we assume she’s the intended victim up top. So, their long scene, which is act one, where they catch up feels out of place. It gives us a version of the events that led to them breaking up in college. It also paints Rachel as almost an edgier version of Jess from New Girl . While this scene establishes a view of the chain of events that was their college relationship, it feels exceptionally long. As if it’s still trying to hold its cards close to its vest after showing them to us before the opening title card. We get the version of the truth that paints Calvin as clingy in college. So clingy that Rachel dumped him, but he’s carrying a torch for her.
Act two finds the two sitting down for drinks. We learn Rachel came here with the goal of talking about what actually happened between them in college. This isn’t the first piece of media we’ve seen where a survivor confronts the person who assaulted them. However, this one feels like it’s missing something. It also seems unsure how to handle Rachel as a character. She whips out a vibrator at the table while they’re still doing friendly banter. It feels like Chekhov’s gun, and I was worried Old Flame might try to muddle sex and sexual assault. After their he said, she said conversation, Rachel suggests they head to Calvin’s hotel room to talk in private.
The hotel room sees Rachel’s grand plan unfold in act three. As we build up to that though, it hits some of those sour notes of previous rape revenge movies written by men. I didn’t find it as rage-inducing as some, and I wasn’t as disappointed as I have been with others. It felt like the wrong notes being hit in a song. I love that men are trying to explore gender dynamics and call out the patriarchy. However, the feminine rape-revenge sub-genre is one of the areas where most are still not able to stick the landing.
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While I’m sure there were some good intentions here, I found myself wishing Rachel would move her plan along. We had to endure quite a few of her more questionable tactics to get what she came here for. This hotel moment shows us that Rachel’s character is missing pieces at the core to make a whole. Part of what’s not working is that she feels false when we need her to be the anchor in this kind of tale. I feel like Robles did everything she could with what she was given, but we find ourselves questioning Rachel for the wrong reasons.
Calvin erupts into a tirade detailing all the rapes he has committed during his lifetime. Rachel records it and sends that video off to his wife and boss. Calvin takes issue with this, and we get to the attempted assault we saw at the top of the movie. This is when the predictable things turn the predictable table, and Rachel gets her revenge. While the final image looks cool, I don’t think I found it as empowering as I was supposed to. I think having her about to use her vibrator to assault a drugged Calvin is an ending that will lead people to have some conversations. I also think this script would have probably been a celebrated play twenty years ago. However, today we would be reexamining it and wondering how we can update this story to make it a part of these new conversations.
Let me know if you caught Old Flame at @misssharai .
A lot of good intentions muddled in what would’ve been an award-winning play about 20 years ago.
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Directed by Christopher Denham
A college reunion spirals into violence when two former lovers reconnect and rediscover a dangerous secret.
Andy Gershenzon Rebeca Robles
Director Director
Christopher Denham
Alternative Title
Thriller Drama
Releases by Date
19 oct 2022, 01 mar 2023, releases by country.
- Premiere Brooklyn Horror Film Festival
- Digital Fandor
90 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page
Popular reviews
Review by HorrorSage ★★★★½ 8
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Rec by Child of Chaos weird symbol I don't know how to make appear with my keyboard letterboxd.com/quentin/
Rec me Daddy boxd.it/cmQoM
Is that appropriate here?
Ok so kinda spoilers though the major spoilers I called from jump.
So the faux woke d-bag pretend feminist raped the lead actress. And the movie is divided in 3 parts. The first act is just our lead, who is evil Zooey Deschanel awkwardly hitting on her college boyfriend. It's super cute and creates the almost sitcomy element that goes to prepare us for the next two acts.
Act 2 is the strongest act of them all. Evil Zooey and Nice Guy are having drinks and she is giving details about him because "OMG…
Review by Justin ★★★★½ 9
I don’t know if it’s fair to judge a movie by this so let me just get it out of the way. One, the poster is terrible. Not only is it terrible but it give almost literally the last minute away and gives people the wrong impression of the movie. Next, I’ve seen this called a horror movie somewhere but it’s most definitely not.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way. I loved this damn movie. It’s a really quiet movie and it expects a lot out of Rebecca Robles and Andy Gershenzon. They’re the only people in the movie and if they don’t work, if their chemistry doesn’t work, this movie fails. They both were fantastic but…
Review by thedayofthedot ★★★½
Jennifer Hills in the streets Hayley Stark in the sheets
Review by samantha
The actors really put their all into this, and I was actually deceived by what seemed like awkward execution in the beginning. Especially in the final act, it's clear these two have a powerful force inside of them. Andy Gershenzon's significant monologue was deafening, it's almost unbelievable his career is primarily being a magician. It's such a disarming profession for some reason.
It's hard to recommend Old Flame because if I'm understanding the intended message correctly, I'm not entirely sure it needed to be said in this way. But I was fully engaged with the characters and happy I watched it just for the actors themselves. I think that while it has an entirely different direction than Some Velvet Morning, it plays out in a similar manner (heavy dialogue building to a finale).
This definitely has some huge trigger warnings, and should not be mistaken as a horror film, or even a thriller for the most part.
Review by 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖙𝖕𝖚𝖓𝖈𝖍𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊 ★★★
I guess you could say he got what he deserved in the end 😎
Review by Astrasa ★★★
This dialogue heavy thriller starts off slow and doesn't annouce where it's going until the half way point. Until then I got a bit impatient. However, in that second half theres a really compelling story and its all commicated with fairly strong acting. I wish there was just a bit more interaction with a third party to make it feel like a living, breathing world. Overall, it was a good one-time watch for me.
Review by Quentin 5
from cute, to confusing, to terrifying. kind of like mass (2021) where you're waiting for that one piece important information to be revealed, and then it gets worse for everyone involved. i always give props to a movie that manages to make me audibly gasp. if you don't mind dialogue-heavy movies, go for it. it's only 90 min long, the performances really carry it and the payoff is worth it.
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i adore a chekhov’s dildo as much as i adore an imperfect victim.
Review by burgworks ★★★½
Whomever placed the Tubi Ad Breaks needs a raise... The Movie, "You raped me." SMASH CUT TO AD BREAK The Ad, "Watch the gameshow with the biggest BALLS on TV! The Quiz with Balls, tonight on FOX!"
Review by COBB
An elongated ten minute short.I can't think of a reason for after having written this to say: yes, I'm going to shoot it!
Review by Julieann ★★★½
Contained, play-like thriller carried by two good performances and some crazily intricate dialogue. Idek how these two actors memorized all those lines. Jesus Christ. Great little discourse film on the blurry lines of consent, incel culture, and what constitutes a modern rape revenge. I found this really captivating
Review by Momofcamden ★★★½
I wasn't expecting much going in, but it ended up being a great film. The film is heavy on the dialogue and relies on the strength of its two actors to keep the viewer's attention. Every time I thought I had figured out what was going on or who was lying, there would be a twist. I did not expect that ending either. Well done.
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