Movie
Name/Year: Clawfoot
(2024)
Genre: Thriller
Length: 1h 27min
Rating: MA15+
Director: Michael Day
Writer: April Wolfe
Actors: Francesca Eastwood, Milo Gibson, Olivia Culpo, Oliver Cooper, Nestor Carbonell
Blurb: An upper-class housewife is tormented by a manipulative contractor, hired to remodel her bathroom.
Genre: Thriller
Length: 1h 27min
Rating: MA15+
Director: Michael Day
Writer: April Wolfe
Actors: Francesca Eastwood, Milo Gibson, Olivia Culpo, Oliver Cooper, Nestor Carbonell
Blurb: An upper-class housewife is tormented by a manipulative contractor, hired to remodel her bathroom.
Selina’s
Point of View:
Clawfoot
is marketed as a thriller, but the comedy MAKES this film.
The
first half hour of Clawfoot I wondered if the bits of comedy
were intentional or not. If intentional, it was a nice mix of subtle
and overt. If unintentional – it would have felt a bit more on the
cringe side. It took a while before it made enough sense for me to
realize just how intentional it was.
Once
I got to that point, there was no looking back. I was invested.
Somewhere between thoroughly thrilled and laughing my ass off. The
characters were ridiculous but in a fun way, and the story took a
left turn I honestly didn't expect.
Francesca
Eastwood (Old, Attention Attention, M.F.A.) and Olivia Culpo
(Paradise City, I Feel Pretty, The Other Woman) were
outstanding as the clueless duo, and Milo Gibson (The Outpost,
Hacksaw Ridge, Breaking & Exiting) was just disturbing enough
to keep the creepy aura flowing. Whereas Oliver Cooper
(Californication, Mindhunter, The Ultimate Playlist of Noise)
did a great job as the only character I ever truly felt bad for. The
four of them had to have been the dream cast for director Michael Day
(Sisters, The News Tank, Amber). If not initially, then
definitely by the time editing was done.
Clawfoot
is a trip.
Clawfoot
will be available for digital download on September 23.
Cat’s
Point of View:
It took me a few to stop simply staring
at my screen with a “what the fuck” expression painted across my
face once the credits for Clawfoot rolled.
I did not get what I expected from this
movie. Rather than an edge-of-the-seat thriller, it was more of a
dark comedy thrill ride. There was a lot of tension and the
production team really played with the slow burn of suspense at the
start, but the pops of unexpected disturbing comedic moments made all
the second-guessing at the beginning well worth it.
Clawfoot's trailer intrigued me.
I wanted to know more about this invasive brute of a contractor and
why events were unfolding how they did. There were moments that I
thought for sure that I knew what was about to happen, only for the
story to flip the script on me. Once the initial surprise happened, I
thought I had it all figured out again, and then the twist took
Clawfoot on a hard left turn and I was left siting here with
my jaw dropped for a minute.
I had gotten a good feel for how the
chemistry on screen would play out between Francesca Eastwood and
Milo Gibson as the opposing sides of this narrative, and I'm thrilled
to report that it's actually even better than the snippets in the
teaser allude to. Gibson gives off the squirmy edge of malevolence
under the veneer of jaunty conversation and 'oh gosh' helpful
contractor guy. Olivia Culpo exceeded my expectations, as well.
I'm going to date myself again, but the
friendship between Culpo and Eastwood's characters reminded me a lot
of a morally bankrupt modern version of Romy and Michelle from
Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997).
This might not be one you'll watch over
and over again, but Clawfoot is definitely worth the initial
experience. As the feature directorial debut for Michael Day. I'd say
that he has a great start in the driver's seat and I can't wait to
see what he cooks up next. I am glad that I had Clawfoot on
our Top 20 article for this
month.
You can check Clawfoot out for
yourself when it becomes available for DigitalDownload beginning September 23rd.
Rotten
Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten
Tomatoes Audience Score –62%
Metascore
–
None
Metacritic
User Score –
None
IMDB
Score –
4.7/10
Trust
the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5
Trust
the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
Trust
the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – R
P.S.
-
There is a brief mid-credits scene.
Movie
Trailer: