Always a favorite category of films at LA Film festival is Nightfall. Boasting some of the best horror, sci-fi, jump out of year seats, nail-biting and/or blood fests on screen, LA Film Festival 2017 is no different thanks to director Norbert Keil and his cinematographer Tim Peter Kuhn who bring us the terrifying yet visually striking and stunning REPLACE.
It’s always exciting to discover a unique new story that hasn’t been told before. It’s even more exciting to discover a new director who has an unparalleled storytelling vision. That’s exactly what we have with REPLACE and director Norbert Keil. Written by horror veteran Richard Stanley this is the story of Kira, a woman obsessed by beauty and youth, a woman who doesn’t want to grow old, a woman who is suffering with a memory loss, a woman who discovers her skin is crusting and peeling, a woman whose complexity both fascinates and disturbs.
Befriended by her neighbor Sophia, Kira is reluctant to disclose what she believes to be a gross and disgusting skin condition, lest it turn Sophia away. However, after a fainting spell which Sophia witnesses, Kira is forced to go to the doctor, a doctor whom she may have seen before given she has the doctor’s card in her possession. But she can’t remember.
Seeking treatment with Dr. Crober for both her skin and her “forgetfulness”, Kira soon learns that she has a disease which causes her skin to age rapidly so that it peels away. The miraculous part of the disease is that new skin will adhere to the peeled areas of Kira’s body. But how to get the new skin? As Kira sees it, Dr. Crober’s medication isn’t helping her. She’ll have to “treat” herself. Fleshing out her own course of treatment, Kira’s condition seems to improve. And the better she feels, the closer she and Sophia become. But what happens when Kira’s body and psyche start to spiral out of control? Can Sophia help her? Can Dr. Crober help her?
A fascinating, thought-provoking blend of science and sci-fi, Keil and cinematographer Kuhn play on the concept of beauty and create the most exquisite visuals serving as a dichotomous metaphor to the story at hand. Polished and steeped in color with red, turquoise, and blue, prominent in use and contrasted with one room of white on white on white, all are vibrant and highly saturated, creating a unique layer of storytelling. Kuhn’s lighting and lensing plays with light and color, often diffusing images as if blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Strikingly hypnotic with an undeniable sexiness.
And then look at the cast starting with horror icon Barbara Crampton as Dr. Crober. Steely, determined and curious, Crampton commands the screen with a tacit strength and cold stare. Countering Crampton though is Rebecca Forsythe who is compelling as Kira while Lucie Aron provides a soft balance as Sophia.
Mesmerizing, riveting, compelling and thought-provoking, nothing can take the place of REPLACE as one of my top three “Must See” films at Los Angeles Film Festival.
Directed by Norbert Keil
Written by Richard Stanley
Cast: Barbara Crampton, Rebecca Forsythe and Lucie Aron
by debbie elias, 6/13/2017 (Los Angeles Film Festival review)
