Reviews

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  ★★★★½ review by Filmspotting on Letterboxd

  Malick, Altman, Cassavetes' woman under the influence Rowlands... Evoking these names discredits Trey Edward Shults and his star Krisha Fairchild. This is a singular piece of cinema, using the tools of cinema – camera movement, framing, sound design, performance – to not just show us one woman's attempt at redemption for her former sins against her family, but to experience it with her. Moment by fragile moment.

  ...Probably didn't articulate that as eloquently as I hoped to. Fortunately, will have more chances this year when discussing 2016 Golden Brick contenders.

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  ★★★★★ review by Wesley R. Ball on Letterboxd

  A cacophony of external chaos and internal turmoil, Trey Edward Shults' freshman feature length film Krisha is a magnificently shot film that I'm shocked hasn't garnered more attention from the cinematic community. I recall reading a couple of reviews of this film earlier last year, when it was most likely premiered at festivals, but I never heard anything else about it until a week or so ago when I was made aware that it was showing near me. One look at the trailer, and I fell madly in love with the artistic cinematography style that Shults uses. Much like Mommy and Tom at the Farm, Shults utilizes three different aspect ratios to symbolize three different emotional points that Krisha experiences throughout the film: steadily normal (1.85:1), a dreamlike drunk (2.35:1, allowing the film to feel much more cinematic, or even like an idyllic television commercial), and a tense, claustrophobic feeling of being trapped (1.33:1). The quick transitions between these three aspect ratios was a sublimely brilliant symbolization that makes the film even more powerful in its tale of a wandering soul lost and on a path to self-destruction.

  Krisha opens with a breathtaking tracking shot that perfectly sets up the title character's own psychological weaknesses. Between indecision, confusion, and awkward but genuine long-awaited family greetings, Shults sets up a ticking time bomb that could go off at any given moment. It's this brilliant handling and attempt at defusing this bomb that makes up the strongest points of Krisha. The film isn't so much about the destination, but rather about the journey- a slippery slide into implosion and ostracization. The frayed and distant connections that Krisha has maintained with her family are what drive the characters' emotions and conversations, creating a feeling of tension and friction that never lets up. As the story progresses, more and more is revealed about Krisha and her own tumultuous past with her family, and the cracks in her psyche become more and more apparent as her implied "black sheep" status is put forth. It's this tension and gradual revelation that draws you in fast enough for its lightning brief runtime, packing a staggeringly powerful shot into its 80 minutes.

  The soundtrack is expertly crafted to synchronize with the crescendoing velocity that Krisha sets its course for. I don't think I've heard a soundtrack that so perfectly personifies its plot pace in quite a long time, as its adrenaline-pumping quality plays in perfect harmony with the story. Even if the director had chosen to stick with only one aspect ratio, the soundtrack would undeniably have been my absolutely favorite aspect of the film. It's such a spot on definition of "perfection" that I can't quite put it into words. I can just say that it's probably one of my personal favorite accompanying scores of this decade.

  With its multiple aspect ratio gimmick in the spirit of Mommy and some cinematography that will give Emmanuel Lubezki a run for his money, Krisha is undoubtedly going to be the most underrated film of the year. The fact that I had heard almost nothing about this film outside of Letterboxd until recently is probably telling of just how public this film is going to get, so I'm saying this right now: go see Krisha as soon as you can! It's probably one of my favorite releases from A24, and solidifying evidence that they're quickly becoming one of the premier distributors of the best independent films today. I can't begin to tell you just how much this film spoke to me on a personal level, and yet on a technical level it's even more of a staggering achievement. It's not that something like this has never been seen before, but it's so immendly well done that I can't help but laud its qualities. Krisha is a short yet powerful drama that delivers an incredible amount of emotion in its brevity.

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  ★★★★★ review by Eli Hayes on Letterboxd

  whoops re: when you've legitimately lived this film.

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  ★★★★½ review by Issac on Letterboxd

  This ain't your mom and pop's typical Thanksgiving movie, unless you're Trey Edward Shultz (the director/writer) where he basically had most of his family and friends star in this wonderful depressing Thanksgiving movie of his.

  This movie is clearly some big metaphor for something but my brain is too dumb to process anything right now.
  
  I will say that Mr. Shultz does an amazing job with his camera work and an awesome job of having the characters and the story build a foundation of loneliness, pain, and recovery. Using the Thanksgiving holiday as a starting point and just building on that, it's perfect.

  The feelings that become exchanged as the movie goes on ends up becoming more sad and more realistic, you just can't help but relate in some way and that's just one of the many things I liked about this movie.
  
  This film did make me feel sad at the end and I'm still confused as to what I'm sad about but It's clear that Trey Edward Shultz has a great mind for storytelling and I can't wait to see what other films he has in store for the future.

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  ★★★½ review by davidehrlich on Letterboxd

  Like Terrence Malick, Robert Altman, and David Lynch collaborated to remake Rachel Getting Married by committee (a perfectly plausible scenario), Trey Edward Shults’ Krisha collapses several generations of family trauma into a whirlwind Thanksgiving weekend that stretches the notion of 'unconditional love' to the breaking point. Shot in just nine days but obviously percolating for as many years, Shults’ SXSW-winning domestic drama – in which he co-stars with several members of his family, including his aunt in the title role – is a cataclysmic collision between the cinematic and the mundane.

  READ THE FULL REVIEW ON LITTLE WHITE LIES

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