Adopting a fragmented narrative line and with many flashbacks, throughout the film we learn what really happened on a sunny afternoon inside a cafeteria, what happened to the people who got out of there alive and how such a fatality affected the people who live there. With the survivors. However, this comes and goes of time and some actions of the characters end up making this film tiring and sometimes confusing. If the intention was to thrill with the drama of these people, the director Rowan Woods, from the drama "Under the Effect of Water", did not manage to fully reach his objectives, at most to cause some discomfort in the spectator who may even judge the actions of those in scene, but how would he himself react if he survived a tragedy? It is this uneasiness that the film manages to provoke, a sensation that we routinely experience following media coverage of sad and remarkable episodes, such as a shooting in a movie theater, an explosion in a nightclub or a kidnapping that ends in death. Indifferent, frightened, sensitized, helpless, critical, there are several ways that a human being can react to such episodes.
Scripted by Roy Freirich and featuring Forest Whitaker, Oscar winner for Best Actor for "The Last King of Scotland", with Kate Beckinsale ("Underworld"), Guy Pearce ("Death Defying Acts"), Dakota Fanning ("Hide and Seek"), Josh Hutcherson ("Zathura"), Marshall Allman (L. J Burrows, "Prison Break"), James Babson ("Hellboy"), Kevin Durand ("Lost") and Jennifer Hudson ("Sex and the City: The Movie"). The plot tells how an incident in a Los Angeles cafeteria can cause irreversible trauma and change the way people present see the world. Each witness has come to value his life ever since.
Adopting a style similar to "Crash", obviously keeping the due proportions, and so many other smaller or pretentious films that work with several parallel stories that find a meeting point or even those that show several points of view about the same fact, the narrative begins by presenting what was supposed to be just another ordinary day at a cafeteria, however, the entry of an apparently normal individual completely transformed the environment and the people who were there. Out of nowhere this man pulls out a revolver and starts shooting everywhere, thus killing many people and then he takes his own life. Now the survivors of the tragedy must try to react to this traumatic episode, each in the best way they can.
The waitress Carla (Kate Beckinsale) is a single and unnatural mother who ends up seeing the action of victim aid groups with a bad eye and creates a certain obsession with the doctor Bruce (Guy Pearce) who was also at the scene at the time of the shooting, a man committed to carrying out new experiences in the health area, even if he has to use his sick wife as a guinea pig. The doctor becomes obsessed with the idea of saving lives, as he carries a feeling of guilt. When she left the cafeteria, coincidentally, the killer was coming in and he opened the door for her, in addition to the doctor resentful for not having saved one of the shots. Charlie (Forest Whitaker) is so confident that luck is on his side after the incident that he begins gambling at games of chance, a practice that will bring ups and downs in his life, but also disrupt that of his daughter Kathy (Jennifer Hudson), who starts to be harassed by detectives due to her father's problems, whose whereabouts she does not know.
Anne (Dakota Fanning), who had her father murdered, completely changes her behavior by seeking help in a religion, encouraging everyone to have strength and believe in the powers of God, but in reality, she omits what really happened on that fateful afternoon. Finally, Jimmy (Josh Hutcherson) witnesses many discussions between his parents, becomes embittered and sad and constantly thinks about death, although he has almost lived that experience of no return. Silent after the slaughter, no one knows for sure what he saw, mainly because the boy accepts his friend Anne's request not to say anything at all. The reactions of young people and adults are different, each one was looking for strength to move forward in a different way. Religion, distraction, work, family or silence, whichever path you take, it is certain that nothing will permanently erase your sad memories of that afternoon.
Although he works with an interesting theme and bets on a differentiated structure to stitch together several stories and add some suspense to the plot, Woods ultimately delivers a conventional drama with many flaws. What was supposed to be the film's greatest asset, the fragmented narrative, ends up working against it. The introduction is well done and impactful. Right away we are already introduced to the crime scene that will trigger all the later conflicts of the characters, however, after we see such an apex scene, what can we expect? A much more accurate script was needed to hold the viewer's attention. In addition to the various repetitions of the slaughter sequence from the perspective of the survivors, the twists in the characters' lives are not very interesting or at least they were developed in a lazy way, a problem accentuated by the bad editing that allowed the scenes to be loose. We are following the trajectory of a character and suddenly the life of another is highlighted, but a hook is not created between these scenes.
In productions of this type, it is common to have the expectation that at some point in the narrative the nuclei will unite or at least some fact in common will definitely create a link between them, but in this case the only thing that ends up bringing together the stuffed main cast of famous names is really the accident of the beginning. The conclusion seems to have been created in the time limit to wrap up filming. The character Anne makes a sweet off-camera speech to accompany a bunch of images that shows that no matter what happens, life is there to be lived and everyone must find the best possible way to do it. Cinema, especially action movies, uses the theme of violence and the trivialization of life and moral values a lot, but few films treat these social ills with the respect they deserve. Most use such themes just to tack unnecessary plots to kill free time. Drama is the ideal genre to deepen such questions, but it takes courage and intelligence to touch these wounds, something that neither the director nor the screenwriter of "Winged Creatures" had. They threw at the opportunity to carry out a striking and controversial work. It is true that talking about human feelings and reactions is not easy, it even demands a thorough research both theoretical and practical, but the material presented in this case serves, as already said, at most to cause some discomfort to the viewer. It is a pity that such discomfort is probably not due to the questions and feelings that the theme of the feature can awaken, but rather due to the desire for the final credits to appear on the screen quickly.
The themes explored in the film are profound and impactful. Trauma, survival, guilt and recovery are central to the narrative. "Winged Creatures" does not hesitate to examine the nuances of these themes, portraying the healing process and the search for redemption in an authentic and sincere way, but without the necessary depth, causing the film to lose its strength. At first, we are already surprised by the fact that occurred in the ninth restaurant, where a man fires several shots at some people. The moment is one of pure attention and observation, forcing us to understand all the details of the crime scene. People who witnessed the scene will never forget what happened that afternoon, which seemed like any other afternoon. But after this outcome, everything stops. We're taken into each character's intimate life outside the restaurant, where we'll see every disturbance shown in their lives. The direction, unfortunately, is not able to conduct the scenes in an interesting way, making them lose their rhythm. Each character has their story and their problems. An inefficient montage makes the scenes get lost. One hour we are in the life of a character and then, without the slightest sense, we are already exploring the life of another, so that later none of them intersect. The pace is too slow and the viewer is left without understanding much until much of the film is over.
"Winged Creatures" is a deeply emotional film that is not afraid to explore the complexities of the human condition in the face of trauma. With outstanding performances, a dark narrative and the exploration of deep themes, the film is a reflection on human resilience and the ways in which people face extraordinary challenges in their lives. However, the feeling we have when we go up the credits is that we only have a basic script and that it cannot delve into any of the parallel stories, not letting the viewer get emotionally involved and care about the characters, totally wasting a stellar cast.
Scripted by Roy Freirich and featuring Forest Whitaker, Oscar winner for Best Actor for "The Last King of Scotland", with Kate Beckinsale ("Underworld"), Guy Pearce ("Death Defying Acts"), Dakota Fanning ("Hide and Seek"), Josh Hutcherson ("Zathura"), Marshall Allman (L. J Burrows, "Prison Break"), James Babson ("Hellboy"), Kevin Durand ("Lost") and Jennifer Hudson ("Sex and the City: The Movie"). The plot tells how an incident in a Los Angeles cafeteria can cause irreversible trauma and change the way people present see the world. Each witness has come to value his life ever since.
Adopting a style similar to "Crash", obviously keeping the due proportions, and so many other smaller or pretentious films that work with several parallel stories that find a meeting point or even those that show several points of view about the same fact, the narrative begins by presenting what was supposed to be just another ordinary day at a cafeteria, however, the entry of an apparently normal individual completely transformed the environment and the people who were there. Out of nowhere this man pulls out a revolver and starts shooting everywhere, thus killing many people and then he takes his own life. Now the survivors of the tragedy must try to react to this traumatic episode, each in the best way they can.
The waitress Carla (Kate Beckinsale) is a single and unnatural mother who ends up seeing the action of victim aid groups with a bad eye and creates a certain obsession with the doctor Bruce (Guy Pearce) who was also at the scene at the time of the shooting, a man committed to carrying out new experiences in the health area, even if he has to use his sick wife as a guinea pig. The doctor becomes obsessed with the idea of saving lives, as he carries a feeling of guilt. When she left the cafeteria, coincidentally, the killer was coming in and he opened the door for her, in addition to the doctor resentful for not having saved one of the shots. Charlie (Forest Whitaker) is so confident that luck is on his side after the incident that he begins gambling at games of chance, a practice that will bring ups and downs in his life, but also disrupt that of his daughter Kathy (Jennifer Hudson), who starts to be harassed by detectives due to her father's problems, whose whereabouts she does not know.
Anne (Dakota Fanning), who had her father murdered, completely changes her behavior by seeking help in a religion, encouraging everyone to have strength and believe in the powers of God, but in reality, she omits what really happened on that fateful afternoon. Finally, Jimmy (Josh Hutcherson) witnesses many discussions between his parents, becomes embittered and sad and constantly thinks about death, although he has almost lived that experience of no return. Silent after the slaughter, no one knows for sure what he saw, mainly because the boy accepts his friend Anne's request not to say anything at all. The reactions of young people and adults are different, each one was looking for strength to move forward in a different way. Religion, distraction, work, family or silence, whichever path you take, it is certain that nothing will permanently erase your sad memories of that afternoon.
Although he works with an interesting theme and bets on a differentiated structure to stitch together several stories and add some suspense to the plot, Woods ultimately delivers a conventional drama with many flaws. What was supposed to be the film's greatest asset, the fragmented narrative, ends up working against it. The introduction is well done and impactful. Right away we are already introduced to the crime scene that will trigger all the later conflicts of the characters, however, after we see such an apex scene, what can we expect? A much more accurate script was needed to hold the viewer's attention. In addition to the various repetitions of the slaughter sequence from the perspective of the survivors, the twists in the characters' lives are not very interesting or at least they were developed in a lazy way, a problem accentuated by the bad editing that allowed the scenes to be loose. We are following the trajectory of a character and suddenly the life of another is highlighted, but a hook is not created between these scenes.
In productions of this type, it is common to have the expectation that at some point in the narrative the nuclei will unite or at least some fact in common will definitely create a link between them, but in this case the only thing that ends up bringing together the stuffed main cast of famous names is really the accident of the beginning. The conclusion seems to have been created in the time limit to wrap up filming. The character Anne makes a sweet off-camera speech to accompany a bunch of images that shows that no matter what happens, life is there to be lived and everyone must find the best possible way to do it. Cinema, especially action movies, uses the theme of violence and the trivialization of life and moral values a lot, but few films treat these social ills with the respect they deserve. Most use such themes just to tack unnecessary plots to kill free time. Drama is the ideal genre to deepen such questions, but it takes courage and intelligence to touch these wounds, something that neither the director nor the screenwriter of "Winged Creatures" had. They threw at the opportunity to carry out a striking and controversial work. It is true that talking about human feelings and reactions is not easy, it even demands a thorough research both theoretical and practical, but the material presented in this case serves, as already said, at most to cause some discomfort to the viewer. It is a pity that such discomfort is probably not due to the questions and feelings that the theme of the feature can awaken, but rather due to the desire for the final credits to appear on the screen quickly.
The themes explored in the film are profound and impactful. Trauma, survival, guilt and recovery are central to the narrative. "Winged Creatures" does not hesitate to examine the nuances of these themes, portraying the healing process and the search for redemption in an authentic and sincere way, but without the necessary depth, causing the film to lose its strength. At first, we are already surprised by the fact that occurred in the ninth restaurant, where a man fires several shots at some people. The moment is one of pure attention and observation, forcing us to understand all the details of the crime scene. People who witnessed the scene will never forget what happened that afternoon, which seemed like any other afternoon. But after this outcome, everything stops. We're taken into each character's intimate life outside the restaurant, where we'll see every disturbance shown in their lives. The direction, unfortunately, is not able to conduct the scenes in an interesting way, making them lose their rhythm. Each character has their story and their problems. An inefficient montage makes the scenes get lost. One hour we are in the life of a character and then, without the slightest sense, we are already exploring the life of another, so that later none of them intersect. The pace is too slow and the viewer is left without understanding much until much of the film is over.
"Winged Creatures" is a deeply emotional film that is not afraid to explore the complexities of the human condition in the face of trauma. With outstanding performances, a dark narrative and the exploration of deep themes, the film is a reflection on human resilience and the ways in which people face extraordinary challenges in their lives. However, the feeling we have when we go up the credits is that we only have a basic script and that it cannot delve into any of the parallel stories, not letting the viewer get emotionally involved and care about the characters, totally wasting a stellar cast.