David Given Schwarm

I started watching this on Netflix early in the morning, but the kids got up so I had to stop. I finished watching this on the couch with Lisa. The movie is a Canadian LARP film so I expected a lot of humor and nerd shenanigans–I did not expect sledge hammers to the head, bloody rock face smashes, and weird sex scenes–I mean who sticks there tongue out like that EVER. In any event, a very odd film–violent, perverse, and not a little thought provoking for a low budget indie film.

The main actress, who some how had started using LARPing to escape the real world as an almost addition, was completely gorgeous and her relation to the younger brother and evil shaman guy was really well done–there was no investigation of her motivation which actually added a lot to the drama of those scenes. The relationship of the brothers was awesome–and their communication around the father was fantastic. It is almost embarrassing to write this stuff about such a seemingly whacky movie, but I really did feel drawn in and challenged by these relationships. Even the minor characters with their back burner shakespearian issues added a lot to this film. As I am working this film, I am flashing on scenes and dialog that was really surprisingly good–there is this whole thing about the lost saga’s of our fathers and stuff that works within the LARP, but also tells a lot of the real world story as well. A good movie that I would recommend to just about anyone.