Life Sure is Grave in the World of ‘Lisa Frankenstein’

February 7, 2024

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Frankly, my Lisa, I don’t give a Stein (CREDIT: Michele K. Short / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC)

Starring: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Joe Chrest, Carla Gugino

Director: Zelda Williams

Running Time: 101 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Some Violence and Sexuality That Could Easily Have Been R-Rated If the Most Intense Parts Didn’t Happen Off Screen

Release Date: February 9, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: It’s not easy being Lisa Swallows in 1989. For one thing, her mother was recently killed during a home invasion, and she appears to be the only one who’s actually been traumatized by that tragedy. Meanwhile, there are the more quotidian, but no less dramatic, struggles of being a teenage girl. Her dad Dale (Joe Chrest) has remarried a high-strung nightmare named Janet (Carla Gugino), which has forced Lisa to finish her senior year at a new high school. And since she’s an extremely mousy wallflower, she’s either ignored, insulted, or taken advantage of by her classmates. Her stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano) tries to look out for her, but there’s a vague sense of manipulation beneath the bonhomie. So Lisa spends much of her time at the local grave of a young man (Cole Sprouse) who died a bachelor long ago. And wouldn’t you know it, the power to reanimate the dead is in the air.

What Made an Impression?: Silence and Isolation: One of the most striking things about Lisa Frankenstein is its rather quiet sound mix, to the point that I wondered if there were any technical snafus while I was watching. But things are usually on the up-and-up at the screening room where I caught it, so I’m left to believe that this was in fact a creative choice. It’s at least thematically resonant, as Lisa never quite behaves the way that you would expect someone in her situation to. She’s lost in a suburban nowheresville in which nobody knows quite how to communicate with her, save for the resurrected creature hiding out in her closet. As for Sprouse’s turn as the monster, he’s clearly studied the likes of Boris Karloff and Peter Boyle, as he adapts their grunts and staggering gaits into an improbable heartthrob.
What Stays Buried: When I saw the trailer and read the premise for Lisa Frankenstein, I assumed it was going to be an adorably huggable gothic romance spin on Mary Shelley’s classic tale. But as it turns out, the Creature and Lisa have much more of an appetite for violence than I was expecting. Some whimsy tries to make itself felt, but it proves to be an odd match for Diablo Cody’s decidedly dark screenplay. This movie isn’t for the faint of heart, though I can imagine it being embraced by the latest generation of goths. Director Zelda Williams’ touch feels a little less than sure-handed in her feature debut, but the end result is unique enough that I don’t want to dismiss it entirely. There’s a reason why dark hearts like Lisa’s keep beating on the big screen, and while I’m not sure what her story means, I won’t be surprised if it’s embraced by a group of outcasts who locate some real resonance.

Lisa Frankenstein is Recommended If You Like: Edward Scissorhands and Heathers, especially the parts where people die

Grade: 3 out of 5 Graves

Movie Review: ‘Five Feet Apart’ Wrangles Cystic Fibrosis Into the Young-People-With-Terminal-Diseases-Find-Love Genre

March 14, 2019

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CREDIT: Alfonso Bresciani

Starring: Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Moises Arias, Kimberly Hebert Gregory, Parminder Nagra, Claire Forlani, Emily Baldoni, Cynthia Evans, Gary Weeks, Sophia Bernard, Cecilia Leal

Director: Justin Baldoni

Running Time: 116 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Medical Minutiae and Sensuality

Release Date: March 15, 2019

I have a sharply adverse physiological reaction to needles, so I am not especially excited about the prospect of a movie set entirely in a hospital. Five Feet Apart does indeed remain ensconced in a medical facility, but it is actually rather merciful, for the most part, in its depiction of medical equipment inserted into bodies. But that does not mean it is without its icky moments. It focuses on a group of young people with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that primarily affects the lungs and as such leads to a lot of discharged mucus. As someone who is pretty much constantly congested, I am quite familiar with mucus and in fact have been able to find amusement in its expulsion. But it is a little harder to bear in Five Feet Apart, in which every mucus-filled cough sounds like it could be deadly.

While director Justin Baldoni (best known as Rafael on Jane the Virgin) brings us down into the muck, he knows, as we all do, that the real reason for a movie about terminally ill young people is an overwrought love story. It’s a classic opposites-attract pairing, holding close to the stereotypes to an excruciating degree, despite the actors’ most charming efforts. Stella Grant’s (Haley Lu Richardson) CF diagnosis has led her to become a control freak, which means that she makes it her mission to ensure that the devil-may-care Will Newman (Cole Sprouse) will stick to his medical regimen.

The twist that superficially separates Five Feet Apart from any other entry in this genre is that Stella and Will are not supposed to stand closer than six feet apart from each other, lest they catch each other’s infections. Their resolution to take one foot back (hence the title) comes across more as foolhardy than as romantic. I appreciate promulgating the idea that anyone, even those with terminal diseases, can fall in love and express that love (one scene in which Stella and Will strip down to their skivvies and show off their scars is a beautiful moment of vulnerability), but if it’s going to play out on the big screen, it could really use some more crackling dialogue than what we have here.

Five Feet Apart is Recommended If You Like: The Fault in Our Stars, Midnight Sun, Everything, Everything

Grade: 2 out of 5 Pill Cocktails