Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: RECLUSE [Tribeca Film Festival - New York, New York]
The idea of a place haunted by both itself and its past is an interesting play. But really sells "Recluse" [Escape From Tribeca], at least at the beginning is a slightly aloof but precise performance by Sasha Frolova as Joan, the daughter of an eccentric artist whose approach to art is bathed in a extreme lifestyle. However what really sets this film apart in how it plays (again for the first half at least) in the sound design which is heard through Joan’s earphones (and perspective). She is a sound recordist though we never quite get the exact perception of what brings her into this form of work. An accident befalling her father and a strange phone call draws her back to a huge mansion she grew up in but we never get a sense of how her father came to own it or is true lore. He is a purveyor of it but there needed to be something deeper. There is a collection of weird side characters especially Lydia (Tobey Poser) who is protecting some part of the father Lawrence’s legacy even after we hear of Joan’s mother, an accomplished pianist who has reservations about the place, and ended up lost.
The use of squeaks and static in the wall is beautifully done making a comparison to "Blow Out" is some ways apropos. The balance with this and slow pushes really give the film (again more in its first half) a sense of foreboding. Joan’s slow reveal in a certain point of secret is an intriguing balance in whether it is pushing the supernatural or just a guilt filled conscience. The introduction in the third act and a twist actually propels the narrative too much into psycho territory. And even though Kimball Farley as Casey threads the line with some real edfe, it eventually is a little too over the top and undoes the tone of the movie. While this angle works in certain moments, it takes away the stakes and momentum that one hopes the film could have had. "Recluse" is not a bad swing and the opening salvo paints it very interestingly. But again it is about the motivations of the characters...what certain ones do while others don’t. “Recluse” which may mean something different than what you think tries to have it both ways but its greatest strength lie in the mind of June as spoken through the sound design. B-
By Tim Wassberg
