WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Frame of mind. How much does this dictate the tone of our day to day existence? Quite literally from the moment we wake up, already having some initial sense of what we’re feeling, what mood we’re in, to when we’re in the midst of routines and obligations, culminating ideally to the free time where we are supposed to enjoy the things we love the most, it’s all focused through the headspace we’re dwelling within. And when this is constantly in a frantic state, how can we find a way out of the storms? Alex (Harrison Ball) is an angry young man. Even when attempting to escape through the medium of dance he normally would treasure, it gets supplanted by a building madness threatening to consume him. But, upon reluctantly visiting a rather–unorthodox–therapist named Dr. Leechny (Marc Geller), will Alex discover the elusive means to unlock what’s deep inside and experience what he really seeks–freedom of soul?
Next, my Mind:
Fervent passion, mourning, fiery rage, coping, and the surreal but potent actualities of the mindscape get put on intensely compelling display through this 17-minute indie short film that arrives courtesy of writer/director Brian Logvinsky, writer/executive producer Harrison Ball, producer/executive producer Harrison Jaffee, producer Jess Vogel, co-producers Caroline Aragon and Megan Delaney, plus additional executive producers Victoria Logvinsky, Henry Burch, Nicholas Burch, Miranda Kahn, Gerard Williams, and Zac Posen, which had the honor of its World Premiere screening Friday June 14th at the prestigious 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, with additional screenings on Saturday June 15th (8:45pm) and Sunday June 16th (8:30pm) at the AMC 19th St. East 6. An unflinching and necessary exercise in portraying the demons of mental health afflictions, the absolute need for more consistent awareness of it and most importantly treatment to conquer it, the unequivocal beauty of indie cinema’s unique, creative, unwavering boldness puts this intended message unapologetically up front, jarringly and stirringly in your face.
Seen from the perspective of a young dancer whose evident love and talent for his profession has been drastically hindered by world-shaking pressures now paired with the subsequent boiling pot of overheated inner vexation manifesting out of it that is threatening to tear his entire reality apart even as he hesitantly seeks out help to alleviate the turmoil, the film’s pacing from the very start is a freight train out of adeptly executed control, launching the viewer into a exposé centered on one full-out psychological breakdown accompanied by the equally tumultuous path to inward redemption the lead character is encountering. The relentlessness of the narrative’s depiction of overt mental fury and the painful violence it can create is a palpable force you feel while viewing, a targeted emotional upheaval meant to keep you engaged and tense, wondering what factors could possibly come about to free such a wayward mind from its hurt and quickly deteriorating perceptions of what IS real vs. just a haze of strained nerves and entrapped notions of self identity.
BUT, the film is just as amazing, intelligently written, and persuasively impactful IN addressing this query via the means by which the narrative then fluidly finds its resolution, one that first immerses us on a trippy journey into the farthest, deepest, reaches of the subconscious followed by the sheer adulation of liberation, communicated through highly expressive dance in a manner which is so superbly, well, cathartic, as the film’s apropos title would indicate. Folks, as indicated earlier, this critic will show NO hesitation in stating that films choosing to plumb the sadly but, again, requisite truths about the crippling effects of mental anguish, those who suffer from it, whom so emphatically NEED help to manage and, ideally, escape from it is an IMPERATIVE pursuit and lesson in constant but purposeful lobbying endeavors the indie filmmaking community in particular has remained committed to in my experience, and I APPLAUD them for not letting up. Visually, this film is likewise arresting, a kaleidoscope of imagery portraying both outward and inward chaos, riveting and wholly, viscerally moving in its objectives that fully linger with you.
Another facet of elements being utilized here is through the need to enact such a fiercely harried state of being, which at least for this critic, is something NOT easy to embody believably when it comes to acting it out, the dangers of becoming overly melodramatic or forceful with the emotionally hectic air required present. Fortunately, this concern is utterly assuaged through Ball’s performance here as Alex, an impassioned young dancer who’s now caving to the undue but seemingly unavoidable, persistently building adversities life is throwing at him. Pushed to the verge of completely all-encompassing hysteria and uncontrollable acerbity, Alex starts to simply believe self-sabotage is the only out. But, when his long-suffering, not totally stable, but caring aunt confronts him, Alex ends up at an appointment with a strange, almost maverick psychotherapist who causes him to embark on one unanticipated, but life-altering venture to newly encountered freedom. Ball is so credibly, zealously, and energetically explosive in his depiction of Alex’s plight, but is also then so remarkably, proportionately a portrait of captivating joy when the character becomes aware of his deliverance.
Primary supporting roles arrive here first from Deborah Harry (yes, of Blondie fame) as Alex’s aunt Anya, a woman clearly under the weight and stresses of her nephew’s irrationality and anger-fueled mania who is still attempting to do her best to reign him back into reality while also trying to preserve a familial legacy Alex no longer cherishes like he used to and/or should. I was honestly impressed by the singer’s acting chops here, very grounded and spirited, befitting the character’s place in events deftly and also credibly. But, given Harry does have 75+ acting credits to her name, this is no surprise. Geller is also another standout performance here for me, even with the relatively brief amount of time he actually appears on screen, through his turn as Dr. Leechny, an conspicuously eccentric psychotherapist whose form of “treatment” for Alex’s condition appears at minimum to be just a tad shady and questionable at best, especially given the mix of somewhat slimy, even quietly menacing persona that comes across in his behavior as a doctor. Yet, in spite of this, will Leechny become the road to Alex’s peace of mind?
I loved how Geller flowed through the character’s quirky attitude in a way that sells you from the very beginning on JUST how bizarrely enigmatic the character is. Next up was Jemima Kirke as Dr. Leechny’s receptionist Chakra, who needless to say is quite the–obviously and fearlessly–flirtatious type who seems more than enamored with her boss’ client Alex. It’s one of those playfully mischievous characters that Kirke brings about so engagingly and entertainingly well, notably as the actress gets to pull off “double duty” here, also appearing as Dr. Leechny’s assistant in Alex’s “treatment”, Harmony. Additional supporting appearances are made by Sasha Pivovarova as Veronica, a key figure in Alex’s life both past and now present in a most ethereally haunting way, Olga Kostritzky (as herself), Zumi Rosow and Cole Alexander (members of The Black Lips), Nicholas Koshkosh, Mikey Marmann, punk band Gnarcissists (as themselves), plus real life NYC Ballet dancers (as themselves) Megan Lecrone, Christopher Grant, Peter Walker, Emily Kikta, and Spartak Hoxna.
So, in total, “Catharsis” made its World Premiere debut with an undeniably incendiary bang, highlighting the monster that is mental health struggle and the associated volatility that so often can attach itself to it while not sacrificing the essential realization that there IS help, one CAN be unshackled from it, and that the emancipation experienced can be so rapturously revelatory in its emergence.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
