Film reviews: Sister | Paranormal Activity 4 | Stitches | Room 237

Sister (12A)

Directed by: Ursula Meier

Starring: Kacey Mottet Klein, Léa SeYdoux, Martin Compston, Gillian Anderson

* * *

LIKE a lot of contemporary world cinema, the influence of the Dardenne brothers hangs heavy over this Franco-Swiss tale of a resourceful 12-year-old boy (Kacey Mottet Klein) trying to eke out a living for himself and his older sister (Léa Seydoux) by exploiting the goodwill (and the negligence) of the wealthy tourists using the ski slopes near his own decidedly modest tower block abode.

Indeed, much like the Dardennes, writer/director Ursula Meier draws out wonderfully naturalistic performances from her young stars, with Mottet Klein particularly good as the young roustabout Simon who develops a profitable sideline in thievery by stealing ski equipment and punting it on via the resort’s benevolent cook, played with much charm by Martin Compston. Adding a little more star appeal is Gillian Anderson – here clearly following the lead of Kristin Scott Thomas by seeking out better roles in European productions – playing one of the tourists. The bond young Simon strikes up with her character hints at the maternal love he clearly craves, nicely setting up an understated third-act plot twist that gives the film an additional, well-judged emotional punch.

Paranormal Activity 4 (15)

Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Starring: Katie Featherston, Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively, Brady Allen, Stephen Dunham

* *

THE fourth Paranormal Activity film in as many years isn’t terrible, just tedious. Like the others, it’s another demonic possession movie, linked by the presence of Katie Featherstone, the nightmare-plagued student from the first film. This time out, her arrival in a new neighbourhood, with her creepy kid in tow, immediately starts to have a deleterious effect on the psychic wellbeing of a new family.

Particularly affected is the video-savvy eldest daughter Alex (Kathryn Newton), who smells a rat when Katie’s kid is spuriously dumped on their doorstep and things start going bump in the night almost immediately.

Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (who were tapped to direct the previous instalment after the controversy surrounding the veracity of their excellent documentary Catfish brought them a lot of notoriety), the film perseveres with the found-footage device without bringing anything particularly effective or new to the table.

That’s too bad, because while no-one is gullible enough to believe they’re being presented with genuine footage in these types of films, judiciously juxtaposing the banality of static, surveillance-mimicking camera shots with sudden shocks has been an effective way of reinvigorating old horror tropes. But as Paranormal Activity 4 demonstrates, simply stripping away layers of cinematic artifice is no longer enough.

Stitches (15)

Directed by: Conor McMahon