As we close out another year, here are a few films that may have fallen through the cracks to catch up on the final week of 2024 film viewing.  See you in 2025!

“EXILE”
Director: Aaron Erol Ozlevi

A sort of Romeo and Juliet for modern times, this film from director Aaron Erol Ozlevi (Dönerse Senindir) and writer Selin Tunc follows the unlikely romance of a Turkish man (Turgut Tolgahan Sayışman) and a Greek woman (Saadet Işıl Aksoy) who fall in love on the disputed island of Cyprus on the eve of the expulsion of its Greek population in 1955. Stunningly lensed on location, the Mediterranean backdrop provides a heartrending counterpoint to the divisions rending the island apart, with the two lovers caught in the middle of it. While not exceptionally original thematically, the end result serves to tell history often forgotten in the West.

Winner of Best Director at the San Francisco International Film Festival and Best Feature Film at the Niagara Canada International Film Festival.

“SILENT NOTES”
Director: Toni Comas

I truly appreciate it when a film tries something different, as is the case with “Silent Notes” by director Toni Comas (“Chernobyl 1986”) and screenwriter Jason Furlani (“Floating Sunflowers”).  Deaf actor Daniel Durant portrays Bruce, a young man from New York who sees a way to a better life if he can just save enough money for an experimental—and very expensive—hearing-restoring procedure that insurance won’t cover.  Through networking, he finds his way to a restaurant run by underworld types (among them is screenwriter Furlani as Carmine), whose business is a front for running. We never find out what Bruce is transporting, but your guess is probably right.  Simultaneously, Bruce becomes enamored of Ethan (Matt Riker), but their chances at love are complicated by the life of crime they’ve chosen.

“Silent Notes” is a crime thriller unlike any I’ve seen in some time.  Durant is mesmerizing as Bruce, and the film is populated around him with great thespians of the New York theater scene.  A gem of a deceptively simple film destined for arthouse greatness.

“SILVER HAZE”
Director: Sacha Polak

Writer-director Sacha Polak and actress Vicky Knight collaborated to astounding effect with “Dirty God,” about an English mother trying to make a life for herself and her daughter after the mother has suffered a severe burning disfigurement—I named it to my 2020 best-of list (here).  Actor and director return with “Silver Haze” about a nurse named Franky (Knight) who befriends an ER patient named Florence (Esme Creed-Miles) when the latter’s suicide attempt lands her in Franky’s hospital.  As was the case with her character in “Dirty God,” in “Silver Haze” Polak provides a fictional backstory for Knight’s very-much-real burn scars (suffered when the actress was only 8 years old), and it is the anger behind Franky’s injuries that drives her to concoct a horrific revenge plot—and one she never would have entertained had she not met the unstable Florence.

As with the earlier film, the plot is less important than Knight’s extraordinary acting skills in this, only her second feature-length film.  (Knight, in real life, is, in fact, a trained nurse.)  Polak directs without showiness or flourishes, allowing her talented cast to bring the pain of their respective experiences out in their acting.  And as with “Dirty God,” the ending isn’t precisely a climax, but it does provide some sense of closure.

May Knight continue to act, and may many other filmmakers besides Polak soon use her tremendous talents.

(featured image is from “SILVER HAZE”)