Starfish (3/5) – Movie Review

Starfish is a new horror, drama, sci-fi movie that blends these genres perfectly. If you haven’t heard of the movie yet, then you surely will soon. Or maybe you’ll be the one talking about it after watching it. And you absolutely should. Read why in our Starfish review here!

Starfish is a new horror, drama, sci-fi movie that is taking away everyone’s breath. Most people really like it (I’m one of them) and even those who don’t care for it, have clearly still been moved by it. 

However, and this is important, it does require quite a lot from its audience. You need to both pay attention and allow the symbolism to just melt into you.

It’s difficult to explain too much without giving away spoilers and plot twists. Just know that you should watch this without knowing anything and rest assured that it is not “just” drama. There is both horror and sci-fi enough to please fans of these genres.

Read more about the wonders of this small movie in our Starfish review below!

Virginia Gardner will blow your mind

You might already know the star of Starfish. Her name is Virginia Gardner and she’s currently part of the Marvel series Runaways on Hulu. However, for fans of horror and sci-fi, she’s probably more known for her roles in movies.

Virginia Gardner was in Halloween (2018), Tell Me How I Die (2016), and Project Almanac (2015). I’ve never seen her in anything where she wasn’t brilliant. And yet, this definitely marks her entry on a whole new level.

With Starfish, we really get to experience what she’s capable of and I cannot wait to see her in more challenging roles like this one. She is a revelation and makes the movie work. And make no mistake, Starfish does challenge its audience a bit with the genre-bending storyline.

But the movie-watching experience is so worth it. Also, this is the kind of movie that stays with you long after the end credits have finished.

The end of the world as we know it

No, I’m not giving away any spoilers but rather paraphrasing part of the official plot. And while the drama of a personal tragedy is at the heart of Starfish, the world-ending elements are very much horror and sci-fi related.

This is very much a slow-burner. Even to a fault, at times, but it also seems necessary in order for its audience to surrender to the symbolism of everything. 

Also, it makes you relate to Virginia Gardner’s character, Aubrey, a lot more. After all, she is left to her own device and acts only opposite a tiny turtle in the vast majority of this story. 

Starfish is not for everyone but it is visually gorgeous. To my surprise, it also features surprisingly impressive monsters which is something I never expected. I mean, we’re approaching Godzilla levels, at one point, and stunning use of CGI.

A very impressive debut for A.T. White

Even though Starfish is a rather brilliant story about a girl (or young woman), the movie was written and directed by a man. His name is Al White but also goes under A.T. White. 

Also, it’s based on his own tragic loss of a best friend to cancer. Knowing this isn’t necessary to appreciate the movie, but it does make everything in Starfish feel even more real and honest.

The fact that this also marks the feature film debut for A.T. White is all the more impressive. Finally, the profits from this movie will go to cancer research to honor his reason for telling this particular story.

Do not miss out on Starfish

This little indie movie is a brilliant genre-bender that beautifully blends together horror, drama, and sci-fi. And really, there is plenty of all these genres to make the movie belong in each of them. But labeling Starfish with just one of these genres would be doing both the movie and its audience a great disservice.

In so many ways, Starfish is a little stroke of heartbreaking and terrifying (yet also strangely beautiful) storytelling. Do not miss it!

Starfish is available now on VOD/digital in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Details

Director/Writer: A.T. White
Stars: Virginia Gardner, Christina Masterson, Eric Beecroft, Natalie Mitchell, Tanroh Ishida

Plot

When a mysterious signal from an unknown dimension summons the end of days, its appears as if only Aubrey (Virginia Gardner) is left on earth. Trapped in the apartment of her recently deceased best friend, the only clue she has is a single cassette left behind after her friends death, labeled: “THIS MIXTAPE WILL SAVE THE WORLD.”

Thrust into a mystery orchestrated by her friend and stricken with grief, Aubrey begins to piece the clues together, uncovering a series of tapes all with pieces of the mystery signal. Along the way, progress is impeded when monstrous creatures begin to overrun the world and enclose in on her. Aubrey is forced to fight off the encroaching creatures and move beyond her own crippling grief in order to find the remaining tapes. But will completing the signal save the world?