 Thanks for checking out this movie review video This is for the 2017 film pie whack it and I've heard kind of mixed things on this So I assume that of all the people who end up watching this review There will be people who really liked this movie people really didn't like this movie and some in betweeners, which I'm kind of one of the in-betweeners Things I liked things. I didn't like about it But overall worth watching like I say, you know pretty much every film is worth watching at least once just to figure out If you like it personally or not Now pie whack it was written and directed by Adam McDonald who did films black trail and also did eight episodes of the show Slasher that was on Netflix, which for the most part is good. I do need to do some reviews on that though It was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival And I will say that when I watched it and I'm doing my review for it now It's available on Hulu streaming and it's not like one of the pay versions of Hulu necessarily You can get it through the the free version of Hulu So anyway, um pie whack it actually is taken from a historical Documentation basically and I like it when people do stuff like that like they take it from actual history They don't just make up their own thing So pie whack it I'm gonna read it off here was one of the supposed familiar Spirits of an alleged witch Accused by the witchfinder general Matthew Hopkins in March of 1644 in the town of Manningtree Essex England So just know that So it's always cool. Like I said when that stuff's kind of like pulled in now Obviously it took the idea of that and kind of expanded and did its own thing with it But that's where it's from initially You get the idea There will be some sort of demonic type element to this film when you hear the words in the very beginning of the film that are being Spoken because they sound kind of chanting ish. They do talk about like They are words that that sound like they're you know inviting something to come and and come into the real world Basically, and that's what ends up happening. I mean Obviously, you know spoilers with this with this review because it's not like a super new film, but There is a question what is really going on here Is it a situation where is this actual no demon or spirit of piwak it at play here? Or is it a figment of the imagination of the main character Leah? Or does it have to do with something like mental illness in the family because very early on you are it's established that her mother Leah's mother has these massive mood swings and it initially it's kind of tied into Or not kind of it's definitely tied into the death of her father and For that reason, you know, you can kind of understand why she's kind of you know seeming Unstable and oscillating between being very nice to her and very caring and then very mean and verbally abusive and Emotionally abusive with Leah so you kind of understand that but then as time goes on you kind of start to question You know is that really what it is or was that kind of a catalyst moment to really touch off in Mental illness episode with her mother And if that is the case is it a situation where there's mental illness with Leah as well? And if so is that what's going on with this whole piwak its situation where she's Having you know an episode and that's convincing her about this piwak a thing Or is there an actual piwak in the story? And I do like films that do that kind of ambiguity with stuff like that so that is good But there's another thing you need to know this is kind of disclaimer for me personally, which is I'm not huge and like Possession films and like demon films and ghost stories like sub-genres of horror like that They just don't interest me a whole lot, you know I know everyone's got those kind of sub-genres or other genres of film where they're just like it just doesn't Interest me that much and this is kind of one of those so the fact that I was interested is a good thing And just know that when I come to my rating on it, it's a personal thing, you know, obviously all my ratings are very personal so Make up your own mind There's a tough situation established for Leah at home and her mother Having just one parent and that parent changing moods constantly has got to end up being stressful it really does create a good feeling of the environment that Leah's living with of You know just having lost her father only having her mother and her mother's not even really there for her because she's you know Like I was saying oscillating between these different ranges like a full range of emotions and Actions really as well. So she can't really rely on her mother So she's kind of clinging more to her friends and then I also Forces her to you know looking for answers elsewhere And that's how she ends up in the arms of the occult and really looking into that and looking to it for answers And to it for comfort And that's you know, that's something that plays out with families in general I think you know, there's all there are always times where there are issues between parents and children and those children kind of seek solace in something whether it's you know a hobby of like reading comic books or playing video games as an escape or Watching movies or whatever, you know, it just so happens in this instance with Leah She's looking into the occult and her interest in the occult and kind of using that as her Outlet and and a way to kind of look to something because she can't look to her mother So she's kind of looking to another power a higher up To help her out in her life situation It seems Leah mother Leah's mother has driven her to the outlet of the occult Because of being verbally and emotionally abusive That kind of goes away a lot towards the end and I think that's mainly done in the film to create more of a feeling with the audience of Leah messed up by going out into the woods and trying to summon a spirit to kill her mother and It also you can see that really playing out with Leah and the way she starts to act and how emotional she gets when her mother is Being nice to her all of a sudden so It's I think for that reason that stuff is well is well developed and well written for the script The risk-cutting scene that she does when she's doing that ritual in the woods I think is particularly well done and it was very tense The way that was executed was really good especially because she went in to do it and she stopped and you don't see that a whole lot in film Usually when they're gonna shoot a film like that They just get right to it and they're just like and they don't act like it's that big of a deal The what the character went through and how the actors portrayed it and how the director probably asked for it to be done Was much better because it was more real life feeling where you know you go in to do it But you're like oh, I don't know if I really thought this through that actually really hurts as opposed to most films Where it's just like they go in and they just cut it like it's not really any big thing No, it is a big thing. So I like that they made it more realistic with this which made it more intense The mother does not seem concerned enough for a cut that looks like a suicide attempt So when the mother actually sees her cut because it's bleeding I think it was at the dinner table The amount of concern she has is not very high and so that didn't feel very realistic I think she should have been way more concerned because it legitimately that type of cut 100% looks like a suicide attempt. So That was something that I didn't really like about the writing of it. She should have responded way more strongly to that You can see Leah feeling bad about doing the ritual when her mother's finally being nice to her And this speaks to the rash decision we make in life that can have impacts past what we really wanted You know, obviously this speaks to Leah making a very rash decision of saying I'm very unhappy with my mother I want her dead, you know There had there have been times in everyone's life where they thought, you know Maybe not to the the perf that that degree of I want someone dead But to the degree of I want something bad to happen to someone and then later on you calm down and you re-think it You're just like no, I don't really want that I was just very angry at the time and my emotions got the best of me and In this film, you know that happens to Leah, but what does she do? She takes action and she goes out and tries to summon a demon to kill her mother now Little does she know that really what's happening if that's actually what happening and isn't isn't like a mental illness situation is that piwak it a Demon that is talked about by that author that she ends up meaning is one that tricks people So she asks for it to come and kill her mother little Does she know that the idea would be that it would make her kill her mother basically and how does that happen? Obviously when she's in the woods and she sees her mother sees her mother dead She thinks her mother's dead. So then I believe she then assumes that Who her mother is alive at that time is actually the demon piwak it and that's why she You know throws gasoline on her and lights are on fire Which is a crazy scene the way they shot that it's very intense It's very messed up and it's crazy and it's a good scene very good scene another scene in particular that I loved probably my favorite scene of the film and very effective very amazingly done is When her her mother, you know, whether it was piwak it or was it her actual mother laying dead in the woods You know she was laying there dead and she was you know very pale and her eyes were open because she was dead And then all of a sudden it focuses on it with her laying there on the forest floor and then her eyes Just slowly Get wider not wide to the degree that I just did but that scene it's very creepy It it fills you with dread as an audience member of oh my gosh What is really going on and then it gets it plants that seed for you to realize later That it could very well be a situation where a mother is actually live and that dead body was actually piwak it You know invading her mind and making her think that her mother was dead and that the demon is her mother and that would You know force her to go down this path to actually kill her own mother instead of piwak it actually doing it like she Asked for and this is truly one of those things of be careful what you wish for That's one of the big things that plays in this film is be careful what you wish for I'll talk about that a little bit more They have a little bit of an evil dead inspired POV shot going through the woods I always like to see that that always indicates something is coming and it does it very effectively That's why you know it worked in the evil dead and that's why it's been used so much sense by Plenty of filmmakers. It just works. It's good. It looks good It is a well done creepy part part where Janice spaces out in the woods and walks away. That's another creepy one you know obviously I Mean it appears that what happens is Janice was just messing with Leah, but we don't know a hundred percent for sure That could have been piwak it you know initially messing with Leah before the big events end up happening We don't know because at that point she had already been hearing, you know running in the attic and stuff like that so Pi if piwak it was an actual thing in this piwak it is active at that point Do Leah Nope already said that so I'll just go to kind of my final thoughts on this film There are times when the soundtrack is actually coming from music that's in the scene like you know She's listening to music in her bedroom or she's in the car and there's music on the radio I love those types of integrations of music into the scene because it makes it more immersive It's more like you as an audience member are more in the scene because you're listening to the music The characters are listening to not you're getting your own music as an audience member and the characters aren't seeing it Or aren't hearing it another thing is the way the camera work is done with this There's a lot of kind of tracking shots where they're following close behind characters Which gives it Almost kind of a pov almost a little bit of like a found footage note to it Which I think is extremely helpful in making the film feel more immersed more personal with the characters like With the way the camera is it's almost like it's one of The the people in Leah's group of friends like when they're hanging out and talking So it's more like you as an audience member are kind of like in the circle of friends And I think it really helps to kind of pull you into the film more So I like that type of camera work, especially for a film like this There are a lot of free moving following shots that make you feel more immersed as well. That's another thing Um, it's not just like following behind like I was saying But there's something to kind of go around the outside and everything I like the free moving aspect of the camera throughout this film It's cool. It makes it feel less rigid as a film The use of the age-old lesson be careful what you wish for like I was saying I mean, this is the main crux of the film is you know, don't make don't jump to conclusions Don't you know make that rash decision because you you're riding high on one certain emotion High or low actually on one certain emotion You know wait for things to calm down be logical about stuff Don't make that rash decision because you may very well end up regretting it Just saying It also hits on the fears of family relationships turning horribly and potentially dangerous and especially if what I was talking about is potentially at play in here of You know the the mental illness episode. So There you go. Plenty to think about with this film. It's My review on this is not nearly as long as a lot of my uh movie reviews But that's because the film moves relatively slowly And I think it kind of does that because it feels it needs to develop Not only the character of leal a lot more but also, you know, the relationship with her mother But also the relationship with her friends I do think maybe it's a little too slow with the way it feels and that's one of my problems with the film Is it feels relatively slow and I can see some people really hating this movie because of how slow it is But the fact that there is a good payoff at the end. I'd say quite a good payoff is Nice So my overall rating on this one with a possible five stars with half stars in play Um, I'm gonna go ahead and give it three stars I think the ending for me when I was watching it I was like a 2.5 But once the ending hit and I was like, okay, I'm good with that payoff That kind of bumped it to a three star rating for me. So I'd say three stars. I'm down with it Put some comments down here your thoughts. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Are you in between? Are there specific things about it? You want to talk about and are there things that you don't agree with that I saw in the film that did, you know You want to dispute or are there things that I didn't even talk about in the film that you saw that you're like Hey, just wanted to let you know this that would be great as well Anyway, thanks for checking this out. Do me a quick favor though Hit that subscribe button that really helps out my channel and it keeps me Motivated to keep doing these and every time I see some a new subscriber. 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