Lowlife (2017)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Expected more

Excellent adaptation.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Wow, this movie was really great. I came in expecting a fun violent romp (which I received) but it was so much more than that. I really felt for all the characters and they all had wonderful story arcs. Great use of parallel story telling too! A true gem!

Life is tough for a down on his luck Mexican wrestling masked hero. Crime fighting doesn't really pay, so El Monstruo is relegated to thug duty. The conflicted good guy is a complex character, eager to carry on his family tradition (daddy was a famous luchador), but with a baby on the way, he stoops to henchman duties for local crime boss Teddy to pay the bills, usually with uncontrollably violent results.That's plenty for plot, but this film throws in a heaping helping of parallel story lines for a rather convoluted viewing experience. Major events are replayed through different characters, and alternate angles, resulting in some much needed clarity, as everything comes together nicely, and not so nicely in the end.The very seedy side of L.A. is the backdrop here, where illegals are funnelled towards horrific futures as prostitutes, or donors for a lucrative organ harvesting operation, or both. Grisly, old school gore movies are referenced as is some of Tarantino's spicier moments, but "Lowlife" works best on it's own originality: tackling very big global topics with local struggles. "Lowlife" struggles from the usual low budget issues, mainly uneven performances - Teddy is too wooden - but the clever, spiderweb tale, wild sequences, and quirky characters make up for it: here's a newly released convict with a full face Swastika tattoo, who is refreshingly likeable. No, really.

Ryan Prows' thrill ride of a movie "Lowlife" is an absolute mind-bender, so hold on to your seat and save your judgements till the ride is over... and maybe even then, take some more time to consider the judgements you've had all your life about that person on the street or that person struggling with addiction or just that general oddball family member. We're all human after all and Prows weaves a magical tale that recounts the hero's journey through the common man (or common woman in this case). It's a story as old as time of the human experience, but told with genuine heart... and lots of bloody organs to boot. But Prows has used blood and guts to good effect, and any 1 star reviews of this film clearly didn't take time to look deeper under the gritty surface to understand the truth of what it means to be human and disenfranchised in Trump's "Make America White Again" world. Prows makes us look, and laugh, and cry, and then think, which is unusual in a thrill ride coming out of Hollywood these days.

Back in the 90's every movie wanted to be PULP FICTION, that trend has died down (even Tarantino makes stuff that is beyond his sophomore feature by now) but in this day and age a film like LOWLIFE comes along and becomes a true descendant of that film by taking the madness of the times and using it as its backdrop. Matter of fact, LOWLIFE makes PULP FICTION seem quaint simply by being a product of the current decade.This is a violent crime film with a capital V and it's also delightfully mad, and yet it doesn't seem unrealistic at all; we live in the Trump era, reality packed its bags long ago and now we are left in a bizarre world similar to the one painted in this film. A world filled with vicious ICE agents raiding motels full of illegal immigrants who are in turn harvested for their organs and enslaved in sex dungeons, a world of Legendary Mexican Luchador who have lost their noble way, a world of people in need of health-care who have to turn to organ traffickers for a chance at salvation and a world where reformed Neo-Nazis get triggered when suggesting they are racist and are woke as F.LOWLIFE is also hilarious in the most pitch black of ways. This is comedy that will make you feel guilty for laughing at stuff that would ignite a Twitter war. Its intersecting L.A. crime stories provide a variety of crime tales that make the film an entertaining ride of depravity and violence, not without making social commentary along the way which keeps it from being gratuitous. Each character is provided with so much personality that they could all have their own spin-off, which is the key to these type of fragmented time-line crime films.Director Ryan Prows transcends the Tarantino homage and makes a film that announces his arrival to the film world as a creative force and we should keep an eye on him. He shoots the film with 90's era David Fincher grunge that dips the film into a dark pit of fun nastiness. It's a dirty, depraved affair that will make you want to take a shower, but that dirt won't wash away because this film will stay with you for a long time. It's that good. In the following years movies will try to comment on the Trump era, those movies will try to be LOWLIFE.Review By Enrrico Wood Lagonigro - Senior Curator Oaxaca FilmFest.