Sometimes I still review a film without audio description. This popped up on Hulu, and Hulu and IMDB can’t seem to agree on when this was released. It might qualify as 2024, but probably not. This is a weird little thriller about two sisters, played by Alexandra Daddario and Taissa Farmiga, who lose their father and live in a time when women need men to guide them. They have an uncle (Crispin Glover) who is certifiable, but seems like a nice guy, and then in comes a cousin (Sebastian Stan) who may have ulterior motives.
Reasons for audio description:
1) Accessibility is just the right thing to do. Damn. I’ve been trying this one for a long time, I guess I need more.
2) This is a sexual thriller, so it’s hard to be thrilling when a lot of that is built through shots chosen by the director to gradually build tension, and there’s not much sexual or intense when silence is just silence, and not people undressing each other with their eyes.
3) It’s a period piece. The costumes, set, etc., are all specific to the time period.
4) The third act goes off the rails with some action set pieces that were hard to follow without audio description.
5) Honestly, without audio description, I don’t know what the castle looks like, the characters, who is in the room, who exits the room, whether it is day or night, what food is on the plate, if someone is naked or clothed, if there aren’t violent images, or sexually explicit ones, or really anything. I know virtually nothing.
Audio description. It’s the real real, yo. They may live in the castle, but I really don’t care unless they get that accessibility on this title.
Final Grade: Unwatchable
Projected Grade If It Had Audio Description: C-, C, C+, B-
