Popular reviews

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  Review by Edith ★★★★ 4

  One of those little gems that doesn't have enough recognition that I think it deserves, or people don't know charm when they see it (I'm looking at you fellow boxd reviewers). The emotional plot itself isn't new, but the presentation of it is highly stylized and rewardingly complex. Martin Donovan plays Martin Donovan a sappy architect with a gambling problem whose wife divorced his ass in which, of course, a heavy amount of emotional numbing ensues. He is commissioned to revamp the pulsating chic nightclub his psycho masculine friend owns (Richard Schiff) and meets a psychic named Heaven, a very well handled and modern characterization of a transwoman, who guides him through the night's events. As an audience, we are…

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  Review by Justin LaLiberty ★★★½ 1

  some alternate universe late 90s neo-noir that feels like Hal Hartley and Tarantino co-directing a riff on Atom Egoyan's Exotica -- honestly not sure how much I *like* this as it's largely off putting for a variety of reasons, but it's never not interesting which is more than I can say for 90% of similar films; I swear Martin Donovan is a robot

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  Review by nomenclature ★★★★½ 2

  A dingy fluorescent haze of gambling premonitions and nonlinear time skipping, a real sodden sense of dread and shots that are actually scary and foreboding. This is one of the darkest films I've seen in a while; everything looks grimy and manic depressive, everyone is disturbed and hopeless, the main character is a wreck on a downward spiral and the story touches on the marginalization of and violence against transgender people. You know, basically what you'd put on when it's your week to entertain the church youth group. A little acerbic humor, a Casino Royale-tier suspenseful poker scene and the moral is likely that you are either the rotten or noble company you keep. Most of you edgy malcontents would probably like this.

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  Review by mattstechel ★★½

  Kind of a puzzle piece movie where the movie gives you all the pieces ahead of time and you get to see the movie fit them all together, whether or not you find that satisfying i think depends on how much you prefer the movie's style. This movie is nicely stylized mostly via non-linear editing, but I wasn't all that into the story the puzzle pieces were laying out here. I should say that Danny Edwards (who's an actor I never heard of before) is very, very good here playing the trans stripper who's name gives the movie its title--they're also clairvoyant. Edwards is good enough in this that I wish the movie surrounding them was better than it ends…

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  Review by K. Axel ★★★

  Not quite what I expected, and that’s a good thing. The story is strangely intriguing, and I found myself wanting to figure out the puzzle. There are a lot of different stories being told here and they aren’t all reliable. Definitely don't trust what you see to be the truth or even what is happening right now. Like Heaven, you could be seeing the future at any time.

  But there are too many stories and too many important characters - it is a little messy. And not everything is coherent (like why Stanner would play poker with those guys when he seemed like the only one with any money), but still, I watched in fascination. Definitely a movie I could see myself returning to at some point.

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  Review by AfterMovieDiner ★★★

  A very, late to the party, low budgety 90s crime thriller which is anchored by two great performances by Martin Donovan and Danny Edwards who really did deserve awards for this.
  It's just not that interesting a story sadly and full of horribly grimy and despicable people and actions. While the Director shows a ton of promise in some scenes and with his deft time jumping and editing, in other scenes it's all over the place.
  The hard time here is getting me to give a shit about any of this and to allow me to believe that amongst all this grimy, unpleasantness we have to make the leap that there's a transgender stripper who can see the future.
  It is a neat drama, well paced and well put together but the question I was left with was why would anyone bother.
  Worth a watch as a curiosity but would never become a favourite.

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  Review by franklin 🚀 ★½

  ah, trans violence for the sake of shock value, my least favourite trope

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  Review by anna

  points for young blond karl urban. shock over substance.

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  Review by Bananarama_Moon ★★★½

  First of all, I wasn’t in the best state of mind for this movie so my “review” may not be 100% fair. It’s a thriller that kind of fell under the radar. It has a bold use of editing and time for an 90s film. I personally like movies from the 90s because they aren’t pretentious and this is one of them.
  I missed a few elements because I was tired so I suggest being in a good mental shape when watching this movie.
  Thrillers/crime movies may not be my favorite genre but this one is worth checking out.

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  Review by Cara ★★½

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  You once asked me why they call me The Sweeper.... Now you know. 
  Blond Karl Urban beating rapists up? thank you. 

  Every thing else is kinda ?????? though- as in it’s extremely transphobic but then it also subverts transphobic tropes??- Multiple characters constantly demean, abuse, & sexually assault Heaven for violent transphobic shock value.. and I feel like the writer only made her trans to other her along with her psychic abilities which is gross. But I still found the end satisfying as I’m a sucker for revenge, and ‘the sweeper’ beat the shit out of (some of) her assaulters allowing them to drive off into the sunset together which was cute? But that’s still not good, it’s just that she sort of got a happy ending and the bar is so low?

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  Review by Dmitry_Karpyuk ★★★

  Новозеландский "закрученный" криминальный фильм, стремительно перепрыгивающий из настоящего в будущее и прихотливо смонтированный в духе раннего Дэнни Бойла. Молодой Карл Урбан даёт всем пизды, а Мартин Донован в главной роли стал мне уже почти родным.

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  Review by Simon Abrams ★★★

  Doesn't really add up to much as I never understood what was going on with Heaven or what predestination matters to Martin Donovan's character. But it's novel, as a sort of proto-Memento. Also, killer Richard Schiff performance.