Siberia

Director - Abel Ferrara (Ms. 45, Body Snatchers)

Starring - Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, John Wick), Dounia Sichov (The Sleeping Beauty, Happy End), and Simon McBurney (The Conjuring 2, Being Human)

Release Date - 2019

Genre - Horror

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     With the pandemic slowing the everything down I rarely expect to get a movie in for review anymore.  I guess I should explain what I mean.  Companies like Blue Underground, Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, and so on release older titles on newer formats.  The pandemic didn't really slow them down as they were already filmed.  However, I don't expect to to get many new films in for review.  A few weeks ago I received the press release for the Willem Dafoe film Siberia.  This one was filmed in 2019 prior to the pandemic and just received a physical release.  I was grateful to get this one in for review and couldn't wait to check it out.

     The film follows Clint (Dafoe) who lives alone in the frozen tundra.  He moved there to find himself and seek piece but his journey takes him into his dreams and nightmares.

     Siberia is a tough film to watch.  It's very confusing and at times it felt conflicting.  Some people may not enjoy it all all but I had fun with it WHEN I understood what was happening.  Regardless, I think it deserves your time.  The acting in this one is great.  Dafoe is center stage through this entire film and he does not disappoint.  He really submerges himself in the role and delivers, what I would consider, to be his trippiest performance yet.  The supporting cast is solid but they are only on screen for a short period of time.  The story for this one is a bit of a mess but there was some fun moments.  Actually, a lot of fun moments but it was very confusing at times.  I would have to take my socks off to count the times I was left baffled by what was going on.  From reading the reviews on imdb I can see I'm not the only one.  The movie would have been a lot more fun if it actually made sense or had a story that was more straight forward.  If confusing the viewer or insulting their intelligence was what they were after then they were successful.  Finally, the film has a lot of trippy scenes.  Some has nudity, male and female, others have nightmare sequences with a grizzly.  The movie bounces through a lot of different scenarios but there isn't any fun death scenes that most horror fans are looking for.  There is a few death scenes that are fun but they don't really deliver the gruesome imagery that we are always on the lookout for.  Overall, Siberia is going to be a frustrating watch for a lot of you but if you stick with it the payoff is worth it.  I enjoyed it but I will never dive back into this one sober.