SUN CHOKE Hypnotizes and Leaves You Breathless – Movie Review
While attending Wizard World Chicago, I made many trips over to Bruce Campbell’s Horror Film Festival, which the con was also hosting right down the street. A slew of horror films were being premiered all weekend, but out them all, I only saw two. Those two being The Green Inferno and a little independent film called, “Sun Choke“.
Synopsis:
Janie’s just trying to get well.
That synopsis alone should grab your attention. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this film since I was going in blind. I arrived at the theater, checked what was playing and went in, hoping it wouldn’t be a dud. While I missed the first few minutes of Sun Choke, it wasn’t hard to figure out what was supposed to be going. And while looking back at my first initial thoughts, I definitely wasn’t prepared for the craziness that would ensue those first few scenes.
The film centers around a girl named Janie (Sarah Hagan) who seems to have some type of mental health issue and her step mom, I believe, Irma (Barbara Crampton) who is trying her best to help her get well. Her means are usually cruel and a few made me cringe at even the thought of them, but it seems to be working, but only at first. Soon we see throughout the film as Janie goes through this down world spiral of sorts as she becomes obsessed with this lady named Savannah (Sara Malakul Lane). This one sided relationship soon grows from harmless to full on dangerous within a matter of scenes. And while this film may not seem like a “horror” film during its first half, it soon dips its toes into some pretty intense torture scenes. Nothing to make you throw up, but mainly cringe at the thought of this one woman doing this due to her mental state. Everything in this film just gets crazier and crazier till the very last second.
I found the directing to be amazing and brilliant, while the performances in this film were over the top. Put all of that together with an amazing score and you’ve got one beautiful film. I’d recommend Sun Choke anyone who enjoys psychological horror films, but I do have to say that this film deserves a trigger warning for self harm. Please keep that in mind and beware if you’re sensitive to that type of thing.
I’m not entirely sure when Sun Choke will be available in theaters or online, but I recommend following the Twitter account for up to dat information.
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