Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer’s horror film tells the story of a young actress who goes to desperate lengths to secure a starring role in a movie
 
Director: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer
Cast: Alex Essoe, Amanda Fuller, Noah Segan,Fabianne Therese, Shane Coffey, Natalie Castillo, Pat Healy, Nick Simmons, Maria Olsen, Marc Senter, Louis Dezseram
Rating: TBC
Running time: 98 mins
Release date: 16th of March, 2015 (DVD)
STARRY EYES is a retro-satire: it’s a biting reminder of the furtive despair haunting the Hollywood dream. The elusiveness of success is a reality for many, and the film’s insidious ‘Astraeus films’ production company know this, offering their brand of ’change’ at the expense of your humanity. Previous efforts to encapsulate the horror of career stasis and its impasse to fame in Hollywood have fallen short in providing a lucid message. Lynch’s MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001) is too abstruse and detached to be sustained satire – whereas Cronernberg meditation on Hollywood, MAP TO THE STARS (2014), is uneven and lacks focus. STARRY EYES admirably avoids both pitfalls.
The trope of the headstrong starlet is central here. Alex Essoe delivers a standout performance as Sarah, the tacky restaurant part-timer, looking to break into the Hollywood circle. The film follows her descent from innocent-girl-making-good, to a blood-soaked cultist of the inner circle. The message is succinct: submit to the whims of Astraeus films or endure a life of couch surfing, demeaning part-time jobs, and the post-modern malaise of directionless people spouting empty platitudes. Uniqueness is the be-all to Sarah and her friends – it’s the symbol of generation Y’s narcissism and entitlement, a mantra to Hollywood hopefuls. One can’t just be like ‘a million other girls’. Inferiority and the threat of nullity – to be pulled to and fro in a tide of faces – is the primary horror.
Sarah’s big break comes from her emotional turmoil, not acting. The script taps into the reality-voyeurism dollar of the age. It’s the anxiety and pathology of her physiognomic changes that impress the film casters. Her performance, then, has to be uncanny, beyond the pale, not just bearing all as a physical body, but literally screaming it out as an act. The meta-irony, here, is Alex Essoe playing Sarah playing Alex Essoe. This could be a breakout performance for her. Mainstream cinema may be within her grasp. What price is she willing to pay? Who is being talked about?
STARRY EYES vintage aesthetic layers homage upon darkened satire. The synth score wouldn’t sound out of place in a bargain bin exploitation slasher, and the heroine exudes the kind of Bambi eyed naivety expected of a Dario Argento lead. The directors have even opted for bold red credits, a knowing touch. The nihilism and lack of hope conveyed by the young hopefuls finds a home in their homes – sets are reminiscent of John Carpenter at his most apocalyptic – the youngsters populate endless strips of greyish motels; dilapidated and free of character.
The politics of envy, so central to life, manifest in STARRY EYES as passive-aggressive jostling between female hopefuls. The film is populated by characters Brett Easton Ellis cut his teeth on in novels like Less Than Zero. Friendships constitute lazy sniping across poolside deck chairs. The distinction between friend and enemy becomes entirely blurred, and the more Sarah changes, the less care she takes to placate her rivals. The film momentarily falters in over extending the metaphor for retiring her friendship circle of circumstance, turning into an all-out slasher film. Even these scenes, though, are masterfully directed, the film’s chaotic ending convincingly graphic for such a small budget.
The antagonists are perfectly cast to supplement this adroit meditation on the dark side of ambition. The creepy turns from the producer and role caller are particularly memorable. The producer exudes a daemonic aura: he’s a wide eyed, leathery tanned misogynist, satiating his desire for flesh, one young nubile following her dreams – fast-tracked – after another. The transience and fickleness of star-value is corrected, or at least delayed, but at a price. The producer sums up the film’s message perfectly. In his cavernous and otherworldly mansion he declares, ‘Dreams require sacrifice and so do we’.
VerdictÂ
