The one factor extra demanding than having the jitters earlier than a special day is having an out of doors celebration intensify that wave of tension tenfold below the specter of dying. In Christoper Landon’s very good new thriller “Drop,” which /Movie’s Ryan Scott lauded as a lean, crowd-pleasing experience in his evaluate, Meghann Fahy performs a single mom who finds herself on the primary date from hell when she begins receiving a collection of threatening airdrop messages. Ought to she not comply with the mysterious determine’s particular directions to kill her date, then her son will die, as will anybody she makes an attempt to warn within the course of.
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Landon makes the leap from horror-comedy to excessive stress thriller with ease right here, making a gripping sense of paranoia as our foremost character grapples with the horrible predicament she’s discovered herself in. You may see quite a lot of people evaluating “Drop” to Wes Craven’s “Purple Eye,” they usually’re not incorrect. The latter movie is a enjoyable, if slight, cat-and-mouse recreation by which Rachel McAdams is threatened by Cillian Murphy throughout a red-eye flight as half of a bigger (and lethal) conspiracy. As for me, I would like to show your consideration to a gripping 2013 thriller with the same premise — one that you simply seemingly have not heard of however which deserves far more eyes on it.
In “Grand Piano,” Elijah Wooden performs Tom Selznick, a live performance pianist riddled with anxiousness as he is set to make his long-awaited return to the stage. Over 5 years earlier, Tom (the protege of revered composer Patrick Godureaux, performed by Jack Taylor) choked whereas making an attempt to complete the previous few notes of his mentor’s advanced composition piece, “La Cinquette.” However a whole Chicago auditorium has come out to see Tom honor his now-deceased mentor with the musical comeback of the century.
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If the load of expectations wasn’t heavy sufficient, Tom’s massive night time turns into that rather more burdened when he realizes he is being focused by a sniper (John Cusack) that may see his each transfer. Ought to he play one incorrect observe and never full “La Cinquette” to perfection, not solely will he die, however his actor spouse Emma (Kerry Bishé), who’s watching from a field seat above, may also be killed. Evidently, this makes Tom develop an much more intense case of stage fright.
Grand Piano is a psychological two-hander between Elijah Wooden and John Cusack
“Is not it superb what you will get away with in a crowded theater when all eyes are on the stage?” asks Cusack’s disembodied antagonist.
Wooden is the proper actor to toss into the orchestral meat grinder. He is a versatile performer who can play something from a wide-eyed hobbit traversing by way of Center-earth in “The Lord of the Rings” to a cold-blooded serial killer in “Sin Metropolis,” however his sensitivity makes for a quietly layered efficiency in “Grand Piano” that performs to his strengths. He is phenomenal at wanting terrified by the invisible highlight thrust upon him. We see that Tom is a kind-hearted one who’s very a lot on edge lengthy earlier than he discovers the crimson marker that alters the course of his night time. It solely makes the dread that rather more palpable after we begin to see indicators of a way more sinister live performance that is about to happen.
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An ear piece gives an auditory correspondence with Cusack’s largely unseen murderer, who needs Tom to remain centered however presents himself as a cat who merely cannot resist taking part in along with his meals. He talks to the anxious pianist with the arrogance of somebody who believes this will all go down a lot smoother than it seems. Cusack has a blast taking part in the puppet grasp, ready for the alternatives to tug on Tom’s strings to see if they are going to snap.
A central participant within the symphonic battle is composer Victor Reyes, whose heart-pounding rating emphasizes a sonic stress that reverberates by way of Wooden and Cusack’s many verbal sparring classes. It even works with out the bodily menace, because it manifests into an inside battle you may see Tom waging with himself. The concerto’s highs and lows mirror the intense stress of a musician concurrently on the hook for his viewers, spouse, orchestral staff, and, most significantly, his legacy.
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Grand Piano is a excessive strung De Palma riff written by Damien Chazelle
We appear to have moved away from excessive idea thrillers that make good use of a single location. “Grand Piano” is a wonderful instance of this being executed proper. The movie is elegantly directed by composer turned filmmaker Eugenio Mira, who wrings an excessive amount of suspense out of the Chicago auditorium as the last word stage for terror. It is a disgrace Mira hasn’t directed a characteristic movie since this; he brings an actual old-school aptitude to the desk, permitting the film to thrive in its marriage of visible and auditory thrills.
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“Grand Piano” is possessed by the spirits of Alfred Hitchcock and Brian De Palma, because the digicam is having simply as a lot enjoyable toying with Wooden’s pianist because the murderer is. I levitated on the inclusion of a match lower that brilliantly compounds somebody getting their throat slit with a shard of glass in opposition to a bow scraping in opposition to violin strings. Between the beads of sweat and wandering eyes, the digicam relishes in capturing the psychological misery on each inch of Wooden’s face. The looming menace of dying is accentuated by the hellishly crimson backdrop he is enveloped in.
One of many extra eye-catching abilities connected to the movie is “La La Land” and “Babylon” filmmaker Damien Chazelle, who wrote its script. There are factors the place the adversity to play a flawless live performance operates like a dry run for the musical depth Chazelle would inevitably carry to “Whiplash.” Chazelle thought of his go to to the “Grand Piano” set a useful expertise as a blossoming storyteller, seeing how the actions of the digicam had been attuned to the pre-ordained layering of the music itself.
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All in all, “Grand Piano” is a pulpy good time that does not waste a second thrusting you into the chaos, and, at 90 minutes, does not overstay its welcome.
“Grand Piano” is at the moment streaming on Prime Video.