Ab Film Review & The Last New Wave

With two feature films under his belt, Samuel Van Grinsven has quickly become a vital voice in Australian cinema. His feature debut, the lurid and sumptuous 2019 queer drama Sequin in a Blue Room, utilised neon lights and lingering shots of yearning to amplify the sense of lead actor Conor Leach's youthful Sequin finding his place in a new, inviting world.With his follow up feature, Went Up the Hill, Samuel, alongside regular co-writer Jory Anast, explores facets of grief through a gothic possession drama. Here we follow Jack (Dacre Montgomery) who returns home to New Zealand for the funeral of his mother. There, he forms a fractious bond with Jill (Vicky Krieps), the widow of his mother. Where Sequin in a Blue Room explored different shades of blue, from bright neons to dark navy's, Went Up the Hill immerses viewers in shades of grey, placing Jack and Jill in a brutalist style home overlooking a cold lake.This is a film that's hard to shake. I first saw Went Up the Hill over a year ago now and there are mome