COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - THE RIGHTEOUS (ARROW BLU RAY)
Religion is a complicated topic. From the devout to the marginally associated, people have clung to organized religion for some extremely basic reasons; the need for community, and to understand the world as well as our place in it. This is not the extent to which religions help and sometimes harm, people. Rather, a broad summary of the reasons organized religion has remained relevant across human civilization. The ability to control one's beliefs is what separates us from every other animal that inhabits the Earth, and this kind of cognition can be used to galvanize cultures and people to carry out wonderful and monstrous things in the name of God(s). One of the hallmarks of religion across almost every variation is rules. Each religion and its various sub-sects has a set of suggested actions, behaviors, and practices that condition the faithful on how to be the ideal steward of their chosen gospel. Some of these range in severity, in many cases deferring to morally and ethically coded ideas of what “good” looks like and sometimes going so far as justifying genocide. And where there are rules, there are also repercussions; for what good is a rule that can’t be enforced? Some religions subscribe to an idea of penance, a way to self-punish for any attributed sins. While others take softer approaches by appealing to human nature, and the belief in a greater good as a way to guilt believers into abiding by their creed. The question of punishment and penance is essential to our next film in the crypt, THE RIGHTEOUS. This 2020 black & white mood piece is getting the BLU RAY treatment courtesy of the curators at ARROW VIDEO. Is THE RIGHTEOUS a divine addition to your sanctuary of cinema, or a false prophet taking up shelf space?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A former priest, Frederic Mason, anguished by the tragic death of his young daughter, finds himself wrestling with his religious convictions when a mysterious young man appears wounded on his doorstep in need of assistance. After he and his wife Ethel welcome him across the threshold and into their household, Frederic sees an opportunity for redemption in this mysterious and troubled lost soul, who might just be an emissary from God, or maybe the Devil...
HOW IS IT?
THE RIGHTEOUS is as complicated of a film as the topical subtext underneath it. It deals with themes of faith, penance, punishment, forgiveness, grief, and guilt all wrapped up in an intimate story about an ex-priest coming to terms with his past. The film presents a scenario where the stakes are high for the main character, but not for anyone else, including the viewer. Taken all together, there is plenty to enjoy here even if there isn’t much to remember the film by.
The most apparent, and striking observation of THE RIGHTEOUS is the crisp black and white film stock used. It adds to the cold and vapid atmosphere in which the film surrounds itself and sets a tone from the very start that we are dealing with a world that operates in the gray area of human emotion. It’s an interesting aesthetic choice, one that the director said he couldn’t imagine another way, and while I mostly agree with the choice at a metaphorical level I do wonder if precise use of color may have been helpful to elicit some more emotion from the material. This is not to say the film isn’t emotional, as it dabbles in some relatively dark parts of the human psyche. Rather, this is a commentary on the lack of empathy for the characters and their strife. Part of this could be explained by how small the film is. Consisting of mostly 4 characters and contained to a handful of locations THE RIGHTEOUS feels like the kind of movie A24 would be behind with its emphasis on visual metaphor and slow-burn storytelling.
As cold and foreboding as THE RIGHTEOUS is in its visuals, it is much more expansive in the kinds of themes it touches on. As I was writing down the various overarching ones, I counted at least 5, and I’m probably missing some. In some ways, these musings are what make THE RIGHTEOUS an interesting think piece, but the lack of focus on a core message or theme makes it hard to know which of these really matter in the grand scheme of what director/writer MARK O’BRIEN is trying to say. The strongest message is the notion of not being able to hide from your past, and this message is reinforced effectively through a series of binary choices our main character, Frederic, has to make. Other ideas like the notion of how religion exploits guilt or the mystery about who actually answers your prayers are interesting, but never really given the full weight of exploration needed for them to feel like a cogent addition to the story. This is not to say that THE RIGHTEOUS is a lesser film because it tries to tackle so much, but the expansive set of thematic touchpoints does diminish the overall impact of each one by simply making them all too broad.
THE RIGHTEOUS lives and dies by its performances, and veteran actor HENRY CZERNY as Frederic is the perfect casting. He looks like a man who has been separated from his faith, and his face carries the weight of constant struggle. The same can be said for the subtly unhinged performance from writer/director MARK O’BRIEN as Aaron. In one of the interviews on the disc, Mark talks about how he didn’t cast himself in the role to be in his own movie, rather, he knew exactly what kind of performance he wanted in his head and he couldn’t articulate that as a director so he decided to take the role on himself. I tend to agree here that his portrayal of Aaron feels genuine and born from something personal. It’s not hard to figure out where the film is going once Aaron shows up, as we have seen similar types of stories before, but I did appreciate the way in which Aaron’s idea of penance challenges Frederic to question his morals and religious convictions. By the very end of the film though, I feel as if something got lost in translation and the ending we are left with feels unsatisfactory. Mostly because of the allusion made at the end as to what Frederic’s actions have caused, and how much bigger of an impact that decision really has. While it is hinted at briefly in conversation with another character, it does cheapen the whole experience by uprooting it out of reality and into something larger.
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
THE RIGHTEOUS is filmed in beautiful black & white and as writer/director MARK O’BRIEN said in one of the special feature interviews, he didn’t imagine the film any other way. At a metaphorical level, the use of black & white makes a lot of sense considering the gray area of moral questions the film dabbles in. Visually, it’s as striking as any other black & white film and with the high-definition screens of today, there is a very good case to be made that b/w films actually look better today than they did then.
ARROW did not need to remaster this film as it is from 2020, and it is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1. You can see screenshots from the film throughout this review and below:
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
THE RIGHTEOUS has a 5.1 surround sound audio track that is fitting, but largely underutilized. The movie itself does not have a lot going on sound-wise aside from a looming score and dialogue, so don’t expect something you can benchmark your surround sound system with. It’s a clear audio mix, so despite not needing the 5.1 it is a solid mix with no quality issues throughout.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
As per usual, ARROW provides a plethora of special features that are sure to excite fans of the film. The majority of these features are interviews and clips from festivals where various cast and crew members did a Q&A with the audience. As far as the interviews go, I watched one with writer/director MARK O’BRIEN and another with actor HENRY CZERNY. The former was around an hour long and went into how Mark got into the industry, his years spent acting, and how he met Henry on the set of READY OR NOT.
What I really liked about Mark’s interview was seeing just how much of a fan of cinema he is. He’s extremely well-spoken and articulates his love for film in all regards with authenticity and glee. One line that stuck out to me was when he talked about how horror is a “trojan horse to deliver another message.” I had never thought about the horror genre that way, and while I don’t think it is broadly applicable, I understand what he means and mostly agree especially with modern horror films. It was also refreshing to hear how his years in acting influenced his directing, and it further supports the idea that the more well-rounded you are in your filmmaking capabilities, the better your ability to execute and create can be. Henry’s interview was much shorter in length in comparison and was mostly focused on how he met Mark and got involved with the film. It’s a good interview, but not the most enlightening compared to Mark’s.
ARROW doesn’t usually miss with special features, but I must say that the fantasia fest Q&A video was pretty bad. You could hardly hear the interviewer, Mark, or Henry on stage and it seems like it may have been cell phone footage. It’s disappointing for those who want to know more and hear more from Mark and Henry, and ultimately I couldn’t even finish it because it was so hard to hear even with the volume and surround sound turned up. A full list of the special features are listed below:
Brand new audio commentary by writer, director and actor Mark O'Brien and editor Spencer Jones
Cast and crew interviews with writer/director/actor Mark O'Brien, producer Mark O'Neill, actors Henry Czerny, Mimi Kuzyk, and Kate Corbett, editor Spencer Jones, cinematographer Scott McClellan, and production designer Jason Clarke
Roundtable discussion with Mark O'Brien and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett and Chad Villella of Radio Silence
Stage Presentation and Q&A with Mark O'Brien and Henry Czerny from the World Premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival 2021
Grimmfest 2021 live-streamed Q&A with Mark O'Brien
Original soundtrack
Image gallery, accompanied by the film's original score by Andrew Staniland
Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Grant Boland and Oink Creative
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Fully illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Sean Hogan
LAST RITES
THE RIGHTEOUS is a valiant effort MARK O’BRIEN’s first feature-length directed film to tell a somber tale of guilt, penance, and personal accountability. The horror is subtle, but effective if you enjoy the slow-burn character-driven films that are less about what you see and more about what is being said. For those who prefer more pacey and action-packed fare, you may want to give this one a rent before adding it to the precious space on your shelves!
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you for MVD ENTERTAINMENT for the review copy for the crypt, and you can buy THE RIGHTEOUS now from:
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