Popular reviews

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  Review by Matt Neglia ★★★★ 1

  TOPSIDE’s story of a homeless mother & the desperate love she has for daughter will break your heart. Beautifully filmed by Celine Held & Logan George with a knockout performance from Held herself. Terrific sound design & score! Reminded me of THE FLORIDA PROJECT & ROOM at times.

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  Review by Dan Abel ★★★★

  Nikki is a homeless drug addict with a five year old daughter. They squat illegally in a massive space beneath a New York City subway tunnel, sharing it with others in similar predicaments. When the city forces them out of the only place they've called home, they emerge topside into the chaos of the city streets. This is the harrowing story of a woman battling her demons and addiction while desperately trying to keep her little girl safe. A little girl thrust into an alien world where even the sun and cars are terrifying. And that’s just the beginning of their ordeal.

  Just a few days ago, I rewatched Dark Days for what may well be the 20th time. It’s…

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  Review by Karl ★★★★

  This was some hard-hitting stuff (almost unbearable). Nikki is a mother raising her child, Little, in subway tunnels beneath the hustle and bustle of NYC. Directors Logan George and Celine Held (who also plays Nikki) do a great job in depicting a subterranean world and how a child's resiliency can still make such difficult conditions home. Nikki is addicted to heroin and terrified of losing Little to child services. I used to work at a residential facility that admitted pregnant women addicted to opiates. I met many women just like Nikki. It's amazing at how authentic the film portrays them. There will be some viewers that won't be able to comprehend some of Nikki's decisions but that's the power of…

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  Review by joshrowley ★★★★★ 1

  Agonizing; difficult; gut-wrenching; important; naturalistic; realistic; short; simple; smart; tense; unsentimental; well-acted; well-made.

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  Review by 🐱Andrew Chrzanowski🐱 ★★★★ 1

  ☆"You and me gotta wait until your wings grow."☆

  Film Independent advance screener.

  SXSW winner of the Special Jury Award for Directing, the debut feature of Logan George and Celine Held, what Topside may lack in nuance it more than makes up for in immersive sound design, dizzying cinematography, and gut-wrenching drama. This still undistributed film has some critics throwing around words like "manipulative" but this reviewer was riveted by the chaotic story and the sense of impending doom for the central pair, endangered for every minute of this striking feature. Previously producing documentary shorts on those who lack adequate housing and the urban areas that neglect them, the two filmmakers have crafted a narrative -- with one of them…

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  Review by Deathy ★★★½

  Score : 7.4/10 ✅

  Distressing, disorienting and oddly captivating, Topside has been put on hold for almost 2 years before being (finally) released to the public, almost fitting considering the movie is about people who live in tunnels set apart from society.

  This was a hard watch, mostly because of the nature of the film which is carried by fantastic performances with a heart-wrenching sequences of events, but also because there’s always that thought that someone, somewhere, is living in those conditions at this exact moment, and it saddens me. From what I’ve seen, it’s a directorial debut from people that made a lot of short films and I must say, good freaking job; the work must have been colossal…

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  Review by Ashton ★★★½

  An agonizing watch that is staged with so much care that it safely avoids fetishizing its bleak subject-material; the phenomenal transition from the literal darkness in the tunnels of New York to the overwhelming sensorial-overload above ground thirty minutes in, to a tense stand-off in a claustrophobic apartment, to an utterly harrowing thirty-minute sequence involving transit that is one of the tightest formally choreographed sequences I've seen this year. It takes a turn near the final act that is unusually bold, and although it doesn't quite do so seamlessly it affords the film a poignant conclusion that feels truthful. This is definitely a filmmaking pair to keep a close eye on in the future.

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  Review by willmoviefan97 ★★★½

  Harrowing & grounded, "Topside" is definitely a film that will leave you with a lasting impact. It's a pretty heartbreaking story told with care and strong performances, Celine Held & Zhaila Farmer make a very believable mother & daughter duo. Held along with Logan George also does some nice work behind the camera, although the shaky cam use did become a little much for me, but I think at the same time it maybe gave the film an even greater sense of urgency, particularly in the film's crushing final minutes. This certainly isn't a film I picture ever having the urge to revisit, but nevertheless it's one I would definitely recommend.

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  Review by Stringer Bell ★★★½

  A strong concept and a heartfelt movie.
  Much of this feels very authentic and it's obvious the filmmakers have the right intentions.
  The plot is tense and the depiction of addiction is grounded. You just want the best for the 2 characters and it's a hard gut-punch seeing how this narrative develops.
  There are vibes similar to Sean Baker's films, last year's SCARBOROUGH and even the works of the Dardennes but this is very clearly a debut feature and it's evident some of the craft really needs some polish.
  This is one of the stronger child performances of recent years no doubt.
  The last 30 minutes were gripping. The narrative never loses focus and I was constantly engaged. I love…

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  Review by emma ★★★★

  SIFF #11

  this ripped my heart out and that’s ok. very powerful and very provocative.

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  Review by SweeneyTom ★★★★★

  At its best, as gripping and uncomfortable and claustrophobic as the first half of Her Smell or the second half of Uncut Gems

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  Review by Olivier Lemay ★★★★½

  FNC 2020
  Part 7
  International Competition

  Any parent’s worst nightmare.

  I am absolutely stunned. I wasn’t familiar with this title or of who the directors were but as soon as I found out this was the feature length debut of the directorial duo behind the stunning short Caroline, Topside quickly turned into a high priority viewing at the festival. I wasn’t disapointed at all.

  A very tough look at homelessnes from the POV of a five year old girl who has never seen the sun from her underground shelter and her mother as they face their community and semblance of home getting ripped from them. Most of the film plays out like Room that replaces any sense of wonder by the hellscape…