Rent Sator (2019)

Could you repeat that, please - Sator review by PE

It was spooky and strange and had some moments of unnerving silence...but the only character i could understand, ironically, was the old lady with Alzheimer's. Everyone else was: "mmmmumhu..mbbere....vcvcgxs...mgxhfzhbmmmhgc...jgdhfc?...bvcc!! ".

And with no subtitles I'm not really sure who anyone was or what was going on.

Labour of love. - Sator review by NP

Occasionally touching, breathtakingly filmed, occasionally disturbing but mainly a seemingly disconnected series of set-pieces, Sator emerges as a bit of a chore. Perhaps I’m missing something, but I would have liked more of an actual storyline, or at least some progression of events to match the undisputed wonderment of the production.

I appreciated the film a lot more when I read how virtually every aspect of its production and direction was handled by writer Jordan Graham. June Peterson (Nani) was Graham’s grandmother, and her musings on screen are the results of her obsession with Sator led her to being committed to a psychiatric hospital. She passed away shortly after the film was released.

Although my view of the resulting film has not changed, it was clearly a highly personal and commendable labour of love for the director. My score is 5 out of 10.