Frank & Lola -- Early Press Reactions from Sundance
DEADLINE/Anthony D’Alessandro
“The former Variety reporter and Filmmaker editor has crafted a complex psycho-sexual love story here, with hues of Jacques Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation and Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris, among other titles.”
4 Stars: “Dark and sexy, Frank & Lola is always one step ahead of its audience, to deliver a haunting examination of male obsession and domination, that also serves as a weird sort of love story…Shannon is superb, investing Frank with a surprising amount of tenderness even as he grows increasingly irate with Lola and her profusion of untruths. He’s an alluring and dangerous lead, perfectly paired with Poots, who more than holds her own to finally deliver on all the promise she’s shown in films less worthy of her talents.”
THE GUARDIAN/Nigel Smith (via Twitter)
“Frank & Lola: Finally a movie that makes use of Michael Shannon’s incredible sex appeal.”
CONSEQUENCES OF SOUND/Michael Roffman
“Part drama, part psychosexual thriller, part revenge fantasy, Michael Shannon’s latest platform balls up the dark mystery of Polanski, the vivid passion of De Palma, and the razor tension of Hitchcock for a savvy and meticulous 90 mins…Frank & Lola is an electric modern noir that thrives from indelible characters and a palatable style. As both screenwriter and director, Ross proves he’s a filmmaker with not just something to say, but somewhere to take us. Rest assured, our passports are ready.”
INDIEWIRE/Staff/“25 Filmmakers and Actors That Broke Through at Sundance”
“Michael Shannon is in almost literally a dozen movies this year, but we wonder if he’ll get a better showcase across the rest of 2016 as he does in Sundance movie Frank & Lola, and the man responsible, Matthew Ross, should get a ton of attention as a result. A former film journalist, Ross made a number of acclaimed shorts including Lola and Inspired by Bret Easton Ellis, but makes a striking debut with this feature.”
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER/Stephen Farber
“A haunting dissection of male jealousy…Other films have focused on sexual jealousy, but Ross and Shannon probe deeper than most into the poisonous, compulsive nature of male suspicion…Ross has described Frank & Lola as a neo-noir, and it does deserve comparison with similarly dark character studies (such as Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place) from Hollywood’s golden age of noir. This movie casts a troubling spell.”
“There’s a bewitching and intensely intoxicating quality to the opening act of Frank & Lola, a seductive, romantic noir turned psychosexual drama from assured first-time feature director Matthew Ross…Ross is a major talent worth watching. He’s got an eye, a strong p.o.v, and the movie has many perceptive observations about the self-destructive perils of possessiveness, ownership and holding on too tight.”
THE FILM STAGE/Ed Frankel
“Frank & Lola, a noirish erotic thriller from journalist-turned-director Matthew Ross, finds leads Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots in top form. They excel as lovers in this tightly-wound psychosexual love story that has elements of the best of Eyes Wide Shut…Frank & Lola has some of that film’s noir-esque aesthetic, too, with hints of Michael Mann’s night-time city look…Carried by two accomplished performances, and despite a tight 87-minute running time, this is a rich saga, bathed in atmosphere that disturbs as much as it engrosses. It’s certainly not a date movie, and all the better for it.”
BOSTON GLOBE/Ty Burr/“Finding Winners at Sundance”
“This feature debut from writer-director Matthew Ross teases intriguing interference patterns out of its various genres, moods, and locations…It’s great to see a Vegas movie without a single scene set in a casino, and when “Frank & Lola” hops the Atlantic to Paris…Ross uses the Marais district and the Place des Vosges with a similarly fresh and unnerving eye…Ross is one to keep an eye on.”
SCREEN DAILY/Tim Grierson
“Bolstered significantly by Michael Shannon’s quietly anxious performance as a Las Vegas chef who’s been burned by love before, the feature debut of writer-director Matthew Ross has a twitchy, moody unpredictability that keeps the viewer intrigued as to where the story may go next…Ross proves himself to be adept at conjuring an enveloping, grownup romantic mood that allows Frank and Lola’s love affair to burn with a palpable, volatile passion.”
SUNDANCE.ORG/Jeremy Kinser
“Frank & Lola is a layered, stylish psychosexual that marks a striking feature debut from director Matthew Ross after making several acclaimed shorts. Programmer Trevor Groth introduced Ross as a longtime friend and noted that he’d always been impressed with the deep understanding of film and cinema exhibited by Ross in his former career as a film journalist. ‘You’ll see all of that diligence and talent on display tonight in his terrific feature debut,’ Groth added.”
