M.F.A. is a movie that was written and released at just the right time considering the climate today, but beyond that story, which was only okay, the performance from Francesca Eastwood was phenomenal and one can only hope she gets even more work in the future.
M.F.A.
(2017)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Horror, Drama
MPI Media Group | NR – 92 min. – $29.98 | November 28, 2017
Date Published: 12/09/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 3.25/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Noelle (FRANCESCA EASTWOOD) is an art school student who is invited to a party by her classmate, Luke (PETER VACK). While the two start making out, when things become more physical, she resists and he forces himself and ultimately rapes her. Of course, she gets out of there as soon as possible and filled with emotion, tells her neighbor and best friend Skye (LEAH MCKENDRICK) but she tells the story of a friend (spoiler, it’s her own story) who went to the college and police and they didn’t do anything, so she advises Noelle to do nothing and try to move on with her life.
Noelle tries to do just that… until Luke texts her to come over, no doubt for a hookup, and she arrives wanting him to admit and apologize for raping her. He does no such thing kicking her out, but the argument/confrontation goes up the stairs and after lightly shoving him, he falls over the railing to his death. At first she’s stunned but later has an epiphany, as well as some inspiration for artwork, to exact revenge for others who were assault victims who received no justice. Review: M.F.A. seems to be a movie that came at just the right time considering the “me too” movement sweeping the world across all spectrums of society. Now, this is the classic rape-revenge film and on that front, there’s not a whole lot new in terms of the story and the kills not entirely gory on the horror aspect. Although I don’t think this was a great film and featured a somewhat predictable ending, the performance from the lead was impressive.
With a star-making and genuinely emotional performance by Francesca Eastwood, yes, the daughter of the legendary actor/filmmaker, I can’t even describe just how great Eastwood was in a role that features a wide range of emotions from shame, anger, rage, regret and deeply dark satisfaction. I can only hope to see more from her. Sadly, this was released under the radar, again in spite of what’s going on in the nation, so she probably won’t receive very much award recognition. The film also features Clifton Collins Jr. (side note the pair apparently married this year) playing a cop investigating the murders though oddly he’s introduced completely clean shaven and next scenes he has a fully fledged beard. Kind of odd but not sure if that was a continuity error or to show the passing of a month or so. In any case, he’s fine but his talents weren’t exactly fully utilized. M.F.A. was directed by Natalia Leite marking her second feature-length movie and was written by Leah McKendrick. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5 |
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Interviews (4:11; HD):
Trailer (2:13; HD) |
VIDEO – 3.75/5 |
| M.F.A. comes to Blu-ray through Dark Sky Films presented with a 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture for the most part looks good, colors are generally toned down in keeping with the darker nature of the story but there are splashes of color here and there such as the pink wig Noelle wears. The transfer appears clean with no obvious signs of artifacts, aliasing or other flaws. |
AUDIO – 3.5/5 |
| The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which is serviceable enough but also limited with most of the movie filled with dialogue coming from the center channel well enough with some moderate ambient noises, and a pretty good score, making up the front and rear channels. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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Overall, M.F.A. is a movie that was written and released at just the right time considering the climate today, but beyond that story, which was only okay, the performance from Francesca Eastwood was phenomenal and one can only hope she gets even more work in the future. The Blu-ray from MPI offers up fine video/audio transfers but the lackluster bonus features is disappointing. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.