FilmNRPsychological

Always Shine2016

Name: Always Shine
Genre: Psychological
Released: 2016-11-25
Rating: 6

Directed by Sophia Takal

6.0

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 5.6Rotten Tomatoes 91%Metacritic 72TMDB 5.4

✍ Review

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Year

2016

Runtime

85 min

Box Office

Domestic

$17,102

🏆 5 wins & 6 nominations total

The premise

On a trip to Big Sur, two friends, both actresses, try to reconnect with one another. Once alone, the women's suppressed jealousies and deep-seated resentments begin to rise, causing them to lose their grasp on not only the true nature of their relationship, but also their identities.

Horror Vault's take

Two actresses escape to the isolated beauty of Big Sur hoping to repair a fraying friendship, but the remote setting strips away all pretense and lets long-buried resentments claw their way to the surface. What begins as a tense reunion steadily curdles into something far more destabilizing, as the line between the two women — their desires, their grievances, their very sense of self — begins to dissolve. Director Sophia Takal crafts an intimate, unnerving character study that weaponizes silence and landscape in equal measure.

Content: Psychological Distress, Depictions Of Emotional Manipulation, Themes Of Identity Dissolution