Sister Tempest Review

Sister Tempest is a 2020 feature film Directed by Joe Badon, Written by Joe Badon and Jason Kruppa.

There exists a world wherein Jean-Luc Godard and Alejandro Jodorowsky became best friends and wrote a script together. That script sat on a shelf for decades unproduced until it was picked up and directed by Katsuhito Ishii and Takashi Miike in the year 2020. This is just a taste of the beautiful layered narrative that the viewer is presented with in Sister Tempest, it is one that left me with a tear on my cheek, with an experience that won’t soon be forgotten.

To try to collect all of my thoughts on this film would be like trying to collect 100 marbles dropped from a helicopter over Washington DC, it can be done but it will take lots of time to do so. At once haunting, hilarious, quirky, unconventional, unpredictable, these are statements that could fit into the mold of what this film is and then some. It is a meticulously crafted, amazingly produced triumph of cinematic experience, one that I could absolutely sing the praises of for far longer than should be allowed.

From the very beginning this film draws you into a hypnotic dreamscape of a world that is visually complex but yet dastardly simplistic. The story of sisters connected by the tragic loss of their parents. One feeling she had to fill the role, the void left by this loss, creating a domineering presence over her younger sister. It is at once an intricate look at the sacrifice such a situation creates on an older sibling trying to be a parent, as well as the fear that all parents have in life. The fear of pushing their own children away, into danger, into harm. For society deems us as no greater failures than those who fail to protect their own kin. It is this heart that echoes far beyond anything else and it all creates a powerful amazing ending that you won’t see coming.

I am no expert in experimental cinema and I will not pretend to be but I can find few examples of filmic creations that can so expertly move between so many prophetic elements of the medium. This is to me a film that sits comfortably in the realm of Kaufmanesque expressionism that dares to challenge the viewer but can also lead anyone through its story. This is not an easy afternoon watch but yet one that compels you to pay attention to it. However, it also knows that like a good teacher, what it is presenting does not have to be boring or a chore, it can be fun and lively. I never dreamed that in a film one minute there could be a serious threat of violence and the next two women in leotards begin hurling Kamehameha attacks at each other. It is as if a child like wonderment has been placed over the cynicism that comes with natural adulthood.

I can say without an air of doubt in my mind that Sister Tempest is a film you should absolutely seek out. I can guarantee you that this year you will not see a film like it, hell maybe not even in another 5 years will we see something like it, at least not until the next film that Joe Badon makes. There is so much more that could be discussed here, so much more that could be dissected but simply put you just have to see it and experience it for yourself. Bravo to everyone that made this film a reality and I feel really honored that I could sit down to view it myself.

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Cheers!

Daniel Hess

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