AFI Diary #2: "Red Rocket" and "The First Wave"

Christopher is covering the 2021 AFI Fest Film Festival. Follow along for his reviews.

It's hard not to be reminded of COVID as we return to festival season. It's a terrific pleasure to be back in theaters again (even in masks). However, it also makes me recall fighting with virtual platforms last year so I could watch movies alone in my living room. Day Three of the festival brough us two films that, directly and indirectly, were born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The First Wave obviously covers the harrowing first months of the pandemic in New York. Additionally, Sean Baker's Red Rocket stands as a testament to the nimble, persevering nature of art under lockdown, as the film was shot in August of last year. From searing documentaries to comedies about porn stars, two films could not be more different. So which was the best of the day? Let's dive in!

Red Rocket (Sean Baker)

With the success of Tangerine and The Florida Project, writer/director Sean Baker has found himself in a new echelon of indie filmmakers. What makes him such an interesting director is his ability to naturalistically present subcultures as they are without the artifice that comes from a more stylized director. The location and the people within it are the core of Baker’s projects. Each film represents its own strange ecosystem that we get to study. With Red Rocket, Baker has made his prickliest film yet. Even with that said, the film cares for its subjects, even if the subjects don’t care for one another...

We meet Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) as he steps off the bus at Galveston, Texas - the hometown he vowed never to return to. With only $22 to his name and bruises all over, he visits his ex (strike that, current) wife, Lexi (Bree Elrod), in order to crash for a couple days while he figures himself out. Lexi and her Mom, Lil (Brenda Deiss), know that if they give Mikey an inch, he’ll take a mile. Still, he charms his way into their abode and sets up camp. Mieky and Lexi had left town seventeen years ago to pursue a career in porn and, if you believe Mikey, they were at the top of the game. Now, Mikey is all washed up and struggling to find work. His quest for money and a new start lead him to an impressionable teenager, Strawberry (Suzanna Son), who Mikey believes could be the ticket to his second act.

It’s a testament to Simon Rex’s performance that this movie works at all. To put it mildly, Mikey is a tough piece of work. However, it takes time for someone like him to get under your skin. On the surface, he’s a hilarious, magnanimous and gorgeous man. Rex commits fully to Mikey’s motormouth charms, delivering foul-mouthed monologues like its Hamlet. At each and every moment, you feel Mikey’s flop sweat as he tries to string together a path to success. Even in the opening moments, he’s not a dog with its tail between its legs. He’s always flexing, as if he has to peacock to those around him to distract from his abject failings and duplicitous nature. Even we, the audience, fall victim to his charms, even though we know we shouldn’t.

As with his other movies, the ensemble and the location are the stars of Sean Baker’s films. Elrod’s Lexi does more than just act as the straight man for Mikey’s antics. She still has her own wants and desires, many of which get reawakened thanks to Mikey’s livewire presence. Her arc happening in the background leads to an unexpected and cathartic release. Actors and non-actors alike shine, with Deiss’ Lil stealing every scene possible. Judy Hill is such a sweet, sacrificial lamb as Lonnie, the next-door neighbor that can’t help but wrongly look up to Mikey, buying every ounce of his bullshit.

As we luxuriate in the ennui of the smoke pipes of Galveston, the second act threatens to stall out. Yet, a shocking occurrence shocks the movie back into gear, giving us an outrageous and unforgettable final act. While Baker cares for many of his characters, it's a strange treat to get into the mind of someone as deliciously narcissistic and awful as Mikey. Watching the film, my mind kept comparing it to Jason Reitman’s Young Adult, which also had us hanging on every word of a truly awful person stuck in her ways. Mavis Gary and Mikey would get along well. Actually, they would likely screw and never talk to one another again, but they remain kindred spirits nonetheless. A-

Red Rocket opens in theaters on December 10th, 2021 and is distributed by A24. 

The First Wave (Matthew Heineman)

One of the last things people want to watch is a documentary about COVID. Our global nightmare is still upon us, even if the initial panic has subsided and life has stabilized to a new normal. Michael Heineman’s documentary, The First Wave, may be coming while the wound is still open. Yet, it’s a stirring, humanistic look at one of the darkest hours of the pandemic. In particular, the documentary centers on the first wave in New York City where it was the epicenter of the pandemic. The footage at Long Island Jewish Medical Center is haunting and graphic (even compared to last year’s 76 Days set in Wuhan). Still, in the face of unspeakable hardship, the nurses and hospital staff in the eye of the storm perform the impossible - they survive.

There are so many small things that trigger memories of this first wave of the pandemic. At one point, one of the nurses the documentary follows has an emotional zoom birthday party. This immediately sent me back to the countless zoom drinks, birthdays, hangouts and heart to hearts we relied on for personal connection. Interspersed through the horrors are these glimpses of humanity. In the face of great hardship we are able to adapt. These calm moments are just grace notes between the storm of patients, intubations and piling bodies. “Before you thought you were saving lives… [now] you hope and pray it doesn’t happen to you,” one nurse cries after a patient takes a turn for the worse. As heroic as the nurses are, Heineman doesn’t just lionize them. They’re still real human beings with fears, exhaustion and points of deep despair. The level of access is stunning, especially when one remembers how frightened we all were during this period.

Perhaps after a few years people will watch this documentary differently. We’re still in the middle of this devastating pandemic, so it is hard to watch the horrors of the ICU and judge it on artistic merits. As a living document of this time, The First Wave successfully captures the panic and severity of New York from April - June 2020. The narrative threads, such as a baby born during the first wave, provide something hopeful to follow along with. However, what makes The First Wave worth watching is the way it chronicles the nurses' hard work in the face of insurmountable challenges. B

The First Wave will be released on November 19th, 2021 by Neon and NatGeo Films.

Which of these films are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments

[Glenn Dunks]

I have struggled with Heineman docs in the past so I have been slow on THE FIRST WAVE (especially having watched 76 DAYS last year). I may seek it out yet.

I hated THE FLORIDA PROJECT, but loved TANGERINE and thought STARLET was quite good. I still don't know where I stand on Sean Baker, which is probably a good thing, although I must say I've found myself rolling my eyes a bit at the Simon Rex of it all tbh.

[NATHANIEL R]

Christopher -- wow i love the comparison to YOUNG ADULT. Red Rocket is so memorable and entertaining but i don't think it's as good as Florida Project, Tangerine, or Starlet.

[Christopher James]

I fall between Glenn and Nathaniel on Sean Baker's filmography. Tangerine is my favorite of his (an absolute comic/Christmas masterpiece). While I like lots of The Florida Project, it is the one I struggled to connect with. Red Rocket also feels furthest from Florida Project in terms of tone.