'Blow The Man Down' A Review

Blow The Man Down is a black comedy thriller about two sisters in a small Maine port town dealing with the aftermath of their mother's death. The film opens on a stirring and vibrant scene of fisherman singing the titular song, it cuts to a woman fleeing a man with Enid(Margo Martindale) watching from her window, then cuts to the memorial for Mary Margaret the mother of Mary Beth(Morgan Saylor) and Priscilla(Sophie Lowe) presided over by town Matriarchs Susie(June Squibb), Gail(Annette O'Toole), and Doreen(Marceline Hugot). That evening Mary Beth meets up with local criminal Gorski(Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and gets in over her head.

Across the board the cast is stupendous, relative newcomers Saylor and Lowe have great chemistry and an addictive frenetic energy that make both performances really sing. It's wonderful to see Squibb, O'Toole, and Hugot together, almost in an archetypal Fates role, three astounding character actors in concert. But the pièce de résistance, no surprise, is Martindale giving an incredibly delicious performance with a couple really revelatory operatic scenes as the town's madam and the defacto heavy. Easily an Oscar worthy turn that will no doubt be overlooked come awards season. She has a wide ranging career but rarely gets to exert her full potential in film(see her joyous turns on TV in Justified season 2 and The Americans) so it's a pleasure to see her here and she clearly relishes the opportunity. There's also a very effective figurative, and literal, fishermen as chorus that underscores and weaves throughout the film.

Visually the film is sharp, transportive, and immersive conveying this small regional town with beauty as well as menace. The near ever-present pumping score paired with the diegetic chorus elevate the film and viewers pulse to great effect. A stunning, authoritative, and assured debut from writer/director pair  Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy.

Currently streaming on Amazon.

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