Last Day in Cannes: Lying and 2:37

Saw some movies from rookie filmmakers today...M Blash's Lying was shot in DV and the fest made him blow it up to 35 mm to show it at the Noga Hilton...the print looked muddy and awful. This movie is cheap and hand-held and languorous. Minimal is too kind a word for the almost dialogue-free exposition. It wouldn't have gotten made without Chloe Sevigne, who carries it as best she can. This is a very young filmmaker, and he has much to learn.

Australian filmmaker Murali Thalluri, 21, is hugely talented. We'll see more from him based on 2:37, a high school suicide mystery inspired by Gus Van Sant's Elephant, and the structure works brilliantly. We start off knowing that someone has slit their wrist in the bathroom, but not who. Then we meet the cast of characters, wondering as we go which one offed themselves. They all have good reason, it turns out. This compelling movie might not play back in the states, where those who did see Elephant may find it too similar.