#POLISH PREMIERE | fear and terror | witches | horror | folklore | Piotr Adamczyk | coming of age | desert | pagan rituals | witchcraft | harvest | closed community | suspense | growing up | terror | disturbing | Q&A
FALLING STARS
horror | USA | 2023
World premiere: Locarno International Film Festival 2023
Polish premiere: Splat!FilmFest
HORROR COMING OF AGE WITH PIOTR ADAMCZYK
Welcome to the world of pagan rituals and dark magic, where you can get abruptly killed by a witch at any time. On the first night of harvest, three brothers set out for the desert near LA looking for the corpse of a witch who they have seen plummet from the sky like a falling star. They are fully aware of what to do in order to remain safe. One can’t stare for too long at a witch’s corpse, nor can they desecrate it, as it might bring about some serious consequences. The moment the youngest of the three accidentally spills beer on the dead body, they know that they may not make it until the night.
However, Falling Stars does not aim to scare you with the scenes, in which old, wrinkled witches jump at the main characters in the darkness. The suspense rises gradually, minute by minute — skillfully managed by Gabriel Bienczycki and Richard Karpala — and by no means does it arise solely from jump-scares. It comes rather from a disturbing realisation that although our protagonists may have adapted to their weird reality, they still simply don’t want to die. And a rumour about them being on the witches’ black list shall quickly verify which of their friends will quickly turn into their enemies. The atmosphere of the film reflects the one created in the excellent short horror story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the queen of terror, where the citizens live their day to day lives regardless of the titular lottery taking place, as an effect of which one of them will eventually get stoned to death.
Falling Stars was recognized with the audience award at the Locarno Film Festival and we can clearly see the reasons why. This low-budget, independent movie, besides being terrifying in every aspect, is also a story of growing up. Once the sun rises, the life of the youngest of brothers will never be the same. And so will be the lives of the viewers after seeing the film. But especially of those who deeply doubted in Piotr Adamczyk’s successful Hollywood career. However, the disturbing view of Adamczyk in a turban will make you wish he appeared more often in the horror movies. He’s so wicked and slippery, that he could perfectly go as Julian Sands from Warlock. And those who enjoy a good neopagan witch movie know that there is no better comparison.
directed by: Gabriel Bienczycki, Richard Karpala
screenplay: Richard Karpala
starring: Piotr Adamczyk, Rene Leech, Andrew Gabriel, Shaun Duke, Jr.
cinematography: Gabriel Bienczycki
music: Patrik Herman
editing: Richard Karpala
language: English
subtitles: Polish
duration: 1h 20min
recommended age: 16+
