Now Showing: Saga

Saga
Genre: Action/Sci-Fi/Epic/Animation
Director: Andy Serkis
Writer: Wesley Campbell
Based on the comic series
Cast: Natalie Morales, Steven Yeun, Sadie Sink, Tristan Risk, Luke Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, Keegan-Michael Key, Ben Hardy, Rosario Dawson

Plot: Hazel (Rosario Dawson) recalls the story of her parent's beginning.

Alana (Natalie Morales) screams in pain as she gives the final push to have her baby. Her husband, Marko (Steven Yeun) lovingly tells her she's never looked so beautiful. The baby girl is born and her color floats between her parents' eye colors. Marko chews her umbilical chord and tells Alana he refuses to bring his sword out of his sheath again as he's moved past the soldier portion of his life.

A sudden boom at the door interrupts their moment. Baron Robot XXIII and a group of Landfall Coalition members call for their surrender for being traitors. When Marko responds in the local landfall language, they're disgusted and recommend gutting out his tongue. One coalition member informs the Baron that magic users are inbound. A sudden group Wreath Narrative appear and enter the fight against the landfall coalition and they kill each other in the crossfire. Marko and Alana can hardly believe they are alive. The local who sold them out, hands them a map as he dies as reparations as they take off.

Hazel thinks about how no one knows how the war between Wreath and Landfall started, they just know it's engulfed the entire galaxy in picking sides.

Elsewhere, Prince Robot IV (Keegan-Michael Key) has a blip on his TV screen while engaging in intercourse with another robot. He goes limp and stops the session. A servant informs the prince that Special Agent Gale (Ben Hardy) has stopped by with an urgent request. As the Prince steps out, Gale informs him that Alana has defected and had an offspring with the prisoner Marko. He shows them surveillance footage of them with wedding rings and Alana pregnant. He informs them that most of the cross-species babies will die within a few weeks. Gale informs him that the King has requested he head out and dispatch of her. The Prince protests that he just returned from a two year sneak attack. Gale reminds him that he shouldn't disappoint the King and takes off.

Marko and Alana forge through the sewers in their escape. Alana reveals she brought a Heartbreaker for protection and Marko is furious that she has a weapon around their child. They both agree that it would be best to get along and follow the map. Marko is dubious about its reliability but agrees to head to Rocketship Forrest in the off-chance that it would provide a way off Cleave.

Elsewhere, Vez hires The Will (Luke Evans) and Lying Cat to kill Marko. She tells them he will be the death of millions and Lying Cat calls her out as a liar. She gives him an open credit card and told he can charge whatever expenses he wants to it. However, she has also hired another freelancer to go after Marko so as to give him incentive to move faster. She also gives him implicit instructions to not harm the child, and return the offspring home to her.

On Cleave, Marko warns Alana that they need to move as the Horrors will come out. They arrive to a bridge where a war rages. Alana is frustrated that they'll never escape the war and Marko kisses her to calm her down. The Horrors watch them from a distance as the night falls.

The Will patches himself through to his agent. His agent tells him he'll be going against The Stalk. The Will begins thinking about how this is pointless as the Stalk will get to them first. He decides to head to Sextillion first to waste some money and at least enjoy the unlimited credit card while he can.

Meanwhile on Cleave, Alana and Markos struggle with local plant-life attacking them. Markos asks Alana for a secret to power his spell. She tells him that she secretly enjoys the taste of her own breastmilk and Markos uses it to disintegrate the plants. After many hours of being up straight, they talk about how they need to get to safety and slowly they fall asleep on each other's shoulders as the Horrors watch them from a distance.

Elsewhere, Prince Robot IV is welcomed to Cleave. He's told by the person welcoming him that he knew Alana and that she typically kept to herself and read books. Prince Robot becomes suddenly alarmed and asks him what type of books?

Alana and Markos wake up and sense a presence. Markos lays down his weapon as a sign of good faith. A woman reveals herself from the shadows and introduces herself as The Stalk (Tristan Risk). She stabs Markos through his shoulder with a barbed tongue incapacitating him. Alana pulls out her Heartbreaker and the Stalk laughs that a stungun won't hurt her. She then holds the gun to Hazel's head and tells her she'd rather kill her family than let it fall into her hands. The Stalk appears concerned and they hear movement in the woods. The Stalk backs down and tells her if she knows what's best for her, she'll kill the child as the Horrors are coming.

A group of Horrors, that appear to be adolescent in age, appear before Alana and offer her their help.

Izabel (Sadie Sink) tells the other Horrors they should help them. Even though Marko is dressed like a Wreath warrior, he clearly loves his family and wants nothing to do with the way. The Horrors turn their backs and walk away. Marko coughs up blood from his wounds from the Stalk. He tells Alana the only way to heal from wounds this deep is the ingredient snow. Izabel tells them she'll help them get snow so that Marko doesn't die, but at the cost of being linked with Hazel. She's only allowed to leave Cleave if she's bonded with someone alive that was born there.

Prince Robot IV is ushered to a room where he interrogates a prisoner about Alana's escape. He doesn't understand how he escaped or why he wouldn't have brought other Wreath members with him. He shows the prisoner a book by D. Oswald Heist, prompting the prisoner to spit in his face. Prince Robot IV pummels the prisoner in return.

Alana trudges up the mountain lugging the weakened and dying Marko upon her back. Izabel tells her she knows a shortcut to the top to get snow, but wants to be allowed to bond with Hazel first. Hazel begins crying and Izabel helps Alana by giving her advice how to burp the child properly. She tells her that she was the oldest of seven and could be a good babysitter. She informs Alana that her parents were resistance members also fleeing from war but she died by stepping on a landmine during the war. Once you die on Cleave, you become a ghost and are stuck there unless they bond with someone else born on the planet. Reaching a point in the road where she can't move forward, Alana finally acquiesces to Izabel's request and lets her bond with Hazel. As they jump on a boat to get to snow to save Marko, Marko tells them to tell his Bride, Gwendolyn that he's sorry. They are all shocked and ask who is Gwendolyn.

As The Will approaches Sextillion, he receives a call from The Stalk. She asks him if he wants to team up and The Will tells her to buzz off. He never wants to work with her again. The Stalk continues fleeing from large beasts and she realizes this planet is more difficult than she imagined.

The Will arrives on Sextillion. He's greeted by two lewdly dressed faces with long legs. They inform him all weapons and pets will need to stay in the vehicle. Lying Cat sulks as he's forced to carry The Will's items back.

On a mountain top in Cleave, Marko is covered in snow and finally awakens from his injuries. Alana hugs him in happiness. However, she quickly turns into interrogation as she asks who "Gwendolyn" is and why he screamed out her name when he was dying. He tells her Gwendolyn was someone he was engaged to back home on Wreath. When he left for war, she kept sending him letters to, "fight the good fight" even though he had grown distant from that desire. He realized it would never work between the two of them but was caught and placed in jail where he met Alana. Alana asks why she never heard of her before and Marko protests that he tried, but that she insisted the past stay in the past. He slowly begins to admit that her wedding ring also belongs to Gwendolyn, further infuriating Alana. He tells her that the ring was encoded with a 'translator spell' that would better help them

The Will walks around Sexitllion but is bored. A man spots his long face and asks what he's looking for. The Will replies he needs something less safe. He's brought to a room where he's introduced to Slave Girl, a six-year old who will do anything for you. The Will is disgusted and pop's the man's head between his hands. He grabs Slave Girl as they start to run away.

Later, Marko changes Hazel's diaper and is suddenly rushed by Alana. A Royal Vondertank suddenly arrives. Alana worries and says she can try and lie that he's a prisoner. Marko pulls his sword out and says it's time they fight.

Prince Robot IV sits on the crapper when he gets an incoming call from the Princess. She informs him that she's now pregnant. The Prince is shocked. She then tells him that the King has commanded that he not return until he's handled the defector, Alana. A soldier suddenly bursts into the room and tells them a scouting troop has spotted something.

Elsewhere, Marko reminds Alana that there should be no killing. One of the solders takes a shot and Marko deflects it with his blade. However, the deflected shot hits Alana. Marko enters a berserker mode and kills all the men. Alana shoots Marko with the Heartbreaker to snap him back to his normal self.

On Sextillion, The Will runs into Mama Sun as he attempts to free Slave Girl. She informs him that her contract has not ended and will cost six hundred and fifty credits to release her. The Will tells her he doesn't have the money and will steal her. Mama Sun informs him she was injected with a Security Elixir that will harden her arteries if she is taken from the planet prematurely. Mama Sun walks away with his unlimited credit card and tells him she'll call it even for damages when she takes the card.

Alana and Marko board the Royal Vondertank. Alana promises she can fly it and that she's ripped out the blue box that would track the ship's movements. Marko is frustrated that he used violence. He protests that violence only begets more violence and that he should always resort to other means. Alana assures him that it was the only option to save their family. Hazel suddenly lets out a laugh and Marko is shocked. He remarks that he didn't even know newborns could do that.

The Stalk finds the Landfall Coalition members tied together from Marko's binding spell. She receives a call from The Will who has changed his tune and now wants to partner with her. Prince Robot IV suddenly arrives and demands to know what happened. When The Stalk reaches for her phone, the Prince believes she's reaching for a weapon and shoots a hole through her chest, killing her instantly.

Marko and Alana arrive at Rocketship Forest. As the night falls, Izabel returns and is able to dispel an illusion that is hiding a gigantic wooden rocketship. Marko is excited as the wood should keep them hidden from modern detection techniques.

Elsewhere on Cleave, Prince Robot IV looks at the dead body of The Stalk. He sees she suddenly is receiving a call from The Will. He answers and informs The Will that he has just murdered The Stalk for violating code. In anger, The Will yells at the Prince and threatens that he'll kill everyone he holds dear.

Izabel informs them they must sacrifice something of value before getting on. Marko decides to break his sword, which was a family heirloom for generations. After snapping it, the doors open and allow them to enter. Inside the ship has a fancy foyer and Alana is elated to see all the amenities. The ship suddenly begins taking off. Izabel informs them that they just have to think about where they want to go and the ship will guide them there. Alana tells Marko she always wanted to head to Quietus.

Prince Robot IV boards a local ship. He receives a call from Special Agent Gale and informs him that he's killed The Stalk. Gale is shocked that Wreath High Command know about the couple and baby as well. Gale orders him to find out where they are headed if they've escaped. Prince Robot opens the book that Alana had been reading by D. Oswald Heist. He mentions he lives on Quietus and he begins to think he needs to head there to find them next.

On the ship, everything suddenly turns blue and Izabel tells them the ship is trying to communicate with them. She tells them they are being tracked and magic is inbound. Two soldiers appear. They use magic to banish Izabel. Marko yells in Blue Language for them to stop. The duo remove their helmets to reveal that they are Barr (Donnie Yen) and Klara (Michelle Yeoh), Marko's parents.

When Marko was a boy, he played on Wreath with his dog, Rumfer. His father took him to the place where the last battle on Wreath took place. The soil was still stained from the massacre and Marko was told to never forget their sacrifice. He began to hate Landfall from that moment.

In the present, Marko introduces his parents to Alana. He asks what they did with Izabel and they tell her she's been banished to a local planet. Marko grabs her Crash Helm in order to teleport and save her. Klara heads through the portal with him. Barr follows Alana through the ship asking if the child is normal. Alana has the ship use its vines to bind Barr in place.

On the nearby planet, Marko pleads he only broke the sword to save his family. Klara tells him that she knew he was in trouble when a Freelancer stopped by their house earlier. They are suddenly attacked by a large creature.

On the ship, Barr warns Alana that he can break free any moment. Alana says she knows that spell and won't tell him any secrets. Barr informs her it doesn't have to be hers and tells her he only has one month left to live and the vines disintegrate. He casts a sleep spell on Alana and takes the baby from her as she says out loud, "Hazel."

To Be Continued...

Interview: Wesley Campbell

For the latest edition of Interview, Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan sits down with rookie screenwriter Wesley Campbell to discuss his debut film, an adaptation of the acclaimed comic series, Saga.

PD: What made you decide to write an adaptation of the comic series Saga as your debut for the studio?

WC: Well, the fact this hasn't been mad yet drove me... With a blend of the possibilities and story needs to be told. It's a great story and it's reasonable to see why there's a huge fan base for it. Saga is something I saw and thought this could be the next big film franchise and those feelings don't come to you unless you can feel it in your bones.

PD: What made you decide to go with an animated adaptation of Saga rather than writing the film as a live-action film?

WC:Well as the creator of the series, Brian K. Vaughn, has said so many times... It's a comic book series that would be impossible to be done live action. And I gotta say I can see it. The makeup would have to be perfect along with having to make sure the CGI is top notch. That can too overwhelming for a director where only someone like James Cameron could do it. Since he's busy with Avatar, I thought there's not enough animation movies but take that thought further and do the first motion capture movie would be a step in the right direction. If the live action was gonna be costly, why not do it where there could be more space and freedom to do it? I knew if I did it this way, I could break new ground while also being faithful to Vaughn's vision.

PD: What types of films can the audience expect to see from you going forward?

WC:Well for the most part, I'd like to do bigger films along with remaking bad films into better versions. I don't know really... I think if an idea hits me I'll just do it really. There so much options out there I don't think I'll be away for too long of I decide to be off of a season...

PD: What's more important to you as a writer, critical or box office success?

WC: I'd say critical success would be nice but I'd more like to have my films make money overall. In case I'd like to make a sequel in the future like I want to do with Saga.

PD: What are some of your favorite LRF releases?

WC: Well it goes like this... 10. Flicker/Dark Places, 9. Ghost Town, 8. Into Thin Air, 7. Crowley, 6. Batman 2, 5. The Question series , 4. Deprogramming, 3. Death Dream, 2. To the Moon, 1. The Prisoner.

In Development

Letter to Myself: John Slattery (Displacement, Halo 3), Diane Lane (Death Dream, Serenity) and Henry Winkler (Here Comes the Boom, "Arrested Development") will round out the cast of Mo Buck's directorial debut, Letter to Myself. Slattery and Lane will play Mo's parents, while Winkler will play a teacher.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Another traditionally large Grand Theft Auto ensemble is getting bigger for GTA: San Andreas with the additions of Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse, Dude), Demetrious Shipp Jr. ("All American", All Eyez on Me), Diego Luna ("Narcos: Mexico", Triangle) and Brett Gelman ("Camping", Like Father). Shipp will play the sister of the main character (Michael B. Jordan), Shipp Jr. will play a rapper, Luna will play Shipp's boyfriend, while Gelman will play a shady figure. Ryan Coogler directs from a script by Harry Wright.

Hands on a Hard Body: Speaking of ensemble casts, the cast of Richard Linklater's latest films, documentary adaptation Hands on a Hard Body, has added the likes of Glen Powell (Easy Money, The Informers), Joan Cusack (Snatched, The End of the Tour), Holly Hunter ("Here and Now", The Big Sick) and eccentric filmmaker Werner Herzog (Jack Reacher, The Grand). Powell will play a former Marine who entered the titular contest, Cusack will play a semi-toothless contestant, Hunter will play the rules judge of the contest, while Herzog will play an enigmatic contestant. Chad Taylor wrote the film's script.

Blackbird: Giancarlo Esposito ("Better Call Saul", Okja), Vincent Cassel (Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Hunt) and Claire Danes ("Homeland", Brigsby Bear) have all joined Blackbird, from director Chan-wook Park and writer Seth Overton. Esposito will play a doctor, Cassel a detective, and Danes will play the fiance of Rami Malek's character.

Splinter Cell: Conviction: Tom Cruise (Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Double Agent) is back once again as Agent Sam Fisher is the latest Splinter Cell film, Splinter Cell: Conviction. This time around Fisher investigates rumors that his daughter's death may not have been an accident. Brazilian director Jose Padilha (7 Days in Entebbe, "Narcos") will helm the film from a script once again by D.R. Cobb (The Question: The End, Splinter Cell: Double Agent).

Driving Around the Time: Hoping to rebound from the flops of Alternative and Evangelion last season, Meirad Tako has written a time travel drama. Hugh Jackman (Fevre Dream, 101), Dev Patel (Hotel Mumbai, Lion) and Anthony Hopkins (Before You Help, Uncharted 2) have signed on to star in the project. Jackman will play a criminal who uses time travel to his advantage, Patel will play the founder of the Time Patrol Organization, while Hopkins will play a legendary time patrol officer. Duncan Jones (God of War, Mass Effect: Silent Assassins) has been tapped to direct the film.

Release: Haute Couture

Haute Couture
Genre: Drama
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee
Writer: James Morgan & Ann Morrow
Cast: Brie Larson, Al Pacino, Emma Stone, Sacha Baron Cohen, Frances McDormand, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ruth Negga, Katherine Langford, Joe Pesci




Budget: $50,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $52,923,619
Foreign Box Office: $40,590,111
Total Profit: -$6,017,052

Reaction: While only a minor a loss at the box office, it is more disappointing that the high profile cast of the film failed to bring in enough of an audience to bring the film success. Generally, we wouldn't want to spend $50 million on a fashion-themed genre, but the cast and director demanded pretty substantial salaries given their past successes.

"Haute Couture is a timely film, with its subject matter covering a valuable current social issue involving abuse of power and female empowerment. It doesn't hurt that the talented cast all deliver solid work in the film as well." - Leslie Vandergort, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Sure, the film's subject matter may be culturally relevant, but it's not my job to pat a film on the back for addressing social issues. The film comes across as cold and we never get to learn any of the characters beyond superficial traits." - Albert Perry, Orange County Register

"Jean-Marc Vallee's latest may be uneven at times, but there is immense talent both in front of and behind the cameras. The cast all bring their A-game, while Pacino gets a fun supporting role to sink his teeth into." - Olive Carroll, Houston Chronicle

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Top 10 Female Stars

Sherman J. Pearson here for another edition of Top 10. With the bevy of female stars featured in the LRF's latest film, Haute Couture, I decided to go with a list of the Top 10 Female Stars working for the studio...

Top 10 Female Stars
10. Sarah Gadon (Halo, Halo 2, Sinkhole, Halo 3, Halo: Reach, God of War, Halo 4)
9. Hailee Steinfeld (101, V, Last Rites, Cyrano de Bergerac, Cape Torment, Be More Chill, Huntress)
8. Elizabeth Olsen (The Prisoner, Atlantic City, Bonnie and Clyde, Heavy Rain)
7. Elle Fanning (Home Again, Sisters, Perfect Blue, Made in Abyss)
6. Margot Robbie (The Job, The Banded Ants, The Banded Ants 2 - The Mortal Enemy, Adr1ft, Calamity, Life After Life)
5. Mackenzie Foy (The Last of Us, The Child Martyr, Lullabies for Little Criminals, Made in Abyss, Asylum)
4. Jessica Chastain (The Prisoner, Blood Countess, American Outlaws, Sinkhole, Mr. Big)
3. Christina Hendricks (Skin Tight, The Question, Last Rites, The Question: Dark Tomorrow, Ringer, The Question: The End, Drecrescendo)
2. Jennifer Lawrence (Triangle, Burial Rites, Eileen)
1. Brie Larson (Maria, The Fountainhead, The Child Martyr, Heart of Stone, Uncharted, Uncharted 2)

Now Showing: Haute Couture

Haute Couture
Genre: Drama
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee
Writer: James Morgan & Ann Morrow
Cast: Brie Larson, Al Pacino, Emma Stone, Sacha Baron Cohen, Frances McDormand, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ruth Negga, Katherine Langford, Joe Pesci

Plot : Chaos is a good word, no the best word to describe the mood backstage, at a Couture fashion show. In between models and backstage workers, there is Belle (Brie Larson), an insecure model. A woman asks her to come to put her outfit on, but she needs to do something first. She runs in the bathroom and vomits. On her way back, she meets Alyson (Emma Stone), a fellow model. She asks her if everything is alright and Belle lies, saying she is. She’s grabbed by the arm by a the lead makeup artist and hairstylist, Diane Monroe (Frances McDormand). She tells Belle that she isn’t pretty enough and applies makeup on her face to “cover some imperfections”. Chloe (Ruth Negga), who’s sitting in the chair right next to her, understands what’s she going through, she’s never pretty enough for Diane, probably because she’s black. Belle finally enters the dressing room, where the main stylist, Karlo Hemingway (Sacha Baron Cohen) changes her outfit three times, because “sweetheart, you’re just too fat”. As she makes her way to the catwalk, Hemingway reminds her to tuck her belly in and the smile no matter what. Belle walks on the catwalk, next to Jessica (Chloe Grace Moretz). Demoralized and devoid of any energy, Belle falls, taking Jessica with her. The crowd gasps and both of them get up and run backstage, shame. Jessica throws a tantrum at Belle. The Couture brand president, Gaston Girardi (Al Pacino) arrives and screams at Belle. She doesn’t hear what he’s saying to her and she runs to the bathroom, crying. He then turns his attention to Jessica, who was also involved in all of this, even if she did nothing wrong. Belle lies down on the bathroom floor where she passes out on the floor.

Belle wakes up with Alyson, Jessica and Chloe around her. Alyson says she understands all pressure Belle can feel, but she needs to understand that the business is tough and not everything will always go your way. Jessica says she’s not ready to forgive her just yet, she just ruined her moment. While the other models are trying to console her, Diane comes in and throws a very judgemental look at them, as if they were inferior people. When Diane gets out, she immediately tells Gaston and Karlo, who are waiting just outside, that they’re inside. They eventually get out of the bathroom and Karlo starts to judge Belle. He says that she shouldn’t do this anymore. She’s not that pretty and she’s easily replaceable. Gaston tells Karlo to get off his high horse and to calm down. Nobody’s going to be fired, it’s bad press, but Belle needs to pick up the pace. It’ll always be like that around here and a company can’t afford to have a liability like her in its ranks. Unfazed, Belle walks away with her friends, as Karlo continues to vent his dissatisfaction with the models to Gaston.

Everyone is reunited in Belle’s apartment that she shares with her co-worker Alyson. They drink wine and eat a light salad, the usual post-fashion show meal. The mood isn’t the same as usual. The incident regarding Belle cast a shadow over the usual camaraderie in the group. Jessica is still low-key mad at Belle that she fell on her, which saw her be on the receiving hand of one of Gaston Girardi’s world-famous tantrum. Belle says they should talk about the obvious elephant in the room. She starts to tell people why she felt on the catwalk. It’s just because of one thing, it’s just an accumulation of things that happen at the Couture brand. She tells the girls a story involving Diane, the make-up artist and Karlo, the designer. In the past, they’ve constantly called her ugly and fat, respectively, which completely ruined her self confidence. She then confesses that she’s bulimic as a result. She admits that she threw up moments before going on stage and she didn’t eat anything two days prior, just to be sure that she was fit enough for Karlo, but she wasn’t.

Karlo and Diane are sharing a meal backstage after the event and they re-watch the show in its entirety. They give the usual nasty remarks and throw some jabs at model, but they stay true to themselves and identify the flaws in the show, in the make-up, the dressing, the lightning, the posture, the demeanor, everything. They may be execrable human beings, but there’s a reason why they’re the best in the business and we can see it tonight. Diane takes a particular attention to Gaston’s demeanor. You can see him in the clips and she thinks he might be a homosexual. They start to gossip and they want to find out. Karlo says he’ll do something and they both leave.

Belle isn’t the only one who’s being bullied and psychologically harassed by workers of the Couture brand. In a flashback sequence, Alyson tells the story of what happened to her when she got the job at Couture. She went in for a job interview. She was wearing something low-cut, but not in a sexual way. She was surprised to see that she’ll be meeting the head of the brand, Gaston Girardi himself, if she wants to have the job. The lady at the desk tells her it’s customary, does this with every potential model. Right off the start, Gaston admits that it isn’t standard procedure, he just wanted to meet with her personally, because he was really impressed by her previous shoots. He keeps looking at her breasts. Some say it might be her fault for wearing this particular shirt, but she never imagined she would meet with a perv. He invites her to sit on the couch, which Alyson is hesitant about. He says she doesn’t have to worry, he won’t do anything illegal to her, illegal being the key word. He insists that she has to sit on the couch if she wants the job. As soon as she sits on the couch, Gaston gropes her and she immediately gets up. He says that she’ll get the job. Alyson refuses, not wanting to work for a first class pervert, but he says that if she wants to work in this industry, she has to come work here, or else, he’ll ruin her reputation and she’ll never find work again. Gaston has the power to do that and Alyson knows it. She accepts the job, but swears to never enter Gaston’s office, let alone speak to him alone. When she leaves the Couture’s offices, she starts crying. In the present, the other girls can’t believe what they just heard.

Gaston Girardi is writing in his personal journal. Karlo knocks on the door and Gaston tells him to enter. He points at his journal and notes that if anybody reads it at some point, Gaston is in for a lot of troubles. Karlo notes that everyone has secrets, even dark secrets, grabbing Gaston’s tie while saying it. Gaston knocks him off, saying some secrets are darker than others and people don’t need to know them. He takes Karlo as an example. A common man sees him as a brilliant fashion designer that has a keen eye for style, but what the common man doesn’t know, is that Karlo’s soul is ink-black in the eyes of the models working for him. Karlo Hemingway is mean, rude and impolite backstage, but people don’t know that. Gaston says that if Karlo ever touches him like that again, everyone will know who the true Karlo Hemingway is. He then directs his attention to the door and tells Diane to come in, he knows she’s listening through the door. He tells her that she may be one of the best makeup artist in the entire world, but just like her friend Karlo, she’s a mean-spirited woman. She doesn’t want people to know she’s a white supremacist, right? He concludes by saying that’s why people fear him and that’s why his dirty little secrets will never get out. Both Karlo and Diane walk out, troubled by what they just heard.

Chloe too has her history of problems with people at the Couture brand. From racist comments from fellow models when she started to unsavory comments regarding her beauty. The worst offender of all is makeup artist Diane Monroe. She recalls one time, where she was sitting in the makeup chair and Diane was doing everyone else but not her, because she says she’ll never be able to make her look pretty enough. She figured it was just because she didn’t like her, but she Diane bluntly told her that she didn’t think she was pretty because she was black. She tells Chloe that she doesn’t deserve to be here and she would have to earn that privilege. If it was up to her, she wouldn’t even step on that catwalk, but it seems like Gaston seems something in her that she simply can’t see, because she doesn’t believe people like her can’t have what she calls the “it” factor. But what does she knows, she’s only a makeup artist. She may be good, but there’s a limit to what make-up can fix. Diane says she doesn’t understand what Chloe’s doing in this profession, she assumes it’s just because of race representation. Chloe was furious at Diane, but she kept her mouth shout, out of fear that she’d lose her job if she stood up to Diane.

It’s now up to Jessica to let go of her deepest secret regarding the Couture brand. She says that she never had any encounters with the staff, but she’s just sick and tired of Karlo telling her to lose weight. Who is he to tell her that, he weights about 300 pounds! She always suspected he’s a pervert, but she was never able to prove it. She admits to the ladies that she doesn’t have any shocking revelations about the backstage workers of Couture, but about her. After years of fat shaming from Karlo, Jessica is now anorexic. She says she hides it well. She’s definitely skinny, but not the worrying kind of skinny. She says you can only see it if you look at the details. She points out that she didn’t even drink wine tonight, despite having a glass in her hand, and she barely touched her salad. All she eats in a day is a hard-boiled egg and an apple. They continue to chat casually after these personal confessions, but you can see that there’s something in the air.

The next day, there’s a new model who was just hired, Justine (Katherine Langford). She seems shy and embarrassed. When Belle sees her for the first time, she’s with Karl, who’s measuring her. He keeps telling her she’s fat and she agrees that she should lose weight, even though she’s in a good physical shape and in absolutely no need to lose weight, but all naïve and new to the job, she succumbs to the pressure put on her by Karlo and she says she’ll do it. He points out areas where she should trim some fat and gives her a quick, but mean review of her worst flaws, wondering how the hell he’s going to adequately dress up a dis-proportioned body like hers. He mentions that he thinks the only reason she must have got that job was because she slept with Gaston, whispering in her ear that he knows what’s really going on in his office. He continues to whisper and asks her how big was Gaston’s male organ and she leaves the room, shocked, as Karlo laughs innocently. Belle waits for her to come out of the room and she presents herself. They share a few cordialities and she asks Belle is Karlo is always such a dick and Belle is afraid to tell her that yes, indeed, he is. She takes her by the hand and forces her to meet with her friends. When Belle presents her to her friends, she introduces her as fat Justine. Jessica says she’s not fat, but Belle assures her that Karlo did tell her that she was fat. Alyson pressures her to not lose weight. They go somewhere where someone will not hear them and they tell her everything there’s to know about this place, including the dirty secrets. Justine can’t believe it. She starts to cry and Alyson asks her why. She was, too, groped by Gaston in her “job interview” and she swore not to tell anyone, or else she’ll be fired and her reputation will be ruined, says Alyson. Belle tells her to carry on for now. She has a plan

Three weeks later
Things are once again chaotic at a Couture event, especially backstage. The rough makeup artist Diane is still reigning over her room with a heart of stone, for the multiple comments she directs towards the models. Everyone is still too fat for Karlo, too dis-proportioned for Karlo, not talented enough for Karlo, but to the outside world, Karlo is one of the best there is in the business. Gaston Girardi is watching, eating his models with his eyes. Everyone is running backstage, excitement and nervousness are in the air. Chloe gets off the makeup chair and she’s ready to go. She steps on the catwalk. During this time, Alyson follows Belle everywhere, to make sure that she doesn’t collapses another time, Gaston’s orders. Belle rushes in the bathroom, just to pee, she reassures Alyson, but she throws up two times inside. Chloe comes back from the catwalk and unzips her suit, she breathes normally again. She prepares for the big finale. Everyone is looking for the models, Belle, Alyson, Chloe, Jessica and Justine. We see Jessica leaving the makeup room, stealing black makeup on her way out. While Karlo is running around looking for Belle and Alyson to make final adjustments on their clothes. The models meet in the restrooms. They all have swimsuits on, with a robe covering it, it’s the summer collection after all. They each take the black lipstick and write on each other’s chest. They write things calling out sexual harassment and fat shaming. They put their robes back on, so nobody can see their texts. It’s their time to go out. They walk the catwalk together for the big finale and they drop their robe. The cameras flash and the world sees their message.

Gaston Girardi comes out on the stage and he looks furious, he has his game face on. He’s about to start screaming at his rebellious models, but the crowd starts to cheer, loudly. Journalists come forward and praise Girardi’s very clear stand against such practices in his catwalk. He does a complete 360 and he’s now glad that his models did it. The world shows the highlight from the show and everyone is in awe of Gaston Girardi’s act of defiance and the support of the movement taking the world by storm, where men are punished for those unforgivable acts. The models can’t believe it. Everyone thinks Gaston was behind it all. Nobody spoke to them, so they can’t let the cat out of the bag. Belle is furious and the others understand.

Gaston, all smile, asks for Belle and the other girls to meet with him, in his office. He mentions how brave they were to do such a thing and people loved it. As soon as Belle wants to talk, he does another complete 360 and he reprimands the girls for their action. The tone he uses makes it clear that he doesn’t want it to happen again, but he’s going to let it go for now, because it brought good publicity. He advises them to not let the world know that they’re behind it all, or else, they know what will happen and they better get ready to bid farewell to the fashion world.

The same night, Gaston has a private meeting with his most trusted workers, Karlo and Diane, in his office. With all the ensuing press he received after what happened, he decided to book an appearance for the entire team, including the model, on the popular late night show, the Hess Show. He preps them beforehand, because he wants them to act like they planned it all together. Gaston knows that Karlo may be harsh on the ladies, so he can’t make these kind of comments on the show. He knows Diane is an absolute racist, everyone knows it, but it can’t show and she absolutely can’t tell. These two aren’t used to appear in the limelight, so he’s not really sure if they’re good enough to hide their eccentric and politically incorrect personalities, so he gives them lessons as to how to behave correctly and not show the entire world how much of a dick they are. They struggle to learn, but they finally master it.

As usual, the crew of models meet and Belle and Alyson’s apartment, where they drink wine and a light salad. They introduce Justine to this ritual and she seems like she enjoys it. The ambience worsens when Alyson turns on the television and they see Gaston eating up all the praise in the media. Belle shares her plan with the others on what to say tomorrow when they will appear on the Hess show. Everyone thinks it’s a good idea and they will do it. Chloe and Jessica are unsure if it’s good for them, career-wise, to do such a stunt, but Belle says it’s probably not, modeling-wise, but they are well aware that you can’t model until you’re in your sixties. At the very least, it could give them a platform and lead them to better things, things more healthy for them. Everyone agrees and they group hug to show their affection to one another.

In the middle of the night, Belle wakes up, sweating profusely. She had a dream about every bad thing that happened to her during her time working for Couture. In a flashback sequence, we hear every crude comments she received and it reveals her past of self-harm. The noise coming from Belle’s bedroom woke up Alyson who joins her, consoling her friend. Belle says she thought of self-harming herself again, but Alyson tells her that it will all end soon, hopefully. She wipes off Belle’s tears and share a hug before going back to bed.

The next night, everyone is backstage just before appearing on the Hess show. Karlo is openly flirting with the guy doing his hair, and the guy is truly uncomfortable. Diane low-key furious that an Afro-American is in charge of the makeup. She doesn’t say a word, but her body language sure says a lot. Gaston is the first one to be sent out. He’s presented by the Hess Show host, Greg Hess (Joe Pesci). He praises him for raising awareness for modern causes that affect women and the world in general. Gaston says his thankful of his praise and announces that he brought the team that brought the whole project to life with him tonight.

Then, out comes, Karlo, Diane, Belle, Alyson, Chloe, Jessica and Justine. Hess starts asking questions to each one of them and Karlo stumbles on his words. Diane is rude and gives a very short answer, clearly embarrassed to be on live television. Greg asks the models a question each, before going back on the subject of their visit. Then, Belle interrupts. She says the models have something important to announce. Belle starts by saying that the whole thing was the model’s idea. Gaston is flabbergasted. Jessica points out that Karlo is a misogynist who pushes women to lose weight, even if they don’t need to. She admits that she’s currently struggling from anorexia thanks to him. Belle adds that she’s now bulimic thanks to Karlo’s unsavory and unwanted comments. Gaston tries to interfere and Karlo is jumping out of his chair, but Greg does a great job to calm them down, because he knows that what’s happening is good for the ratings. Chloe then adds that Diane is the biggest racist she has ever seen that she can’t tolerate being around black women, or men. Diane tries to refute her arguments, but drops the n-word, signaling the end of her career. Gaston screams at them to shut up, which prompts Belle to stand up, because he knows what’s next. She walks over to Alyson and Justine. She knows what they’re about to do is difficult, but she’s there to support them. They say that Gaston groped them during their special job interview and that he threatened to ruin their career if they told someone. Alyson asks him how he’ll ruin her life, now that she ruined his. Gaston gets off his seat and feeling that things are going to get out of control, Greg sends everyone to the commercials. Security arrives and separates Gaston from the girls, who are recomforted by Greg for their brave act. The rest of the Couture crew is now leaving the building and a sea of journalists are there to welcome them. Gaston, Karlo and Diane refuses to comment the allegations. Inside, the girls are jubilating. They’re finally relieved of that weight that were dragging along.

That night, when Alyson and Belle come back to their apartment, Alyson asks the million dollar question. What are they going to do, now that their modeling career is over. Belle says that it doesn’t matter, because for the first time in a very long time, she’s happy and Alyson is too. The pressure of satisfying Couture’s every needs is over. They both start to make out in their excitement. During this time, Gaston watches the news and realizes with a deep and profound sadness that his fashion empire is in shambles. What he spent all his life building was destroyed in mere seconds, thanks to an unholy feeling of dominance over women. For the first time in a very long time, Gaston Girardi, the man everyone believed had a heart of stone, is crying, while throwing his personal journal in a trash can and lighting it on fire. At least people will never have access to that. As the flames consume the multiple, filled pages, Girardi cries more and more, until he has a hard time to breath. Now he knows what true sadness is. It’s his turn to be sad and the others’ to be happy.

Premiere Magazine #95

The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 10 Round 5)

We're now halfway through Last Resort Films' historic tenth season, but this was definitely not its finest round (which made the Top Three difficult, and the Bottom Three too easy, but more on that later...) so let's get on with The Roundup....

3. Extended DC Comics Universe
I'm very intrigued with where the MBWA DC Comics Universe (or as I'm calling it, the Extended DC Comics Universe) films are headed. Clearly it's a much different vision than the films from APJ, D.R. Cobb and Chad Taylor, which is exciting. The Marvel films Disney produces tend to be pretty similar to each other in look and feel, but LRF's DC Comics Universe is successfully building a world of all kinds of different tones and feels (yet, they can still co-exist).

2. Metamorpho
Metamorpho was a bit uneven, but that didn't take away from it too much. The film was had some great high adventure moments, and a fun, light tone. If anything, it reminded me a bit of the Brendan Fraser-led Mummy films, and I mean that as a compliment.

1. Edgar Ramirez
Jon Hamm was not very good as Captain Atom. There, I said it. He was boring. There is never a boring moment in Edgar Ramirez's performance as Rex Mason aka Metamorpho. He seems to understand get the fun and silliness of it all.

3. A Little Life
What a depressing story... There isn't an ounce of levity in this film. I generally don't have a problem with dark, depressing stories, but this one just didn't have anything to redeem it. Usually with films like this you can find a top-notch performance or something, but the cast struggles through most of the scenes - with some seriously questionable casting decisions (*cough* Alan Cumming *cough* Tituss Burgess *cough*).

2. Story of Sade
Why are all these girls living together? This is never explained. It almost feels like a sorority house situation, but without the school ties. Now that I think about it, that probably would have been a way to make the film work - you could keep the character traits, and really 99% of the same story, but it would actually make sense. As it stands now, there's no set-up, no explanation, just a bunch of young women (and yes, I found the age difference between Haddish and the others distracting as well) with no common interests inexplicably sharing bedrooms with one another.


1. Tiffany Haddish
Oooof! This film was already a struggle, but it was made even more so by Tiffany Haddish and her aggressively unlikable title character. Sure, the character's intentions are noble, but man, was her presence annoying. There was not much that was bothersome about that character.

Release: Story of Sade

Story of Sade
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Judd Apatow
Writer: Jacob Jones
Cast: Tiffany Haddish, Emma Watson, Selena Gomez, Charlotte McKinney, Trisha Paytas, Nathan Kress, Arsenio Hall




Budget: $30,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $52,779,046
Foreign Box Office: $33,999,340
Total Profit: $13,506,323

Reaction: While the numbers are low for a Judd Apatow film, historically speaking, the film actually managed pretty strong numbers given the combination of genres and the lack of proven stars.

"Like other Judd Apatow films projects, the film is way too long and far more enamored with its characters than the audience ever is. Tiffany Haddish's Sade might be the most annoying film character since George Lucas gifted the world Jar Jar Binks." - Mark Plainsview, ReelViews

"Much like its title character Story of Sade is well-meaning, but overly aggressive and ultimately unlikable. The set-up of the film is never explained, nor is it explained why a woman, clearly in her 30's, is moving into a house with the other, younger women. The lack of details like these make the film a distracting, unorganized viewing experience." - Reggie Dunn, Sacramento Bee

"Emma Watson and Selena Gomez are good in their supporting roles, even if they feel mostly wasted in the parts. Aside from them, internet personality Trisha Paytas and the professionally hot Charlotte McKinney do not fare so well, as neither have the dramatic or comedic chops to carry their characters. Haddish does what she can out of the grating main role, but it isn't enough to get the character beyond bothersome." - Clark Davis, JoBlo.com

Rated R for strong language, sexual content, drug references and some violence.

Behind the Scenes: Casting Flash Gordon

After Chris Pratt turned down the title role in James Gunn's upcoming Flash Gordon film, much speculation has surrounded who will eventually wind up with the role. Well, we may be getting closer to an answer to that question as Gunn, Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan, and screenwriter Roy Horne (The Tower, Gargoyles) will sit down with a handful of leading men over the next week or so to discuss the role. The shortlist of actors has been revealed, so we will break down that list below.



Armie Hammer
Age: 32
Height: 6'5"
Notable Works: Green Arrow, The Squared Circle, Call Me By Your Name

Garrett Hedlund
Age: 34
Height: 6'1"
Notable Works: Mudbound, Outlaw Country, Damned Ship

Chris Hemsworth
Age: 35
Height: 6'3"
Notable Works: Skyrim, Thor: Ragnarok, Numero Uno

Wyatt Russell
Age: 32
Height: 6'2"
Notable Works: Pressing Luck, Calamity, Overlord

Channing Tatum
Age: 38
Height: 6'1"
Notable Works: 22 Jump Street, Logan Lucky, Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Last Resort Films Jukebox: Story of Sade

1. "Green Onions" - Booker T. & the M.G.'s

2. "Sexy Naughty Bitchy" - Tata Young

3. "Canon" - Johann Pachelbel

4. "Rollin'" - Limp Bizkit

5. "Shut Up and Dance" - Walk the Moon

6. "Heartless" - Kanye West

7. "Fix You" - Coldplay

8. "It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones

Now Showing: Story of Sade

Story of Sade
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Judd Apatow
Writer: Jacob Jones
Cast: Tiffany Haddish, Emma Watson, Selena Gomez, Charlotte McKinney, Trisha Paytas, Nathan Kress, Arsenio Hall

Plot: As the movie starts and the background music begins to play, the voice of Sade (Tiffany Haddish) can be heard questioning the choice of music calling it sappy and requests for a more ‘sophisticated’ song to play for the movie. When that plays, she is satisfied and proceeds with the movie.

Driving in the countryside in a blue Sedan, Sade can be seen with her trademark sunglasses and with suitcases in the trunk. In narration, Sade explains that she’d been raised by her father to be a classy individual and to only ask for the very best in life. When others put her down, you know what she did? She told them to fuck themselves with one of them corkscrews you find at an amusement park. Then when she found out that it would be impossible, she simply told them to back away and let her finish her stuff.

Growing up, her father treated her right and showed her the way of the Lord. And she did everything to ensure the Lord knew how much she loved him. And he loved her back (at least, according to her father). The problem is, the Lord never really knew how much she’d grow. As it turned out she grew so big, the Lord wanted her to explore the world and share her good nature with others (“Crazy bastard. Always making me run around doing his errands. That’s why I love him.”).

As she nears her destination, it’s learned that she decided to live in a house with several other girls (or as Sade calls them ‘ghostly bitches’) so she could try and fit in with them. She admits that it won’t be easy living without her father or the other folks in her town, but she’s willing to suck it up and try new things. Little did she know that those new things were so messed up that some guy decided to turn this into a movie.

The narration ends as she pulls up into the new house she’s decided to live in, rent paid and everything. With her suitcases in the back of the car, Sade knocks on the door and waits for someone to open it. Sade is then introduced to Trisha (Trisha Paytas), vlogger and expert on all things fashion, beauty and relationship related. Sade assumes that she can help her find a new wig because all the ones she brought had been split and the two laugh it off.

Sade comes across the next girl, a cute but shy girl named Brie (Selena Gomez) who quietly welcomes her into their home. Sade tries to get her to speak up, but another well kept woman calmly tells her that it is unlikely to happen anytime soon (Emma Watson). The woman introduces herself as Gail and the two shake on it, though Sade has an issue with how many words she’s using and asks why she can’t just keep it ten words or less. Gail shrugs and plays with Sade’s joke saying she’s a multiplier or words, but when Sade leaves to explore the rest of her house; she tells Trisha behind her back that Sade is a few bolts loose.

In awe with how beautiful and neat the house looks, Sade excitedly announces her willingness to get along with everyone in the house, the four of them all together in holy matrimony. Gail soon tells Sade that there is one more person that she hasn’t met yet. Suddenly, a car crashes onto the back of someone else’s car and walks up to the door. Sade turns around, awaiting the arrival of this last person everyone seems to dread.

The door opens and in walks in Chloe (Charlotte McKinney), complete with her denim jacket, white tank top, blue mini-skirt and black stilettos. It seems she and the other three girls are displeased to see each other, but Sade’s jaw is dropped wide open. Amazed at how attractive she looks. Chloe looks at her and asks Trisha who the new girl is and she introduces Sade to her. After asking her if the blue sedan was her car, Sade can only nod, jaw still wide open. Chloe flatly apologizes to Sade and then walks up to her room, muttering to herself that the house has ‘another bitch’ to deal with.

When Chloe leaves, Sade asks Trisha what Chloe was talking about. Trisha tells her that she was talking out of her ass and apologizes about the car. Sade tells her to fuck the car and asks her about why Chloe seems so disliked. The three can only stare at her with concern and after a few seconds, Gail tells her that she has a lot to learn in their house. But for now, Trisha says that she’ll be welcome to join them and takes a selfie with Sade.

As she enters her room (which she shares with Brie and Gail), Sade narrates that while she had enjoyed her first day, she didn’t exactly know why it was that this Chloe person was so hated. Especially with how attractive she was. Were they jealous because of that? She’d seen many ladies back in the church get jealous of someone because of how they looked even though she did nothing wrong. But for now, she would put that aside and focus on making friends with the others.

The next day as the others are having breakfast, Sade notices that Gail and Chloe are missing and goes out to look for them. As she walks up the stairs, she begins to notice classical music playing and feels her ears growing a set of balls (her words, not mine). Curious, she walks up to the room where she, Gail and Brie are and sees Gail working on a major project on her laptop listening to the music. Sade decides to come up to her and ask what’s going on, much to Gail’s annoyance. Sade apologizes and explains what had happened to get to this point.

When she hears what Sade has to say, Gail apologizes for being so hard on her and reveals her life’s work, a master thesis on how to cure seemingly incurable diseases. Sade praises her for her hard work and passion, but still wonders what she was listening to. Gail plays it for Sade and she soon falls in love with it, declaring that Gail had invented a new religion. Gail is flattered but reveals that what she was listening to was Pachabel’s Canon.

Suddenly, Sade and Gail hear shoving and shouting and peek their heads over to the kitchen where they notice Chloe and Trisha arguing loudly over how ‘slutty’ the other one is. Gail sighs, explaining that this happens almost every day. Trisha however soon snaps and jumps onto Chloe, slapping her around and beginning a catfight between the two. Gail and Sade run downstairs and attempt to break up the fight, Gail holding Trisha back and Sade holding Chloe back. Chloe tells Sade to fuck off and storms off. Trisha tries to follow her but Gail stops her from reaching the door and guides Trisha to her and Chloe’s room.

Stunned and amazed by the fight, she rambles on about how both ladies were acting like those who belong in the ghetto when she notices Brie softly crying among the chaos. She comes up to her and comforts her, saying that the two ladies were gone and promising that they’ll have some good angry sex at some point. Gail is quick to point out that Trisha is straight and joins Sade in comforting Brie. In narration, Sade explains that she had never seen two white girls act like the fools in her church before, always believing that white people acted and did things right 24/7. But that day made her realize that every race has a few people that should’ve been aborted before birth. With that said, she was still wondering what was with Chloe that made everyone mad.

That afternoon, Sade, Trisha and Gail sit down together on the couch in the living room and discuss Chloe as a person. As it turns out, Chloe has been a major bitch to everyone ever since she first came to the house and has an unstable personality fueled by alcohol and her own hubris. Nobody knows why it is, all they know is that they’ve come to accept that she is in fact, a bitch. Sade is unsure about this and pushes around the idea that she can help Chloe become a better person. Trisha laughs it off saying that ‘the skank’ is hopeless. Sade says her father taught her to look into someone and see if they can be redeemed of their sins and that in her opinion, she thinks that anyone can be forgiven of what they’ve done in the past if they knew what was really going through someone.

The door opens and in walks an intoxicated Chloe. She stumbles inside the house goes to try and make a sandwich. Sade excuses herself and proceeds to go watch her try and fail to do so. In narration, Sade states that while she watched Chloe fail in her quest to make a sandwich; she noticed two things. One: Her ass was gorgeous and Two: Deep down the girl must’ve felt horrible about herself. And it was at that moment she realized what she had to do.

That night, Sade is shown outside the house calling someone on her phone. The voice answers and Sade asks her dad (Arsenio Hall) how he’s been. The two soon discuss how Chloe is a seemingly toxic influence to the others and Sade’s plans to make her a better person. Ben suggests they do a sermon in the morning, but Sade vetoes the idea saying her ghetto side comes out during that time. (“And let me tell you daddy boy, that cracker can fight real good.”) The two keep talking till late at night when they manage to come up with a solution.

The next morning, whilst everyone is tensely eating breakfast at the kitchen. Sade decides to lighten up the mood by asking what everyone plans to do for the weekend. Trisha promises not to overdose on cocaine, Chloe’s going out clubbing, Brie just wants to stay in her room and look at the ceiling and Gail plans to continue working on her thesis. Sade tries to keep the fights to a minimum, but while lecturing Chloe about the importance of keeping calm she looks at her breasts and gets distracted.

Knocks on the door soon manage to snap her out of it and Sade runs off to see who it is. She opens the door and is ecstatic to see a person, calling everyone over to meet him. She introduces Chloe to Josh (Nathan Kress) and says that he will be her date while they go out to the club. When Chloe asks why, Sade explains that he was the only white guy she could find that was submissive, knowing that this was her kink. Chloe glares at Sade, yelling out that she’s a lesbian and storming off to her room. Josh tries to ask if it’s too late to bail, but Sade cryptically says that the Lord made whips to spank little boys who don’t follow his orders.

Later that evening, Sade waits for Chloe alongside Brie (who had been waiting to pee for an hour now) and Josh. Sade admits that around that time she had grown a bit worried about this plan, wondering if maybe this wasn’t the right way to go about it. Or rather, this was the right way to go about it, but the wrong way to set it up. Finally, Chloe comes out from the bathroom with a little black dress and high heels on. With a big smile, Josh tries to take the reluctant Chloe by the arm, who calmly tells him to not embarrass her and maybe she’ll buy him a beer. The three start to walk off when Chloe notices Sade walking with them. Sade promises to Chloe that she’ll keep her mouth shut and let the two enjoy their evening. Chloe gives an untrusting glare.

Back inside the house, Brie is shown inside her room solemnly looking at the ceiling. Gail looks at Brie and asks if she’s feeling alright. Brie nods, leading for Gail to try and go back to her thesis. Brie sighs, leading for Gail to ask if she’s sure she’s alright. Brie nods again, but just before Gail can resume she asks Gail what it’s like to be outgoing? Brie explains that all her life she’s never really gotten to know people for who they are and only from what they’ve seen and in turn it’s made her feel...like a virgin (she’s listened to a lot of Madonna).

Gail softly wonders if it’s about Sade’s attempts to make Chloe someone better and Brie admits that it’s sort of based on that, being jealous of her because she wanted to see if she could do it herself. She even made her a picture that she would share with her some day. After asking to see it, Gail sees a drawing of her and Chloe holding hands and watching the sunset together. Gail smiles, calling it beautiful and asking why she hasn’t shown it to Chloe. Brie shrugs, admitting that her nature has held her back.

Meanwhile, an impatient Sade mutters about foot cramps and orange men and asks if they’re at the club yet. Chloe snaps at Sade, saying she’s been saying that ever since they started walking and to hold her ass. Sade not only does so, but also lifts Chloe up in the process causing her to scream and demand to put her down which she does much to Sade’s chagrin and demands she make her sexy mind up. Josh manages to break up the argument by saying they’ve arrived at the club. Noticing this, Chloe gets a smirk on her face and smiles, saying that they’re finally at the one place where she feels free to be who she wants to be.

In Gail’s room, she seems ready to finish up her thesis when Trisha comes up to her, phone and everything ready to do a vlog about her ‘lamest friend’. Adamant on completing her work, she tells Trisha to back off. But Trisha does not resist and takes a selfie with her. She soon notices Gail’s laptop and reluctantly asks why she’s still working on that ‘weird fever dream’ of hers. Gail insists that it is not a fever dream and that it is years of hard work and research. After telling her to try something other than be a buzzkill, she tries to take Gail’s laptop away which leads to a brief struggle for control of the laptop which ends when Trisha accidentally spills water on the keyboard and the laptop goes dead.

Angered after mourning the loss of her hard work, Gail forces Trisha out of her room and locks the door. Concerned for her friend, Brie tries to calm her down but Gail yells at her to fuck off. Hurt by this outburst, Brie runs over to her bed and softly cries to herself. Realizing what she’s done, Gail breaks into tears herself.

Inside the club the atmosphere is electrifying and several people can be seen dancing to the beat of some real good music. Chloe and Josh are especially getting down with it. The only one who isn't is Sade who is drinking martinis and keeping an eye on Chloe and Josh. While "Shut Up And Dance" plays, she begins to notice a change in her personality. She’s more fun-loving, energetic and outgoing, almost like she’s the life of the party. The other thing Sade notices is that her body is almost ungodly when she dances and the way she swings her hips gets Sade going, almost as if the devil is urging her to be a pitbull wanting meat.

Sade says, her classy, sophisticated demeanor could take no more and like a Batman out of fucks to give decided to join Chloe and Josh in the dancing and begins to dance provocatively close to Chloe much to her shock and confusion and the amusement and bewilderment of others. It all ends when Sade admits out loud that she wants to fuck Chloe’s beautiful body and french-kisses her on the lips. This provokes a full on brawl between the two parties that Josh tries and fails miserably to break up. Eventually the two are thrown out by a bouncer.

Chloe storms back home, enraged that Sade had ruined her night. As she does so, Sade tries desperately to apologize to her but she refuses to hear it. Chloe snaps and eviscerates her with a long rant on how Sade is the most obnoxious, self-absorbed, pretentious prick she’s ever met and how she’s known about her trying to ‘fix’ her from her conversations with the others and tells her that she can’t fix something if she doesn’t know what part of her is broken. Despondent, Sade tries to tell her that she wants to help and she wants to know. Chloe looks deep into Sade’s face and sighs, telling her to go to hell.

In her thoughts, Sade realizes how badly she fucked up and that the only thing that could make it worse was if it started raining for no reason. This ends up happening much to Sade’s dismay. Chloe soon enters the house and notices that everything is in disarray. Furniture moved around, shattered glass. Brie and Trisha are having a screaming match while Gail is nowhere to be seen. Chloe expresses relief that for once she didn’t cause a shitstorm and listens in on the argument. Brie tries to stand up for Gail, saying that she’s trying to secure a future for herself. Trisha calls her a ‘ho energy drainer’ that bores everyone except crackheads and entitled introverts like herself. While Chloe takes amusement in the two squabbling, she refuses to get involved and proceeds to go to the porch to smoke a cigarette.

Sade around that time enters and sees Brie and Trisha arguing which only exasperates her bad mood and she asks for both of them to shut their face vaginas up. This causes Trisha to get up in Sade’s business and the two to get in a shouting match talking about how shit their days have been which escalates when Sade is shoved aside by Trisha. After looking up to the sky and asking the lord for forgiveness for what she’s about to do to ‘this plastic bag’, Sade charges after Trisha and a fight ensues and includes Brie. Chloe hears all the chaos ensue and after seeing Trisha beat down on Sade decides to step in and decks Trisha with a punch herself.

Sade chuckles to herself admitting that after re-watching this several times that it was the most fun she had in her life. Guess who didn’t find it so fun though? Gail, still reeling from the loss of her thesis comes out, sees the brawl and screams at everyone to shut up. This grabs everyone’s attention and Gail just goes off on everyone being disrespectful and antagonistic towards each other and meanwhile all she wants to do is achieve something with her life, something she can no longer accomplish now that her work is gone. She questions how they can all survive out in the world when they’re all acting like mad men and repeatedly says “fuck you” to all them, flipping them off and storming back into her room.

The next morning, Sade decides to call for a meeting with the other girls to calmly talk about their grievances towards each other. Gail stands up and says that last night was the worst night of her entire life. Yes, she lost he thesis, but she also snapped a good friend of hers in Brie and she lost her cool towards everyone. She wants to apologize to her and to everyone else. Trisha also admits that she got carried away in how she acted against Gail and Brie last night and that she never really got to understand what was so important about her thesis.

After Gail explains why, Trisha feels even more guilty and tears up a little, repeatedly apologizing for being such a shitty person. The two hug it out and Sade says that they can try to remake it together, but Gail decides that it’s not worth it. She’s been working on it for two years now and while it’s given her a sense of satisfaction in her life, it’s also made her distant towards the others. From now on, she’s going to try and be more interactive towards the rest of her roommates. Brie also apologizes for yelling at Trisha and says that while it was the first time in some while that she's felt alive, it was the first time she was openly ashamed of herself.

Chloe then asks to speak and is given the floor. She tells Sade that she made her feel really uncomfortable yesterday when she told everyone how she wanted to have sex with her and then kissed her. It brought back some really bad memories from her past, and hearing Sade saying she wanted to help fix her only made things worse because that took her to when she was only five and...she stops. She can’t go on. But at this point, she realizes she’s gone too far.

Holding back tears, Chloe she admits that she grew up in an abusive household. Her father was a neglectful drunk, her mother verbally abusing her, telling her that she wasn’t pretty enough like her and declaring that she would make her beautiful. It created a toxic environment where she lived. It doesn’t end there, when she was sixteen she got into a relationship with a thirty year old who only loved her for her body. Every time she was with him privately, he’d rail on and on about how he’d love to get a glimpse of her ass or go in excruciating detail the many ways he’d try to have sex with her. One night, when he was at his absolute drunkest, he tried to rape her. Thankfully she fought back and murdered him before he could get the chance. Since then though, she’s been refusing to trust anyone but herself. That’s why she loves going out to the club and getting drunk, it’s the one place where she knows she’s free to be the person she wanted to be growing up and not the person she ended up becoming.

The other four are horrified when Chloe admits to all of this, Sade even declares it a travesty on par with the time Sade caught her parents making love with each other for the first time (“That was when I realized that there was no such thing as the Stork. Lord help me, I was traumatized that day. Still haven’t got over that shit.”). Sade admits full responsibility for her actions and comes out with a confession herself, she hasn’t been as clean or as classy as the others thought of her as. She comes out as gay and reveals that she likes to fantasize herself making love to the other women. She would look at videos of girls dancing in sexual or provocative matters. For a time, she thought she was over this, but seeing Chloe and how acted and looked, it took her to those days once more. Only in this case, it was like she was seeing the real thing every day of the week.

Noting the seriousness of this confession, Trisha asks if she thinks it's okay to objectify someone like that. Sade says that it isn't, but she’s been keeping this a secret for so long now that eventually it had to come out and she apologizes to Chloe for her part of what happened last time. The others also apologize to Chloe for what they’ve done to her, which Chloe accepts and apologizes to everything she's done to them.

Before the meeting can come to an end, Brie decides there’s one more thing she needs to do and runs up to her room. When she comes down, she presents Chloe with the picture of the two of them. With happy tears flowing down from her cheeks, she hugs Brie and thanks her. For the next few days, Sade recalls that everyone had to get used to life being a little different. It was a little awkward at first, but as time passed they all started getting the hang of it. Brie grew more confident about herself and spoke out more, Gail started to take the time to speak with others, Trisha became a little more tolerant of others and how they do things and Chloe became what Sade hoped she would become. A nicer, happier and overall better person.

And Sade? Well, Sade read up on women objectification and how to treat them with respect (“It was the proudest moment of my life. Prouder than the day I got my first period.”). And with every passing day, she got better and better at respecting women.

Eventually the one month anniversary of Sade’s arrival in the house came and everyone was holding a party for her, celebrating how she had come and changed their lives for the better since arriving. Honored by this, she calls for a toast and awaits for them to listen.

In a heartfelt speech, Sade says that the last month or so had been the most exciting of her life. Every moment, every fight and every second with them had been fun and thrilling to her. Yeah, there were some rather bad moments during the stretch, but through it all she had gotten to know and love all the people inside the house (“Y’all ratchet, probably more ratchet than some of the girls back at my daddy's church. But that's why I love y’all.”). Her only wish is to keep being friends for as long as possible.

Everyone toasts to that and drinks heartily to it. Later that evening, everyone can be seen dancing to Tom Jones’s “It’s Not Unusual”. Gail dancing with Brie, Trisha vlogging about everyone’s dance moves and Sade attempting to do what Carlton Banks did but failing miserably, falling down with a smile.

Chloe sees Sade and gives her hand up. The two smile at each other for a moment before Chloe kisses Sade on the cheek, calling it a ‘form of payback’. The two laugh it off and proceed to dance with each other for the rest of the night.

Sade’s voice signs off by saying if there were some things this movie taught anyone, it’s that-
A. Not being perfect is fine, but some things are wrong no matter what.
B. Age is just a number, unless you’re in a relationship then age means everything.
And C. No matter what, deep down inside, the people you hate in your life may have some skeletons in their closet too.