Moon Garden (2022)

Moon-Garden-(2022)
Moon Garden (2022)

Every once in a while, a new film comes out that catches you off guard because it compels you to remember something that should be self evident: movie-making is an intricate work of art. This is especially true when practical effects are used to create magic as seen in the lighting, costumes, sets, and the ideas involved. Ryan Stevens Harris’ Moon Garden somehow manages to be both an escape from the overwhelming digitization of films as well as the dread of what we have come to expect from contemporary cinema. This is a film that constantly manages to impress with its extravagant bursts of creativity, all while considering itself a horror/fantasy venture. 

Moon Garden, written and directed by Harris, is centered around the psyche of Emma (Haven Lee Harris), daughter of Ryan sceptically aged three to four. At the moment, this five-year-old is in a coma after suffering an unfortunate fall down a stairway in hopes of bringing an end to a quarrel between her parents, Augie Duke and Brionne Davis. Emma now explores an unknown, shadowy and filthy landscape as her body is enveloped in a state of stillness within a hospital. Parents keep mourning beside her and radioactive signals ringing together with lights flashing only add on to the chaos and tension of the moment. The place is full of bizarre fantasy creatures, some even resembling the woman Emma could eventually evolve into. 

Regardless of the hurdles or awkwardness that the film of Harris provides, it manages to grab attention scene by scene and keeps it throughout most of the film while simultaneously giving the audience a glimpse of mute symbolism.

This kind of project is characterized by its ever evolving terrain world building. “Moon Garden ”has an emotional edge when it comes to dealing with children and their parents fighting because that is one thing that is difficult to cope with. Just when Emma is getting a hang of everything around her, Harris gives the viewer a memory of her dads’ version of a torturous world. Harris artfully captures a fleeting moment while simultaneously showing the reality as Emma is climbing the clouds and getting a hang of everything else around her. One of those happy memories is counters with another, where real Emma remembers being terrified of her fathers angry, claw hand and wishing to hide under the blankets. That horrible such sets the bed sheet tunnel perfectly. 

To put it simply, “Moon Garden” has every imaginable creation inside of it. The Character teeth, painted by Harris, who serves to bring upon the more ominous aspects of the film, is without a doubt one of the highlights of the movie. Packed tight into a long black coat, teeth hovers above the ground, giving the impression of a malevolent entity waiting to sneak upon unsuspecting victims.

It’s not possible to observe its eyes, yet the sound of its chattering quads is omnipresent, which is one of the many peculiar features of the hallucinatory atmosphere created by Harris, who happens to be the film’s sound engineer. Sometimes, Teeth places one of them imprints on the floor, and often, Harris’ camera is positioned at lower angles, which makes the camera look at, and cringe at whatever it is zooming onto. Like so many other sequences in ‘Moon Garden,’ here too, Emma’s infatuation quickly captivates the viewer’s attention. 

Harris’ reference points in these areas will make one want to watch this film in the first place: there is some of Jan Svankmeijer, some of Steven Spielberg, some Tarsem Singh, some Guillermo del Toro, and of course, some David Lynch, but not in a borrowing way. Neither does the film neophytes, who are about to celebrate this treasure of a film, overstuffs their scope of eyeballs with too much practical nightmares imagery. (which, by the way, was filmed using expired 35mm film stock with vintage rehoused lenses.) 

Haven Lee Harris gives the type of performance that every filmmaker would wish from a child actor. Because of Emma’s enigmatic presence, she easily captures the viewer’s attention while standing next to overbearing adult characters. For her, blending in into the film’s diverse settings, as well as the multiple silent scenes, comes easily without feeling out of place.

Rarely does a child actor’s performance feel so effortlessly personal. 

“Moon Garden” has not just visuals but so many in-camera illusions as well. With time-lapse prowess, fruit decays on the ground at warp speed; nimble, non-showy cuts make characters vanish with their clothes dropping to the ground. We meet another striking character of Harris’s, Musician by Phillip E. Walker, through something that is magnificent yet incredibly simple: his organ being smashed and the footage being shown in reverse. 

Staying true to the motifs, Harris reconstructs the scene for Emma Smith, which always feels like a tearful experience; Pete Ham and Tom Evans’ ballad “Without You” does emerge. Emma’s mother, tenderly also kisses her daughter’s ear while singing the first verse in the hospital. Emma lifts her lips into a blossom-like smile whilst the sun warmly bulbs her dunked in peach-orange drapes, which is terribly blue.

From a director eager to reveal more of his fantasies, “Moon Garden” possesses such raw and beautiful elements.

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