2019 Edinburgh Film Festival Review - Strange But True (2019)

Strange But True is certainly strange, but I am unsure about its truth. What starts as a tense, family thriller descends into insanity as the film enters camp territory with a slightly silly denouement, coupled with unintentionally hilarious dialogue. The catalogue of stars that comprise director Rowan Athale’s cast is stunning, with Amy Ryan and Nick Robinson standing out in particular as grieving mother and brother.

The premise of the film is strong. What if you were pregnant with the child of your boyfriend that had died five years prior? This is what Melissa (Margaret Qualley) believes when she pitches up at her ex, Ronnie’s (Connor Jessup) house to announce the news. Initially met with incredulity and anger, the varying of Ronnie’s surviving family pursue different strands of investigation, until a dark truth is revealed. This a film of two halves; the first is a tense thriller, the drab suburban cinematography lending threat to the slow-burning suspense. As disparate threads are tied up in the second half, the whole starts to unravel, relying on genre tropes and hammy dialogue, undoing some of the first half’s good work.

We open with Melissa’s arrival at the Chase household, an eerie and hostile environment, seemingly devoid of any joy. Ronnie’s brother Phillip (Nick Robinson) invites her in to speak, but his mother Charlene (Amy Ryan) is immediately and vehemently venomous towards her. She doesn’t want to dredge up old memories, especially when Melissa may be somewhat culpable for her son’s death. When Melissa reveals that her pregnancy is Ronnie’s, she is banished from the house. Although they find her claims ridiculous, Melissa has laid a seed of doubt in the minds of the grief-stricken Chase family, all struggling to heal fully after Ronnie’s death. They simply cannot neglect this news.

Charlene explores the possibility of frozen sperm whilst Phillip visits a psychic to see if Ronnie is having an impact from beyond the grave. It’s not long before Ronnie’s father Richard (Greg Kinnear) is involved, having moved on to a new life in Florida with a much younger wife. Melissa lives adjacent to an older couple Bill (Brian Cox) and Gail (Blythe Danner), who see her as the daughter they never had, but they can’t understand why she won’t tell them who the father of her child is. In this mystery everyone is suspicious, and the supernatural cannot be ruled out.

The first half of Strange But True has an almost Lynchian quality to it. There’s a depressingly perfect veneer to the story world which is slowly chipped away and revealed to be entirely false. Eric Garcia’s script skilfully interweaves the divergent narratives of each character as they struggle to figure out the mystery. It teases us with information, never ruling someone out of foul play. As the characters come together and draw similar conclusions however, the film struggles. The initially drab cinematography that worked so well at first, makes the action seem flat.

There are some bizarre character decisions, and some even stranger dialogue, which I cannot deny that I enjoyed, just perhaps not for the intended reason. As a character strangles another he tearfully hisses “Please be quiet!” It’s all a bit silly and unfortunately it detracts from the great build up of tension in the film’s first half. Despite this, Strange But True features some strong performances across the board from its star-studded cast. Amy Ryan and Nick Robinson are especially brilliant, as their curiosity overcomes their inherent grief.

Strange But True is a contradictive film in many ways. Athale’s feature seems at odds with itself at times, as tension battles with the script’s more farcical elements. The strong opening provides us with a taut thriller but it struggles to maintain a head of steam. The characters are pretty thin, and some of the dialogue is downright hilarious. Despite this, Strange But True is an enjoyable watch that will certainly keep you guessing.