SODIUM PARTY (REVIEW)

Dir. Michael McCudden

Reviewer. Martyn Wakefield

From a troubled childhood of an anxiety fuelled mother and the suicide of her father, Claire (Slaine Kelly) adopts an imaginary friend to help her through. As the days of childhood draw to a close, the sheltered starling begins her first days of college trying to forget her childhood restraints and friend. Her upbringing and absence of knowledge of society highlight her out of the crowd and drawn between the reality of a life without shelter and the dreams of her childhood, reality slowly slips through her grasp.

Befriending her in her first days of a new world is Danny (James Corscadden), a boisterous youth who leads Claire down a darker path of drugs and socialising that only encourage her dream like behaviour and trances into another world. Haunted by the past, days become visions and while Claire’s newfound acceptance of the world is welcome, the tragedy it invites is far more powerful.

SODIUM PARTY is a fresh entry in storytelling and it’s difficult to pigeonhole for comparison. It owes a great debt to Victorian ghost tales and yet In part holds gratitude to a modern romance. The bittersweet events that progress throughout Claire’s story are tragically moving and beyond the haunting surface lies a deep tale of trauma.

The chemistry between Kelly and Corscadden is magical to watch. Everything about the two stars is charming to watch and all so genuine. With a haunting score to match, SODIUM PARTY is not only an emotionally terrifying rollercoaster but a perfect slice of story-telling done on a shoestring budget. From script to chemistry there’s a chilling sense of realism and relatable content to a tale which is otherwise staged in another world.

There is something so beautifully tragic that turns something so horrifying into a piece of art. Torn between madness and reality, this is not the horror film that will scare you but instead will touch even the darkest of souls.