Freaks (2019) | Film Review

If entertainment has done anything right in 2019, it is skillfully examining the pathos of our leads within the current superhero craze. Brightburn opened the possibility of a superhero being born bad, while The Boys amped it up a notch and threw a spotlight on the notion that we are idiotic to believe all persons with enormous powers would prove to be noble and disciplined. And now we have Freaks, a film that dares to explore the honest nature of mankind’s genuine reaction to the concept of super powered beings invading our planet: absolute fear and panic.

Chloe (Shooter’s Lexy Kolker) is an emotionally charged 7 year-old living with her dad (Emile Hirsch) in a rundown house. The setting appears almost apocalyptical as Chloe goes about her day looking raggedy and despondent, even as she plays random life prep games with her father. Continually reminding Chloe that venturing out of their house could get her killed, we learn her father believes Chloe is different – possibly superhuman – from the rest of those living outside. Therefore the human race would demand her execution if they knew about her true nature, and it is up to him to teach her to hide it. Chloe is no pushover though, and eventually notices a world of normalcy as she catches glimpses outside and begins to question her father’s sincerity.

As an audience, we do as well. At first glance, Chloe’s situation almost comes off as an increasingly insane riff on Room, where the captor instead decides to raise the captive child himself. Could she have been kidnapped from her mother? Are there even superheroes truly existent in this world, or is dad just insane? Is this even her dad?

As Freaks sets its course, many questions arise, most of which I will choose not to answer here for fear of ruining your experience. This is a story which unfolds at a distinctly methodical pace, allowing various theories to traverse our minds and alter course before we finally understand the true direction of writer-directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein around the halfway point. It is here that the slow burn ignites and the remainder keeps us on pins and needles waiting to see exactly how everything will come together at the end. And who exactly it is we should be rooting for.

Playing both sides of the Manson mindset this summer, Emile Hirsch leaves the rational and innocent Jay Sebring of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood behind for the intense psychosis of a character known only as Dad, and proves his mettle time and time again. Throughout the film, my allegiance to Dad’s plight veers back and forth several times, as Hirsch utilizes steadfast earnestness to maintain our empathy while he dances in-and-out of batshit crazy. Because he waddles this line so skillfully, we only fully understand where Hirsch’s character lands when Bruce Dern’s Mr. Snowcone finally shows up (an enigmatic character who may or may not harbor a personal agenda amidst all of his dairy slinging).

While Hirsch delivers and Dern is in typical “impossible to dislike” form, it is Lexy Kolker who steals the show. Child actors typically run in two forms: the “professional” actor, who hits their lines but has been acting far too long to remember what it is to be an actual child; or the natural actor, who seamlessly blends into the proceedings while clutching their innocence and charm like a Coach purse. The Stranger Things and IT kids are prime examples of the latter, and Lexy ferociously follows suit.

There are several moments where Chloe comes across like a raging brat, begging to be locked in the very closet she occasionally catches glimpses of “ghosts” in. These tantrums would be eye-roll worthy in a lesser actor’s hands. But Kolker is a young performer who beautifully conveys the burst of angry energy that would occur from any child confined to a shady, broken down home who finally witnesses a beautiful world outside their doorstep. At one point, her absolute demand of ice cream is just the type of action that could hand her dad a death slip if what he claims bares any semblance of truth, but any parent can attest that it takes much more than idle threats to stop the wrath of a child in the midst of an ice cream freak-out. It is moments like these, as well as several displays of tenderness while Chloe pines for her absentee mother, that allow Kolker to establish herself as more than just another child actor. She’s hypnotic.

Freaks takes several chances in its story structure, willfully risking losing the audience by keeping details at bay for long durations, yet we prove to be in capable hands for the entirety of the ride. Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein not only stick the landing with their X-Men meets 10 Cloverfield Lane mashup of comic lore and noir mystique, but leave us with yet another clear example of why we need other minds besides Marvel and DC telling superhero stories like these. These are my kind of freaks.