Chop Chop tells the story of Liv (Atala Arce) and Chuck Matthews (Jake Taylor), a couple in their 30’s who seem to have a lot of good things going for them; Liv has a decent job that she seemingly enjoys and they live in a quaint little apartment in which they have a romantic dinner by candlelight at the start of the movie.They also seem to have a healthy marriage despite some struggles in the bedroom (more on this later). However, things all take a turn for the worse when they are visited by a creepy pizza delivery man named Teddy (David Harper) who enters their home without permission. The Matthews are forced to fight for their lives in a short series of events that leads to the death of Teddy. Due to the mysterious past of the Matthews, they decide to not call the police and instead try to cover up the death of Teddy on their own. What happens next is a white-knuckled downward spiral of crazy events and chaos.
I honestly was just so amazed that this was the director’s first feature-length film because it delivers on so many levels. From the cinematography, use of light, the soundtrack, and the acting, this movie is an example of how to pull off an exceptional film, a wonderful surprise in a debut film. One of the film’s greatest strengths is the performances from the actors, among whom there was little experience in large productions and major roles. Despite this lack of experience, they all had exceptional performances that were believable and drew me in. In particular I thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Mikael Mattson who played Clark, a wild character that is introduced towards the end of the film. Another aspect of this film that I thoroughly enjoyed was the dark humor. Since the movie revolves around the Matthews and their effort to hide a dead body, this leads to pretty humorously grotesque interactions and events. This is further accentuated by the tone of this movie which was so gritty and theatrical. So many of the characters and settings were so comical, exaggerated, and mystical. It really was not what I was expecting but it worked extremely well and added so much humor and depth to the story. There really was not much that I did not like about this movie.
*Spoilers ahead*
Despite the many things to praise this movie for, where it did not fully deliver was in some of the story telling. When the Matthews kill Teddy and refuse to bring in law-enforcement, choosing instead to cover up the killing, this choice, along with their questionable history, continually leads them in a downward spiral of events. Without this choice and their history the plot would not have moved forward, which is an understandable move.
However, there is never the pay-off of learning what history the Matthews are tied up in. This left me wanting for more. It is sort of implied that they were either in the witness protection program or they had a history working for some sort of crime syndicate, but there is no clarification on this which ultimately felt cheap to me. I cared about the Matthews and I felt that I was cheated out of knowing more about why I cared about them besides the fact that they were the main characters. Despite this one flaw, the plot does not suffer greatly because of this and overall the movie was still exceptional.
In conclusion, I was so pleased with this movie. I think that it accomplished so much and marks the beginning of so much more from the actors, director, and the rest of the production team. You really don’t want to sleep on this movie or the people involved in making it.
RORSCHACH RATING:
Mental Health Moment (somewhat adult content):
The movie does not have a major focus on mental health; however, it does touch on the overlap between mental health and sexual health. At the beginning of this movie, Chuck is seen struggling with an erectile dysfunction (ED) and it could be implied that there were some mental health struggles as well. At the end of the movie after resolving the major conflict of the movie (and consequently a great amount of stress) he was able to get over the issue of ED. As a young man approaching his 30’s, this plot point stuck out to me. As someone whose career is centered around connecting individuals and families to community mental health resources, I understand the overlapping influences of sexual health, mental health, and physical health, and how so many things can go awry when we are struggling in any of these areas. Where a crazy night of trying to rid yourself of a dead body would not be a required part of self-care, I would say that making sure we take time to take care of our stress is so important. Recent research has highlighted how young men under the age of 40 are showing an increased prevalence of erectile dysfunction, most of which has been linked to mental health concerns. If you are a young man who has had struggles with ED I just hope that you know that you are not alone. Despite what media like “The Office,” “Pain and Gain,” and “Midnight Cowboy” might say, young men struggling with ED is a common issue and this issue isn’t anything to be ashamed about. With the current political and social environment being so stressful, it is more important now than ever before that we take the time to seek help in these areas and practice self-compassion when facing our day-to-day struggles, though this message can be applied to anyone and not just young men. These times are hard but you are not alone.
If you or someone you know is reading this right now and you are struggling with suicide, depression, addiction, or self-harm - please reach out. Comment, message or tweet to us. Go to victimsandvillains.net/hope for more resources. Call the suicide lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Text "HELP" to 741-741. There is hope & you DO have so much value and worth!
Victims and Villains is written Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey (and produced by) and more. Music by Mallory Johnson and others. Chop Chop is property of Fairwolf Productions. We do not own nor claim any rights. This review was edited by Cam Smith. Chop Chop is available to rent or buy on iTunes and Amazon Prime Video beginning October 20th, 2020.
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