Woodshock

Filmmaker siblings Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who founded the successful haute couture firm Rodarte, here serve up a screen debut that offers a few striking individual images within a film that is opaque, repetitive, and dull. Kirsten Dunst stars as Theresa, who works in a medical marijuana shop. After she laces a joint with poison for her terminally-ill mother, she spirals into deep grief that even her handsome logger boyfriend cannot assuage. In her distraught, sleepless state she hallucinates and wanders about, and even occasionally—if what viewers see is to be literally believed—levitates amid the redwoods. Her distracted state leads her to make a terrible mistake when she prepares another fatal drug cocktail for a sad-faced customer but gives it instead to a young man. While this scenario might have been the basis for a modern noir, the only suspense the Mulleavys whip up is trying to decipher why anybody should care about dreary Theresa's plight. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “A Mental Landscape” making-of featurette (14 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an empty film.] (F. Swietek)