South by Southwest Film Festival
Official Selection
Welcome to Fandor. Watch thousands of award-winning films online.
×
Silver Bullets2011
Ethan (Joe Swanberg) is a director who aims to make meaningful art films, but is struggling with a creative slump and disengagement with his work. His girlfriend Claire (Kate Lyn Sheil), is an actress whose career is beginning to take off. She has accepted the lead part in a werewolf movie being directed by talented young horror filmmaker Ben (Ti West). Ethan's depression leads to jealousy over both Claire’s success and her increasingly close relationship with Ben. Ethan decides to retaliate against Claire by casting her best friend Charlie (Amy Seimetz) in a romantic role opposite himself in his new film. As pettiness and jealousy spiral out of control within their relationship, Claire begins to slip into a surreal fantasy world that more closely mirrors her role in the werewolf film than that of her real life. Largely improvised, SILVER BULLETS draws inspiration from Chekhov's "The Seagull" and Roman Polanski’s BITTER MOON, while using David Foster Wallace as a reference point to explore fame, depression and suicide.
What makes this film worth watching?
1 member likes this review
The film director/character: "[Making movies] allows me to get close to people. That's all that's left." The final shot in this film shows what that means for the viewer.
top reviewer
Cast & Crew
Genres
Festivals & Awards
Related Articles
Starring
- Jane Adams - June
- Larry Fessenden - Sam
- Amy Seimetz - Charlie
- Kate Lyn Sheil - Claire
- Joe Swanberg - Ethan
- Ti West - Ben
- Sean Price Williams
Poster & Images
Member Reviews (10)
top reviewer
Fetishistic musing of what it's like to pine over a woman (or in this case, what a woman resembles when she's deconstructed to fit to a male's sensitive, incurious ego). "Silver Bullets" is indulgence on the level of a DeviantArt self-portrait.
3 members like this review
top reviewer
The film director/character: "[Making movies] allows me to get close to people. That's all that's left." The final shot in this film shows what that means for the viewer.
1 member likes this review
top reviewer
Claire is the best thing about the film_it's shot well_the Ethan thing is annoying
1 member likes this review
His best movie I've seen so far. Only bettered by Alexander the Last. Artier and more risky than Drinking Buddies. Has the feeling of a fully formed vision on a small scale.
1 member likes this review
"Silver Bullets" is another excellent movie from Joe Swanberg that shows the depths of a relationship as one person begins to tear it apart. Swanberg plays the part of an aloof and ambivalent indie movie producer who is jealous of his girlfriend's opportunity to star in a horror film by an up and coming indie producer. Kate Lyn Sheil plays Swanberg's girlfriend with a great depth of emotion. In character Swanberg ultimately unleashes a series of passive-aggressive moves that tear their relationship apart.
1 member likes this review
top reviewer
horrendous use of music, an object lesson in bad decisions in that regard, plus overdramatizing limp narcissism. a shame b/c Kate Lyn Shiel is such a badass actress. at one moment i thought things might be coming together to become worthwhile, alas that appeared to be just misdirection. the prologue wraps every mistake of the movie into one two minute bundle
top reviewer
The music was very good.
top reviewer
Interesting, The overlayering of action and blurred identity. There is something very subtle here.
Fat beats. Dope Tracks.
You know what I liked this.
For the first while of this film it almost felt like Swanberg was trying to explore the idea of a male director exploiting his position to make female actors fulfil his emotional and sexual fantasies. The scene between Swanberg and Sheil in the laundry room, as well as Ti West describing Sheil's nude role in his film certainly emphasised this notion.
You're right in you diagnosis, unfortunately. As Amy Seimetz it introduced as a means for Swanberg to retaliate, all notions of my original thoughts were completely decentralised and put aside in the narrative. Oh, and that whole fantasy segment is completely ridiculous; the dance was a great shot but I feel Swanberg's original vision faded towards the end. Just the result of putting out five films in a year I guess.