Ally Was Screaming (2014) Online

(This review contains a very mild spoiler from very early in the film, also revealed in the IMDb.com summary) Solid psychological drama exploring the tenets of utilitarian morality, boasting a strong young cast with great chemistry (and a lot of promise for what they do next), Ally Was Screaming has an original script and premise, which is very welcome in this age of repeated remakes, re-imaginings and sequels. Ally often leaves you unsettled at the choices the lead characters make when they find their deceased friend left behind a winning lottery ticket (don't worry, not really a spoiler, this happens VERY early in the film), but they can just about charm you into agreeing with their choices, thanks to the strengths of the writing and Jeremy Thomas' direction, who also makes the audience ask themselves "what would I do?" Loved the naturalistic cinematography, especially the candlelight driven climax. The "coming into a fortune, but with a catch" idea has been done before, but never in such a unique way; in fact, it's one of the most unique films I've seen in a long time. Thomas seems assured and confident with his camera, never lapsing into the overused "shaky camera-syndrome" that too many of his contemporaries feel is the only way to shoot a thriller. This flick is well-paced and will spark a lot of post-viewing arguments among friends about right and wrong, morality, and the semantics behind it. It's nice to be reminded too that Canadian cinema doesn't have to be just "intimate family dramas" about quirky characters in a rural locale, but can instead be about a couple of "smart dudes" in the big city, who dig themselves in a little too deep and then may or may not want to try to dig themselves out. I look forward to what this director has in store next for us.

I rarely take the chance and actually watch a Canadian movie, but boy am I glad I watched this one! Nothing like your typical low budget Canadian film. Everything about this movie was first rate. The acting, the writing, the story line, even the music score and lighting was top notch. The best thing about this movie was the realism. The principal players in this film had dialogue that was really intelligent and made for a very intriguing and suspenseful film. I watched this movie with my 19 year old daughter (I am 52 years old) and throughout the movie we were both on the edge of our seats, and many times we gasped in anticipation of what might happen next. I could not wait to see how this movie would end, and needless to say it did not disappoint me. This is easily one of the best movies I have seen in a long time, and if you are in the mood for a real intelligent and suspenseful film, do not miss this one!

Great inspiring film the writer was very creative on us finding our inner selves and morals. For the ones that are not understanding of it clearly have no taste in rating films or in life in general. Looking forward to many of his next films! Check it out for yourself - if you don't understand the first time you weren't paying attention..

Money does not buy happiness and people should be more grateful on what they have.

Would you really feel better buying a Yacht instead of helping 40,000 hungry starving children?

If you have food, shelter, clothing you are a millionaire already compared to most. This film portrays that and much more!

We need to give Independent films a lot more credit for how difficult and challenging it is to create and produce.

This film is amateurish. Too much talking with a very poor script. It's trying to be film noir but never comes close. It's redundant – with repetitive living room scenes where there is suppose to be an attempt at murder with a screw driver. The film became so boring that towards the end I was actually hoping for something bloody and gruesome to stain the furniture – but are hapless sub-heroes are too busy whining and talking. There are endless scenes of our characters plotting murder and eulogizing their dead friend saying the same things over and over and over again. The music was pretentious (do young people really listen to Camille Saint-Saens?!). It's ninety minutes but really seemed much longer; I never felt anything but supremely bored.

It's just too artificial and it never grasps you. It lacked entanglement and suspense. All the people involved in this film need an education – watch a Coen brothers film to see how its' really done.

As a note check out the people who wrote rave reviews(two so far) for this film. One has one review, being "Ally", the other has two reviews... Meaning they likely are friends of the producer of "Ally" or directly involved in this dismal film

Is there such a thing as a charitable murder? A long time trio becomes a duo after losing their friend Ally in a tragic accident. Rummaging through Ally's belongings, our dubious protagonists, Nole and Seth, come upon a winning lottery ticket worth millions. Should they attempt to keep their late friend's money or hand it over to Casey, Ally's sister, and executor of the estate, who will rightfully give the ticket to Ally's abusive ex-husband.

Why should some scumbag collect on Ally's good fortune? If only sweet, saintly, Casey was out of the way, Nole and Seth could cash in the ticket and live out their philanthropist dreams. Feeling intellectually superior for their menial jobs, and oblivious of their own hypocrisy, the two are soon contemplating murder, justifying the act by committing to giving a third of the prize money to Ally's African charity.

The film veers into darkly comic territory when the two start swinging around their Magic 8-Ball, quoting movie mob scenes, and rationalizing the crime as now being somehow noble. Even to the point of convincing themselves that Ally herself would somehow approve of the vile deed. Or how about when Nole tries to take the high road, debating the ethical treatment of animals, all the while secretly plotting the murder of a human being. When Nole asks why using a knife for the crime wouldn't be humane - Seth screams out "Do you really want to start stabbing our friend to death?"

The three leads are uniformly excellent. Charlie Carrick (Nole), and Giacomo Baessato (Seth), have a great rapport and are absolutely convincing as life long friends. When they start tossing out their diabolical ideas, you can believe this is how a conversation like this might actually occur. Camille Sullivan is a standout as Casey,(reminding me of a young Robin Wright), who delivers a tricky, sympathetic performance as the conscience of the film.

Working with a minimal budget writer/director Jeremy Thomas has crafted a small gem of a movie; smart, riveting, and nuanced. Like Woody Allen's Match point, it takes the idea of murder seriously, with a comically wicked edge.