Director/Editor/co-writer Freddy Macdonald gives us the 2024 Comedy/Thriller Sew Torn. Initially, it feels like shades of 1998’s Run Lola Run. However, once you get past the first moments of the film, other movies creep in. Groundhog Day, being one, a certain element of No Country for Old Men is another. Although there are touches here and there, nothing really prepares you for the sheer feyness of the film. *Freddy shares writing credit with his father Fred.*
From the music, a mix of instruments that includes a musical saw, to the varying degrees of morality dressed up as fairytale wonderland; i.e. the locale and the plots, Sew Torn delights.
Sew Torn Story
Per IMDb.com: A seamstress gets tangled in her own thread after stealing a briefcase from a drug deal gone bad. In an escalating game of cat and mouse, her different choices lead to drastically different outcomes along the way.
The Sew Torn Main Cast
Eve Connolly is Barbara Duggen.
Calum Worthy is Joshua Armitage.
John Lynch is Hudson Armitage.
K Callan is Ms Engel.
Ron Cook is Oskar.
Thomas Douglas is Beck.
Caroline Goodall is Grace Vessler.
Petra Wright is mom.
Let’s Talk Sew Torn
Barbara is a young seamstress who lost her mum, is losing her mum’s shop and slipping down a slope of unreality. After a horrid experience with a customer, she returns to the shop for a button. On the way, similar to Llewelyn Moss; No Country for Old Men, she stumbles across a drug deal gone bad. As her voice-over states, “Choices.”
She makes several. Some are quite bad.
The storytelling here is superb. There is a certain ingenuity that amazes. Mostly dealing with cotton, aka; thread. A type of innate cleverness with tying and stringing the cotton. From orchestrating a pulley system to magic with pistols, this part of the tale is impressive and intriguing.
While I felt there was a certain feel, or shadowing of the German Dark Comedic Crime Thriller Run Lola Run at the start, this soon dissipated. The tale here is more about consequences based upon choices, as Barbara says several times.
Thread also plays a visual part in this story, after watching the film, head on over to YouTube and search for Sew Torn BTS Featurette. Don’t watch this before you see the film proper, it will spoil things abit.
It All Works
The setting of the film is Switzerland and this helps sell the fairytale feel to this morality tale. Music, by composer Jacob Tardien is delightfully offbeat. At first I thought the wavering notes were from a theremin, that turned out not to be the case. See the BTS featurette for more about the musical score.
DP Sebastian Klinger works hand in hand with Freddy Macdonald as editor to give a wonderful look to each and every frame. The CG are spot on and combined with the practical effects they are just brilliant.
The actors all bring a lot to the metaphorical table here. From Eve Connolly to the voice acting of Petra Wright everyone shines. *Kudos to personal favorite Caroline Goodall for ringing the changes of her character.* Each character is brought to living breathing life; helped by a cracking script and a stunning amount of truth to each performance.
The Verdict
Sew Torn is one of those films that I would love to give 6 out of 5 stars for hitting every single mark. Literally, this film does not put one foot wrong. It is streaming on Prime, AMC +, and Netflix. Head on over to any of these and check this one out.
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