Outrageous ‘bag of dirt on the left’ film undermines Jeffrey Epstein horror

MOVIE

The scary of the sixty-first ★★★ ½
Rated R, 82 minutes

In case you missed it, there is a thing in America called the Bag of Dirt on the Left and one of its stars is a young American actress and podcaster of Belarusian descent called Dasha Nekrasova, whom he this is the first film. One idea of ​​the “dbl” is that centrist liberals are the enemy and we need more vulgarity in art and politics to wake people up. Insert a curse somewhere for emphasis.

It’s like punk rock politics to the new generation of angry young American leftists. With his advocacy for violent overthrow and a conspiratorial set of beliefs about the rich and powerful, this is the yin of QAnon’s yang – although a bit more cohesive as the rich do really control the world and some of them. they are pedophiles – hence the story of this film.

It was shot in 16mm, so it’s already cool. Most of it takes place in an apartment on the Upper East Side of New York City that seems like an incredible boon for young hipster girls, Noelle (Madeline Quinn) and Addie (Betsey Brown). The apartment is full of furniture left by the previous owner, including a grand piano that a creepy agent (Stephen Gurewitz) tells them not to play. Addie is a very nervous actress, who refuses to ask her rich daddy for money because he is a hole. Noelle is a lazy slacker, a series of opinions rather than a fully formed person. These two are friends, but they bitch about each other.

As soon as they move in, things start to get weird. A stranger appears on the doorstep, a nervous young woman (played by Nekrasova), who tells them that the apartment was previously occupied by Jeffrey Epstein. The stains on the old mattress make her vomit at the thought of what may have happened there. Noelle and this young woman, who has never been named, become accomplices, trying to find out more about Epstein and his connections. The excitable Addie suddenly seems to become possessed by the minds of her victims – most notably a 13-year-old nymphomaniac with a crush on Prince Andrew.

Scurrilous doesn’t even come close to describing the film’s outrages. Nekrasova’s mastery of cinematic technique is minimal, but it could just be a budget. She knows her horror movies. What she lacks in resources she makes up for with cunning and bile and a freewheeling attitude towards onscreen sex. The dialogue tears up the conspiracy playbook, citing the “Clinton Crime Family” and the Royal Family as special targets. You just know there will be blood at some point and the finale doesn’t disappoint. As a political allegory, it is quite obtuse. As a cinema, it’s fiery rather than refined, but it has its attractions. As a comedy, it’s darker than the pitch. Be prepared for precious bodily fluids.

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