Flipped (2015) Reviews

• Don't worry about the seeming inconsistencies...it all makes perfect sense by the end.

  MartinHafer2016-03-08

  Flipped is an extraordinary film. Imagine a movie where one actress is in nearly every scene...by herself! Yet, if you are patient, the movie is well done and worth your time. When the film begins, a professional model and her boyfriend have just had a horrible accident in her car and they're stuck in a huge ditch in the middle of no where...and well off the highway. You have no idea how this happened but you can tell the woman is in dire need of help. She is upside down and wedged into her seat and cannot get out of the car. As for the boyfriend, he appears dead or nearly dead and cannot give her any help. Things only get worse when she awakens, as she finds that her cell phone is broken and won't dial correctly...and several buttons don't work. She cannot dial the 911 number for the police and instead tries dialing using the working numbers. So, she randomly dials....hoping to find someone who is willing and able to help. One person is willing to listen and seems ready to help. However, through the course of the film, he becomes increasingly hostile and nasty. In fact, he later seems threatening and malevolent. Will help arrive before this strange, disembodied voice at the other end of the phone line arrives to do God knows what?! As I watched this film, several things struck me. First, the film is amazingly claustrophobic and odd, as almost the entire movie has this poor actress upside down...carrying the entire film on her own aside from the occasional voice of the weird guy on the phone. It's a strange and experimental sort of film that must have been hellishly difficult and I give Stella Maeve kudos for being willing and able to act in such a difficult situation. Likewise, filmmaker Harris Demel was able to do something amazing...to keep the film interesting even though most every shot is of the main character stuck upside down in her wrecked car! The problem, however, is that some folks might not want to see a strange film like this...so it might be a bit of a hard sell. Second, there seem to be several inconsistencies through the movie and I thought they might be plot holes. Well, by the very end of the production, I realized that there were legitimate reasons for all this....so you just need to watch this film without worrying about details that might seem poorly worked out...as it all does make sense by the end. Overall, this movie uses its low budget exceptionally well and is worth seeing...just be patient and you'll be amply rewarded.

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• Exceeded expectations

  ericabeth822016-02-22

  What I enjoyed most about this film was that I didn't know what was coming. I am the type of person that can guess any ending to a movie and my mind was blown and mouth had dropped. The suspense kept you on your feet wanting to know what was going to happen. Would she be saved? Who was this mysterious man on the other end of her self phone. The best part was that the group I went with left talking about the film. Discussing what happened and what we all felt about the different aspects of the film. Those are my favorite kinds of movies and this one definitely didn't disappoint. I wasn't familiar with all of the actors prior to the film, but felt the acting was believable, especially Stella. You could really feel what was going on in Stella's mind and wanted to help her get out of the car and to safety. Overall, I really enjoyed this film.

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• What if your world got Flipped???

  rootuser-400302016-04-06

  Please read below on how I rate my movies so you can get a sense of what to expect. What would you do if your world had been quite literally Flipped upside-down? Our story starts with Scotty Dee (Think Justin Bieber type played by Evan Taubenfeld) and "Model" Nicole Diamond. They are at a restaurant, they seem like the perfect celebrity couple, and then BAM! car into a ditch. Life goes from perfect to f-ed in an instant. Our main character, who incidentally was actually suspended upside-down for the shooting of this film, Nicole Diamond played by the beautiful Stella Maeve, finds herself pinned under the dashboard unable to move. Phone smashed, and that god awful in-car Siri/Sync system not working (command not recognized!), Nicole finds herself unable to call for help. Her 1987 Black Berry has only a few buttons that work and she is forced to start dialing random numbers. When she finally gets hold of some one, the voice on the other end is that of a self-described nice guy who is ready to "help". The voice on the phone, voice-over by Mr Blonde himself, Michael Madsen, talks Nicole through this tough time. He let's her know help is on the way, and decides to fill the time with her by talking through her relationship issues with Scotty Dee, who is conveniently also hanging upside down in the seat next to her. This movie is really about relationships. It is about celebrity, the price of such, as well as what happens when we actually bother to take our world and flip it on its head. We are sometimes forced to confront our own shortcomings as well as those of our partners. We come out the other side either with an intact, stronger relationship OR a house-cleaning and moving on our way. Madsen is absolutely superb. That gravely voice and his ability to play a seemingly sincere, yet disturbed individual comes out well over the phone. Stella Maeve does an equally admirable job playing the shallow model, consumed by her own celebrity that is mostly in her own mind. The change in facial expressions she pulls off is subtle, but excellent. As she gets more and more understanding of her situation, no only being pinned in a car, but her situation in her relationship with Scotty Dee, she slowly adapts her expressions to fit the mood. Very well done IMHO. One thing I did not like about the movie is that both Stella Maeve and Evan Taubenfeld both look just as good upside down as they do right side up! Their symmetrical faces do not seem to be effected by the reverse of gravity. Annoying that beautiful people always look beautiful.... Overall I enjoyed the movie because I took it for what it is, a movie about a relationship. You have a lot of time to think when you are hanging upside down in a car. **** My rating system **** I have rated well over 700 movies on IMDb, and written reviews for quite a few. I try to take a scientific approach and as a result, my ratings fit a bell-curve pattern as would be expected over a large sample set. I am slightly skewed on the tail (Hey, when I hate a movie I hate it) and slightly under represented on the head (Hard to find a perfect 10 IMHO). I rate Independent flicks against independent flicks, and I rate big Hollywood against big Hollywood. It is not fair to take a movie that cost tens of thousands of dollars or less and compare it to a movie that costs 7 or 8 figures (Maybe 9!) With unlimited retakes, huge production crews, massive marketing budgets, teams of professional writers/re-writers etc I expect more out of big Hollywood movie. I try to rate equally on story. I like to take the time to write reviews about smaller independent movies rather than movies that 1000s of reviews as I hope some one takes what I write seriously rather than getting lost in a cacophony of similar voices.

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• What a trip

  riporeilly2016-04-14

  What can I say? This movie starts out like it's going to be a "chick flick" romance type of movie. It starts with a couple of known actors in a café for lunch, (They even sign an autograph or 2) But after they get into her car the movie takes a definite turn as somehow... they wind up upside down crashed and near helpless. Michael Madsen provides the perfect voice as the "bad guy" as the film becomes a psychological battle between the Madsen character and the actress played by Stella Maeve. This is certainly a movie of which type I've never seen before. Definitely a movie to watch. Enjoy it by yourself or with a group but very hard to predict how the movie will end.

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• Absolutely LOVED this indie film

  zoenadler2016-03-18

  Loved this indie film. Suspenseful thriller, kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The movie keeps us at the same setting (inside the flipped car) for most of the movie, yet you never get bored with it, as the plot is truly unique, different than anything you've watched before. If you expect your typical cookie cutter thriller, this is not it. It was THRILLING throughout with lots of twists in this super smart script. You won't be able to guess what comes next like most thrillers. The ending is surprising and thought provoking. This is what I'm looking for: quality films. Highly recommended.

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