2 Movies Like Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 (2012)

Staff & contributors

A harrowing family loss sets off a poetic exploration of grief in this experimental film from Haitian-Canadian filmmaker Miryam Charles. The focus of the movie is Charles’ own cousin, who was found murdered in her Connecticut bedroom in 2008. Rather than let her cousin’s life remain frozen at that point in time, Charles unmoors her film from the cold realities of time and space to suggest new perspectives on the girl’s past and imagine a future that never came. While events like the family’s decision to move to the US are recast as portends of tragedy, there’s also deep generosity in the movie’s ghost story — such as the joyous scenes it depicts from a mother-daughter trip to the family’s home country of Haiti, a trip that never actually took place.

It’s not always easy to discern where or when we’re at in its liberal toggling between time and space, but once Cette Maison establishes its unconventional visual language, everything comes into poignant focus. Given the reality on which it’s based, this is undoubtedly a heartbreaking watch, but the way Charles’ movie evokes the ability of imagination to both deepen and assuage the pain of grief is nothing short of revelatory.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Ève Duranceau, Nadine Jean

Director: Miryam Charles

Far from a typical documentary, Skywalkers is as relentless and fast-paced as the climbers it follows. As Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus illegally scale towers and skyscrapers with little more than the clothes on their back, Director Jeff Zimbalist throws viewers into the next thrilling scenario whether they’re ready to or not. It’s amazing how much of the breathless editing replicates the energy between Nikolau and Beerkus, regardless of whether they’re in action rooftopping or deep in an argument about trust and relationships. The film has a deep emotional core that makes it resonate more than it should; people might come in for the extremity of their sport, but they’ll leave learning something worthwhile about love.

Genre: Documentary, Romance, Thriller

Actor: Angela Nikolau, Ivan Beerkus

Director: Jeff Zimbalist

Rating: R