‘The Swerve’ Review: Dir Dean Kapsalis [FrightFest 2020]

Holly (Azura Skye) is a mother, wife, and teacher. She’s also incredibly unhappy. Her relationship with her husband is stagnating, her sons take her for granted, her wild sister is causing issues, and one of her students has a crush on her. After finding a mouse about the house, Holly begins a complete downward mental spiral that will take her into the heart of darkness…but can she get back out?

The Swerve, directed and written by Dean Kapsalis, is a beautifully written, constructed, and shot, story of one woman’s fight to be just that, a woman. Often when women become mothers, people view them differently and for all intents and purposes they all but vanish from people’s radars. They become defined by the children that they have and are expected to conform to society’s ideal of the perfect mother. This is exacerbated further should that woman be married, the ideal of perfect wife being heaped on too. Here Holly also has the pressure from her family to be both the perfect daughter and sister, as well as being a caring a nurturing teacher. It’s a lot to ask of one person and it’s not hard to see why Holly begins to suffer. Kapsalis opens the film with an insight into Holly’s mundane life. It consists of grocery shopping, running a household, teaching, and being a general dogsbody wife and mother. Holly is essentially used as a dispensary for various things by those around her and their constant needs and want are literally sucking the life out of her. She has nothing for herself, no real grasp of her own identity, and it is in this void that her spiral starts. With nothing of herself left to hold onto, it’s tempting to just succumb and let the world roll over her. Then she catches one of her students, Paul (Zach Rand), drawing pictures of her, images that awaken something long dormant in herself. Her joy of being noticed comes with even more stress as Paul is one of her students and very much underage. But he sees her, and that’s what she craves.

Azura Skye has been on the acting circuit for a number of years. Those of a certain age will recognise her from her days on Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Smallville, but to my knowledge she’s never been so prominently featured in such a demanding role before. Holly much have been an absolutely emotionally draining part to portray. Holly is in almost every scene in the film and is in a constant state of anxiety, stress, and depression. It’s a lot for one person to shoulder, but Skye is truly phenomenal here. Her performance is subdued and introverted, almost to the point that she’s seems completely unaware of the camera around her. Her face is vacant and stupor like, reflecting Holly’s inner numbness and failure to connect. Every nuance and gesture Skye emits, signals information into Holly’s mental well-being, and it’s heartbreaking watching her go through such turmoil. Especially as those closest to her seem completely oblivious.

Holly’s state of decline is also subtly nodded to through her wardrobe. As her mental health suffers, her clothes become shapeless, their bagginess swamping her frail frame, making her appear more and more skeletal. The effect is that the audience feels as if they are actually watching someone waste away, which in part, they are. The colour palette for the bulk of her clothing is neutral, something which pushes her further into the background, making it even easier for her to be forgotten. The muted colours help to mask her plight from those that could, and should, help.

The Swerve is very tough viewing. It’s emotionally demanding and will likely touch a little too close to home for some to be completely comfortable with. The final third takes a very dark turn and from hereon the it gets bleaker and bleaker until it reaches its brutal conclusion. It’s a controversial final act that will not be to many people’s tastes, but the message that Kapsalis is trying to voice is one that, like Holly, needs to be heard.

The Swerve was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2020.