Are you looking for something visually exciting, something to redefine what cinema is, something out of the ordinary and different from what we have been accustomed to? If the answer is yes, you should add to your watchlist the horror and fantasy film Moon Garden (2022). Actually, even if the answer is no perhaps you should add it as well.
The premise of the movie has already lots of fantasy elements, closer to fairy tales than modern times feature films. When a little girl has a terrible accident and slips into a coma, she finds herself thrust into a darkly surreal industrial dream world. Haunted by a nightmarish specter that feeds off her tears, she must follow her mother’s radio-static voice to find her way back to consciousness.
The movie was shot on expired 35mm film stock with vintage rehoused lenses and is quoted as a fantastical odyssey and a visionary, handcrafted, and fully practical work of art that shows how a child can shine a light even in the darkest places.
On Rotten Tomatoes, Moon Garden (2022) has a 100% rate and critics have described it as “an unusual and disturbing childhood fantasy horror film”, “a visually stunning fantasy film”, and have praised how “visuals incite nightmares, the emotional weight hits like a sledgehammer. The combination ensures a film that will linger. Mad God (2021) with a pounding, bleeding emotional heart, Moon Garden (2022) is an unforgettable experience”.
Ryan Stevens Harris, an experienced movie editor who has worked in several titles including Darc (2018), Midway (2019), and Moonfall (2022), is the writer and director of Moon Garden (2022).
Haven Lee Harris, Augie Duke, Brionne Davis, Morgana Ignis, Maria Olsen, Timothy Lee DePriest, Phillip E. Walker, Angelica Ulloa, and Téa Mckay form the main cast.
During 2022 the movie has had an extended festivals run including FilmQuest, A Night of Horror International Film Festival, Grimmfest, Micheaux Film Festival, Nightmares Film Festival, Dances with Films Festival, Motor City Nightmares Film Festival, and Fantasmagoría – Festival de Cine Fantástico y de Terror de Medellín where it collected a bunch of awards and nominations.
The theatrical release of Moon Garden (2022) is expected to be sometime in 2023, probably in the spring. In the meantime, you can watch its visually astonishing official trailer here.
