Fantastic Fest 2021: "Bingo Hell" Is A Gooey Grindhouse Romp About The Evil Of Money
Gigi Saul Guerrero turns a bingo hall into a Faustian grindhouse hell with her latest film, Bingo Hell, which recently had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest. It’s a basic tale of good and evil that’s whipped into a goopy, neon-streaked romp. Everything is elevated by the strength of its dueling leads, but Bingo Hell’s crudely drawn social themes eclipse its terrors and dampen the fun.
The big, steel-toed boot of gentrification won’t stop one determined locally-grown advocate as a new building owner offers Bingo as a portal to financial prosperity – but the price is something far more sinister and much less liberating.
Money talks — and kills! — in Gigi Saul Guerrero’s latest socially minded genre exercise, Bingo Hell. The film sloppily skewers capitalism and gentrification, critiquing American society for chasing pipe dreams of dollar signs and exploring the damning power of money. Nothing about it is subtle. Its messaging is blunt and clear as day, but it doesn’t have anything new to say, and the ride it prepares for us, as unhinged as it is, never gets as bonkers as you’d hope.
The film takes us to Oak Springs, a quiet town full of colorful characters that’s being encroached upon by “fucking hipsters” with deep pockets and slimy businessmen. Once upon a time, Oak Springs used to be more crime laden, but proud members of the community like Lupita (Adriana Barraza) and her friend Dolores (L. Scott Caldwell) stuck it out and cleaned it up with their tenacious spirit and go-get-em attitude. Now old of age (but still young at heart), Lupita and the other lifers of Oak Springs face a new kind of opposition: greed.
When a big shot aptly named Mr. Big (Richard Brake) turns the town’s average bingo hall into a strobing neon-streaked Faustian carnival that promises big money, everyone but Lupita sees Mr. Big $ Bingo as the salvation they’ve been waiting for. Needless to say, things go awry, and when folks start disappearing, Lupita takes it upon herself to investigate. Eventually, she connects the dots back to Mr. Big and decides to take matters into her own hands.
It’s essentially In The Heights with green goo and gore (instead of dancing and singing) where gentrification is literally the devil, embodied by the dazzling Richard Brake. He’s got the perfect face for the role, and he delivers an excellent here, bringing a creepy exaggeration to the character that makes any of his scenes fun to watch. Adriana Barraza also delivers a fierce performance full of comedic grit, and it’s amusing to watch her and Brake go head to head.
It’s really the performances that pull this one through. As over-the-top as the characters are, the actors find a way to make them feel a bit more real. L. Scott Caldwell in particular brings a palpable emotional weight to the film, and she shares great chemistry with Barraza, giving you the impression that pair are truly life-long friends. As good as the performances are here, Guerrero struggles to juggle all her characters, who splinter into divergent story threads, and tacks on an unnecessary subplot to draw a parallel between drug addiction and money, which thematically goes but still feels out of place with regard to narrative and pacing. All the story threads slowly but surely come together but never boil over into the gonzo crescendo you hope for.
Interestingly, Bingo Hell’s views on the corrupting, corrosive power of money isn’t too dissimilar to Robert Bresson’s phenomenal L’Argent. Both films take the stance that the mere contact with money leads to moral degradation, depravity, and destruction, but Guerrero and co-screenwriters Shane McKenzie and Perry Blackshear lack the finesse or steady style of Bresson. It’s a bit too direct, ultimately gives way to clichés, and drags its feet getting from point A to point B. Stylistically, it’s a bit too unhinged and loose, occasionally bordering on amateurish and too reliant on nauseating neon lighting to create a mood, but the performances are enough to pull you through.
Overall, Bingo Hell is a lightly entertaining anti-capitalist romp that doesn’t win as big as it ought to. It’s got things to say about how the temptation of money manipulates dreams and desires, but none of it is anything you didn’t already know. The performances are entertaining enough, but the story putters about and is sorely lacking in tension and fright. Everything unravels in a half-baked finale that leaves a lot more to be desired. Money might not buy you happiness, but watching Richard Brake play a smarmy devil should be enough to put a twisted grin on your face.
Recommendation: As underwhelming as it is, Bingo Hell’s performances make it an enjoyable enough watch. The film will hit Amazon Prime Video this Friday, October 1st, so if you want a silly, softly entertaining horror film to help get you in the spirit, give this one a try.
Rating: 2.5 goo-covered bingo balls outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!