Baghead

Over the past five years, the "mumblecore" movement has gained steam in indie film circles. Shot on digital cameras with very low budgets, mumblecore films are typically dramas featuring improvised dialogue and non-professional actors. The strength of mumblecore is the level of realism it achieves: it captures the gestures, glances and awkward pauses of real people that Hollywood invariably misses.

Mark and Jay Duplass became heroes of the movement with their 2005 film, "The Puffy Chair". Their follow-up, "Baghead," takes their craft to new heights. The film follows four friends, Matt, Chad, Michelle and Catherine, who go to a cabin in the woods to write a movie.

On one level, this is a relationship drama. Chad is hopelessly in love with Michelle. Michelle, however, is more interested in Matt, who wouldn't mind sleeping with her. This quickly creates problems, due to the (rather hilarious) bromance between Chad and Matt--not to mention the fact that Catherine and Matt have been dating on and off for eleven years.

Clearly, there's melodrama to spare. But then you realize that the film is working on another level: it's a horror pastiche. Someone with a bag on their head is sneaking around in the night. All of the elements of a horror film are there: four potential victims who aren't too bright, isolated in the woods, with the requisite pretty blondes.

The film achieves a solid level of suspense and mystery with this plotline. But "Baghead" is also working on still another level, as a commentary on the mumblecore movement. This becomes clear in the opening scene, when the friends watch a ridiculous film by real-life actor and screenwriter Jett Garner. The film's "meta" aspect becomes fully apparent at the climax.

The Duplass brothers are working on high and low levels here. This is a film that works as both melodrama and realism. It's both a B-movie entertainment and a commentary on their films. And it's a sign that the brothers may be ready to take the movement they spearheaded in new directions.