{"id":4069,"date":"2019-02-14T23:11:34","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T23:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/?p=4069"},"modified":"2019-02-14T23:15:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T23:15:40","slug":"to-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/to-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"To Dust"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Funny, macabre and charming, this dark comedy about grief had us squirming nervously through laughter. First-time feature writer\/director Shawn Snyder delves 6-feet under into the question of how science\u00a0 <\/span>and faith might work alongside each other in the grieving process. It\u2019s all about ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But how long does that take?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shmuel, a Hasidic cantor in Upstate New York, (G\u00e9za R\u00f6hrig, Son of Saul<\/i>) has lost his wife to cancer. Following religious protocol is not enough to quell his grief nor his curiosity for what becomes of people when they die.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shmuel becomes obsessed with what is happening to his wife\u2019s physical body. He needs to know how fast it decomposes. He feels her soul won\u2019t be at rest until she returns To<\/i> Dust.<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To get answers, Shmuel finds his way to a local community college and confront biology professor Albert (Matthew Broderick). Albert initially wants nothing to do with this crazy guy, but is eventually drawn in by his grief. He agrees to use scientific methods to determine what happens to a decomposing corpse with some pretty funny, outrageous experiments.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”4074″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeInUp”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”4077″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeInUp”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”4078″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeInUp”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]This is where Snyder wryly begins to place the grief in the background and transform the venture into an absurd buddy comedy with a road trip thrown in for good measure. R\u00f6hrig and Broderick make an unlikely pair, but it\u2019s their opposite views of the world and their calm conversation about it that draws them together. Shmuel\u2019s faith is his Northstar, yet he must put his faith aside to try to understand Albert\u2019s devotion to science.<\/p>\n

Broderick\u2019s low key cynical humor plays nicely paired to R\u00f6hrig\u2019s manic emotion as he tries to work through his grief and keep his religious zeal intact. Snyder and his co-writer Jason Begue walk the line between taking death too lightly. It doesn\u2019t. And on the other hand, the graphic shots of a pig decomposing and dead bodies strewn about a \u201cbody farm\u201d that law enforcement uses to better understand crime scenes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Props to Snyder for not picking sides. He doesn\u2019t elevate science or mock religion. There\u2019s no preaching or elevating one way of life over the other which lets us experience the journeys of both men through clear eyes.<\/p>\n

Shumel has two young sons who worry that their father is possessed by the mythological Hasidic demon, the Dybduk. His unusual behavior does little to dispel their fears. The scenes with his sons are under developed and without much context to the narrative. It just gives Snyder the opportunity to introduce the Cantor\u2019s sons, who are somewhat matter of fact.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”4075″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeInUp”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”4073″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeInUp”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”4072″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeInUp”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]The look of the film evokes grief and loss throughout. Cinematographer Xavi Gimenez\u00a0 <\/span>(The Machinist<\/i>) chooses a cool, dark palate for Shmuel\u2019s scenes, even in daytime, evoking the constant reminder of the loss he can\u2019t escape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shmuel\u2019s life as a cantor is making music that fills the soul, but his voice has been lost along with his wife, until he can get an answer to what\u2019s burning in his soul. Making the connection to another person, Albert,\u00a0 <\/span>ultimately helps let the light back into his life which Cinematographer Gimenez shows us in his final shots. And the Director shows more by having Shmuel find his voice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is certainly an original take on a universal theme. Loss is an inescapable part of the human condition, no matter what religion one follows, or not. R\u00f6hrig and Broderick do a masterful job of showing how a human connection can become the first step toward healing. That what makes To Dust<\/i> no easy film to brush off.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Good Deed Entertainment\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>115 Minutes\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>R[\/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DyfoShHUxZk” el_width=”80″ align=”center” css_animation=”fadeInUp”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Funny, macabre and charming, this dark comedy about grief had us squirming nervously through laughter. First-time feature writer\/director Shawn Snyder delves 6-feet under into the question of how science\u00a0 and faith might work alongside each other in the grieving process. It\u2019s all about ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But how long does that take?\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4069"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4080,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4069\/revisions\/4080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}