FILM REVIEW: AMBITION
Director: Robert Shaye
Writers: John Rocco and Jenna Lyn Wright
Starring: Katherine Hughes, Giles Matthey, Sonoma Mizuno, Dylan McNamara, Kyanna Simone Simpson, John Kroft, Bryan Batt, Jordan Salmon, Lin Shaye, Jared Bankens, Han Soto
Release Date: September 20, 2019
★★☆☆☆
❍ s–o–m
The psychological thriller Ambition stars Jude Hunter (Katherine C. Hughes), as fourth year violinist whom has been inexplicably and deeply troubled by the death of her peer and closest competitor, Emily Forster (Jordan Salmon). When Emily falls to her death from the music department roof, it becomes widely accepted that as much as people don’t want to believe Emily committed suicide, the alternative to a handful of people whom believe she was murdered might be a worse option.
As Jude struggles with where she stands in the world of musical genius, she also struggles with what, if any bearing Emily’s death may have on her place in the music departmentment. When Jude broaches the subject with her professor and mentor, it is swiftly diffused curiously implicating the professor as a suspect.
The brunt of Ambition takes place outside the world of music and inside the off-campus housing where Jude lives with her two roommates Sara and Veronica (Sonoya Mizuno, Kyanna Simone). It is here we see the Jude’s paranoia explode only to occasionally be pulled back just enough for us to question her reality.
Making matters increasingly complicated are neighbor and friend duo Steve and Dave (Dylan McNamara, Giles Matthey), who pop in and out of the girl’s house, adding another dimesnion to the paranoia, or is it perhaps protection for Jude and her roommates? We do not know.
Before the terror arcs, Ambition treads slowly and effectively as it lays forth a story of college students in off-campus housing living their best lives. The drama is refreshingly realistic and effective but when it takes a turn to horror, the story gets a bit convoluted.
Horror Revival 