Chained for Life

Released Sep 11, 2019

1 hr. 31 min.

Drama

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100%

53 Reviews

Tomatometer

55%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

An actress bonds with a young man who has a severe facial deformity.

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Critics Consensus

Darkly funny and impressively ambitious, Chained for Life is as unpredictable as it is original.

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Logan D

On a film set, an actress seeks to connect with her disfigured co-star. The film opens with a long scroll quote from Pauline Kael, a film critic from for the New Yorker from 1968 to 1991. It concerns beauty on film and why it's not wrong to want to see attractive persons on the big screen. Certainly a hidden gem if you appreciate reality and surreality flavored with insight, character, and humor. Trivia: Herr Director is played by Charlie Korsmo who played Jack Banning, Peter Pan's son, in Hook. He has since retired from acting and is now a professor of corporate law. The title may refer to a film of the same name that featured conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/09/24

Full Review

isla s

This is very much an indie/b-movie film. I can see that it's trying to challenge peoples view of disfigured people or that it's criticising the stereotypical depiction of this in films but I didn't feel the film really 'worked'. There's not enough strong plot direction. The plot synopsis says "A beautiful actress struggles to connect with her disfigured co-star on the set of a European auteur's English-language debut." yet the actress doesn't seem to struggle to connect with the disfigured actor at all, as far as I could tell, indeed they seem to get on ok, so I don't understand that. This must be meant to be some kind of parody of b-movies or the like but I didn't find it especially amusing or even really all that thought provoking. Anyway, I'm not too bothered about peoples looks, for the record, I was more confused about the plot direction - it felt a bit aimless and certainly was neither memorable, not did it have any strong impact on me personally, so I wouldn't recommend this, no. A bit niche perhaps?. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel thinking of seriously deformed or disfigured people as being the title of this film - chained for life. I'd like to think people wouldn't feel so removed from society purely due to their face not fitting in to what people in western society regard as acceptable but seeing this film hasn't changed my viewpoints on any of that sort of thing. I wouldn't recommend this film, that's all I can really say.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Beautifully shot, and sharply incisive.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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nefasto r

Not sure what was the meaning of this mess, but I know that, if there ever was one, it eluded me.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

dave d

Adam Pearson is charming in 'Chained for Life', a movie that runs out of steam in the third act, but is still worth a watch if you can find it! Jess Weixler has been waiting for that breakout roll and she finds it here. It's a fantastic lead duo, but it's a movie about a movie and that's been done better way too many times. It's artistically gorgeous, and visually stunning, but it just miles away from best in its field. Thanks to the will power of the two stars it's completely watchable and enjoyable! Final Score: 6.7/10

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Incredibly poignant. Deep at heart, this film is a love story and the beauty of the director Aaron Schimberg's approach to telling that story reveals the characters in ways that were both surprising and illuminating. At times, I felt I was watching a Choose Your Own Adventure paperback co-imagined by David Lynch & Katherine Dunn. Highly recommended for film lovers that enjoy European cinema or indies that take you on a completely unexpected journey.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Aaron Schimberg

Director

Jess Weixler

Mabel

Adam Pearson

Rosenthal

Stephen Plunkett

Max

Charlie Korsmo

Herr Director

Sari Lennick

Sarah

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Chained for Life: Trailer 1

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Simran Hans

Observer (UK)

[A] wonky, charming satire...

Rated: 4/5

Oct 27, 2019

Full Review

Josh Slater-Williams

Little White Lies

A sharp movie about moviemaking, with welcome surreal touches that are best left unspoiled.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 24, 2019

Full Review

Leslie Felperin

Guardian

This low-budget film written and directed by Aaron Schimberg is almost every kind of strange, and yet it has an amiable warmth and an inexhaustible reserve of originality that make it compelling as hell.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 24, 2019

Full Review

Vadim Rizov

Filmmaker Magazine

Eccentric but not too-determinedly-so quasi-comedy in the movie-about-making-a-movie subgenre. Schimberg doesn’t try to disguise his reference points...

Jan 5, 2023

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Jason Adams

The Film Experience

It's less like a dream than it is a trippy sniff off the fumes of a failed suicide by carbon-monoxide poisoning - that's a compliment, by the way!

Jul 6, 2021

Full Review

John Beifuss

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

The film works as both an affectionate movie-industry comedy (with references to Franju and 'Freaks') and as a provocative inquiry into the parameters of onscreen 'representation.'

Rated: 3.5/4

Jun 22, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

An actress bonds with a young man who has a severe facial deformity.

Director: Aaron Schimberg
Screenwriter: Aaron Schimberg
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 11, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 10, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.4K

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