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GAZER

Reviews

IndieWire A Mother’s Dyschronometria Hides Her Own Ticking Clocks in a Brilliantly Paranoid Debut

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The the kind of debut that should restore your lost faith in independent cinema...Gazer might be inspired by New Hollywood, but its existence is almost reason to believe that a similar filmmaking renaissance could be on the horizon. Cinephiles will be enjoying the work of Sloan and Mastroianni for years to come. (A-)

Vulture Gazer is a reminder of when indie films were exciting

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Newark, New Jersey, doesn’t get showcased onscreen all that often — almost never when compared to New York, which sprawls about ten miles and a whole universe of urban mythology away. But Gazer, a promising indie from Ryan J. Sloan and Ariella Mastroianni, stretches into the city and its surrounding areas like a long-limbed cat...presenting its landscape as though it were the employees-only area of some unseen theme park, industrial and pragmatic and not meant for outside consumption. Gazer is as much a portrait of a solitary life as it is a mystery... a project that feels, like its heroine, unstuck in time, reminiscent of a whole other, more vibrant era of American independent cinema.

The Guardian Ineffably creepy and unbearably tense noir chiller

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Here is a paranoid noir chiller from the US, shot on 16mm on the mean streets of Jersey City; it is a fascinating debut for first-time feature director Ryan J Sloan. Gazer’s atmosphere of looming disaster and dreamlike oppression crowds in on you as the movie progresses; an intriguing, genuinely scary picture. (4 Stars)

Listen: Peter Badshaw talks Gazer on Team Deakins

Fiancial Times Ariella Mastroianni is a wire-sharp star in taught, ingenious thriller.

Tense and propulsive... there’s a strong flavour of Seventies American paranoid dramas such as The Conversation, and of that decade’s New York “no wave” underground cinema [but] Gazer has a style of its own, driven by the wire-sharp presence of the beacon-eyed Mastroianni, her Frankie at once fragile and obsessive. An ingenious collaboration between director Ryan J. Sloan and star Ariella Mastroianni, a team whose future work promises to be well-worth gazing at. (4 Stars)

The Irish Times An impressive, lo-fi and disarmingly intense debut

Ryan J Sloan’s Gazer springs from the grungy fringes of American indie cinema with the urgent pulse of a noir and the stylings of Barbara Loden’s Wanda. Lo-fi, disarmingly intense, and shot on textured 16mm by cinematographer Matheus Bastos, this impressive debut feature casts a twitchy, retro shadow over the less salubrious parts of New Jersey. (4.5 Stars)

The Times A mesmerising Coppola-inspired thriller

A mesmerizing mood piece... Gazer sustains its mystery not only in its neo-noir twists but also in the cryptic truth of Frankie’s tragic past and the enigma of her crumbling mind. Mastroianni is captivating as the haunted, androgynous Frankie. One of the year’s most notable calling cards. (4 Stars)

Los Angeles Times A lonely woman sees something she can’t unsee in ‘Gazer,’ an industrious thriller

Sloan’s rough-and-tumble peekaboo game is exemplary... this lonely voyeur is played with haunted energy by star and co-writer Ariella Mastroianni. The well-realized, lived-in pall of Frankie’s sad existence, which imbues her problem-solving survival with a genuinely fresh, in-the-bones urgency. Gazer suggests something of a bright future for the plucky, confident genre enthusiasts who’ve willed it into existence.

Roger Ebert A fractured, sensory puzzle of memory and fear

There’s a profound loneliness to “Gazer,” found not only in this perceptual degeneration but in the dull ache of a world vanishing right alongside Frankie. Shaping their film in the destabilizing isolation of COVID, Mastroianni and Sloan conjure from their native New Jersey an evanescent realm, all empty husks and outskirts, where people are slowly swallowed up and buildings linger like phantom limbs, no longer quite there but still full of feeling. They make that place palpable with a vision that feels at once ingenious and highly genuine. (3.5/4)

The Daily Beast The indie film noir thriller you don’t want to miss

An indie film noir whose grungy low-fi aesthetics complement its classic fatalism, Gazer tells a twisted tale stitched together from bits and pieces of Rear Window, Memento, Videodrome, and Twin Peaks. Regardless of that construction, writer/director Ryan J. Sloan’s feature debut is a uniquely head-spinning trip. Courtesy of Mastroianni’s impressive turn, she proves a compelling guide through this contemporary mind-melter of a mystery, which suggests that noir’s black heart continues to beat as strongly as ever—including when it’s invigorated by inventive and exciting low-budget filmmaking.

The New York Times Peering out from a lonely place

Sloan and Mastroianni build a palpable air of dank menace by creating tension with narrative ellipses and leaning into Frankie’s unusual condition and her isolation. Mastroianni is a naturally attractive screen presence. Her pale face, vividly offset by short dark hair, beams in the gloom, and she suggests much even when Frankie goes silent.

Collider A Paranoid, Slow-Burning Debut That Gripped Me to the Very End

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A neo-noir title that is both ambitious and grounded... Sloan's feature debut benefits from a promising script, which he wrote alongside the film's lead actress, and stylistic sequences that together make for a remarkable, self-funded endeavor.

Trois Couleurs Gazer: A gem of indie cinema

Filmed in New Jersey over two years on weekends, The Gazer is a low-budget film in the best sense of the word. It embodies the essence of independent filmmaking, combining passionate vision with masterful execution. Ryan J. Sloan, an electrician turned filmmaker, reveals a moving candor regarding the thriller genre and American cinema, and delivers a truly beautiful debut feature.

Variety A promising self-financed directorial debut

A stylish, low-budget mystery... Mastroianni is perfect for the role; a well-judged mixture of tough and fragile... A lovely score, featuring mournful, sleazy brass layered over a sleepy bass pulse, adds class to proceedings, but make no mistake, this isn’t a low-budget film getting by on a cool score alone. Gazer is a handsomely assembled picture, shot on 16mm despite the budgetary constraints of self-financing.

The Hollywood Reporter A Striking ‘Memento’-Like Noir That Keeps Viewers at a Stylish Distance

A visually arresting debut... Mastroianni’s performance makes clear that Frankie is walking wounded, folding into herself so tightly that she might be trying to disappear herself completely. We’re also left with an appreciation for how deftly Sloan has constructed this world, how clearly he sees this woman who might otherwise move unnoticed through nondescript streets. Sloan’s gift is that he has the curiosity to wonder, and the self-assurance to bring the stories he imagines into visually arresting life.

The Knockturnal Gazer is a Rangy, Meditative Indie Thriller

Ryan J. Sloan’s debut possesses a winding, almost serpentine breadth of thematic expanse, but the locus of artistic control resides firmly in a place of individualized and authentic vision. Sloan and Mastroianni’s success has signaled something magnificent – that high quality, shoestring indie cinema still has a great deal of fight left.

The People’s Movies Mystery noir-thriller Gazer will stun cinema-goers

Watch: Ariella Mastroianni & Ryan J. Sloan On Their Self-Funded And Brilliant Thriller, Gazer

Shot on 16mm and put to a haunting score with a minimal ensemble cast, Sloan’s vision for Gazer fits right into the gaping hole a post-David Lynch world creates. Gazer confidently treads the line between the surrealism of 90s horror and the simplicity of a good old mystery... Sloan’s tight direction and Frankie’s undoubted strength of performance ensure our questions either get answered, or distract us long enough to forget we ever asked. Even an untrained eye will notice the quirks in the set dressing, the effortless immersion of the sound design, or the inspired construction of close-up shots. With a debut this strong, we should all be keeping tabs on Sloan’s next project. (5 Stars)

Screen Rant A Tense, Moody Neo-Noir That Sent Me Spinning With Its Gore & Surrealism

The deliberate pace of Gazer forces you to put the pieces together slowly, hanging on every word and squinting into every corner, wondering if there's something you've missed. If Sloan and Mastroianni made Gazer with only their limited resources and spark to create something new, it bodes well for the filmmakers' futures and whatever their next project will be.

KPBS Indie film 'Gazer' delivers big rewards on a small budget

A grungy and entirely engrossing neo-noir that takes deliciously unexpected turns.

NYC Movie Guru A spellbinding, taut and unpredictable psychological thriller

With shades of Pakula, De Palma and Hitchcock... Gazer is one of the best films of the year.

Interviews

IndieWire ‘If It Throws Us on the Street, It’s Worth It’: They Risked Everything to Make ‘Gazer’

Fangoria It’s About Time: An Interview With GAZER’s Ryan J. Sloan and Ariella Mastroianni

Trois Couleurs With a retro aesthetic reminiscent of 1970s cinema, this hallucinatory thriller (in theaters April 23) skillfully portrays the dissociation of its heroine, a mother of a young daughter, as she flees from the world around her.

The Independent Gazer: The psychological drama that’s a cult hit-in-waiting

Next Big Picture (Podcast) Gazer had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for its homage to film-noir, guerrilla-style independent filmmaking.

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