Skelly: A board game played in urban areas, most notably in New York played on the sidewalk. Kids often design the board where it must be square shaped, have the numbers one to thirteen chalked inside it and then the players must flick a soft drink bottle cap coated in wax, that must land on certain numbers in order to win. There is a point to this! The fact that children of the 1930s would play this game on the rough New York streets, is where our pivotal character Grandpa, played by Emmy award-winning actor Brian Cox, would impose this game onto his son Dave, played brilliantly by John Palladino.
It is implied that father and son bonding moments in this film are one of the most important times in life. Everyone does this in different ways, but in this case, Grandpa makes his own Skelly board with perfection, passion and precision. Now it is his son Dave who must take that passion and build his own board game, similar to Skelly but his own take of a circular board aimed to be played by college students in dormitories. When Dave’s father passes on from old age, will he lose his motivation to build something with his own son, Jonah? Let’s just say there will be reluctance at first, but when Jonah and his amazing friends inspire Dave to help with their project, Dave will use the nostalgia of his father to carry on his legacy which is to exert effort and put his heart into something that he began. In this case: a haunted house.
Skelly is a lovely film and very light-hearted. Sometimes we need beautiful films about family and friends. No violence or adult subject matter. Sometimes this needs to be expunged and instead a very PG film where dialogue and characters who interact through love and friendship can be a beautiful thing to watch. The fact that these teenagers are going to build a haunted house in preparation for Halloween conveys a fantastic community and working together as a team. However, having a father like Dave, who helps with his excellent carpentry skills, is what will make the haunted house second to none. To see him carve a safe guillotine where a human hollow rubber mask is filled with concrete and to hear the sound effect of the head dropping once decapitated, will cause screams to anyone that enters that haunted house. Let’s just say the objective to build the haunted house from start to finish will horrifically succeed.
The film is told through flashbacks. In the present, we have adult Jonah played wonderfully by Jacob Saxton. He has written a children’s book based on his experience of building a haunted house. He reads this story to his wife and three children and although the eldest is on his phone at first, the story his father tells eventually makes him flourish with interest and then enthusiasm kicks in by the end to build their own haunted house together. Yes! Generation after generation is a prominent feature. The point of Skelly is to teach us about family, friends and community. To carry on one’s legacy and to be there for one another. There is more to life than watching TV. It is all about getting involved, socialising and working together to do something spectacular.
The film is low budget, it has one known famous actor, but be aware Brian Cox’s performance is effective but has very limited screentime. Don’t let that bother you. These unknown actors are young, fresh and they will take this story from A-Z. It’s a beautiful film to teach us that the fun things we do in our childhood with friends must be passed on to the next generation. After all, it’s important to share common interests because being in each other’s lives must be productive and worth living for.
The new family drama directed and written by Matt Greene-Delanghe and starring Brian Cox is set to release on May 7 on Vudu.
The story of a young boy dealing with grief
Movie title: Skelly (2024)
Movie description: After the death of his Grandfather, a boy's father dealing with grief sends him in a journey to understand death, while putting together the annual haunted house.
Date published: April 11, 2024
Country: UK
Director(s): Matt Greene-Delanghe
Actor(s): Brian Cox, Torrey DeVitto, Andy Comeau
Genre: Drama, Family
Summary
Skelly tells the story of a young boy dealing with grief after the death of his grandfather which triggers an obsession with mortality as he and his friends put together the annual haunted house.
Aly has a strong passion for film as he enjoys reviewing and analysing them. He has written for Hey U Guys, The Hollywood News and The People’s Movies. He is an aspiring screenwriter and has had much interest by professionals in the industry. For the bread and butter, he teaches English Language and Literature in secondary school which he truly enjoys, but has dreams to enter the film industry professionally. He loves networking as making good contacts is key to moving forward.
