Tag: movie review

Movie Review: Cinemalaya XXI: ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan’ Is a Politically-Charged Love Letter

While the film opens with a disclaimer that the events and characters depicted in ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan’ are purely fictional, there’s no doubt on the event that director and writer Dustin Celestino is exploring in his movie. The narrative begins during an election, where a woman candidate loses, leaving her campaign team, Kiko (Jojit Lorenzo) and David (Zanjoe Marudo) to deal with the crushing blow of defeat. Kiko’s wife, Bea (Dolly De Leon), a history professor, begins to spiral after the winning candidate turns out to be the son of the former president whose regime caused the disappearance of her father decades prior. In the midst of this, David begins dating Mela (Mylene Dizon), a constitutional lawyer and the daughter of the general who is suspected of being the executioner of that same president.

BTS HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

These four characters wrestle and struggle with the shifting political landscape, dissecting the loss of history through technology and changing social norms, while desperately trying figure out where hopes lies when the truth no longer holds power.

HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

Once again, Celestino takes what is essentially a theatrical narrative and manages to turn it cinematic by his dynamic use of camerawork, lensed by the incredible Kara Moreno. Each duet (as most of the scenes happen with only two people talking) or the powerful dinner sequence with all four leads together, can be imagined as scenes from a play. They are verbose, the characters figuring out the world through dialogue. It’s didactic, for sure, but the setup is so precise that allows for these conversations to happen.

HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

Kiko and David, former speechwriters for the female presidential candidate, are articulate and intelligent. David even being a professor of Greek mythology before joining the campaign. Kiko and Bea are also intelligent and articulate people, with Bea being a history professor. All their conversations echo the kind of conversations that might have transpired back in 2022, on the actual election that this film is obviously inspired from.

HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

Adding to the mix is Mela (Mylene Dizon), the mercenary constitutional lawyer who grew up in privilege and possesses the strength and confidence to speak her mind. She, too, is a forced to be reckoned with. These characters and the situations Celestino chooses to portray onscreen is permissible for his exercise in exploring the issues of disinformation and the absence of truth (or the lack of power of truth) in today’s socio-political discourse.

BTS HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

Moreno’s close-ups are strikingly intense, they move in really close, oftentimes cutting off the headroom at the top of the frame, as Celestino is putting equal emphasis on their emotions as well as their reasoning; even when emotions sometimes overcome reason. It is so close, almost claustrophobic, that I feel that a story that is talking about real-world events needs a shot of the world being discussed.

BTS HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

As I’m watching this film, and enjoying this philosophical debate, I found myself looking for the world that they are talking about. Maybe some exterior shots, some long shots of the characters within that milieu. By keeping everything so close and so intimate and personal, I do not see the world that the characters are struggling so hard to save.

BTS HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

BTS HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

With this powerhouse cast, though, the acting is superb. It’s an ensemble piece that also features Anna Luna as Mela’s sister, Nanding Josef as Mela’s father, Frances Makil-Ignacio as the female presidential candidate, and Andoy Ranay as the newly elected president. Each one delivers a nuanced performance, barely acting, just being their characters. They throw the lines so effortlessly, truly encapsulating the character’s milieu, their intelligence.

BTS HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

But the scene-stealer here is Mylene Dizon. Her character is so complex and is right at the point of realisation, as she is dating the activist, David. She balances between indifference and waking up to the horrors of her family’s past. It’s such a delicate moment for her character, and Dizon nails the performance to a tee.

BTS HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

On a technical level, ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan’ is an exquisitely crafted film. Its movement between characters, crisp dialogue, and masterful shots and framing are all executed to perfection. The performances are exemplary (and may win the film an acting ensemble award). However, its focus on just its characters can make the film feel small when it’s talking about a society that is crumbling apart. It’s intelligent but its emotions can feel stifled by having it focused solely on the characters. What is sure is that this film has an intended audience, a cinematic group hug for people who underwent the same thoughts and emotions these characters are going through.

Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan is showing on the big screen! Check cinema showtimes near you and grab your tickets today!

This year, don’t miss Cinemalaya 21: LAYAG sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos happening from October 3-12, 2025! Witness another stellar lineup of stories that will move you and showcase the brilliance of Philippine cinema. Follow the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Cinemalaya for updates!

October 7, 2025
Movie Review — Endings and Beginnings: A Review of Cinemalaya XXI Opening Film ‘The Elysian Field’

The Indian film ‘The Elysian Field’ opens Cinemalaya XXI with a poignant story about how the modern world is slowly wiping away small villages and what that looks like. This slice-of-life story gives us a peak at a secluded village in Meghalaya in the northeastern region of India. The village has only six inhabitants left and their lives are completely intertwined.

Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

The film opens with Livingstone (Albert Mawrie), who is coming home on a bus with the coffin of his recently deceased wife, Belinda. As he arrives, the three remaining men of the village – Complete (Richard Kharpuri), Promise (Merlvin Mukhim), and Friday (Jeetesh Sharma) – help carry the coffin down across a huge field, two bridges, a hill, and further along back to their secluded village. There they are joined by Maia (Baia Marbanjang) and Miss Helen (Helen Duiia), Livingstone’s mother. Over the course of the film, we see how life fares in this empty town that is surprisingly filled with life. We see them struggle with electricity, gossip about each other, a romance begins to bloom, and the spectre of death hangs above them in their little village filled with empty houses and ruins.

Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

Written by Paulami Duttagupta and directed by Pradip Kurbah, the film immerses us in a world that is slowly fading away. Set against the gorgeous Meghalaya landscape, we are transported to a place seemingly beyond time and geography. To be able to resupply, the villagers must take the one and only bus back to the city (of which there are no scenes) and the impression is given that this is a whole day affair. The rest of the time is spent living out their days in the empty village, cooking food for each other, drinking at nights, and living truly as one community.

There are story elements that pop up: Belinda’s children from before her marriage to Livingstone are contesting her will and Livingstone must deal with the litigation and go to the city every now and then, Complete is fighting with the government for not providing service to their tiny village, Promise must continue to fix every issue involving electricity and electronics, while Maia finds herself wooed by some of the men in the village.

Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

But none of these take center stage in the story. These are just activities in the lives of the people of this secluded little town, and the film manages to show us this burst of live despite the fact that it is also dying right in front of us. There’s no future here. At some points, the men begin to dig graves for all of the inhabitants so that it wouldn’t be left to the women if the men died first. But while the threat of extinction hangs above them, they are just filled with life.

Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

It’s a gorgeous movie once you allow its languid, almost dreamlike pace to sink in. The way by which this small community engages with one another is very Filipino in spirit and in values. It’s a love letter, for sure, to a way of life that is slowly disappearing and while this may be a Northeastern Indian issue, this could very well be a small town in Northern Luzon or in the mountains of Mindanao. While being inherently Meghalayan in culture, the way director Pradib Kurbah puts it in his camera frame makes it utterly universal.

The performances are exquisite, with Marbanjang being the heart and soul of this ensemble. Her warmth is the center of which the community revolves around. The acting is so natural, so subtle and layered. It makes the film poignant and funny all at the same time.

The Elysian Field is showing on the big screen! Check cinema showtimes near you and grab your tickets today!

This year, don’t miss Cinemalaya 21: LAYAG sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos happening from October 3-12, 2025! Witness another stellar lineup of stories that will move you and showcase the brilliance of Philippine cinema. Follow the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Cinemalaya for updates!

October 6, 2025
Movie Review: The Relentless ‘One Battle After Another’ Utilizes Great Filmmaking to Distract From Its Political Commentary

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another’ is a satirical action thriller that never takes a moment to breathe. It reminds me of his earlier work, one of my favourite films, ‘Magnolia,’ where throughout the film’s 188-minute runtime we witness a multi-character drama that never ends and never lets up. For 188-minutes, ‘Magnolia’ gives us scene-after-scene of high drama, characters at their lowest point, one after the other that leaves you breathless. ‘One Battle After Another’ feels exactly like this but instead of drama, it is danger, it is action, it is comic, and it is relentless.

The story revolves around Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio), an explosives expert who is part of a revolutionary group called French 75. Alongside his partner Parfidia Beverly Hills (Teyanna Taylor), they commit robberies, armed breakouts of illegal detained immigrants, shut down power grids, and the like all in the name of toppling the capitalist overlords of America. Pat and Parfidia fall in love and become a couple but Parfidia is also the obsession of Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), a high-ranking soldier whom she humiliates during one of their revolutionary attacks. When one of their missions go astray, Parfidia is taken into custody and Pat changes his name to Bob and he takes their daughter, now called Willa (Chase Infiniti) and escapes into a sanctuary town. But Lockjaw is not done, he goes after Willa and Pat/Bob must rescue his daughter as the world continues the fight he has left behind when he went into hiding.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another”
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

‘One Battle After Another’ is a dark, cynical look at today’s world, written by Anderson, who was inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel ‘Vineland’. The world he creates in this movie satirizes both revolutionary movements as well as the conservative people in power as the film tangentially tackles racism, immigration, and different forms of oppression. I say tangentially, because the film takes the point-of-view of Pat/Bob, who we get the impression is a middling revolutionary at best. When he moves to the sanctuary town, he becomes addicted to weed and is a drunk and has left that whole world behind. When his daughter gets taken, he must return to the movement, but the movement has continued on without him. As Lockjaw practically invades the sanctuary town and its primarily Latin American population, the people of the town are ready to fight back but all of this goes over Pat/Bob’s head. He only has one thing in mind: getting Willa back.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another”
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

What’s incredible about Anderson’s direction and writing is how he put together a feisty film criticizing American politics while distracting us from it with humor, fast-paced suspense and action, and an incredible filmmaking style that has us at the edge of our seat throughout the entire film. Shot magnificently in IMAX by cinematographer Michael Bauman. He shifts from a handheld to wonderfully cinematic long shots that truly capture the scope of Anderson’s vision. The film is also scored by the incredible Jonny Greenwood, who uses a jazz score to constantly keep us from ever feeling settled. The syncopated, discordant notes are always keeping us on our toes, never allowing us to breathe.

Everyone in the film is incredible. Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn remind us why they are Oscar winners by completely inhabiting their characters and are playing it to the hilt and allowing for both the seriousness and the silliness of their characters to its full measure. Teyana Taylor is a force of nature as Perfidia. She’s commanding. Her permanent scowl evokes a fierceness that she brings with her to every scene.

Chase Infiniti never gets swallowed by the sheer talent that surrounds her, standing on her own two feet, and shows off a powerful screen presence. Benicio Del Toro is such a wonderful presence as Pat/Bob’s only friend and the de facto leader of the Latin American community in the sanctuary town.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another”
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The film is equal parts funny and thrilling, there’s very little to not enjoy in this movie. But what I love most about it is the way Anderson centers the film on two white people in a predominantly Hispanic and black and female, where one (Lockjaw) is the epitome of the conservative American white supremacist and the other (Pat/Bob), who is completely disconnected from the greater battle that surrounds the film as he only cares for his own personal mission to save his daughter. The way the film represents the current racial crisis in America is so obvious to me despite it not being in the front and center of the narrative. There’s no preaching or moralizing here. The film takes a whole hour to set up the backstory of Pat, Perfidia, and Lockjaw and then the next hour to have Willa taken and Pat-now-Bob chase after her. It’s clever and well-hidden in a flurry of great filmmaking.There’s no question this will to be a front-runner come awards season and it’s definitely one of my favourite cinematic experiences this year.

My Rating:

One Battle After Another is showing on the big screen! Experience Thomas Anderson’s relentless, thrilling vision the way it’s meant to be seen. Check cinema showtimes near you and grab your tickets today!

September 29, 2025
Movie Review: Too Big but Not Too Bold in ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’

It’s a strange thing to know that a film is bad, but it hits you hard anyway. That was my experience watching ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.’ The film directed by Kogonada and written by Seth Reiss and starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell is beautifully shot and well-acted, but the film’s story is bogged down by an earnestness that leans towards the contrived. The whole film feels manipulative, blasting you with a lush musical score and wall-to-wall songs, trying to elicit an emotional reaction while providing simplistic and easy answers for the challenges that face its complicated characters.

David and Sarah (Farrell and Robbie) are strangers on the way to attend a friend’s wedding. David’s car is indisposed, and he spots a poster for a car rental service on the wall where he parked. It leads him to an empty warehouse where two attendants (Kevin Kline and Phoebe Waller-Bridge) ask very strange questions before renting him a car with a GPS. We see him arrive at the wedding along with Sarah, also driving the same car model. They are introduced at the party and immediately enter a flirting game with Sarah coming in strong and David, quickly shying away. As they leave the following day, David’s GPS begins to talk to him and asks him if he wants to take a “a big, bold, beautiful journey” to which he answers “yes.” This journey leads him to Sarah, whose car has broken down, and together they follow the navigation that leads them to doors that lead them into their past.

Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

There’s a lot of promise here as we discover how David and Sarah have remained single – David, who seems to be afraid to take the leap, and Sarah is constantly sabotaging her relationships – and the two are navigating each other’s traumas to try and get the other to take the plunge. It’s a very verbose film where these two characters are saying exactly what they feel without inhibition. At times, it can get charming, but that’s because Farrell and Robbie are acting the hell out of this script, but as the narrative draws out, it starts to become cloying and tired. It never seems to progress to something concrete.

Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

And Reiss’ script creates a very simple formula for these two characters: key moments in their past has led them to this and the depths of David and Sarah’s complications seems too great for something than what is presented. Maybe it could work if it were a simple direct-to-streaming film with actors who weren’t putting too much into their characters, but this movie is trying to live up to its title: it’s big and bold and beautiful. The imagery and grandeur of its filmmaking make the simplistic writing really come off as weak and easy.

Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

But for some reason, the film got to me. The majestic score by Joe Hisaishi and the cinematography by Benjamin Loeb just worked magic. It was manipulative, for sure, trying to hit all the emotional peaks but it’s also the sincerity of Robbie and Farrell that hit me in my tender spots. The way the film asks us to take a risk for love resonated with me. I am not exactly sold on the writing, but the message was loud and clear.

Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

I left the cinema torn. I could tell that the writing was bad and that the director was doing too much to land the emotional beats but because it spoke to me on a personal level, it still did the trick. I wonder if I watch this film again when I’m more settled with my own issues if that magic would still work. Films can do that sometimes and I love that about it. You could like a movie even if you know it’s not good.

My Rating:

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is still showing on the big screen! Don’t miss the chance to experience this heartwarming adventure on film. Check cinema showtimes near you and grab your tickets today!

September 23, 2025
Movie Review: Gorgeously Shot, Lav Diaz’s ‘Magellan’ Invokes Thoughts but Can Leave You Emotionally Blank

I still haven’t really found my way into fully grasping slow cinema, and Lav Diaz’s ‘Magellan’ continues to revel in the qualities of that cinematic mode. With the gorgeous cinematography of Artur Tort, ‘Magellan’ is filled with lush imagery and exquisite framing that forces us to look at nature, its sheer beauty, and then juxtapose it with the violence of colonization. I find that Diaz’s work is very cerebral, something that demands your attention and immersion; and this film has a thin narrative (which is my bailiwick), leaving all of the work that we want from the story for the image to deliver.

On the surface, the film follows Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (Gael Garcia Bernal) coming back to Portugal after his participation in the capture of Malacca, where he buys a Filipino slave whom he calls Enrique (Amado Arjay Babon). Our protagonist tries to convince the king to allow him to circumnavigate the globe to find a different route to Asia in order to find new trade routes without competition.

When his proposal is rejected, he brings this to Spain who then gives him a ship to find that new pathway to the unconquered lands. At sea, he must face storms, mutiny, and even starvation but soon they arrive on the shores of Cebu.

We all know what happens next.

As straightforward as this narrative seems, Diaz takes his usual distance from his subjects, allowing his camera to contextualize his characters in the vastness of their ambitions and their place in the world. We don’t even get to see Gael Garcia Bernal’s face until one hour into the film (I know, I checked) when he gets his first close-up. At the distance that he takes, we see these images like paintings, depicting moments of great import – the capture of Malacca, the mutiny on the ships, the arrival at Cebu, the blood compact between Magellan and Raja Humabon (Ronnie Lazaro) – we witness its epic scale, but I feel unable to grasp what he’s trying to say.

He makes no hero of Magellan. We see him marry his nurse (Angela Avezedo) and leave for his expedition while she is pregnant. He sentences two of his crew to death after being caught in a homosexual affair below deck. In the shores of Cebu, he quickly converts natives into Christians and destroys their idols and wooden statues of their gods. But never does he explore his hero’s interiority.

We have long, still shots of Magellan in rumination – about what exactly, we do not know – and this is juxtaposed by stunning shots of the nature that surrounds him in his voyage. Maybe colonization is a force as powerful as nature, which makes the pushback of the Filipinos at the end of act three its own show of force.

Still, this is Magellan’s story, not the Philippines’. Enrique barely gets to have a moment for himself until his own participation is revealed at the end of the film through a voice over. No contrast or juxtaposition between these two characters that could somehow contextualize Diaz’s stand about these events in the film.

While I’m left emotionally empty after watching the movie, I have to give kudos to how beautifully shot ‘Magellan’ is. Diaz’s mise-en-scène, paired with Artur Tort’s exquisite handling of light and color, draws you into the metaphysical nature of Diaz’s films. It forces you to really look and what I saw was the violence of colonization and Magellan’s own ambitions that led to his own demise. It’s undeniably thought-provoking, but at 160 minutes, and leaving me feeling emotionally blank, I feel it’s not my favourite of Diaz’s works.

My Rating:

Lav Diaz’s Magellan is still showing in cinemas. Don’t miss the chance to experience it on the big screen, check showtimes and get your tickets here.

September 18, 2025
Movie Review — A Dream and a Nightmare: A Review of ‘Some Nights I Feel Like Walking’

Director and screenwriter Petersen Vargas manages to deconstruct Manila (and consequently the rural province where the story unfolds) as both a battleground and, for survival’s sake, a marketplace for society’s outcasts. His latest film, ‘Some Nights I Feel Like Walking,’ captured through Russel Morton’s exquisite cinematography, renders Manila as gritty, dangerous, and at times vulgar. The story follows a new and young street hustler who finds himself entangled with a small gang of other hustlers. Vargas maps out the city’s the darker corners, to the infamous cinema houses where men engage in the flesh trade.

Within the first twenty minutes of the film, we see desire and longing become commodities that are bought and sold, while the hustlers’ bodies are sometimes used as shields to protect them from law enforcement who would rather rough them up than help them find education, work, or shelter. For some, these spaces are the safest grounds to express and explore their identities – the queerness which a large sector of society shuns and demonizes – under the shadows but for others, like Vargas’ characters, it’s where they find their next payday, a dangerous work environment that offers no security or stability, and sometimes, no hope.

But on a chance encounter, Zion (Miguel Odron), a runaway turned hustler, shares a trick with Uno (Jomari Angeles). As their client takes pleasure in their bodies, their eyes lock, their breathing falls in sync, and something sparks between them.

Later, when Zion has a violent run-in with Bayani (Argel Saycon), part of Uno’s inner circle that includes Rush (Tommy Alejandrino) and Miguelito (Gold Aceron), it is Uno who tends to Zion and shows him the ropes. Something is budding there, something daring to blossom, until Uno receives a frantic call from Miguelito, who is with a client. Zion and Uno rush to find him, only to find Miguelito in the throes of an overdose until he passes.

With no money, no support system, and dismissed by polite society, the hustlers decide to take Miguelito’s body back to the province to heed his final request to be buried home.

Throughout this movie, Vargas shifts the mood and atmosphere of his film from that of a gritty, concrete nightmare to a neon-colored dream. As the outsider, Zion becomes our way into the lives and the world of Uno and his friends. As Zion and Uno’s connection gets deeper, Bayani’s suspicions of Zion’s motives turn threatening, and the world around these young men start to reveal how dark and cruel it is to people who don’t fit the mold. Odron anchors his performance with the heavy weight of Zion’s coming-of-age into this hostile world. He barely smiles. He’s almost constantly numb from the pain and loss and it’s only with Uno where he finds peace.

Angeles delivers a captivating performance that shows Uno’s resilience, the brave face and the charm that he needs to get through this life, but when he’s alone with Zion, he subtly shows us Uno’s cracks, the internal collapse. It’s such a measured performance and really invites us into their vulnerability. As counterpoint, Saycon is sheer brute force and instinct. He’s frightening, as he gets territorial with his friends. But Saycon’s genius is how flimsy his bravado is when things get really emotional and his character just softens. Along with Alejandrino and Aceron, this cast just works magic.

‘Some Nights I Feel Like Walking’ truly is a love letter to outcasts, to those who feel disenfranchised, and exiled. It’s a story about the found family and the importance of community. It shows us how hope still inches forward even when everything seems so dark and cruel, and in a twist of sheer brilliance, Vargas also shows us the light.

The film is slow but layered and textured. The character work of the actors is delightful to see; Uno and his team have a shorthand built by good chemistry that makes everything so real and believable. And the way the film talks about these issues, it always feels honest and authentic no matter how far Vargas pushes us into the realm of the dream-like or the nightmare.

With an incredible 20-minute or so one-take finale, ‘Some Nights I Feel Like Walking’ is a triumph of a movie and is definitely in the running for one of my favourites of 2025.

My Rating:

Raw, daring, unforgettable. Films like this don’t come often, catch Some Nights I Feel Like Walking while it’s on the big screen. Get showtimes and book your tickets here.

August 26, 2025
Movie Review: Funny but Also Grotesque and Dramatic, ‘Together’ Is Body Horror Made Fun

A body horror film that is also equal parts a love story about a couple on the verge of untethering, ‘Together’ makes full use of the paranormal dramatic situation to amplify the human drama at the center of this film. Screenwriter and director Michael Shanks does not shy away from both themes and goes full-on with the dramatic elements as well as the body horror for an all-around attack on the senses. This film, along with its grotesque imagery and the explosive performances of Alison Brie and Dave Franco makes for a solid horror film in a year of splendid scary movies.

Brie and Franco play Millie and Tim, a couple preparing for a big move. Tim has lost both of his parents, and their passing has left Tim somewhat broken and emotionally distant from Millie. Millie, on the other hand, has accepted a job outside New York, and the couple decided to relocate to the countryside so that Millie can work in her dream environment while giving Tim the change of page he needs.

But Tim is haunted by bad dreams, and the couple are falling apart until one day, while hiking in the woods, they accidentally fall into an underground cavern where a mysterious pool casts a spell on them, causing their bodies to physically merge into one.

As strange things begin to happen, Tim starts acting erratically in ways Millie cannot understand, and their relationship starts to unravel. Yet the mystical nature of the pool keeps forcing them closer to each other, so close that they eventually become one.

The film’s use of dramatic irony creates a level of humour here that keeps the film both entertaining and surprising. While Shanks is keen on using a few jump scares here and there to keep his audiences on their toes, he excels when he puts that camera squarely on the faces of Brie and Franco, allowing them to showcase their acting range – showing us their characters at their most vulnerable, as they try to navigate the complex emotions that are at the core of their relationship issues – and allowing them every bit of physical performance that is required in this genre.

The merging in itself is a visual treat. Millie’s and Tim’s bodies move out of their own volition, moving with a will of its own; and Brie and Franco have to show us how the body literally longs for one thing while the mind says “no.” It’s a whole lot of acting and performance, but also CGI and practical effects to fully execute one of their bodies attempts to merge.

Interestingly enough, the film begins as terrifying and horrific. Frightening imagery and eerie music help build the scary scenes before it happens. But later, as the backstory unfolds and the characters understand what’s going on, what’s interesting is how the characters begin to understand what’s happening, try to find solutions and the film takes a more comic turn. There’s a desperation that sets in that goes counter to the tone of fear and death. That desperation becomes the core of the humour.

Brie has always been a natural comedienne, so it comes off as funny and organic. But she also manages to bring out all of Millies’ insecurities and frailty. Her Millie is the standard broken girl who’d give a million chances to the boyfriend that nobody in her group or circle cares much for. It’s a wonderfully nuanced performance that highlights Brie’s range.

Franco, on the other hand, brings the bravura. He has the less nuanced role. Tim, from the get-go, is suffering from the trauma of having found both his parents dead. It haunts him. It gives him issues with sleeping and connecting with Millie. It is a role that is set to the extremes from off the gate. But fortunately, Franco delivers the necessary intensity.

My only real resistance to the piece is how it still leans into formulaic or predictable story points that undermines its otherwise fresh approach to the genre. It could have been weirder. It could have been more unconventional. As grotesque as it is, the film still feels safe in its presentation. And its ending comes off a little too clean.

My Rating:

Experience the chilling thrills of Together on the big screen! Find showtimes and book your tickets now.

August 21, 2025
Movie Review — Head Over Heart: A Review of ‘Materialists’

I personally feel that the marketing of ‘Materialists’ was all wrong. This film, the second feature-length film by Celine Song (who wrote and directed the wonderful ‘Past Lives’), is less of a rom-com, as it was marketed, and more an intricate exploration and study of how capitalism has twisted and warped the idea of modern love and dating. The three central characters at the center of ‘Materialists’ are so far removed from the usual characters of the romantic-comedy tropes. They are people who are either jaded or cynical about love, or who do not understand it at all, and are therefore driven by checklists and standardized metrics of desirability. One character sells the illusion of love, another buys into it, and the third is afraid to give it a chance because they have been hurt before.

The characters in ‘Materialists’ are either wrestling with the idea of love or buying into its marketing, yet they do not seem to know exactly what it is and how it should feel like. Thus, the usual thrill and electricity one expects from the genre are absent in this film. Instead, we are presented with philosophical positions about dating and romance, and we have to figure out if we’ve also been rendered numb by the social algorithm that we can deconstruct our desires into a checklist.

Lucy is a successful matchmaker in New York. At the start of the film, she celebrates her ninth successful match (one that led to a marriage proposal) but she herself can’t imagine finding someone for her own life. At her client’s wedding, she meets Harry, the groom’s brother, a very successful and attractive man in finance who is immediately smitten with her. At the same event, Lucy also reconnects with her ex-boyfriend, John, who is working in the catering staff of the wedding, who is also a struggling actor. John re-enters her life as a friend, though he clearly still has feelings for her, while Harry is dead set on dating the jaded and cynical matchmaker.

Plot-wise, it sounds like a great rom-com, except Song is much more intellectual than that. All the anxieties, fears, and attitudes of this generation are laid out on the table. Lucy is, at first, resistant to Harry, who in her job refer to as a “unicorn,” the perfect man. She feels she doesn’t deserve a man like him, who in her industry is reserved for the best of the best. In her own estimation, she doesn’t and wouldn’t be a proper match. For Lucy, romance and dating are all about the math. Harry, however, wants to prove her wrong. That the math is wrong because he likes her. He sees “value” in her, which instigates a shift for Lucy, who is growing tired of her industry and her clients’ unrealistic standards.

But then there’s John, who hasn’t really gotten out of the rut that he was in, that caused the breakup in the first place. But you can see there’s a comfort when Lucy is with him. A short hand. Interestingly enough, when things go bad for Lucy at work, the first person she calls is John.

What happens to the math now?

Celine Song uses these characters to really deconstruct and dissect how modern dating has been destroyed by capitalist tendencies – measuring people’s worth by their status, their appearance, by how much they make – and forces us to realign and shift our ideas about love back to that indescribable, undefinable abstract thing. The film can feel cold at times because the characters themselves can be cold. Dakota Johnson, who plays Lucy, seems incapable to gaining any chemistry with Chris Evans’ John or Pedro Pascal’s Harry until you see the spark and magic in certain scenes. It’s only then that you realise Johnson is purposefully breaking the chemistry because Lucy doesn’t think she’s ready for this. Evans’ John is tired and exhausted. Lucy has broken up with him before because of his unstable life and as he is still pretty much the same, he is only really there as a friend. And later on, as charming as Pascal plays Harry, his character’s own internal struggle reveals why his unicorn character never really burns passionately.

For those expecting a rom-com, they will be very unsatisfied. As the film seeks out to dispel the current contemporary obsession with unrealistic standards for romance, the film in itself, subverts the rom-com tropes and conventions. I love it for its understated and realistic view on the topic and its philosophical approach to a topic that is heavily guided by the emotions. The contrast, for me, is fascinating. But, yes, I wasn’t made giddy with excitement. It wasn’t thrilling. I had an intellectual response, not an emotional one.

My Rating:

Materialists is now showing. Check showtimes near you and experience Celine Song’s take on modern romance.

August 17, 2025
Movie Review: Frightening and Funny at Equal Turns, ‘Weapons’ Is a Film Best Viewed in a Group and With No Preparation at All

What made Zach Cregger’s breakout film ‘Barbarian’ so good and so enjoyable was how completely unprepared you were for where that story would take you. It was skillfully written and directed, creating dread and tension from familiar tropes in horror but twisting them so that the surprise came from another element altogether. Then halfway through ‘Barbarian,’ the story shifts to another character who then joins the first half of the narrative and bringing it to a big climax filled with gruesome horror. His latest film, ‘Weapons,’ takes all of that and blows it up. He tells the story in six chapters, following six characters and their entanglement with the main story of the film.

The film opens with a child’s narration on how, one evening in the town of Maybrook, 17 of 18 kids from one class run out of their homes and are never seen again. Some were seen on CCTV of homes, and it all happened at 2:17 in the morning.

The town left is furious and frustrated. They are desperate for answers. They want answers from the class’ homeroom teacher, Justine Gandy, but she has none to give. One of the parents of the missing kids, Archer Graff, takes it upon himself to find out what happened. The other four characters whose point-of-view we follow throughout the film include the school’s superintendent, Andrew Marcus; a police man who is a friend of Justine, Paul Morgan; a junkie named James; and the only boy of Justine’s class who didn’t disappear that night, Alex Lilly.

‘Weapons’ has everything you could ask for in a horror film: nightmarish imagery, unsettling quiet moments of tension when things make a sound at the dead of night, a terrifying evil force, brutal and grotesque violence, and, most importantly, a strong human element that allows us to connect with the characters so we actually root for them and want them to survive. As a Grade 5 homeroom teacher, Justine isn’t as a nice archetype. She drinks, she’s pushy, and at times, reckless. But her care and concern for the missing children is felt.

Julia Garner brings a spunk to the role, but doesn’t shy away from her character’s flaws, which makes her such an interesting character to follow. Josh Brolin is always a solid performer, and his Archer Graff is tormented by the unanswered questions and the worry for his missing child. These two characters really form the heart of ‘Weapons’ which elevates the horror to a place that can inspire real dread and fear. Many horror films fall short when it comes to character development. Some become flat, uninteresting that we fail to connect with them, while others lean in too much on the protagonist’s flaws making them unlikable and you end up rooting for the monster or the villain. ‘Weapons’ avoids these traps. The missing children and the pain and frustration of the whole town is felt vividly that it amplifies the film’s stakes.

At 128 minutes, the film does feel long – as there’s a lot of stories in it and a lot of characters to uncover – but it is never boring. Cregger uses each character to reveal just a little bit more about the mystery, but it keeps it really well hidden until the final character. Then the exposition begins (near the end) but instead of being boring, what it does is that it ties everything together. All five preceding chapters start to feel whole and complete. It’s a really great exercise in narrative structure.

And while ‘Weapons’ is terrifying and scary, Cregger is also not afraid to be funny and silly. He uses humor in a very clever way to derail the fear so that he can raise the horror later on. There are quite a number of funny moments involving Paul and James (wonderfully played by Aldren Ehrenreich and Austin Abrams) before cutting it as James finds himself in contact with the source of the missing children. Benedict Wong is terrific as Andrew Marcus, who is trying to protect Justine, sometimes from her own worst instincts, and try to keep peace while the town is falling apart. His character’s queerness is present but never overstated but when he becomes embroiled in the story’s horror, the effect is filled with impact.

I’m trying to not talk in specifics because the power of ‘Weapons’ is in its ability to surprise and shock and horrify the audience. Throughout the screening, people were screaming, laughing, and then screaming again. It was such an enjoyable watch, especially in a full cinema filled with an attentive audience. ‘Barbarian’ was already such an incredible movie, I’m happy to say that ‘Weapons’ builds on the strength of Cregger’s first big hit and slams another home run.

My Rating:

Weapons is now showing in cinemas. Gather your bravest friends, check showtimes, and see it before the secrets come for you. Buy tickets here.

August 7, 2025
Movie Review: Too Much Plot and Chaos Ruin ‘The Bad Guys 2’ and Stop It From Being as Fun and Refreshing as Its Predecessor

I loved ‘The Bad Guys.’ I thought the animation and design were arresting. The script was quick, clever, and funny. It featured some extremely strong voice acting performances – Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Zazie Beetz, Craig Robinson, and Anthony Ramos – which added so much character of the overall film. It was refreshing, surprising, action-packed, and had an intricate caper plot that pulled off what it set out to do and more.

So I was excited to catch the sequel, simply called ‘The Bad Guys 2,” which is a refreshing change, considering how most franchises add subtitles to help identify one movie after the next. But to my disappointment, ‘The Bad Guys 2’ wasn’t able to match its predecessor, much less exceed the standard it had set forth.

The film begins with a prologue, a flashback where Piranha (Ramos) is on his first mission with the Bad Guys. It’s a simple enough caper, not too many moving parts, but obviously done to help refresh the audience’s memory of who they were before the events of the first film turned them into good guys. The whole sequence is loud, messy, and bombastic, and felt like it was directed to capture the attention of the audience, keep children’s focus on the chaos on the screen and keep others from reaching for their phones.

It’s messy because it lacks the style and flair that the first film displayed. It’s chaos for chaos’ sake. Just a funny sequence to remind us who the characters are and where they came from.

Then the title card appears, and the film now shows us The Bad Guys, who are now good, but unemployed. No matter how hard they try, they can’t seem to get a job because of their history as criminals. As an animated film, it does offer up an interesting storyline about redemption in the modern age. Can criminals be rehabilitated? Is it worth giving them a second chance? What sort of discrimination do they face because of their troubled past? These questions are briefly explored until the Bad Guys decide to use their skills to stop a new thief, the Phantom Bandit, who is making waves with a string of thefts. They hope to catch them, bring them over to the police, and prove to everyone they’ve changed.

But things go awry when the Phantom Bandit was ready for them and turned the tables to make it look like the Bad Guys was the Phantom Bandit all along and proved everyone’s biases against them right. Now, the Bad Guys have to go in hiding and and find a way to clear their names.

What follows is one big sequence after another as the Bad Guys get caught in the Phantom Bandit’s web. How does a thief outsmart another thief? And do they even want to, when the whole world is against them and won’t believe they’ve changed?

This could have played out wonderfully if director Pierre Perifel and screenwriters Yoni Brenner and Etan Cohen hadn’t gone overboard with the plot and kept the film personal and a character study, much like the first film. Instead, ‘The Bad Guys 2’ is overloaded with plot, with two more capers snuck in-between its huge finale piece in an environment that just feels so big that it feels so far removed from what made the original so endearing.

In fact, there are still a lot of really cute little moments that work. Outside bells and whistles of the movie’s overdrawn plot – it’s the little moments between Wolf (Rockwell) and Fox (Beetz), or some of the dialogue (which feels spontaneous and sounds improvised) by Shark (Robinson), Webs (Awkwafina) and Piranha – the characters are what really makes this concept work and when they are spending too much time with the bigness of the film, we don’t get to enjoy the stuff really worth enjoying in the premise, which is how the team works together to save the day.

My Rating:

The Bad Guys 2 is still showing in cinemas. Get showtimes here.

August 6, 2025