Author: cinemadilemma

Single Drunk Female

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https://www.primevideo.com/

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Sofia Black-D’Elia, Ally Sheedy, Rebecca Henderson, Sasha Compère, Lily Mae Harrington, Garrick Bernard, Jojo Brown
Where to watch: Disney+
Seasons: 1 season, 10 episodes, 20-odd minutes each
To watch or not to watch: A nice, decently-paced dramedy on adulting

Samantha Fink or Sam (Sofia Black-D’Elia) is an alcoholic. After a major blow-out at her workplace where she arrived late and drunk for a meeting, blamed the “system” and assaulted her boss for firing her, she is mandated by the court to go to rehab, do community service, and is put under probation. As she was broke and without a job, she had to move back home and go through the 12 steps of recovery. Not many people struggling with addiction have a well-functioning family, and such is true for Sam as well. Her mother, Carol, (Ally Sheedy), is not exactly happy to have Sam back, wants to carry on with her life unencumbered after losing her husband. The loss of the father/husband is the major cause of rift between mother and daughter. Anyway, Sam finds help in the AA support group, gets a no-nonsense sponsor, Olivia (Rebecca Henderson), a job in a supermarket under a warm-hearted Mindy (Jojo Brown) and a potential for romance with James (Garrick Bernard). She also confronts the reality of her ex-boyfriend marrying her ex-best friend.

The above synopsis sounds like Mom without the fun, and it is not entirely false. It is only much more than just that. There is hilarity in the struggles of sobering up, a comfort in seeing an adult “adulting”, and succeeding in it. Sam beings as a train wreck but by the end of the 10 episodes, she has been 1 year sober, is more in control of her wants and expectations and that feels like a personal win for the viewer. It is a class of work which makes us wonder why we have the series, since it doesn’t feel like a sitcom, a slapstick and other types of comedies but still delivers. It upends the common belief that humor is in being drunk and consequences thereof, instead there is humor in growing-up while being an adult along with other adults around. Felicity (Lily Mae Harrington) is a single mother who is a party girl, and at the same time, she is highly responsible of her son and her job. This embodies the essence of the series.

Single Drunk Female is made on the real life experiences of the creator Simone Finch, and hence this is not an over-the-top series which makes us live vicariously. Many viewers would know someone struggling with addiction or are that person themselves, and can absolutely relate. It tells us, it is not fun being wrapped up in a childhood which once was, but there is happiness, comfort and pleasure in growing up as well. In this day and age, the media we are exposed to tells us that growing up and taking responsibility is hard and hence it is better not to. This series tells us that that thought is a potential fantasy, and life is hard at all stages, we just need to embrace it nonetheless; there are others who are in the same boat and together we can sort our lives out. This process is not limited to misfits, minority or marginalised groups, but is applicable to one and all. Also, it is refreshing to see new/lesser-known actors and that takes nothing away from the quality of the production. It makes for a light-hearted, feel-good, fresh dramedy which is highly recommended to binge watch.

Unknown Origins

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https://vocal.media/geeks/

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Starring: Javier Rey, Antonio Resines, Brays Efe, Verónica Echegaray, Ernesto Alterio
Where to watch: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: A good spoof movie which sets itself apart by its good-ness

The movie opens with a murder of a man. The said man is murdered by steroids injected into him, enough to make him Hulk. This is followed my another murder of a man who has his heart pulled out and replaced by a metal suit. These cases are given to a new cop David (Javier Rey) and Cosme (Antonio Resines), but Cosme is on the brink of retirement (quite literally, the day the first murder is discovered, is the last day for Cosme before retirement). It is soon inferred that these murders have an association with the comic world, of which Jorge (Brays Efe) is an expert – he also happens to be the son of Cosme. So now David and Cosme (much to David’s chagrin) go around understanding the crime, the method and inspiration, which leads them to the criminal eventually. There is also a love angle, because why not, between David and his boss Norma (Verónica Echegaray).

If the above story triggers a memory of David Fincher’s Se7en, no brownie points for you – the movie is quite on the nose about it, mentioning it in one of the dialogues. Despite the sacrilege arising from spoofing one of the best psychological thrillers till date, the movie delivers on what it promises.
First of all, it is doesn’t take itself seriously. It is a fun take on comic book heroes, serial killers and investigations.
Second of all, the quality of direction and production is really good. It doesn’t skimp on that, just because it is sort-of spoof, quite unlike the other spoofs out there.
Finally, the ending of the movie is really good. By no means perfect, but good. The mystery is very unexpected.

This movie is by no means perfect – not the best story, not the best acting, etc. But it is highly entertaining. It is light-hearted and resonates with people because of connection with Se7en and superheroes. This is what the movie was aiming at and it achieves it. The only thing which it could have done without is Norma’s character. It is only a filler, for a gap that doesn’t exist. And to make it even weirder, there is a romantic angle between David and Norma, because apparently two attractive people have to love each other. Without this angle, the whole movie would have come out crisper and more focused. Nonetheless, it is a good one-time watch for people looking for pure entertainment.

Magpie Murders

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https://www.rottentomatoes.com/

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Lesley Manville, Tim McMullan, Alexandros Logothetis, Conleth Hill
Where to watch: Sony Liv
Seasons and episodes: 1 season, 6 episodes 45 minutes each
To watch or not to watch: A unique plot and investigation of a murder. Absolutely a must watch

Alan Conway (Conleth Hill) is a writer of the famous Atticus Pund novels and is writing a much-awaited book in the series (think Sherlock Holmes meets Hercule Poirot style murder mystery detective). Susan Ryeland (Lesley Manville) is a London editor for Alan, and doesn’t get along with him – mainly because Alan is an irascible man who is not happy writing Atticus Pund and punishes everyone around him for his unhappiness. Susan receives the latest Atticus Pund book, titled Magpie Murders, but it is missing the last chapter where the murder in the book is solved. Susan then goes to meet Alan to get the chapter, and finds that Alan has been murdered. Also, the last chapter is nowhere to be found. She then talks to everyone who was associated with Alan and slowly uncovers the real identities of the people Alan had used as characters in his book, and people had grudges against him for one reason or another. The suspect pool grows bigger.

The series is depicted through the parallels between the case in the book and real life murder of Alan Conway. While Susan is the real detective in real life, she is often thinking like Atticus Pund, to the extend that she hallucinates him. And since the people in the book are same as those in the vicinity of the murder victim, this whole depiction can be understood even with the chasm of the timelines.

The fact that the detective in the series is an editor, not someone who is qualified to find criminals makes the detection even more interesting for the viewers – it makes it more relatable. She is sure that the solution to the murder in the book will help with the murder of the author in real life, and she needs to solve both. Although the series is across timelines with frequent jumps from one timeline to another, it gets confusing only once through the entire length of 6 episodes. It keeps the interest going, not to mention refreshing. Lesley Manville is a very unlikely detective, she is a perfect editor and this goes with the vibe of the series. Highly recommend to watch.

The Invisible Man

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https://filmschoolrejects.com/

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Elizabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, Harriet Dyer, Storm Reid
Where to watch: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: Obsessive-controlling-man trope done the right way

Cecilia (Elizabeth Moss) is married to Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) who is a extremely rich pioneer in optics technology. She has the perfect plan to escape and she does it by the skin of her teeth, but her husband gets hurt in the process. She goes underground with the help of her sister and sister’s police boyfriend with no connection to anyone from her past. Then it is heard on the news that Adrian has committed suicide and left his fortune to Cecilia, bringing a much needed relief to everyone involved. Cecilia begins leading a normal life, looking for jobs and socialising with people, but strange occurrences start happening around her. In fact, she is arrested for slitting her sister’s throat in a crowded restaurant. She suspects Adrian has faked his death and is using his optics technology to somehow become invisible. By then, she has had enough and fights back.

The movie is done right – it takes the oft done theme of an obsessive male partner abusing the female partner and turns it into solid movie. It has done the opposite of what is unusual these days – great execution. While the theme might seem to many as common and might deter them to check this one out, the way this is ideated, crafted, acted and directed would be a treat. Another thing it does which makes it stand out is it is female centric, while most movies in this genre are centered around the male and his actions (slightly glorifying and justifying the toxicity).

The Invisible Man is visually stimulating, has the least amount of sound effects and only two false scares. Elizabeth Moss has once again delivered a brilliant performance, and it is safe to say The Handmaid’s Tale is the best thing to happen to her and her to it. Without it we wouldn’t have seen her in these leading roles. It is not very common for a female to carry off these roles and not easy either, and since these both things are present, it makes a must watch for more reasons.

Last Night in SoHo

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https://www.soctex.com/last-night-in-soho-2021-review-details-trailer/

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith
Where to watch: Lionsgate Play
To watch or not to watch: A highly recommended watch for horror genre movie seekers

Ellie Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) is an aspiring fashion designer who is inspired by the style of the 60s. She has some supernatural powers which enables her to see her mother who committed suicide when Ellie was a kid. She moves from a small town to London to study fashion and lodges with an elderly lady named Ms Collins. At night, in her dreams, Ellie is transported to the 1960s London and she sees the city life of nightclubs through the eyes of an aspiring singer Sandie. Sandie falls in love with a nightclub manager Jack. These dreams instill confidence in Ellie and also inspires her fashion designs in real life. Steadily, her dreams of Sandie start to become nightmares where she sees Sandie being exploited by Jack and her descent into prostitution and drugs. Ellie is extremely disturbed by what she sees in 1960s London that she starts seeing the people from her dreams in her real life.

This movie is pure horror and nothing but excellence is expected from any Edgar Wright. It will live in the movie world as one of the best horror movies ever made. It covers the emotional aspect of a misfit’s desire to find affection, confidence and an emotional connection with another fellow human, and uses that emotion to blow into a nightmare and mystery of epic proportions. It has a hint of exploitation of females in the mid-90s but doesn’t dwell on it. In fact, it takes that exploitation and turns it into empowerment at an unbelievable scale (least said unless it becomes a spoiler).

Edar Wright is regarded as an original movie maker for a reason – he takes the most common genres and spins a story which is uniquely crafted and Last Night in SoHo is no different. It has flawless transitions between time periods, and dreams to reality. It is easy to feel the angst in Ellie because of the way she is treated by people and her longing to make friends. It is easy to understand why she was completely enthralled by Sandie and her confidence. And when Sandie’s life hits a downward spiral, Ellie takes it upon herself to save her one and only friend. Just that, Thomasin’s delivery does fall slightly flat at times. She needs to mature a bit more in the acting game. Anya Taylor-Joy is spectacular and a perfect choice to play Sandie. No one could have done it better.

There is no end of praise which can be showered on the movie. Suffice to say, please do watch it if you love horror.

Criminal: UK

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https://bgiccnew.bgicc.net/

Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Starring: Katherine Kelly, Lee Ingleby, Mark Stanley, Rochenda Sandall, Nicholas Pinnock, Shubham Saraf, Aymen Hamdouchi 
Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons: 2 seasons, 3 and 4 episodes each, 43 min per episode
To watch or not to watch: A highly recommended watch for every whodunit aficionado

Criminal comes in different versions, that is, for different countries, but this review is only specifically for the UK version.

Jumping the gun here a bit (and breaking structure of the reviews), this is one of the best series written (and seen) in a long while. In a world of mediocrity, comes this masterpiece which will have you at the edge of the seats and biting your nails, heart beat so loud that you can’t hear the dialogues.
Ok, that last part was a bit exaggerated. But the series is good. Ok?

This is an anthology series, with every episode a new case, so the viewers get the gift of 7 expertly crafted episodes, which have compelling stories with masterful performances.
The concept of the series is to get to the bottom of the crime and the criminal while the suspect is in the interrogation room and is being questioned. Most of the investigation is already done and that makes the series a kind of closed room mystery, what is left is either irrefutable proof of the crime or a confession. The police officers in the interrogation room and the ones in the observation room (on the other side of the mirror) have one goal only – to catch the criminal.

The series is very focused on the case, but there is a small sprinkling of office politics to keep the viewers invested in the characters as well as the case. The tangential story line is only the sprinklers, and not the actual donut so it adds to the whole, but doesn’t distract. All in all, a refreshing, must watch.

Aside: There are about 3 plot holes, which appear towards the last few episodes, but it is nowhere a deal breaker.

The Ipcress File

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https://www.youtube.com/

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Joe Cole, Lucy Boynton, Tom Hollander
Where to watch: Lionsgate on Prime Video
Seasons: 1 season, 6 episodes, 45 minutes each
To watch or not to watch: A brilliant, exciting watch. Definitely stands out from the crowd

Harry Palmer (Joe Cole) is under arrest for smuggling American ware across the border from West to East Berlin during the 1960s. He has some special skills and knows people, which is ideal for the British Intelligence. Major Dalby (Tom Hollander) is the leader of an unconventional and elite spy agency WOOC(P) and needs a man like Palmer to help the British find a nuclear scientist feared kidnapped by Kremlin. Jean Courtney (Lucy Boynton) is the second is command and is a handler for Palmer. Courtney and Palmer then go through a series of events which leads to the unravelling of the mystery behind the kidnapping and a plot to create an international scnadal.

This series is a breath of fresh air in a long list of less than average recent releases. It has a very strong female lead, which they are very comfortable with (they don’t push that fact in the viewers face, it is just a fact) and a regular looking male lead. The story is non-linear and thus can be a bit difficult to follow, a little reminiscent of John le Carre, but it is the way of good spy thrillers, probably. The excitement is real, the thrill can be felt through the bones, and the plot setting is something the world can relate to, given the current international political situation.

The best compliment to give this series – it is binge-worthy. Not only you would want to watch it all it one go willingly, it is also recommended to be able to follow it better. The acting is superior, the sets, costumes and storyline believable, and a great tribute to the old movie, on which it is based (which is, in turn, based on a book). There is no reason to not watch it. Make time over a weekend to watch it all together.

The Great Indian Murder

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https://celebwikibiography.com/

Rating: 3 out of 5
Starring: Richa Chadha, Pratik Gandhi, Ashutosh Rana, Sharib Hashmi, Shashank Arora
Streaming on: Disney+ Hotstar
Seasons: 1 season, 9 episodes each around 40 minutes
To watch or not to watch: Meh. Won’t be missing out if this is missed

Vicky Rai (Jatin Goswami) is the son of Chhattisgarh’s Home Minister Jagannath Rai (Ashutosh Rana), and is an industrialist in his own right. He is caught by Delhi Police when his car was found with 2 dead bodies of underage girls, creating a frenzy in the media. He is also not exactly the model human being, and doesn’t have any regard for human life. Rightly, he is shot and murdered in a party he has thrown on being acquitted of the crime. Then progresses an investigation which is mired in political agenda, corruption and self-serving mis-directions.

The series is loosely based on the book titled “Six Suspects” by Vikas Swaroop. The people suspected of being involved in the murder plot are his father, a retired IAS officer (Raghuvir Yadav), a petty thief (Shashank Arora), a B-list actress, his step-sister whom he raped when she was 13 years’ old and a tribal from Andaman. There are other characters too, whose job descriptions is impressive, but like in real life, the resume is good but real action is negligible. The creators also forgot that there needs to be six very clear suspects – people who were supposed to be suspected, had no means and those who had the means, had no motive – so either everyone was a possible suspect or no one was.

The series is a complete kaleidoscope of plots, stories and characters. There is a random naxal angle too, and another related to supernatural phenomenon which apparently make sense in the whodunnit genre?! Because that is what this series basically is, a whodunnit. Just a poorly done one. It does keep the audience engaged in the first 3 episodes, then like a parent who is sure their kids are engrossed in the film, they slip out and leave the kids to their own, the series forgets all the responsibilities of the concept of story, time or sequence of events.

Credit where credit is due, the plot is very interesting, and all the characters are well crafted. Richa Chadha and Pratik Gandhi were spot on, surprising no one. Vicky Rai was a truly deplorable character, and the acting makes you hate the actor too. Wish they stuck to the theme and had a better story board for the screenplay. All in all, the series can be skipped.

Bhoothkalam

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https://www.manoramaonline.com/

Rating: 4 out of 5
Starring: Shane Nigam, Revathy, Saiju Kurup, James Eliya and Athira Patel
Streaming on: Sony Liv
To watch or not to watch: A good watch for people on the hunt for a thrilling movie

Asha (Revathy) and her son Vinu (Shane Nigam) live together with Asha’s mother in a house. They are financially hard-up, with Vinu not having a job since one and a half years after graduating, and Asha being a school teacher, not making enough. Vinu has taken to substance abuse and Asha suffers from clinical depression, which is aggravated by her mother’s passing. Slowly and steadily Vinu’s mental health starts declining and he becomes sleep deprived, easily startled, and aggressive. So his hearing sounds at night and seeing shadows is attributed to his addictions and is a counsellor is consulted. That is when the history of the house, incidents with the past tenants comes to fore and story takes shape.

The storyline is stupidly simple, in a good way. There is linearity in things unfolding and not much is said about what happened in the past in Asha’s and Vinu’s lives which has shaped them this way – it is only hinted at. And it is annoying. It neither helps nor can it be ignored, as it is fundamental to the relationship mother-son share, which is in-turn fundamental to the story. There are also false starts (Granny staring at Vinu when he is helping to put her to bed), loud music from out of no where, which dies the sudden death special to amorphous entities, with nothing to show for it. And also a love song in the background of Vinu’s and Priya’s date, when it has not shown to have any bearing on Vinu’s life – Priya just exists.
Now that that’s out of the way, we can come to why this movie is recommended. The movie shines in camera work, direction and ACTING, a bit of story too. The play of shadows and difference in views of Asha and Vinu are beautifully done, the viewer gets to be in the same room as them and understand the agitation, helplessness and frustration when they are not able to understand each other. The show-not-tell segue into the past of the house with the counselor investigating the truth is better done than in most movies, though far from perfect.

This movie wins on most points, specially since horror has been an under-performing genre in Indian cinema as a whole. The fact that Revathy stars in it, who is better known to the masses, helps bring this movie to the fore, and demography of cinema lovers is all the better for it. It is a simple movie, no gore, crazy made-up ghost or VFX, it is a plain haunted house horror. The last 17 minutes of the movie, shot in one bedroom and dining area really does justice to the almost one and a quarter hour spent before. Only wish the cinema can grow to understand movies can be made with without a romantic angle in the lead’s life and some more of the backbone story. And it is only being said because this movie was so so close to perfection. Highly recommended.

Another Miss Oh

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https://asianwiki.com/

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Starring: Eric Mun, Seo Hyun-jin, Jeon Hye-bin
Streaming on: Netflix
Episodes: 18 episodes, each close to 70 min long
To watch or not to watch: Should watch, it leaves a happy feeling in the heart

One day before getting married, Oh Hye-young’s (Seo Hyun-jin) (aka just) fiance calls off the wedding, saying he has fallen out of love with her and that he doesn’t like to watch her eat. Understandably devastated Hye-young has only one condition, that the world should know she has called the wedding off. Some time passes, and Hye-young meets Park Do-kyung (Eric Mun) and they start to fall for each other. There comes the twist in the story. Park Do-kyung was engaged to be married to another named Oh Hye-young (Jeon Hye-bin) (aka pretty), who left him on the day of the wedding. One year after that, he hears Oh Hye-young getting engaged to another man, and ruins his business as revenge. Only that woman was not his Oh Hye-young. So yea… Also, Do-kyung is suddenly clairvoyant and can see how the future will pan out.

The biggest reason why this series stands out is because of Oh Hye-young’s (just) attitude. She is the boss. Despite being gossiped about, ridiculed and almost cast away from society for cancelling her wedding, she owns it like a bada**. Whatever her internal emotional state may have been, she never let anyone put her down. Another reason to like the show is because it is good. The story line is very different and refreshing and all the main character and most of the supporting characters were well crafted, they had depth. The human state of mind is pretty rightly defined, there is jealousy, revenge, want of societal acceptance and self-esteem issues. The chemistry between the main characters is lacking though – Oh Hye-young (just) has a better on screen chemistry with her ex-fiance than the man she is supposedly in love with.

K-dramas do know how to play on the heart strings, they have that right. The viewer cannot help but feel Oh Hye-young’s words when she says she is ok to not be happy later, but she wants to be happy now. As with all other K-dramas, the series could have been wrapped up within 12 episodes easily, if they had reduced the work which Park Do-kyung was doing. And his sister’s absurd behaviour was overly exaggerated and at some places stood out like a sore thumb with respect to the tune of the main story. These can be easily skipped. But the rest is well worth the watch, highly recommended.