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.
Starring: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter Genre: Horror – but not quite
The plot of the movie is revealed in the title itself – but only a section of it.
Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is accused of negligent homicide of Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter) while performing exorcisms. The case is high profile and is given to Erin Bruner (Laura Linney), an ambitious lawyer who is fresh off a recent win and is looking to be promoted. The prosecutor’s stand is that Emily Rose was suffering from epilepsy and schizophrenia, and it was negligent homicide by Father Richard. The rest is a court room battle with people’s accounts of the events from the time things started going wrong with Emily till her unfortunate death, and is captured in flashbacks.
There is more to the movie than the plain horror – it is a court room drama. It questions the reality and the faith of the people giving multiple perspectives to the same situation. It is a different side to the possession trope, and explores the grey area between spirituality and science.
The beauty of the movie lies in pure subtlety. The prosecutor fighting for science is a devout Christian and the defense attorney is agnostic, bordering on atheist. Both fighting the opposite argument, challenging their own beliefs, making them question Science and religion, truth, fact and well, believes. Hence, this movie is not horror – only a court room drama where the case is horror. It is similar to, say, Law & Order with a gore case – it doesn’t make the series gore (hope this makes sense).
The whole story of everything which happened to Emily Rose unravels slowly as the movie moves and nowhere does it keep the viewer wondering what’s happening. All this is underscored with very subtle background score. It is no secret that Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson can act, and they both together fighting the good fight is a treat to watch.
Honestly, having the right perspective when watching something is so important. Sadly, even the creators messed up in the marketing of this movie. Maybe they wanted to compete with Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist? It will be interesting to see the reception if it is advertised as a court room drama.
To watch or not to watch: Extremely predictable, with good performances
Nikhil Soni (Manoj Bajpayee) is a police officer supervising emergency calls, when they receive a call from a woman in distress, who is planning to commit suicide. She is depressed because of the death of her young son in an accident the previous year. Meanwhile, Nikhil is also dealing with a domestic situation – his 17 year old son has a criminal past and is doing little to mend his ways, giving his mother Prerna (Sakshi Tanwar) sleepless nights. The suicidal woman (Neena Gupta) reveals her true agenda, which is vendetta against the people responsible for her son’s death.
It all sounds thrilling, right? Yea, it’s not. From the first, it is obvious the caller lady is connected with Nikhil Sood and has something to do with the crime connected to his son. All the thrill of the movie is collected in the trailer, which undoubtedly is compelling. The whole is lackluster to say the least. The fact that Manoj Bajpayee is a police officer, same as in Family Man, which was rightfully popular, does not seem like a coincidence. It is definitely clickbait. The actors have all delivered flawless performances. Special mention of Sakshi Tanwar, who is not praised nearly enough and who has delivered absolutely believable performance – quality stuff.
This was another disappointing release by Zee5 and another one which was tirelessly promoted across all platforms. Another release with class A performance and script from the bottom of the barrel. It is fundamentally wrong to continuously produce low quality content, specially by a production house as big as Zee. It is our responsibility as consumers to respond by our actions and not watch or promote content which is bad and plain lazy. As for the movie, nothing against the performances, but don’t watch it.
To watch or not to watch: Good in pieces, not as a whole
The story of the series is about the lives of some of the residents of an apartment complex called Sunflower. One morning, one of the residents of the society, Mr. Kapoor (Ashwin Kaushal), is murdered by his neighbour, Mr. Ahuja (Mukul Chadda). What follows is an investigation into the murder by two police officers, Inspector DG and Sub-Inspector Tambe (Ranvir Shorey and Girish Kulkarni). Sonu Singh (Sunil Grover) is the protagonist and falls under suspicion due to his erratic nature. Along with the main story line with a protagonist, we also have an ensemble cast and an insight in the lives of a select few residents and one person each related to them.
Over-all the series is funny, sometimes thrilling and mostly lost. There are too many sub-plots, which have nothing to do with the main plot and have nothing to do in general, except probably elicit some laughs. In each of the 8 episodes, we have Dilip Iyer (Ashish Vidhyarthi) interviewing and rejecting potential residents because of one or the other social bias. There are certain points in Sonu’s character which throw an insight into his past life and make the viewers feel there’s more than meets the eye. All this has nothing to do with the main plot, even tangentially. After about more than half the series is over, you wonder if the series even has anything to do with the murder mystery. Sunflower society and slowly and suddenly takes center stage and things revolve around it.
There is a conflict between the advertisement and the real idea of the series. it comes off as more of an ensemble cast series than a thriller series. Since it is going head-to-head with an acclaimed thriller series, The Family Man, it needed to be made more in-line with the advertisement or changed the messaging. If one has watched these two series together, Sunflower will definitely lose. Though it does go head-and-head with the performances.
The webseries these days have latched on to the nostalgia effect, by getting older actor, who were quite popular in the yesteryears to come back and act in the series. While it is commendable and gets more viewers along with the promise of good performances, it can be overdone, specially when it is the focal point of the series. After finishing watching the series, the only thought that makes a viewer feel they haven’t wasted their time, that all the loose threads and the unresolved sub-plots make for a good foundation for season 2. Right on the heels of that, is the knowledge that each episode is only about 30 minutes long and has only 8 episodes (though it didn’t need even that for the amount of content it had). That might be the only reason for people to watch the second season, to get some closure. All in all, if one is not suffering from FOMO, skip it.
Starring: Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Sofia Bryant, Richard Ellis, Sophia Tatum, David Theune, Zachary S. Williams, Aidan Wojtak-Hissong
Genre: Sci-fi/supernatural, coming-of-age story
This series is about a 17 year old girl Sydney, who lost her father the previous year. As a result, the family life has changed drastically and not for the better. She has trouble connecting with her mother, trouble getting along with peers, trouble focusing on school and trouble in general with her temper, which flares and is acted upon. She has one best friend named Dina who is the “popular one” and is dating the school jock. She also has a neighbour called Stanley Barber who has a crush on Sydney and is as much as an oddball as is stereotyped.
The story follows Sydney managing her life, her anger and then her very sudden super powers. She becomes a target or a fascinating study for some savoury/unsavoury characters. And if that was not enough, she is also trying to figure out the matters of her sexuality. She is definitely not okay with any of this.
Netflix is so used to producing below average stuff that the one time they have something good which has all the elements to grasp the attention of the audience, they balk at the thought. They are not used to producing good original content and hence they have cancelled the show (this is the real reason, despite of what is said by the company). They are producing season 2 of Bridgerton.
Amazon, please pick this up. But then you aren’t without faults of your own.
Starring: David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Adria Arjona.
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy (slightly theological)
Aziraphale and Crowley are Angel and Demon, respectively and have been assigned to do their respective jobs on Earth since the seventh day of creation (Crowley/Crawley is the snake with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden). They have grown rather fond of the planet and grudgingly, of each other too. In the present time, the grounds of Armageddon have been laid down and in only a week Heaven and Hell will fight it out to establish their supremacy and effectively end Earth. The Angel and Demon duo must prevent it from happening at all costs. Thus begins their adventure to find out The Chosen One and manipulate their respective offices in their favour. Their natures have evolved through thousands of years on the planet and it is shown through some cleverly inserted flash-backs at the important moments in history.
This series is adapted from a Neil Gaiman book. When it comes to book adaptations, this is something near perfection. The acting and the direction leave nothing to be desired and it doesn’t feel incomplete or staccato at any point. The storyline, peppered with theology through the ages is smooth, smart, witty and dark too.
This show was cancelled as it was called out for hurting religious sentimentality. While a case can be made for that, it can be said it shows changing for a higher calling, namely humanity and to get priorities straight, regardless of what we have been taught since birth.
Religions have survived thousands of years. An itty-bitty Amazon series with some 8 hours runtime can hardly harm them suddenly. Please lift the embargo on it and get out season 2.
Starring: Nick Frost, Samson Kayo, Malcolm McDowell, Susan Wokoma, Emma D’Arcy and Simon Pegg
Genre: Horror-comedy
Gus is a broadband installer for Britain’s largest network provider, Smyle. He also moonlights as a paranormal activity investigator and has a YouTube channel, Truth Seekers. His boos, Dave, assigns an apprentice to Gus by the name of Elton Jon (LoL!) to train, and Gus isn’t too happy about it. Together Gus and Elton go around fixing and providing broadband connections. Gus luck seems to have turned around as they have real paranormal encounters at each of the places they visit. They also meet Astris, who is running from the demons haunting her and they try to figure out how to exorcise them.
No story is complete with a supervillain with an extremely nefarious agenda. In this one, the supervillain wants to attain immortality and the way to reach there is mega destructive and the consequences dire.
Nick Frost and Simon Pegg come together again on screen for yet another spectacular production which has humour, thrill and horror combined. There is also a threat to humanity, similar to the movies in the Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The End of the World – all must watch). There is emotional investment for the recurring cast and also for the anthology-like ghosts they encounter. There is no moment which is dull or draggy. In the short time, it manages to show EVERYTHING. Utter shame it is cancelled and Goliath gets seasons after seasons.
Maigret is adapted from a book series by Georges Simenon, featuring the detective Jules Maigret. It has 2 season with 2 episodes each and the episodes are in anthology format, with new cases in each episode. It is a police procedural, set in Paris of 1950s. What sets this apart from the other police procedurals is primarily Rowan Atkinson. It is very refreshing to see him in a serious role, which he performs flawlessly (goes without saying). Also, the cases are quite interesting and there are little to no red-herrings. The cases are solved by old-fashioned police work. The cases are dark and gritty which keeps one guessing throughout. The performances in the individual episodes too are commendable – no shoddy work here.
Given we don’t have too many of whodunnits series these days, this would have been a good addition to the online content. It is refreshing, nostalgic and pleasing to the eye. With very little personal drama and good storyline, can’t see this failing. And yet it is not renewed for further seasons. It is saddening.
The movie is adapted from the 2015 Paula Hawkins’ novel of the same name. The book has been adapted into a movie earlier too, starring Emily Blunt (early warning: watch that one, not this).
Mira Kapoor (Parineeti Chopra) has become an alcoholic after the death of her unborn child in a car accident. As far as she knows, she cannot be a mother again, when all she wanted in life was to be one. On top of this, she is suffering from trauma and has short-term amnesia (a concept explored in Memento and Ghajini). All this puts a strain on her married life and her husband Shekhar (Avinash Tiwary) and she separate. In her previous avatar she was a bad-ass lawyer who wouldn’t cower even in the face of death threats and would see justice done. All that is lost within two years. She travels on the same route everyday in a train (whereto – no idea, she just does) and she spots Nusrat John (Aditi Rao Hydari) having a picture perfect life with her husband, and she lives vicariously through Nusrat. One day she sees Nusrat with another man and is furious at her for ruining her supposedly perfect marriage and seeks her out. Thus ensues the memory lapse where she doesn’t remember what happened, but she is left with bruising all over her. It turns out Nusrat is killed and the police are suspecting Mira. The investigation is led by Dalbir Kaur Bagga (Kirti Kulhari).
There are so many questions. First, how was it possible to screw up a movie, which has been made only recently? The script is literally in your hands. While the whole internal conflict written in the book is understandably difficult to put into a visual medium, there is already a blue print, just 5 years old. Second, why did this movie have to be shot in London, with London street names and NRIs who justifiably do not have an Indian accent? It would have been so much more easier to follow and so much less cringy if only they had shot it in India with Indian actors. Third, given the above two, who thought it a good idea to diverge from the original story? And who thought the new angle was good? Fourth, what’s with that bruise on Mira’s temple dude? It looked like something straight out of a Ramsay brothers’ movie make-up.
Even though, Dear Reader, you have understood how unwatchable the “movie” is, it bears repeating. If you watch this movie, a demonic presence like in the movie The Ring will possess you and you would want to kill everyone. It will need to be exorcised. There is not even one single thing which can be said in the favour of this, not even cinematography, costumes, lighting, nothing. This movie is the point where sanity goes to die.
PSA – Do Not Watch It
Spoiler: Dalbir Kaur Bagga is the daughter of the man whom Mira put behind bars and she commits the crime to frame Mira. There. You are welcome.
To watch or not to watch: Brilliant watch with popcorn
The movie continues after the first installment where the crime (murder of IG’s son) was committed 6 years ago. The family is constantly under the threat and fear of the crime being traced to them. Meanwhile, Georgekutty (Mohanlal) is chasing his dream of making a movie and the script is in the works for some time. He has spent a lot of money in getting it just right. They have new neighbours, a couple with an alcoholic and abusive husband and a simple wife. The Georgekutty family is living their lives, amongst local gossip about the daughter Anju (Ansiba) who also has PTSD and Georgekutty’s recent alcoholism. The police is still looking to solve the crime and they now have new witnesses and clues. The story then “resumes” from that point and becomes again a game of intelligence and sheer will power.
The movie feels like a sweet melancholic orchestra in the beginning and takes it to the best crescendo any performance could. The movie is long-ish at 2 hours 33 minutes of play, and the first hour is director showing us the lay of the land, to generate the same emotions the first movie generated for the family and how that incident has changed their lives. The performances of the actors is yet again, flawless. Mohanlal shines brightly as a man juggling multitude aspects of life. The protagonist of the movie still remains human psyche. It is present in all the aspects of the story – the crime, the public opinion, human conscience, persecution, everything. It is difficult to express in words.
It is one of the best sequels made, not only for the execution of the idea, but for the idea itself. A crime is committed and how the people affected by it are dealing with the aftermath. The idea of multi-faceted persecution is beautifully depicted. It is more a psychological thriller, exploring/exploiting human nature than a crime genre movie – more so than the first installment. This shows how the line between crime and righteousness is grey and we cannot escape the consequences of our actions no matter how clever we try to be. It becomes almost philosophical at this point.
Do watch it, with a huge tub of popcorn for stress eating.
Starring: Johnathan Bailey, Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page, Claudia Jessie, Luke Newton and Julia Andrews (voice over)
Streaming on: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: Recommended to watch in extenuating circumstances where one is a glutton for punishment
Bridgerton is an 8 part series which follows the Bridgerton siblings through their life-partner finding journey.
The first season is based on Daphne’s quest to finding a husband. She comes from a large family with 4 brothers and 3 sisters. She wants a love match just like her parents had, but the only man interested in her is Nigel Berbrooke (we are supposed to know it is a laughing point). In comes Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings who has returned to England because his father is on his death bed and there are formalities to be taken care of in the inheritance of the dukedom. There is no love lost between father and son and the toxic relationship has left lasting effects on Simon’s mind – he doesn’t want to get married and have kids. Simon and Daphne literally run into each other at a ball and they decide to hatch a mutually beneficial plan – they will pretend to court each other so that Daphne is more in the notice of the men of the ton and Simon is saved from the mothers of unmarried ladies of England. As with all best laid plans, this also falls apart when Simon and Daphne are found in the garden in a compromising position and had to get married. Knowing full well Simon’s resolve to not have kids, Daphne gets married to Simon, as the other choices were limited and she was falling for him.
They embark on their married life and all is going well in the beginning till Daphne starts finding out more about Simon’s childhood and his reasons for resolving to never father any kids. This drives a wedge between the loving couple and the rest of the story follows the story of how the conflict is resolved.
Along with the main plot, there are many sub-plots which don’t seem to have much significance on the face of it. There is the family of Featheringtons who are also trying to be successful on the marriage mart but the patriarch has gambled away the dowries of the daughters. The Featheringtons have a guest Maria, who has a sketchy past (according to the times) and is looking to catch Colin Bridgerton, who in turn is deeply loved by Penelope Featherington. There is also Eloise Bridgerton who is forward thinking and challenges the societal norms with her best friend Penelope. Benedict Bridgerton is also trying to find a place in life by challenging society and getting in with the artist crowd, honing his sketching skills.
This is something which is easily missed, unless one really hates oneself. There is no steady storyline and whatever is there is highly unbelievable. The sub-plots seem out of place with no significance at all. The timeline is also all over the place. At some points the series looks hurried and at others it moves at a leisurely pace. There are quite a few explicit scenes for nothing but shock value. The conflict resolution is also flat without any real discussion, it just happens because the protagonists need to have a happily-ever-after, which isn’t very surprising as there is no character arc and whatever character build-up is there, it lacks any strength.
The series would have been well served if it had stayed true to the original books as they are much better and infinitely more entertaining. There is an element of wit among all the Bridgerton siblings and allied familied. Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton are mighty females on their own, and if the creators had stayed true to them, it would have resolved many women repression issues they were trying to address in the series. Just goes to show, change for the sake of change is rarely ever beneficial.
Highly recommend to miss this one. Let the sub-par output be not glorified and treated rightly. This series has been renewed for the second season, unfortunately.
Starring: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas
Streaming on: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: A movie no one asked for, and makes the 1940 movie look far superior in comparison
It is based on the novel by Dame Daphne du Maurier. It follows the married life of an unnamed protagonist (Lily James) who started out as a lady’s companion, and meets a wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), while on holiday in Monte Carlo. After a short and whirlwind romance, they get married and move to Manderley House in England. There the new Mrs de Winter comes in contact with the memories of the previous Mrs de Winter (Rebecca), who lives on in the minds of the housekeeper, the indomitable Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas) and basically everyone who has met Rebecca. To fit the image of the perfect wife, Mrs de Winter tries very hard to emulate Rebecca, but it seems nothing can please her husband, who grows more distant with time. The story closes with a deep secret which has the potential to destroy the life of the married couple, if exposed.
*Sigh* Even without much expectations, the movie disappoints. The performances of the protagonists isn’t spectacular to begin with, and the awful direction makes it worse. The only one worth mentioning is Kristin Scott Thomas, who is every bit as Mrs Danvers as in the book, but unfortunately doesn’t get enough screen time. The director seems to rely on the knowledge of the viewers about the story, so he doesn’t put in much effort. Things do progess (slightly) in act 3, when it differs from the Hitchcock’s adaptation and Ben Wheatley seemed to come alive on the set for the first time. It doesn’t help though, as the whole premise – the extent of the unnatural adoration of Rebecca by Mrs Danvers – is never fully explained or explored. There was ample opporunity to make this movie stand out, as multiple themes of obsession, homosexuality or illegitimacy could have been explained which were a taboo at the time the book and first movie came out.
It is sad to see a lost opportunity in the world of cinema. The story in and of itself is a masterpiece and the failure of the reproduction cannot go to the performances alone. The only thing that stands out, other than Kristin Scott Thomas (who is the only reason the movie got as many stars as it did), is the cinematography, sets and costume design. The direction fails to capture of the set, which seemed to put the location subtle so as not take away from the movie, but without the movie delivering, it fails on another score. Watch the Alfred Hitchcock’s version if possible, or watch it while scrolling through the phone.
Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter, Louis Partridge
Streaming on: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: An average movie which loses its track with runtime
Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) has been brought up single-handedly by her mother Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter) who is a feminist and quite talented in word plays, hand-to-hand combat, etc. Enola adores her mother and learnt a lot from her. On Enola’s 16th birthday, Eudoria disappears from their home and their town, leaving only breadcrumbs for Enola to follow. She lists the help of her two elder brothers, Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft to find Eudoria. They in turn want Enola to be a proper lady according to the day and age they lived in. Enola runs away from home and directly into the path of another absconding teenager Tewksbury (Louis Partridge) and enters London to look for her mother. Follows a series of shocking stories, often putting Enola’s life in danger.
The movie is directed by Harry Bradbeer, who also directed the wildly popular (and deservedly so) Fleabag. He has incorporated breaking the fourth-wall in the movie too, which was so seamlessly done in Fleabag, though he isn’t able to carry it off throughout the movie. The fourth wall merely cracks a little in the first half hour of the movie and then stays the same way for the rest of the run time. This theme of inconsistency is seen throughout the movie – Enola not so much as solves the crime, as she is blindly thrown into it, quite literally. The movie pays a homage to the women’s liberalization movement on the late 19th century, but frankly that concept is overused these days. And trying to please the PC police, they have cast a woman of colour who runs a teashop and also teaches jujitsu which not era appropriate (the teashop bit, not the jujitsu one).
There can be no fault found with Millie Bobby Brown’s performance, she has really showed the wide spectrum of roles she can do from Eleven to Enola. Henry Cavill is cool as cucumber in his role. Though his and Helena Bonham Carter’s characters seem to be done a disservice, in not been used to their full potential. It is an easily missed movie, as it doesn’t add much fun to the watching experience. Being more than 2 hour long, it drags at times. It also doesn’t justify the plot points bring dropped at quite a few places. All in all, pretty meh.
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