Tag: Independent Films

Hold the Dark Makes a Statement about Man’s Brutal Nature but Does So Too Quietly

************************This review contains spoilers**************************** “When resources are scarce or when there are unnatural stressors, the young will be killed in order to preserve the pack. It’s called savaging.” Hold the Dark takes us to a fictional remote village…

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Uniquely Shot and Constructed with a Dose of Social Commentary, Mandy is Why We Love Film

Mandy follows couple Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) and Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) who live in the remote wilderness of the Pacific Northwest in 1983. Their tranquil existence is upended when cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache) drives past…

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Eighth Grade Presents the Familiar Emotional Turmoil of Adolescence

Eighth Grade brings its viewers into the life of rising high school freshman Kayla (Elsie Fisher) as she winds down her last year in middle school before embarking on her journey into high school. Kayla, who lives with…

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Blindspotting is a Tour de Force, Balancing Seriousness and Comedy while Examining Identity in a Changing World

************************This review contains spoilers**************************** In Blindspotting, Collin (Daveed Diggs) is serving the final three days of his probation term, anxious for a fresh start as he works his job as a mover alongside his childhood best friend, Miles…

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The Endless Ponders the Gift and Curse of Freedom

“Dying, just takes a second. And a shitty life is long.” In The Endless, brothers Aaron (Aaron Moorhead) and Justin (Justin Benson) have escaped a UFO doomsday cult to live on their own in normal society, although struggling to…

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Leave No Trace Explores the Plight of PTSD-affected Soldiers and the Importance of Trust

************************This review contains spoilers**************************** “How important are their judgments?” “I guess I’ll find out.” In Leave No Trace, Ben Foster portrays Will, a father and Marine veteran struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Along with his daughter Tom (Thomasin McKenzie),…

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Sorry to Bother You Touches on a Multitude of Social Issues While Taking Absurdist Satire to New Heights

In Sorry to Bother You, Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is a down on his luck telemarketer, struggling to get by and pay rent alongside his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson). After receiving advice on how to become a better…

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Upgrade Entertains as a Sci-Fi Action Film While Calling into Question Modern Tech Obsession

“A fake world is a lot more comfortable than the real one.” Set in a not too distant future, Upgrade is the story of Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green), an old fashioned, blue collar guy in a world of…

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Through Deliberate Storytelling and Tense Scares, Hereditary Firmly Sticks in Audiences’ Heads

Hereditary follows the Graham family, father Steve (Gabriel Byrne), mother Annie (Toni Collette), son Peter (Alex Wolff), and daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) in the wake of the death of the family’s matriarch, their grandmother Ellen. As the family…

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First Reformed Echoes a Film Classic While Critiquing Modern Megachurch Culture

“Courage is the solution to despair; reason brings no answers.” First Reformed follows Pastor Toller (Ethan Hawke) of First Reformed Church, a former Army chaplain taken in by megachurch Pastor Joel Jeffers (Cedric The Entertainer credited by his…

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