Evil Dead Rise
When the Deadites Rose Again, So Did the People Behind the Camera Long before the first scream echoed through the dilapidated Los Angeles apartment block of Evil Dead Rise, there was a quieter, more human struggle unfolding backstage. A struggle of bodies pushed to limits, budgets stretched like overused prosthetics, and actors wrestling with roles […]
Pan’s Labyrinth
A Fairy Tale Told in Blood and Gold When Pan’s Labyrinth arrived in 2006, it slipped into theatres like a dark whisper — not a blockbuster, not a studio giant, but a story that clung to viewers’ minds long after they left the cinema. Guillermo del Toro crafted something that felt both ancient and shockingly […]
2.0 Lucy
When Lucy Became Larger Than Life While certain movies present characters, others showcase entire cultural moments. Lucy 2.0 fell into the latter category: a movie whose narrative center transcended the mere spectacle of (very) early 21st-century visual effects, and instead focused on the manuscript’s magnetic character, Lucy. Aurora Hale embodied this role with incredible composure. […]
The Book of Life
A Colorful and Spirited World When The Book of Life first began to garner attention, and the previews began to be made available, the previews resembled a moving mural of Mexico \u2014 colorful, whimsical, and deeply emotional. People began to appreciate and admire the fact that this film sought to do what had not been […]
The Boxtrolls
Prior to the Trolls Crawled Out: The Whispers of Curiosity When The Boxtrolls was announced, the excitement was nothing like the overwhelmingly packed, ear-splitting excitement of the event like modern superhero films get. Instead, it was a low buzz, the kind that only LAIKA films get, the kind that cinephiles, the animation community, and critics […]
Kubo and the Two Strings
When a Tale of Magic Mirrors the Lives Behind It Some films are a visual treat, while others are a visual treat and make you feel things, and Kubo and the Two Strings is one of those stories. Laika’s epic stop-motion animation is ostensibly a story for children, but the emotional weight of the story […]
The Boxtrolls
When The Boxtrolls first came out in trailers in 2014, audiences knew that it wouldn’t have that cliche charm that a lot of animated films have. The trailers were, odd, and easily everyones least appeiling at first. Odd bedtime stories that included, scuttling shadow creatures, children living in socety underground, and, in the victorian era, […]
The Last Exorcism
The Last Exorcism: From Found Footage to Cultural Phenomenon The Last Exorcism did not just trigger a cultural wave in the fashion and politics of the time through the lens of social media and the politics of the time. It became a cultural phenomenon. It social commentated the horrors of the mid 2010s through the […]
Before I Wake
Before I Wake: A Journey Through Dreams, Grief, and the Shadows of Reality In the realm of supernatural horror, few films have delved as deeply into the human psyche as Before I Wake (2016), directed by Mike Flanagan. This haunting tale explores the delicate balance between love, loss, and the terrifying manifestations of our innermost […]
Lust Stories 2
Lust Stories 2 (2023), a sequel to 2018’s anthology films, ‘Lust Stories, arrived on Netflix. This sequel also had four narratives, each exploring different facets of desire, identity, and social boundaries. The sequel features directors R. Balki, Konkona Sen Sharma, Sujoy Ghosh, and Amit Ravindernath Sharma. Apart from the narratives, the sequel drew attention on […]