Change Your Image
justamomentago
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Birds of Paradise (2021)
Confusing and definitely not what I expected with the synopsis and trailer
Honestly I don't know what to say - the entire worm-eating club was trippy and not in a good way. The "last to stop dancing" off was obscure and added nothing to the plot other than declaring competitiveness of the girls, which is already heavily covered throughout the film. The conflict between the two girls was over unreasonably quick, I came for the lesbian implications but it was more of a "let's almost kiss to turn a straight guy on" and "maybe I committed incest with my brother," which are both tropes I tend to stay away from.
I liked the whole "ruining yourself and your personal relationships for success/fame" theme of the conclusion/epilogue but it was otherwise quite confusing.
Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)
Fumbled original material and characters
Characters are not fully fleshed out, they loosely follow the original characters' personalities. Alex is lacking in any depth or nuance, he's a stereotypical loud jock and is low-key annoying. He realistically does not undergo the bisexual-realization that is integral to the plot, it is simply putting a label to his past experiences. The key romantic storyline is sped through, the long-distance-friendship that leads to the romance is rushed, as well as the entire romance outside of the sexual meet-ups between Alex and Henry. These scenes are sensual but the romance is lackluster.
Large artistic liberties that the film's production crew needlessly took causes confusion and created large plot holes. Removing June and Rafael Luna and rewriting them with Miguel makes little to no sense, writing over two characters that are so integral to Alex's realization or the plot's development is quite detrimental . The motivations of Miguel Ramos in the plot is never truly explored. What is Miguel's motivation for leaking the emails? It's never explained nor implied.
En del av dig (2024)
Difficult to empathize with, stereotypical and little depth
I went into the film with high expectations due to critics's high praises but was let down repeatedly. A Part of You follows Agnes and her struggles after her sister (Julia)'s death in a car accident. Prior to her death Julia is the popular kid at school with a group of friends and the perfect boyfriend while Agnes is a misunderstood loner. Agnes begins to emulate her sister to cope with her grief; wearing the same clothes, engaging in the same risky behavior as her sister, trying to be buddy-buddy with Julia's friends, and even messing around with her late sister's boyfriend Noel.
The film holds tropes that should have you tearing up, a young person dies prematurely in a tragic way, their loved ones struggle with coping their death and the protagonist finds their way the grief to thrive despite their struggles. I found it difficult to empathize with the main characters, they were two-dimensional and the epitome of privilege. The film attempts to have great depth and shifts in Agnes's character but her actress (Felicia Maxime) relies heavily on the same mannerisms throughout the entire film to portray different emotions (hugging her arms to her chest, turning into herself, and a blank faced expression) that are very stereotypical and bland ways to portray for a teen girl going through immense sadness and insecurity, causing her character to fall flat.
The conclusion was predictable yet still forced. No issues get resolved, you are left with more questions than answers. No overall message is achieved in the conclusion other than 'maybe you shouldn't try to become your sister when she dies' and 'popular people aren't always happy'.
The casting choices were questionable. Zara Larson (Julia) and Felicia Maxime truly look like sisters but Larson's inclusion felt like a grab to get more viewers to watch the film through her immense following and previous success, similarly for Edvin Ryding (Julia's boyfriend).