Based on the Motion Picture “SENTIMENTAL” By: Cesc Gay
Cinematography: Adam Newport-Berra
Editor: Anthony Boys and Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Cast: Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton
Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places.
This movie reminded me of something rather embarrassing. I have never been to a dinner party.
I’ve always wanted to be invited to one. Maybe one day, if I ever have a place of my own, I’ll throw one myself. Until then, all I really know about dinner parties comes from movies, television, and books. If they’re anything like this one… sign me up. Hopefully just with slightly less emotional damage.
This feels like a genuine comeback for Olivia Wilde as a director. It reminds you just how talented she is when she’s focused less on genre and spectacle, and more on people. Relationships, insecurities, attraction, jealousy, longing, you know those messy little emotions that make us human.
The film is a loving throwback to the intimate relationship dramas that flourished from the 1960s through the 1980s. You can immediately feel the DNA of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLFE and BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE. It’s refreshing to see a movie made for adults that lets conversations become the action.
The smartest thing the film does is invite you into the story without revealing its hand. Whether you know the premise or go in completely blind, you’re pulled in by the seductive setup and the chemistry between the characters. As the evening unfolds, what begins as playful curiosity slowly transforms into something heavier, more emotionally revealing, and surprisingly tense. Yet the film always keeps a sense of humor tucked away in its back pocket.
Every actor is working at the top of their game, and each performance is an essential ingredient in what makes the film work.
Olivia Wilde is especially impressive, both behind and in front of the camera. She plays the anxious, seemingly ordinary half of a married couple stuck in a comfortable rut with Seth Rogen. It’s fascinating watching the dynamic evolve. To each other they’ve become familiar, almost invisible. But through someone else’s eyes, they suddenly become attractive again. The film cleverly explores how desire and perception change depending on who’s looking.
The entire movie feels like a beautifully staged play. I honestly assumed it was an original screenplay because it feels so confident and distinct. Finding out it’s actually adapted from a foreign film that’s already been remade several times was surprising. Even so, this version feels completely fresh and confidently stands on its own.
It’s bold without trying too hard. Provocative without becoming cynical. Underneath all the awkwardness, emotional chaos, and uncomfortable conversations is an oddly wholesome innocence about people simply wanting to reconnect with themselves, their partners, and the lives they’ve built.
At times the film almost plays like an emotional thriller. There isn’t a killer hiding in the house, just vulnerability, desire, regret, and the fear of saying the quiet part out loud. Somehow that’s even more suspenseful.
Even the soundtrack echoes the films that inspired it. It captures that sophisticated, simmering mood where something has been bubbling beneath the surface all evening, and you’re simply waiting for it to finally boil over.
The Invite is funny, sexy, awkward, revealing, and emotionally honest. It’s the kind of intelligent adult drama Hollywood used to make all the time and one I hope becomes fashionable again.
Written By: Steve Dawson, Andre Dawson, Tim Inman, Jimmy Carr and Patrick Carr
Based on an original idea By: Jimmy Carr and Patrick Carr
Cast: Ben Radcliffe, Damien Lewis, Katherine Waterson, Thomasin McKenzie, Tom Felton, Emma Laird, Adam Woodward, Lily Knight, Jimmy Carr
A new porter forms an odd bond with the youngest daughter of a well-known UK family. As the Davenport family, headed by Lord and Lady Davenport, deals with the epic disaster of the wedding of their eldest daughter to her caddish cousin.
At heart this film is a comedy. Well, I will admit I expected a fast paced witty British comedy of errors and manners what it actually ends up being is more a spoof-Ish wacky comedy along the lines of the naked gun mixed with throwback aristocratic. Period piece romance dramas of the British variety like downtown Abbey.
Where throughout the film, it feels like there are mile a minute jokes being thrown all over to see what sticks, but maybe with its upper crust background of characters. It ends up being a bit surprising, and yet quite charming.
I think this is a film that will appeal to all audiences even those who might be unfamiliar with the films or shows like DOWNTON ABBEY. As at times, the film is all over the place, but manages to stick to the landing and staying with it storyline and plots, even if they don’t always make sense.
So it’s an interesting mix that keeps it lively and an experiment that may be more films should take when mixing genres as at least it doesn’t make it evident at first, and you slowly get into that groove in atmosphere of it. It’s not so obvious nor were too ingredients. Don’t mix in the right way so that it’s actually well thought out.
Unfortunately, after a while, it does start to run out of steam or you get so used to it. It’s hard to surprise you anymroe.
The film is wacky and can be a bit offensive, but manages to keep its charms about it as well as giving us a romance that we want to see basic successful.
Cast: Emily Browning, Aisha Dee, Sean Keenan, Ashley Zuckerman, Pallavi Sharda, Hamish Michael, Anna McGahan, Contessa Treffone
New Year’s Eve 1999. Minnie discovers a bottle of Time Traveling Tequila. Each shot takes her back to the start of the night, giving her a bottle’s worth of shots to change the course of her millennium.
This movie takes the familiar groundhog‘s Day formula and places it on a single nurse reuniting with college friends in 1999 when it’s about to become the year 2000 and thanks to a magical tequila which when she takes a shot of brings her back to the exact moment that she arrives at the party she tries to get it right each time to have a successful romantic reunion with her ex
The film follows the formula of each time things going drastically wrong and throughout the film learning it’s less about her and more about the relationships and people surrounding her. That makes for many times when you think the main character is finally going to learn their lesson and move on, but then still keeps making the same mistakes just in different ways that by the third act and there is a little surprise as we find out, she might not be the only one who is having or has had this experience
The cast is committed to the material. It’s just one wishes the material was a little bit richer as the film should somewhat being ensemble, but it seems to only remember this when it comes to the third act before that is pretty much a one-woman show for lead. Emily Browning, who I am a fan of and finally gets a chance to shine in lighter material than she is usually in
Going for the more traditional romantic comedy and then just general comedy that does have a few Macabre moments. That is much darker than the usual GROUNDHOG DAY plot devices.
It’s just that the film is never quite funny enough nor compelling enough so that it comes across as only OK even with its familiar material. it remains entertaining enough and what help salad is that there isn’t any big comedian in the film so you don’t have to watch their so-called stick it’s more just actors which makes it a little more believable no matter how silly they might get.
Though at times it feels like it’s Stretching to fit in some more comedy at times when the Main character makes truly baffling decisions.
The film for all its cynical beginnings develops a heart throughout which then kind of cancels the first half though it might be the film and filmmaker trying to show not only the growth of characters, but also the growth of material and the film maturing.
It seems set in the millennium just for the soundtracks sake which it doesn’t do much with and maybe to keep cellphones out of the equation and explain certain costume choices,but other then that could have stayed modern.
Let though it’s entertaining enough and a good time waster if you do want to check it out and it’s fine for what it is. The draw here is Emily Browning
Directed By: Tomm Jacobsen, Jon Salmon & Michael Rousselet
Written By: Tomm Jacobsen, Jon Salmon, Michael Rousselet, Alec Owen, Ben Gigli, Brian Firenzi, Joey Scoma, Michael E. Peter, Mike James and Tim Cianco
Cinematography: Jon Salmon
Editor: Brain Firenzi
Cast: Alec Owen, Ben Gigli, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Erik Sandoval, Chelsea St. John, Skyler Rousselet, Larry King, Greg Sestero, Andrew WK
In the wake of two back-to-back mass murders on Chico’s frat row, loner Brent Chirino must infiltrate the ranks of a popular fraternity to investigate his twin brother’s murder at the hands of the serial killer known as “Motherface.”
This film is definitely for those who are looking for something a bit different and might be movie purists.
This film is based on a fake trailer that was posted on the website 5secondfilms.com and the feature film was produced by them as well.
The history of this supposed cult movie is obviously made up as there has been no previous films of this franchise. This instead is an homage and original that pretends to be a sequel. Giving all the characters a supposed history together.
The collaboration behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Just finding out the story of how it got made is as crazy as the film
At heart it shows a passion for the films it is clearly inspired by and is a B-Movie satire and spoof of those VHS straight to home video movies of the 1980’s as well as those particularly made and filmed on VHS horror movies of that time period. Made on the cheap, usually ridiculous but have a lot of where as dream amateur productions come to life. As much as they could afford
These are the type of films that would at on USA UP ALL NIGHT. All the time and somewhat censored. Though they have a sense of humor about themselves. They were earnest in what they were hoping to achieve.
The film is juvenile with a lot of off color humor, with ridiculous characters and plot lie s that I respect with being an exploitive slasher film. TBH tough has quite a few surprising cameos throughout.
At least it stays inventive throughout with practical special effects taking center stage.
The film feels like a comedy group making a spoof movie. Like KIDS IN THE HALL, BROKEN LIZARD, ASTRON-6. That is how the casts chemistry works so well. It’s silly yet fun especially if you are a fan of horror movies.
Though in the end the film is entertaining, fun, low brow humor, passionate and funny. While also being all over the place and full of cliches
Inspired By “KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS” Screenplay By: Robert Hammer and John Dighton
Based On the Novel “ISRAEL RANK” By: Roy Horniman
Cinematography: Todd Ranhazl
Editor: Harrison Atkins
Cast: Glen Powell, Jessica Henwick, Margaret Qualley, Bill Camp, Ed Harris, Topher Grace, Zach Woods, Phumi Tau, Stevel Marc
Disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family, a blue-collar stop at nothing to reclaim his inheritance, no matter how many relatives stand in his way.
This is a loose remake or more a modern retelling of the Alec Guinness film KIND HEARTS & CORONETS only set more realistically and taking out the gimmick of that film years ago. Where Alec Guinness played all the members of the family that was getting killed off.
It might have been an added incentive if this film had big stars making cameos as members of the family getting killed off, but only Topher Grace is recognizable as one of the kin in standing to inherit a fortune above out protagonist.
So the film really adds nothing except instead of being an outright comedy. It’s dark and slick. It attempts to be a social satire. Though never quite feels sharp enough. In fact at times it feels oddly rushed.
The film is darkly comedic and isn’t as bad as one would think. Considering how little fanfare or promotion the film got. Which the studio seemed to have cold feet after Glen Powell started in THE RUNNING MAN reboot that bombed. I don’t even remember seeing a trailer for this film. Until I had to go out and find it online myself.
The film plays pretty standard items entertaining as you watch but barely sticks with you once done. This fits in with the disposable films of yesteryear that were good enough for a watch and are rewatchable but therebisnMt much to them except for entertainment.
This film seems like it’s going to be a crowd pelaser until the end where it stays with it’s cynicism.
Strangely enough Glen Powell, plays a likable killer. That feels like he has shades of Patrick Bateman possibilities but is never that much of a sociopath or psychopath and had his reasons for his actions.
Margaret Qualley is a good femme fatale only because we barely know anything about her and comes across as a mystery but also a type. Though she wears chanel as her wardrobe in all her scenes. That gives you a hint to the heart of her character. Where her legs are all over.
Which is one of the films problems it’s
Likable enough bit has no real depth. The characters are more types. So that it never draws you in. So as it stays on the surface that is what you get and how you feel by the end.
The films screenplay was surprisingly on the 2014 BLACK LIST of scripts that those in the industry rank as the best unproduced they have read that year.
Which drags the film down and makes it feel more and more basic as it goes along. Especially in the end where the irony want to take over. As this is a film that shouldngave high stakes. Yet it all feels very telegraphed.
This feels like a film you would sneak Into after paying and watching another film or that you go to on a weekend, just because you want something to watch.
Cast: Matthew Sato, Will Sennett, Pell James, Olivia Rouyre, Fred Melamed, Chloe Cherry
A struggling writer befriends a powerful producer’s eccentric son.
This film plays more like a thriller version of SWIMMING WITH SHARKS. As it is more a detail of Hollywood insiders and trying to get ahead and have your dreams come true. no, it doesn’t play out in the board rooms. It plays out more on the party circuit and networking.
The film mostly works as a comedy and thriller at times. That by the end luckily everything comes together that might be left hanging in the first half of the film. though truthfully, it’s more comedy than horror as when it does decide to change its mood. It is quite sharp, not subtle. As the film tries to work as a satire until becoming a full on horror film towards the end.
If the film has any weakness, it might be and some of its characters, especially the lead who just comes across as way to clean cut for somebody who might not have been born in Hollywood, but has been in it long enough to know the culture and there’s nothing wrong with him not really being into drugs or alcohol as the film desperately wants us to show him challenging his morals and will he go down this dark path just to get his film made. Though they could’ve worked harder to make him more than every man and still be innocent.
Just as his relationship with his girlfriend or fiancé at first, I thought they were siblings notnromntically involved as throughout the film she’s disappointed and seems to have problems with him and at no point do they actually seem romantic or really have any chemistry?
It’s one of those films where you go with what is presented and you don’t really question too much as the film doesn’t really make you think either but you enjoy the ride you’re going on even if it’s familiar or you feel like you can predict what’s going to happen. It tries to offer a few surprises that aren’t really that big to a seasoned cinephile.
The works just enough to keep your interest so that you want to see the film through to the end even as it tries to be a little bit artistic and challenging towards the end it still comes off rather basic though one applaud the filmmaker for trying as the film still feels like a rough draft that needs a little bit more tightening.
Will Bennett give the films most entertaining and captivating performance throughout this film should definitely be a calling card for him
One doesn’t really want to pick on this film as obviously it’s low budget and a filmmaker work well with what they have and you can tell they are trying.
Cast: McKaley Miller, Keyara Milliner, Brice Anthony Heller, Morgana Van Peebles, Jayson Warner Smith, Will Deusner, Dermot Mulroney, Anne Heche, Hannah Celeste, Kelli Therinae
Eden, a bright student who is wait-listed at her dream college, attends a party hosted by a powerful Congressman’s son to get a letter of recommendation. However, she and her friend Zara discover that Schroder and his friends are involved in the disappearance of a missing girl. As tensions rise, Eden uses her wit and manipulation skills to navigate the dangerous social hierarchy of the wealthy elite and protect herself and those she cares about. As she delves deeper into the mystery, she uncovers shocking secrets and must fight to survive.
This film is a disappoint as the material is not bad. One only wishes they would’ve had more original ideas in which to not only present the film, but offer up style for the film..
As there are plenty of scenes in which the characters reactor act so dumb and not impulsively just either stupid or silly that it is beyond belief at times, so unfortunately it’s because of these things that keep the film going, where at certain points of the film it becomes so ridiculous that it’s funny while trying to keep this thriller tone
There is a final twist that you see coming, but there are plenty of places and ideas within the film where if they would’ve simply did a simple twist on the situation, the film could’ve been a little more entertaining and thought-provoking, but then it might’ve gone into being multidimensional in this film seems to wanna be one dimensional, cut and dry literally.
As for most of the film, there seems to be a lot of filler or stretching for time and a scene that should have been a lot more emotional and devastating here just seems to be played off to show a characters determination truly a taste of how evil they are, even though they’ve been presented that way throughout. Though at least it gives one of the characters who’s supposed to be a villain, somewhat of a soul or a chance to see the other side of them.
Though you know the main teen villian who seem cast here more for his look. Which telegraphs his evil side from the opening.
It even kills off one of the villains of color first. Who ends up seeming like one of the most innocent.
The main character is mostly to blame for the other character fates throughout. So at times it is hard to feel sorry for her. Especially as she brings it on herself and could have easily gotten out of this situation. Though it shows she has a soul through her actions. Even if her best friend who has hated most of these characters. Has an odd mid-movie feeling and about face of trying to give the bad guys the benefit of the doubt.
One can admit the film doesn’t truly get exciting until the major names in the cast actually appear which unfortunately isn’t until the last third of the film but they make their presence felt and make things or keep things a little more exciting especially the late Anne Heche’s performance, wishing she had been in more of the film as she makes a most scary and entertaining villain.
No ultimately the film is a thriller, but throughout it is a revenge tale no matter how it is dressed up even though the box art makes it look like it. Will Moore be something to the movie? READY OR NOT
Written & Directed By: Daniel Woltosz & Walt Woltosz
Cinematography: Jan-Michael Losada
Editor: Colleen Halsey
Cast: Amanda Arcuri, Jackson Rathbone, Kerri Medders, Elise Luthman, Ashlee Fuss, Ivon Millan, Courtney Henggeler, Nikki Leigh, Savannah Kennick
Chelsea, a high school introvert, is abducted through a social media app and is forced to look like other girls Brad holds captive. Chelsea desperately attempts to persuade them to escape before they all become victims in his virtual reality filmed murders.
At first one would think this film looking at the poster would be one of those paranormal or slasher films that comes out in theaters for a week before it is properly put on streaming. Unfortunately, this film doesn’t even belong on streaming. This feels more like a bad cable original
The film is a little confusing as to does. It wanna be in after school, special warning about the dangers of online predators in the dangers of online relationships without doing the proper background checks and research or doesn’t want to be a horror film about a deranged protagonist, and a final girl.
The film tries to mix, but by the end, it just feels like a rated lifetime movie that is a bit sensationalistic, and while it tries to be exploited, it never goes fall into any of what it hint at either sexual or violence wise, except for one gruesome death
Going into the film, you can pretty much guess what’s gonna happen in the type of film that it is going to be and while the lead is certainly twisted and most of the film plays more like a horror. The last five minutes then seems to want to be a kind of public service announcement.
The film does get into brainwashing Stockholm syndrome, and while it tries to be dirty and gruesome, it never quite thrills or make you really worry about the protagonists.
So that by the end feels like a nice try, but doesn’t truly satisfy anyone because you wonder who is supposedly the audience for this film and it just feels like a paint by numbers setup. From a father-son writing and directing duo.
One would guess this is supposed to be for teenagers, but none of it really comes across as believable, especially in dialogue when it comes to the teenage characters.
Though it is nice to see Amanda Arcuri from DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION have a lead role. One can only wish it was in a better film. Where half the time the audience is confused as to which kidnapped character is which. Since they are made to dress alike and respond to the same name.
Cast: Jude Law, Vicky Kirby, Ana De Armas, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Bruehl, Felix Krammerer, Toby Wallace, Ingracio Gasparini, Richard Roxburgh
Based on a factual account of a group of outsiders who settle on a remote island only to discover their greatest threat isn’t the brutal climate or deadly wildlife, but each other.
I’ve learned nothing from age or experience. When I read a rating description that says graphic nudity and see that a film takes place on a remote island, my brain still lights up like a teenager who thinks cinema is about to deliver. Full frontal. Everyone. Sunburned and symbolic. Instead, Eden plays like a prank pulled by the MPAA: lots of male butts, a wet shirt doing some heavy lifting, and apparently breastfeeding now qualifies as “graphic.” If there’s a support group for grown adults disappointed by misleading rating descriptions, sign me up.
What’s funny is that this misdirection mirrors the film itself. Critics and early buzz framed Eden as something juicier; betrayals, affairs, wife-swapping, maybe even an orgy or two. The implication was that Ron Howard, of all people, was getting daring. That this was Howard pushing himself, trying to shock, or at least stir something beyond polite admiration. What we get instead is a film that flirts with danger and then immediately apologizes for it.
Eden is competently directed, handsomely produced, and based on a true story, three qualities that should theoretically give it weight. We watch a group of people who choose to abandon society and live on a mostly deserted island, arriving at different times for different reasons, only to slowly discover that isolation doesn’t bring enlightenment so much as irritation. They get on each other’s nerves, draw lines, form alliances, and eventually turn on one another. It’s Lord of the Flies adjacent, but with better grooming and a lot more passive aggression.
What complicates things and arguably makes the film more interesting than it intends to be is how clearly it maps onto contemporary racial and political anxieties. The most overtly “evil” figure does get what’s coming to them, but that act becomes the moral rot that spreads to everyone else. The so-called innocents are now tainted, forced to reckon with how far they’ll go to protect what they’ve decided is theirs. The island becomes a parable: for colonization, for gentrification, for what happens when people who see themselves as peaceful pioneers suddenly feel threatened.
Because this is based on a true story, it’s hard to accuse the film outright of bad faith, but it’s also hard to ignore its blind spots. Once again, the darker, Spanish-speaking characters are framed as loud, sexually promiscuous, domineering, and ultimately villainous, while the British and German couples are coded as pilgrims: earnest, fragile, and well-intentioned until pushed too far. The film seems unaware of how familiar this dynamic feels, or how neatly it mirrors modern anxieties about immigration and “who belongs.” If you’re going to villainize certain characters, at least give them dimension. Here, too many feel like ideas rather than people.
Structurally, Eden is odd. It spends much of its first half building toward a second half that never quite deepens what we’ve been shown. We get minimal backstory, and what little we do learn is mostly told to us rather than dramatized. In the Baroness’s case, her past is revealed through a lover in a way that feels meant to shock, but lands flat because it’s so plainly delivered and instantly believable. There’s no real mystery, just information.
The title, of course, refers to the Garden of Eden: a fertile paradise that could have sustained everyone, if only they hadn’t ruined it. And that’s the tragedy here, not just of the characters, but of the film itself. Eden has all the ingredients for something sharper, angrier, or more unsettling. Instead, it settles into respectability.
This feels like a movie that wanted to be Oscar bait or at least Oscar-adjacent. The cast is stacked with respected dramatic actors, with Sydney Sweeney standing out as the lone box-office draw, seemingly happy to be along for the ride. Her role grows in importance as the film progresses, culminating in a quiet tragedy that works more on paper than in practice.
There’s something faintly admirable about this film simply existing. In a climate where everything is either a franchise extension, an algorithm-approved product, or an awards-season personality test, this feels like a movie that was made because someone genuinely wanted to make it. And that someone is Ron Howard: Hollywood’s ultimate steady hand, a director whose career has been defined less by provocation than by craftsmanship. That’s both the film’s greatest strength and its most limiting factor.
The problem isn’t that the film is bad, it isn’t, but that it often feels unsure of who it’s for. Is this meant to be an Academy-friendly legacy piece, the kind that quietly accumulates nominations and polite applause? Is it for history buffs, who might argue it works better as a limited series, where the ideas could breathe rather than be efficiently summarized? Or was it aiming for a broader, prestige-curious audience that no longer really exists in the same way? The film seems caught between these identities, resulting in something that’s respectable, handsomely mounted, and faintly adrift.
Howard directs with his usual classical restraint, which gives the film an old-school texture almost quaint in its pacing and presentation. In another filmmaker’s hands, this material might have been stranger, riskier, or more formally exciting. Here, it’s competent to a fault. When the film reaches for anything risqué or emotionally sharp, it feels slightly self-conscious, like it knows it’s stepping outside its comfort zone and wants credit for the attempt. Nothing lands disastrously, but very little surprises.
Ultimately, this feels like a story Ron Howard wanted to tell and add to his already extensive résumé. a solid, professional entry that might have caused real waves in the ’80s, ’90s, or even the early 2000s. Today, it risks getting lost in the endless churn of content, not because it’s disposable, but because it’s modest in a moment that rewards extremity. Still, there’s value in its existence. It’s a reminder of a kind of filmmaking that’s becoming rare: sincere, controlled, and unconcerned with spectacle. You may not love it, or even remember it vividly, but you’ll likely agree. it didn’t waste your time. And these days, that almost counts as a quiet victory.
This seems to fit in with his more recent films that are a bit dark in its visuals and story, but also have an audience friendly presentation where a normal sea is gained through more traditional family values.
Ana de Armas is the scene stealer but that’s also because she’s the villain and only character who is truly of interest throughout the film. Her character causes most of the drama and through her instructions and actions. The actual action and betrayals of the film happen. Sydney Sweeney’s character only gets to be that way by the end as it ultimately seems like it’s her characters story of growth and maturity.
In the end, Eden is fine. The production is polished, the performances solid, and the intentions sincere. But once the villains exit, so does much of the tension. What remains is a group of attractive people circling their guilt, convinced of their own moral superiority, and slowly realizing they’re not so different from one another after all. It’s not bad. It’s not great. It’s a well-made film that feels oddly lost, unsure whether it wants to provoke, condemn, or simply be admired. And in trying to be all three, it never fully becomes any of them.
Cast: Charli Xcx, Alexander Skarsgard, Rosanna Arquette, Rachel Sennott, Kate Berlant, Hailey Benton Gates, Jamie Demetriou, Issac Powell, Rish Shah
A rising pop star navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena tour debut.
This film is definitely more for Charli XCX fans then necessarily movie goers just discovering this meta mockumentary. As I believe the film will make more sense or be deeper to those in the know.
As truthfully, in the past, this could’ve easily just been an extra on her latest album brat in the deluxe edition. Rather then a full theatrical roll-out, but while one would think this is going to be her version of a concert film. It is as it kind of dissects what goes into a tour and performance to a degree.
As interestingly enough, we’re watching this film as she gets ready for a tour and yet we barely and rarely hear any of her actual music or songs throughout the film. We more see what it takes to set up a show, as well as all the little decisions that have to be made and how confusing it can all be.
As one can admit at times I was a bit confused as to what exactly was happening at certain times also, if you are epileptic or have a light sensitivity, watch this film with caution as there are a lot of flashing lights a lot of quick cats a lot of handheld camera work that throws off your concentration at times.
As the film, kind of show, Charli XCX trying to be herself, trying to put on a show and trying to be representative of her music while you have all the power players behind the scene, wanting to take more and more control and make more of the decisions that she doesn’t necessarily agree with or has to compromise for peace and for better.
So that we see her continuous confusion and dissatisfaction as people try to treat her as a star, but also more as a puppet to get what they want out there more than what she wants.
As the film tries to be dryly, funny throughout it is a documentary and kind of a comp Meta comedy at heart that sends up celebrity and shows some of their more privileged hardships
This isn’t gonna be the film you expected to be in some ways. It is truly eye-opening, but in other ways at times, it can be confusing in a little bit annoying. So through it all you have Goodwill for the singer, hoping it will all come together.
Even if it doesn’t give you quite the ending you’re hoping for that would tie it altogether like at least one live performance. Knowing its own way, it feels like this film is meant to be a finale or a goodbye to a certain era for her. This is the end of the brat era for her that she has lived with for quite a few years and might be ready to slow down as she’s in a different headspace or looking for something different looking to evolve and move on to a new time in her career and expression in her songs
As even this era of her career the BRAT album era and the album just seem to be a no holds a bar affair. It’s own kind of halftime report on the status of her career. where she just wanted to express everything she could and making a mainstream album that was more all about celebration and partying more than anything with still having that emotional pole to show that you’re still a person underneath it all a human being and approve that she could just do it. She could have hit album if she really tried, but now she wants to go back to making more music that she likes and she wants to not necessarily have to keep serving out hits. She can Slow down and not make so much of an impact so that maybe she can enjoy it more and not have so much writing on that and what is next.
I think this film is kind of a snapshot or placeholder for her and her career and a little message for her fans. At heart it’s a vanity project something made and allowed for her success. Also allowing itself to be a self important parody.
I will say, even though I am a huge fan of hers. This one was a slight disappointment for me as it might be for some, but I imagine most of her fans will probably love it.
Cut To The Chase 