Tag: Paul Mescal

ALL OF US STRANGERS (2023)

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Written & Directed By: Andrew Haigh

Based on The Novel “STRANGERS” by: Taichi Yamada 

Cinematography: Jamie Ramsey 

Editor: Jonathan Alberts

Cast: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, Jamie Bell

A screenwriter drawn back to his childhood home enters into a fledgling relationship with his downstairs neighbor while discovering a mysterious new way to heal from losing his parents 30 years ago.

First off before you even redistribute, this is a film that it’s best to go in blind to to get the most out of it. So please watch the film before you read this review as there will be some spoilers.

This is definitely a movie that would’ve been in my top five had I seen it in 2003 when it was released.

The film plays more like therapy sessions of unresolved issues that still exist, mentally, which can also be seen as a vivid confessional. Which might come across as a bit more theatrical or staged for some audience members. 

At heart, it’s a love story in the midst of all that develops like his relationship with his parents there’s an unknown history that is slowly brought to the forefront of its kind of acceptance, even though it does have its problems and issues by the end of the film it’s still heartbreaking nonetheless. As we witnessed the breakthrough more was revealed.

Director Andrew Haigh manages to make everything look like almost every frame could be a photograph in a museum.

Watching this film lead actor, Andrew Scott, as always can do no wrong as an actor for me at least he is similar to Sterling K. Brown, as he truly inhabits, their characters, deeper and deeper Sterling K is more of a chameleon who always has a different look with his roles and characters, Andrew Scott here the more his character opens up the more comfortable he becomes with himself, and also the more vivid the performance and memorable.

The director has a way of making the normal look extraordinary at times in simple ways.

It’s a story of nostalgia coming of age and finding peace within yourself as well as acceptance. 

At the end, it shows you can go home again not entirely. Always ghosts from the past waiting that need to be released no matter how much you want them to stay.

It’s truly hard to describe exactly the emotional strength of the film how powerful it is and where it leaves you at the end but it’s definitely worth watching. 

Grade: A 

AFTERSUN (2022)

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Written & Directed By: Charlotte Wells
Cinematography: Gregory Oke
Editor: Blair McClendon

Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Sally Messham

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between them as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t…

This is a movie that presents a happy picture but hints at dismay and other things going on, on the sideline but they are never explained.

So throughout we get hints of something dismaying, but also it’s never quite explained to us. Which allows the audience to feed into or put whatever they feel into the story and make it more personal.

As the film stays what it presents itself as. A look at a father and daughter spending a holiday together at a resort. They bond and have a loving relationship. Except towards the end, they get into a bit of an argument and separate.

Where this will lead we aren’t quite sure but in the end seeing them together again we know they are alright.

In the film, we are never quite sure what happened after the horrific kiss. as we see the future somewhat and it appears we are looking back at memories and videos. We never quite are sure why she is watching these videos or what she is looking for or exactly what happened.

So Essentially it feels like we are watching moments and how they affect us though we have no idea where they are going so it is a bit abstract for us to make up the past and the future. As we watch all we know is that present.

Almost a snapshot, but it is a beautiful film with inventive shots at times. Such as instead of focusing on the actors focusing on their reflections on various objects. Ultimately the film is heartbreaking. It also fills you with a kind of joy.

Remembering when you loved it you loved your kids and everything was innocent and kind of perfect while the outside world looms. It’s one problem that you will have to deal with and encounter. For the time being you are in your own little world with your family and loved ones and that is all that matters 

They are mistaken for being siblings rather than father and child. Though that does show how young he is to be a father and the pressures that might present with little disappointments lien the resort not being as grand as advertised 

The film revels in these ambiguities and it’s another film that benefits from it is mostly taken from a child’s Point of view not fully but in pieces. This helps to explain that some of the camera work and angles are a bit obscured. 

This also allows us later on or after for us to realize that it’s impossible to totally reconstruct a memory perfectly. And that the daughter here can’t ever fully come into focus 

And it offers the universal wonder of looking back at certain moments in our lives and re-evaluating them. We’re what we remembered, better or worse we’re their clues other things were going on. 

The film offers a happy ending but no closure

Grade: B

THE LOST DAUGHTER (2021)

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Written & Directed By: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Based on the book By: Elena Ferrante 
Cinematography: Helene Louvart 
Editor: Alfonso Concalves 

Cast: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Dominczyk 

A woman’s beach vacation takes a dark turn when she begins to confront the troubles of her past.

This is a film full Of good performances that by the end comes off a little more soap opera. As the characters are loved in but it feels more melodramatic than anything.

Dakota Johnson is sexy in a role that makes her never quite know what to do and confused. Kind of represents a mirror image of Olivia Coleman’s character at her age as a to-go mother who is overwhelmed.

Whereas in the scenes where Jessie Buckley plays her younger she seems to have a good life but is unfulfilled. Johnson’s situation seems more shady and dangerous. 

Throughout the film, we follow Coleman’s Character on vacation who feels full of mystery but has a good life,, and in telling stories we see flashbacks to fill us in on her and her family. So that while it builds it feels like it never quite goes anywhere. Except for some decisions that change things. Yet never ruin. 

Which then becomes the theme of this film. As nothing is quite permanent though it trays them like they are. 

By the end, it feels much ado about nothing. Throughout the film, it seems like it is building towards a dark secret and once we get there it is rather simple. That comes off melodramatic and the reactions seem a bit more over the top by that point. Where nothing seems to come of it.

As it is a midlife crisis movie for women. Showing what can happen if you make certain choices and how hard it might be to get back what you once had at all. 

It is a strong directorial debut for Maggie Gyllenhaal but beautifully filmed and fully lived in by the actors. While it is full of depth it never quite makes the connection. Maybe for some members of the Audience but not over here. 

Grade: C+