Carson Oliveira

***“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.” *** This is the skin of a killer bella ✨✨

***“Even a pawn can take a king.”*** Angel Studios has some motion???? I really liked this! I’m a huge history buff—I’m even majoring in history in college—so this movie was right up my alley. They did this just right. They didn’t pull any punches, and they actually made you feel something. The best way to explain this movie is if Bridgerton and The Patriot had a baby. It has just the right mix of Washington trying to rise in status through connections and accomplishment. I thought they did an excellent job with the battle scenes, especially the Battle of Fort Necessity. In some moments, it felt a lot like the Battle of the Bastards from Game of Thrones. It was awesome. I thought this movie was just going to glorify Washington and portray him as someone who could do no wrong—that he was perfect. I was very pleasantly surprised to see them show him as an egotistical man with little regard for other people’s lives if it meant he had a chance to advance in rank. Then he gets the development of realizing that his men’s lives are worth more than any accomplishment. I thought the actor who played Washington was awesome. He was genuinely perfect for the role. Most of the other actors, with a few exceptions, weren’t very good. But he specifically was brilliant. I do wish they hadn’t given him the most absurd plot armor of all time in the last 30 minutes. That’s when I felt the movie started teetering into some wild propaganda. Even though it got a bit ridiculous, I’m willing to overlook it. My only wish is that this had been rated R. If it were, some of the battle scenes could have been even more intense. Even so, I was very pleasantly surprised.

*This review may contain spoilers.* ***“If you hear something, start praying.”*** This movie’s premise is astounding. It’s such a cool idea that was executed terribly. The movie made one crucial mistake: it focused on the wrong thing. What makes the Backrooms cool? The Backrooms themselves. The characters should’ve been used as plot devices to get us deeper into the rooms, with the rooms being the central idea. Instead, the movie focuses more on the characters than the rooms. We go in-depth into Clark’s personal life issues, follow the therapist’s backstory, and sit through other side plots, none of which really add to the core concept of the story. This movie should’ve had more of a Maze Runner-type structure. I wanted a group of people exploring the rooms — mapping them out, naming the monsters, figuring out their hunting patterns and the way they think, then trying to go deeper. Maybe one of them gets lost and the group has to find them. Sudden jump scares, main characters getting killed as they descend further, moments where they have to leave someone behind — that’s what the movie needed. Another issue I had was the monsters. They shouldn’t have been humanoid creatures. It should’ve been something more abstract or terrifying, like a Siren Head-type entity. The humanoid monsters just didn’t work, and honestly looked kind of silly. The best part of the movie was Clark and his two employees exploring that section of the Backrooms. That sequence was awesome. The exploration felt genuinely unsettling, the VHS camera added tension, and you were constantly on edge. Then one of the guys sees something, and you instantly get nervous. They pull him out and you feel relief — then he gets dragged back in and suddenly you’re stressing again. That entire middle sequence was perfect. If the whole movie had maintained that atmosphere, it genuinely could’ve been a five-star film. The idea itself is perfect, but they approached it in what feels like the worst possible way. The cinematography, though, is incredible. The movie looks gorgeous and captures the vibe and emotion of the Backrooms perfectly. Easily the highlight of the film. This movie could become much better in retrospect if they make another film in the same universe with different leads exploring the Backrooms. They could come across some of the same areas from this movie, which would make this feel more like setup. If that’s the plan, and the sequel delivers, this movie could age really well. But right now, it’s very disappointing. I expected so much more.

***“I never wanted to be your mother.”*** Yeah, I don’t even know what to say. I will say, I was told by multiple people—and by a lot of influencers—that this is the scariest movie of all time… I didn’t think a single bit of it was scary. Just very intense. To be honest, I don’t really understand what I watched. I thought the first half was great, and I kind of understand the second half. But all I know is that what I watched was really cool. First off, the acting in this was insane. Toni Collette was just absurd, man. Every scene she was in was astounding. Probably one of the best performances ever. Everyone else was also really good. Nothing insane, but they definitely did the job. Toni was easily the star. I can’t really comment on the story, given that I don’t fully understand it, but it was cool! Very confusing, very shocking, thought-provoking, weird—but in a way that worked—and just different. This is a movie I’ll definitely have to revisit eventually. But I enjoyed it!