kiah macmillan

i honestly really hated watching this movie, like i have genuinely never felt more like crawling out of my skin in my life. i also completely understand that this is the point of it all, but i just feel so icky about the details this film chose to leave in. it’s frustrating because i really do have to respect the boldness to tackle such an important and widely ignored issue, but i don’t particularly love the way this was shot, or think much of the acting was standout besides a few moments (specifically with joseph gordon-levitt). i think it was really interesting to analyse the way in which trauma can manifest in people so differently, but i do think at points i found this too graphic. i will never watch this again.

what a ridiculously easy watch. the reviews on this film are actually hilarious i can’t even lie. pretty sure i watched the opening scene for one of my film classes and so glad i got around to watching the rest. feels refreshing to watch something stripped back to good acting, one setting, very (very) minimal cuts, and just a storyline that grips you. would definitely enjoy rewatching this! also, hat reveal had me GAGGED.

what in the nightmare fuel, cult is this? this is basically edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros if they ran a pyramid scheme instead of singing. can’t even lie i don’t think there’s anything i fear more than being stuck in that goddamn van! this reminds me of a *very* specific time i was surrounded by a group of people i didn’t know, and felt so genuinely out of place and awkward and DAMN this movie made me feel almost sick with sinking dread and anxiety. (maybe that’s a good thing??) none of these side characters feel fleshed out in the slightest, i’m not even sure i feel that star is portrayed much deeper than surface level. i’m also pretty sure shia lebeouf was not acting in this role, and if he was, he was on good behaviour. criticisms out of the way, this was visually stunning, i couldn’t get enough of it, if it weren’t for the visuals this would be straggling between a two and a two-point-five! also, there was some great music throughout. it was a little too long though and left me feeling pretty unsatisfied.

what a quietly heartbreaking film. a sort of ‘right person, wrong time’ story that ponders maybe we have more than one person, maybe there are many times in our lives that could be right for different people and different versions of ourselves.  arthur is stronger than me because i would’ve been crying at the bar, knowing there’s a version of your partner you will never truly meet, or fully understand. and for nora, to have hae sung be the only person in her life that calls her by her korean name, of course she’ll feel a piece of her tied to him. goddddddd. i cried at a film, AGAIN.  arthur’s quiet acceptance, her whispered admission of “i’m sorry” at the end. the whole thing is just depressing in the best way. and hae sung was just adorably sweet. damn. the shot of them on the stairs. enough said.