Plot: A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Runtime: 2 Hours 2 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Don’t Worry Darling starts when 1950s housewife Alice (Pugh) finds herself going through the same routine. When one of her neighbours starts questioning more about the world, Alice starts questioning her own sanity.
The deeper Alice starts to investigate the leader of the Victory Project Frank (Pine), the stranger things start becoming. Alice risks her and her husband Jack’s (Styles) future in the project in her quest for answers.
Verdict on Don’t Worry Darling
Characters
Alice is an everyday 1950s American housewife, preparing dinner, cleaning the house and spending time with the other wives. When one of her friends and neighbours starts asking a few more questions about their home. Alice starts to experience strange events, leading her to break from the traditional routine she finds herself in. She questions everything in her world, learning more about the position she finds herself in.
Jack is Alice’s devoted husband who works on the dot every day and comes to her for parties. He will do anything for her, as he loves her but doesn’t understand the change she is going through.
Frank is the mastermind of the Victory Project. He tends to keep to himself, saving his interactions for speeches when welcoming new families. Frank is respected by everyone, and it is only when people start questioning the world, that we see a different side to him.
In the supporting characters, we have other wives Bunny, Margaret, Violet and Peg who have known each other and spend most days living a life of luxury.
Performances
Florence Pugh is incredible once again, being everything, we would have imagined from her in this role. She shows the ray of sunshine perfectly, before showing the side that is losing her mind.
Chris Pine and Gemma Chan are also excellent in their supporting roles, controlling the scenes they are in. Harry Styles is well in the sweetheart husband role but struggles more in the intense moments.
Story
The story follows a perfect 1950s world in a new project in the middle of the desert. When one of the housewives starts questioning what is going on, we see a mindset change in others within the community. As Alice looks for answers, she is left to learn an even more shocking discovery about her world.
This story starts out easily seeing something wrong, it is clearly not everything is right. It leaves us to follow Alice as she searches for the truth, as not everything is running as smoothly as it could. If things start adding up, things are often taken away from us again and by the end, it still doesn’t feel finished with the story side of things.
Themes
Don’t Worry Darling is a mystery thriller set in a remote desert community, where they believe they are working for a brighter future. It looks like a perfect world, everything is on service and nothing looks out of place. The mystery comes from one of the residents questioning what is going on, unsure of how to handle the event she can’t explain. This does let the story dive into other genres that only seem to create a bigger mystery.
Final Thoughts – Don’t Worry Darling has plenty of mysteries, only to fall flat with the ending.
Writer: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser (Screenplay)
Starring: Camilla Belle, Steven Strait, Marco Khan, Cliff Curtis, Joel Virgel, Affif Ben Badra
Plot: In the prehistoric past, D’Leh is a mammoth hunter who bonds with the beautiful Evolet. When warriors on horseback capture Evolet and the tribesmen, D’Leh must embark on an odyssey to save his true love.
Tagline – It takes a hero to change the world.
Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: 10,000 BC starts as we meet the mammoth hunting tribe where Tic’Tic (Curtis) leads the hunts, while an outcast from the tribe D’Leh (Strait) looks to make an impact with fellow outsider Evolet (Belle), as D’leh takes his place as the man that took down a mammoth.
When another tribe of warriors invades the land, Evolet is taken and Tic’Tic, D’Leh, Baku and others lead the quest to rescue her and turn their tribe back into the warriors they know they are.
Thoughts on 10, 000 BC
Thoughts – 10,000 BC is an action adventure movie that will show one man looking to lead his tribe in a quest to save their own, only for them to discover he has the ability to bring others together against a common enemy. This is the typical rise up against a bigger threat, where each chapter will see a new lesson to make our hero a stronger leader. The fact this is set in the prehistoric era, gives us glimpse into the creature of this world, with them not being as big of a factor in everything going on, which would have made this a lot more entertaining to watch. This is an entertaining enough action adventure, but it does seem to lack a full connection to make it reach the promised potential.
Final Thoughts – 10,000 BC is an easy to watch action adventure.
Plot: After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Smile starts when trauma therapist Rose Cotter (Bacon) gets a new patient complaining about seeing terrifying imagines in her life. During their first interaction, the patient breaks character before leaving herself with a disturbing smile, before killing herself.
Rose left shocked and disturbed herself, starts seeing unexplained events around her. Not sure whether it is something connected to her childhood, or a demonic force following her. Rose turns to the people she trusts the most as it feels like her time is running out.
Verdict on Smile
Characters
Rose is an emergency trauma therapist who helps patients in need of urgent help. She had a traumatic childhood, which led her down this path but otherwise, she has everything together in her life. When Rose deals with her latest patient, she adopts her normal calm approach before things get out of hand. She witnesses a suicide and for some unknown reason to her, she starts seeing unexplained events around her life. This forces borders between friends, colleagues and loved ones. It does leave a few things up in the air about her character. The biggest being, why is someone from this profession so against opening up to someone?
Trevor is Rose’s fiancée, who for some reason doesn’t decide to make more time for her after the first incident happened. This is a trend throughout the whole movie, nobody seems to offer any emotional support after what Rose witnessed. Dr Desai tries to take her out of the firing line, but it feels like encouragement to see someone would help.
Joel is a detective investigating the death, which just so happens to be Rose’s ex. He becomes the person she turns to once she starts putting the pieces together. Joel seems to be a decent cop who is there to help where he can.
Performances
Sosie Bacon is the star of the show here, she shows the character slowly losing her mind. Showing the guilty she has carried her whole life and not knowing whom to turn to.
The rest of the supporting cast doesn’t get that much time to shine. With them all doing what they need to do well and letting Sosie shine.
Story
The story follows a doctor who witnesses a patient kill themselves on front of her. Only to find herself going through the same events that had been described to her. This sends her on a journey to try and figure out what is going on while questioning her own mind.
The story is very interesting, I would best describe it as a blend of ‘The Ring’ ‘It Follows’ and ‘Truth or Dare.’ Where it has the very distinct concept of being followed against the clock, but it wants to go a bit crazy with the theory behind it. The biggest flaw in the story comes from the decision-making, as it is weird that a professional doctor wouldn’t turn to help when it is what she would tell her patients.
Themes
Smile is a disturbing horror thriller that gives us some of the best jump scares you will see this year. It also balances the line between creepy and stupid with the smile reactions, which in the wrong hands would come off comical. This keeps them on the disturbing side. The big warning that isn’t described is how disturbing some of the suicides are. They are on a par with what we see in ‘Sinister’ for sudden impact moments.
Final Thoughts – Smile is a disturbing, terrifying horror that uses jump scares to shock us.
Plot: Teen best friends Cecilia and Emma, after a decade run into each other. Cecilia is invited on Emma’s bachelorette weekend where she gets stuck in a remote cabin with her high school bully with a taste for revenge.
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Sissy starts when social media star Cecilia (Dee) bumps into her teenage best friend Emma (Barlow). Emma invites Cecilia to her bachelorette weekend, only to learn that her old bully Alex will be there too.
Cecilia already feels like an outsider on the weekend, and she gets sent down memory lane. The memories strike her with a disturbing series of events where things go from bad to worse for her.
Verdict on Sissy
Characters
Cecilia is a social media influencer, motivating people with mental health. She keeps to herself in life until her old school friend invites her on a trip away. Cecilia becomes the outsider on the trip away and an old bully doesn’t make it any easier. The weekend doesn’t go as planned for Cecilia who finds herself trying to fix mistake after mistake.
Emma is the former best friend who is delighted to see her teenage friend again. She wants to celebrate with her upcoming wedding with her best friend, being the only one that welcomes her to her party.
We also meet the other guests on the weekend away, each with their own different traits and memories of Cecilia from school.
Performances
Aisha Dee is fantastic in the leading role, she shows us how her character starts falling apart. She brings the consequences of what her character has been through in life.
In the supporting cast, we get strong performances that all bring a different character to life, without taking the spotlight off Aisha Dee.
Story
The story follows a young woman that gets invited by a former school friend to a bachelorette weekend away. This weekend brings back painful memories, as the young woman struggles to cope with her past.
The story gets to show how a young woman goes through a difficult time and has built up her own defence from it. Only to see it broken down, leaving her losing her mind once again. The story is played out in a way that has a similar tone to other horror comedies including ‘Tucker and Dale vs. Evil’. Where things go from bad to worse more by accident than on purpose.
Themes
Sissy is a horror comedy that uses the remote mansion for the weekend away for the friends. It seems like an influencers paradise and soon shows the fun activities that can be had around the area. The horror starts in an accidently way becoming even more violent as the movie unfolds. While the comedy comes from the accidents that happen and things just escalate.
Where to Watch: Sissy is available on Shudder
Final Thoughts – Sissy is a fun horror comedy that spirals out of control.
Plot: A documentary surrounding It (1990), based upon the Stephen King novel of the same name, which featured a notorious villain known mostly as Pennywise.
Runtime: 2 Hours 6 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict onPennywise: The Story of IT
Pennywise: The Story of IT is a documentary exploring how the mini-series of IT came about. It explores how the product came together and the different obstacles that were needed to overcome. This dives into the casting and friendship, banter and enjoyment about making the product together.
The documentary is very interesting and explores some of the biggest sequences in the movie. With the actors telling the stories from behind the scenes. On the more negative side of things, it could easily have been an addition to the DVD release, rather than its own movie.
On the positive side of things, it is an interesting documentary that the fans of the iconic miniseries will love to see. Every member of the living cast returns to discuss their experiences with the movie which is wonderful to see.
Where to Watch: Pennywise: The Story of It will be available on Digital Download from 3rd October and Blu-ray & DVD from 24th October
Final Thoughts – Pennywise: The Story of IT is a fascinating fan service documentary.
Writer: Craig Pearce, Lewis Colick (Screenplay) Ben Sherwood (Novel)
Starring: Zac Efron, Kim Basinger, Charlie Tahan, Amanda Crew, Augustus Prew, Donal Logue, Ray Liotta, Dave Franco
Plot: After Charlie survives a car crash that kills his younger brother, he is given the gift of seeing the spirits of his brother and others who he has lost, and must use his powers to save the woman he loves from impending disaster.
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Charlie St Cloud starts as sailing prodigy Charlie St Cloud (Efron) sees his future scholarship shattered when he is involved in a car crash which sees his younger brother Sam (Tahan) killed. Blaming himself Charlie finds himself giving up his future to remain in the town looking after the graveyard, where he gets a daily visit from Sam and others from his past who are no longer with him.
When Charlie gets to meet his old rival on the water Tess Carroll (Crew) his passion for sailing comes back to him, as he starts to open up about life once again, until he needs to try and save her from a new disaster.
Thoughts on Charlie St Cloud
Thoughts – Charlie St Cloud is a fantasy romance that will show how a young man will find his life crippled by grief because of his involvement in his brother’s death, even though it wasn’t his fault, giving up everything he had in his future to continue to visit the spirit of his brother. When he gets a chance to save another life, he will risk everything for the woman he falls in love with. This does show us how emotions and failing to understand grief will stop lives until they are addressed. This story will play into the anything for love and needing to find a meaning in life after tragedy. When it comes to the performances Zac Efron is great in the leading role, with Amanda Crew being great in the love interest role. We do have a couple of bigger names that don’t get as much screen time as you think they might and newcomer Charlie Tahan shines in the supporting younger brother role. On the downside, we have one of what looks like it should be an important scene, feeling very cold and lifeless, which takes away the impact from that moment. This is a movie that wants to pull on the heart strings in different ways, getting everything it needs from this moments.
Final Thoughts – Charlie St Cloud is everything that wants to pull of your heart strings.
Writer: Guy Davies (Screenplay) Matthew Brawley (Story)
Cast: Harry Lloyd, James Faulkner, Joshua Glenister, Kim Spearman, Kate Isitt, Jack Gouldbourne
Plot: Set in the English countryside, As I Am depicts small town adolescence. One week of school remains for Kai, an aspiring writer, and his friends. How they spend this time will cost one of them their life and leave them changed forever.
Runtime: 2 Hours 5 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: As I Am starts as three friends Kai (Glenister), Megsy (Gouldbourne) and Sammy (Frances) are preparing for life after school. Kai has set his own plan to leave town, to become a writer. His friends on the other hand are facing bleaker futures. Ones that might see them stuck in the town for the rest of their lives.
As the final week unfolds Kai starts to learn the troubles of his best friend, Sammy. His neighbour Grace (Spearman) and wants to help them discover themselves before the summer is through.
Thoughts on As I Am
As I Am is a life drama following a group of friends preparing for life. One that will show the union between three, even if they mix between other groups. They will need to be together, helping prepare them for the next stage of life. The stage where they will be going in different directions.
This will be a drama that shows how empty people could feel going forward. It will show the importance of friendship and being together through the tough spell in life. It plays into the idea that you are only young once and you should enjoy yourself. Making the most of each and every moment.
The film will give us a series of strong performance from the whole cast. The three leads show great chemistry together, making a realistic friendship.
Final Thoughts – As I Am is a powerful coming of age tale.
ABC Film Challenge – 2000s Movies – Y – Stardust. Under Y because of the character Yvaine.
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writer: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn (Screenplay) Neil Gaiman (Novel)
Cast: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Robert De Niro (Hide and Seek), Henry Cavill, Michelle Pfeiffer
Plot: In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he’ll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm.
Runtime: 2 Hours 7 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Stardust starts when young man Tristan (Cox) desires leaving the small town known as Wall. Wanting to win the heart of his love Victoria (Miller). He looks to follow in his footsteps on his father, entering the magical land.
When the king (O’Toole) dies, he leaves his children to search for a fallen star. The one that would take his place on the throne. This draws out witches lead by Lamia (Pfeiffer) who wants the stardust for herself and sisters. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a daring adventure, where he finds Yvaine (Danes). The vessel the star created, as he learns who he really is.
Thoughts on Stardust
Stardust is a fantasy adventure movie taking us across a new version of the world. The story brings us plenty of fantasy elements, mixed with the chase for destiny. We see the sides come together for a showdown, bringing the characters from different world together.
It is a world that feels massive, one we could easily have spent more time within. The unique creations behind the abilities and deaths created are going to be remembered. This comes off like one of the more interesting, brave and unique fantasy movies.
Having an all-star cast helps make the movie stand out. Michelle Pfeiffer as the evil which like figure, uses her beauty to make her become a real threat in the movie. Robet De Niro in the supporting role that goes against everything we know from him works well for a few laughs along the way. Even the early role from Charlie Cox shows him to be the rising star.
Overall, this is a wonderfully fun adventure fantasy movie. One that can be put upon the best of all time.
Final Thoughts – Stardust is wonderfully entertaining movie.
