Author: Darren Lucas

Big Film fan and general entertainment fan

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Movie Review

Mysterious Circumstance (2022) Movie Review

Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis – Movie Review

Mysterious Circumstance

Director: Clark Richey

Writer: Clark Richey (Screenplay)

Cast

  • John Schneider (Roe v. Wade)
  • Evan Williams (Blonde)
  • Sonny Marinelli (Rites of Spring)
  • Amye Gousset (The Card Counter)
  • Billy Slaughter (The Magnificent Seven)

Plot: Versions of Meriwether Lewis’s 1809 death at a remote wilderness inn are imagined by his friend Alexander Wilson during a tense encounter with the only witness to the famed explorer’s final night alive.

Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis starts as Meriwether Lewis (Williams) arrives at the wilderness inn. Here, we see the different accounts of the events of what happened that night, as his good friend Alexander Wilson (Slaughter) searches for answers about his death.

The basic story is replayed over, with different reactions and theories about what caused the death of Meriwether. Each one points the fingers at a different potential suspect.

Verdict on Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis

Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis is a mystery that explores the potential outcomes of the death of Governor Meriwether Lewis. This story dives into different ideas, despite running through the events with different tones and reactions.

The idea makes things strange as we are just repeating the same story with a minor change each time. Nothing seems to be unlocking more of the truth, only exploring speculation. It doesn’t seem to work as well as it could, as nothing ends up moving the story forward, as there are no true answers to what happened.

The performances in the movie are strong with most having to play into a different angle for each section of the movie.

Final Thoughts – Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis is an interesting idea, only it doesn’t feel as connected as possible.

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Movie Review

Final Cut (2022) Movie Review

Final Cut – Movie Review

FInal Cut

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Writer: Michel Hazanavicius (Screenplay)

Writer: Shin’ichiro Ueda, Ryoichi Wada (Original Story)

Cast

  • Romain Duris (The Beat That My Heart Skipped)
  • Berenice Bejo (The Artist)
  • Gregory Gadebois (One of a Kind)
  • Finnegan Oldfield (Nocturama)
  • Matilda Lutz (Revenge)

Plot: Things go badly for a small film crew shooting a low-budget zombie movie when they are attacked by real zombies.

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Final Cut starts as a film crew is shooting a zombie movie. Higurashi (Duris) is directing his stars, Natsumi (Bejo), Ken (Oldfield) Chinstsu (Lutz) on set when they get attacked by real zombies.

Jumping back a few weeks, we learn the truth behind the film shot. Remi (Duris) is hired to remake a Japanese movie about a zombie movie being shot, that turns real. This sees the team needing to come together for the single-shot movie.

Verdict on Final Cut

Final Cut is a horror comedy that is a remake of ‘One Cut of the Dead’. It follows a film crew trying to make a zombie movie, but things start going wrong along the way.

The clever side of this movie is that it addresses being a remake of something that was made in Japan. This is important because if you know the original, you know the chaos that is about to unfold. It brings deliberately bad acting to the movie, to show a low-budget side of the film being made. Only it looks like a well-made movie, it loses the low-budget look the original had, along with the chaotic nature. Losing the one-take concept doesn’t help too, despite it being about being one-take.

This movie relies on the beginning sequence and the chaotic end sequences. They are both longer sequences to keep everything entertaining. Any filmmaker would understand certain frustrations going on within the film too.

Where to Watch: Signature Entertainment presents Final Cut on Digital Platforms 7th of November.

Final Thoughts – Final Cut is an entertaining remake without the grit the original had.

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Movie Review

Cici (2022) Movie Review

Cici – Movie Review

Cici

Director: Berkun Oya

Writer: Berkun Oya (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Fatih Artman
  • Sevval Balkan
  • Ayca Bingol
  • Incinur Dasdemir
  • Yilmaz Erdogan

Plot: A family migrates to the city after a tragic loss. When they reunite in their hometown 30 years later, buried emotions and painful secrets resurface.

Runtime: 2 Hours 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Cici starts as it follows a family that has come together once again after the tragic loss of a member of it. the family have come together to make a movie about the life of the family. This brings them closer together, as old problems are addressed.

As the movie continues to be made, other locals return to the lives of the family. Ones that gave them fond memories of what it was like to be young again.

Verdict on Cici

Cici is a drama about family and how coming back together can change how everything is seen. It puts a big focus on how the family are dealing with their loss. This takes us down a path to see how each member has moved on with their life and not everything has gone to plan.

This reunion story shows the importance of family and, most importantly, friendships in life. It shows how people can have different lives than expected but will always remember their time together. To tell the story, the movie itself is longer than it needs to be. It could have easily been trimmed down to bring the biggest impact in the story. Overall, it has a big message and gets it over well enough without being anything we haven’t seen before.

Where to Watch: Cici is available to watch on Netflix now.

Final Thoughts – Cici is a nice drama about a family coming together.

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Movie Review

Beyond the Universe (2022) Movie Review

Beyond the Universe – Movie Review

Beyond the Universe

Director: Diego Freitas

Writer: Diego Freitas, Ana Reber (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Giulia Be
  • Henrique Zaga
  • Joao Miguel
  • Viviane Araujo

Plot: Follows Nina, a talented pianist who has lupus. She forges an unexpected yet strong connection with Gabriel, one of the doctors on the team who takes care of her and gives her to confidence to play with a huge orchestra in São Paulo.

Runtime: 2 Hours 6 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Beyond the Universe starts as we meet the talented pianist Nina (Be). She dreams of playing for the highest orchestra in Sao Paulo, but her health has always stopped her. Nina suffers from Lupus and as she reaches adulthood, things only start getting worse for her.

When Nina meets a carefree resident doctor Gabriel (Zaga). The pair spark up a relationship, but Gabriel must risk his future career for their relationship. How will the pair find a place in the universe to be together?

Verdict on Beyond the Universe

Beyond the Universe is a romantic drama that sees two people meet in the unlikeliest place in life, a place where they both need support. Nina lives with a lifelong illness and Gabriel is dealing with the pressure his father placed upon him to follow in his footsteps.

Over the years, we have seen plenty of sick people in a relationship, where they are challenged to fight for a moment of true love. It is a type of story that always pulls on the heartstrings of everyone who watches. This is no different, getting everything we know down well. The lead pair Henrique Zaga and Giulia Be have wonderful chemistry that only helps the story flow.

Where to Watch: Beyond the Universe is available on Netflix.

Final Thoughts –Beyond the Universe is a joyful romantic drama, that proves love can find anyone.

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Movie Review

The Sleep Experiment (2022) Movie Review

The Sleep Experiment – Movie Review

Sleep Experiment

Director: John Farrelly

Writer: John Farrelly (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Barry John Kinsella (Innocent)
  • Gwynne McElveen (Normal People)
  • Anthony Murphy (The Canal)
  • Sam McGovern
  • Rob Earley (Alexander)

Plot: Two detectives begin an investigation into a disastrous secret military experiment where five prisoners were kept awake for thirty days in a sealed gas chamber.

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Sleep Experiment starts as detectives Robert (Kinsella) and David (Murphy) start their investigation. They are interviewing Christopher (Kerrisk) a man who was involved in a secret military experiment. This takes us back to the experiment, five prisoners are locked in a sealed gas chamber, needing to keep awake for 30 days.

As the investigation continues, Christopher reveals more of what had happened during the experiment. Along with the shocking consequences of what occurred.

Verdict on The Sleep Experiment

The Sleep Experiment is a horror movie that dives into the psychological damage created by a secret experiment. It takes us through the experiment and how the candidates started to unravel their minds. As well as showing us the investigation into what has happened in the past.

The two sides of the story paint a very different perspective on what happened. Leading us down a dangerous road. We have seen secret experiment movies before and this one doesn’t seem to offer anything fresh. It does push heavily on the idea that these would have been done without consequences in the past.

On the aesthetic of the movie, we see some horrific imagery that only makes things more difficult to watch. Giving the viewer an uncomfortable viewing experience while with the candidates.

Final Thoughts – The Sleep Experiment is an uncomfortable, disturbing psychological horror.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – Z – Last Ones Out (2015) Movie Review

This is going under Z because of star Vukile Zuma.

Director: Howard Fyvie

Writer: Howard Fyvie (Screenplay)

Starring: Greg Kriek, Christia Visser, Tshamano Sebe, Vukile Zuma, Mfihlakalo Mazwembe, Cele Du Plessis, Jack Hine, Tuks Tad Lungu

Plot: A sceptical American man is stranded in the middle of a zombie-infected Africa and must trust the help of three mysterious strangers in order to make it out alive.


Tagline – The cradle of humankind could be its end

Runtime: 1 Hour 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Last Ones Out starts as American tourist Henry (Kriek) waiting for his appendix to be removed, finds himself one of the few people left in a hospital when a zombie outbreak starts.

Henry must trust his doctor Sunet (Visser) and two locals Siseko (Sebe) and Vincent (Zuma) to work together to make it through the African wilderness to a potential rescue location, as the four will learn about their own beliefs, in the race to survive.

Thoughts on Last Ones Out

Thoughts – Last Ones Out is an African zombie movie, that will follow four people from different backgrounds, needing to work together to survive the outbreak, with limited resources and never knowing if they can trust each other. When it comes to the zombie movie genre, it is always nice to see a fresh attempt to build a movie, with this one trying to use a more barren location, which shows both the limited number of resources, but more of the weakness in this film, comes from the fact this will give us a lack of potential zombies, with most just being the odd one, that is easy to escape from. Last Ones Out does lack the intensity most zombies film have because of this, which will hold it back from reaching the best levels it could. The performances are solid enough, with the distant relationship needed to show the human impact of what is going on. Last Ones Out is an easy to watch zombie film, but it doesn’t bring enough freshness to the sub-genre.

Final Thoughts – Last Ones Out is an easy to watch zombie film, that lacks the intensity it could have achieved.

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Movie Review

The Good Nurse (2022) Movie Review

The Good Nurse – Movie Review

Good Nurse

Director: Tobias Lindholm

Writer: Krysty Wilson-Cairns (Screenplay)

Writer: Charles Graeber (Book)

Cast

Plot: An infamous caregiver is implicated in the deaths of hundreds of hospital patients.

Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Good Nurse starts when Amy Loughren (Chastain) shows a new nurse to the hospital Charlie Cullen (Redmayne) around the hospital. Amy has a great repour with her patients and is going through her own battles with her own health.

When one of the patients dies, detective Danny Baldwin (Asomugha) and Tim Braun (Emmerich) investigate the incident. Amy is left wondering what is happening, as Charlie becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Can Amy believe he is behind this or not?

Verdict on The Good Nurse

Characters

Amy Loughren is a resident nurse that is working to protect her patients and prepare for her own medical needs. Her reputation is that she is one of the best and she puts the patient’s needs before the hospital, breaking a few rules along the way. She befriends a new nurse seeing only good in him, letting him get close to her family. Remaining unaware of what he has been doing, not wanting to believe it at first.

Charlie Cullen is a new nurse in the department, once he appears the number of deaths starts to go up. Nobody takes too much notice to start with until the police start investigating one of the deaths. He keeps himself in a friendly manner, which makes him easy to get on with. Charlie is a cold character, one that keeps everything close and knows how to build friendships and trust.

Detectives Baldwin and Braun are investigating one of the deaths. They believe something has gone wrong even if it was only an accident. Nothing will prepare them for what they end up needing to investigate in one of the most difficult cases of their careers.

Performances

Jessica Chastain is brilliant in the leading role, where she keeps her performance nature. This is one of the best, this is an ordinary person’s performance of the year. Eddie Redmayne is wonderful too, he makes us see the disturbing side of his character without being completely unhinged. He brings a friendly side to his character that makes him even colder.

Story

The story follows a nurse that learns that her new colleague has been poisoning their patients. She must work with the police to use her friendship with him to uncover the truth about what he has been doing.

This is a disturbing true story about one of the biggest serial killers in American history. Showing how he easily walked into a hospital position and started killing people under the disguise of being a nurse. The one person that you are meant to trust in a hospital committing such horrific crimes.

There is a startling truth about how this was handled and how he operated. Nobody tried to stop him and the reality of what he did might never be known. The movie does a good job of building suspicion, as it focuses on how nobody wanted to question his actions.

Where to Watch: The Good Nurse is available on Netflix.

Final Thoughts – The Good Nurse is a disturbing glimpse into a serial killer’s actions.

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Movie Review

Hellhole (2022) Movie Review

Hellhole – Movie Review

Hellhole

Director: Bartosz M Kowalski

Writer: Bartosz M Kowalski, Mirella Zaradkiewicz (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Olaf Lubaszenko
  • Piotr Zurawski
  • Sebastian Stankiewicz

Plot: In 1987 Poland, a police officer investigating mysterious disappearances infiltrates a remote monastery and discovers a dark truth about its clergy.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Hellhole starts when a police officer Marek goes to a monastery pretending to be a priest preparing for an exorcism.  As Marek enters the monastery, he learns about the mysterious way the clergy operates. It doesn’t take him long to learn something isn’t right there as he starts his investigation.

Only the clergy aren’t going to let one nosey police officer take away their rituals. As Marek gets deeper into the case, he starts to learn a disturbing truth about the clergy and what they have been hiding.

Verdict on Hellhole

Hellhole is a horror mystery that dives deep into the mysteries of the church. Following an investigation into an isolated monastery that is believed to be up to mysterious beliefs. This takes us down the path of a detective trying to understand the truth about unusual stories about the monastery.

When it comes to Polish horrors Bartosz M Kowalski has built himself a reputation for doing something different with certain genre pieces. This can be seen in ‘Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight’ . Hellhole brings us these twists on a typical genre piece again. The movie might well follow a typical start but by the end. It has gone in a direction you would never have imagined, one that has more horror in it than you could take. The phrase ‘It’s how you leave them’ is paramount for this movie as it brings us one of the most shocking conclusions to any movie this year.

Where to Watch: Hellhole is available to watch on Netflix.

Final Thoughts – Hellhole leaves you with a shocking conclusion.

Categories
Movie Review

Another Christmas (2022) Movie Review

Another Christmas – Movie Review

Another Christmas

Director: Stacie Davis

Writer: Stacie Davis, Tamarah Francis (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Ryan Toby (Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit)
  • Sheena Faust (Why Am I Still Single)
  • Malik Brazile (Negative Exposure)
  • Cristofher Griffin

Plot: Kelly Brooks is an elementary school teacher who gave up on love during the holiday season until her childhood friend Andrew a professional baseball player returns home to win Kelly’s heart for Christmas.

Runtime: 1 Hour 13 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Another Christmas starts when Andrew Davis (Brazile) returns home for Christmas. He finds his family are having problems as he looks to win the heart of his childhood friend, Kelly (Faust).

As Andrew starts taking advice from other family members, he must learn how to approach love. On the other hand, Kelly must learn that some people are good and learn to let people into her life. Christmas offers the perfect opportunity for the spark to fly.

Verdict on Another Christmas

Another Christmas is a family-friendly Christmas movie. The movie brings together families and couples that are dealing with expectations leading to Christmas. This includes a marriage that is struggling to keep its sparks, a former pairing looking to come back together along with other couples’ issues.

This movie is only around an hour long, which shows that we don’t get enough time to deal with most of the issues. With this time limit, it shows that the ideas are basic to solving the problems. When it comes to the problems, each one is a typical problem too, which doesn’t help give the story a unique feel about it.

The performances bring plenty to the movie, as the actors have all the charm needed to keep this movie rolling along nicely.

Final Thoughts – Another Christmas is a by-the-book cheery Christmas movie.