Tag: 2018

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Movie Review

Slender Man (2018)

Director: Sylvain White

Writer: David Birke, Victor Surge (Screenplay)

Starring: Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Annalise Basso, Alex Fitzalan, Taylor Richardson, Javier Botet

 

Plot: In a small town in Massachusetts, a group of friends, fascinated by the internet lore of the Slender Man, attempt to prove that he doesn’t actually exist – until one of them mysteriously goes missing.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: The Worst Horror Film of 2018

 

Story: Slender Man starts with four high school friends Wren (King), Hallie (Telles), Chloe (Sinclair) and Katie (Basso) decide to learn about Slender Man on the internet, they watch a video to summon him and the next morning the girls have had nightmares, before Katie vanishes.

The three remaining girls start searching for answers after the police come up with nothing and soon find themselves the latest target for the Slender Man.

 

Thoughts on Slender Man

 

Characters – Usually I would start to describe the characters here, but this film could well be the worst character development film I have ever seen, we have Wren and Hallie who are the longest surviving members of the group, who mostly just scream and think they are better than everyone else. Chloe is here too, she doesn’t listen to instructions and Katie is the one that goes missing. This is how little we learn about the characters in this film.

Performances – With terrible characters, comes no chance for the poor actresses in the main roles of the film to get anything memorable in, it is hard to give any of them any praise for their performance, mostly because it was hard to tell Joey King and Julia Goldani Telles apart too.

Story – The story follows four girls that play along with a Slender Man mystery that leaves them being terrorised by the mythical monster. The problem with this story is that we are force to follow four boring high characters that are given nothing to make them standout in a crowd, we have a internet video starting the nightmare which doesn’t create any sort of rules behind the mysterious figure. We have one person literally vanish, another one getting chased which just makes it hard to believe just what is happening with the characters will be going through. It is the most lacklustre pointless story we have seen that almost feels like everything is complete list of what not to do when making a movie.

Horror/Mystery – The horror in the film could be high tension moment, only for it to come back flat on its face not building the tension just, this is a scary moment, over. We even have a mystery which should be interesting but soon turns into nothing important.

Settings – The film is set in a city, didn’t notice which one, but it is surround by woodlands which only get to add what could be the mystery about the Slender Man who could use this area for hiding places.

Special Effects – The effects are just complete the weak attempt to make a movie here, with the Slender Man never getting anything remotely looking scary which he should be if he is literally kidnapping children.


Scene of the Movie – Ummmmmmm, the credits were good.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The kids have nothing that makes them look different.

Final Thoughts – This is one of the weakest horror films you will ever see, it is just a terrible mess, with no scares and doesn’t give the talent a chance to shine in.

 

Overall: Bad is being nice.

Rating

 

 

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Movie Review

An Acceptable Loss (2018)

Director: Joe Chappelle

Writer: Joe Chappelle (Screenplay)

Starring: Tika Sumpter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Tavassoli, Jeff Hephner, Deanne Dunagan, Alex Weisman

 

Plot: Libby teaches at a university but 4 years ago she was top aide to VP Rachel and was part of a total victory action. Rachel is now US president and worried about Libby keeping quiet. Libby also has a student spying on her.


Tagline – The Truth is a Moving Target

Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: An Acceptable Thriller

 

Story: An Acceptable Loss starts as Libby (Sumpter) takes a new job in education, her former career saw her working under the Vice President Rachel (Curtis) being part of a campaign known as ‘Total Victory’ which saw her career change. Libby’s new job shows how she doesn’t have any forms of communication and one of the students Martin (Tavassoli) has taken an extra interest in her life, following her around, spying her on her.

Rachel now being President sends her Chief of Staff Adrian (Hephner) and former lover of Libby to make sure she isn’t going to spill the beans on what happened in this case, all while Libby is trying to make sure she can just get on with her life.

 

Thoughts on An Acceptable Loss

 

Characters – Libby once worked for the Vice President on one of the most controversial projects in defence and dealing with potential terrorist against America, she has left this job because of what happened trying to find a new career in education, she wants to stay off the radar with how she lives, which sees her avoid her former colleagues and fellow members of the faculty. Rachel is the former Vice-President, now President who is trying to tie up the loose ends of operation Total Victory, this will see her challenge Libby on whether she will expose the truth of her actions. Martin is a student that has taken an interest in Libby following her around spying on her looking for some kind of answer. Adrian is the Chief of Staff and former lover of Libby’s, he has been assigned to keep Libby quiet.

Performances – Tika Sumpter does give us a strong performance, we do see how her guilt is controlling her life, while showing how she will do what she can to fix her mistake. Jamie Lee Curtis is the star of the film because every time she is on camera we seeing everything upped to the next level. Ben Tavassoli and Jeff Hepnher both complete the main cast and both do a solid enough role.

Story – The story follows a former staff worker for the Vice President and one of the major parts of a project which saw many people killed, she has moved on with her life away from politics, hoping to one day tell the truth against the now current President. This story is a heavy political set up which shows us just how they will do anything to cover up any secrets, the story does jump around between the two times and careers that Libby has which does just come and go way to often. The problem with this story comes from the fact this could have been a lot more intense because of the subject matter we are going into.

Thriller – The could be a thriller that is truly one of the most intense movies of the year, because the subject could have been showing bigger consequences instead of a couple of friendly conversations.

Settings – The film is set in the everyday location, it shows how easy it could be to get people coming after somebody who might hold a secret.


Scene of the Movie – Jamie Lee Curtis scenes.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does become very predictable.

Final Thoughts – This is a predictable thriller that does tackle a bigger subject matter that goes through cover ups, we are saved by Jamie Lee Curtis scene stealing performance.

 

Overall: Predictable, through entertaining.

Rating

 

 

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Movie Review

The Dark Soul (2018)

Director: Bey Logan

Writer: Bey Logan (Screenplay)

Starring: Kevin Brewerton, Meng Lo, Bianca Stam, Ryan Logan, Wu Ging, Ma Jing-Kwan, Lang-Xing Ye

 

Plot: A mysterious American, Chandler, appears in an Asian city, searching for a missing person. A police commander assigns a local contact, Dickson Lee, to shadow this stranger. The mismatched couple must navigate the dangerous world of an international organ smuggling syndicate. Chandler and Lee have to rely on all their courage and strength to solve a deadly mystery, and finally deliver the criminals to justice.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Entertaining Mystery Thriller

 

Story: The Dark Soul starts when Chandler (Brewerton) arrives in an Asian city in search of somebody, his first connection sends him to a snooker hall, where he meets Dickson Lee (Ye) who helps him locate the missing person, giving him the lay of the land.

As the two men make an unlikely partnership, they start to turn the heads of the people in the city, as people do seem to know where the missing person is, but some heads being turned are the criminal type that want Chandler gone.

 

Thoughts on The Dark Soul

 

Characters – Chandler is an American that has travelled to Asia, he is searching for somebody, he has clues that he can’t explain and a new skill set for fighting, he never had before going on his mission of searching. He does have to learn quick about certain cultural mistakes he makes and does look out of place in many of the locations because of this. Dickson Lee is the local that teams up with Chandler to show him around, he does have an investment in what the two are looking for too, the character is also designed to get the odd one-liner in the film. Diana Zhou is one of the doctors that gets investigated by Chandler, one with her own clinic and operation going on.

Performances – Kevin Brewerton fills the physical presence role well through the film, he handles the action best, just like you would expect a lead in an action movie. Lang-Zing Ye does give the film a more relaxed tone at time which is needed. Bianca Stam brings one of the suspects to life with her controlling actions.

Story – The story here follows an American going in search for a missing person in Asia, he has clues which he can’t explain which leads him to find a local to help him uncover the truth. The story can be broken down to a investigation story, which is interesting to see where each clue does lead Chandler, seeing both sides of the law being the clues also adds to the story, we get certain character traits which feel fresher than we are used to seeing in this style of film. The story does however lack any real obstacles for Chandler to overcome, with any that are placed being simple enough fights to get through. Overall the story does feel like it could have been one that any of the genre action stars could have stepped into, without making anything overly complicated.

Thriller – The film does try to keep us on the edge, with each clue offering up a new mystery it keeps us wanting to know just where the answers are going to lay.

Settings – The film is set in a generic Asia city, we don’t get to know the name of the city, with none of the locations ending up feeling important to the overall story.


Scene of the Movie – Flower Shop.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – That explosion.

Final Thoughts – This is an action thriller you can stick on, enjoy and being entertained for 90 minutes.

 

Overall: Easy to watch action thriller.

Rating

 

 

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Movie Review

Death Race 4: Beyond Anarchy (2018)

Director: Don Michael Paul

Writer: Tony Giglio, Don Michael Paul (Screenplay) Paul W.S. Anderson, Tony Giglio (Story)

Starring: Zach McGowan, Danny Glover, Danny Trejo, Velislav Pavlov, Lucy Aarden, Frederick Koehler

 

Plot: After an attack on inmate Frankenstein fails a Black Ops specialist enters the maximum prison to join the illegal Death Race and take down Frankenstein.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: The Action We Expect, The Thin Story We Expect

 

Story: Death Race 4: Beyond Anarchy starts as America has completely broken down, the one former hope Death Race is deemed illegal and has taken the dark web by storm as the prisoners have free roam of the arena formerly used as the prison. Frankenstein (Pavlov, voiced by Nolan North) runs this world, he isn’t like the Frank we have met before, he runs the city and the race.

The government are getting sick of the Death Race and want to bring it down, Baltimore Bob (Glover) runs the races and when new prisoner Connor Gibson (McGowan) is searching to be part of the race, in an attempt to bring down Frankenstein.

 

Thoughts on Death Race 4: Beyond Anarchy

 

Characters – Frankenstein rules the death race circuit from behind his mask, this is made clear that he can be replaced with ease and isn’t the same man that we have met in the previous film, this version of Frankenstein isn’t as good-natured or innocent as the previous ones, he is a killer, he will execute people who try to cross him and has created the chaos in the world they are living in. Connor Gibson is the man sent to the prison, he is sent there to take down Frankenstein in an attempt to regain control of the prison, he uses his skills to rise up the ranks to put himself in the position to race Frankenstein. Carley is the seductive and navigator that is on Frankenstein’s arm. Baltimore Bob runs the Death Race operation, he has the connections outside to the outside world and is willing to use them to create the most buzz about the event.

Performances – Zach McGowan gets the action sequences done well through the film, though when it comes to some of the talking moments he does struggle in places, though the script isn’t exactly anything notable. Danny Glover is getting too old for this shit now, he gives us the supporting role you would have come to expect from him now. Velislav Pavlov brings the physical look for Frankenstein, though Nolan North voice work makes the character feel more sinister.

Story – The story here follows the now illegal death race which has become a dark web sensation in a crumbling American economy, one man gets sent into the prison to eliminate Frankenstein. Now this might be the first actual sequel in the franchise, I kind of got lost after 2 and 3, but if this is a sequel it does show us just how the world changed after what happened with Frankenstein’s escape, how the world continued to fall into disorder. When it comes to the Frankenstein figure, we know he can be replaced, which does explain the evil nature behind this version, though it goes against the need we have to support the underdog wrongfully placed in the prison system. The story is filled with unworthy showdowns with characters we barely know, we do also just resort to too many party scenes which are unrealistic and just want to show off nudity for no reason. The script is also poorly written just turning to explicit swearing insults which are here to sound edgy rather than making sense.

Action – The action in the racing sequences is the highlight of the film, the final race being the best part of the movie, even if we have plenty of jump cuts.

Settings – The film is set in the prison locations, the land might be larger now which does make sense for an ever growing environment that has become overrun.

Special Effects – The effects in the film come from the explosion we see caused during the race itself.


Scene of the Movie – The race.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the pointless parties.

Final Thoughts – This is just another sequel that just doesn’t reach the levels of the previous films, it does have a fun race, though it does fall into the generic filler leading up to the race though.

 

Overall: Fun & Simple

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

Rottentail (2018)

Director: Brian Skiba

Writer: Brian Skida (Screenplay) Kurt Belcher, David C Hayes, Kevin Moyers (Graphic Novel)

Starring: Dominique Swain, Corin Nemec, William McNamara, Gianni Capaldi, Vincent De Paul, Brian Skiba, Tank Jones, Gianna Frangella

 

Plot: Rottentail tells the bizarre tale of young Peter Cotton, who grew up in the town of Easter Falls and loves rabbits. Peter’s Science project on rabbit breeding is ruined when the school bullies beat up, and actually kill, his rabbit. Years later, the kind but still shy Dr. Cotton works steadily and gently with his rabbits to cure human infertility. Unbeknownst to Peter, the military is perverting his work, developing fierce soldiers with strength far exceeding a human of their size, and with Peter’s fertility serum, the ability to breed in the field.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: B-Movie Madness

 

Story: Rottentail starts in a secret military research facility where Dr Serius Stanley (Capaldi) has been working with the military on new dangerous killer rabbit, while Peter Cotten (Nemec) has been working on his own infertility research. When Peter is bitten by one of the enhanced rabbits, we slowly starts to change turning into a rabbit himself, with two different personalities.

With Peter now turned into Rottentail, he looks to get revenge on the people that wronged him in life, including former high school bully Jake Mulligan (McNamara) who is planning on using his power as a pastor to change the church from the local history.

 

Thoughts on Rottentail

 

Characters – Peter Cotten is a shy scientist working on an infertility treatment using rabbits, he was bullied in in high school, which has seen him become vengeful and after he was bitten by a genetically modified rabbit, he turns into a giant killer rabbit who gets to unleash all his rage on everyone that crosses him. Anna is the girl from high school that has returned to protect her family church from Jake giving her a chance to see Peter after all the years away. Jake Mulligan is the celebrity pastor who is returning home to build his latest church, he used to bully Peter in school and he still use the bully techniques to get what he wants. Dr Serius Stanley has been working on genetically modified rabbits for the army, he keeps working on ideas that could stop the newly created Rottentail.

Performances – Corin Nemec playing the two roles here, goes to both extremes, the quiet shy nerdy scientist to the foul-mouthed killer rabbit, both side help with the nature of the film. William McNamara and Gianni Capaldi are both well over the top which again help with style of the movie. Dominique Swain is more restraint with her performance, but this is what the character is meant to be.

Story – The story follows a scientist that has been pushed around and bullied his whole life that becomes infected by a generically modified rabbit, turning him into a killer rabbit that can take back his frustration the world has caused him. First thing you need to know about this story is that everything is told through a b-movie style, we do get an over the top style which does work as we have the mad scientists, the over masculine military person and an evil pastor that only cares about money. The idea of a man turning into a killer rabbit man isn’t going to be something you have seen before and works for a b-movie. As long as you don’t go into this story for a serious story, you will end up enjoying this one.

Comedy/Horror – The comedy in this film comes from just the concept, the reactions and style of kills, it might go too far for some people though. The horror is everything you would expect from a B-Movie which for horror fans is something we can enjoy, we have wild kills, blood flying everywhere and evil scientist.

Settings – The film is set in a small town called Easter Falls which shows how the people will always be connected through their past.

Special Effects – The effects have blood filled practical effects which are wonderful, but certain sides of Rottentail’s attack seem like CGI which don’t always work.


Scene of the Movie – The escape.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The sex scene is uncomfortable to watch.

Final Thoughts –This is a fun b-movie style horror comedy, it will get the laughs when it needs to, splatter blood when required and a character in Rottentail you won’t forget easily.

 

Overall: B-Movie Delight

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

Dragonflies Only Live for 24 Hours (2018)

Director: Richard Anthony Dunford

Writer: Richard Anthony Dunford (Screenplay)

Starring: Karl Kennedy-Williams, Judson Vaughan, Julie Rose Smith, Paul Coster, Faith Elizabeth, Cathy Conneff, Bhasker Patel

 

Plot: Two ambitious detectives stakeout a potential drug deal.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Gritty Police Drama

 

Story: Dragonflies Only Live for 24 Hours starts as we meet everyday police officers Frankie Mills (Kennedy-Williams) and Parker Lyle (Vaughan) who have their own personal problems and are stuck dealing with petty crimes.

After the two miss out on a detective promotion, which they both needed for financial reasons, they decide to team up to create their own business, using their connections from the force to make the money they believe they deserve.

 

Thoughts on Dragonflies Only Live for 24 Minutes

 

Characters – Frankie Mills is the rougher of the two police officers, he keeps himself to himself in his personal life, he has a shady past which would see him struggle to get on the force, but he always turns up for work, helps the victims. Once they miss out, he will turn to the more violent side of the crimes they are committing. Parker is the married father with a drinking problem, he has a clean past, he will do the sneakier of the job for the two officers, even if his drinking problem could become the downfall of their plan. Brooke is the wife of Parker that has seen the problems in his life, but someone he can’t talk to about them. Hyde is the captain that has overlooked the two officers in the first place, before needing to turn to them.

Performances – Karl Kennedy-Williams and Judson Vaughan both give strong performances of police officers that are pushed over the limit of the run of the mill system, they show us how they must reluctantly deal with crimes on the small scale, while showing their ambition to become more. The supporting cast do a strong job through the film.

Story – The story follows two run of the mill police officers that get tired of being over looked and turn to the life of crime to get what they believe they deserve. This does show the simple routine careers the police officers must follow dealing with petty crimes, trying to fill out the paperwork trying to get the promotion they believe they deserve and worked hard enough to receive, it shows the limits they have reached in this career. We get to see how they start using the laws to get what they want and need along with the path this will send them down, one they shouldn’t be able to recover from. We get to see how the friendship between the two is used to make this happen and how much it will be pushed to the limits. We could have seen more from their criminal activities, but otherwise this can show how turning to crime isn’t going to be a smart idea.

Crime – The crime side of the film comes from how the two police officers turn to the life of crime to get what they want, it sees how they will go through steps that become more serious as they get deeper.

Settings – The settings show us how the everyday life can have small crimes in and how the police can deal with small crimes in the right way.


Scene of the Movie – Kidnapping gnomes.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could have seen more from the criminal side of their activities.

Final Thoughts – This is a strong crime drama that shows just how far police officers might get pushed to get what they deserve.

 

Overall: Crime drama worth experiencing.

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

Look Away (2018)

Director: Assaf Bernstein

Writer: Assaf Bernstein (Screenplay)

Starring: India Eisley, Jason Isaacs, Mira Sorvino, Penelope Mitchel, John C MacDonald, Harrison Gilbertson, Kristen Harris

 

Plot: LOOK AWAY is a psychological thriller that tells the story of Maria, an alienated high-school student whose life is turned upside down when she switches places with her sinister mirror image.


Tagline – Love/Fear. Passion/Seduction. Free/Trapped.

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Sinister Horror

 

Story: Look Away starts as we meet outsider school girl Maria (Eisley) who keeps to herself, with her one friend the popular Lily (Mitchell), her doctor father Dan (Isaacs) tries to let her be her own self, while her mother Amy (Sorvino) is constantly worrying about her daughter. When Maria starts talking to her reflection which uses the name Airam, she starts to come out of her shell more.

When Maria suffers one final humiliation, she turns to Airam to takeover her life, this sinister side soon starts turning heads and getting revenge for Maria in life, but can Maria return once she has finished.

 

Thoughts on Look Away

 

Characters – Maria is the shy high school student, an outsider who only has one real friend, that being Lily, she gets bullied by some of the students and has started talking to her reflection in the mirror. She gets pushed to far and her reflection Airam wants to get into the rea world, tricking Maria into swapping places with her. Maria is left helpless as Airam starts taking over her life. Dan is the doctor father of Maria, he is having affairs with his clients, while trying to encourage his daughter to come out of her shell. Amy is the mentally unwell mother of Maria, she is mostly housebound, until Airam comes out pushing her to learn the truth. Lily is the best friend of Maria, she is the popular girl at school with her reputation keeping Maria off the bottom of the pile, she does like her around even if she has her own reason for doing this.

Performances – India Eisley takes on two roles here which she her play very different versions of her character, one is the shy timid one, while the other is the rebellious sinister natured one. being able to pull off both the roles shows off her skills as an actress. Jason Isaacs and Mira Sorvino both bring the experience to the film, even if their characters fall into the background at times.

Story – The story follows a troubled high school student who meets her alter ego in the mirror who helps her take control of her life, only for this to figure to bring of a sinister side to her life. This does give the reflects of just how life has become difficult for an outside, while we do have a twist that does seem easy to see coming. We do have the high school bullying theme running through the film which shows how difficult life has become for Maria and how a home life that doesn’t feel connected works too. We could have had more sinister nature from Airam which is hinted heavily at, we do get a mix of Jennifer’s Body and Carrie though.

Horror – The horror in the film comes from the action of Airam, be it how she seduces Maria into working with her or how she acts in the real world once she is released.

Settings – The film is set in an everyday environment for Maria, we have the school, home and parent work life, but it is anything ice skating related which is the highlight of the film.

Special Effects – The dual performances come with strong camera work and use of effects to make happen, we don’t get as much as we could, but we don’t need much more than we get.


Scene of the Movie – Ice Skating improvement.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Airam could have gotten up to a lot more.

Final Thoughts – This is a sinister styled horror, it does feel like it has borrowed from other films from the similar genre. Is has a strong leading performance from India Eisley that shows her talent as both shy and twisted figures.

 

Overall: Horror with strong leading performance.

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

Elizabeth Harvest (2018)

Elizabeth Harvest is available on Digital Download on the 1st of April 2019 here

Director: Sebastian Gutierrez

Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez (Screenplay)

Starring: Abbey Lee, Ciaran Hinds, Carla Gugino, Matthew Beard, Dylan Baker

 

Plot: A brilliant man marries a beautiful woman and shows her his home, stating that it’s all hers – except a room she can’t enter. First chance she enters and discovers what might be human cloning. When the husband returns she pays the price.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Sci-Fi Mystery Consequences

 

Story: Elizabeth Harvest starts when newlyweds Elizabeth (Lee) and Henry (Hinds) return to his mansion to start their lives together, he has workers in his home with Claire (Gugino) and Oliver (Beard) doing the household jobs, while Elizabeth is banned from one room.

Left alone in the house, Elizabeth starts exploring more which does take her into the forbidden room, which only angers Henry to new levels, where he must start his plans again.

 

Thoughts on Elizabeth Harvest

 

Characters – Elizabeth is the new wife ready for her life of luxury, she is delighted with the number of clothes she has, the size of the house, but she isn’t prepared for what she finds in the forbidden room, a clone of herself, she spends the film learning who she is and why she is being cloned. Henry is the husband that has been bring his new wife home for the household, he has been planning this for years, with his clones being used to complete his perfect world, the deeper the story goes, the more we learn about his decisions. Claire is the scientist hired to help Henry with his clones, she doesn’t agree at first before learning just what this could mean for science. Oliver works around the house, he is blind and has been waiting for his chance to learn about the work within the house.

Performances – Abbey Lee takes on the leading roles of Elizabeth, each one is slightly different which shows how the science has continued to improve through the versions, this comes out in her performances as somebody who becomes riser as the film unfolds. Ciaran Hinds is always going to be strong in the scientist role, with Carla Gugino in the mentor figure and assistant that works well with Matthew Beard doing everything needed for his shining moments in the later part of the film.

Story – The story follows a young woman marrying a scientist and learning that he has been working on a bigger project which involves clones. This is an interesting story because it plays into the ideas of whether clones should be used in the real world, which is always going to be an interesting conversation. The story does however jump around the timeline with the flashbacks filling in the blanks for Elizabeth. It could get moments that are confusing because keeping up with certain characters can be hard to figure out which is which, but otherwise this does everything needing to make you think you are watching an episode of Black Mirror.

Sci-Fi – The sci-fi side of the film uses the idea of clones being welcomed into the world or how they are secretive for the first designers.

Settings – The settings keep the film in one location which does show the world that Elizabeth must get used too.

Special Effects – We keep the effects simple and effective to show the wounds inflicted to the characters.


Scene of the Movie – The meeting of the clones.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too many time jumps.

Final Thoughts – This is a sci-fi film that does ask a question about cloning, and whether they should be included in the world or not.

 

Overall: Black Mirror in film form.

Rating

 

 

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Movie Review

Carga (2018)

Discover Carga: The Ugly Reality of Human Trafficking

Discover Carga: The Ugly Reality of Human Trafficking

Director: Bruno Gascon

Writer: Bruno Gascon (Screenplay)

Starring: Michalina Olszanska, Vitor Norte, Rita Blanco, Sara Sampaio, Miguel Borges, Dmitry Bogomolov

 

Plot: A lorry, a road and an unpredictable destiny, all intersecting in a human trafficking network. Caught up in this web, Viktoriya has only one chance: fight to survive.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Unsettling & Disturbing

 

Story: Carga starts as Viktoriya (Olszanska) trying to leave the Soviet Union, sees herself taken across the borders. Only to be handed off to human traffickers, they execute the men, keeping the women. Antonio (Norte) getting tired of his part in the operation, faces a difficult decision with Viktor (Bogomolov) blackmailing him into staying in, following his every wish.

As Viktoriya sees the reality of the world she is living in now. She knows she must fight to survive, as Viktor will kill anybody who tries to escape or lets him down, can she make it out?

 

 

Thoughts on Carga

Characters – Viktoriya is the latest victim of the human trafficking group, she is taken, forced into the sex trade. She faces little hope of getting out before it is too late. Viktoriya never gives up hope of getting out of this world, even if it takes her time to wait for her chance of rescue. Viktor is the ruthless leader of the operation. He will kill anybody who lets him down, tries to escape or isn’t required from the selection of people he is given. Antonio is the man that transports the people across the borders. He is filled with regret for what he is doing, which only makes him feel the guilt for the fate the victims are facing.

Performances – Michalina Olszanska is brilliant in this film, strangely playing two roles, with the lead be the victim. While the second role being one of the traffickers. Both roles are very different which does show the range she has to offer. Dmitry Bogomolov is disturbing, like we need him to be, his role is the one that will grab your attention the most. Vitor Norte does show just how difficult his characters decision is, just how much guilt he is feeling.

Story

The story here takes us into the world of human trafficking, following one of the latest victims as she looks to escape. A transporter filled with guilt being forced to remain in the game and the boss running the operation that doesn’t always go to plan for him. The story plays on the reality that this is happening. Shows the bleak future the girls will face if taken into this world and just how deadly it can be for the people working in it.

It has moments that are clearly unsettling which will disturb even the strongest minds. While also showing us just how easy it could be to be placed into this world. the story doesn’t hold back, but doesn’t dwell on any of the sexual side of the film. We don’t need to see this and the film doesn’t force us through it.

Settings – The film takes us to the realistic settings that show how the girls will be taken to isolated locations. To be put into practise before being sent to the open world to make the money the boss wants.


Scene of the Movie – The car boot.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We tend to not spend enough time with Viktoriya in the early part of the film.

Final Thoughts – This is a shocking and disturbing movie that shows us just how the human trafficking world operates.

 

Overall: Shocking, eye opening film.