Tag: 2019

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Movie Review

Room for Rent (2019)

Director: Tommy Stovall

Writer: Stuart Flack (Screenplay)

Starring: Lin Shaye, Oliver Rayon, Valeska Miller, Ryan Ochoa, Linda Cushma, Casey Nicholas Price

 

Plot: Lonely widow Joyce rents out a room in her house and becomes dangerously obsessed with one of her guests.


Tagline – All she wanted was a decent man.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Lin Shaye is Truly Unsettling

 

Story: Room for Rent starts when Joyce (Shaye) loses her husband, feeling left alone in her house that she needs to pay for the debt left behind, she decides to open her own Bed n Breakfast in her home. Her first guests are a couple which sees her become friends with Sarah (Miller) helping her with her problems.

Learning from her early mistakes with her bed n breakfast, Joyce upgrades certain parts and starts searching for more guests with Bob (Rayon) being her next one. Joyce starts to get an unhealth obsession with her guest who helps her deal with problems including the local teenage troublemakers Wayne (Ochoa). Will Joyce obsession take things too far or not?

 

Thoughts on Room for Rent

 

Characters – Joyce is an older lady that has lived her life with her husband for years, her husband dies which leads to her feeling lonely wanting attention. She is considered strange in her town, she turns her home into a bed n breakfast in an attempt to make new friends which she does, even if she starts to become obsessed with one of her guest, acting like a school girl trying to impress him. Bob is her first long term guest that Joyce takes in, he is mysterious about his personal life and does grab the attention of Joyce, he will stand up for Joyce with the local troublemakers. Sarah is the first guest that Joyce gets, she is an author working on her latest book which sees her need to decide on her own future, she stays in contact with Joyce becoming a pen-pal and visiting when Bob has been staying long enough, seeing how Joyce is acting differently.

Performances – Lin Shaye is fantastic in this role, we are left truly unsettled by here performance which sees her making decisions which seem odd. Oliver Rayon is left looking confused by Joyce’s character which is needed for the film. Valeska Miller completes the supporting cast with a performance that doesn’t do anything wrong.

Story – The story here follows a lonely widow that opens her house to guests, only for her to become obsessed with one of them, making up her own stories to what is happening between the two. This story does make us feel unsettled throughout, we see Joyce become more obsessed with each passing moment, acting like a school girl trying to grab the attention of her crush. It must be pointed out there is a hint of grief of losing a life partner, which could see anybody do something out of the normal. The story does suffer in places because we get the ideas of certain side stories to why Joyce is the way she is, only they don’t seem to get completed to the most satisfactory levels for us.

Thriller – The film doesn’t take long to build up the tension because Lin Shaye makes her character feel like she could be up to anything in the film.

Settings – Most of the film is set in the home, it does feel disturbing when you know how Joyce could always pop up somewhere.


Scene of the Movie – When Joyce gets betrayed in her eyes.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The lack of follow through on one story about Joyce’s past.

Final Thoughts – This is one of the more disturbing and unsettling movies of the year, even though it doesn’t pull all the triggers it could.

 

Overall: Unsettling and chilling.

Rating

 

 

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Movie Review

Mercy Black (2019)

Director: Owen Egerton

Writer: Owen Egerton (Screenplay)

Starring: Danielle Pineda, Janeane Garofalo, Elle LaMont, Austin Amelio, Dylan Gage, Lee Eddy, Miles Emmons

 

Plot: Fifteen years after stabbing a classmate to conjure an imaginary phantom known as Mercy Black, Marina Hess is coming home. She’s being released from psychiatric care to live with her sister and young nephew. But in the years since her crime, the myth of Mercy Black has gone viral inspiring internet rumors, stories, and even copycat crimes. Marina is haunted by what she has done and the phantom she imagined. Though she would rather leave the past buried, her nephew becomes increasingly obsessed with Mercy Black. To save him, Marina must face her past and uncover the truth behind Mercy Black. What she discovers is a very real and very deadly horror that will stop at nothing to claim her and her nephew.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Basic Horror

 

Story: Mercy Black starts as Marina (Pineda) is being released from psychiatric care home after 15-years because of her childhood incident, Dr Ward (Garofalo) has been working with her for years now believing she is ready to leave. Marina’s sister Alice (LaMont) takes her in as she starts to put her life back on track, still dealing with the nightmares of Mercy Black.

Marina is still living through the memories of what happened, only to learn that her story become an internet story, which bought out copycat killers and other stories of people bringing her to life, Marina must face these stories and put the urban legend to bed.

 

Thoughts on Mercy Black

 

Characters – Marina is just being released from a psychiatric care home, 15-years after committing a terrible action for the ghostly figure of Mercy Black, she has spent years trying to recover from her experience, once she is released, it doesn’t take long for her past to come back and haunt her and her nephew, Marina must remember her past before it is too late, to understand just what her promise was for Mercy. Dr Ward has been treating Marina and is happy to let her leave the care home to re-enter the world. Alice is the sister of Marina who is letting her sister live with her family, she doesn’t want anyone to know about the past, especially her son. Bryce is the son of Alice, he quickly becomes fascinated with the Mercy Black story and soon believes he is seeing her.

Performances – Daniella Pineda in the leading role is solid enough, the problem with most of performances, comes from the characters who are not written to be that interesting. Janeane Garofalo does feel wasted in her role which felt like it was meant to be a bigger part of the film.

Story – The story follows a young woman that is released from a psychiatric home after committing a crime as a child which saw her believe she was helping an evil spirit take away the pain in her life, once released her nephew starts following the same path she must figure out how to stop the legend spreading. We have seen the idea of an urban legend spread like wildfire before it just becomes the belief that it is real. We get to follow through the normally interesting investigating the idea behind hauntings going on just doesn’t become the interesting factor it should be. We also end up going down one of the most predictable paths we have seen in horror stories.

Horror/Mystery – The horror in this film comes from the idea that an urban legend could be true, the mysterious figure known as Mercy Black is still killing people while waiting for her promise to be kept. The mystery adds into the horror as to whether it could be a true story or not.

Settings – The film is set mostly in the remote house outside of a town, which we never seem to visit, the woodland area where the events of the story happened.

Special Effects – When it comes to the effects, we have basic and not the most effective ones here.


Scene of the Movie – The first visit.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Caught in the middle of two ideas to often.

Final Thoughts – This is a safe by the book horror, it doesn’t have too many scares, the ones we get you can see coming a mile away along with certain directions the story goes.

 

Overall: By the book horror.

Rating

 

 

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Movie Review

Fisherman’s Friends (2019)

Director: Chris Foggin

Writer: Piers Ashworth, Meg Leonard, Nick Moorcroft (Screenplay)

Starring: Tuppence Middleton, James Purefoy, Daniel Mays, David Hayman, Christian Brassington, Sarah Winter, Dave Johns, Noel Clarke

 

Plot: Ten fisherman from Cornwall are signed by Universal Records and achieve a top ten hit with their debut album of Sea Shanties.


Tagline – The U.K’s number 1 Buoy Band

Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Feel Good Start to the Summer

 

Story: Fisherman’s Friends starts when a stag-do heads to Cornwell, Danny (Mays) joined by his boss Troy (Clarke) head down to Port Isaac where they struggle to understand the traditional ways of the small fishing village. In the village the guys here the local’s fishermen singing the shanty songs.

Danny is forced to try and sign the band with lead member Jim (Purefoy) being the one that gives the final say so. Danny didn’t know that Troy was joking, once he learns this, he wants to prove him wrong and make the band an overnight sensation.

 

Thoughts on Fisherman’s Friend

 

Characters – Danny is a fast-talking record producer, he has success in this field and isn’t interested in any sort of responsibility in life. On a stag-do he gets pushed into signing a local band, this shows his skills in the deal. When he learns that it was a joke, he continues to try and sign the band, to make them a hit, while learning about a more traditional lifestyle. Jim is considered the leader of the band, in the decision-making process, if he says no, nothing happens. He is considered stubborn in his ways, which sees him believe in the traditions and friendship. Alwyn is the daughter of Jim’s, she runs the local bed-n-breakfast, where Danny ends up staying, where she gets involved in a relationship with after he shows a bond with her own daughter.

Performances – Daniel Mays in the leading role is great, he has often been the supporting actor, but he shows he could lead here. James Purefoy brings his best to a role based on the real leader of the band, he makes him feel like a man you should never mess with. Tuppence Middleton might be in the unneeded romantic angle, but she does everything right to make us believe she knows the traditions of her town. The rest of the cast do all work very well to make us feel like we are going to be part of a community with the band.

Story – The story follows a group of fishermen who become an overnight sensation when a music producer on a stag-do spots them and is forced into signing them for their label. The story is based on the real story of the bands rise to success, which in the modern era of music was a surprise, but it also plays into how people tend to follow different sounds. Everything about the band is excellent to watch, it shows that it is almost a different life down in their village. The weakness in the story comes from the romantic angle which does feel mostly just tacked on for added impact in Danny’s decision making process. It might work in places, but it does take away from the band’s story. overlooking that issue, we do have a truly fun, feel-good movie about success here.

Comedy/Musical – The comedy in the film comes from just how the locals act towards outsiders, they have wonderful chemistry between them too. The music shows how this new sound could make an impact in the world.

Settings – The settings show us a couple of main ones, first is the village, which shows the community feel between the band, when we are in the richer side of the world, we see the disconnect between the people.


Scene of the Movie – London pub.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the romance story.

Final Thoughts – This is a feel-good movie that will leave you with a smile and hope that anybody’s dream could become a reality.

 

Overall: British Feel-good

Rating

 

 

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Movie Review

Blood Craft (2019)

Director: James Cullen Bressack

Writer: James Cullen Bressack, Madeleine Wade (Screenplay)

Starring: Madeleine Wade, Augie Duke, Michael Welch, Dave Sheridan, Mark Rolston, Dominique Swain

 

Plot: Two sisters who suffered abuse as children at the hands of their sadistic father decide, after his death, to use witchcraft to bring his spirit back to get revenge.


Tagline – How far would you go for revenge?

Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Disturbing Horror Revenge

 

Story: Blood Craft starts when a stripper Grace (Wade) gets news of her abusive father’s death forcing her to return home to see her sister Serena (Duke) and face the memories from their past, with Minister father (Sheridan) and their mother Hilde (Swain) who was terminally ill when they grew up, but did teach the girls the early stages of witch craft.

Serena talks Grace into using their witchcraft to bring their father back to life they can punish his spirit for what he made the girls do when they were growing up.

 

Thoughts on Blood Craft

 

Characters – Grace is the eldest daughter, she left the abuse, heading off into the world, turned to stripping, she is making a health living. With the news her father has died, she returns home to face the nightmares of her past, to confront her father’s spirit. She has managed to hide away most of the abuse in her life. Serena never managed to escape their father’s abuse, she has worked on ways of getting back at him, which involves witchcraft, only this will see her talk Grace into turning to these arts, as she doesn’t forget any of the abuse they suffered.

Performances – Madeleine Wade in the leading role gives us a wonderful performance of a lady haunted by her past, not wanting to enter her past, living the best way she can after a life of trauma. Augie Duke brings us a character that does remain calm through the situation the character has been through. Michael Welch does take on a dual role at times, neither does he get to show any true determination. Dominique Swain might be the big name draw, but her role is only in the supporting role not getting enough time even though her scenes are big impact.

Story – The story here follows two sisters that want to make the spirit of their abusive father pay for what he once did to them, it involves witchcraft, which shows how adults can look to deal with abuse. The dealing with abuse is easily the highlight of the story’s quality because it shows how two different adults have dealt with it and shows just how much damage it can have on the victims. Mental health has been used in horror before and always makes it one of the more powerfully elements from the real world. when it comes to the revenge side of the film it can be seen as something different because it asks the question on how to deal with revenge on the dead? The story is also filled with plenty of twists along the way, which surprise and become even more disturbing along the way.

Horror – The horror in the film comes from dealing with the real world abuse the sisters have experienced and how they are planning to confront it. We do get elements of witchcraft which works, though isn’t truly as scary as it could have been.

Settings – The film is set in one location, the house where the sisters grew up, suffered their abuse, it keeps the problems they are dealing with in house, which is what is need for them to confront them.

Special Effects – The effects are simple enough, we don’t get many, but the ones we get are used we enough.


Scene of the Movie – The morning after.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – There was a lot more to process than I was expecting.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror that digs deep with the emotional factors, it tackles real-world problems and shows the extremes two people would go to confront them.

 

Overall: Shocking and Disturbing.

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

Pet Graveyard (2019)

Director: Rebecca Matthews

Writer: Suzy Spade (Screenplay)

Starring: Jessica O’Toole, David Cotter, Hindolo Koroma, Rita Siddiqui, Katie Milner Evans, Hattie Willow

 

Plot: A group of teens are tormented by the Grim Reaper and his pet after undergoing an experiment that allows them to revisit the dead.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Afterlife Delight

 

Story: Pet Graveyard starts when struggle college student Lily (O’Toole) is pressured by her internet famous brother Jeff (Cotter) to take part in one of his latest videos, one that will push the boundaries of science and the natural world in a hope to speak to their late mother. Joining the siblings are Zara (Siddiqui) and Francis (Koroma) who are both wanting to reconnect with lost ones.

The three will kill themselves to travel to the afterlife, where they do get to see the lost loved one before Lily brings them back to life. The problems start when the three start getting haunted by what they saw because once you enter the afterlife it doesn’t want to let you go.

 

Thoughts on Pet Graveyard

 

Characters – Lily is the student nurse that has been struggling with her grades after the death of her mother, she reluctantly agrees to help her brother with his latest stunt video, being trained to bring the back from the afterlife, she is the one that investigates when the strange events start happening to the three that went to the other side. Jeff is the now daredevil internet celebrity looking for his latest fix for views, he does want to see his mother once again after how they last saw each other, he will need to let lily help once the experiment starts having darker side effects. Zara is one of the other people to take part, she wants to see her little brother again, she is the first to go under, giving us the idea of what we will be experiencing. Francis is the third member of the experiment, he wants to reconnect to the girlfriend he lost, he tries to go back to his normal life after, but what haunts him will not stay away.

Performances – We have four main actors in this film, Jessica O’Toole does take the leading role with her needing to balance the grief and responsibility required for character. David Cotter does make us believe we are watching an internet celebrity figure, or at least one trying to become a superstar, bringing the carefree attitude to life. Rita Siddiqui brings her characters traditional beliefs to the film which works for the supporting roles, with Hindolo Koroma completing the cast with supporting performance that works well.

Story – The story follows four people that perform an experiment to visit lost loved one only for the grim reaper to come calling for them. The first element of the story we need to address, is the title of the film, this has nothing to do with pets, in fact it is closer to Flatliners. Getting past this, we do have an interesting horror that does address the question about whether you should try to community with the dead or not. When it comes to the figure that visits, we do get a new looking figure that is one you wouldn’t want to meet, that does give a unique kills too. It might have certain moments that are by the book, but for a horror story this is easy to follow and that’s all we need.

Horror – The horror comes from the visit to the afterlife, the figure that comes for the victims, it does feel like we could have a new horror figure too.

Settings – The film keeps the settings simple, we have the ritual location which is filled with spiritual creepiness, while the rest of the settings include everyday life, showing how the hauntings will follow them home.

Special Effects – The effects are simple, we only use them when needed and they don’t look out of place.


Scene of the Movie – The afterlife world.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The cat.

Final Thoughts – This is a strong horror that will ask a question about the afterlife, introduces us to a potential new horror icon and has unique kills.

 

Overall: A new horror killer is born.

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019)

Director: Daniel Farrands

Writer: Daniel Farrands (Screenplay)

Starring: Hilary Duff, Jonathan Bennett, Lydia Hearst, Pawel Szajda, Ryan Cargill, Bella Popa

 

Plot: Pregnant with director Roman Polanski’s child and awaiting his return from Europe, 26-year-old Hollywood actress Sharon Tate becomes plagued by visions of her imminent death.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Tasteless and Exploitative

 

Story: The Haunting of Sharon Tate starts by showing us a news report of the Sharon Tate murders, along with the four guests at the house, this is one of the most famous acts of violence committed in Hollywood and made The Mansion Family famous. We flashback to three days before the events of the murders, when an 8-month pregnant Sharon Tate (Duff) returns to her Hollywood home with guests Jay Sebring (Bennett), Abigail Folger (Hearst) and Wojciech Frykowski (Szajda) to prepare for her new baby.

The next couple of nights strange things start to happen around the house, as the Mansion Family starts to visit, getting closer until they find themselves committing the acts that shocked the world, even if it was in Sharon’s dreams first.

 

Thoughts on The Haunting of Sharon Tate

 

Characters – The characters in this film are based on the real victims of the tragic and shocking crimes. Sharon Tate is an actress married to Roman Polanski expecting their first child, she heads home to prepare and soon starts suffering horrific nightmares of the friends being murdered. When we meet the friends, we don’t get to learn much about them, Wojciech is a stylist, while the rest are just friend male and friend female seemingly.

Performances – Hilary Duff, that’s a name we haven’t heard about for a while, she does struggling playing the famous young actress, the scare reaction just doesn’t feel authentic in anyway, this poor performance style continues through the supporting cast who just don’t get going in this film in anyway.

Story – The story here follows the three days leading up to the murder of Sharon Tate and her friends by the Mansion Family. First we must respect that this is a real event which happened and we shouldn’t be making entertainment out of these events. We do play into the idea that Sharon had vision of nightmare which involved big death in her life, this was a fact, she gave interviews about her vision before too. The problem with this story comes to use the idea of Intruders coming into the home, only as this is based on the real crimes, it feels even more uncomfortable to watch because we know what really happened.

Horror – The horror side of this film comes from the idea of where the group of people are being pestered at first by the family, it is mostly a home invasion movie, mixed with nightmare visions.

Settings – The whole film is set in the one location, the house which the murders happen, it shows how the family can take advantage of people being away from help.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are weak be it the weak blood splatter or weird camera usages for the dream.


Scene of the Movie – It was hard to find one.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The usage of the real murders seems too much.

Final Thoughts – This is a poor attempt of bring us a home invasion movie that is forced to use the real life murders to try and cash in on the Mansion Family actions.

 

Overall: No Haunting, Invasion we know the outcome off.

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

The Way We Weren’t (2019)

Director: Rick Hays

Writer: Brian DiMuccio, Aran Eisenstat, Rick Hays (Screenplay)

Starring: Fiona Gubelmann, Ben Lawson, Tobin Bell, Keith Powell, Amber Stevens West, Alexandra Davies

 

Plot: Two people meet just after their previous relationships have imploded, so in an effort to make themselves more appealing, they exaggerate, fib and outright lie, and after they move in together all the deception unravels.


Tagline – No Couple Has Ever Been This Badly in Love!

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Twist on Love

 

Story: The Way We Weren’t starts as school teacher Charlotte (Gubelmann) breaks up with her non-committal boyfriend ending up in jail. On the other side of the country, Brandon (Lawson) is still struggling to show his commitment with women. When the two decide to take a change on what they look for in partners, Charlotte and Brandon end up meeting, falling in love with their new selves and rush into marriage.

10 Days later, they want a divorce, we flashback to see what happened as the two discover the truth about each other, which is a relationship built in lies, until they can learn to tell each other the truth.

 

Thoughts on The Way We Weren’t

 

Characters – Charlotte is a school teacher who has spent 14 years with her boyfriend, who doesn’t have much in common with her, while not being ready to commit. The break up pushes her to take a chance and becoming somebody different which leads her to meet Brandon, she wants to keep certain parts of her past a secret though, including her jail term. Brandon is a womaniser that can’t commit, his business isn’t going well. Out of a newly failed relationship broke, he wants to meet a new woman for a relationship, He lies just like Charlotte being someone he isn’t, only for the truth to bring him the new positive vision of life. Jerry is the father of Brandon, he is part hippie and has been fighting the system for his and his wives relationship. He knows how to help Brandon without telling him everything. Dan is the neighbour and best friend who reluctantly lets Brandon use his car to impress Charlotte, he gets the best reactions to anything happening to his car.

Performances – Fiona Gubelmann and Ben Lawson are both wonderful to watch, both stars get to show the range of the emotions their character are going through, each has their moment to shine too. When it comes to the supporting cast get plenty of laughs through the film.

Story – The story brings us a new look at love, it follows the idea of jumping into marriage to prove how spontaneous people have become only to learn, like if most relationships, not everything is as it seems after the early getting to know each other stage of a relationship. This does show how honest should become more important, but that we can always be afraid of what is in our past being judged. While certain sides to the lies or hidden truths could be considered farfetched ones they come out we get to see just how you can misunderstand somebody who has been working towards something.

Comedy – The comedy through the film will get laughs, be it from learning the truth with a natural reaction or trying to hide it from everybody else.

Settings – The film is set in LA which sees just how far Charlotte will travel for love and to escape the life she once had.


Scene of the Movie – Garden party.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Certain support characters don’t seem to have their own lives, which is an issue with a lot of comedies.

Final Thoughts – This is a funny comedy about love and just how difficult it can be or everyone, this does bring a new twist on the love story too.

 

Overall: Funny comedy.

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

Devil’s Path (2019)

Director: Matthew Montgomery

Writer: Matthew Montgomery, Stephen Twardokus (Screenplay)

Starring: Stephen Twardokus, JD Scalzo, Jon Gale, Michael Hampton, Steve Callahan

 

Plot: Two men encounter each other on a dangerous gay cruising park trail, and quickly find themselves caught up in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Twist Filled Thriller

 

Story: Devil’s Path starts as two men Noah (Twardokus) and Patrick (Scalzo) both go to a notorious gay cruising park about to go about the business of the quickie hook up, before getting attacked by two men.

As the two men search for safety and to stay one step ahead of the attackers, the two men get to know each other, learning they are different than what they were expecting from the hook up, the dangerous game of cat and mouse only adds to the intensity of whether they can make it out alive.

 

Thoughts on Devil’s Path

 

Characters – Noah heads into this forest to search answers, he is acting like the rest of the men as he locates somebody to help him in his search, he carries tarot cards which he uses as a conversation starter, he has his reasons which will become clear after spending time with Patrick. Patrick is another man in the woods, he is looking for the quick hook up even if he does have a secret which will keep his time with Noah there for a reason. We don’t meet anyone else for more than a couple of scenes, even with the two men hunting down our couple.

Performances – We have two main leads in Stephen Twardokus and JD Scalzo who both give strong performances as we see how they go through the uncomfortable meet, while trying to learn the truth behind each one being in the woods.

Story – The story follows two singletons heading into the woods in search of a quick hook up only to find themselves needing to hide from two men searching for them, only for everything to get turned on its head, when the true motivation of being in the woods comes out. This is a thriller that deals with the twist and suspense elements, it isn’t going to be as routine as two people hiding or fighting back the whole time, we get the twists which help us reach the final goal. The story does feel like it is well written with each moment having an importance to the final outcome of the film without having any pointless filler too.

Thriller – The will keep you guessing as you are never sure what to think about either of the two men, who is holding a secret or not, which is nice to be watching things unfold.

Settings – The film is set in the woods, it is known as a location for hook ups which is all we need to know.


Scene of the Movie – The truth.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Running shaky cam.

Final Thoughts – This is a thriller that will keep you guessing and will surprise you with how it all ends up playing out.

 

Overall: Smart thriller.

Rating

 

 

Categories
Movie Review

Departures (2019)

Director:  Peter Hutchings

Writer: Fergal Rock (Screenplay)

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Maisie Williams, Nina Dobrev, Ken Jeong, Tyler Hoechlin, David Koechne, Peyton List

 

Plot: A hypochondriac working as an airport baggage handler is forced to confront his fears when a British teenager with a terminal illness enlists him to help her carry out her eccentric bucket list.


Tagline – Living in the moment is hard to do alone.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Emotional Rollercoaster

 

Story: Departures starts as we see Skye (Williams) receives the news that her terminal cancer isn’t giving her much more time, even though she takes the news positively. Meanwhile teenager Calvin (Butterfield) believes he has cancer with his hypochondriac state, even though every test says he is completely fine.

Calvin attends cancer support groups where he meets Skye, who wants a ‘To Die List’ which sees Calvin reluctantly help Skye complete, even though he can’t find the courage to tell her the truth, even though she is teaching him to live hi life more, than he could ever imagine.

 

Thoughts on Departures

 

Characters – Calvin is a hypochondriac luggage handler, he goes through tests believing he is ill even though every test says he is fine. He attends cancer support groups in a hope to get prospective of his mindset, only to meet cancer victim Skye who brings him out of his shell, he goes from shy to outgoing through his time with Skye. Skye is a British teenager that has been given the terminal diagnosis for her cancer, she has gotten to the stage where she just wants to make the most out of her remaining life, which sees her befriend Calvin, mostly because he is the only friend she can find in the world, using humour as her biggest defence to what is going to happen to her. Izzy is a flight attendant that has been having no luck in love until she meets Calvin and sees a different type of guy in him. The remaining characters we meet include the parents that have been through their own problems, two random police officers that end up helping the two complete the goals which will get the laughs.

Performances – Asa Butterfield takes the leading role here and over the past for years he has handle a few of the teenage coming of age roles, he has never put a foot wrong with his own performances in these, with this film once again showing him to be a big talent in the future. Maisie Williams steps out of Game of Thrones to a role that is full of energy, which should be lower in her character, to show us a character that just wanted to live life to the fullest. Nina Dobrev is the best of the rest, with the supporting cast getting their moments when needed for an extra emotional moment or a laugh.

Story – The story follows a teenage girl that is going to die who befriends a teenage boy that is scared he is going to and the two help each other learn to make the most of their life, through their time together. The story doesn’t hide any facts about the two characters from the audience, which with other films using the same subject matters have used as a late twist in the film. This story is about friendship, adventure, enjoying life and taking chances. While the story might be easy to read just where everything is going to go, you will still need to bring the tissues for this film.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure elements used in this film are a lot simpler than you would imagine, this is because we get to see how Calvin learns to make life an adventure instead of being scared about what could happen. The comedy in the film is handled tastefully, I have always seen people say ‘you can’t have comedy in a cancer film’ this comedy comes from seeing how Skye is dealing with everything, she wants to laugh and not feel sorry for herself.

Settings – The film is set in New York, using the airport as one of the main backdrops, elsewhere we see how Calvin ends up going places he never would have considered until he met Skye.


Scene of the Movie – The real list.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – I am going to pick timescale, not sure if it was days weeks or months.

Final Thoughts – This is an emotional rollercoaster of a film, it will make you laugh, smile and cry, sometimes in the same scene.

 

Overall: Must watch with tissues.

Rating