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Tense, electric and featuring superb performances and writing, "Neon Lights" is simply one of the best thrillers of 2022. Producer/Writer/Star Dana Abraham has crafted a story here that will both resonate and entertain.

Todd Solondz's 1998 "Happiness" is one of the most audacious and daring films I've seen in a long time.

Through seemingly disparate and intertwining stories, Solondz's paints us portraits of different troubled souls and is so unabashedly confident in his use of uncomfortable moments that it often borders on the taboo. But there's a curious sense of sadness and emptiness at the core of many of the morally reprehensible things on display that, through the film's keen mix of composition, production design and performances, inexplicably draws you in. You start to question how you can 'feel' for the depraved.

"Happiness" never excuses nor exploits these actions but it harnesses a poignant undercurrent that's both dark and bewildering. It's a challenging experiment that works because of its willingness to invite you into the psyche and lives of these strange people without trying to judge; It shows the strange impulses that drive us without giving any answers. We want someone to love us but if we don't love ourselves first, what can we expect?

It made me think: what if it's not happiness, but company we seek? Or as this film so gently puts it, can you really have one without the other?

There's a tragic sense of volatility that permeates throughout "A Woman Under the Influence" and it makes watching the film quite the harrowing experience. Embedded within the moments of explosive argumentation are quieter moments, some happy and some not, that all feel tense because we know at any moment things are heading to hell in a handbasket. Does this make the film a bad experience? Quite the contrary. John Cassavetes' 1974 family-drama is one of the most immersive film experiences I've ever had.

Gena Rowlands plays Mabel Longhetti, a mentally unsound, erratic LA housewife and mother. Her marriage with her construction-worker husband, Nick (played by Peter Falk), is on thin ice. After a failed attempt at an intimate night due to Nick working late, Mabel heads to the bar to drown her sadness in alcohol where she meets a man and reluctantly goes home with him. From the get-go, it is clear she is a woman under the influence of her own craziness; an influence that will prevent her from any kind of peace of mind.

A dinner with Nick's work friends at the house proves to be a most uncomfortable time. What begins as a happy-go-lucky, pleasant occasion quickly becomes extremely awkward when Mabel's distracting lack of social cues climaxes is Nick yelling at her to 'get her ass down'. A debacle with a kid's parent proves to be the final straw and Nick reluctantly sends her to an institution but not without one of the most painfully raw scenes in which Mabel puts up the fight of her life in order to not be taken away from Nick and her children.

Will the family be okay? Will time away for Mabel be the solution? To know more would giveaway too much and if you've read this far, I encourage you to watch the film; you will see JUST how emotional it is. The film's jazzy score is poignantly fitting to the story, evoking a sense of melancholy that is palpable through all the characters who have any kind of associations to Mabel. But what truly makes this film so impactful - and as trite as this may sound - is the performances which are some of the best I've ever seen.

Gena Rowlands as Mabel is simply transcendant; portraying such an erratic character with such an inherent likability and realism is a most remarkable feat. In wise direction from Cassavetes, we have moments of the camera merely lingering on Gena and this is when her true brilliance shines through. Her mannerisms, down to the smallest detail, and demeanor are so spot-on in this Academy nominated turn; it's acting of the highest caliber. Also incredible is Peter Falk as well as the children; all equally tug at the heartstrings.

This is a mesmerizing cinematic experience electric with its realism and pulsating energy. John Cassavetes reaches deep into the human condition and creates an emotional story that anyone with a soul will feel touched by. It's been said that Cassavetes struggled to find a distributor for this film due to the depressing and dark subject matter. Thank god for Mr. Martin Scorsese who vowed to pull "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" from a NY film festival unless this film was accepted too.