The Tearsmith

I didn't read the book so I don't know if it's a good adaptation but as a movie it's.. mediocre. A shallow drama.

First though, let me just praise the leads. They really sell the chemistry for their characters. The longing and all that. Bonus that both are handsome people.

Now for the bad. The plot... while I was interested in the premise as I thought it had potential for depth it only gave me something shallow. They didn't give time for the trauma of their past to take root so it hits different. Would've been so much better if they really dug into the abuse, mental health issues, ptsd etc but everything got glossed over even during the scenes it's highlighted.

While I liked the base chemistry of the actors the actual romance between the them is non existent. They never built it up so it's just there. Very weak foundation is just not good. Because why should I care about these character's love for each other?

The most atrocious is the pacing... there's very bizarre cuts of time that forces you to fill it in yourself because they jumped over it so you're noticably missing chunks of scenes.

Shout out too for that bad insert of Olivia's song that was so out of place and the cringe acting for some of the actors.

Anyway overall this reminds me a lot of Royalteen... which to both would have been better as a limited series of sort to really delve into the characters' struggles, why they act they way they do, so you can actually empathize with them while the romance is a B-plot to create that slow burn. But alas this wasn't it.

Warning: Some brief nudity, attempted rape.

We went into The Tearsmith completely blind, not knowing it was based on a novel, and I have to say, it was a surprisingly solid pick for a Netflix foreign film, especially considering the expectations surrounding such movies. Mimikyu and Amy were all about the romance angle from the start (they were the ones who planned this movie night), and honestly, they hit the nail on the head with this one. The film's gothic atmosphere and mysterious aura grabbed Winny's attention right from the beginning. He loved the dark cinematography and how it set the mood for the entire film-it felt like a strange, beautiful world that you'd want to get lost in.

Mimikyu and Amy, true romantics at heart, were all about the chemistry between the two main characters. The way the relationship developed really spoke to them-they were totally invested in their love story. There's this emotional depth that pulls you in, and even though the characters' backstories aren't as fleshed out as we might've liked, it's still enough to keep you captivated. They both agreed that the cast did a great job in their roles, and it felt authentic, though it's clear the film is made for a younger, teen audience.

Sweet, on the other hand, was really curious about the term "The Tearsmith"-which, honestly, was one of those things that left us wondering a bit. The meaning of the term isn't fully explained, and while it adds to the mystique of the film, Sweet couldn't help but dig for a deeper understanding of it. That said, the film does a good job creating intrigue, even if some elements felt a little under-explained.

The bad parts? The movie could've dived a bit deeper into the characters and their development. The story leans heavily on the emotional connection between the leads, but at times it felt like it could've used a bit more substance. Also, some of the plot points felt rushed towards the end, which left us a bit confused. Still, the movie is visually stunning and the atmosphere makes up for some of these shortcomings.

All in all, The Tearsmith is a solid romantic drama that's dark, mysterious, and emotional. If you're into films that lean into mood over fast-paced action, then this is definitely worth a watch. Just be prepared for a somewhat slow burn and a few unanswered questions. But if you're a fan of emotionally charged romance with a touch of gothic allure, this one's for you.

Rating: 7/10.

I don't understand all the bad reviews - It's a good movie. Is it Oscar worthy? No of course not. Is it predictable? Yes but why be upset about it. Surely most people who watched or plan to watch the movie knew/know exactly what they were getting themselves into, so why be so hypocritical. This movie is watchable and a great way to escape reality for 2 hours. The dark cinematography adds a mysterious element and with an attractive cast, it goes well together. If you're not into dark romantic movies, then you should move along to something else. If you're going to watch it, just lower your expectations and enjoy the cheese.

Based on the Italian novel, you would think "The Tearsmith" would be a beautiful dark romance with fitting dialogues and a seething, intriguing plot-line, but it was rather underwhelming.

SUMMARY OF MY THOUGHTS: The movie is mediocre in my opinion. But if someone asked me if they should watch it, I'd probably tell them not to sweat it. The trailer made me anticipate what turned out to be underwhelming and poorly made in terms of depth and pacing, along with a poorly constructed plot line. The vibes and cinematography were great though, and the chemistry between the actors was present. But mostly it's a basic forbidden romance that delivered less than it promised. So I guess you can watch it if you're a young teen that likes to fantasise about forbidden romances, and look at beautiful things. The movie is beautiful visually, but not so much practically.

If you want to know an in depth explanation on my thoughts, continue reading.

PLOT: (-) The plot in general is basic and poor, even in the novel. But the book was saved due to the beautiful writing, but it didn't translate very well on screen. On screen the plot just felt like it was adapted from a steamy forbidden romance web novel written by a teenager.

AWKWARD: (-) The Italian novel it is based on is great, but that didn't translate very well on screen. Most of the movie was awkward, from the dialogues to the pacing. The dialogues were rather dramatic and cringey to be in a feature film, making it seem like it is based off a fan fiction novel written by a desperate teen.

Dramatic "alpha male" dialogues make sense to read in the form of a book, but in a film where it is acted out, it is hard to watch unless you're a part of the same testosterone energy desperate flock.

As a non Italian speaker, reading subtitles of such scenes may have increased the awkwardness I felt.

PACING: (-) The novella is lengthy, so adapting it into a movie less than 2 hours long is difficult, and a bad decision.

The extremely fast pacing of the movie made the characters and story loose their depth. As soon as the movie started, it already felt like they were rushing to finish it and show as many scenes as they can.

The fast pacing prevented us from seeing a natural development of the characters' relationships so it's a shame.

Although the actors had good chemistry together, the chemistry just didn't make sense.

In general, the speed of scene flow just threw me off and made most scenes seem non-sensical and unrelated.

Perhaps it would've flowed better if it was made into a short series rather than a movie, not that I would've like it either way.

LACK OF DEPTH OF MALE LEAD: (-) As someone who read 70% of the novel, I think that the novel itself lacked enough of Rigel's (Male Lead) back story.

So you can assume how much worse it was in the movie. Due to there not being enough emphasis on why Rigel felt the way he did, behaved the way he did, or even liked Nica (Female Lead) the way he did in the first place, it was hard to empathise with him as a character, though he's very likeable.

The actor that performed the role of Rigel, did a good job nonetheless.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: (+) Needless to say, the cinematography and frames of the movie were deliciously done. The color grading only added on to the beauty of the film. The cinematography contrasted really well according to the setting, and was very fitting for the characters.

The dark, eerie, yet beautiful shots I saw in the trailer are what made me anticipate watching it in the first place.

All in all, good vibes.

SOUNDTRACK: (±) The soundtrack was decent. I suppose the piano pieces might've saved the movie. Otherwise the Billie eilish song placement was okay.

Though I have to say, the songs had great timing, but the Olivia song was so random and uncalled for. It was very unfitting and made me cringe at its placement. Especially since Vampires in general having nothing to do with the film, and the pop genre itself is a bad contrast with it.

CHEMISTRY/ACTING: (+) The actors did a great job, inspite of this being their first feature film. They sold the chemistry between the characters pretty well inspite of the terrible pacing of the movie.

Though I felt the acting of the actress that played Nica, was rather bleak, lacking diversity, perhaps that's her own interpretation of the character. So I won't judge too harshly.

The actor that played Rigel, did a decent job, but I felt as though he wasn't able to sell the "new boy crush" persona at school too well, since the only charisma I felt from his was due to his appearance, but much less from his demeanour. Maybe working on that would've helped him ooze with charisma and sex-appeal more, since his poses looked borderline uncomfortable and unnatural most of the time.

This is why workshops before starting to film a movie are so important, not just to develop charisma between the characters, but also to work on their individual plots.

Although I have to say, one scene towards the end, on the bridge that was seen in the trailer, was borderline cringey, as much because of its acting as it is because of the direction and construction.

CASTING: (+) The casting of the actors was better than one could ask for, including the child actors. That's one thing I could clap for.

TARGET AUDIENCE: (±) This movie will be disliked by 70% of the watchers. The 20% that like it will probably be aroused teens and young adults that like to be titillated, and are pleased by visually beautiful aesthetics.

That's all.

So. You cannot compare something like this to your Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption or Schindler's List, but if you go in thinking "hey, you know what, I fancy some sort of simple angsty drama romance with a tad more depth", you will find it meets just that.

I'm reading other reviews and they mention it's based off of a book and, when I fancy a bit of light reading that doesn't require a huge amount of brainpower, I'll be there. It feels like one of those coin-buying app novels where every chapter is a cliffhanger designed to keep you reading and written by someone who does it to pass the time but knows what's required to earn the big bucks.

Everyone is very characterised; you've got your inside, sunglasses-wearing villain with a cane, you've got the chisel-jawed, talented heartthrob brother (who isn't really your brother) as the male protagonist, you've got your strong-ish but also damsel-in-distress-ish female protagonist and you then decide to throw in your 2-Dimensional best friends who are either "just ugly" or going through "unrequited love" and boom: we got ourselves a story. I'm not going into how it insults each party, otherwise we'd be here all day, but I do simply want to say that the 2D friends just really angered me in the way they were "used". They added literally nothing to the story, just thrown in there for the sake of it and maybe to seem "more edgy". Hence, insulting.

I'm glad I read the reviews first because then I knew what I was walking into. I'll be honest, I saw more chemistry between these two main characters than the actors who were the leads in "One Day". Shoot me, if you will, but that's my honest opinion. The music was actually top-notch. Again, very angsty, very teenage-drama, and it hit the nail on the head for what it was aiming to be. Whack in some moody lighting and some - actually, honestly - pretty well-filmed cinematography and you've got yourself a reasonable watch.

Others have compared it to Twilight and I can't help but agree. In fact, I'd go as far to say that the acting of the main protagonists was actually better (in this, there was more lip-biting from the guy than the gal in comparison).

Dissecting what the writer likely would label as the "deep and meaningful" part of their story regarding what they went through as children...it's a gentle subject for an awful lot of people, so this is where it's important to acknowledge the mark. Do I think it was highlighted as an important, deep and meaningful part of the storyline? No. The focus here was the romance and chemistry of our two protagonists. Then the rest of the issues were written around it to boost their relationship. If it meant to come across as the main point being victims finally standing up and calling out their abusers as the main subject, it fails. Because from what I saw, it's just about how two people came to love and support each other despite their awful upbringings.

Once you bring it down to that, I have to say, it was actually "alright". I won't be watching it again anytime soon, unless I'm wanting something on in the background as I paint my house's living room walls. I'm pleased, however, for those who found it particularly enjoyable because at the end of the day, each to their own and if you want to read further into the message (which is literally explained over and over again in a post-recorded narration because it presumes we're all stupid) then fair enough. Your passion is your passion.

I will say that it doesn't deserve below a 4 star review - even if you hated it, and I can empathise - because the casting, lighting, cinematography and (some of the) acting was actually not that bad.

Give it a shot if you're feeling poorly and taking a day off school or work.