Veleno

Poison is a short film filled with tension pretty much instantaneously, initially feeling like a fun piece of style over substance until its final moments in which it suddenly gets a lot darker with an ending designed to leave a lasting impression.

Fulfilling the promise of Henry Sugar, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley all get a much welcome second go at playing in the world of Wes. With Cumberbatch mostly restricted to a bed Dev Patel becomes the standout, still perfect with his delivery and mannerisms.

Wes Anderson's direction is always flawless in its visual construction, the sets here remain gorgeous to look at but a lot smaller in scale and the best surprise here is Wes showing that his usual, heightened style actually works really well for crafting tension.

This is a very simple story in which we find the protagonist lying in bed and suffering. This tries to be solved by his partner and also by the help of a doctor.

The acting in this Short story is great, Benedict Cumberbatch Manages to perform his character to perfection just by lying in bed and moving his face. I also want to point out the sparks of comedy that this story has, makes me remember that funny Doctor Strange. Together with the other two characters actings, the magic of Wes Anderson and the resources that he uses to sweeten the story and make it Sooooo tense, they create a magic story which is not really that magic.

After watching the other tales, this one shows too much of the story which takes some importance off the narrator.

¡Go watch it by yourself!

"I'm sorry."

"You can't be."

What an ending. It's so devastating that it left me a bit speechless. No matter the good deeds you do for others, it will be ignored because your race and religion is a problem for some people.

And that brings the end to the daily Wes Anderson's Netflix-Journey. I'm sad that it's over but I'm happy it exists.

Dev Patel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Richard Ayoade, and Rupert Friend were all terrific.

AI and dumb TikTok users could never do this. All these short films are the finest work from Mr. Anderson. I hope he makes more movies like this in the future.

Woods gets home to find his friend Harry lying motionless in bed. He dare not move as there's a highly venomous snake lying on his stomach. After the shock has subsided, Woods calls a local doctor who brings with him the anti-venom. Now, how to move the snake?

Another of Wes Anderson's four-episode short story-series, all adaptations of Roald Dahl stories. The others in the series are The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, The Swan and The Rat Catcher.

Wes Anderson adapting a Roald Dahl story seems a perfect combination: the clever innocence of Dahl's writing, Anderson's whimsical, stylised direction. It's been done before, to great effect; 'Fantastic Mr Fox' (2009) was brilliant.

Poison is similar to the other three short films in the series in that it contains narration with the narrator talking in short, bullet-point-like sentences, an engaging story and some quirky backdrops and props. The backdrops are bit less of a factor here, due to this film being set almost entirely in one location.

The other three had a nasty habit of leaving you dangling at the end - setting you up with an engaging, seemingly set up for a powerful ending and then just fizzling out, sans punchline. This one seemed to be heading to buck the trend but, alas, it is more of the same. There is a half-theme around ungraciousness and racism at the end but it really isn't developed well enough to have an impact.

Interesting enough, just don't expect too much of the conclusion.

My last viewing and an excellent conclusion. At this point I am again aware of my high regard for Anderson's work and the resulting standing. What director can celebrate such artistic freedom, dancing on the threshold between mainstream and arthouse. Back to the film. A suspenseful beginning, immediately awakens my empathy, compassion. Tension, not a typical Anderson stylistic device, in fact none at all. But it works, it is maintained, also by not playing too many games. Plus an ending with reverberation, finally. At least for me, I had missed that in the other episodes. My favourite of the series.