Shilo_R_A

Despite the impressive critical acclaim Phantom Thread has received, Johnny Greenwood striking again with a strong soundtrack, a solid cast, beautiful cinematography from PTA himself and in short, quite a large amount of technical achievements that deserve praise, I feel just a bit let down by this film, emotionally and thematically. I know Paul can do more. This movie tries to depict love as a destructive force that takes over your life, dragging you into this spiral of poison, passion and struggle that leave you weak, fragile. This theme, that theoretically could've been adored by yours truly, is explored in a way that's too stiff for me, in all levels, really. I'm into this movie, but not fully immersed, if you get my drift. I'm feeling a 6.9/10 on this one.

Everything Everywhere All at Once has quite an impressive scope, especially when looking at its small crew and relatively low budget. It's a wholesome movie that, not without an ounce of beauty, explores generational trauma (or, at the very least, related toxic behavior), regret, the search for meaning, and it generally has quite a lot of whackiness. This tonal choice works at times, and at others falls flat. The main villain, for instance, is one aspect where the whackiness turned into obnoxiousness, and the humor here sometimes feels like outdated YouTube skit humor. But still: the action is fluid and creative, pacing is solid, and despite being cheesy this movie manages to move something, at least to an extent, emotionally. Oh, and the effects are really creative. It's not an amazing movie, not even a full-on good one in my opinion, but it is a very nice film, I'd say. Feeling a 6.9/10 on this one.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is so well-made, with many elements, both big and small, that come together to form this strong, unsettling sense that something here is deeply wrong. The themes revolve around God complex, classic patriarchal male characteristics, cruel fate and so-called justice - maybe also some criticism of the very idea of a perfect, yet distant God - are so interesting, and in my opinion those themes can be unraveled and discussed for quite a while. The cast is great, and the plot was really engaging for me, even if in a slow burn sense. This movie is a descent into distant madness, with an unconventional, beautiful cinematography, eccentric angles, super wide shots in unexpected places and truly great compositions. Kubrick is one of Lanthimos' favorite directors, and this is very evident here, I'd say, even though Lanthimos definitely does his own thing. It's the first full-on great movie I've seen in quite a long while, and I think I'm feeling an 8.3/10 on this one.