Catocala

We follow our 'hero' and journalist Carpenter, as she and her cameraman basically shoot a 'following the fire department for a day' piece of journalism. The situation gets increasingly more dire, with a good buildup during the course of the film.

Fantastic acting by Carpenter. It is really over the top in some scenes, however, she aces the beyond-panic state of mind and it serves a purpose.

Most movies dehumanize this type of behavior. You got the trope of the bad person freaking out, throwing others under the bus, or the annoying coward who just wrecks it for everybody etc. All the clichés are very negative.

But how often do you get a fleshed out main character, super likable and relatable, where as a viewer you can actually say "I get it" instead of "what a wimp"? Her fear doesn't make her less of a survivor or weaker per sé, but mainly just shows a realistic reaction to the events that occur.

It's original in the way this movie chose to portray her that way. In a way, it makes the movie scarier, letting the viewer feel the despair instead some main character going full Rambo.

Now for a negative, I do think the intro of the movie is too long. It takes about an episode length just to finally get to the apartment building. If it were to bring more depth to the characters, then sure, but the story was too flat and straightforward for that; so that part got boring.

The ending (no spoilers) didn't feel right to me personally. It was hardly original and a bit of a cop out. It would be interesting to know what happens after the final shot. How the outside world is doing and how the cleanup would happen e.g.

The story, riddled with plot holes by the way, is what holds this scary movie back from being great. The script is mostly superficial and not that interesting; more of a vehicle to move things along than actually interesting dialogue (aside from a few scenes). But the few things said still beckoned more questions than they answered. I won't tire you with a list, but I would recommend you suspend your disbelief and just go watch it.

A happy family, firmly religious yet innocent and valued members of their communities. Until the son gets his doubts about his father, when he sees some hints that correlate to a serial murderer who went dormant over a decade ago...

The movie shines in its chilling way it shows the true killer at work: methodical, quiet, without flair or drama. No special effects yet hard to watch. Realistic and smart choices are made. E.g. Where cliché thrillers choose the dark to scare their viewers, this one has some daylight scenes that are so much harder to watch. It is so realistic, it makes it all the more terrifying: this could actually happen.

It's downsides are mainly twofold. The realism is interceded by moments of silly actions of some of the characters. Some scenes will have you at the edge of your seat, others will have you yell at the screen.

The second is plot development. Most of all: the truth is uncovered almost immediately. Then, quite late on, there are some later "twists" that were obvious earlier in the movie, being revealed as if unexpected, or otherwise stunted scenes. For every element out of place, it was really obvious it was done that way for the plot to develop the way it did. It made it feel clumsy, more like the standard serial killer movie with 'dumb' scenes/choices, even though this movie has a lot more to offer.

The themes are so good, for example the way families interact with each other (heavy involvement in some ways, distant in others, ways of bonding between parent and child, etc.). Moreover, religion as a symbol for pretending to be better than you are is amazing. The thin veil of religion, the dangers of cult-like behavior, repression, conformism, power dynamics. All add to the story, showing how it can increase the likelihood of anyone's nasty traits being overlooked or shoved under the rug: I would love to make a review video on the themes alone! However, to round off this review, just a special mention for the acting.

The sheep in wolf's clothing is portrayed accurately by Dylan McDermott. He doesn't overplay the loving father as faux-naif too much, though the script at times makes it impossible not to. The darker side he bring about in a less impressive yet believable way. He brings a less dramatic, cold, more manipulative attitude realistic. This solid acting could have left you guessing, were it not for the obvious plot. He and Plummer play the compliant, closed off son and the intimidating yet doting dad very well.

Definitely give this movie a watch, it has its moments where it takes you out of it, but mostly keeps you locked into a disturbing and psychological evening. I wouldn't watch it a second time, but mainly the way the themes were perfectly real-world really pushed this movie over the average bar.

As a lover of the zombie genre, I went to the theaters excited. 28 days later was fantastic and 28 weeks later good, so I was excited to have Danny Boyle return as the director for this third installment. Like the first movie, I expected for a great atmosphere that would make your throat clench from the sheer dread of the post-apocalyptic nightmare. Instead I got a movie that doesn't even know how fast it wanted to throw gigantic plot holes and laughable story elements at us. And the saddest thing is, the main concept in the beginning was awesome, so it could have been great had they kept it just the tiniest bit realistic.

Firstly, props to the actors: they really did their part. However, with an incoherent messy storytelling, there was no saving it. Especially Ralph Fiennes talent is wasted. I suspect he was hired to slap his famous name on the moviecover.

The opening scene is intense and cool, yet has almost nothing to do with the movie, except for a totally ridiculous and unnecessary ending scene.

After the cool, yet nothing-to-do-with-the-rest-of-the-movie opening, the plot as explained in the imdb summary begins. You will try to tie the opening into the story and fail. Then the storytelling takes a turn for the worse as soon as the first mainland exploration unfolds.

As mentioned in the summary, the "secrets and wonders" are encountered. It makes it hard to care about anything that happens after a certain point. The suspension of disbelief is tested to the point of breaking. A few cheap attempts to tug at our heartstrings. Bonkers, disjointed concepts that are randomly thrown into the mix, like the writers threw crap at the wall to see if anything would stick, nothing stuck and they decided to keep it all in.

Some (dis)honorable mentions, but in vague terms as not to spoil: they felt the need to upgrade an already OP zombie type?! Or healing placenta? Or the videogame-level zombie categories? Also fattist much lol? (If you know, you know). Let alone Ralph Fiennes whole character!

I wish I could discuss all the idiotic plot points, but no spoilers for those who still choose to put themselves through this film. If you're a zombie fanatic like me, you probably will. I salute you, but be prepared for some Looney Toons level stupidity.