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Film reviews

Full Time Review

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Full Time is a compelling and overwhelming movie about being a committed parent coping with continuous stress. The realistic story has empathy and meaning.  There is no easy way out of the hard moments in Full Time. The film takes place in France and the focus is on a mother, Julie Roy (played by Laure Calamy). Julie has two young children and works as a lead housekeeper at a five-star hotel in Paris. She is always on the go and working hard to keep a roof over their heads. She never seems to get a break due to overdue bills, overdrafts, and home maintenance issues. The national transit strikes in Paris only add to Julie’s problems.

In Full Time, the strikes cause Julie to hit her breaking point. The opening of the film starts with Julie’s heavy breathing as she wakes up to start her day. From that point on, the audience will learn why her breathing is so heavy. She is pushing her limits to work, make changes, but also dealing with the constant trial and error that surrounds her life. I was astounded by the poetic energy of the stressors that kept coming at Julie because they were so real and spellbinding.

As the strikes continue, the stress and frustrations mount. Her boss, Sylvie (played by Anne Suarez), starts to get annoyed and concerned with Julie’s behavior as she is at the end of her fuse. She is showing up late and is not on her A game. Julie exclaims, “They can’t fire me for being late during a strike!”  Julie struggles to keep her personal problems at home which results in bringing her problems to work due to her lack of sleep and little support with her children.

Julie has a chance for a better job. However, her underlying problems and the strikes impact her chances of being hired and even her ability to display professionalism. The strikes create exhausting episodes for Julie, but that does not stop her from giving every opportunity a shot. Julie is a go-getter on many levels. She is beyond Full Time given how much she continues the effort for her children and herself.

Full Time gives us hope that Julie has a chance to succeed. for Julie. The issues she faces are detrimental and vivid.  The film is in-depth and realistic in terms of portraying parenting responsibilities. It reminded me how people do what they do best in good times and bad for the ones they love.

Julie loves her children deeply. But can she find more support? Can she find a better job? Will the national transit strikes ever end? Full Time is a graphic portrait of what life can be like for a single parent. The movie makes it clear that it is no picnic for any parent.

Full Time is a nerve-wracking experience. Julie faces much frustration in her aggravating ride as a single mom. The consistency of the pressures in Full Time are mind-boggling. Julie finds herself at risk of losing her current job. She also has anxiety worrying if she will be hired elsewhere or not. Deep down Julie is a good mom and a wonderful person, but she keeps getting thrown curveballs. Full Time is a meaningful film that shows what someone can do when they strive for a better life. Four stars.

Film reviews

Knock at the Cabin Review

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“My secret to all casting, and specifically kids, is cast good human beings.”
-M Night Shyamalan


These words from director M. Night Shyamalan hold true to many of his films, including Knock at The Cabin. Almost every character in the film seems to be a good person, and even the bad people have some good traits. The film has a premise that is startling and creative, and the characterizations are clever if somewhat off. The film lacks somewhat in its moments of terror and suspense, though, and the approach to its premise is cheesy. I also often had to ask myself where the film’s danger was going.

Knock at The Cabin has a setting that is typical for a film by Shyamalan—a cabin that is out in the middle of nowhere—like Signs (2002) and The Village (2004). It was also filmed, like some of his previous films, in areas surrounding New Jersey. Many of Shyamalan’s projects take place around the east coast because that’s where he lives and he doesn’t like to fly.

Knock at the Cabin begins with a girl, Wen, played by Kristen Cui, catching bugs and putting them in a jar. She has traveled to the cabin with her two dads, Eric and Andrew, played by Jonathan Groff and Ben Alridge. Wen is approached by a man named Leonard, played by Dave Bautista, and Wen, Eric, and Andrew soon find themselves being taken hostage by Leonard and his gang. The rest of Leonard’s gang are Sabrina, played by Nikki Amuka-Bird, Redmond, played by Rupert Grint, and Ardiane, played by Abby Quinn. The gang kidnaps them to help reverse an apocalypse. The crazy part of the situation is that the criminals try to remain friendly, but Wen, Eric, and Andrew are all scared for their lives, because they don’t know whether the apocalypse is a hoax or not.

Though the setup and the dialogue is a little hokey, it is also rather intriguing. But it’s hard to take the characters seriously in this odd film. Leonard is a very calm kidnapper, and Groff and Aldridge are a gay couple who are scared, but also kind of oblivious of the situation. I even found myself not following the situation at various points in the film. One of the problems is that the apocalypse doesn’t have a strong elaboration or foundation. It almost seemed that the apocalypse is just present on the back burner, so the film can create strange tensions among the characters.

I don’t want to elaborate too much on the apocalypse in the film, except to say that it’s not a common apocalypse, and it’s relatable to the world today. It also has fragments of strange fantasies mixed in with it. Fantasies in a film by Shyamalan tend to have meaning, and there is meaning to the fantasies in Knock at the Cabin. But again, the foundation for the apocalypse is lacking in the film.

Shyamalan has a gift as a filmmaker, and Knock at the Cabin is not terrible, but it’s not great either. It’s better than some of his previous films, but still lacks in quality. The film does have many surprises, and it can be suspenseful in a funny way. And as mentioned, the characterizations are off, but the film is still relatively fun and creative. Two and a half stars for Knock at the Cabin.

Film reviews

Infinity Pool Review

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The term Infinity means unlimited, endless, without bound. In the film, Infinity Pool, the bizarre scenarios are continuous and disturbing to a harrowing extent. Director Brandon Cronenberg shares the same vision as his father, David Cronenberg, with Infinity Pool. Specifically, they want to make films that challenge what audiences can handle in terms of repulsive factors. However, I have more respect for David Cronenberg, because he still makes films that are outside the realm of surreal horror. Brandon is still new to the directing game, but with Infinity Pool, it seems like he tries to top his father’s directing by throwing in tangents that are overwhelming to the viewer’s mind. Infinity Pool makes dreams a reality, and it does so with tainted judgment set in an eccentric world.

As I watched Infinity Pool, many moments of feeling eerie stuck with me throughout the experience. The concept of mixing reality and fiction makes the terror feel alive in Infinity Pool. The film takes one moment of violence and continues with it in other strange and creative ways. The director remains committed to bringing his audience into a nightmare that is anxiety-provoking. In Infinity Pool, there are no rules, no back up, and no boundaries to the weird spiral of events that happen in sequence. The casting of Alexander Skarsgard, Mia Goth, and Cleopatra Coleman are perfect for this horror adventure. With Skarsgard having previously done dark and serious roles, he has a fittingly daring personality. With Goth being in several horror films recently, she has the right attitude for risqué and dangerous behavior. Finally, with Coleman as someone with an artistic side who has many emotions, she is the one who knows there is grave danger throughout the film. The many personalities in Infinity Pool drive the film’s shock value.

The film focuses on a couple, James, and Em Foster (Skarsgard and Coleman). They are vacationing around a fictional island called La Tolqa at an all-inclusive resort. James is a writer, and what Em does is not discussed. They are a quiet couple just trying to escape reality. Their trip starts to take a turn for the worse after a fatal accident. As the punishments for the accident are faced, the world of Infinity Pool starts to take its audience on a ride that is hard to understand. The island becomes a place where there are no norms and involves a subculture of tourism that is hedonistic. James’ behavior becomes more destructive as he falls under the bad influence of Gabi (Goth).  He finds himself in a world where he cannot control the dangers, he has surrounded himself with. Infinity Pool is a place where freedom and suffering goes wrong. It is a film that crosses extreme boundaries of terror.

There is a warning before the film starts saying the film may have lighting moments that are flashy, and that for those who have epilepsy to reconsider experiencing Infinity Pool. Even for me, the flashing moments during dangerous elements were somewhat nightmarish. The experience was not enjoyable, but it is typical for the visionary images that the elder Cronenberg is legendary for. Now that the son of Cronenberg is creating a weird world of his own, it is an adventure where reality is not as promising or delightful as many see in their dreams. The mind of Brandon Cronenberg will change the way audiences view the Cronenberg legacy with Infinity Pool.

This movie is not amazing, but it requires an open mind like other films by Cronenberg. It is important to bear in mind that this is a film made by David Cronenberg’s son. Infinity Pool made me think back to many of his father’s films I love because of how they crossed limits which made them masterpieces. Brandon’s Infinity Pool is shy of a masterpiece, but it is still surreal. Three stars for Infinity Pool.