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Film reviews

The Beast Review

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In this film, the future is full of imagined tensions enhanced by artificial intelligence. The direction is pure in portraying human emotions. The writing seems strong and science-based, but gets blurrier as the story transitions. The Beast is about two individuals spanning different generations. While I’m normally a sucker for films set in the future which require audiences to think, I left feeling this movie confused. In short, the film dives into too many different timelines and too many emotions. Frequently, I asked myself, what is the correlation?  Where is the logic? Although there is some artistic value in the film, there is even more melancholy.

The film begins in a future setting where artificial intelligence takes control of people’s minds and lives. The two individuals in this bizarre premise are Gabrielle and Louis (played by Lea Seydoux and George Mackay). They are acquainted with love and relationships in the years 1910, 2014, and 2044. During each period, their relationship status differs. In one generation, they are in love. And, in another generation they are in turmoil. Finally, in yet another generation, they are strangers. The Beastis a tense experimental film. The focus on artificial intelligence leads to some visual brilliance, but the entire film is not executed effectively.

Its limiting factor is that the film keeps drifting back and forth. The dynamic remains serious as The Beast has plenty of turmoil played out in different generations. Still, there is confusion as audiences try to figure out how the eras correlate in these shifting universes.  Love and faith shift yet remain unclear due to  the film’s lack of continuity, The Beast goes down the rabbit hole without clearly evolving.  

Love is lost in turmoil and peril making the fate of the coupleinevitable in The Beast. The film paints a disastrous picture of judgment in the relationship between Gabrielle and Louis. At one point during the 2014 era, Louis says, “I deserve girls!” During that time, they are complete strangers and somehow get acquainted. However, the film’s transition is just a mess createdby a lack of supporting information to explain the events which occur.

There is further confusion when Gabrielle goes back and forth in a mind study in which Louis is also looped in. The Beast tries to convey a message to boost its sci-fi value by including surreal technical and artistic elements. The writing in support of the plot does not do justice to the film’s scenes. I felt repeatedly dissatisfied during the film. At certain points, I was amazed but then again exhausted as I tried to put pieces in the different time periods together.

The personalities and behaviors of Gabrielle and Louis are divergent in the different generations of The Beast. It is asuspenseful thriller which is weakened due to misdirection on a journey to find a futuristic climax. Overall, it was not a terrible experience, but it left me exhausted and wanting for a rewind button. Two out four stars for The Beast.

Film reviews

Arcadian Review

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Arcadian is a surreal film in an apocalyptic setting where there is a sense of disconnect and confusion, but the terror is not the emphasis. The focus of the film is how the deceased world impacts a father and his two sons. Arcadian is a film in whichthe father-figure role fits Nicolas Cage. He portrays a man withserious mindset who takes life into his own hands all day, every day. Cage plays the role as a survivalist father well in this film.  However, the film suffers due to what appears to be rushed writing. Directed by Benjamin Brewer, the realities of peril in this story struggle to find peace in Arcadian.

The film takes place in a primitive land of solitude. The movie was filmed in Dublin, Ireland. Cage plays Paul, the father of twin boys.  The boys are Joseph, played by Jaeden Martell, and Thomas, played by Maxwell Jenkins. They live in a remote farmhouse where the days are very structured.  They have scheduled times to complete their outside tasks and various other responsibilities throughout the day. At night they board up their home, have dinner, and go to sleep. While living in a world where much has been lost, Paul raises his sons in a life where there is no enchantment or bright days of hope. At night, they must lock up. If they do not take precautions, creatures outside their home can put an end to their lives. Not only are Paul and his sons tormented by the creatures that roam at night, but everyone around them is also tormented. Paul tries to prepare Joseph and Thomas to be ready to fight every day of their lives, because one wrong move could be fatal.

The life of solitude and specific repetitive tasks throughout the twins’ childhood plays a major part in the film’s sadness and moments of disconnect. The writing is faithful in finding the roots of conflict between Joseph and Thomas. Joseph is introverted, and Thomas is extraverted. Their father cannot make exceptions for how he has their home lives set up. Paul is intensely strict and focused on safety out of love for them. How long can they all tolerate this way of life? Their family dynamicwhich involves detrimental disagreements and challenges of Paul’s authority gets heated during several scenes in Arcadian.

Everyday frustrations and wishes for normalcy are criticalfactors in this film. There are gaps in the family that may never be fulfilled…not when they live a life of daily quarantine. It makes the audience wonder how life would be if the world was different for this family. Truly, the only way to overcome the challenges they face is for them decide to fight what comes at night.

Paul’s sons are all he has and his role as a father trying to protect them leads to heightened emotions. This film about the impact of quarantine on this family is not amazing, but still worth watching. Where will there story end? Find out in Arcadian. Three out of four stars.

Film reviews

The First Omen Review

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I felt scared with this one. Scared by the meanings and evidence surrounding the mythological moments throughout The First Omen. It is one of those rides where the audience will feel there is something inner within many of the characters. There is also the sense that faith is tested or not serious. With the term “not serious” I mean there is the chance those who act good are truly not. The scariness to The First Omen is the amount of misdirection in the extent while horror is gradually growing. Overall, the horror grows like plants evolving into something where the lines are blurred.

The film gears on Margaret (played by Neil Tiger Free). She is someone that is from the United States and makes her way to Rome to do service at a church. Her arrival is not very pleasing as she crosses dark allies. Many of which are in terms of births of evil spirits. The terms of the church seem to have a level of dishonesty. That is because much of the blame falls onto Margaret. Father Brennan (played by Ralph Inneson) tries to help Margaret. He knows the deeper context of the problems and that Margaret can be in grave danger.

There is no clear angle though to the film’s direction. It keeps its tunes of having its haunting elements float around along with jump scares. The film itself though, just keeps trying to be scary as it possibly can be. It does succeed at that, but lacks writing in the ultimate meaning. It is clear the film is about devils and bad spirits. Those both are in the films subject matter throughout its entirety.

The ones who also have faith in Margaret are Father Harris (played by Charles Dance) and Cardinal Lawrence (played by Bill Nighy). Two men who have been acquainted with churches and have good hearts, but most of the church does not. The lack of positive quality of people is where this film finds its shifting to seem strange. Why is Margaret the one receiving all the blames for any form of devil activities? Why is there a moment where she may be randomly possessed? The film throws in all kinds of worshipping tangents that tend to go overboard and not build a resilience to have a proper meaning of faith. The “faith” lacks purely in the context of the title and its meaning of the horror around the church.

This film feels like a repeat. I have seen fires of flames happen in the matter of sins, I have seen many where those feel possessed, and this one does those same things, but tries to do on the level of being ten times more. It still feels predictable and not special. It is purely a blur. A blur of nonsense and I was not sold with this one. I truly was not. Mostly because of how it geared so much on demonic moments rather over meaning. Two out of four stars.