Change Your Image
tamathews01
Reviews
Leave the World Behind (2023)
It was written by someone who reads a lot of news and half-understands it
Good films with political statements to make tend to work only if they ground their points in something emotionally compelling. It tries to do this and provide an interesting psychological thriller about trusting strangers to stay in the same house, as well as political commentary.
The first part almost works I think, it felt compelling to start with, and although I didn't buy all of the characters decisions it was good enough, and the tension interesting enough to keep going with. Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts are all reliable. If they'd ditched most of the surrounding mystery and never solved it, and focussed just on the dynamics inside the house, and written the interactions a bit better, it could have been a good film.
The problem is that they sprinkle all these clues in for the mystery, and the final reveal just completely flat-out ignores most of them which don't make any sense, and is based on a very very half-baked understanding of current affairs. The plot stitches together a collection of topical keywords and wastes them.
The central idea is that a foreign country would plot to destabilise a rival by using a coup-de-tat, because it is cheap. This is certainly an option and something that larger countries have a history of doing in smaller countries to achieve geopolitical aims.
This 'cheap' intervention turns out to involve developing highly sophisticated sonic explosives that "transmit microwaves through sound" (this was the point where the film tipped over into being actively insulting and aggravating). These explosives cause one person out of 5 to have negative health effects. They have also developed satellite weapons capable of wiping out all global communications systems, and large drones that have been smuggled into America and can operate dropping leaflets without those communications systems. On top of this by the end there are bombs and small-arms fire indicating that someone has managed to organise ground forces for an entire rebellion inside of 2 days, and also hack into everything from power stations to the private networks of companies like Tesla remotely with no-one noticing to perform actions that are highly complex and would in reality cost trillions to orchestrate.
It was very, very American. There is this persistent idea under the surface of American culture that everything will come crashing down and that people can grab a shotgun and live in an every-man-for-himself world. Something certain men are clearly very drawn to fantasising about, but is not realistic.
And also switching off GPS won't cause the manned oil tankers to suddenly beeline for the coast at a 90 degree angle to try and beach themselves. Some tankers getting damage because they end up in areas they shouldn't be? Sure. Random beachings like that? No. Likewise planes would not suddenly all nosedive to crash in certain locations.
The idea that an outside country would stoke divisions to paralyse a country is worth discussing, the threat from cyber-warfare is worth discussing, the fragility of some of the communication systems that underpin modern life is worth discussing, but this film doesn't manage to say anything meaningful about any of these things.
Psychobitch (2019)
Less generic than a synopsis would make it sound
It is a coming of age love triangle situation where opposites attract...
Beneath this though, there are two genuinely interesting characters, whose relationship grows organically and naturally. It was interesting to work out how it was going to be done, and the director did it well.
The other unusual thing is how deeply flawed both main characters were, to the degree that I never really rooted for their relationship, given its cost. Especially in the climactic scene which in any other film would be an 'awww' moment, it had all the same set up, but you know what this will do to other characters (and the avoidable cruelty in it).
It is incredible how cruel a person can be through indecision, and this film definitely showcases that. And for her part Frida went way too far on several occasions. Marius' parents then definitely try to force their son into being the image they want, to the point of just piggy backing his successes and rolling him out at parties to brag.
People are messy, the people in this film were messy. If you like character study type films, it would be worth giving this one a shot.
P. S: Is this communal management of relationships a Norwegian thing? I cringed so much in this film at the fact that people appeared to have a very weak appreciation of boundaries between the public, outer friends and their intimate relationships... The scene with the school nurse encouraging them to talk about their feelings randomly in public (where they all parroted vapid cliche lines to sound like they were contributing) was almost creepy. It may be healthy to discussion emotions and relationship details with others, but not just anyone, in public. Boundaries are healthy... Not to mention the public conversation following a rejected sexual advance... conducted by a friend who apparently was a good friend and had the spurned's best interests at heart (and even permission to do so?). It was none of the business of 90% of the people there.
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Great at first
I went into this film hearing mixed reviews but not knowing much about the plot at all, although i was aware of the hatred it had received from the religious community. I loved the way it neatly tied up the ending, and everything slotted together, when watching the film i thought it was fantastically well researched, and it was nicely paced. However, the thing that really killed this film for me was how badly it was researched. It compiles so much information, and combines it with a legend to make it appear to give it credibility, of course you know its fictional but you expect the data used to back up the fiction has credibility, in fact the outrage the film caused made me more certain that was the case. However most of the facts seem incorrect when researched outside, and many non religious academic people speak out against it. Not just the obvious existence of priory of Sion etc but more of the facts that it lays on constantly throughout the film, and this ruined the film for me afterwards. That being said it was still a very nicely made film, you can go into it and enjoy it, as long as you are not a religious person who gets easily offended. Just keep in mind it is completely fictional, even if the gist of the idea is perhaps realistic. The whole investigative mystery crime it does very well, and the view of corruption it portrays is interesting, and it gives an interesting take on the things people do because of their beliefs. Thus a very good film, enjoyable, intellectual. Just don't read too much into it. If it had been well researched and this had backed up the fiction behind it, it would have vastly improved the film.