Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 135

Best. Christmas. Ever! Review – Decent at Best

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Plot overview: Jackie Jennings has it all: a successful, hot husband, a 10-year-old daughter already studying at Harvard, a son working to aid underprivileged countries, and an early retirement plan in motion after selling her business at a great price. Charlotte Sanders is sure Jackie is exaggerating about her life and decides to expose the truth when her family ends up winding up at Jackie’s gorgeous house for Christmas.

Directed by Mary Lambert, the 2023 movie “Best. Christmas. Ever!” has been written by Todd Calgi Gallicano and Charles Shyer. Heather Graham plays the cynical Charlotte Sanders, an inventor who is married to Rob (Jason Biggs) and has two quirky preteen kids – Dora (Abby Villasmil) who believes she might be a superhero and the asocial Grant (Wyatt Hunt) whose only friend is his creepy stuffed monkey. Brandy Norwood brings in the Christmas spirit with her cheery persona as the ‘perfect’ Jackie, who does prove to be an excellent host.

While the cinematography of “Best. Christmas. Ever!” gets all palette and mood of the holiday season on point, the plot isn’t very gripping. An envious woman poking around in a friend’s house sounds like the protagonist who should be in a school/college flick for teens or young adults. And that’s really the biggest pitfall of the plot – it deals with themes that are uninteresting for kids and far too simple for older viewers. A little sub-plot about Jackie’s daughter, Beatrix (Madison Skye Validum), trying to investigate if Santa Claus is real could have been a lot more fun if Jackie wasn’t portrayed as a genius already studying at Harvard. I mean, 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper was questioning the absurdity of religion itself in ‘Young Sheldon’ while still in school. Although, a lot of viewers might find the Beatrix sub-plot amusing and Madison Skye Validum is adorable as a little curious geek girl.

Like a good Christmas film, the theme of “Best. Christmas. Ever!” is about sharing, caring, not being envious of your friends and looking on the bright side of life. Although, it seems like you’d need a millionaire friend like Jackie Jennings to help you solve some of your problems. Except for Brandy Norwood, who pulls off the “too good to be true” role of Jackie, the rest of the adult cast aren’t able to pull you into the story. The climax was predictable but managed to tug at the heartstrings, delivering the overarching message that even wealthy families face problems. Yeah, just a tiny tinge of sarcasm in the sentence. Anyway… Overall, it’s a forgettable film that you can watch while having dinner without exercising your brain.

Rating: 5.5 on 10. You can stream “Best. Christmas. Ever!” on Netflix.

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Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Review – Fun-Fueled Ride

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

“What the hell? No fights? No kissing? This finale sucks!” exclaims Scott Pilgrim at some point towards the end of the 2023 animated series. But rest assured, the finale doesn’t suck. Although, to fully enjoy this re-imagination of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series, you have to have read the books or seen the 2010 film. I say “re-imagination”, because it’s not a simple-direct adaptation and while the first episode lulls you into believing this series is a copy-paste job in animated format, the rest of the seven episodes are very different from the original comics. But the show retains the exaggerated fantasy-action and comedy elements. Although fair warning – the first episode is surprisingly slow and gets challenging to watch, however things get pretty fun after that.

Directed by Abel Gongora and written by Bryan Lee O’Malley and BenDavid Grabinski, “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” comprises of eight episodes and features the voices of all the actors who starred in the 2010 movie “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”. So Michael Cera voiced the animated Scott, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is his dream girl Ramona Flowers, Kieran Culkin the cool gay roommate Wallace Wells, while Brie Larson is the ex-girlfriend Envy Adams. The plot starts off just like Scott Pilgrim Volume 1, where protagonist Scott, an unemployed 23-year-old (who also plays in an Indie band), falls in love with a girl named Ramona Flowers. Right after their first date, a random guy challenges Scott to a fight to the death, claiming to be part of a league consisting of Ramona’s seven evil exes. Scott must defeat all of them to continue dating Ramona.

The animation style is faithful to the original artwork by Bryan Lee O’Malley in the illustrated books. Just like the comics, the animation styles change intermittently, incorporating a lot of retro gaming graphics and there are also some brief Japanese anime-like scenes in episode six. The music incorporated into the series is quite amusing, even though there aren’t a lot of scenes featuring Scott’s Indie band – Sex Bob-omb – which includes his ex-girlfriend Kim Pine (Alison Pill) and tired friend Stephen Stills (Mark Webber). Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) and Wallace continue to be the most entertaining characters in the Scott Pilgrim universe, and the show also presents all seven evil exes in a whole new light. There are several new hilarious subplots, such as one involving Scott’s friend Young Neil (Johnny Simmons) writing a screenplay based on Scott’s life. The screenplay is then turned into a high-budget movie where one of Ramona’s evil exes plays Scott, while Ramona herself ends up working as a stunt double for an actor portraying her.

“Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” focuses a lot more on Ramona Flowers and but I am not going to say anything about the massive changes in the plot to avoid spoilers. Let’s just say, it unfolds more like a comedic-mystery story, instead of the plain “fight, fight, fight until you win” plot. Except for the slightly slow pace in the first two episodes, this animated series is highly entertaining, featuring numerous fights that unfold in a Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat fashion. Ramona and Scott do a lot more introspection into their relationship and romance is taken slightly more seriously in this tweaked version. Overall, it’s a fun watch for the weekend.

Stream the series on Netflix.

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Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 17 Review

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Hope you are here after Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 16. Minor spoilers ahead

After consistently delivering fast-paced, gritty episodes week after week, Studio MAPPA has knocked it out of the park yet again with season 2 episode 17. So, five out of five stars for yet another epic edition adapted from the panels of manga-master Gege Akutami. It’s a little difficult to put in words just how brilliant this episode was and arguably one of the best yet! And the events are all accompanied by a gritty soundtrack that pulls you right into the middle of the action, as if you are watching Shibuya go up in flames first-hand.

Titled “Thunderclap Part II,” the episode starts with a brief flashback of Yuji in a bright yellow hoodie against a sunny section of a hospital where his grandfather gives him a word of advice: “Yuji, you are very strong, so go help others.” The scene then shifts to the present, cleverly contrasting both the mood and color palette with the dark, devastated Shibuya, with the focus on the black-hooded Yuji being controlled by the evil Sukuna. The intro song rolls in and the attention turns to a fatally injured Megumi, who if you remember, was unscrupulously attacked from the back by Haruta Shigemo, the blonde-haired childish yet psychotic antagonist. Realizing the odds are stacked against him, Megumi summons a practically uncontrollable Shikigami called Mahoraga, which is akin to placing a bet on his own demise.

If you thought the Jogo versus Sukuna face-off was a hell of a fight, wait until you watch this edition, which, like its title, feels like a thunderclap. Things unfold at lightning speed; there’s a lot of blood, blaze, and Shibuya is battered to the core in the new battle that takes place in its precinct. This time around, there’s no time for little jokes or lighter moments throughout the runtime. Instead, there’s only death, disaster, and darkness, with a visceral scene of Yuji Itadori lamenting his body’s exploitation by the Satanic Sukuna. Junichi Suwabe, who lends his voice to Sukuna, makes the character sound like a casual anti-God, and fans are here for it.

For the first time, I strongly felt that maybe I should’ve read the manga series by Gege Akutami because there’s so much happening in such a short span of time. It’s hard to keep track of every little detail. However, the anime, like always, incorporates flashbacks and narration to help non-manga readers understand the gist of what’s happening. We are explained that Mahoraga is the most powerful Shikigami to exist and can only be summoned through the ten shadows technique that has been passed down in the Zenin family.

I plan to watch this episode once again to take in all the details of the animation, which was freakishly good. All the MAPPA animators deserve a break and a raise for consistently raising the bar with their work and keeping viewers hooked to every second.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 17 ends with a revelation/cliffhanger which would be thrilling for those who haven’t already read the Shibuya arc.

You can stream the series on Netflix or CrunchyRoll.

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Congrats My Ex! Review – Everybody Wins, Save the Bride

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

A wedding planner reluctantly takes on the job of organizing her Indian ex-boyfriend’s big-fat destination wedding in Thailand, but her lingering feelings threaten to complicate the event. Directed by Prueksa Amaruji, “Congrats My Ex!” is a colorful and vibrant Thai romantic-comedy starring Bella Ranee Campen as protagonist Risa, who is still not over her ex, Arun (Mahir Pandhi), yet agrees to plan his wedding for the fat paycheck it offers. In a twist, she is forced to hire another ex-boyfriend, Tim (Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree), as the wedding photographer, and he seems to still have feelings for Risa.

The bright color palette of “Congrats My Ex!” captures the theme and mood of an Indian wedding perfectly, with lots of yellow and red hues dominating the scenes of haldi, mehendi, and all the other ceremonies. The first few minutes are hilariously engaging. It begins with a spooky prank staged by Risa and her wedding-planner colleagues for a man looking to propose to his girlfriend. However, the prank goes horribly wrong, and Risa’s firm ends up spending more than what they make out of the gig. Fern Passakorn Ponlaboon and Pingpong Thongchai Thongkanthom play Jan and Offy respectively, Risa’s closest friends and colleagues. Both the actors are comically cute in their supporting roles, too bad they don’t get much space as the plot progresses.

Fern Passakorn Ponlaboon, Bella Ranee Campen & Pingpong Thongchai Thongkanthom in a still from the film.

To incorporate some Bollywood-style singing and dancing, the first half of “Congrats My Ex!” features a song sequence where Jan and Offy sing about Risa and Arun’s past. While the track is mildly comical and largely forgettable, the second half boasts a foot-tapping song, “Hai Shava,” that everyone dances to during the sangeet. It’s well-choreographed, enjoyable with most of the primary cast decked in gorgeous Indian outfits.

Bella Ranee Campen delivers an entertaining performance as Risa, but she struggles with the English dialogues, which are abundant in the film due to her interactions with Arun, his fiancée Monica (Anahita Bhooshan), and other Indian guests. Given the script’s reliance on English dialogues and Risa’s supposed college experience in England, casting a Thai actor more proficient in English would’ve have enhanced the overall communication. Some emotional scenes between Arun and Risa lack impact due to Bella’s choppy English. While Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree’s English as Tim proficiency is also limited, yet it aligns with his character’s local background, unlike the UK-educated Risa. Bright is adorable as the jack-of-all-trades Tim, while Mahir Pandhi too is amusing as the smooth-talking Arun.

While the kaleidoscopic cinematography and the initial comedic scenes keep you entertained, the film becomes all show and no tale by the end. Well, not no tale, but a stale tale. Wrapped in the glamorous grandness of a wealthy family event. With Risa harboring feelings for Arun, a predictable climactic conflict unfolds, causing heartache for Monica. She is essentially gaslighted by everyone around her, leading her to believe she is wrong in her perception of events, and that everything is hunky-dory. For most of her role, Anahita Bhooshan is just expected to be a blushing happy bride, but she gets the most emotionally charged scene in the climax and delivers it with a punch. Regrettably, “Congrats My Ex!” concludes with a deceptively “happy ending,” leaving everyone except the bride with a more than satisfactory outcome.

Watch “Congrats My Ex!” if you are looking for light romantic-comedy featuring shiny pretty places and people.

Rating: 6 on 10. You can stream the film on Prime Video.

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I Feel You Linger In The Air Series Review

Jom, an architect, begins to experience supernatural events while renovating a historic house. While working on the new project, he meets with an accident, almost drowning to death. He then wakes up near the same house but in a completely different era. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Violet Rain, “I Feel You Linger in the Air” (original title: Hom Klin Khwam Rak) is a 12 episode Thai series directed by Tee Bundit Sintanaparadee (“Hidden Agenda”/“Step by Step”) and follows Nonkul Chanon Santinatornkul as protagonist Jom, who finds himself thrown back in time and falling in love with the heir of a wealthy family.

Set predominantly in the 1920s, the 12-episode show is primarily propelled by Nonkul Chanon Santinatornkul’s endearing portrayal of Jom. Nonkul is soft, graceful, and almost calming as the sweet-serious Jom, who navigates the challenge of adjusting to life in a completely different era with a lot of poise and control. Jom pretends to lose his memory when he realizes he is time-traveling and keeps his lips sealed about being from the future, fully aware that nobody would believe him and he might just end up in a mental asylum or worse. Bright Rapheephong Thapsuwan portrays the young Master Yai, and it’s near his sprawling property that Jom resurfaces after almost drowning. To assist the lost stranger, Yai employs Jom in his service until he recovers his memory, and a romance blossoms between the two.

However, “I Feel You Linger in the Air” attempts to go beyond being a simple time-travel romance with one lead couple and explores multiple sub-plots and relationships. While the primary plot explores the forbidden love between the wealthy Yai and his mystery employee Jom, the secondary focus is on the turbulent family life of Yai’s older sister, Ueangphueng (Alee Auttharinya Uengsilpsrikul), who is married to the foreigner Robert (Attila Arthur Gagnaux), an arrogant, abusive man with a roving eye. However, Ueangpheung is in love with someone else and is more than relieved when Robert decides to get a second-wife, a young woman called Fongkaew (June Teeratee Buddeehong), who agrees to the marriage for financial reasons. In a series of small twists, many people that Jom encounters in the past were also present in his future but as different personalities, causing him to feel conflicted while dealing with some of them.

As a foreign viewer, it’s challenging to determine the historical accuracy of the costumes and sets depicting 1920s Thailand in the series. However, accuracy aside, the cinematography evokes an alluring, nostalgic era, with some beautiful set pieces and settings despite not being made on an extravagant budget. I really liked the soft pastel palette that dominated the series’ aesthetics and many of the outdoor scenes which involved Yai reading a book by the river under breezy trees while Jom accompanied him were very romantic. Also, the series leads look great together. The young, well-read, sensitive Yai is straightforward about his attraction to Jom, while the latter is demure, cautious and vigilant.

The first episode featured some supernatural scenes; Jom keeps seeing a different reflection of himself in the mirror before he time-travels, setting up expectations of horror themes in the plot. However, as a horror fan, I was slightly disappointed that the supernatural elements in the story are minimal. “I Feel You Linger in the Air” is more like a historical-romance television series addressing the issues of stark class divides and rampant discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community in the 1920s, an era with close to zero acceptance of sexual diversity. Nu Surasak Chaiat plays Yai’s strict father, Luang Thep Nititham, who decides to marry his son off immediately upon learning of his sexuality, despite Yai being barely 20 years old at the time. Alee Auttharinya Uengsilpsrikul delivers an emotional performance as Ueangphueng, who is trapped in a terrible marriage and in a refreshing change, she develops an unlikely kinship with her co-wife Fongkaew. Instead of being petty, jealous or vengeful, the two women are united in their abhorrence for their abusive husband and work together to expose some of his misdeeds.

For a 12 episode series, “I Feel You Linger in the Air” packs in a lot of different themes and sub-plots that don’t get enough space to be explored fully, but at least Jom and Yai’s romance shines through. Nonkul Chanon Santinatornkul and Bright Rapheephong Thapsuwan have incredible chemistry as the lead pair, and their longing gazes for each other evoke the seductiveness of a fantasy-romance novel. The soundtrack sweetly complements their slow-burn romance, dominated by traditional Thai strings that blend nicely with the 1920s theme. Unlike many Thai dramas that tend to scuttle passionate scenes with vocal-based music, this series sensibly inserts instrumental-only pieces for amorous moments between the leads.

The climactic episode was emotional but didn’t make too much sense, we never understand why Jom is able to travel back in time or what could help him find his way back, that supernatural aspect of the series remains shady until the end. However, the show ends with two unexpected twist, so watch out for a scene that rolls in after the ends credits, which basically promises a possibility for a season two. Overall, “I Feel You Linger in the Air” is decently-paced, nostalgic and worth watching if you like time-traveling romances.

You can stream “I Feel You Linger in the Air” on YouTube.

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Escaping Twin Flames Review – Exposes Love ‘Coaches’

Would you pay money to find love? Lot of people around the world are already investing significant funds to discover the “right one,” such as paying for premium memberships on dating websites or, in a country like India, subscribing to paid services on matrimonial websites. Remember Seema aunty from the Netflix show “Indian Matchmaking“, who charged a hefty sum to help wealthy families find potential grooms and brides for their children? And then there’s Jeff and Shaleia Divine, who took the love game to a twisted level to exploit those looking for lasting romance in their lives. The couple runs the “Twin Flames Ascension School,” offering classes that help students find and develop a “harmonious union” with their soulmate, or as they put it, their “twin flame”.

Directed by Cecilia Peck, “Escaping Twin Flames” is a three-part Netflix documentary delving into how Jeff and Shaleia Divine became millionaires by convincing vulnerable individuals worldwide to part with their money in pursuit of finding love. However, the couple didn’t stop at offering expensive classes; they turned their venture into an intricate pyramid scheme of sorts – students were mentored into becoming “love coaches” and tasked with both finding and coaching new students/followers, without being paid for their services. The mere idea that someone can claim to help you find your “twin flame” might sound ridiculous, laughable, and farcical. This documentary highlights how terrifyingly easy it is to ensnare individuals in online schemes and strip them of their capacity for independent thinking.

“Escaping Twin Flames” features interviews with women who were enamored by the concept of a “twin flame” — a person you are destined to be with — as sold by Jeff and Shaleia Divine. These individuals had become an integral part of their online community until they realized they were being manipulated and decided to leave. The victims of the couple’s schemes were predominantly young and impressionable or desperate for love. The documentary includes interviews with family members who lost loved ones to the “twin flame” group, as many followers were coerced into severing ties with their families.

In an attempt to validate their claims, Jeff and Shaleia pushed students towards random individuals, insisting they were their twin flame. For example, 19-year-old Marlee Griffin, expressing doubts about finding someone, was convinced by Jeff that a random Facebook messenger was her soulmate. Despite the man living in a different city, being unemployed, and having a criminal record, Jeff persuaded Marlee to pursue him, with these conversations available as video recordings in the documentary. You will find several such disturbing first-hand accounts of how people practically forced into relationships with an alleged twin flame.

Jeff and Shaleia says illogical things like, “Because we’ve been in Harmonious Union for years, we have achieved that miracle of being able to see and confirm someone’s Twin Flame,” and people believe them. The documentary shows how the couple turned their online community into an almost cult-like group, profiting off their own followers by systemically manipulating and controlling them. The series employs extensive footage of the couple talking to their followers, and Jeff is a far cry from what you’d expect a cult leader to be like. He is bratty, obnoxious and his behavior only re-enforces the unfortunate stereotype that women are attracted to “bad boys”. Let’s rephrase that – women with low self-esteem are attracted to confident lowlifes.

The couple even went on to establish themselves as a religious organization to evade taxes, and Jeff went as far as claiming he was Jesus reborn. And if that’s not a red flag, you wonder what is. It becomes hard to sympathize with a group of people who are willing to follow a foul-mouthed white dude claiming he is Jesus Christ. In an online world where people are increasingly becoming lonelier, a documentary like “Escaping Twin Flames” becomes necessary to expose online scammers like Jeff and Shaleia, who target vulnerable souls looking for love. Watching this reminded me of another Netflix documentary – The Billionaire, the Butler & the Boyfriend – which followed the story of how deceased Billionaire Liliane Bettencourt spent almost a billion dollars one a friend, all because he made her laugh and made her feel loved. Jess and Shaleia made their members feel loved and accepted, too, with the only difference being that their members did not have an endless pool of funds lying in their bank accounts. Eventually, the financial and emotional strain began to pinch some of them.

The three-part documentary concludes with reflections from members who played pivotal roles in the Twin Flame school’s financial success but eventually left upon recognizing their misdeeds. Some women, coaching others for over three to four years, claim they had no choice but to stay. Despite ample evidence of their cult-like business, no action has been taken against the couple. The former members hope their efforts to expose the couple will lead to future action, and as viewers, we can only hope for the same. If you appreciate documentaries on human behavior, “Escaping Twin Flames” is a worthwhile watch.

You can stream the docu-series on Netflix.

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Migi to Dali Episode 7 Review

Plot Overview – Based on a manga by Nami Sano, this mystery-thriller series follows orphaned identical twins, Migi and Dali, who craftily scheme their way into the lives of an aging wealthy couple Sonoyama Osamu and Sonoyama Youko. The couple believes they’ve adopted a single child, Hitori, with no clue that they’ve unwittingly welcomed two brothers into their home, who have their own agenda. So Migi and Dali take turns to play Sonoyama Hitori.

After their investigation at the Ichijo mansion in “Migi to Dali” episode 6, the brothers are convinced that their classmate Eiji murdered their mother. To uncover the truth, Dali decides to confront Eiji and orders Migi to focus on school. However, Dali’s plan to extract the truth sparks a new conflict between the twins.

Titled “It Wasn’t A Ghost”, episode seven wasn’t as bizarre as the last two editions, instead it had plenty of amusing moments and continues to push to story forward. The usual horror-tinged music which has been consistently making “Migi to Dali” seem like a supernatural series wasn’t as dominant in this edition either. The peculiar subplot about Dali’s cross-dressing, introduced in an earlier episode, is followed up in the latest installment. While at first, the trope seemed merely for cheap thrills, it becomes a more integral part of the narrative.

Dali’s cool, calculated, determined personality stands out in this edition, while Migi often gets waylaid from their main mission at hand. Overall, this was a well-paced episode that kept shifting its settings, with scenes transitioning between the school, the Sonoyoma house, and the Ichiji mansion. For the first time, a rift emerges between the twins, who are otherwise like two peas in a pod, so it will be interesting to see how the manipulative Dali is able to resolve a potential conflict with his brother.

You can watch “Migi to Dali” on Crunchyroll.

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Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions Episode 7 Review

Toto takes Ron Kamonohashi along for a brief trip to a place called Nandan Island, where they have been invited to view a meteor shower at the Island’s observatory. However, the detectives have been asked to come as a precautionary measure due to a past tragedy at the location.

For a plot overview, read – Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions Episode 1 Review

Titled “The Case of the Observatory Murder – Part 1,” episode 7 of “Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions” (Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri) has a pretty interesting premise, and the island serves as a refreshing change of location for the story. Even though the trip was supposed to take Ron’s mind of murder, we all already knew that’s not going to happen and his ears perk up the second they are informed the real agenda behind the invitation.

Swiftly paced, this episode was comical, intriguing, and introduced a character called John Grizzly, a professor at the premier detective school Blue, and one of the rare individuals that Ron admits to holding in high regard. Toto realizes that he still doesn’t know much about his genius friend and decides to ask a few questions to Mr. Grizzly, which leads to a flashback revealing the exact incident due to which Ron was banned from detective work. Some of the other guests who’ve come to witness the meteor shower are also interesting, and they all become suspects when one of them is found murdered under extremely suspicious circumstances. But in a big twist, the prime suspect is one of the three detectives who were invited as a safety measure.

Overall, “The Case of the Observatory Murder – Part 1” was an entertaining episode that leaves viewers guessing about the real culprit. It also showcases a heartwarming exchange between Ron and Toto, signifying a notable shift in their relationship from just detective and lackey to genuine friends who value each other.

You can stream “Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions” on Netflix.

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1920: Horrors of the Heart Review – Too Outdated

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Horror fans will watch pretty much anything offered in the genre (myself included), which seems to be the only reason why 2023 Bollywood film “1920: Horrors of the Heart” had a good run at the box office. After some scenic spooky shots in the first few seconds, the movie switches to a cheesy romantic moment between its lead against a clearly fake (green screen) background. So you immediately know the special effects are very mediocre.

Directed by Krishna Bhatt, “1920: Horrors of the Heart” has been written by Mahesh Bhatt, Shweta Bothra, and Suhrita Das. It stars Avika Gor as the protagonist Meghana, who decides to avenge her father after discovering that he holds his ex-wife Radhika Thakur (Barkha Bisht) responsible for his decision to end his life. A grief-stricken Radhika arrives unannounced at her mother’s mansion, where the woman lives with her wealthy second husband, Shantanu Thakur (Rahul Dev), and teenage daughter, Aditi (Ketaki Kulkarni). What unfolds is a boring mess, with theatrical dialogues that are out a television drama from the 90s, exaggerated make-up, unconvincing CGI and scary scenes that aren’t scary at all.

While Avika Gor is at least convincing as a misguided young woman hell-bent on revenge because she believes her mother wronged her father, Danish Pandor, as her boyfriend Arjun, has zero onscreen charm, and even his acting skills are subpar. A lot of the supernatural scenes are unintentionally comedic, and perhaps making an outright Bollywood horror comedy like “Phone Bhoot” would have worked better for this wafer-thin script. I wanted to stop watching this film within the first ten minutes, but still tried watching a little more and it never gets better. Although, to the creators’ credit, the regular settings are quite aesthetic-looking, but that’s a parameter that ranks pretty low on a horror fan’s criteria for a good scary movie.

Watch “1920: Horrors of the Heart” if you are a big Avika Gor fan or don’t mind overtly theatrical outdated stories.

Rating: 3 on 10. You can stream the film on Disney Hotstar.

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The Billionaire, the Butler & the Boyfriend Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

The title, ‘The Billionaire, the Butler & the Boyfriend,’ might evoke thoughts of a sizzling Mills & Boon romance novel, yet this three-part Netflix documentary delves into a narrative less about love and more about the intricate interplay of wealth, family dynamics, and politics. It documentary focuses on a feud between Liliane Bettencourt with her daughter Françoise Bettencourt Meyers over the former’s friendship with photographer François-Marie Banier. Liliane was the sole heir and daughter of L’Oréal founder Eugène Schueller and she was the world’s richest woman at the time of her death in 2017.

For international viewers who know little or nothing about the Bettencourt family, this series is an intriguing look into the lives of the super rich and how (like several interviewees put it) money makes people mad. Liliane was extremely fond of celebrity photographer Banier, whom she met in 1987 when he was commissioned to photograph her for a magazine. Their growing proximity irked her daughter Françoise to no end, to the extent that she finally filed a lawsuit in 2007 accusing Banier of exploiting Liliane’s goodwill and taking advantage of her old age. However, this lawsuit led to explosive revelations that transcended the jealousies and greed of family and friends, exposing a quid pro quo between the billionaire family and top politicians in France.

Like most Netflix docu-series these days, “The Billionaire, the Butler & the Boyfriend” (Original title: L’Affaire Bettencourt: Scandale chez la femme la plus riche du monde) includes some staged re-enactments of events, a disclaimer for which is issued at the beginning, while all the audio recordings played throughout the runtime are real. The lawsuit against Banier divided the Bettencourt staff, who were all summoned for questioning, leading to the butler Pascal Bonnefoy secretly recording several of Lilliane’s conversations in a guest room for months. It’s these tapes that led to national scandal in France and forms the crux of the documentary.

Titled “He Was Worth It”, a pun on L’Oréal famous tagline “You Are Worth It”, the first episode of “The Billionaire, the Butler & the Boyfriend” sheds light on Liliane’s friendship with François-Marie Banier and how it soured her relationship with her only child. The creators don’t shy away from using several clips of L’Oréal ads to add a dash of glamour to the already excessive tale of a billionaire. The second episode is called “A Tangled Web” which takes a political turn and sheds light on Liliane’s money affairs and illegal donations to top politicians. It’s quite remarkable how a daughter’s lawsuit, aimed at “protecting” her aging mother from a man she deemed predatory, ultimately led to the exposure of a staggering tax fraud and a money trail that reached straight to the Presidential office. It’s the stuff movies are made of, and sure, it’s not surprising, but these are real people, who had real impact on people’s lives.

“Banier was excessive. He brought some fantasy into her life.”/”He is downright rude. And his outrageousness is refreshing.”/”She was suprised by this character, but also attracted to him, because he was worlds apart from the conventional, codified, and mundane world around her.” – These are just some of the things various interviewees had to say about the personality of Mr Banier, who some believe had a vice-like grip on Liliane.

While the docu-series is peppered with interviews featuring several journalists and individuals who worked for the Bettencourt family, most notably Patrice De Maistre, Liliane’s asset manager, it’s hard not to notice that the creators couldn’t secure an interview with a single member of the Bettencourt family. However, this is understandable not only because they possess a level of wealth that is challenging for most to conceptualize in terms of numbers or scale (so a Netflix appearance is hardly alluring), but also because the Bettencourt family has consistently been known for its reclusive nature. But the series does feature archival news interviews of Lilliane and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, to make up for the lack of interviews.

Just the last part of the documentary was slightly slow and felt overstretched, and the creators try to paint Liliane in some sort of twisted “frail old lady who was exploited by those around her,” a narrative that is hard to buy. Liliane Bettencourt seems to have been a smart businesswoman with so much money that she didn’t even know what to do with most of it and sure as hell had no problem blowing it on whoever or whatever she felt like. She lived and died as the richest woman in the world. Even if she wasn’t the happiest, she was certainly more than comfortable until the end and faced zero consequences for tax evasion. Her life story is a story worth looking into.

Rating: 7 on 10. You can stream the documentary series on Netflix.

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