Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 28
June 3, 2025
Retro Review: For Suriya Fans
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Suriya starrer ‘Retro’ is all about over-the-top 1990s masala, action, and a little bit of romance, even though it’s the love story that fuels everything in the plot.
Directed and written by Karthik Subbaraj, ‘Retro’ opens with a burglary at a gangster’s property, culminating in the gruesome murder of the watchman, who is survived by an orphan baby with a spear-shaped mark on its body. Taking it as a sign from ‘God’, the gangster’s wife adopts the baby, names it Paarivel Kannan, while her husband Thilagan (Joju George) only tolerates the child to humour her. Thilagan finally starts to see the boy as his son when a young Paari bravely fights off several goons trying to murder Thilagan in his sleep. Paari (Suriya) soon becomes Thilagan’s right-hand man, dreaded by rivals, but vows to abandon the life of violence when he agrees to marry Dr. Rukimini (Pooja Hegde), a veterinarian and the love of his life. And if you’ve seen enough action movies, you’d know this about a life of crime, immortalized in Hotel California lyrics – You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
The primary conflict thus in ‘Retro’ centers on Paari’s adoptive father refusing to let him walk away, especially since he plays a crucial role in an upcoming arms deal codenamed ‘Gold Fish’. This clash of wills leads to Paari assaulting Thilagan, landing him in prison, while Rukimini, disappointed in his choices, vanishes. The film’s second half follows Paari as he tries to track down Rukimini and win her back. His attempts include jail escapes, kidnapping, impersonating a comic, and even clashing with a bizarre cult. The plot goes absolutely off the rails, but not in a “whoa, this is wild and fun” way, more like “wait, what is even happening?” kind of chaos.
I had to do a double take at Pooja Hegde’s introductory scene in Retro, where she evidently looks nothing like her usual self, swathed in make-up several shades darker than her natural skin tone. The South Indian obsession with “fair” skin continues, and it’s frustrating to see brown-washing still practiced in 2025. Rukimini could’ve simply been written as fair-skinned, or they could’ve cast someone who fit the intended look. Hegde is charming as Rukimini, but the artificial brown face-paint is a constant distraction. And let’s be real, ‘Retro’ is all about Suriya; the creators could’ve easily gone with a newcomer for the female lead.
Pooja Hegde at an Event Versus in ‘Retro’With an almost 3-hour runtime (1 hour 48 minutes), Retro is too long and veers into randomness in the second half. While Suriya is dashing as always in his action-hero avatar, the script feels not just set in the ’90s but like it was actually written then. Sure, it’s a masala action flick, and we don’t expect the brilliance of ‘Jai Bhim’ or ‘Soorarai Pottru’, but this is chaotic and mostly unentertaining, complete with a very unnecessary song-and-dance number in prison. Even Rajinikanth’s ‘Jailer‘ didn’t stoop to that (and no, ‘Hukum’ doesn’t count – that was a banger), despite prison life being a dominant theme. Besides, several scenes meant to be ‘funny’ in ‘Retro’, just fall flat.
Honestly, just watch this film if you’re a die-hard Suriya fan, and keep your expectations low regarding the plot.
Rating: 2.5 stars on 5. ‘Retro’ is on Netflix.
Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)
June 2, 2025
Night Swim Review: Horror Meets Chlorine, But Not Terror
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
A big house with a pool is the middle-class dream, very few attain it, and the horror film ‘Night Swim’ turns that aspiration into quite the nightmare!
Directed by Bryce McGuire, who co-wrote the film with Rod Blackhurst, ‘Night Swim’ follows Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), a baseball player on hiatus due to his ailing health, as he moves into a new home after his wife, Eve Waller (Kerry Condon), lands a new job at a school. They have two children, teenager Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and the younger Elliot (Gavin Warren), both of whom are excited about their new house, especially because it has a pool. Advised to try water therapy, Ray is especially pleased to find that swimming in his backyard seems to improve his condition. But soon, the rest of the family begins to experience sinister events in the water, fearing that the pool may be haunted.
‘Night Swim’ actually opens with an intriguing cold-open, featuring the family living in the ‘haunted’ pool house before the Waller family moved in, clearly hinting a young girl might’ve died there. It’s something the real estate agent obviously doesn’t tell the Waller family, but who’d believe in a ghostly pool anyway? But the thing is, the first half of the film does have ample creepy moments, making the viewer worry especially when the innocent Waller children go in for a dip, only to experience dangerously supernatural events. It’s a little like ‘Jaws’, but instead of a killer shark, you have an unknown entity trying to kill those that enter the pool’s water.
Wyatt Russell who plays Ray Waller is the weakest link in the cast, he has very little screen presence and recall value, so it makes it hard to care for his character, even though he is supposed to be a charismatic baseball player. Kerry Condon has a better hold on her character as Eve, a hardworking mom who takes her kids seriously. So when Elliot complains he saw somebody asking for help in the pool, Eve believes him, while Ray dismisses it as Elliot’s attempt at creating a new imaginary friend.
Despite some eerie moments, ‘Night Swim’ begins to lose its creepy edge the second it reveals the ‘ghost’ inhabiting the pool, which turns out to be a hideous blob-like monster, that’s almost comical in appearance and not at all scary. The creators should’ve kept the spirit faceless or hazy, which would’ve made it more creepy and intimidating. The second-half then veers into folk-lore-ish territory, which really didn’t seem to be the case from the way the story unfolds until then.
Overall, ‘Night Swim‘ isn’t as terrifying as a horror film should be, relying on familiar tropes and revealing its primary antagonist too soon, which drains the mystique. While viewers do get an intriguing backstory about the pool’s sinister nature, it feels rushed and underdeveloped. If you’re a horror fan who doesn’t mind low-stakes stories and mild scares, it might be an ‘okay’ watch for when you’re running out of titles to stream.
Rating: 5.5 on 10. Watch ‘Night Swim’ on Netflix.
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Black Phone 2 Trailer: The Grabber Dials Up Horror Again
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Who knew horror fans would get a Black Phone 2?! A sequel to the 2021 horror hit The Black Phone, which starred Ethan Hawke as a terrifying serial killer called “The Grabber,” who abducts kids, tortures them, and murders them. If fans recall, the film ends with Finney (Mason Thames), the Grabber’s latest victim, fighting back and managing to escape, but only after killing Hawke’s character.
“Did you think our story was over?” the Grabber says ominously to Finney, as the boy stands frozen, holding a black phone receiver in the trailer for Black Phone 2. So, did the Grabber survive? Or worse… is his ghost back to extract revenge on his last victim? Seems like the latter!
That means Black Phone 2 is going to be scarier, deadlier, and maybe even bloodier, with the creators amplifying the supernatural elements in the story. “You of all people know, ‘dead’ is just a word,” the Grabber warns Finney over the phone. So even though Finney is no longer trapped in the ghastly basement of the serial killer, the iconic ‘Black Phone’ continues to remain a supernatural motif. And fighting the grabber while he was still human was already tough, imagine having to battle his ghost now!
Joining Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames in this sinister sequel are Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, and Miguel Mora. And just like the first film, Black Phone 2 is directed by Scott Derrickson, who has co-written the script with C. Robert Cargill. The idea, if fans remember, is based on a short story by the acclaimed author Joe Hill.
You can watch the trailer on YouTube, it’s also embedded below. The film is set to hit theatres on October 17. And if you need a quick refresher on what went down in the first Black Phone, it’s available to rent on Prime Video, or you can scroll below for a quick written recap.
Plot Recap of the First Film
The Black Phone is about a shy 13-year-old boy named Finney (Mason Thames) who gets kidnapped by a creepy masked man known as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke). This guy has been snatching kids in town, and nobody knows where they’re disappearing to. Finney ends up trapped in a soundproof basement with nothing but a broken black rotary phone on the wall.
But here’s the twist, although the black phone doesn’t work, it starts ringing. And when Finney picks it up, he hears the voices of the Grabber’s previous victims. They’re dead, but they’re calling to help Finney survive. Each one gives him clues or advice, trying to help him escape what they couldn’t.
Meanwhile, Finney’s younger sister, Gwen, starts having strange dreams that seem to show her where Finney is. She tries to convince the adults to believe her, but of course, they don’t take her seriously, at least not at first.
In the end, Finney pieces together everything he’s learned from the ghostly calls, faces his fears, and actually manages to take down the Grabber and escape. It’s intense, creepy, and surprisingly emotional, especially with the way the dead kids rally behind Finney to make sure he doesn’t end up like them. It will be interesting to see how the story pans out in ‘Black Phone 2’, with the masked killer back on the prowl!
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June 1, 2025
‘Good Boy’ Episode 2 Review: Olympic Squad Assembles
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‘Good Boy’ Episode 1 Recap: Five Olympic athletes turned cops find their paths crossing while working in different departments of the Insung Metropolitan Police Agency, as they get entangled in a case involving a notorious goon known as ‘Golden Bunny.’ Park Bo-gum plays Yoon Dong-ju, a former boxer turned cop working under his senior Min Joo-yeong (Heo Sung-tae), a former wrestler. The episode ends with Dong-ju fighting off a gang of goons after receiving a tip about Golden Bunny’s hideout. Meanwhile, Ji Han-na (Kim So-hyun), an Olympic shooter turned cop and Dong-ju’s crush, is attacked at home by criminals seeking incriminating documents that originally belonged to a murdered customs officer. Her ex-boyfriend Jong-hyeon (Lee Sang-yi), a fencer turned cop, rushes to her aid but is intercepted by armed henchmen, who he fights off in style. Shin Jae-hong (Tae Won-seok), who happens to be on traffic duty nearby, also does his bit in stopping some of the criminals.
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Titled “Faster, Further, Stronger,” Episode 2 of ‘Good Boy‘ opens with the aftermath of the big fight, as Joo-yeong arrives with backup to rescue Dong-ju, to find that the young cop has already taken down the entire gang by himself and even managed to capture ‘Golden Bunny.’ The athlete-turned-cops make headlines for helping nab the notorious criminal, and Joo-yeong tries to capitalize on the win by getting approval for a special task force made up of former Olympians. Everyone agrees to join the new team (except Jong-hyeon) only to comically discover that the “special” team isn’t what they imagined.
Since the basic character profiles of all the main protagonists has been established, episode 2 of ‘Good Boy’ was a lot more entertaining to follow. It focuses on Dong-ju’s cute efforts to woo Han-na, but the primary focus remains on the Police departments continued efforts into investigating the Golden Bunny, and the hit-and-run case involving the customs officer. If you remember, episode one already strongly indicated that rampant police corruption and insiders might be responsible for letting the criminals have an easy hold over their turfs.
Park Bo-gum is adorable as the cheery, optimistic Dong-ju, although his character’s flirting with Han-na borders on stalking, something another character even jokes about. Will he eventually melt the nonchalant Han-na’s heart? It seems highly likely. That said, Lee Sang-yi as her ex-boyfriend Jong-hyeon is also smart, handsome, and suave, definitely a strong rival for Dong-ju. But at this point, it isn’t really a love triangle, and there’s no real suspense about who Han-na will eventually choose. It would be interesting if the writers threw in a twist and let her stay single or perhaps even pick the ex-boyfriend.
Heo Sung-tae, as their senior Min Joo-yeong, gets the most comical scenes in this episode and is effortlessly funny in his parts. The second half of the episode shows the cops receiving a tip-off about the location of some goons, and this time, almost the entire special team arrives on the scene to fight the bad guys. Only Han-na is missing in action, as she goes to deliver some documents. The action sequences weren’t particularly exciting in this chapter, but it does end with a solid twist: Dong-ju makes a major breakthrough in the hit-and-run case.
You can stream the series on Prime Video.
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A Man’s Skin: Graphic Novel Review
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘A Man’s Skin’ is a fast-paced gender-bender graphic novel that could’ve been so much more, but is surprisingly not as wild or experimental as some readers might expect it to be. But okay…
Set somewhere in Renaissance Italy, ‘A Man’s Skin‘ by Hubert is a graphic novel that follows Bianca, a young lady from a wealthy family, betrothed to Giovanni, a merchant only a few years older than her. While everyone thinks Bianca is lucky to be engaged to a handsome young man, she is unhappy about not knowing anything about him. Through incredible luck, Bianca learns from her godmother that the women in her family have been passing down “a man’s skin” from one generation to another, a magical costume allowing the wearer to look and perform authentically like a man. Known as Lorenzo, Bianca is thrilled to wear the skin, as it enables her to befriend Giovanni and finally get to know him. However, wearing a man’s skin throws Bianca deep into the vulgar, sexual world of men, where she eventually becomes friends with Giovanni but learns he prefers men over women.
The illustrations in A Man’s Skin by Zanzim are colorful, cartoonish, and deceptively simple, lending a playful tone to an already fantastical tale of a woman transforming into a man. Bianca’s transformation into Lorenzo goes far beyond mere Renaissance cross-dressing, it’s a magical metamorphosis that allows her to fully embody a man, convincingly enough to deceive Giovanni completely, even in bed. Naturally, this leads to Bianca feeling confused, hurt, angry, and emotionally shattered; after all, she manages to win over her future husband, but only as a man. And once they marry, her problems are far from over.
Hubert comically contrasts Bianca’s double life with the religious fanaticism of her brother Angelo, a Christian priest who constantly preaches about sin and aggressively campaigns against premarital sex, extramarital affairs, and sodomy. There are strong clashes throughout the novel between the puritanical churchgoers and the more liberal French bourgeoisie. Although Angelo harbors a strong hatred for women, is completely misogynistic, and as hinted by Bianca herself, he is probably in the closet himself.
While becoming Lorenzo allows Bianca to experience the freedoms of being a man in a patriarchal, she surprisingly limits herself to exploring the city only in Giovanni’s company. She does, of course, indulge in a few wild escapades, like posing naked (as Lorenzo, which to her feels like a costume) for a renaissance painter, or causing mischief among religious fanatics, but her world largely revolves around Giovanni. First, she tries to befriend him; then she falls in love with him while wearing a man’s skin; and eventually, she marries him as herself, doing her best to make the marriage work. As Lorenzo, Bianca is able to see first-hand the double-standards of society against women, so ironically, becoming a man helps her become a feminist. In the end, she does find her footing, running her household by her rules, but her journey there could’ve been far more exciting.
Overall, “A Man’s Skin” is an entertaining journey through a fictionalized France, one teetering at the edge of moral conservatism and sensual liberation, where tradition and desire wrestle on most pages.
Rating: 4 on 5.
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Parthenope Review: Beautifully Boring
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Set in Naples, the 2024 Italian film Parthenope by Paolo Sorrentino follows the adventures of its titular protagonist, a young, beautiful woman from a wealthy family, played by Celeste Dalla Porta. The positives first: the film is all about aesthetics, from stunning views of the Italian coasts to vintage hotels, ornate homes, and grand baroque churches, “Parthenope” is all about visual beauty. However, the plot is threadbare. The official synopsis for the film says it’s about a woman “searching for happiness over the long summers of her youth, falling in love with her home city and its many memorable characters.” But this love for Naples is never really expressed clearly on screen.
If I had to summarize the plot for “Parthenope“, it’s essentially a romantic ode to the fictional character, who’s treated like a goddess, with almost everybody around her desiring her, including, tragically, her own brother. Parthenope, constantly reminded of her allure, entertains the admiration without genuine interest, reserving her true dedication for her academic pursuits. Her beauty becomes both her power and burden. She does briefly consider acting, but an encounter with famous actress Greta Cool (Luisa Ranieri) changes her mind.
Creator Paolo Sorrentino forgets the adage “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and while Celeste Dalla Porta is alluring as Parthenope, it feels exaggerated to see every man (and the occasional woman) happily fall at her feet. Perhaps some fantasy elements or stronger touches of magical realism in the plot might have better justified the protagonist’s overwhelming charm, but that isn’t the case. She is of-course shown to be an intelligent, witty, sharp, intellectual, but nobody is chasing her for her impeccable grades.
Ironically, the most interesting relationship Parthenope builds in the film is a platonic, professional bond with her senior professor, Devoto Marotta (Silvio Orlando): one of the rare characters who has no romantic interest in the beautiful girl. Devoto admires Parthenope’s work as a student, and mentors her to become his assistant at the University, but unfortunately, this sub-plot gets very little time in the film.
Overall, “Parthenope” was a pretty boring watch, and if not for the stunning locales and a great soundtrack, it would have been a completely forgettable affair.
Rating: 2.5 stars on 5. Watch it on Prime Video.
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May 31, 2025
‘Good Boy’ Episode One Review: Cops, Crushes & Slippery Criminals
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The Korean series Good Boy is an action-comedy that follows a group of athlete-turned-cops in various departments, navigating their professional lives while tackling violent criminals. They’re all Olympic medalists who join the police force through a special recruitment program for athletes, but they’re often looked down upon by their peers and must work harder to prove themselves.
Directed by Shim Na-yeon (The Good Bad Mother, Beyond Evil), episode one, titled “Our Twisted Hero,” kicks off with wrestler-turned-senior cop Min Joo-yeong (Heo Sung-tae) being saddled with demoted rookie Yoon Dong-ju (Park Bo-gum), a gold medalist boxer who struggles to fit in with other officers due to his over-idealism. Park Bo-gum’s Yoon Dong-ju, of course, is the titular “Good Boy”, an honest officer determined to honor his uniform and catch criminals. Kim So-hyun plays Ji Han-na, an Olympic shooter turned officer keen on doing fieldwork but instead forced to run petty errands in the office by her seniors. Dong-ju has a huge crush on Han-na, although his chances seem slim when her ex-boyfriend Kim Jong-hyeon (Lee Sang-yi), a silver medalist, joins the same division in the office of inspections and audits.
Running almost feature-film length, the 90-minute first episode of Good Boy isn’t laugh-out-loud hilarious, but it amusingly brings the main characters together through intersecting storylines. The primary conflict in this chapter revolves around the police department’s elaborate undercover operation to nab a criminal called “Golden Bunny” and restore their tarnished image in the media. Min Joo-yeong has no interest in mentoring the younger Dong-ju, but the two are assigned as backup for the main operation. Unfortunately, they bungle the mission and let “Golden Bunny” escape, mostly due to accidental incompetence: Joo-yeong is busy taking a leak, and Dong-ju isn’t as fit as he used to be.
The final 15 minutes of the episode are the most fun to watch, as the main characters finally get to show off their athletic skills and beat up some bad guys. Park Bo-gum and Lee Sang-yi have standout action sequences: Dong-ju goes up against Golden Bunny’s men in a shady warehouse after a tip-off, while Jong-hyeon is chased through city streets by armed goons before taking them on with nothing but a broken stick. Han-na also gets to show off her shooting skills when she’s cornered in her own home by criminals hunting for incriminating files in her possession, shortly after another officer is killed for the same documents.
The primary cast is fun, and their onscreen banter is entertaining, though the pacing of Good Boy already feels a little uneven. Hopefully, the comedy and action will be amped up in the coming episodes.
You can stream the series on Prime Video.
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Maggie’s Grave Review: From Bleak Folklore to Bloody Mayhem
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
All right, so I picked up “Maggie’s Grave” by David Sodergren because “Summer of the Monsters”, another horror novel by the same author, was an easy, entertaining read, even if it wasn’t exactly ‘spine-chilling’ and was partly predictable. “Maggie’s Grave”, on the other hand, is pretty terrifying in parts – extremely violent, gory, and piling on brutal deaths in a small, obscure town haunted by a ‘witch’. In fact, the novel is also unpredictable, though some of the surprising incidents are just far-out ridiculous. But don’t worry, there will be no spoilers in this book review.
Set in the small Scottish town of Auchenmullan, “Maggie’s Grave” opens with a vicious witch-hunt of a pregnant young woman named Maggie in the 1650s, just because a little boy lies about seeing something unnatural. A frenzied mob murders Maggie mercilessly, but not before she curses the entire town and returns to haunt them in unimaginable ways. For the town’s youngsters, Maggie’s story is simply folklore, although unknown to them, the elder townsfolk have ways to keep Maggie away. But in the year 2019, something stirs up the malevolent witch’s spirit again, awakening her dormant blood-lust. Her first victims are teens who decide to hike up to the mountain to see her grave, on the worst possible night of their lives.
The story is largely told from the perspective of four teens in Auchenmullan: Beth, Grady, Steve, and Alice, all of whom are friends mostly because they don’t really have any other options. Beth and Grady are dating, though their relationship already seems strained. Beth is also starting to feel distant from her best-friend Alice, especially after Alice gives birth to a baby boy, after an unexpected teen pregnancy. The father skips town soon after finding out about the pregnancy. Meanwhile, Steve plays the role of the arrogant joker of the group.
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The best part about “Maggie’s Grave” is author David Sodergren’s straightforward writing style. It’s easy to read and doesn’t overdo descriptions, though he rightly describes the horrid deaths through the course of the novel with gory detail. The novel is fast-paced, with most of the action taking place within 24 hours, as Maggie’s ghost terrorizes the little town of Auchenmullan with blood, screams, and vengeance.
Toward the final chapters, “Maggie’s Grave” gets exaggeratedly silly, and there’s some tonal dissonance. The first half focuses on the teens being caught up in their own personal struggles, Beth feeling trapped in the small, suffocating town, where the only place for entertainment is a smelly bowling alley that also happens to be the only place selling beer. Auchenmullan has no pubs, hotels, movie theaters, nothing. It’s a dead town. There’s a sense of gloom and sadness in the first half.
However, the second half includes some ludicrous twists that almost veer into horror-comedy territory. In fact, there are a few hilarious horror moments, but not enough to classify “Maggie’s Grave” as a horror-comedy. That’s where the tonal dissonance shows, from starting out as a tragic tale of an innocent pregnant woman being ripped to pieces by a superstitious village, to suddenly shifting gears into toilet humor and weird sex stuff. The story gets frustrating by the end.
The climactic chapter features an overdrawn battle between Maggie and one of the main characters, which could’ve been shortened. After building up Maggie as someone who can crush humans like ants, the drawn-out one-on-one fight feels like regular, unbelievable drama. There is, however, one clever little twist at the end that’s nicely foreshadowed. The story throws in a few red herrings to keep readers guessing. So, brownie points for the ending twist and the satisfying closure to the legend of Maggie.
If you’re a horror fan stuck in a reading rut, Maggie’s Grave is a quick, entertaining one-time read.
Rating: 3 on 5. Maggie’s Grave is also on Kindle Unlimited.
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May 30, 2025
Lost in Starlight Review: BGs Shinier Than Character Animation
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘Lost in Starlight’ might be set in 2026, but it re-imagines a much more futuristic planet earth, with air-taxis zooming in the sky, people sleeping in their self-driven cars, and hyper-realistic simulations allowing callers to jump out of video calls. Created by Han Ji-won and Kang Hyun, this is Netflix’s first original Korean animation film.
The plot of ‘Lost in Starlight’ follows Nan-young (voiced by Kim Tae-ri of The Handmaiden fame), an ambitious astronaut cooling her heels in her hometown of Seoul while serving as a backup for NASA’s mission to Mars. As Nan-young trains around the clock to secure a spot on the crew, she meets the charismatic Jay (voiced by Hong Kyung from Netflix’s Weak Hero Class 1), a musician working in a repair shop. Jay offers to fix Nan-young’s broken record player, and the two unexpectedly fall in love over music. But what happens to them if Nan-young makes it onto the Mars mission?
For animation fans, ‘Lost in Starlight‘ might feel like a mash-up of Kid Cudi’s neon-lit romance Entergalactic and Richard Linklater’s space odyssey Apollo 10½. It combines elements of both genres, offering a romantic sci-fi tale where two very different people pursue their dreams while exploring a tender, newfound connection. Nan-young and Jay share a sweet romantic progression, free from any typical ‘situationship’ woes. However, some of the coincidences that move their story forward are definitely over-the-top, K-drama level. For instance, the very first song Nan-young plays just happens to be one composed by Jay, a fact she isn’t even aware of. What are the chances? Pure K-drama magic.
When it comes to animation quality, the character designs and motion in ‘Lost in Starlight‘ are often overshadowed by its stunning BGs (backgrounds). Many animated shows and anime tend to skimp on background details; a good example is Netflix’s Blood of Zeus, it features great character designs but no grandness in its BGs. In this case, it’s the opposite. The BGs are beautifully rendered, including lots of details in the city landscape, making Seoul look like a dreamy modern city, while the character models are underwhelming and the animation lacks fluidity. Nan-young’s design is quite charming, but Jay’s appearance feels unnatural, like a K-pop star with excessive plastic surgery.
But ‘Lost in Starlight‘ isn’t just about an astronaut falling in love with a musician; it also explores Nan-young’s complex connection with her deceased mother, an astronaut who died during a Mars mission. Surprisingly, we learn nothing about Jay’s personal or family life, except that he used to be in a band and quit due to creative differences. Since music is a key ingredient, there are some really nice musical sequences and songs peppered through the runtime, including two concerts.
For a film that’s just about 90 minutes long, ‘Lost in Starlight’ is colorful, cute, and charming. But its final scenes? Maddening. The creators bizarrely decide to cut between Nan-young risking her life on Mars and Jay performing in his first concert in years, and the tonal whiplash is real. Sure, in theory, it could’ve worked: girlfriend faces death in space, boyfriend battles stage fright. Deep stuff, right? Except… NO! If the main character is literally on the verge of dying on a desolate planet, I don’t care if her Korean oppa hits his high notes or cries into a mic. Read the room, filmmakers!
Overall, it’s an entertaining animated film, delivering a heartwarming final minute, and could’ve benefited from better character designs.
Rating: 7.5 on 10. Watch ‘Lost in Starlight’ on Netflix
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Espantaho (Scarecrow) Review: Fine Cast Trapped in Poor CGI Scares
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The 2024 Filipino horror movie ‘Espantaho‘ (English title: Scarecrow) follows Monet, a young woman who runs an antique shop with her husband, Jack, while mourning her father Pabling’s death. Jack leaves Monet to handle the nine-day vigil ceremony for her father, as he departs for his own family emergency. Left alone with her young son, Monet must battle new ghosts invading her house, and her woes worsen when her father’s first wife shows up with her children, demanding her share of the property: all of it.
Created by Chito S. Roño (director) and Chris Martinez (writer), ‘Espantaho‘ (Scarecrow) stars Judy Ann Santos as protagonist Monet, a meek young woman prone to seizures, constantly under the shadow of her domineering mother, Rosa (Lorna Tolentino). The twist? Rosa is dead, and this doesn’t count as a spoiler, because it’s revealed in the first 15 minutes of the film, though very subtly. Whoever cast Judy Ann Santos and Lorna Tolentino as the mother-daughter duo joined at the hip deserves brownie points, because they look like they’re actually related. However, it’s a completely different malevolent entity that starts to kill those around Monet, one by one, in eerie ways.
‘Espantaho‘ definitely has an intriguing primary premise, with all its supernatural activities and deaths connected to a mysteriously creepy painting that makes its way into Monet’s house. Even the mansion she lives in looks old and haunting. However, the special effects in the supernatural scenes are low-quality and comedic instead of scary, making it look like it was made in the 1990s. So the ‘fear’ factor in this horror movie is really low, unfortunately, a crucial ingredient for the genre.
Chanda Romero as Monet’s aunt Adele brings some human villainy to ‘Espantaho‘, she is devious as Pabling’s (Monet’s father) calculating, shrewd, and opportunistic wife. Adele arrives for the vigil with her son Roy (Mon Confiado) and daughter Andie (Janice De Belen), Monet’s older half-siblings, despite having been MIA the whole time Pabling was sick in the hospital. So, apart from the mystery surrounding the evil painting, there’s a whole lot of family conflict and property drama, which simply makes the plot more convoluted. Besides, the eventual twist has little to do with the familial bitterness between the main characters.
From creepy-crawlies, locust swarms, and worms to borrowing from horror classics like ‘The Shining‘ by inserting ghostly little twin girls who spook Monet and others, ‘Espantaho‘ is a mishmash of familiar horror tropes. It even throws in shamans and art experts, the only thing missing is an exorcist, though this isn’t a possession story, so one wasn’t needed. If the creators could’ve raised more funds for better CGI, maybe the deaths in ‘Espantaho‘ could’ve been terrifying.
Ultimately, the film tries to juggle too many issues, and the first half feels disjointed from the second, like two different stories jammed into one. But if you don’t mind streaming a retro-styled, old-school horror flick that’s well-acted but underwhelming in the chills department, ‘Espantaho‘ might still be worth a try.
Rating: 5 on 10. Watch ‘Espantaho’ on Netflix.
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