Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 30

‘Romcon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter?’ Review

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Romcoms (romantic comedies) have made some of us expect fluffy, perfect, dreamy dates with potential soulmates. But real life often feels more like a RomCon, where you’re left feeling cheated by the end of an awful date, robbed of your time and effort. Sometimes, though, the con is far more sinister. A “too good to be true” stranger traps innocent victims in a web of deceit, trauma, and theft.

The two-part documentary “RomCon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter?” tells the story of perfect dates gone terribly wrong, exposing a romance scammer named Jason Porter. He would sweep women off their feet with constant compliments on dating apps and follow through with the charm in person. Eventually, he would begin stealing from them or living off them, maintaining relationships before the women could realize they were being scammed. With some, he went even further.

This documentary is about a villain, a con artist exploiting vulnerable women, but it is also about a hero: Toronto real estate broker Heather Rovet. Heather shares her story with candid honesty, hoping others can learn from her experience. “RomCon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter?” is steered by her interview, as she recalls how she met “Jace,” one of Jason Porter’s aliases, who instantly won her over with charm, sexual appeal and dated her for three years before she discovered he was a convicted felon with a shady past. Not just that, she discovered he was dating multiple other women behind her back and stealing from her. Several other women, targeted by the same man under names like Jace or Don, also come forward with their stories in the documentary.

Since emotional abuse and romantic exploitation are not always punishable in court, Heather Rovet worked tirelessly to gather evidence and sue Jason Porter for fraud and theft. The first episode of “RomCon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter?” focuses on the victims’ accounts, along with testimonies from their friends and families, all highlighting Jason’s exceedingly charming yet deceptive persona.

“I had some suspicions about him, but I couldn’t tell Heather. She was starry-eyed,” Heather’s father says in his interview. In fact, despite the devastating betrayal and manipulation Heather was subjected to, she remembers her courtship with Jace with genuine warmth and a glint in her eyes.

Since Heather was in a long-term relationship with him, she also shares numerous photos and videos of their time together. The second episode follows her pursuit of justice, collecting evidence and collaborating with other women to ensure that Jason Porter ends up behind bars. And like a lot of documentaries these days, “RomCon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter?” also features some dramatic recreation of scenes with actors to lend some visual theatrics to the story.

It takes immense courage and conviction for women who’ve been conned to come forward and share their personal stories, especially when facing the shame and disbelief that often follows. Yet Heather and the other women featured in the RomCon documentary do just that. By speaking up on camera, they not only reclaim their narratives but also help warn others to watch for red flags in potential partners. One journalist interviewed in the documentary notes that in Canada alone, romance scams account for an estimated 59 million dollars in losses each year, and that’s just from reported cases. The true cost of such deception remains unknown.

This is the kind of documentary worth sharing with anyone stepping into the dating world, as a cautionary tale and a reminder to stay alert.

Watch “RomCon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter?” on Prime Video.

Read Next: Stolen Review: Tense and Violent, Yes, But Not Quite There

Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)

‘ToGetHer’ Review: This Dating Show Has K-Drama Soul

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

“ToGetHer” (너의 연애) is South Korea’s first lesbian dating reality show, meant for women to find their next girlfriend, and comes from the same production house that brought viewers “His Man”. And hold your breath, because despite being reality TV, this series has peak K-drama vibes, with slow-burn romances, confusion, heartburn, and miscommunication always rife among the girls.

If the poster for “His Man” Season 3 looked like a K-pop band, the contestants of “ToGetHer” also seem like they’d be members of an all-girls K-pop band, all of them are pretty and have their own charms. Spanning 14 episodes, the show takes place on Jeju Island, a famous tourist spot with beautiful beaches and coastal trails.

The format is quite like “His Man”, where eight women live in a pretty vacation home for a week, go on dates, play games, get to know each other, and possibly find love in each other’s arms. But unlike the now-famous anonymous phone calls in the gay dating series, “ToGetHer” makes its contestants write anonymous ‘heartfelt notes’ to those they’re interested in.

Unfortunately, within the first few weeks of “ToGetHer” airing on Wavve, the show courted controversy over one of its contestants, Kim Ri Won, who faced allegations of faking her sexual identity to get on the show and was also accused of not disclosing the fact that she was an adult entertainer. In the subsequent episodes, she is heavily edited out of the series – just so you know why her screen time is so glaringly reduced. Which, of course, makes one wonder: what else was cut out? In fact, a lot more drama spilled online regarding other contestants too, but well, let’s focus on what goes on in the show.

After the first impressions, simply based on looks and personalities, HeeYoung and Park Da-gyo emerge as the most popular among the girls. While HeeYoung has a cool, aloof vibe, with tattoos on her, DaGyo is very girly, cute, and adorable. Kim Mi-rang is the only contestant sporting a boyish cut, which complements her face shape and makes her look gorgeously confident, although she turns out to be very shy. HanGyul is one of the youngest contestants in “ToGetHer“, the most introverted among everyone, and reserved. The other members are Kim JinAh, a famous YouTuber; Kim Seo-yeon, who surprises everybody on the show by revealing she has never had a girlfriend; and Son Min-woo, a TikToker, who joins the “ToGetHer” house last.

Sparks obviously fly between the contestants, although a lot of them turn out to be overthinkers, complicating their romances and serving plenty of drama in this dating reality show. MiRang is the only contestant who makes her crush on DaGyo apparent and keeps hitting on her wholeheartedly, quite like how Lee Jun Seong pursued SungHo in His Man Season 2. For those who don’t know, as of June 2025, the His Man contestants Jun Seong and SungHo are still dating and will complete two years together. So, people do find love on reality television.

The creators have tweaked the show’s format in many ways that foster misunderstandings between the contestants instead of helping them with their romance. For instance, halfway through “ToGetHer”, the women are asked to text who they want to go on a date with, but instead of actually going on dates, everyone is gathered for a group activity. This leads to some of them thinking that nobody made a successful match, which isn’t the case. Or at least, the final editing of the series gives the sense that this dating reality show was very tense for many participants, with an unexpected amount of tears throughout the episodes. Until the very last episode of ‘ToGetHer’, there’s suspense and tension over who is going to end up with who, with a few unexpected dates and chemistry among unlikely pairs.

Despite the format flaws and controversies surrounding some contestants, “ToGetHer” remains a groundbreaking series for South Korea. As the country’s first lesbian dating reality show, it offers rare representation and reminds viewers that same-sex relationships are just as layered, messy, and relatable as any heteronormative romance. That said, with 14 hour-long episodes, the show could’ve benefited from a larger pool of contestants, maybe 10 instead of 8, rather than dragging out slow conversations that often go nowhere. If Love Is Blind edited interactions the way this show does, each season would stretch to 50 episodes!

Anyway, “ToGetHer” embraces all the overthinking, jealousy, heartbreak, and confusion that come with modern dating – and shows exactly why so many adults today end up stuck in “situationships.” For viewers who enjoy messy emotions, slow-burn flirtations, and a dash of chaos, “ToGetHer” serves it all.

For viewers who love some drama and heartbreak, “ToGetHer” might be an entertaining dating reality show. I will definitely be tuning into a season 2, and hopefully there will be more contestants!

Watch the show on Wavve.

Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)

Stolen Recapped: Babies, Blood, and a Brutal Mob Chase

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What’s Stolen About?

Let’s recap the story and then we’ll discuss the ending.

Stolen kicks off with what seems like a simple act of kindness turning into a dark, unsettling nightmare. We meet two well-off brothers, Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) and Raman (Shubham Vardhan), who get embroiled in the chaotic case of a stolen baby when Raman is first accused of kidnapping an infant at a railway station. But as police investigate the case, turns out Raman is merely a witness to the crime, which unfolds while the baby’s helpless mother, Jhumpa (Mia Maelzer), a young and impoverished construction worker, falls asleep at the station.

Also Read: Stolen Review: Tense and Violent, Yes, But Not Quite There

Raman, the more self-righteous, though equally arrogant, of the two brothers, immediately wants to help. Gautam, the more cynical one, isn’t so sure. But soon, both find themselves tangled in a case that grows increasingly complicated, violent, and bloody.

So… What Actually Happens?

After the kidnapping, the brothers try to push the investigation forward since the police don’t seem particularly invested. Raman becomes obsessed with helping Jhumpa, while Gautam remains cautious. Slowly, cracks appear in Raman’s “hero” persona. Are his actions really altruistic, or are they driven by guilt, a savior complex, or something else entirely?

Believing the police will do nothing, Raman insists they help Jhumpa themselves. The brothers take her along with two cops to a remote hideout where the kidnapper is suspected to be holding the baby, Champa, before selling her.

The deeper they get, the worse things become. At the hideout, they find a suspect, but Gautam’s attempt to assist the police leads to the accidental death of their only lead. The cops mock him, telling him he has now become collateral damage in his brother’s misguided quest to play savior. Meanwhile, Jhumpa remains desperate to find her baby.

Then things get even murkier. A video of the initial scuffle, where Raman was accused of being the baby thief, goes viral. To complicate matters, reports surface that Jhumpa might not even be Champa’s real mother and that she allegedly kidnapped the baby from a wealthy Mumbai couple. This shakes the brothers’ faith in her and sows seeds of distrust and frustration.

The trio, Raman, Gautam, and Jhumpa, now find themselves fugitives, suspected of child trafficking. Stolen turns into a violent road-rage survival story, with a mob chasing them down, beating them, and demanding justice. Despite everything, the three stand together, and Jhumpa insists the stolen baby is truly hers.

Stolen Climax Explained

All the of them are injured during a mob attack, and manage to hide from the crowd for a while. Jhumpa continues her search for a man she believes is the mastermind behind the baby’s kidnapping and has ties to the local hospital. In a twist of fate, the ambulance transporting the injured Raman and Gautam is being driven by the very man involved in the trafficking network.

Gautam manages to find the stolen baby and alerts the police, who intervene and return Champa to Jhumpa. She then finally tells the truth. She had agreed to be a surrogate for a wealthy couple, illegally, and planned to give up her baby in exchange for money. But when she gave birth to fraternal twins, she handed over the baby boy as agreed and chose to keep the girl, Champa, claiming the deal was for one child. She insists it was divine intervention. God gave her a second child to keep as her own.

Stolen and the Grey Lines of Surrogacy

What starts as a tense thriller about a kidnapping gradually evolves into a layered social commentary. Stolen sheds light on how the desperation of poverty intersects with the murky world of illegal surrogacy. Jhumpa’s story reflects the grey, unregulated spaces where wealth and privilege exploit the vulnerable, particularly young women who are coerced or lured into selling their bodies and their babies, often without protection or recourse.

The film challenges viewers to rethink the idea of “crime” in a context where survival, exploitation, and power imbalance collide. In the end, Stolen is less about who took the child and more about who had the power to decide her fate.

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Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)

Alienated #3 Review: High on Potential, Light on Progress

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Plot overview of ‘Alienated’: Earth is deluged with the bodies of dead aliens, but one family finds a survivor and attempts to understand what happened to his species. What happens when their secret guest is discovered, especially at a time when alien cults and shrines are rising in popularity?

Issue #3 of Alienated by Taki Soma and John Broglia opens with a creepy vigil for deceased aliens in uptown Minneapolis, highlighting humanity’s growing obsession with the unidentified species. Meanwhile, at the nursing home, protagonist TJ introduces his live alien friend to his girlfriend, joined by his grandkids Lily and Winter. Unbeknownst to them, Frank, another resident, is spreading panic, claiming he saw the alien at TJ’s. The suspense builds as the secret risks being exposed.

Also Read: Alienated #2 Review: Shrines, Siblings, and a talking Alien

The bulk of the issue, however, focuses on the personal lives of TJ’s family, including Winter’s crush on his sister Lily’s friend. Of course, this dash of cutesy teen romance in the sci-fi story is a welcome break for me, but I still don’t understand where the plot is going, because the issues are just too short and aren’t maximizing the space by keeping a razor-sharp focus on the alien story. That’s not to say nothing happens with the alien, who by now really should’ve been given a nickname. Seriously, TJ and kids, why haven’t you come up with a fun name for your new strange friend?!

There’s minimal interaction between the alien and its tight-knit human circle, mainly only TJ and the kids. It’s still learning to communicate and can only manage a few phrases in English, though TJ does uncover something interesting about its species, which may or may not hold the key to learning more about them. The issue moves fast and wraps up in the blink of an eye, ending with a fairly alarming twist. That said, I’m not exactly at the edge of my seat thinking, “I need the next issue right now.”

Honestly, this comic-book series is both weird, and also kinda interesting, but I still cannot give a definitive verdict about whether its worth trying until at least the first volume comes to an end. So, if you haven’t started reading “Alienated” yet, I’d once again suggest you wait till all of it comes out.

Alienated is also on Kindle Unlimited.

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Trapped in Osaka: Mini-Series Review

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Only four episodes long, each packing less than 10 minutes, ‘Trapped in Osaka’ a Chinese web series set in Japan, which follows a thug called Haoyu (Wang Zihang) trying to extract money from debtor Chenxi (Qin Jialin) for his scary loan-shark boss. The twist? Haoyu is a total softie and Chenxi is completely broke, and if Haoyu goes back empty handed, his boss might sell his kidney. So the two young men are trapped together in a flat, with no real solution in sight.

Episode one of ‘Trapped in Osaka’ swiftly establishes the personality differences between its lead protagonists. Chenxi is a broody, confident, handsome man with a ‘devil-may-care’ attitude, suggesting he was abandoned by his boyfriend and left with loans over his head, while Haoyu is a rookie thug putting on a tough act, even though he can’t even stand the sight of blood, a weakness comically exposed in the first chapter.

Chenxi immediately takes a liking to Haoyu, and in a hilarious turn of events, it’s Chenxi who comes off as the more intimidating of the two. Since Haoyu can’t return without collecting money from Chenxi, he simply sets up camp at Chenxi’s flat until he can figure out what to do. While the setting in the show is limited and the modest budget is evident, the lead actors have great chemistry, which the short runtime doesn’t quite do justice to.

Wang Zihang’s screen presence as Chenxi is powerful, his performance exuding just the right amount of nonchalance and conviction. Chenxi is unabashed about his sexuality, desires, and weariness with the world around him; his confidence stems from no longer giving a dime about anything. Qin Jialin is slightly lost as Haoyu, but also charmingly cute as a newbie gangster with a kind heart. Their emotional interactions in the second half of the show, however, feel trite and formulaic, hurtling forward at an unconvincing pace.

Despite its claustrophobic-sounding title, “Trapped in Osaka” is far more light-hearted than one might expect, almost veering into fluffy, comedic territory with its ‘gangster falls for his target’ premise. However, both the romantic and comedic elements are dialed down, limited in scope by the series’ short runtime. In fact, “Lost in Osaka” might have been a more fitting title for the series, as the story is essentially about two lonely men bonding over their bleak circumstances. Their shared identity as Chinese nationals in Japan also acts as a cultural thread that ties them together.

‘Trapped in Osaka‘ rushes to its climax in episode four, leaving the viewer feeling like they just watched a preview pitch for a longer show. But if you’re in the mood for a mini-series with good-looking leads, the show is available on YouTube.

Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)

Bricked-In with Your Ex? Netflix’s Brick Trailer Serves Dystopian Terrors

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Imagine breaking up with your partner at their flat, and as you make your move to leave the place, you find you’re trapped with them. That’s a nightmare in itself! And the trailer for the upcoming movie Brick shows what happens when residents find themselves locked inside their apartments as mysterious bricks wall up all their windows and doors. Honestly, it feels very Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado! Horror fans will know this tale, where a dude basically entombs his rival in a catacomb by bricking up the exit. The creepy murder idea was also used in the Netflix horror series ‘The Fall of the House of Usher‘, another tale inspired by Poe’s eerie prose.

But okay, getting back to Brick, which stars Matthias Schweighöfer and Ruby O. Fee as leads Tim and Olivia, the newly broken-up couple who find themselves trapped inside their apartment with a brick wall. In the trailer, as they try to break out, they find out other residents are also stuck because of the creepy brick closures. Are they supposed to die in there? But also, a Lost and Squid Game-kind of twist in the trailer reveals they are possibly under surveillance, so are they part of an elaborate game show? Who knows! “Maybe it’s some sort of twisted escape room,” is a character’s guess in the trailer. Although someone wonders if “the wall is here to protect us?”.

Remember the hilarious viral meme of Rachel Zegler scrunching up her face and saying “Weird, weird, weird” while talking about the plot of Snow White, despite being the star of the film? Yeah, I wanted to say “weird, weird, weird” too at the end of the trailer for Brick, but just not in the same obnoxious way, rather in a more confused manner.

The trailer probably gives away more of the plot than needed, so it will have to deliver a mind-boggling twist to keep things entertaining and satisfactory. Although the cast looks fabulous, and I loved Matthias Schweighöfer in Army of Thieves (not so much in Heart of Stone, though). He has already played an expert locksmith who can break open any safe, but can he break out of this bricked-in nightmare? Fans will have to wait and watch.

“Brick” will be available on Netflix on July 10. You can watch the trailer on YouTube, it’s also embedded below.

A Widow’s Game Review: She Mourns, She Texts, She Kills?

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Inspired by real events, Spanish thriller ‘A Widow’s Game’ (La viuda negra) follows the investigation into a man’s murder, where the primary suspect is his young 26-year-old widow.

Directed by Carlos Sedes, ‘A Widow’s Game’ stars Carmen Machi as Eva, one of the lead investigators on the case, while Ivana Baquero plays Maja, the widow and chief suspect in her husband Arturo’s (Álex Gadea) murder. However, Maja is first introduced as a grieving, religious young nurse who seems genuinely devastated by her husband’s death. But as Eva and her team begin digging into the case, a different profile emerges, one of a serial cheater with plenty of motive to get rid of her husband. With forensic analysis indicating the perpetrator was a man, the police’s primary challenge is to figure out who did the dirty deed for Maja.

‘A Widow’s Game’ is a rather straightforward murder mystery, divided into multiple segments, the first focusing on the investigators’ point of view. This is the grittiest part of the film, with Carmen Machi portraying Eva with a professional, no-nonsense attitude. Since the story is based on a real case (albeit fictionalized for dramatic effect), what stands out most is the police’s patience in unraveling the mystery without jumping the gun based on circumstantial evidence. Their painstaking efforts to wait and gather concrete proof eventually pay off.

There’s a slow, invisible cat-and-mouse game between Maja and the officers. Maja, thinking she’s in the clear, isn’t even aware that a match is still on. ‘A Widow’s Game’ is thus a clever title for the film, which begins to lose steam in the second half. Ivana Baquero is a gorgeous actor; however, her portrayal of Maja, a nurse with two jobs and a split personality, flitting between a pious, heartbroken widow and a woman involved in steamy affairs with multiple men, lacks the memorability one might expect. That said, it sometimes works in the film’s favor, as the audience is never truly swayed by her crocodile tears or victim act. But you never quite get the devious ‘black widow’ energy from her, nothing close to Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct”, Rosamund Pike’s chilling turn in “Gone Girl”, or even Georgia from “Ginny & Georgia”, who’s far more vivacious and cunning as a husband killer.

Apart from Maja, the other suspects in the murder case are three men connected to her, ex-boyfriend Andre, new love interest Daniel (Joel Sánchez), and a hospital co-worker named Salva (Tristán Ulloa). All of them are suspiciously close to Maja, as revealed through her texts, and the third part of the film uncovers what really transpired. The climax, of course, hinges on whether the cops can finally nab the real perpetrator and close the case.

What slows ‘A Widow’s Game’ down is its unnecessary voyeuristic focus on Maja’s sex life, which lacks the intrigue or sensuality to be truly erotic. Moreover, for a fictional thriller, the film often leans too heavily into documentary-style surveillance, repeatedly showing the cops watching computer screens and listening to Maja’s tapped phone calls with friends, family, and lovers. These scenes could have been far more dynamic had the creators used flashbacks or dramatized sequences showing Maja in action, living out the double life of the two-faced widow she is, instead of simply showing us a screen with an audio graphic.

This story would’ve worked better either as a tighter 90-minute film or a longer mini-series, because at two hours, it ends up shortchanging the one person who deserved more attention: Maja’s husband, Arturo. He’s criminally sidelined in his own murder tale, leaving ‘A Widow’s Game’ without a real sense of emotional closure. Arturo remains a vague, almost faceless victim, killed off by a young, ambitious wife with a hyperactive sex drive and zero moral compass, making his fate feel more like a plot device than a tragedy.

Overall, this film is a decent one-time watch for thriller enthusiasts looking for stories inspired by true crimes. Although, this game could’ve been far deadlier and more memorable.

Rating: 6 on 10. Watch ‘A Widow’s Game’ on Netflix.

Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)

Bhool Chuk Maaf Review: Forgive and Forget This Flick

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’ stars off with young lovers Ranjan and Titli eloping, however, their plan’s not successful when the cops catch hold of them and call their parents. Titli’s father challenges Ranjan to get a government job in two months in order to marry her, and with the blessing of Lord Shiva, he lands a post, but in a strange turn of events, Ranjan finds himself constantly waking up on his wedding eve and re-living the day. Stuck in the time-loop, he must find a way to get out of it and get wedded to the love of his life.

Directed by Karan Sharma, ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’ is supposed to be a time-loop comedy, that stars Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi as leads Ranjan and Titli, living in the vibrant city of Banaras. Unfortunately, the time-loop twist doesn’t even start until after 40 minutes, so those like me who were excited to be thrown into the ‘stuck in the same day’ madness sooner, are left bored with the prolonged prologue.

Also, the writers make it hard to root for a character who essentially does nothing, and is simply whiling away his time. At least Rajkummar Rao’s character Vicky from the horror-comedy ‘Stree’ had a tailoring job, Ranjan from ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’ on the other hand, is unemployed and constantly borrows money from Titli, for both their dates and his own hangouts. Titli herself just takes money from her dad. Comically vilifying fathers who don’t want their daughters marrying a streetside Romeo feels very 20th century now. Also, the onscreen chemistry between Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi is lukewarm, Rao had better chemistry with Jahnvi in “Mr & Mrs Mahi“.

Wamiqa Gabbi is loud and unconvincing as Titli, with her puppy eyes and domineering-yet-cutesy attitude coming off as a forced attempt at playing an earthy belle. Rajkummar Rao, of course, has mastered the art of portraying the small-town lover, but the script doesn’t give him the support he needs to elevate the story. The other members of the cast in ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’ do not have enough meat in their parts to make a lasting impression.

Once the time-loop kicks in, with Ranjan reliving his haldi ceremony day on repeat, a few funny moments follow. Desperate to break the cycle, he tries everything, until he learns the key lies in helping a complete stranger. Though this stranger is loosely connected to Ranjan, the climactic subplot suddenly tackles a serious issue, shifting the film’s tone in a jarring and uneven way. Not like ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’ was very funny or romantic until then either way.

If you’re looking for an entertaining romantic time-loop comedy, watch ‘Palm Springs‘. If you’d prefer a romantic comedy about a man trying to win marry the girl he likes, try the Tamil film ‘Dragon’, which features a climactic twist quite similar to what happens to Ranjan on his wedding day, and both protagonists land jobs through fraudulent means.

Rating: 4 on 10. ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’ is on Prime Video.

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Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)

‘Goodbye to All That’ Review: Graves Selectively Digs His World War I Past

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Robert Graves was 19-years-old when he enlisted in the army, fresh out of boarding school, not to keen on attending University yet, so he chooses to join the war instead, and recalls a lot of those experiences in his memoir ‘Goodbye to all That’.

It would be surprising to meet an English Literature student who doesn’t know of Robert Graves, an acclaimed World War I poet, one of the first few to realistically write about the terrors of being in the trenches. Although, ‘Goodbye to All That’ begins with Graves first recalling his ‘earliest memories’, including his mother’s influence on him, and family vacations spent in Bavaria at his grandfather’s place. These first few pages are haphazard and difficult to read, as if going through someone’s fragmented memories, which is really the overall essence of this novel – it’s scattered with random incidents, with some leaving powerful enough impressions to wash out the disappointment from the unnecessary bits.

Before Graves progresses to his memories of war days, where he served with the which form the bulk of the memoir, he writes about his time at Charterhouse, a boarding school where he was often bullied, so he took up boxing to fight back. He candidly calls himself a “pseudo-homosexual” early on, describing how English schools were breeding grounds for inevitable attraction between the same sex. Of course, that was the early 1900s; modern critics and readers would label Graves a bisexual, since he had intense love affairs with both men and women, fathering multiple children.

“In English preparatory and public schools romance is necessarily homosexual. The opposite sex is despised and treated as something obscene. Many boys never recover from this perversion. For every one born homosexual, at least ten permanent pseudo-homosexuals are made by the public school system: nine of these ten as honourable caste and sentimental as I was.” – Robert Graves in Page 23 of ‘Goodbye to All That’ (Penguin Modern Classics edition).

Readers will find only some fleeting mentions of his crush on a junior boy at school and a rather dry account of his marriage to first wife Nancy Nicholson in ‘Goodbye to All That’. After the first few chapters on his school days, Graves begins to detail his World War I experience as a soldier. While the memoir may not match the raw intensity of some war poetry, it offers a poignant look at the chasm between patriotic idealism and personal despair in the trenches. His own idealism around war would slowly be eroded as he would witness comrade after comrade perishing in a war that never seemed to end.

Graves recounts how soldiers, gripped by fear and loneliness, would take their own lives, only for their deaths to be reframed back home as acts of heroism, sparing families the shame of knowing their sons would branded as ‘cowards’. One of the most ironically tragic moments in ‘Goodbye to All That’ is when Graves recounts pausing for a meal at camp, while in a nearby enclosure, a senior officer demonstrating how not to use a grenade accidentally sets it off, killing himself instantly. The reader gets a concrete sense of the absurdities of warfare, including the copious amount of blood and lives lost as meaningless collateral damage in the theater of war, even though the author doesn’t necessarily pour too many graphic details in this memoir.

“Goodbye to All That” was a fascinating read for me in parts because this is the first time I am reading the memoir of a World War I soldier, a famous poet at that. The language and prose, however, aren’t smooth and are probably too alien and colloquial from the early 1900s for foreign readers. Not just that, Robert Graves often simply keeps talking about random famous people he encountered during the war, including a very forgettable anecdote about briefly meeting someone from the royal family. His friendship with fellow poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen makes more sense, and Robert is full of praise for Sassoon’s war poetry and his increasingly anti-war stance. It’s made me want to add “Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man” to my ‘want to read’ list.

It’s clear from “Goodbye to All That” that Siegfried Sassoon was a major influence and inspiration to Robert Graves, although their friendship seems to fade after the war ends, and Graves doesn’t mention him too much. For a memoir over 350 pages long, it’s a curious mix of personal and impersonal anecdotes, making it hard for the reader to get a strong sense of Graves’ true personality. He is a curious, contradictory figure, extremely proud of his stint in the war, yet disillusioned by the politics of it all, passionately lamenting the price paid by common young soldiers (some as young as 14, it seems) for the egos of war generals. At times, it feels like Graves is performing an awkward balancing act, trying to be candidly passionate about views that might be seen as scandalous, while still steering clear of outright outrage or controversy.

“Since 1916, the fear of gas obsessed me: any unusual smell, even a sudden strong scent of flowers in a garden, was enough to send me trembling. And I couldn’t face the sound of heavy shelling now; the noise of a car back-firing would send me flat on my face, or running for cover.” – this is perhaps one of the most moving things I read in “Goodbye to All That”. One of the rarer snippets in the memoir describing the lasting trauma and psychological scars inflicted upon Robert Graves by the war.

As a history enthusiast, the most amusing thing I learned from the book was the British hatred for the French, despite them being allies. Graves writes about how the average British soldier often despised their French peers more than their German enemies, a sentiment he mentions multiple times in Goodbye to All That, making it impossible to ignore. Sample what Graves says while expressing his disdain for 18th-century literature:

“The eighteenth century owed its unpopularity largely to its Frenchness. Anti-French feeling among most ex-soldiers amounted almost to an obsession. Edmund, shaking with nerves, used to say at this time: ‘No more wars for me at any price! Except against the French. If there’s ever a war with them, I’ll go like a shot.’ Pro-German feeling had been increasing. With the war over and the German armies beaten, we could give the German soldier credit for being the most efficient fighting-man in Europe.”

The last few chapters focus on Robert Graves finally leaving the trenches, trying his hand at running a grocery store with his wife Nancy, not too far from Oxford university, where he had studied English Language and Literature. The couple then moves to Egypt, after Robert gains himself a place to teach English abroad, a very short tryst. Writing about his short-lived teaching career in Egypt, Robert Graves abruptly ends the memoir, telling the reader that his life gets quite dramatic after he leaves Egypt, but those experiences are ‘unpublishable’. It’s essentially telling the reader “actually, my life is about to get spicier, and a lot more fascinating, but I have no interest in sharing those chapters with you.”

As the title “Goodbye to All That” suggests, the book focuses solely on Robert Graves’ wartime experiences and the years immediately after, ending around 1926. Just three years later, following the collapse of his marriage to Nancy and a deepening disillusionment with his homeland, Graves left England for good. “I vowed never to make England my home again,” he tells the reader.

If you, like me, haven’t read any World War I memoirs, ‘Goodbye to All That’ could be good place to start, even if it seems slightly all over the place.

Rating: 3.5 on 5 stars.

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Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)

‘Who’s There?’: Short Horror Film review

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How well do you know your friends and family? That’s the unnerving question behind ‘Who’s There‘, a ten-minute horror short directed by Ryan Doris and written by Todd Spence and Zak White. The film starts on a deceptively cheerful note, with a single dad making cheese sandwiches in a quiet suburban home. His daughter Brooke has a party to attend, and everything feels light and normal. But when it’s time for her to return, things take a sharp, eerie turn.

What follows is a tense and darkly funny take on the classic “don’t open the door” horror trope. The suspense in ‘Who’s There‘ builds on a single, terrifying concept – what if the voice at your door sounds exactly like your loved one, but something feels off? The entity on the other side starts mimicking Brooke, and then cycles through different familiar voices, trying to manipulate the father into opening up. It’s unsettling, creepy, and weirdly amusing all at once.

Despite a few underwhelming special effects, the short film ‘Who’s There’ succeeds in keeping viewers hooked with its clever pacing and solid acting. The simplicity of the setting works in its favor, letting the sound design and voice acting shine. The father’s rising paranoia and hesitation are relatable, and the final twist delivers a satisfying albeit comedic ending.

Who’s There might not be nightmare-inducing, but it’s a fun, spooky short that plays on everyday fears of trust, deception, and being alone at night. If you enjoy quick horror stories with a psychological edge, this one might be worth ten minutes of your time.

You can watch the film on YouTube.

Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)