Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 40

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing Review

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People do not talk about it enough, but parents creating and running social media accounts for their babies and kids is problematic. And forcing kids to make content every day? That would be a serious labor law violation in a more fair world. The three-part Netflix documentary Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing exposes how “momager” (slang for “mom manager”) Tiffany Smith built a multi-million dollar empire by exploiting her preteen daughter, Piper Rockelle, along with several other children who were recruited to work for Piper’s channel.

The documentary features over half a dozen YouTube stars who used to be part of Piper’s online “squad,” but eventually quit due to the way they were mistreated and allegedly abused by Tiffany Smith. Some of them were only 11 or 12 years old when they started working for her—including Tiffany’s own niece. Nearly everyone has been talking about the Netflix series Adolescence, which is inspired by real events, but it’s Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing that deserves more attention, as it gives voice to real kids whose lives were shaped by social media, and not in a good way.

From being forced to work 16 or more hours a day to having their “first kiss” staged for views, the kids reveal several disturbing experiences they underwent while working under Tiffany. There are numerous audio and even video recordings that demonstrate Tiffany was far from the ideal “momager.” At first, I didn’t want to watch beyond the first fifteen minutes of the documentary, because you get a clear idea early on of how these kids were exploited on their path to online fame. But it’s an important eye-opener for anyone who still thinks children making content on social media is all smiles, games, and fun. It’s not.

Episode three of Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing focuses on the lawsuit filed by eleven former members of Piper Rockelle’s “squad” against her mother, Tiffany Smith, alleging several serious forms of misconduct. After leaving the squad, these kids reportedly faced intense backlash from Tiffany, including online trolling and interference with their income streams. The lawsuit even prompted an FBI investigation, though no significant action was taken. If there’s one thing the kids remain united on, it’s their support for Piper – whom many of their mothers describe as Tiffany’s first victim, manipulated and exploited by her own parent.

“Kidfluencing,” as the documentary calls it, is a highly unregulated industry that continues to fly under the radar of lawmakers across the globe. Bad Influence thus is a chilling reminder that when parents use their children for fame and profit online, the cost is often a lost childhood. If nothing else, this documentary underscores the urgent need for clear legal protections and accountability in the world of child content creation.

Watch the docu-series on Netflix.

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Budding Crisis Issue #4 Review

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Okay… Budding Crisis is a totally random historical-fantasy fiction comic book series by MK Reed, Jonathan Hill, and Allie Drake. But at least the art is consistent, and the primary themes in each chapter still revolve around the magical Onamanthe plants. Sort of.

I wrote in the review for Issue #3 that readers simply need to move past the previous chapter and not expect a lot of connection in the next one, but I’m having a hard time doing that myself. I want to know what happened to the trio in the last chapter during their wild goose chase for the mysterious Onamanthe plants. What are Bert and Petra from Issue #2 up to? But since I was also curious about what happened to the guy who got turned into a snake in Issue #1… I finally get that answer here.

Titled The Patients, Chapter 4 of Budding Crisis follows Jonas as he struggles to find a way to turn Commander Opfic, now a healthy, bright pink snake, back into a human. The creators also introduce a new world of wrestling, with Jonas becoming friends with a wrestler who gets him access to a clinic known for healing all kinds of wounds with magic. Maybe the doctor there could turn the snake back too?

How is this series supposed to be only five issues? There better be multiple volumes coming out afterward, but given how fragmented and random the chapters are currently, it’s no wonder there isn’t a lot of buzz over Budding Crisis. Honestly, though, the art is fun, and the magical story holds a lot of promise. I just wish the creators had focused on fewer characters and delivered a sharper plot.

With only 25–30 pages in each issue, it’s going to be a near miracle if they manage to bring all the chapters together in the fifth issue, which is set to be the final chapter in the series. If they do achieve that, I’ll give the final chapter a 5 out of 5. But for now, it’s 3 stars from me.

Rating: 3 on 5. ‘Budding Crisis’ is on Kindle Unlimited.

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Rebel Wilson Is Killer Agent in ‘Bride Hard’ Trailer

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“I know I’ve let you down as a friend… but I did kill a bunch of dudes for you.”

“That means a lot to me.”

Would you forgive your best-friend for bailing out right in the middle of your bachelor/bachelorette party, if they later fought off armed goons trying to hijack your wedding? You probably would.

Rebel Wilson plays Sam, a secret agent whose covert work gets in the way of her maid-of-honor duties in the action-comedy Bride Hard. Anna Camp stars as the bride, with Anna Chlumsky, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Justin Hartley appearing in supporting roles.

From the official trailer, ‘Bride Hard’ looks like a mash of ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘Shotgun Wedding’, you know, the one where Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel battle a gang of pirates who take their entire wedding hostage. Although the makers are branding it as “Bridesmaids meets Die Hard”, hence the title Bride Hard, which will be setting some really high expectations for both Die Hard fans and action enthusiasts. But from the looks of it, the movie seems like a very laidback, no brainer action flick.

In the Bride Hard trailer, it’s Sam, the bride, and all her bridesmaids who take on guns, knives, bazookas, and even cannons (yes!) to fight the bad guys. There’s no sign of the groom in any scene, or maybe he was there somewhere, but he didn’t stand out enough in the trailer to catch our attention. Rebel Wilson and the girls kick butt, and even though Rebel does seem a little awkward in the violent scenes, it adds to the comedic element!

It’s a shame that the Bride Hard trailer gives away most of the plot, but that doesn’t change the fact that Rebel Wilson and crew make it look like a wildly entertaining action comedy. The movie is set to release on June 20, exclusively in theaters. You can watch the trailer on YouTube.

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‘Nothing Left to Lose: Or, How Not to Start a Commune’ Book Review

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

“The fact was that I was confused. But you know, it was the sixties. I rejected my parents’ materialistic values. I wanted to live a more meaningful life. Yet I wasn’t sure what that meant or if I meant what I was saying.”

Looks like it doesn’t matter if you’re living in the 1960s or 2020s, an existential crisis awaits anybody who starts wondering what a ‘meaningful life’ is. ‘Nothing Left to Lose: Or, How Not to Start a Commune’ is a memoir by Jeff Richards, where the author recalls trying to evade the Vietnam War Draft so that he can start a commune with his best-friend Rick Sager in the Rocky Mountains. But when that doesn’t work out, the friends go on a crazy cross-country trip with an inflatable rubber raft, which includes a lot of hitch-hiking and river rafting.

As Jeff stumbles through sex, psychedelics, and spiritual detours, readers get to view drugs, love, and the idealism of 1960s America through his eyes. Chapter one entertainingly describes the transformative moment when Jeff and Rick get high for the first time as University students, while sharing an apartment. From there, they soon leave college behind for a life filled with drugs, music, questionable romantic encounters, and anti–Vietnam War protests. The next few chapters focus on the duo’s attempt to start a commune, but most of their friends bail, leaving them with a rundown place in Denver that they share with a third roommate and the occasional homeless hippie.

Author Jeff’s writing is conversational and easy to read, vividly capturing what it felt like to be young, reckless, and clueless in the 1960s. While the spiritual detours in the middle of the memoir tend to drag, it’s the easy, dependable friendship between Jeff and Rick – and Rick’s colorful adventures with women – that are the book’s highlights. Though Jeff crosses paths with many women, his heart remains set on Rick’s younger sister, Pie, for most part of the novel. That, of course, doesn’t stop him from trying to hook up with every woman he meets along the way. But most women aren’t interested, and the few who are either want his body or his records to steal.

The events in Nothing Left to Lose: Or, How Not to Start a Commune follow a neat timeline, but the title sets you up for communal chaos that never really comes. Jeff and Rick may be happy to share their space, but the full-blown, free-spirited madness the title hints at stays mostly off the page. Or, to be fair, author Jeff does offer a generous slice of ‘hippie life’ in his memoir, but it’s their hitch-hiking trip that holds most of the interesting action, not their attempt to run a successful commune in the mountains. The friends are broke, own almost nothing, and embark on a crazy trip that makes poor Jeff’s mother fear that she might not see her son again.

The first and last few chapters of the memoir are the most fun to read, while the middle section feels slow, scattered, and less engaging. The final pages follow Jeff and Rick, who are joined by Pie on the last leg of their hitchhiking trip, as they head back home. There’s plenty of drama on the road, with the trio encountering difficult strangers and unexpected challenges. They’re almost home, and quite honestly, the memoir is at its most entertaining just as the story simply ends. In a way, the ending makes sense, you know they’ll be fine, but somehow, watching Jeff and Rick crash on a couch and get high one last time might’ve felt more satisfying.

For readers curious about the free-spirited lives of young hippies and rebels in 1960s America, this memoir offers an intriguing, if uneven, glimpse into that era. While it doesn’t always hit the mark, it captures the restless energy, wild choices, and fleeting (and lasting) friendships that defined a generation.

Rating: 3 on 5 stars.

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Wednesday: Season 2 Trailer: Jenna Ortega Is Back For More Monsters, Mayhem

“This is the first time you’ve ever willingly returned to a school.”

“It’s like returning to the scene of crime. I already know where the bodies are buried.”

Netflix has officially unveiled the teaser trailer for Wednesday: Season 2, and Jenna Ortega is back as everyone’s favorite deadpan goth teen with a taste for all things macabre. After bouncing between schools for years, Wednesday Addams finally found her dark little corner of the world at Nevermore Academy, and Season 2 promises even more twisted secrets tumbling out of the Addams family closet. If you remember, Wednesday Season 1 saw Miss Addams hone her psychic abilities and investigate a monstrous killing spree in the town of Jericho while adjusting to life among fellow outcasts at her new school.​

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán return as Morticia and Gomez Addams, with Isaac Ordonez also reprising his role as Pugsley, Wednesday’s mischievous younger brother, who just might be enrolling at Nevermore himself. Fan-favorite Emma Myers is back too, bringing her vibrant charm as Wednesday’s werewolf bestie Enid Sinclair, whose rainbow personality still hilariously clashes with Wednesday’s all-black everything.

The teaser, true to the show’s mysterious spirit, keeps the plot tightly under wraps but offers quick flashes of monsters, mayhem, and plenty of Addams-style chaos. And in a welcome twist, Netflix has revealed the release dates: Wednesday Season 2 will drop in two parts: Part 1 on August 6 and Part 2 on September 3.

Watch the teaser-trailer on YouTube, it’s also embedded below.

‘Mama Retreat’ Short Horror Film Review

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Apart from maybe managing to spook viewers against signing up for any fancy, isolated retreat for new mothers, the short film Mama Retreat doesn’t have a lot to offer in its 16-minute runtime. There seem to be a lot of interesting themes in there, but obviously, the limited timeline doesn’t allow space to explore them.

Directed and written by Eileen Álvarez, Mama Retreat follows a pregnant Mercedes (Annie Gonzalez) at a glamping retreat for expectant mothers, led by the blue-eyed Julie (Julianna Robinson). The film starts with the soon-to-be moms sitting in a circle and sharing their fears about motherhood, while Mercedes is the only one with nothing to contribute. “I guess I’m just kind of private,” is all Mercedes has to say. But soon, the moms seem intent on invading her personal space, turning the retreat into a nightmare for her.

Now, the immediate story problem that pops up in the first two minutes is the fact that Mercedes isn’t thrilled to be at the retreat at all. Why even sign up to spend time with other moms if you’re a “private” person and don’t even want to give it a real shot? Mercedes also happens to be the only person of color at the retreat, so there’s a subtle racial angle to the story – Mercedes simply doesn’t feel at ease around the white moms. The prejudice works both ways.

Annie Gonzalez skillfully captures her character’s awkwardness and deep-seated anxiety about impending motherhood. At the heart of the story is her fear of not being a “good mom,” which becomes the central theme. This adds an extra layer of suspense, leaving viewers to question whether the unsettling events at the retreat are real or simply a manifestation of her spiraling anxiety. Julianna Robinson is effectively unsettling as the alpha mom, subtly manipulating the others to fall in line with her will.

There’s a cult-like, creepy atmosphere pervading the retreat, and Mercedes tries to leave early but is held back by Julie, who asks for a second chance. Staying back, of course, turns out to be the wrong call, leading to some unsettling experiences. But for a horror film, Mama Retreat relies on old tricks (like worms in food) and is rarely scary. It ends with a little twist that’s also not out of the box, but perhaps, overall, it’s a decent one-time-watch, if you’ve run out of options for a good horror film.

Watch the film on Netflix.

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Dragon Review: Pradeep Ranganathan Smokes, Scams & Softens

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

D Ragavan is the quintessential ‘good boy’, he scores 96% in his board exams, wins academic medals, has his entire future planned out and asks his crush out on the last day of high school. But when the girl rejects him for the class loafer called Rambo, who doesn’t even clear all his exams, Ragavan re-christens himself as Dragon and lives it up in college, skipping classes, getting into fights, accumulating over 40 arrears, and a whole lot of trouble.

Directed by Ashwath Marimuthu, the Tamil movie ‘Dragon’ stars Pradeep Ranganathan (‘Love Today’) as the titular protagonist, while Anupama Parameswaran (‘Tillu Square’) plays his college sweetheart Keerthi. Actor Mysskin plays Mayilvahanan, the college principal who is tired of Dragon’s antics, and cites Dragon as an example for ‘what not to do’ during presentations for freshers into his college. He is essentially the poster-boy for his college, but as the ‘worst student’ ever. Yeah, exaggerations like that are interspersed throughout the runtime, but okay, we’ll go along with it for the fun.

Obviously, Dragon is a mass-masala movie, with a larger-than-life hero who almost always has things working out in his favour. In the first half, he drops out of college, leeches off his girlfriend, friends, and parents, while spinning an entire yarn-shop worth of lies every day. A typical day in Dragon’s life involves watching TV, making lip-sync videos, getting his girlfriend to order him chicken biryani while she slogs at her teaching job, and smoking through packs of cigarettes. His idle antics and hedonistic lifestyle (that’s dependent on the kindness of others BTW) is glorified with unapologetic glee.

The first half is exaggerated fun, but also slightly slow and frustrating to watch because it feels formulaic, and you wonder, “Where is this story going?” When the lies catch up to him, Dragon simply finds a new way to scam those around him, and once again, things work out in his favour. But it’s in the second half that the story truly heats up, as Dragon faces a real trial: the seemingly vengeful principal Mayilvahanan, who threatens to expose him to his parents and fiancée (Kayadu Lohar) unless he accepts a near-impossible challenge. I am not going to say what, because that’s a major spoiler and also the biggest fun point in the movie.

“There are no shortcuts in life” becomes the film’s ultimate message, even though the protagonist’s choices are largely driven by his romantic entanglements. Living in his own bubble, Dragon is forced to grow up and Pradeep Ranganathan entertainingly portrays the protagonist in all his varied shades. The lead actor may not be thrilled with comparisons to actor Dhanush, but he undeniably shares a similar onscreen charm and persona, and that’s meant as a compliment.

Dragon begins as an arrogant, problematic character who is eventually humbled by hard life lessons. While the nearly three-hour runtime feels overdrawn, the film’s entertaining final stretch makes it worth your time.

Rating: 7 on 10. Watch ‘Dragon’ on Netflix.  

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Flowers of Evil Volume 6 Review: Piles on the Angst

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Things are finally getting a little out of hand in Kasuga’s life, whose plan to ruin the summer festival with stolen underwear is in complete tatters, thanks to Saeki burning down the hideout where he hid all his mischief-making material. Volume 5 of ‘Flowers of Evil’ by Shuzo Oshimi ended with cops finding Kasuga’s notebook at the site of fire, so volume six begins with the police questioning the school-boy over his role in the blaze.

Kasuga finally faces some real consequences for his reckless behavior – his parents ground him, and his father keeps a strict eye on him to ensure he obeys their rules. Surprisingly, Kasuga is barely rattled by the police questioning him; instead, he becomes obsessively focused on how he’ll make it up to Nakamura. Saeki, too, doesn’t back off from pursuing Kasuga and makes another desperate attempt to convince him that he won’t achieve anything with Nakamura.

Kasuga finally faces some real consequences for his reckless behavior – his parents ground him, and his father keeps a strict eye on him to ensure he obeys their rules. Surprisingly, Kasuga is barely rattled by the police questioning him; instead, he becomes obsessively focused on how he’ll make it up to Nakamura. Saeki, too, doesn’t back off from pursuing Kasuga and makes another desperate attempt to convince him that he won’t achieve anything with Nakamura.

This volume of Flowers of Evil is fast-paced, slightly twisty, and drenched in teen angst and frustration. The already troubling dynamic between Kasuga and Nakamura (where she dominates as the bully and he submits as her passive lackey) takes a darker, more violent turn by the end. What makes many of Nakamura’s actions feel hollow and frustrating is Shuzo Oshimi’s refusal to provide any backstory or clear motivation for her behavior. Then again, that might be the point: Nakamura is simply a restless teen acting out, her cruelty driven not by trauma, but by sheer boredom and the desire to disrupt. But then there is still the Saeki problem, why that smart girl keeps getting caught in their muck is simply inexplicable.

The artwork is a lot more vivid in these chapters, especially since the plot is emotionally charged. For the first time, Nakamura shows a more vulnerable side, though it’s laced with a violent streak. How are things going to end for Kasuga and Nakamura, especially now that his parents know what’s been causing the sudden change in his behavior? Will they be able to disrupt the summer festival and cause further trouble in town? Well, Shuzo Oshimi ends the volume with a wild, unexpected cliffhanger.

Rating: 3 on 5. ‘Flowers of Evil’ is also on Kindle Unlimited.

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Nothing’s Left: Short Film Review

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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AI might be taking over the world, but aren’t humans becoming more and more machine-like too? Well, the animated film Nothing’s Left by Davide Pellino follows a humanoid that comes to life, spending all its time in front of a screen, following its instructions, all in the pursuit of opening a box that might hold a special reward.

A little less than 5 minutes long, Nothing’s Left has straightforward animation and eerie background music. The protagonist looks like a robot but is obviously meant to represent humans, and how we’re all always chasing “goals,” drowning in consumerism, hoping to find something at the end of it all, only to realize we might’ve been focusing on all the wrong things.

The concept and themes are pretty familiar, but Nothing’s Left, in its short runtime, is a good reminder to viewers about the perils of consumerism and excessive consumption of social media. One of the first things the humanoid does in the film is take a selfie, which is low-key hilarious and a fun mockery of social media–obsessed users.

The climax is sudden, grim, and thought-provoking, wittily concluding the humanoid’s journey as it passes the baton in its final moments – inviting someone new to join the rat race and the endless cycle of life.

Rating: 3 on 5 stars. You can watch the film on YouTube.

The Pier Falls Book Review: Grimly Eclectic

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

‘The Pier Falls’ is a very eclectic collection of nine tales that will appeal to a diverse range of readers!

You can notice the world of a difference in themes, settings and even timelines within the first two tales. While the opening story is a modern/contemporary record of a public tragedy, where dozens of people die, the second is set centuries ago, following a stranded young princess on an Island. Yeah, there’s pretty much nothing in common between the tales, except that they are set by the sea and don’t have ‘happy endings’.

Mark Haddon’s writing is sharp, engaging, and instantly pulls the readers into its story setting. Only two stories failed to keep me hooked, one about a crew on a space mission and another was about a doomed jungle expedition. The jungle themed tale titled “The Boys Who Left Home to a Learn Fear” reminded me of horror novel “The Ruins” by Scott Smith for a few seconds, but Haddon’s tale isn’t as terrifying or gripping.

The third short story titled ‘Bunny’ is about a morbidly obese man’s friendship with a young neighbor, and it made me wonder if the writer took any inspiration from ‘The Whale’, a 2012 play by Samuel D. Hunter about an obese man trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Both tales are about desperate overweight men who know they are simply eating their way to death, and they both long for a human connection in their lives. It’s interesting how ‘Bunny’ is about a man eating himself to death, while the second one is about a young woman starving to her end while she is stranded on an island.

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Wodwo, the fourth story in the collection, which is quite whimsical and a retelling of an old tale. Set on Christmas Eve, Wodwo follows a stranger who disrupts a family gathering, leading to unexpected violence. It stands out as the most cinematic tale in the book, centered around an arrogant yet charismatic protagonist haunted by a surreal crime that irreversibly changes his life.

Just the varying range, themes, characters, and settings in ‘The Pier Falls’ is both random and amusingly entertaining. I wouldn’t go as far as to use the cliched phrase ‘there’s a little something for every kind of reader’, because that’s simply not the case, but it would appeal to contemporary fiction fans a lot more, especially those who like open-ended climaxes or tales that are bleak in nature. In-fact, that’s probably the most common thread in all of Haddon’s story in this novel, none of them have what one would label as a ‘happy ending’. Far from it.

Rating: 3.5 on 5.

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