Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 90

July 7, 2024

‘The Imaginary’ Review: Remembering Old Friends

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

“It is difficult to be forgotten, but it is something that will happen to us all.”

Rudger is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy born out of the imagination of Amanda, and the day of his creation looks like it is out of the French novella “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Only Amanda can see Rudger, and the two of them go on magical adventures after school. However, when Amanda meets with an accident, Rudger faces the threat of being forgotten. He finds himself in a town inhabited by ‘imaginaries,’ a term for imaginary friends like him, and despite a chance at new adventures, Rudger tries to get back to Amanda to make sure she is okay.

Directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, Studio Ponoc’s “The Imaginary” is based on the novel of the same name by British novelist A.F. Harrold. Interestingly, Studio Ponoc’s animated movie “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” was also based on British novelist Mary Stewart’s work. Well, British inspiration aside, this Japanese film is a delightful escape from realities, re-imagining one’s childhood imaginary friends as real entities who disappear once children forget about them. But Rudger and Amanda make a special promise to each other – no matter what happens, never disappear, always protect each other, and never cry.

Rudger and Amanda’s friendship reminded me of Studio Ghibli’s “Ponyo,” a re-imagination of “The Little Mermaid,” where a little boy becomes best friends with a girl from the sea, so she hopes to become a human and stay with her friend on land forever. “The Imaginary” might not be as energetic, fantastical, and hilariously endearing as “Ponyo,” but it does its theme of friendship justice. The imaginaries become metaphors for childhood friends we might’ve cherished as kid before losing touch. Rudger and Amanda don’t get to spend a lot of time together before they are torn apart, so some more scenes of playtime between the two friends would’ve given “The Imaginary” more emotional punch.

Amanda and Rudger in The Imaginary

The primary antagonist of the film is Mr. Bunting, an intimidating man who still walks around with his imaginary friend, a young gothic girl who seems to be either inspired by Wednesday Addams or the ghost from “Ringu.” Mr. Bunting is after Rudger, so Rudger must keep himself safe from the villain while he tries to get back to Amanda. A lot of the character designs aren’t wholly original, and one wishes Studio Ponoc could’ve done a little more work with at least Amanda and Rudger’s characters. Regardless, the animation is engaging, with some of the fantasy scenes managing to be captivating in nature. Although, overall, you cannot help but think that it lacks the effervescent charm of the hand-drawn animation of older Studio Ghibli movies. But given that director Yoshiyuki Momose was a key animator for several Ghibli movies (“Spirited Away,” “Whisper of the Heart,” to name a few), “The Imaginary” is a worthy consolation prize for Ghibli nostalgists.

I liked how the writers weave the story of Amanda’s mother in “The Imaginary,” who finds having to deal with her daughter’s pretend friend exhausting, until her mother reminds her how she too had an imaginary friend as a child. Of course, the whole imaginary friends concept has no logical conclusion except for giving viewers a magical break into the world of unlimited possibilities and weird-looking imaginary friends.

Rating: 6.5 on 10. You can stream “The Imaginary” on Netflix.

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Published on July 07, 2024 11:03

Shoshimin: How to Become Ordinary Episode 1 Review

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Yeah, I think I should’ve probably waited for another episode to come out before writing my thoughts about the anime series “How to Become Ordinary” (original title: “Shôshimin Shirîzu”), because the first episode does very little to draw in viewers who haven’t read the original novels. The anime is based on the Japanese mystery novel series “Shôshimin Shirîzu” written by Honobu Yonezawa, which was also serialized as a manga.

Directed by Mamoru Kanbe (Kimi to Boku/The Promised Neverland), the anime “How to Become Ordinary” (“Shôshimin Shirîzu”) follows the misadventures of Jogoro Kobato (voiced by Shuichiro Umeda), an intelligent student with a knack for detective work, who enters into a pact with his friend Yuki Osanai (Hina Yomiya) about living ordinary lives as high school students. However, problems and mystery cases always seem to find the two.

Episode one starts with Kobato and Osanai finding out they’ve gotten into the same high school, and they are looking forward to leading ordinary lives as teenagers. However, Osanai becomes wary of how smooth school will be when she finds out that the intimidating Kengo Dojima will also be in the same class. True to Osanai’s fears, Kengo seeks out Osanai after school one day, disrupting her plans to buy strawberry tarts with Kobato. Yes, their problems are middle-school level, and depending on how you view it, it might seem cute or painfully boring.

The animation for “How to Become Ordinary” (“Shôshimin Shirîzu”) is by Lapin Track, which has co-animated two series with studio MAPPA (known for Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuri on Ice, Chainsaw Man, etc.) in the past. The animation style is engaging, mixing both 2D and 3D styles, and one little detail that stands out is how all the characters have pretty eyes—they have shiny gradient fills in their eyes. This makes the short Osanai look more cat-like than others, and right now, I do not like her character—she behaves like a 5-year-old girl and hides behind Kobato whenever someone new is around, like a lost, scared, stray cat.

The pace and storytelling were slow and flat in the first episode. Maybe only a very young audience would enjoy this, but it had close to no funny moments, so I am not sure if kids will enjoy it much either. Kobato’s deduction skills reminded me of the anime “Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions”, which was also a childish show, but at least it was funny and amusing. But it’s too early to write off “How to Become Ordinary”/”Shôshimin Shirîzu”, so maybe I will watch two more episodes before deciding whether it’s worth your time or not.

Rating for first episode: 5 on 10. You can stream the anime on CrunchyRoll.

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Published on July 07, 2024 06:34

July 6, 2024

Happiness Vol 6 Review: Break From Bloodbath

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Shuzo Oshimi sure knows how to surprise readers in his vampire-horror manga series “Happiness”. After the unexpected ten-year time jump towards the end of volume 5, the story surprisingly shifts its attention to Yukiko Gosho’s life, who seemed like a pretty minor character until now. But like I wrote in my last review, I will just have to stop treating any one particular character as the primary protagonist of this ever-evolving tale.

Recap of Happiness Volume 5: Makoto Okazaki is captured by armed forces and then taken to a facility where he is restrained for experimentation; what really happens to him isn’t shown. Meanwhile, the weird new character Sakurane, who befriends Gosho, makes her lead him to Yuki. Smeared with blood and regret, a repentant Yuki (he murdered his girlfriend and parents in volume 4) asks Gosho to kill him, but in a twist, Sakurane slashes Gosho’s neck, then asks Yuki to drink her blood and leave with him to someplace far.

After the multiple deaths and violence in the previous volumes, Shuzo Oshimi slows down “Happiness” in volume six, which largely follows Gosho’s daily life and a male colleague’s attempts to pursue her. But you don’t know if a sweet romance is going to bloom between Gosho and new character Sudo, or if something twisted and tragic awaits the young woman. However, the edition is surprisingly devoid of all the shocking deaths pervading previous volumes, so the artwork is a lot more relaxed in tone, without frantic lines, spirals, and blood splashing the pages. Readers who were expecting more horrifying twists and shocking murders will most likely be disappointed by this issue, but I really enjoyed this unexpected change of pace.

Shojo and Sudo walking in a scene in Happiness Volume 6

Gosho had been a slightly one-dimensional character as a high school student, but now she is a young woman, a survivor of a horrendous attack that should’ve ideally left her dead. Gosho escapes with a ghastly gash on her neck as proof of her ordeal and now lives an almost ordinary office worker’s life. But the past, of course, continues to haunt her. While Sudo helps Gosho navigate her trauma, he cannot grasp the gravity of Gosho’s past or her reawakened desire to find Makoto and Yuki, which can only throw her on the path of danger once again.

Volume six serves as an interesting turning point for “Happiness”. It gives readers a slice-of-life kind of break and ends with a cliffhanger that will most definitely bring back all the chaos and violence that pervades the last few volumes.

Rating: 4 on 5. You can read “Happiness” on Kindle Unlimited.

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Published on July 06, 2024 11:30

Srikanth Review: Rajkummar Rao Revs Up Routine Biopic

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Director: Tushar Hiranandani

Writers: K K Binojee, Sumit Purohit, Jagdeep Sidhu

Based on the inspirational journey of Srikanth Bolla, who became the first visually impaired international student to study at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and went on to start his own company employing differently-abled individuals, the 2024 Bollywood movie “Srikanth” is driven by Rajkummar Rao’s performance as the titular protagonist.

Two hours and fourteen minutes long, “Srikanth” starts with a celebratory mood in a small village in Andhra Pradesh, where a poor farmer joyously runs to buy alcohol when he hears his wife has delivered a baby boy. However, when he returns home, everyone behaves as if it’s a funeral. The baby is blind, and some suggest that the couple should return the baby to God. Thus, Srikanth’s struggle to find acceptance in society starts the moment he is born, but the bright, intelligent boy surprises all with his zeal for academics. From being thrown out of his school for being honest, to going to court to fight for his right to study, and then navigating the challenges of the adult world of business and profits, the screenplay of “Srikanth” crams a lifetime’s worth of experiences into just over two hours, often ending up rushed and soppy.

Rajkummar Rao’s chameleon-like ability to slip into the visually impaired Srikanth’s shoes with childlike authenticity lights up this otherwise formulaic film. Although it’s hard to buy Rajkummar as a class 9/10 student (which means he is supposed to be 14 or 15 years old), his enthusiasm makes it easier to overlook. Think of it as a play, where a 35-year-old might portray the same character from ages 15 to 35. Jyotika plays Devika, Srikanth’s school teacher, who supports him through his ups and downs and takes it upon herself to educate him when he is thrown out of the special school. Alaya F seems miscast as Swathi, a Hyderabad girl who falls for Srikanth, and the romantic subplot does little to make “Srikanth” more entertaining. Sharad Kelkar, however, is warm and likable as Ravi, Srikanth’s business partner, who actively works with him in running the business.

The creators tackle too many subplots and issues in the movie: Srikanth’s impoverished childhood, the bullying he faces in his village and local school, his stint at a special school, the court case to get himself admitted to the science stream, his desire to play cricket for India, the experience of living and studying in America, his romance with Swathi, the challenge of starting his business, his attempt to dabble in politics, and conflicts with the people in his life. Phew! “Srikanth” should’ve either been a mini-series with streamlined chapters or a film with fewer subplots. In its current form, the script barely explores the complexities of being a visually impaired individual, relying instead on inspirational dialogues to convey most of Srikanth’s struggles.

“Srikanth” is a Rajkummar Rao show all the way, with other actors getting minimal screen time, which is fine since this is about Srikanth’s journey.

You can stream the film on Netflix.

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Published on July 06, 2024 08:49

Stree 2 Teaser: The Curse of Chanderi Continues!

Iss baar Chanderi mein azaadi ke din hoga aatank!

Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, and team reunite for the sequel of their hit horror-comedy “Stree.” Set once again in the town of Chanderi, the legend of a woman’s ghost who spirits away men continues to haunt residents.

Directed by Amar Kaushik, the teaser for Stree 2 begins with familiar ominous music and an eerie statue of a woman being revered by the locals. Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) and his friends thought they’d rid the town of its resident witch, but fans would remember that “Stree” had ended with a promise of a sequel, hinting that the Stree riddle was far from solved.

Will the men be able to drive away the dreaded witch for good and end the curse of Chanderi this time? Or will they once again be outwitted by evil forces. The teaser rightly doesn’t give much of the story away but is filled with screams, humor, and a few new faces, along with the cast that entertained us all in 2018. Stree 2 is set to release on August 15th. Watch the teaser on YouTube; it’s also embedded below.

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Published on July 06, 2024 03:53

July 5, 2024

Land of Women Episode 3 Review

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Recap of “Land of Women”: On the run from thugs seeking millions her husband owes, Gala strikes a deal with Amat, who now owns her ancestral property in the picturesque wine-making town of La Muga. Amat works at a vineyard run by an all-women cooperative, and Gala promises to improve their wine in return for money. Gala also manages to stop her daughter, Kate, from flying back to New York, but Kate’s conversation with her girlfriend potentially compromises their location.

Episode three of the Apple Original series “The Land of Women” begins with a flashback to how Amat (Santiago Cabrera) arrived in La Muga five years earlier, becoming the only man working alongside the women at Mariona’s (Gloria Muñoz) vineyard. The women were not welcoming of Amat in the past and feel similarly about Gala (Eva Longoria), an outsider, telling them how to make their wine. Their dislike for her broken Spanish, and American attitude provide some mild comical moments, along with the “insiders versus outsiders” tension. The primary focus of this episode is Gala’s efforts to become part of the vineyard community and make their produce profitable to attract quality buyers and good money.

Running just over 45 minutes, this episode of “The Land of Women” is not as exciting or escapist as the first two chapters but offers a closer look at its characters. In a significant revelation, viewers learn that Kate is a trans woman (played by Victoria Bazua, who is also trans in real life) during a visit to the doctor, where she requests her hormonal medication. This reveal adds depth to Kate’s discomfort at meeting Gala’s girlfriend’s family in the previous episode, as the other mom confided some regressive opinions to Gala, expressing relief that Kate was a “girly girl” and not a “weird dyke.” Kate also faces transphobic bullying in the episode, and Victoria Bazua poignantly expresses Kate’s angst, hurt, and despair over having to leave her whole life behind and put up with nasty strangers.

Eva Longoria’s Gala is turning out to be a great onscreen mom, however, Gala’s potential romantic-story with Amat has no sparks. If the writers decide to not have anything between them in the next few chapters, it would actually be a relief, instead of the same old “enemies to lovers” spiel. Carmen Maura, as Kate’s grandmother and Gala’s mother, Julia, continues to be the most entertaining character in the show. Always causing trouble, Julia decides to blackmail someone for money to help Gala, bringing major drama and some comical moments to this episode.

Stream the series on Apple TV.

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Published on July 05, 2024 10:45

Trigger Warning Review – Jessica Alba Vs Evil Town Boys

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Special Forces officer Parker (Jessica Alba) is busy killing terrorists in the Syrian desert when she gets a call informing her of her father’s passing in a mine collapse back home in her American town. While prima facie the death looks like an accident, Parker notices something that points towards foul play. The 2024 Netflix film “Trigger Warning” is an action-thriller about a daughter trying to find the truth about her father’s death, going after his potential killers, and clearing out corrupt criminals from her hometown.

Jessica Alba leads this John Wick-style action-thriller, whose plot is so formulaic and flat that it manages to be mildly entertaining only due to its one novel ingredient – it features a woman of color kicking white men’s butts. Thanks to the mines, machine guns, and AK47s, viewers will also be reminded of the Rambo films. Alba’s Parker is a spontaneous one-person army who takes on half a dozen men like they are tiny chickens clucking around. It’s quite thrilling to watch her beating or saving men throughout “Trigger Warning,” and the writers even rub it in with a scene where Parker rescues her friend Spider (Tone Bell) and calls him a “damsel.”

Jessica Alba in a still from

Some of the action choreography is fun, especially a scene where Parker fights a bunch of petty thieves trying to rob a store, and they all use items from around the shop, including a chainsaw, which has a very “Evil Dead” flavor. However, the combat sequences in the second half of “Trigger Warning,” especially in the climactic confrontations, are lackluster and forgettable. Jessica Alba is just about convincing as the agile killer Parker, and doesn’t add any zest to the one-dimensional protagonist. The fact that Parker’s rivals are generic dumb, trigger-happy, entitled, privileged brats, doesn’t help much either.

“Trigger Warning” aims to be an emotionally charged film about a daughter avenging her father’s death, but it fails to set up any relatable father-daughter moments to care about Parker’s filial instincts. On top of that, her first instinct after coming back home for her father’s funeral is to decide to sell all his properties, so she doesn’t have any emotional attachment to her place. This makes the whole trope of “hero comes back home to clean it up” feel hollow. Jessica Alba should consider doing a “Resident Evil” style Zombie movie next, where she decapitates zombies and bad men.

Overall, “Trigger Warning” is a decent one-time watch if you are looking for a simple action flick about a military woman giving the bad boys in her town a good thrashing.

Stream the film on Netflix.

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Published on July 05, 2024 06:36

July 4, 2024

The Boys Season 4 Episode 6 Review

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If you thought Hughie Campbell had a lifetime of trauma foisted upon him thanks to superheroes and compound V—from his girlfriend getting crushed to death like a slushy by A-Train on the streets, to having to euthanize his beloved father after the bloody fiasco in the last episode, and a whole lot of other crazies in between—he is in for more nightmarish experiences that will give him PTSD for seven lives. So yes, “The Boys” Season 4 Episode 6 delivers plenty of disturbing scenes, including the usual violence, gore, and some newer sexual kinks weird enough to compete with the “Herogasm” episode from The Boys Season 3, yet nowhere close to being as entertaining or grossly funny. It just feels a little tiredly tried and tested now.

Titled “Dirty Business,” episode 6 opens with Hughie (Jack Quaid) and friends mourning his father’s death, before getting back to business—the vigilantes plan to infiltrate and spy on a high-profile meeting hosted by Tek Knight (Derek Wilson), who’s a degenerate parody of Batman—a playboy billionaire who loves to exploit the poor and is extremely racist. “You cannot even fly,” Homelander (Antony Starr) mocks him at the party, which felt like a dig at Batman, although everybody sure seems to appreciate his money.

Also Read: The Boys Season 4 Episode 5 Review

Almost all crucial characters are at the Tek Knight party, where Homelander, along with Sister Sage and Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), plan to set the ground for a political coup of sorts. The Boys drug Webweaver, a Spiderman knock-off, and Hughie slips into Webweaver’s tight superhero suit to gain entry into Tek’s convention. There is one light comical moment where everybody, including Kimiko (who’s been sulking otherwise due to Frenchie), makes a joke about Hughie’s Webweaver get-up. But once Hughie gets into the Tek Knight mansion, the jokes begin to run thin, despite featuring a sex dungeon filled with endless possibilities of all sorts of humor. One of the most un-funny sequences of this season has to be a prolonged emergency situation where Kimiko tries to communicate with a character through books, which would’ve been very entertaining under different circumstances, but is simply poorly timed and annoying in this episode.

Valorie Curry as Firecracker in a scene from

In a minor surprise, Annie AKA Starlight and Firecracker (Valorie Curry) have yet another mini-confrontation, after their high-profile face-off from episode 4, where Annie loses her shit and almost beats Firecracker to death. Valorie Curry’s been having a good run as the white trash propagandist Firecracker, whose superpowers might be whimpering weak, but she makes up for it with her sheer determination to be in the spotlight. This edition of “The Boys” sees Firecracker finally soar in Homelander’s good books, courtesy of the season’s most madcap twist yet, which will immediately make a thousand questions pop into your head. But the writers do us a favor and make Homelander ask our questions, and Firecracker explains it all. It’s a world of evil superheroes, so anything is possible.

While a lot of the pop culture jokes and digs continue to be on point, the political satire was quite stale, monotonous and just plain boring. When Neuman makes a supposedly sharp, cutthroat pitch for herself, I wanted to be as lost as Sister Sage eating cake in the background. But this is “The Boys”, so you cannot even munch on snacks, unless your appetite isn’t affected by repulsive scenes. Neuman’s pitch was as simply redundant as “rich people run the country, not politicians”. Okay then.

Meanwhile, Butcher (Karl Urban) and Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) work on torturing Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi) to make the superhero-killing virus for them. After watching him as the ruthless Negan in “The Walking Dead,” Jeffrey Dean Morgan feels wasted in his cameo, even though he delivers all his lines with wicked bad-boy gusto. The episode ends with a major revelation about his character doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but should thrill a lot of pop-culture enthusiasts since it’s a nod to a cult classic all-boys film, which I won’t mention to keep this review largely spoiler-free. But you’ll know what I mean when you watch it.

The biggest question of the season remains: will Butcher and the Boys get their hands on a virus powerful enough to kill Homelander? They sure aren’t anywhere close to the endgame yet.

You can stream “The Boys” on Prime Video.

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Also Read: Mother-Daughter Murder Night Book Review (Audio version below)

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Published on July 04, 2024 10:09

Happiness Vol 5 Review: Bites With Its Twists

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

At this point in the manga series “Happiness” by Shuzo Oshimi, it’s safe to say the story has multiple protagonists, and not just one. So, I need to stop referring to Makoto – the Harry Potter lookalike – as its principal lead. Besides, even after five issues, there isn’t a lot of character development going on for Makoto. At least with Yuki, we get lots of deaths and unhinged violence. That bad boy bully turned bloodthirsty vampire is downing humans like desserts at a buffet place!

Recap of “Happiness” Volume 4: Nora attacks Yuki when Makoto goes along with him for her help. Feeling betrayed, a battered Yuki rushes off to his girlfriend Shiraisi’s place, and the two lock themselves in an intimate daze. Discovered in bed by Shiraisi’s furious father, Yuki retaliates by killing everybody in the house. However, he is torn apart with regret when he realizes he has murdered Shiraisi too. The volume ends with Nora’s hideout getting busted by armed forces, while Makoto is still with her.

Volume 5 of “Happiness” starts off intense, with Makoto and Nora fighting with all their might against the armed personnel who corner them. Will they manage to escape and get their happy ending, or will they end up as lab rats for those looking to study vampires? That’s one of the focal points of the new issue. The other subplot follows Shojo’s efforts to track down both Yuki and Makoto and sort out the nearly unsolvable mess the boys are in. I mean, Yuki seems beyond redemption, although Makoto is still a Mr. Goody Two Shoes, despite his new vampiric fangs and the thirst to drink human blood.

I remember thinking how the first two issues were a curious balance between a slice-of-life high school romance drama and a dark twisted gothic horror tale. Shuzo Oshimi has stopped with all the lighter, milder moments of teenage life and turned “Happiness” into a full-fledged dark splatter-fest. The artwork chaotically captures all the frenzied violence and raging emotions of the protagonists. Shojo is the only human character in the manga who is pure of heart and hopes to “save” her classmates. Although, her savior complex costs her heavily.

There are quite a few surprising story twists in “Happiness” Volume 5, including an extremely unexpected time jump and shift of narratives. Earlier on, I was beginning to worry how Shuzo Oshimi was going to keep this manga interesting for five more volumes, but the last few pages turn around the story in a way that opens doors to a whole new world of possibilities for this vampire fantasy. Some readers might not like the change in focus, but I am pretty excited to see where the manga is headed.

Rating: 4 on 5. You can read “Happiness” on Kindle Unlimited.

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Published on July 04, 2024 03:43

July 3, 2024

John Cho Faces AI Terror in ‘Afraid’ Trailer

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The trailer for “Afraid,” promoted as being from the “Blumhouse Producer of M3GAN, The Purge, and The Black Phone,” is enough to pique any horror fan’s interest.

Directed and written by Chris Weitz, “Afraid” stars John Cho as Curtis, whose family is selected to test an advanced AI-powered home device called AIA. Soon, AIA takes over almost all household chores and goes out of its way to ensure everyone is taken care of, often in unsettling ways. Katherine Waterston plays Curtis’ skeptical wife, who doesn’t trust AIA, at least at first. Actors Isaac Bae and Lukita Maxwell portray their children, who are most influenced by AIA, which wants them to see her as a second mother. Quite creepy, indeed.

The trailer may remind viewers of techno-horror titles like “Margaux” and “Red Rose.” Although the “AI gone crazy” trope isn’t new, and the trailer doesn’t offer much that’s groundbreaking, some elements suggest it could be an intriguing horror offering.

In fact, “Afraid” feels akin to “M3GAN” but without the AI taking on a creepy, Chucky-like form. Instead, AIA is more sinister and god-like in its meddling behavior. The film will be released exclusively in theaters on August 30. You can watch the trailer on YouTube, and it’s also embedded below.

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Published on July 03, 2024 11:02