Last Updated on October 6, 2021 by
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is primarily a story about Mildred, who is forced to resort to strong funds when police fail to arrest the man who raped and murdered her daughter. By using three half-finished billboards along an abandoned country road outside the city, she manages to convey a message that puts pressure on the police force and irritates large parts of the city’s residents. A very good story, incomparable actors and characters who never feel stereotyped. In addition, beautiful music composed by Carter Burwell is interspersed with carefully selected country songs that fit perfectly. Screenplay & Directing: Martin McDonagh. Featuring: Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Caleb Landry Jones and others
Private Life
In Private Life, we follow Richard Grimes (Paul Giamatti) and Rachel Biegler (Kathryn Hahn), a couple of 40s, living in New York City. During their careers in literature and theater, family life has been postponed, but now they both feel it is time. But getting pregnant is harder than they thought, and they have to take all the help they can get.
The script is brilliant. Every response, every dialogue, every scene feels perfect. It is clear that Tamara Jenkins has had a clear picture of how her movie should be told and look. She manages to create an atmosphere where everyone stands out as outstanding through her belligerent direction, tactful pace, choice of atmospheric environments and emotionally high peaks and valleys in the plot. This is a strong movie that manages to keep its high quality constant all the way from start to finish. Screenplay & Direction: Tamara Jenkins. Featuring: Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Kayli Carter and others.
Phantom Thread
In 1950s London, the economy flourished after the war. Reynolds Woodcock is an internationally renowned designer and the name of everyone’s lips. Women come and go in his big house. Seamstresses, models, and potential love interests. But when he goes out into the country one day something happens. At a restaurant, he meets the waitress Alma who has the perfect dimensions and is the perfect model. But Alma has a strong will of her own and her entrance has unintended consequences.
Paul Thomas Anderson continues to prove how silly a drama can be in the right hands. Phantom Thread is an emotionally powerful love story and a psychological game of power that is permeated with passion and obsession. In addition, there is an incredible amount of more bubbles under the surface. Phantom Thread is a masterpiece in filmmaking. Screenplay & Directing: Paul Thomas Anderson. Featuring: Daniel Day Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville and others.
The Florida Project
Outside Disneyland in Florida is the colorful Magic Castle motel, whose tenants largely consist of people from the poor underclass. Six-year-old girl Moonee lives at the motel with her young mother Halley. During the days she lives robbers with the other children, while her parents are busy raising money to pay the rent for the week. The motel’s manager Bobby, played by Willem Dafoe, runs the day-to-day operations while trying to keep an eye on the children.
The Florida Project makes me both happy and sad and that is exactly what is meant. To portray these vulnerable people in hopeless situations, while also preserving the joy of life and children’s playfulness, is a great achievement. At the same time, Disneyland is a metaphor for the real paradise, just a stone’s throw away. Sean Baker makes us think about childhood joy and parenthood in one of the best films of the year. Directed by: Sean Baker. Featuring: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite and others.
Wonderstruck
Wonderstruck tells the story of Rose, a girl in the 1920s, and Ben, a boy in the 1970s. They do not know each other but their lives are more intertwined than anyone could have imagined. Deaf Rose escapes from her dad and heads to New York to meet her brother and mother, movie star Lillian Mayhew. Ben, who has never met his dad, escapes to New York to look for him. The big city will eventually become a focal point for both.
It takes time before Ben’s and Rose’s hiatuses start to feel merged. Until then, it feels almost like we are being introduced to two different films with the same theme, which is not entirely engaging. But something happens in Wonderstruck’s other half and the emotional level is raised significantly. On several occasions, you will be deeply touched and when Haynes begins to experiment even more with her story it is magical. Directed by Todd Haynes. Featuring: Oakes Fefgley, Millicent Simmonds, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and others.
Wild River
Cory works as a hunter of predators, wolves, and cougars. One day, while hunting in the Wind River Indian Reserve, he finds the body of a young Indian woman. She has been raped and run barefoot in the extremely low temperature until she has died. The FBI sends inexperienced agent Jane Banner to investigate the death. Cory knows the girl and her family and helps with the investigation that is hampered by bureaucracy.
Among new good films, we find Wind River which can be described as a modern western. The theme, the message, and the film’s strong emotions make this one of the best films of the year. Just don’t go and watch this movie and expect a Hollywood story. Because it is not. It is brutally honest and merciless in its message.