Takeaways on Cutaways
Ditch the lube and get to the point in the raw, honest, cheeky dramedy written and directed by Mark Schwab.

Fifteen-year-old Alisa, a graduate of the Gagarin Roscosmos Academy, sets off on her maiden interplanetary voyage aboard the *Lomonosov* alongside her father, former combat pilot Nikolai Fyodorov. Their mission is to deliver a quantum chip—created by scientist Andrei Gromov and concealed within an android designated T-17—to a research laboratory on Neptune. This technology, capable of harnessing the inexhaustible energy of a black hole, could pose a threat to the entire universe should it fall into the wrong hands. A powerful adversary from another galaxy learns of its existence; the alien commander Vex tasks a space pirate named Marcus with seizing the quantum chip. The *Lomonosov’s* peaceful mission quickly transforms into a high-stakes race across the entire solar system.
Ditch the lube and get to the point in the raw, honest, cheeky dramedy written and directed by Mark Schwab.
The second film takes us on Peter's journey to be understood.
Netflix's new thriller Apex, starring Charlize Theron, puts a twist on survival horror. Despite its setting in the beautiful- yet-dangerous Australian wilderness, Apex is not a movie about man vs. nature. Instead, it’s woman vs. man. While checking out the title card and its unpretentious Netflix release might lead viewers to believe Apex is just another celebrity project churned out of the streaming machine, Apex - whether by luck or by intention - is a consistently harrowing film about the reality of being a woman in a public space.
Twisting what seems to be obvious setups and frameworks is what sets the story structure of Squid Game apart. I appreciate that this narrative is complex but not complicated; an easy enough plot to wrap your head around while still treating the audience like an equal participant in this social commentary
On the Road captures the bleak, hyper-masculine world of long-haul trucking in Northern Mexico, where anything can and will happen. A hard-boiled, neon-noir romantic thriller, it shows the gritty reality of roadside diners, truck stops, and truck cemeteries alongside the expansive, breathless beauty of the Mexican desert highways.
A sweet slice-of-life anime that visualizes all the ways we creatively hide our vulnerabilities from the world.