At War with the Army (1951)

The legacy of this movie starts off the film series with a bang of magic, plot twists, and battles.

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

The Cycle refuses to lean into the same old, same old monster-movie tropes and builds the entire premise around the intellect and the history of a capable, smart female protagonist.

"His Girl Friday" set the bar for romcoms and gave us a feminist heroine before feminism was cool.

A refreshing twist is that all the kids’ powers are…kind of useless. There’s a kid who can only move in slow motion, a kid who has every power in the world but can only use them randomly, and our main character Missy who has no powers at all. The thesis of the film seems to be that it doesn’t matter what kind of powers you have, its the way you use them, which is good for the warm and fuzzies.

Marvin Gaye's powerful music addresses the same themes as "Da 5 Bloods" and elevates the film to even greater heights.