Charles Mingus: Epitaph (2009)

I write for a diversity-focused film review blog, so I’ll be honest: I really wanted to like Pretty Lethal. Starring Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow, Avantika, and Millicent Simmonds, Amazon Prime’s new thriller seemed like it would be a girl power movie about dancers with a horror action twist. Sort of a Suspiria for teens. But with shallow and unlikeable characters, a confusing plot, an overreliance on violence, and cringey dialogue, any fun the movie started out with was quickly lost. What was left was a faint echo of greater horror movies about dancers made before. 

Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman starred in the new Amazon Prime Video film, The Love Hypothesis, based off of the popular romance novel written by Ali Hazelwood. For those who have not read the book but love a good romance story, this film will easily grab your attention and your heart. And for those who are fans of the novel, it is safe to say they were pleased by this adaptation. Because even if you are bad at science, it is easy to see the chemistry between these two characters.

The story of the loss of innocence of the young prey who has been maimed by the predator. *Trigger Warning, sexual abuse and assault is discussed in this short film.

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

As one of the women said in the film, friendship in your teens is “as important as any lover” and it’s clear they lived that philosophy throughout their early adult lives as well.