
In the Syrian deserts of war, a love story blossoms between a young man and a young woman who turn cherries into pens as they write love letters to one another. The couple has to live a national struggle as they witness the Six-Day War and the October War, as war changes the scene around them.
In 1977, Star Wars changed the world. It took the universe by storm, completely redefining everything everyone knew about movies. But then, in 1980, The Empire Strikes Back changed Star Wars. Sequels were not as well regarded back then as they are today.
Considering the runtime, I expected each scene to hit harder as opposed to a series of montages and vignettes.
I am an Armenian who has a mild form of epilepsy. I rarely see Armenian culture and epilepsy properly portrayed in film or TV. I delve into the how and why.
In this short film, writer/director Nikita Hattangady focuses on Jai, a starving artist rooted in the latter category. Though unhoused, he works hard.
The biggest highlight of the film is easily the performance of Andrew Garfield. In his days since hanging up his Spiderman suit, Garfield has routinely churned out great performances, and Mainstream is no exception. He proves that he is willing to try anything and go anywhere in a character.