Family Code (2024)

I suppose you could argue that the story wasn’t what Director James Cameron was aiming for, it was the visuals. The spectacle of it all was the point, and it certainly shows.

Soul takes intangible concepts like self and personality and makes them completely palpable and simple to digest.

The plot could’ve really been interesting if the elements of lycanthropy was integrated with perhaps the struggle of identity of being LGBTQ+. It's an experience for so many that as they’re starting to realizing their true selves, they feel like a monster, especially if they come from unsupportive homes or communities. Instead, the horror and transformation elements seem thrown in without contemplation of how this could deepen the narrative.

The Franke kids seemingly lived a normal life, until their mom met the infamous Jodi Hilderbrandt.

Shadow & Bone excels in natural story representation with powerful centering of culture. Jessie Mei Li stars as Alina Starkov, the feisty cartographer with kindness, innocence, and integrity, who comes to be revealed as the legendary summoner of light.

Films and TV series often tend to misrepresent or not acknowledge bisexual characters, but recent trends show that bi-erasure is now under deserved scrutiny. So, I’m genuinely happy about the direction bi-representation seems to be taking.