Surface Level "People We Meet on Vacation" is Still a Fun Time
Unfortunately, People We Meet on Vacation didn’t hold up quite as well as I’d hoped.

María José is 25. Her life moves back and forth between the monotony of class at the university, her eternally distant parents, and a couple of alternative spaces where she can explore her own and others’ limits. One day, she meets Javier, a boy she really likes and tries to have a relationship with, but her behaviour starts changing radically. In fact, she’s a few months into her pregnancy and no one knows.
Unfortunately, People We Meet on Vacation didn’t hold up quite as well as I’d hoped.
"Well, the film industry is completely sexist and completely class-biased." A closer look at Lynne Ramsay's impressive body of work.
The Gates, John Burr’s new thriller film, is a disturbingly realistic portrayal of three Black twenty-somethings - Derek (Mason Gooding), Kevin (Algee Smith), and Tyon (Keith Powers), as they accidentally take a wrong turn into a gated community that’s more like a modern-day sundown town. The three friends witness a variety of crimes in their new surroundings, including an attempted homicide and an attempted rape. As they attempt to alert the authorities and do the right thing, they are thwarted at every turn by the worst horror stories of American conservatism - racist white suburbanites, reckless gun violence, corrupt police, religious mania, and a megalomaniacal pastor.
Director and writer, Miles Marti, brilliantly created a film that captures the story of a kid that learns a new reality all within the walls of her classroom. Tears Of Knowing lightly steps into the devastation of loss through a childhood lens, and presents a perspective that is not often acknowledged. Though grief and loss are important aspects, the film also showcases excellent portrayals of trust, innocence, and naivety.
The social issues The Half of it takes on are handled well, between the antagonization brought on to Ellie for her race and the conflict that arises from her being gay. Both aspects of her character are built up over the course of the film and don’t seem abrupt or rushed. The film shows racism towards Ellie and her and father in varying levels, from having her schoolmates specifically address her as "Chinese girl” to the fore mentioned way her Dad is treated due to language barriers. The same can be said about Ellie being a lesbian. While she never truly “comes out” in the narrative, that does not undermine her journey of self-discovery from being meaningful. These ideas aren’t thrust upon the viewer in a preachy manor, the scenarios that occur feel believable given the rural setting. The film presents watchers with problems whom those like Ellie may face, and leaves us to sit with them and reflect.