This time gettin' caught up is cool as hell!
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.
The sequel following The Son of Bigfoot explores Adam's conflict of discovering his true identity as he tries to save a wildlife preserve.
Overall, Matthias & Maxime doesn't reinvent this romantic concept. But it also doesn't need to. Dolan weaves a story of love, friendship, and life that is both realistic and bittersweet. The film is nuanced and sensual in a way we don't get to see often with LGBTQ characters. It's a film that we can celebrate.
Ripley is a great character because she serves two distinct, but rewarding, purposes in the original film and the sequel.
