Navigation (2022)

It is up to the community to decide if this film is a force for enlightenment or not.  

Ready or Not  takes a terrifying situation and has a fun time with horror components. The film melds horror and comedy, creating a cinematic hybrid that flows like running water. Instead of being a film that embraces gut-wrenching sensibilities, it perfectly taps into the energetic nature of hide and seek.

What seems like such a simple story of survival is so much more than that—it’s a story of family, and of war, and of destruction. It’s painful to watch, but not in a bad way. It makes its audience reflect on their own actions, and in how they are complicit in the sufferings of others as the adults in this film are. Grave of the Fireflies does not hold back from being heartbreaking, and it shouldn’t. It tells a message that needs to be heard decades after the war, and a story that cannot be forgotten by history.

From its visually stunning opening credits, which show women dancing through a forest to musical rhythms that sound almost primal, to its quiet, heartbreaking final frame, Mona Fastvold’s historical rendering of the Shaker religious movement is an experience that will stay with me for a long time.

A film about family and sacrifice... and carnivorous locusts coming after you.

The second film takes us on Peter's journey to be understood.