Paris by Night 116: Nụ Cười Đầu Năm (2015)

In the shadow of towering film production companies lived dozens of grindhouses, genres, and low-budget films deemed too “unclean” for the modern film audience.

This short film was an overall creative success.

Darren Arronofsky focuses on diverse and heartbreaking stories about the human experience.

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.

This film manages to be simultaneously topical and timeless. Without being preachy, it highlights society’s flawed relationship with tech; insights into the complex ideas of family struggle are expertly dispersed among a perfectly paced and balanced story.

Hokum is an enjoyable horror film that will probably get a little under your skin, but it isn’t the tour de force that you might be expecting.