Soft Hands 

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.

On March 31st, International Trans Day of Visibility, following some COVID related delays, the trailer was finally dropped, and although Taylour Paige and Riley Keough look to impress as lead characters Zola and Stefani, a brief cameo from a queer icon was what convinced me I have to see this movie.

That feeling in your gut which tells you that there’s something out there you should look for and make your own, is what the power represents

If you were to watch it on streaming when you have nothing to do, it’s still probably a giant waste of time, but you could do far worse.  Paying $18 for a movie ticket and who knows how much for concessions turns this from an exercise in boredom to an exercise in frustration. 

A haunting look at grief, survival, and a mother’s quiet collapse in a world that never gave her room to fall.

... La huesera haunts her daily life, leaving people to question her viability as a mother, and Valeria’s lack of satisfaction with her life leave her asking similar questions. These misgivings reach their peak after the baby is born, when Valeria, visibly in a state akin to possession, locks her in the fridge when she won’t stop crying through the night