‘The World to Come’ Movie Review: A Stunning Period Romance
Mona Fastvold’s nineteenth century lesbian romance is emotionally charged, restrained, and poetic without feeling forced.

Thomas Alva Edison died on October, 1931, but not before completing his greatest invention; a device for talking to the dead. Thought to be lost forever, Megan Goss, a gifted engineering student, tracks down the legendary blueprints. She rallies a group of friends to build it in a dilapidated house. What she doesn't tell the others is that this house has a history steeped in blood. A family brutally killed one another within its walls, and now that evil force lies in wait for someone to breach the tenuous membrane between worlds. Four students will learn some things are better left unknown when the flip of a switch frees a terror that forces them to the brink... and beyond.
Mona Fastvold’s nineteenth century lesbian romance is emotionally charged, restrained, and poetic without feeling forced.
Although not canonically aromantic or asexual. the stories and personalities of these Disney princesses resonate with members of the aroace community.
Suppressed intergenerational family trauma and healing, warm welcome to the Marvel Cinematic Universe team, and Awkwafina's humor really make this film the real MVP.
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.
It’s the most loving tribute to cinema and to Ingmar Bergman, set in world that feels so habitable that I felt like only re-watching this for eternity, because of how inviting it looks and feels.