Knives Out: Sharpest Writing of 2019?
Knives Out doesn’t just defy the whodunit narrative, it uses the weaknesses to its advantage. It’s well aware of the genre’s faults and tropes

The film is a parable about fear; it is a story about the attitudes of a mother and daughter deprived of love, who temporarily find mutual understanding, rallied by fear before the story invented by the mother about a cannibalistic wolf. On a philosophical level it is a reflection on the lost purity of thoughts, which is the main condition for the harmony of human life, and yet another illustration of the proverb: “The sleep of reason produces monsters”
Knives Out doesn’t just defy the whodunit narrative, it uses the weaknesses to its advantage. It’s well aware of the genre’s faults and tropes
The plot could’ve really been interesting if the elements of lycanthropy was integrated with perhaps the struggle of identity of being LGBTQ+. It's an experience for so many that as they’re starting to realizing their true selves, they feel like a monster, especially if they come from unsupportive homes or communities. Instead, the horror and transformation elements seem thrown in without contemplation of how this could deepen the narrative.
Lee Daniels’s Billie Holiday biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday was released on February 26th, 2021, and my immediate reaction to it was one of discomfort.
Overall, “Dark Fate” is a run-of-the-mill flick. Together, Reyes and Davis have excellent chemistry, but their characters’ story is nothing new, lacking surprise and deep emotion. During the middle points, the film drags considerably, and when the action hits, it feels consistently tight, eliminating the rhythm and fluidity of conflicts.
Disney has kept its word and allowed a new generation of Black and/or African storytellers to tell their own original stories. The question remains, will the public keep their word?
I have no idea how getting an abortion is still not a basic right at this point, but that means the fight is far from over. So, films like Happening are ever-relevant.