The Night Doctor (2021), a Cannes Hidden Gem
The Night Doctor achieves telling an original story in which the pace accelerates progressively while supported by dark aesthetics.

Keeping secrets can be difficult, especially when you’re a twelve-year-old half-vampire moving from Transylvania to a new life in Germany. Going to school, making new friends and fitting in — it’s all tough when you can’t just be yourself. With a vampire father and a human mother, sisters Dakaria (Daka) and Silvania don’t live in your typical blended family. Each girl embraces a different side of her genetic makeup: Daka wishes she was 100% vampire; Silvania wishes she was 100% human; and both believe they can finally realize their hearts’ desires when the opportunity to change presents itself. Will Daka and Silvania realize that, sometimes, your uniqueness is your greatest strength?
The Night Doctor achieves telling an original story in which the pace accelerates progressively while supported by dark aesthetics.
The gentle, emotional nuances of Evan’s coming-of-age story would have been so beneficial to have incorporated into the life of a POC character. Showing a Black, Asian or Latino young man that is afforded the space to be vulnerable, flawed and sensitive while driving a compelling and widely-loved narrative would have been a game changer.
I understand that this would have been consistent with the language used by that generation, due to its role in the medical profession, however as someone who has family members with Down Syndrome I took it very personally.
The characters aren’t likable, the story is predictable and the humor is either disgusting, obnoxious, or uncomfortable. The Wrong Missy is a mess of a film and it’s not really worth your time.
In all actuality, “Just Mercy” should be labeled a “wall punching narrative.” Constantly, the flick throws high forms of adversity our way, amping up our most inner levels of discomfort. Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton wonderfully paces the film in such a way that replicates the slow-burn nature of justice.
Director Martin Scorsese broadens his boundaries from mafia-driven movies, to a Buddhist biopic of the 14th Dalai Lama. While Buddhism strives for peace, ‘Kundun’ reveals the violence inflicted on Tibetan Buddhists and Scorsese’s depiction of violence does not stray away.