You Belong to Me (1934)

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a film that is jarring within the first five minutes. Being at the edge of my seat from the very beginning made me feel both excited and frightened for what was to come, and it did not disappoint. Led strongly by Jennifer Lawrence as Grace, a woman trapped in the “American dream”, this film shows that society tells us what should make us happy. Many critics describe Die My Love as being about post-partem depression, but it is so much more. After moving to a secluded home with her husband Jackson, Grace finds herself in the throes of motherhood. Feeling isolated in her physical environment and her romantic relationship, Grace suffers psychologically. Lawrence brings a sense of rawness and humor to the screen that is often uncomfortable. Robert Pattinson adds to the discomfort as her loving, yet lost husband Jackson, who cares about his wife but does not know how to help her. Lynne Ramsay has presented a film that forces us to look at the realness of life, and what happens when the promise of what should make you whole fails.

The newest Pedro Almodóvar movie, Pain and Glory, focuses on an aging and debilitated filmmaker, Salvador Mallo (played by Antonio Banderas) reflecting on his life in his old age.

These confines won’t really encourage you to read the film as a metaphor for the nerve-inducing experience we’ve all been through over the last year, however — and in the interest of maintaining your dignity, you probably shouldn’t. While the sociopolitical commentary may have worked for the similarly-themed Buried (2010), in which we find Ryan Reynolds on his own buried alive in the Middle East, but this futuristic take on the premise is best left as a piece of distracting entertainment. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is no less suffocating, literally and dramatically.

As noted in the headline, I didn’t like this movie. Not to say it’s the worst thing ever, but it’s just…meh. Nothing much to it. Very generic. No surprises. At the very least, the cast is diverse so I’ll give it that.

'The Invisible Man' triumphs in tension even as it drops the ball on genuine surprise for the audience.

The 2020 remake of 'The Invisible Man' explores the hidden nature of domestic violence with a classic sci-fi character.