Blanket Wearer (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Her penniless one-year nomad project

Posted on September 27, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean independent documentary film “Blanket Wearer” is a likable chronicle of one interesting personal quest. Yes, as shown from the documentary, its director/producer/cinematographer/co-editor Park Jeong-mi really attempted a penniless one-year nomad project after being so suffocated by her static and stressful status of life, and we are alternatively touched and tickled as she looks back at this unconventional journey of hers with witty and thoughtful reflection.

At the beginning, Park tells us how hard and difficult things were for her in London. When she moved to London for her new job, she hoped that she would feel much better than when she worked in Seoul, but, unfortunately, she still did not feel that good as her new job turned out to be no better than the previous one. In addition, she also struggled to pay a rather expensive rent for her tiny residence month by month, and this surely made her all the more frustrated at times.

And then there came one risky but seemingly feasible idea to Park. She decided to live without spending or earning any money at least for one year, and that actually turned out to be more feasible than expected. Thanks to some convenient online networking, she could usually find places where she could stay for days or weeks, and there is an amusing scene when she has to take care of a big river boat in exchange for taking care of it instead of its absent owner for a few weeks. We later see her staying in an empty building during several days thanks to her two “squatter” friends, and she attentively listens to them talking a lot about the problematic housing system in UK in front of her camera.

In case of getting food day by day, London turns out to have many different spots where Park could pick up a bunch of discarded food for free, and this instantly took me back to Agnès Varda’s wonderful documentary “The Gleaners and I”. Just like those gleaners in Varda’s documentary, Park freely acquired many different kinds of discarded food ranging from bread to vegetables, though her friends frankly recognize that they always have to cook and eat them as soon as possible for good reasons.

The documentary becomes more interesting when it shows Park staying and working at a couple of rural organic farms. In case of one of these two organic farms, its members try to live away from modern technology as much as possible, and there is an amusing moment when Park tries to handle her biological matter inside a very crude outhouse in the middle of one night.

While she initially intended to do her one-year survival quest within UK, the scale of Park’s ongoing quest eventually became quite wider when she subsequently decided to join a certain private festival to be held somewhere in Slovakia. Right from when she crossed the English Channel, she depended wholly on hitchhiking, and she was certainly quite willing to take the considerable risk from that (I am sure many of you heard about those numerous real-life horror stories involved hitchhiking).

Although her journey across the Europe continent via hitchhiking was not entirely without unpleasant moments, Park eventually arrived at the festival in time, and she came to reflect more on where her life had been going. She had yearned for freedom because of her stressful jobs, but she also often found herself in the need of any sense of control, and we are not so surprised to learn later that she once tried on military career in the past.

However, around the point where Park came across a group of hippies riding on a big camping vehicle, things became more unpredictable for her ongoing journey. She initially agreed to go to Turkey along with that for helping those unfortunate Syrian refugees there, but she eventually found herself entering Turkey alone by herself, and she got a series of small but precious surprises as she was often welcomed by those kind strangers she met along her journey. At one point, she was allowed to stay in a big empty hospital room, and she was certainly grateful to the generosity of the hospital staff.

As feeling more like a pilgrim in the search of the meaning of life, Park decided to visit a certain religious city in Iran. She had to make an exception due to paying for a tourist visa, but this did not matter that much to her, because one year had already passed even before she entered Turkey. Again, she was genuinely touched a lot by the hospitality of many different strangers on her way, but then there came a shocking incident which traumatized her so much that she came to have a lot of doubts on whether her journey project was really meaningful to her.

I wish the documentary allowed more time for this painful personal struggle of hers, but it thankfully maintains enough wit and spirit to engage us. While she is often behind her camera, Park’s presence and personality are palpable on the screen as she willingly shares her personal feelings and thoughts with us, and we come to cheer for her more as observing how she becomes wiser and more matured about her life after the eventual end of her quest.

In conclusion, “Blanket Wearer” is both funny and moving as an intimate presentation of one personal journey, and I was not surprised at all as observing how often the audiences around me actively responded to a number of key moments in the documentary. If you enjoyed not only “The Gleaners and I” but also Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” (2020), this solid documentary will certainly interest you from the beginning, and I assure you that it will bring you some smile in the end.

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The Dreamed Adventure (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): An archaeologist back in her hometown

Posted on September 27, 2026 by kaist455

“The Dreamed Adventure”, which won the Jury Prize when it was premiered at the Cannes Films Festival early in this year and then was recently selected as the Bulgarian entry for Best International Film Oscar, engaged me more than expected, and I like that. Due to its rather slow narrative pacing and long running time (167 minutes), the movie certainly requires some patience from you from the very beginning, but it will gradually become a rewarding experience on the whole, and you will come to admire and appreciate its many good moments more after it is over.

 During its first act, the movie follows Said (Syuleyman Letifov), a middle-aged man who is driving his car to a rural border region of Bulgaria right next to Greece and Turkey for some business deal. Not long after his arrival in a small local city named Svilengrad, he unfortunately gets his car stolen, and then he comes across an old friend of his who is willing to help him a bit. That person in question is a middle-aged woman named Veska (Yana Radeva), and we come to learn that she recently returned to their hometown as an archaeologist supervising a little excavation project at an old historical spot outside the city.

 As they come to spend more time together than expected, Veska accompanies Said as he makes some big deal with one of the local criminals in the region, and it does not take much time for her to see that Said’s deal can cause some serious trouble. There is a powerful criminal boss controlling almost every criminal business and deal in the region, and he is not so pleased about Said dealing with his opponent.

When Said is suddenly gone for no apparent reason later, Veska is naturally perplexed, but she continues to focus on her excavation project as before, though there is a big problem to handle sooner or later. The condition of the road leading to their excavation site is not so good to say the least, and Veska cannot help but feel quite frustrated as the mayor of Svilengard keeps avoiding her phone call instead of helping her and her excavation team.

As she tries to get any information on Said’s whereabouts, Veska finds herself gradually involved with the criminal world of Svilengard and its surrounding area. Many men in the region have a long history of crime, and, as Veska frequently encounters some of them along the story, we get to know more about how much the region has been riddled with poverty and crime for many years since the end of the Cold War era. In fact, before eventually leaving her hometown for a better life, Veska was a part of this gloomy and shabby world, and we are not so surprised to learn later that she was once close to the aforementioned gang boss just like Said.

Around that narrative point, the movie comes to feel more like a mixture of western and crime noir drama, but the screenplay by director Valeska Grisebach and her co-writer Lisa Bierwirth does not hurry itself at all as patiently building up the story and characters more. The conflict between Veska and the gang boss becomes a bit more tense as she gets more involved in Said’s criminal deal later in the story, but the movie continues to focus on the interactions among its heroine and some other characters in the story, and we get more engaged as observing some interesting details from them. For example, when Veska joins a bunch of local women who were close to her and her family, their lively conversation reveals a lot about how much they had to endure and survive the prevalent misogyny in their world, and this makes an interesting contrast with a similar scene between Veska and a bunch of local dudes, who are often quite rude to her with their blatantly misogynistic behaviors and words.

 While she remains mostly reserved, Veska slowly and steadily embarks on doing what should be done in her viewpoint. Besides handling Said’s criminal deal for herself, she also helps several others around her here and there, and there is a tenderly amusing moment between her and a little plucky girl who is incidentally the daughter of the gang boss. Despite the conflict between her and the girl’s father, Veska is nice and gentle to the girl, and the girl’s father genuinely appreciates that even though he still regards Veska as a pesky problem to deal with sooner or later.  

  The main cast members of the film are solid in their natural acting. As her character gradually functions as the heart and soul of the movie, Yana Radeva’s earnest low-key performance comes to show more of her character’s inner will and strength, and she is especially wonderful when Veska confronts the gang boss for resolving their conflict once and for all. Although she does not raise her voice at all, we feel the considerable emotional weight behind what Veska flatly but sardonically points out to the gang boss, and that makes their private conversation quite intense. Around Radeva, a bunch of various performers hold each own place well as many different parts of the story, and Syuleyman Letifov and Stoicho Kostadinov make an effective contrast as the two different men in Veska’s past.     

Overall, “The Dreamed Adventure” is worthwhile to watch for its good mood, storytelling, and performances, and it certainly demonstrates well Grisebach’s considerable talent. Although I have not watched this German female filmmaker’s several previous films including “Western” (2017), she is another talented filmmaker to watch in my trivial opinion, and I will certainly have some expectation on whatever may come next from her.

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Late Fame (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): Sudden attention to an old ex-poet in New York City

Posted on September 27, 2026 by kaist455

Kent Jones’ new film “Late Fame” is a somber but engaging character drama about an old ex-poet suddenly getting some little but unexpected attention. Although it is not entirely satisfying due to its several under-developed aspects, the movie works thanks to its low-key humor and realistic urban atmosphere, and it is also supported well by the presence and talent of one of the most interesting movie actors of our time.

Willem Dafoe, who effectively dials down himself here as he did in his Oscar-nominated supporting turn in “The Florida Project” (2017), plays Ed Saxberger, an old single man who has modestly earning his living via working in a local post office in New York City. Around 50 years ago, he was a young aspiring poet drawn to the bohemian art scene in the city, but he did not have any significant artistic success besides publishing one little poet collection book of his, and now he is just content with going through his mundane daily life day by day.

On one day, Saxberger is approached by someone when he returns to his little apartment in the city. He is a lad named Wilson Meyers (Edmund Donovan), and he is quite interested in getting to know Saxberger after coming across that obscure poet collection book of his. While he is not so interested at first, Saxberger eventually agrees to meet a group of aspiring young writers led by Meyers, and they are all eager to get to know and learn more from him, though he does not have much to tell because his brief artistic career is a distant old past to him now.

Nevertheless, Meyers remains willing to revive Saxberger’s artistic career. He encourages Saxberger to write any new poem, and he even introduces Saxberger to an acquaintance of his who may help Saxberger a bit in restarting his artistic career. As days go by, Saxberger gradually becomes a fixture in Meyers’ group, and he also happens to draw the attention of Gloria (Greta Lee), a young actress who often hangs around with Meyers and his colleagues just for fun.

However, it does not take much time for Saxberger to sense more of the distance between him and his sudden young admirers. Most of them are from wealthy families, and it goes without saying that they are not that serious or desperate about whatever they are trying to achieve someday. They often regard young online influencers with a lot of disgust and annoyance, but they still let some young online influencers stay around them in their little private place because, well, they also crave for any attention or recognition on whatever they are doing together.

Clearly discerning who they are, Saxberger did not expect much from these superficial young people from the beginning, but he also cannot help but be more delighted by their growing attention. He does not have any particularly good advice for their creative process, but he tries his best in helping them a bit anyway, while continuing to enjoy their company. 

And he finds himself more fascinated about Gloria, who seems to be actually interested in getting closer to Saxberger but still puts some distance between them as before. In contrast to Meyers and his colleagues, Gloria does not tell much about herself at all, and this surely makes Saxberger all the more curious about her, but she still prefers to be away from his reach even after they have a little intimate moment between them.

While it eventually takes a number of predictable narrative turns later, the screenplay by Samy Burch, which is based on the novella of the same name by Arthur Schnitzler, takes its time as before as serving us more character details to observe and reflect on. Things become a bit more humorous as Meyers and his colleagues try to prepare for a little promotional event, and we are often amused by their seriousness. As Saxberger struggles to write something new to present at that event, the mood becomes a bit pensive for a while, and we get a brief but wonderful moment as he tries to grasp any possible way to develop one small poetic idea.

Although it stumbles more than once around its last act (A subplot involved with Saxberger’s family issue feels rather artificial, for example), the movie did a fairly good job of presenting the story and characters with considerable realism. The urban mood and background surrounding Saxberger and the other characters in the film are vivid and palpable, and Dafoe and several other cast members in the film are believable in their respective roles. Dafoe’s understated acting steadily holds the center as required, and he is particularly good whenever his wrinkled but expressive face silently conveys to us his character’s inner thoughts and feelings. Greta Lee and Edmund Donovan have some juicy moments along the story, and Lee plays her flamboyantly theatrical character with enough charm and gusto to hold our attention.    

In conclusion, “Late Fame” is fairly enjoyable thanks to not only its talented cast members but also Kent’s thoughtful direction. While being mostly known for his film criticism career, he also directed documentary film “Hitchcock/Truffaut” (2015), and then there came his first feature film “Diane” (2018). Although it is not better than “Diane”, “Late Fame” still has enough stuffs to admire, so I recommend you to give it a chance someday.

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Possible Love (2026) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A sublime quartet drama by Lee Chang-dong

Posted on September 26, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong’s latest film “Possible Love”, which was recently selected as the South Korean submission to Best International Film Oscar and will be shown in South Korean theaters during next several days before being released on Netflix in this November, is a sublime quartet drama subtly and powerfully engaging us with its deep emotional tension beneath the surface. Mainly revolving around two different couples at opposite social positions, the movie sensitively and thoughtfully explores its social and ethical themes via the complex human interactions among its main characters, and its many indelible moments will linger on your mind for a long time after it is over.

At first, we are introduced to Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon) and her husband Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu). Several years ago, Ho-seok participated in a big strike at his workplace along with many of his fellow workers, but he and his comrades were cruelly and violently suppressed by the police in the end, and we gradually gather that he has been struggling with his consequent physical and psychological trauma since that painful time.

When Ho-seok is at the funeral of one of his fellow strikers along with his wife and their little son, he and Mi-ok happen to clash a bit with each other due to his drinking, and that draws the attention of Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), a female independent documentary filmmaker who happens to be at the spot for her ongoing project. She wants to make a documentary which focuses on labor rights via that strike incident, and she instinctively senses that Ho-seok can be an ideal human center for her documentary.

However, Ho-seok is not so willing to talk about the strike to anyone yet, so Ye-ji comes to shift her focus toward Mi-ok, who is much more willing to talk in front of Ye-ji’s camera. Although Mi-ok mostly talks about her life instead of her husband, Ye-ji finds Mi-ok as interesting as Ho-seok, and she and Mi-ok soon come to spend more time with each other like good friends. As Mi-ok talks more, Ye-ji comes to know more about her and her family, and it seems that this may help Ho-seok open himself a bit more than before.

At the same time, the movie does not overlook at all the considerable social gap between Ye-ji and the two human subjects for her documentary. Ye-ji’s husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung) happens to be a considerably wealthy man, so we cannot help but have some doubt on her sincere attitude toward Mi-ok and Ho-seok. Sure, she does not depend on her husband’s money at all in her ongoing documentary project, and she also seems to be genuinely caring a lot about Mi-ok and Ho-seok, but it sometimes looks like there is also a vague degree of hypocrisy and condescension on her side. As a matter of fact, we often wonder whether she can really be a suitable storyteller for Mi-ok and Ho-seok from the start, and the movie points that out via a brief scene when some of her assistants become a little sarcastic about her documentary.

Meanwhile, the screenplay by Lee and his co-writer Oh Jung-mi steadily builds up its main characters as leisurely rolling them from one episodic moment to another. As we get to know more about Mi-ok along with Ye-ji, the movie sometimes cuts to flashback scenes showing her early years (Jo Yu-ri is solid as young Mi-ok, by the way), and these flashback scenes bring some more human details to her long relationship with her husband. The movie also continues to pay attention to Ho-seok’s struggle, and there is a somber but undeniably intense scene where he silently follows after a certain man recognized by him. The camera just simply observes him from the distance, but whatever is churning behind his stoic appearance is palpable to us to say the least, and we come to brace ourselves for what may happen next.

The last act of the film is unfolded at a big beach house belonging to Sang-woo, who lets his wife have Ho-seok and his family spend a weekend there along with them. We surely come to sense more tension around them, but, again, the movie takes its time as usual. I will not go into details on what occurs next among its main characters, but I can tell you instead that 1) you will be all the more engaged as the movie dexterously and delicately makes its points to us along with its developing narrative and 2) you will also appreciate how its main characters remain as complex human figures to observe.

As reflected by what is quoted at the very beginning of the story, the film was initially planned as a part of Polish producer Maciej Musiał’s project to remake all ten episodes of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Dekalog” (1989) as feature films. However, it was turned into something quite different as Lee took the helm and Netflix subsequently joined the production, and Lee already wrote the first draft of the screenplay, which was loosely inspired by the SsangYong Motor strike and the Yongsan Disaster in 2009. I have no idea on how much the screenplay is actually influenced by “Dekalog”, but its ethical questions on Ye-ji’s filmmaking process are certainly as serious and compelling as those ethical questions raised in “Dekalog” (The movie is dedicated to Kieślowski and his co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz, by the way), and I admire how it deftly mixes them into its very engaging human drama without spelling them out to us at all.

The four main cast members of the film are simply superlative in their ensemble performance. Jeon Do-yeon, who won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for Lee’s previous work “Secret Sunshine” (2007), has many terrific moments as her expressive face conveys a lot to us, and Cho Yeo-jeong often complements Jeon well as giving her best performance since Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning film “Parasite” (2019). On the opposite, Sul Kyung-gu, who previously collaborated with Lee in “Peppermint Candy” (1999) and “Oasis” (2002), is so convincing in his character’s quiet inner struggle that it is really devastating to see when his character eventually lets out what has been tormenting him so much, and Zo In-sung did a commendable job of holding his own place well around his three fellow main cast members.

On the whole, “Possible Love”, which won the Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI prize when it was premiered at the Venice International Film Festival early in this month, is one of the best films of this year besides being one of the main highlights from South Korean cinema during this year. During its rather long running time (164 minutes), I and many other audiences around me were totally engaged from the beginning to the end, and I found it more interesting and satisfying than Lee’s previous film “Burning” (2018), which is rather overrated in my humble opinion. In short, this is a masterwork you should not miss at any chance, and I sincerely recommend you to watch it at movie theater before it eventually goes to Netflix later.

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Forgotten Island (2026) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Two Filipino girls tuck in a fantasy island

Posted on September 26, 2026 by kaist455

Animation feature film “Forgotten Island” is a fresh and exuberant fantasy tale which amused and engaged me a lot more than expected. Besides constantly filled with vibrant style and personality to savor, the film is also poignant as a heartfelt story about friendship and memory, and the result is another interesting animation film of this year.

The story and characters are alternatively specific and universal. At the beginning, the movie establishes the beginning of a longtime friendship between two girls living in some beach town of the Philippines during the 1990s, who cannot possibly be more different from each other. While Josephine “Jo” Yuson (voiced by Kailey Crawford and then H.E.R.) is a wild and spirited girl brimming with considerable artistic imagination, Raissa Molina (voiced by Kayla Teruel and then by Liza Soberano) is an introverted but prodigious girl who wants to be an engineer someday, but they happen to befriend each other on one school day when Jo causes her latest trouble. 

Since she was very young, Jo has been obsessed with the legend of Kalina, a mythical island to which her doting grandmother Lola (Dolly de Leon) supposedly went once many years ago. She gladly shares the spirited products of her imagination with Raissa, and Raissa does not mind this at all even though her young mind is usually rational and analytical. After all, both of them are your average nerdy loners in their school, and their contrasting personalities somehow complement each other as they spend more time together under the care of Jo’s grandmother.

Of course, there eventually comes a turning point for Jo and Raissa when they are about to graduate from their high school. Jo has expected to continue their friendship during Raissa’s following college years, but it turns out that Raissa is actually going to move to US for studying in the California Institute of Technology. Nevertheless, Jo still tries to have a good time with her best friend before Raissa goes to US on the very next day, and we soon see them spending the evening at their favorite beach spot.

And then Jo comes across something which opens a portal to Kalina. As seeing how excited her best friend really is, Raissa eventually goes down into that magical portal along with Jo. Early in the next day, they find themselves waking up on the beach area of Kalina without having any idea or memory about what happened to them after their arrival in Kalina. While being both confused and fascinated about the fantasy world surrounding them, they come across Raww (voiced by Dave Franco), a sort of dogman who willingly becomes their guide as they try to find what happened during the previous evening for retrieving that special object necessary for opening the portal as soon as possible.

Yes, this can be regarded as a female variation of “The Hangover” (2009) decorated with a lot of fantasy elements. As our two young ladies bounce from one spot to another in the island along with their rather unreliable guide, small and big comic incidents happen along the story, and they also come across a number of other mythic entities ranging from a certain very fearsome figure chasing after them for a good reason to a bunch of little cute but aggressive creatures which incidentally resemble those mushroom people in those Super Mario Brothers animations flicks.  

And these mythic entities are actually not only quite colorful but also very interesting for their considerable cultural background. As you can instantly learn from Wikipedia (Just check out the page on this very film, for example), many of them are from genuine folk tales and legends, and I think many Filipino audiences including my close friend/colleague Michael Mirasol will notice and recognize its ethnic/cultural aspects much more than me and other audiences, though we can also enjoy and appreciate them to some degree thanks to its irrepressible wit, style, and spirit. Just like many other recent animation films such as Oscar-winning Netflix animation film “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025), the film does not hesitate to become extremely silly and exaggerated for more laugh and amusement, and I was particularly tickled by a sequence involved with karaoke and a tribe of tree people not so far from those old wooden creatures in “The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers” (2002).

Even during its wildest moments, the film is steadily held together by the strong and dynamic friendship drama between Jo and Raissa. While they mostly stick together in front of many different risks in front of them, they also face some personal conflicts between them, and it is touching to see how they eventually go all the way for each other around the last act of the story. Kailey Crawford and Kayla Teruel instantly click well together early in the story, and they also are connected well with H.E.R. and Liza Soberano, who are equally wonderful with the natural chemistry between their solid voice performances.

Directors/writers Joel Crawford, who was Oscar-nominated for his previous animation film “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (2022), and Januel Mercado place a number of colorful voice cast members here and there around the film. While Dave Franco often steals the show, Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Lea Salonga, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, Kevin McCann, and Dolly de Leon are also well-cast in their respective parts, and de Leon, who has been more prominent thanks to her acclaimed supporting turn in Oscar-nominated film “Triangle of Sadness” (2022), brings extra warmth early in the story.

In conclusion, “Forgotten Island” is often very entertaining thanks to its considerable amount of distinctive style and personality. I must confess that I rolled my eyes more than once during some of its silliest moments, but I came to embrace its undeniable charm and spirit more than expected in the end, and that is quite an achievement in my inconsequential opinion.

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Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The Melancholy of Existence

Posted on September 22, 2026 by kaist455

“Werckmeister Harmonies”, the 2000 film made by Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr and his co-director Ágnes Hranitzky, feels like a homework to do at first and then becomes something much more than that. Yes, this is one of the quintessential examples of “slow cinema”, but you will be captivated and then mesmerized by how it is about even though you will also often scratch your head on what it is about.

In fact, I also remain baffled about what it really is about even after watching it twice, so I will simply try to describe what I observed and felt during my viewing. Right from the very first scene which sets the overall tone of the film, the movie is brimming with a subtle sense of artistic confidence, and you will find yourself gradually impressed and then engaged in what is being so dexterously and effortlessly presented on the screen.

On the surface, the opening scene of the movie is just a sudden impromptu moment inside a bar in some unknown Hungarian village in a rather unspecified period background (We can only vaguely guess that the period is around the later stage of the Hungarian communist regime era, by the way). When the bar is about to be closed at late night, many of its drunken customers are not so willing to leave, and then a bright lad named János Valuska (Lars Rudolph) comes to make a little insightful speech on time and universe. During his speech, some of the drunken customers act as the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth, and the mood is lightened up a bit as almost everyone at the bar moves and rotates under his instruction.

What does his speech exactly mean or reflect? Now I am reminded of how inconsequential our existence on the Earth is in the vast darkness of the universe – how meaningless our concept of order and system can ultimately be in terms of space and time. Sure, we have tried to study, define, and understand the nature and the universe for many centuries, but, let’s face it, both the nature and the universe have not cared about our existence at all from the very beginning, and that will remain same as usual even when we all are gone forever someday.

Mainly through János, who incidentally works as a local newspaper carrier, we slowly begin to feel the unnerving sense of doom around the village and its residents. While the village looks mostly empty and barren, several villagers phlegmatically tell János some disturbing incidents including the sudden disappearance of a whole family, and the mood becomes all the more ominous when a mysterious circus visits the village. In a darkly striking unbroken shot, the movie simply observes the arrival of the big circus trailer truck along with János, but that is more than enough for disturbing and intriguing us.

The main show of this circus is a big stuffed whale, which is kept inside that big trailer truck along with an elusive figure called “Prince”. This surely come to draw more attention from János and many other people in the village, and the movie does not disappoint us when he gets a close look on the whale at one point early in the story. Patiently accompanying him during next several minutes, the camera observes more details from the whale, but its presence feels as ambiguous as that monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968). Regardless of whether it is merely a part of circus show or not, the whale somehow causes more anxiety and confusion in the village along “Prince”, who is incidentally never shown throughout the movie.

In case of an old man named György Eszter (Peter Fitz), who is also one of few people close to János, he simply prefers to focus more on honing his musicology philosophy associated with the harmonic principles of the 17th century Baroque musical theorist Andreas Werckmeister, but he also finds himself pushed and then cornered by whatever is happening in the village. His ex-wife suddenly returns with a certain demand, and he cannot possibly say no because she threatens to live with him again in a rather absurd way involved with a suitcase of hers.

Around that point, we become more confused just like János, but the movie just throws more chaos and confusion before eventually arriving at what can be regarded as the inevitable collapse of the existing order of life. There is an overwhelming crowd scene which culminates to another impressive extended scene unfolded inside a local hospital, and what is so plainly but powerfully shown around the end of this moment will lead you to more musing. I wonder whether this is an allegoric element associated with one of the most atrocious aspects of World War II, but, again, the movie does not give us any easy answer or interpretation.

I was not so surprised to learn later that the movie actually consists of less than 40 shots despite its 145-minute running time (Its average shot length is 3.7 minutes, by the way). This may sound quite boring to many of you, but the result is not so boring at all. Mostly being static in its steady position, the camera also fluidly and subtly moves for several different modes including long shots, tracking shots, closeups, and framing shots, and this makes us all the more immersed in the distinctive atmosphere and details on the screen, which are enhanced further by its starkly crisp black and white cinematography.

On the whole, “Werckmeister Harmonies”, which is based on the 1989 novel “The Melancholy of Resistance” by Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai (He also wrote the screenplay with Tarr, by the way), surely requires some patience from the very beginning, but it is certainly worthwhile to watch as one of the best works from Tarr, who sadly passed away early in this year long after announcing his retirement with his last work “The Turin Horse” (2011). Although only watched “The Turin Horse” before watching “Werckmeister Harmonies”, I can tell you that he deserves to be mentioned as one of the great filmmakers in our time, and I also assure you that you will not easily forget whatever you observe or experience from this fascinatingly enigmatic piece of work.

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The Furious (2025) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Furious and intense indeed

Posted on September 21, 2026 by kaist455

Hong Kong martial art action film “The Furious” is furious indeed. Once it does its very elementary setup at the beginning, the movie relentlessly goes up and up along with its seemingly plain hero who turns out to have a particular set of skills, and I came to admire its skill and ambition more as being often enthralled by a number of top-notch action scenes,

After the prologue scene which introduces some of its main villain characters, we meet the hero of the movie, who is a mute Chinese dude residing in some unspecified Southeast Asian city (The movie was mainly shot in Bangkok, Thailand, by the way). He has a young daughter who came from China to stay with him for a while, but he is adamant about her going back to China even though he has been happy to be with her, and this certainly frustrates her a lot.

It is implied that he thinks the city is not so safe for his daughter. There have been frequent cases of missing children in the city, and, as already shown to us during the prologue scene, there is indeed a big child trafficking organization somewhere in the city. Not long after she argues a bit with her father and runs away from him, our hero’s daughter happens to get kidnapped by several seedy members of this dangerous criminal organization, and we get the first action sequence in the film as he desperately tries to rescue his daughter with remarkable tenacity and stamina which somehow took me back to a similar chase scene in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991).

After he unfortunately fails to rescue his daughter in the end, our hero naturally runs into a local police station, but, not so surprisingly, he does not get much help from those police officers except one sympathetic female police officer, who subsequently becomes curious about who the hell he is. He is basically a nobody on the record, but she somehow senses that there is something more than that, and we soon see him becoming all the more determined to find his daughter by any means necessary.

 As already shown from the previous action sequence, he is surely a physical force to reckon with, and that is confirmed again during the next big action sequence, which is unfolded inside a place belonging to a middle-ranking member of that criminal organization. After he swiftly overpowers a bunch of goons coming at him, our hero comes across a guy named Navin (Joe Taslim), and then we are served with more physical action across the screen before Navin eventually reveals that he is actually an ally to help our hero find his daughter. Just like our hero, Navin has been in the middle of his own personal mission against that criminal organization, and it does not take much time for him and our hero to bond with each other as they stick together in front of more bad guys to come along their increasingly risky quest.

Around that point, the movie becomes quite intense to say the least, but it surprises and then excites us as throwing more action onto the screen with considerable skill and spirit. Sure, it is a bit too thin and simple in terms of story and character, but we can overlook that for a while as being often overwhelmed by the sheer intensity and energy generated from a series of well-executed physical action scenes in the movie. These physical action scenes are as fast and furious as required, but the camera of cinematographer Meteor Cheung smoothly and dexterously captures every physical movement on the screen, and the editing by Chris Tonick never feels choppy or scattershot at all even during the busiest moments in the movie.

I must tell you that the physical action scenes in the film are not only very electrifying but also utterly brutal at times. As a matter of fact, the movie made me wince as much as “The Raid: Redemption” (2011), but it presents its extreme moments of violence with style, personality, and a bit of wit at least. Sure, “The Raid: Redemption” is a well-made genre exercise, but it is rather monotonous as merely showing off numerous violent physical action scenes. In contrast, “The Furious” boldly and ambitiously goes further for more fun and excitement for us, and it is occasionally quite willing to go over the top to our amusement while also steadily maintaining the ground with admirable commitment.

It certainly helps that many of the main cast members in the film are skilled martial arts experts, who ably embody what my late mentor/friend Roger Ebert said in his review for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragoon” (2000): “The best martial arts movies have nothing to do with fighting and everything to do with personal excellence.” As the center of the story, Xie Miao, who once held his own place quite well besides Jet Li in “My Father Is a Hero” (1995) 31 years ago, diligently holds the center with his earnest acting, and Joe Taslim is also effective as an accidental partner of Xie’s character. Young performer Yang Enyou is fetching as her character comes to show more pluck than expected later in the story, and Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, and Yayan Ruhian are as formidably menacing as demanded by their colorful villain characters. While some of you may be amused to see Ruhian fighting with Taslim as they once did in “The Raid: Redemption”, Le, who was crucial in that very hilarious action sequence in Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), functions as an unexpected source of twisted humor at times.

On the whole, “The Furious” is one of the most impressive action films of this year, and director Kenji Tanigaki, a Japanese filmmaker who has been mainly known for his action choreography career in Hong Kong action cinema, surely demonstrates here that he really knows how to engage and then enthrall his audiences. To be frank with you, I considered giving only three stars as being fairly satisfied around the middle of the film, but then it impressed and entertained me a lot more than expected, so I give an extra half star as a little gesture of my inconsequential compliment.

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Turning Point: Generation 9/11 (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): From 9/11 to Now

Posted on September 20, 2026 by kaist455

Netflix documentary “Turning Point: Generation 9/11” attempts to look over how things have changed for a particular generation during last 25 years since the 9/11 terror incident in 2001. Mainly because its main subject is too enormous to be packed into its 97-minute running time, the documentary merely scratches the surface of its main subject at times, but it is also difficult for us not to be touched by some powerful human moments presented in the documentary.

Just like many of you, I remember how much I was confused and shocked by what happened on that day in September 2001. Because it was the late night in South Korea at that time, I merely studied and then slept for the next day just like many others in my university campus, and I belatedly came to learn about the incident around the noon of the very next day. I initially thought it was just a minor accident, but it did not take much time for me to realize how serious it really was, and I could not help but feel numb or anxious at times even though I kept going in my academic daily life as usual.

Not so surprisingly, the best parts of the documentary mainly come from a bunch of various interviewees deeply affected by the 9/11 incident in one way or another. Their lives were changed forever by this dreadful incident, and a series of rough but undeniably visceral archival footage clips give us a closer look into how shocking and devastating the incident was to them and many others in US at that time. Yes, everyone was just mildly baffled when the first airplane crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, but then there came the second attack around 20 minutes later, and things did change forever for not only US but also the whole world after that point.

Several young interviewees in the documentary, many of whom were very young or born after the 9/11 incident, openly talk about how their lives have been shaped by that. In case of Laurel Homer, her father was the co-pilot of United 93, and she willingly tells us how much she has been haunted by her personal loss as well as the 9/11 incident. In case of An Nguyen, his South Vietnamese immigrant father happened to be working inside the Pentagon at that time, and he still remembers vividly when he saw his dear father for the last time in the early morning of that day.

As the whole country was shaking in shock, confusion, fear, and anger, the US government led by President George W. Bush instantly went all the way for the following War on Terror, which turned out to be far longer than expected while only causing a heap of ramifications to deal with. First, they invaded Afghanistan mainly for capturing Osama bin Laden, and then they went after Iraq on the false excuse of Weapons of Mass Destruction (MWD). As all of us know too well, this led to more chaos and violence while not making the country or the whole world safer at all. Even after bin Laden was finally located and then eliminated, chaos and violence continued to reign in Afghanistan and Iraq, and this unfortunately opened the door for something worse than Al-Qaeda. 

Most of all, the American society has become much more oppressive to its own people. More power and authority were handed to the US government in the name of national security during next several years since the 9/11 incident, and the documentary sharply points out how this eventually led to the blatantly hostile policies on millions of immigrants in US, which have become all the worse under President Donald J. Trump and his equally deplorable cronies. In addition, the 9/11 incident also caused the alarming increase of conspiracy theory and political polarization, and this surely contributed a lot to Trump’s unbelievably shocking political rise in the middle of the 2010s. 

The second half of the documentary mainly focuses on what was supposed to be the end of the War on Terror. In 2021, the US government decided to withdraw its soldiers from Afghanistan, and everything rapidly crumbled as the Taliban army swiftly took over many parts of the country within a few days. Needless to say, Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and many of its citizens were soon thrown into fear and panic, and the documentary shows thousands of Afghanistan people desperately trying to get out of the country at a big airport under the control of the US Army.

 I must say that it is often devastating to observe their sheer panic and desperation at that time. Many of them were blocked at a certain spot near the airport as frequently threatened by those Taliban soldiers, and, to make matters worse, the American soldiers guarding this spot were not so prepared for this immense emergency from the start. 

Some of these soldiers, who incidentally represent another side of the 9/11 generation in US, frankly talk about that time in front of the camera, and it is apparent to us that they are still haunted by what they saw and experienced. When they joined the army, they all certainly believed that they were doing the right thing for their dear country, but now they have a lot of doubt and disillusionment about what they and many other American soldiers really fought for during last two decades.

In conclusion, “Turning Point: Generation 9/11”, which is directed by Brian Knappenberger, is engaging to some degree, but it would be more insightful and interesting if it were a docuseries instead just like several other Turning Point docuseries on Netflix. Sure, it is sincere and respectful about its main subject, but it does not enlighten me that much on the whole, and that is a bit disappointing for me.

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Coming of Age (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): Now there comes the time to grow up for all of them

Posted on September 20, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Coming of Age” is a familiar mix of comedy drama. Mainly revolving around one problematic father and daughter relationship, the movie looks around not only its two main characters but also several other family members of theirs, and it is alternatively humorous and poignant as closely examining their lives and relationships.

The two main characters of the story are a middle-aged man named Cheol-taek (Ki Joo-bong) and his young adult daughter Jeong-mi (Ha Yoon-kyung). Right from his very first scene in the film, we see how casual Cheol-taek has been in his daily life, and we are not so surprised to learn later that he has been living alone by himself for many years since his wife Hyeon-sook (Yang Mal-bok) left him for living her own life away from him.

And then there comes an unexpected problem for Cheol-taek on one day. His recent medical examination shows that he has been on a very late stage of thymus cancer, and he surely needs somebody to help and support him during his following medical treatment period. Fortunately, Jeong-mi, who is his only child and has incidentally earned her meager living via working as an actress, is willing to be around him as much as possible, but Cheol-taek does not think that he really needs her help, while not worrying that much about his current medical condition.

However, once his medical treatment begins, the possibility of his mortality comes closer to Cheol-taek than before. His physical condition becomes more and more deteriorated due to his ongoing chemotherapy, and we get a little funny moment of dark humor between him and one of his fellow chemotherapy patients. While he subsequently gets a chance for considerable recovery, that understandably costs a lot of money, and this certainly puts much more burden on Jeong-mi, who soon finds herself a lot more frustrated and exasperated as taking care of her father day by day.

Ieong-mi and his father eventually consider getting some financial help from several family members of theirs, who are not so willing to do that for each own personal reason. Hyeon-sook, who has been enjoying her own life more after her retirement, is not so pleased about getting involved again with the man who was nothing but a headache for her before their eventual separation, though they are still technically married to each other on the record. She does not give much damn about him, but she cares a lot about her daughter nonetheless, and that makes her feel more conflicted about her husband’s grim circumstance.  

In case of Cheol-taek’s older brother Gwan-taek (Kim Jong-goo), he may be affluent enough to help Cheol-taek to some degree at least, but he cares more about the welfare of his own family. Gwan-taek’s adult son and his family, who are living with Gwan-taek, have clearly depended a lot on Gwan-taek’s financial support, and even his little grandson notices how his parents try to please and indulge his grandfather as much as possible.

As often generating humor and absurdity from the strained relationships among the family characters in the story, the movie lightly bounces from one episodic moment to another for more character development. While they spend more time with each other due to Cheol-taek’s ongoing medical treatment, Cheol-taek and Jeong-mi come to face more of the emotional conflicts beneath their relationship, and this consequently leads to a comic moment of social embarrassment among them and several others who happen to be around them. A subplot involved with Kyeong-mi’s ongoing struggle in her professional career feels rather redundant at first, but then it comes to function as another crucial part of the story later in the film.

I also like how another subplot in the movie shows more poignancy than expected. When her several siblings demand that she should take care of their nonagenarian widow mother, Hyeon-sook is not so willing to do that even though she does care a lot about her, but then there comes a little surprise from her aging mother, who has mused a lot on her family as well as her own life along the story as reflected by her phlegmatic narration.

The screenplay by director/writer/co-producer Jeong Seung-o, who is no stranger to dysfunctional family considering his previous film “Move the Grave” (2019), resolves the conflicts among its main characters a bit too conveniently, but the movie remains supported well by the solid ensemble acting from its main cast members. While Ki Joo-bong and Ha Yoon-kyung ably complement each other throughout the film, Yang Mal-bok, a wonderful veteran actress who has risen as one of the most dependable performers in South Korean during last several years since her astounding performance in “The Apartment with Two Women” (2021), has her own moments to shine, and several other main cast members in the film including Won Mi-won and Kim Jong-goo are equally effective in their respective supporting parts.

 On the whole, “Coming of Age” is a typical dysfunctional family dramedy, but it is fairly engaging thanks to Jeong’s competent storytelling and the commendable efforts from his main cast members. In the end, everyone in the film comes to learn that it is really the time for all of them to grow up, and the movie does earn a glimpse of hope and optimism as they respectively step forward a bit in one way or another. Regardless of how old or young you are, it is never late to grow up, isn’t it?

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Resident Evil (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): A risky delivery

Posted on September 19, 2026 by kaist455

Zach Cregger’s latest film “Resident Evil” is a genre product packed with enough fun and excitement. Yes, just like its many other predecessors, it surely has lot of gruesome entities to pop up here and there, but it skillfully and humorously handles its familiar materials, and we gladly go along with that during its rather short running time (90 minutes).

As all of you certainly know, the movie is based on Capcom’s Resident Evil video game franchise. While there have already been a bunch of Resident Evil films during last 24 years, none of them was not particularly successful, and the first one, which was made by Paul W.S. Anderson in 2002, incidentally inspired my late mentor/friend Roger Ebert to write one of his most enjoyable negative reviews: “Eventually its tongue is nailed to the floor of a train car and it is dragged behind it on the third rail. I hate it when that happens.”

I have not seen any of the previous Resident Evil flicks, and I am also not so familiar with Capcom’s video game franchise, but it did not take much time for me to get accustomed to the story background and setting of the movie. After all, as your average moviegoer, I have watched a fair share of zombie movies for many years, and some of them are actually not so far from the Resident Evil films in terms of story and character.

The hero of the story is Bryan (Austin Abrams), a young medical courier who accepts another delivery job right after delivering an organ to a local hospital. When we hear where he has to go, we instantly sense a big trouble coming to him, but he agrees to go there anyway mainly because he needs to earn more money, and we soon see him driving his car to that place with something to be delivered by him.

Of course, the mood becomes ominous as he drives his old shabby vehicle along a very snowy road in the middle of night, and then something strange happens. A mysterious figure suddenly appears on the middle of the road, and that is just the beginning of what turns out to be a very long night for Bryan. As he struggles to understand and survive whatever is happening around him, more horrible things come upon him, and it goes without saying that this rather sloppy lad finds himself thrown into more manic and fear along the story.

As its frequently incompetent hero clumsily bounces from one narrative point to another, the movie deftly swings back and forth between horror and comedy. There are a bunch of horrible entities as expected, and most of them wield a lot of tentacles just like those creatures in John Carpenter’s classic SF horror film “The Thing” (1982). In case of one scene featuring a particularly mean dog appearing early in the film, the movie deftly dials up and down the level of tension as Bryan frantically tries to evade it, and we surely get some laugh and surprise from that.

Although it lags a bit when its hero has an obligatory scene where he gets to learn more about what is happening around him, the movie steadily serves effective moments of gory fun. Besides a certain grotesque entity which keeps coming after Bryan along the story, there are several other equally gruesome entities ready to attack him in one way or another, and I was particularly amused by an entity who can vomit something as acidic as the blood of that alien creature in “Alien” (1979).

I must point out that the story is basically a series of video game stages, but the screenplay by Cregger and his co-writer Shay Hatten steadily builds up narrative momentum while occasionally focusing on character development. While we mostly observe Bryan’s ongoing plight from the distance, he gradually comes to us as an ordinary dude desperately struggling in a crisis way over his head, and we come to care about whatever may happen to him in the end. 

It surely helps that the movie is supported well by the considerable talent and presence of Austin Abrams, who played a substantial supporting role in Cregger’s previous film “Weapons” (2025). He is constantly convincing in his character’s fear and panic along the story, and he also ably handles several darkly absurd moments from his hero’s frequent incompetence. You may roll your eyes as watching these moments, but, well, I would also be that incompetent if I suddenly faced a bunch of monsters coming after me.

Although Abrams’ good performance is the main show of the film, it is a bit shame that several other few notable cast members of the film merely come and then go without much impression. Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser do as much as possible with their thankless supporting roles, but the movie could have a bit more space for them.

Overall, “Resident Evil” is often fun and entertaining thanks to the commendable efforts from not only Abrams but also Cregger and his crew members including cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, who did a stellar job of filling the screen with a chilly sense of dread. Although it is relatively less impressive than “Weapons”, the movie accomplishes its task as well as intended, and it surely sets an exemplary standard for any future Resident Evil flick to come next.

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