Heart of the Beast (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): In the Alaskan wilderness with his loyal dog

Posted on October 28, 2026 by kaist455

David Ayer’s latest film “Heart of the Beast” did not surprise me that much. Being your average seasoned moviegoer, I have watched a fair share of survival drama flicks, and this movie does not bring anything particularly new or fresh to its genre territory on the whole, so I merely observed its earnest plot progress with occasional mild interest.

After the brief prologue scene, the movie introduces us James Belmont (Brad Pitt), a retired US special veteran who has been exploring along with his combat German Shepherd in the middle of some remote wild region of Alaska. After he lands his little seaplane at a riverside spot, he decides to stay there for a while, and we come to sense that both he and his dog, named Odin, have struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to their brutal combat experiences in the past.

Needless to say, Belmont prefers to be alone with his loyal dog, so he is not so pleased when he comes across an bearded old guy incidentally played by J.K. Simmons. The mood becomes a bit tense between them at first, but it soon turns out that the old man has been simply exploring the same area just like Belmont. Belmont eventually allows the old man to have a little drinking night along with him, but he does not reveal much to the old man except talking a bit about his military background, and the old man understands that while showing a bit of gratitude before his subsequent departure.

As the old man correctly predicted in advance, there comes a serious rainstorm in the next morning. Belmont seems to be fully prepared as he flies his seaplane through that rainstorm, but, alas, there comes an unexpected medical problem, and his aircraft consequently crashes onto somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness shortly after he becomes unconscious.

Fortunately, both Belmont and Odin survive the crash, but their situation is still quite grim to say the least. From the crashed aircraft, he manages to retrieve a number of necessary stuffs such as a map and a compass, but it turns out that he must walk along a rather risky trek, which is 93 kilometers (58 miles) at least, within several days for any chance for their survival.

What follows next is a series of perils and risks with which Belmont and his dog cope in one way or another. Yes, Alaskan wilderness is certainly harsh and dangerous at times, and there are several tricky passages where they have to be really careful for good reasons. Yes, the movie does not disappoint us at all in case of those local wild animals out there, and that may take you back to several other similar survival drama movies such as “The Edge” (1997) and “The Grey” (2011).

While doling out one expected thing after another, the screenplay by Cameron Alexander, who also participated in the production as one of the executive producers, mostly stays focused on the emotional bond between Belmont and his dog, and that is where the best parts of the films come from. As their circumstance expectedly becomes direr for them, they come to depend more on each other than before, and their relationship is believable enough to hold our attention, though Alexander’s screenplay can be a bit too blatant as reflected by an obvious nod to one of the famous novels by Cormac McCarthy.

Anyway, the movie is fairly competent in technical aspects. Thanks to Oscar-winning cinematographer Mauro Fiore, we are often served with plenty of crisp landscape shots (The movie was mainly shot in New Zealand, by the way), and the score by Jack Michael Fry, who previously collaborated with Ayer in “The Beekeeper” (2024) and “A Working Man” (2025), functions as an effective accompaniment to that while occasionally wielding some ethnic touches to be appreciated.

In case of the two characters at the center of the movie, their engaging presence steadily carries the story to the end, though I wish there were some more personality and substance in their relationship drama. Brad Pitt is certainly a good actor, but his character is a rather flat and broad archetype from the beginning, and I must point out that those occasional flashbacks showing the traumatic military past of Belmont and his dog are redundant without any help in fleshing them out more along the story.

However, I also must recognize that Pitt wisely stands aside for those four dogs who played Odin during the shooting. As far as I can see, the performances of these four dogs are seamlessly blended together to create a convincing character in the film, and their good overall efforts always click well with Pitt’s humble acting on the screen in addition to stealing the show from time to time.

In conclusion, “Heart of the Beast” is relatively milder and gentler compared to many of Ayer’s recent works, and that is sort of refreshing change, but it did not engage me as much as I expected. Yes, as some of you know well, I usually prefer cats to dogs, but any good dog character can instantly attract my attention, and Odin is surely one of such cases. It is a shame that his movie is not interesting enough for recommendation, but you may like it more if you are a dog lover, and you will not easily forget him after it is over.

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Silent Light (2007) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A triangle drama immersed in patience and silence

Posted on October 25, 2026 by kaist455

Carlos Reygadas’ 2007 film “Silent Light”, whose recent 4K restoration version came to South Korean theaters in a few weeks ago, is a singular experience to admire for its considerable sublime qualities. While it is basically a typical triangle drama, it instantly draws our attention with the specific details of a distinctively ethnic religious community located in the norther part of Mexico, and then it gradually and patiently immerses us into the universal matters of heart among its several main characters

The movie, which was shot in a Mennonite community close to Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua State, Northern Mexico, opens with a very slow but ultimately breathtaking moment to behold. After looking around the dark sky filled with numerous stars for a while, the camera of cinematographer Alexis Zabé eventually settles on one spot where it steadily observes the beginning of another day, and the subtle dramatic effect of this long-take scene is quite awe-inspiring to say the least (I am still wondering how they actually shot it, by the way).

And then we are introduced to a Mennonite farmer named Johan (Cornelio Wall) and his wife and children. Under utter solemness, they sit around their dining table while silently saying grace, and we soon see them beginning their breakfast time. At first, things seem to be going well among them, but we slowly sense something strained between Johan and his wife Esther (Miriam Toews) as they talk with each other in Plautdietsch, a local German dialect which is also called Mennonite Low German.

When Johan visits a local garage belonging to a close friend of his for some private conversation, we get to know more about what has been tormenting him. He has actually been having an affair with a local woman named Marianne (Maria Pankratz), and he sincerely believes that he found his real soulmate from Marianne. However, as a devout conservative Christian, he is also well aware of his family duty, and, above all, he still loves and cares about Esther even though his heart continues to yearn for Marianne.

When Johan later has a little private meeting with Marianne, it is apparent that they love each other quite passionately. As the camera lingers on their romantic interaction, we come to sense more of their undeniable emotional bond, and it seems that he can simply leave his wife for his happiness, but then we also observe how close Johan and Esther are as a couple devoted to each other for many years. They instantly sense each other’s thoughts and feelings even when they just exchange a few words between them, and Esther has certainly known everything because her husband did not try to hide his extramarital affair from her at all from the very beginning.

As the circumstance among him, Marianne, and Esther remains unresolved to everyone’s frustration, Johan seeks for any advice from his pastor father, who does not judge his son at all while also showing some understanding and compassion. As a wise old man who clearly had a fair share of life experiences throughout his lifetime, he simply advises Johan that, regardless of whether he likes it or not, he should make a choice between Esther and Marianne sooner or later.

This is certainly a familiar melodramatic situation, but the movie takes its time in its deliberately slow narrative pacing as thoughtfully handling the complicated relationships among its three main characters with admirably restrained sensitivity. When Johan and Marianne happen to meet again, the movie somberly but tenderly observes their another moment of passion and love, and we are not so surprised when it later turns out that Johan fails again in overcoming his ongoing yearning toward Marianne.

I will not go into details on what occurs next among the main characters in the film around its last act, but I can tell you instead that this part, which is clearly influenced by Carl Theodor Dreyer’s great film “Ordet” (1955), absolutely captivated me again just like it did when I watched it for the first time in 2009. The movie does not seem to reach for any emotional response from us on the surface, but then it effortlessly pulls out a genuinely poignant moment of forgiveness and redemption under Reygadas’ confident direction, and then we are served with one of the best closing shots I have ever watched during last three decades.

Most of the cast members of the film are non-professional performers who are also local Mennonites, and their unadorned natural acting certainly brings considerable authenticity to the story and characters. In case of its three main performers, Cornelio Wall’s low-key performance diligently holds the center as required, and Maria Pankratz and Miriam Toews, who is a Canadian author who wrote several novels including “Women Talking” (Yes, this is the novel on which Sarah Polley’s 2022 Oscar-winning film of the same name is based), are also effective in complementing Wall’s earnest acting in one way or another.

In conclusion, “Silent Light” is still capable of mesmerizing us even though almost 20 years have passed since it came out. Sadly, Reygadas has never reached the level of artistic achievement shown here in this film, but the movie remains alive and well with its emotional power quite intact, and I am glad to experience this terrific work from a big movie theater screen along with local audiences today.

Sidenote: However, it should be mentioned that there were sexual abuse allegations on Reygadas in 2019. Please check out this article.

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Adiós Buenos Aires (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Struggling musicians in Buenos Aires, 2001

Posted on October 25, 2026 by kaist455

2023 Argentine film “Adiós Buenos Aires”, which belatedly came to South Korean theaters a few days ago, presents a little but charming story about several struggling musicians in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2001. While their country is being turned upside down by a big economic crisis, they try to keep going with their artistic passion as much as possible, and the movie lightly bounces back and forth between humor and pathos while never overlooking how things are getting really worse for not only them but also many others in their country.

After the nice musical opening scene, the movie goes straight to the latest problem for Julio (Diego Cremonesi) and his three close friends/colleagues: Carlos (Carlos Portaluppi), Tito (Rafael Spregelburd), and Atilio (Manuel Vicente). Just like many other people in their country, their tango band singer recently decided to leave the country for better opportunities for his career, but they do not know where to get any other singer good enough for their band, and that makes Juilo have more doubt on his artistic career.

In fact, Julio has also been planning to leave the country, though he has not told anything to his colleagues yet. As his shoe store, which was incidentally inherited from his father, continues to go down in its business, he finally decides to sell the shoe store, and he is soon going to immigrate to Germany via the money from selling it.

And then there comes a little unexpected complication to him on one day. When he is driving his little old car which he is also going to sell sooner or later, he happens to have a serious accident due to a feisty female taxi driver named Mariela (Marina Bellati). At first, Mariela attempts to evade her responsibility, but, after Julio tracks her down to her taxi company, she proposes to pay for the cost of his car repair bit by bit. Although this will certainly delay his immigration plan to some degree, Juilo agrees on her payment condition, after seeing how much she struggles day by day for supporting herself and her little hearing-impaired son.

Meanwhile, Julio and his fellow band members come upon an unlikely change to revive their band. After hearing an old song performed by a singer who was once very famous and popular many years ago, they decide to locate that singer in question, and, what do you know, he turns out to be still alive and well. Although he is not so interested in reviving his old musician career, Ricardo (Mario Alarcón) eventually shows up during Juilo and his colleagues’ rehearsal, and it soon turns out that Ricardo can actually sing fairly well even though many years have passed since his glorious prime.

Needless to say, as the band becomes a bit more energized than before thanks to Richardo, Julio becomes gradually conflicted about his ongoing emigration plan. The situation seems irreversible once he finally sells his shoe store and then agrees to move out of his current residence along with his aging mother and his adolescent daughter sooner or later, but neither his mother nor his daughter is particularly excited about moving to Germany, and that makes him wonder more about whether his decision is really right.

In addition, he finds himself getting close to Mariela as she helps him and his fellow band members much more than expected. As shown from their little private moment in the middle of the story, Mariela also seems to like Julio a lot, but Julio hesitates due to his plan to leave for Germany, and that certainly frustrates her later in the story.

While not hurrying itself at all, the movie steadily builds up its story and characters via one episodic moment after another, and it also gives us some glimpses into the economic crisis in Argentina during that time. Whenever Juilo and others think it cannot possibly get worse, their country tumbles down into more trouble and chaos because of its incompetent government and those corrupt politicians, and, not so surprisingly, this worsening circumstance soon comes to jeopardize Julio’s plan a lot more than he expected at first.

The screenplay by director German Kral and his co-writers Stephan Puchner and Fernando Castets becomes a little contrived around the finale, but its several weak aspects besides that are thankfully compensated by not only the likable performances from its several main cast members but also a number of competent musical performance scenes in the film. Even if you do not know much about tango music (FULL Disclosure: Neither do I), you may find yourself swaying along with the breezy mood and rhythm of those musical performance scenes, and you will also be amused by a little humorous addition to the final one in the film.

In case of Diego Cremonesi, Carlos Portaluppi, Manuel Vicente, and Rafael Spregelburd, they instantly click well together right from the beginning besides looking quite convincing during their musical performance scenes in the film. Marina Bellati brings some lively charm and warmth to her several key scenes with Cremonesi, and Mario Alarcón is poignant when his character attempts to deal with his unresolved personal issues in the past.

On the whole, “Adiós Buenos Aires” is an enjoyable movie which accomplishes its modest goal as much as intended. It could bring some more depth to its story and characters (A subplot involved with Julio’s daughter is particularly under-developed in my trivial opinion), but its earnest storytelling coupled with good tango music engaged me enough during its rather short running time (93 minutes), so I will not grumble for a while.

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Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Of Pigs and Men

Posted on October 25, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean independent animation film “Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease” is not a pleasant work to watch at all. Mainly driven by the sheer madness and despair of the two different entities at the center of the story, the film often disturbs us with its uncompromisingly grim and pessimistic worldview, but it also strikes and impresses us hard with numerous moments packed with a considerable amount of mood, detail, and intensity.

Right from the very beginning, the film unnerves us a lot for a good reason. We get a rather graphic depiction of a lot of pigs being buried alive due to a local pandemic of foot-and-mouth disease, and then the story eventually focuses on a certain pig which manages to survive as somehow being able to dig up itself from the ground below. 

Not long after its lucky escape, the pig finds a little cave where it can hide for a while, and then something really strange happens to it. Not long after desperately wishing to become a human, its body is somehow changed into a humanoid form, probably because of a newly developed chemical substance used for killing the pigs during their burial. While quite excited by its unbelievable transformation, the pig soon becomes despaired to discern that it is still not completely transformed into a human, and that makes it all the more desperate for the whole transformation.

Anyway, this human pig later comes across a group of wild boars inhabiting in a nearby remote forest area, which is incidentally strewn with the dead bodies of many various people who came and then hung themselves for each own desperate reason. After showing who he is and what he is capable of, the pig human persuades the boars to allow him into their group, and it does not take much time for them to come to learn how they can be transformed into humanoid form just like him. They are rather reluctant at first, but becoming a human looks like a pretty good option for survival once he shows them some advantages from the transformation.

Meanwhile, the story also pays attention to a young soldier who finally decides that enough is enough after being harassed and abused by his senior soldiers for a long time. He runs away into that forest area not long after killing one of his senior soldiers, and then he comes to hide in the same cave where the human pig hid before his transformation. Not long after desperately wishing to become something else other than a human being just because of his whole miserable life, the soldier happens to be exposed to that chemical substance in question, and he subsequently finds himself transformed into a sort of Sasquatch.

Although surely feeling quite liberated, the soldier soon becomes rather miserable as still feeling as lonely and isolated as before, and then there comes an unexpected company. When a young woman enters the forest area and then tries to hang herself, the soldier instantly rescues her without hesitation, and the young woman comes to appreciate his little help. As they spend more time together during next several days, they come to depend more on each other, and it looks like there is still some hope for both of them even though they remain totally isolated from the outside world.

When the two main narratives of the story eventually converge during its last act, the film pushes its main characters into more despair and madness, and the following moments are not only darkly intense but also horribly harrowing to say the least. While the pig human becomes increasingly monstrous in his desperate attempt to become a full human being, the soldier comes to have a gloomy moment of revelation involved with his relationship with the young woman, and we are not so surprised when things later get all the grimmer with the arrival of armed soldiers and a sudden big wildfire.

Although its overall animation quality is rather rough at times, the film distinguishes itself with not only considerable technical competence but also its wildly vivid style and imagination. While its animation figures look a little too broad on the surface, they are imbued with enough amount of distinctive personality at least, and I was a bit surprised to learn later that 1) they are all based on the various motion capture actings of only one performer and 2) only a handful of voice performers took multiple roles during its production. In addition, the film is steadily filled with a lot of mood and details to be appreciated, and we get instantly immersed into the world inhabited by its main characters, even while being occasionally jolted by its unnerving intensity. As a matter of fact, the film does not flinch itself at all from lots of violence and bloody as well as occasional nudity in the story, and this is certainly not for any young sensitive audience out there.

While it comes to spin its wheels around the expected climactic part, the film still holds itself fairly well even at this point thanks to the skillful direction of director/writer/editor/producer Hur Bun-wook, who made several short animation films before making a feature film debut here. Sadly, he died because of an unfortunate accident right before it was supposed to be released in South Korean theaters several months ago, and we can only imagine how much he would advance and achieve if it were not for that unfortunate accident.

Nevertheless, Hur’s last work is something to be remembered by me and many other audiences out there, and this is surely one of the better works from South Korean animation industry during last several years. Therefore, I recommend you to check it out, especially if you have been interested in the recent gradual growth of South Korean animation industry like me.

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Nowhere to Lay My Eyes (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): When she visits her mother

Posted on October 25, 2026 by kaist455

Hong Sang-soo’s latest film “Nowhere to Lay My Eyes”, which won the Best Director award at the Locarno Film Festival several months ago, is another modest but enjoyable work from Hong, who is incidentally one of the steadiest filmmakers working in South Korean cinema in my inconsequential opinion. Within its rather short running time (72 minutes), the movie serves us a number of plain but subtly amusing moments generated among a handful of main characters, and it certainly helps that it is anchored well by another good performance from its wonderful lead actress

Kim Min-hee, who received the Best Actress award at the Locarno Film Festival and has been one of Hong’s main collaborators during last several years besides getting personally involved with him several years ago (She gave birth to their first son in last year, by the way), plays Sang-hee, a young woman who visits her mother’s residence in Jeju Island along with her younger brother Sang-won (Shin Seok-ho). Their mother, Jong-won (Choi Myung-gil), has a local restaurant which has been quite successful, and she is currently living with her second husband Soon-yeong (Kwon Hae-hyo) in their cozy modern house.

Sang-hee and Sang-won are wholeheartedly welcomed by their mother and her second husband, and we get to know more about Sang-hee as these four people talk more with each other. While she currently works at some small snack import company, she has also pursued a career of experimental filmmaking mainly because of her longtime artistic passion, though she still has to depend a lot on the income from her main job.

Incidentally, Soon-yeong is a documentary filmmaker who has been working on his little personal project, so he and Sang-hee come to have a brief discussion on the artificial aspects of documentary at one point. As trying to make her point on the subject, Sang-hee even mentions the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, but the movie unfortunately sidesteps this important political issue along with her following argument, which is not so far from those superficial “Both Sides” arguments.

As they spend more time together with some drinking (How can Hong’s film possibly exist without drinking?), everything seems to feel nice and cordial among Sang-hee and the three other main characters, but we gradually gather how Sang-hee is not so comfortable with being with her family. For example, her mother often compliments or supports her a bit on the surface, but it becomes more apparent to us that she actually does not regard her daughter’s artistic passion that highly.

As leisurely moving from one episodic moment to another, the movie shows some emotional sensitivity at times. When Sang-hee subsequently meets Soon-yeong’s daughter Joo-won (Park Mi-so) on the next day, she feels more comfortable as they openly talk about several things in private. As a painter, Joo-won understands well how serious Sang-hee is about her artistic passion, and their casual conversation becomes more interesting as they talk a bit about the metaphysical meaning of eternity. I must confess that I am not so sure about whether I totally understand their discussion, but Kim and Park are so effortless in their spontaneous interactions that I can tell you that this wonderful conversation scene is the undeniable highlight of the film.

Another good scene follows not long after that. As Hong’s camera steadily focuses on them (Again, Hong serves as the producer/editor/cinematographer/composer of his film in addition to handling the sound of the movie), Sang-hee and her three family members have a nice dinner during their casual conversation, and the movie subtly conveys to us some strain beneath the cheerful mood among them. In the next morning, there comes a bit of tension as Sang-hee suddenly goes outside without telling anyone, and her family members naturally become concerned as she and her younger brother should not be late for catching their return flight to Seoul.

Although Kim’s phlegmatic narration does not signify anything to us, her solid performance quietly conveys to us whatever is churning behind her character’s gentle appearance, and the movie often reflects that via the frequent sounds of blowing winds on the soundtrack. Around the end of the story, the camera simply looks at Sang-hee doing what may be her next filmmaking project, but this somehow leaves some real poignancy on us, just like when Sang-hee’s family members silently watch one of her YouTube clips during her sudden absence.

Kim is also supported well by several other main cast members of the film. Because he has steadily collaborated with Hong since “In Another Country” (2012), Kwon Hae-hyo certainly draws our attention first, Choi Myung-gil, Shin Seok-ho, and Park Mi-so also hold each own place well around Kim without overshadowing Kim at all.

In conclusion, “Nowhere to Lay My Eyes” is another engaging work from Hong during this year after “The Day She Returns” (2026). They are simply as good as you can expect from him, but he surely demonstrates that he is still as productive as he always has been during last 30 years since his first feature film “The Day a Pig Fell into the Well” (2026), and I am already waiting for Hong’s next film to come.

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Leviticus (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): Now they should be really careful of each other 

Posted on October 25, 2026 by kaist455

“Leviticus” is a moody but engaging horror film about two young gay men who find themselves in a serious peril due to their Christian elders. Although it is sometimes a little too dry or vague at times, the movie continues to hold our attention with a series of effective moments of tension and dread, and we come to care more about what may happen to them in the end.

After the disturbing opening scene which sets its overall tone, the story observes what has been going on between Naim Reid (Joe Bird) and Ryan Whelan (Stacy Clausen), two adolescent boys living in some rural town of Australia. At first, they seem to clash with each other on the surface, but it soon turns out that they have actually been sexually attracted to each other, though Naim is hesitant about going further with Ryan.

Probably because he is going nowhere with Naim, Ryan subsequently becomes attracted to Hunter (Jeremy Blewitt), who is incidentally the teenage son of a local pastor. Under this pastor’s leadership, Naim’s mother Arlene (Mia Wasikowska) and several other parishioners have been your average conservative Christians, and they certainly do not approve of homosexuality at all.

After seeing Ryan having a very intimate moment with Hunter, Naim becomes quite angry and zealous, and he eventually tells his mother and the pastor about what is going on between Ryan and Hunter. Not long after that, someone called the “Deliverance Healer” is brought by the pastor, and this dude performs a rather disturbing ritual upon Ryan and Hunter in front of everyone else including Naim.

Of course, it does not take much time for Naim to realize that he made a very big mistake. Both Ryan and Hunter begin to experience a mysterious happening, and then the situation becomes all the more serious when Naim also goes through that ritual after confessing his homosexuality to his mother. He soon finds himself stalked and menaced by something which seems to be Ryan on the surface, and he later comes to learn that Ryan has also been threatened by what seems to look like Naim.

It turns out that the ritual put a certain supernatural curse on them and Hunter. Regardless of whatever it actually is, their supernatural stalker will relentlessly follow them to the end as looking more like whatever their heart really desires, and the only option for survival for them is staying away from their person of desire as much as possible.

This surely looks like a metaphor of all those drastically cruel conversion therapies inflicted upon LGBTQ+ teenagers by their misguided parents. In addition, it will instantly remind you of the story premise of David Robert Mitchell’s “It Follows” (2014), whose elusive but dangerous supernatural entity keeps following the terrorized heroine after she is “marked” due to a seemingly plain sexual encounter.

As they try to find any solution for their increasingly grim situation, Naim and Ryan are reminded more of how hopeless their current status is. It looks like there is no way to save them from that horrible curse except the aforementioned option, and they also have to deal with homophobia as their homosexuality is known more to others around them. Furthermore, Naim still does not tell Ryan anything about what he did to Ryan and Hunter, and that naturally functions as another source of suspense in the story.

The screenplay by director/writer Adrian Chiarella, who made a feature film debut here after making several short films, diligently builds up the sense of dread via several effective scenes where Naim is not so sure about whether he is really with Ryan or not. The more they feel attracted to each other despite the curse, the more their supernatural stalker looks like either of them. This certainly disturbs them all the more than before, but their mutual matter of heart remains something not so easily suppressed at all. 

The movie certainly depends a lot on the natural chemistry between its two main performers at its center. Joe Bird, who was memorable in Danny and Michael Philippou’s “Talk to Me” (2022), and Stacy Clausen is believable as their characters pull or push each other along the story, and that is the main reason why there is some genuine poignancy as their characters come to bond more with each other despite their increasingly deadly curse.

In contrast, several other main cast members including Mia Wasikowska, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, and Davida McKenzie are under-utilized due to their rather thin supporting roles. Wasikowska, who also serves as one of the executive producers of the film, is mostly stuck with looking as aloof and stern as required by her thankless role, and we seldom get to sense what her character really feels about Naim.

Overall, “Leviticus” is not entirely without weak aspects, but it is still a solid genre piece supported well by its good mood and the commendable efforts from Bird and Clausen. In my trivial opinion, Chiarella is a talented filmmaker with considerable potential, and it will be interesting to see what may come next after this modest but admirable debut feature film of his.

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Trainspotting (1996) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Addiction loves company

Posted on October 24, 2026 by kaist455

Danny Boyle’s 1996 film “Trainspotting”, whose 4K remastered version was released in South Korean theaters on this Wednesday, looks into the seedy lifestyle of a bunch of different young addicts. While this is certainly not so pleasant to watch, the movie illustrates its story and characters with considerable style, spirit, and humor, and it is alternatively electrifying and insightful on the whole. 

The center of the movie is Mark “Rent Boy” Renton (Ewan McGregor), a young addict living in Edinburgh, UK. After the opening scene which is incidentally one of the most memorable moments in the film, his sardonic narration functions as a guide which lets us into the carefree lifestyle of him and his several other fellow junkies, and we observe more of how their daily life often swings back and forth between only two modes. Whenever they inject a dose of heroin into themselves, everything seems fine and well to them as they get high. Whenever their body craves another fix not long after that, they go for another fix, and this cycle goes on and on while their life and environment get hopelessly seedier day by day.

Mark is well-aware of how things are going nowhere for him and his fellow addicts, but he does not care much about that. As reflected by his narration, he defiantly chooses not to make any choice on his life and future, and he also believes that he can quit heroine at anytime, though, not so surprisingly, his attempt early in the film turns out to be not very successful to our little amusement. During one darkly hilarious scene unfolded inside “the filthiest toilet in Scotland”, he has to do something which will definitely make you wince more than once, and this will remind you of a similar scene in Boyle’s subsequent Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008).

As Mark eventually goes back into addiction, the Oscar-nominated screenplay by John Hodge, which is based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh, doles out one episodic moment after another for giving more insight on addiction. In case of one particularly harrowing scene involved with a baby belonging to one of Mark’s fellow addicts, everyone is certainly shocked and horrified at first, but they soon let them get high again just for looking away from their horror and guilt. For addicts, nothing matters much except another fix for themselves, and the movie makes a sharp point on that.

Needless to say, things only get worse for Mark and his addict friends later in the story, and then there comes an inevitable point where he hits another bottom of his addiction. For helping him quitting heroine, his parents decide to do something quite stringent, and we are subsequently served with an intense sequence where Mark struggles a lot with a series of withdrawal symptoms including hallucination.

After going through this difficult moment, Mark decides to make a new start in London, but, of course, that turns out to be a bit more difficult than expected. Not long after he seems to be settled at last with his fairly good job, his fellow addicts come into his life again. He does not welcome this much, but he cannot say no to them because, well, old habits seldom die easily. Regardless of whether he likes it or not, he finds himself drawn again into their reckless lifestyle – until he later sees a possible chance for solving his problem once and for all.

Never overlooking the dark and unpleasant sides of its rather unlikable main characters, the movie steadily injects a lot of style and mood into the story, and Boyle and his cinematographer Brian Tufano did an impressive job of immersing us more into the pathetic environment and lifestyle the main characters are pathetically stuck with. While we usually regard them from the distance, they are also colorful human figures to observe, and we come to have more understanding on what make addicts tick. Being always anxious for another fix to come, they cannot help but hang around with each other just for killing time, and they are certainly bound together in their common misery.

The critical and commercial success of the film certainly boosted the careers of many of its main cast members. While Ewan McGregor, who previously collaborated with Boyle in Boyle’s debut feature film “Shallow Grave” (1994), is engaging in his breakthrough performance, Ewen Bremmer, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, and Robert Carlyle are also unforgettable in their respective supporting roles, and it is no surprise that all of them have advanced a lot during next three decades since the movie came out. In case of several other notable main cast members in the film, Peter Mullan, who was on the way of becoming one of the most dependable British actors, is fun to watch as an older addict called “Mother Superior”, and it is also interesting to see Kelly Macdonald and Shirley Henderson during the early years of their movie acting careers.      

In conclusion, “Trainspotting” remains a very compelling movie about addiction even after 30 years while being one of the best works in Boyle’s long and illustrious filmmaking career. After “Trainspotting”, he gave us a number of entertaining films including not only “Slumdog Millionaire” but also “28 Days Later” (2002), “Millions” (2004), “127 Hours” (2010), and “Steve Jobs” (2015), and he recently gave us “Ink” (2026) in this year. As you see, he is still running just like the opening scene of “Trainspotting”, and I sincerely hope that he will continue to run as long as possible.

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Clayface (2026) ☆☆(2/4): A run-of-the-mill villain origin story

Posted on October 23, 2026 by kaist455

“Clayface”, which is the third product from DC Universe (DCU), is a run-of-the-mill villain origin story about which I cannot care that much. It apparently tries to follow the footsteps of not only Todd Phillips’ “Joker” (2019) but also a number of body horror films ranging from David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” (1986) to Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” (2024), but the result is too amorphous and mediocre on the whole, and we are merely disturbed by a number of gory and violent moments in the film.

At the beginning, we are introduced to Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a handsome movie actor who is about to have another high point in his very successful career. Besides being the lead actor of some big movie, he also gets Oscar-nominated, and that certainly boosts his fame and popularity more. As a part of his following Oscar campaign, he drops by his hometown Gotham City for appearing in a TV show, and then he goes to a big local nightclub for some fun and excitement.

And that is where a very unfortunate incident happens upon him. When he is seduced by a sexy young lady, Hagan does not reject this at all, but she turns out to be the mistress of the boss of a powerful local criminal organization. Needless to say, the boss is not so amused by what subsequently occurs between his mistress and Hagan, and we soon get a graphically gruesome moment of facial mutilation.

Hagan survives this horrible moment, but his face is now irreversibly disfigured, and, not so surprisingly, his world is swiftly collapsed within a short period of time. Mainly due to his disfigured face, he comes to lose every privilege he has enjoyed as a hot movie star, and everyone around him simply walks away from him without any hesitation.

Quite penniless and hopeless, Hagan become desperate for any possible option for reconstructing his face, and then he comes across a seemingly good one via an article on Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a scientist who has tried to develop an experimental therapeutic technology which may help Hagan in getting his desperate wish. Although she is reluctant to use Hagan for her ongoing research, she eventually changes her mind because 1) he looks so desperate and 2) his result may give her research some breakthrough.

After several weeks of gradual process, both Hagan and Dr. Corr are amazed by how his face is completely restored, but, of course, there soon come several symptoms of serious side effects. While struggling with these side effects, Hagan discovers that he can change his appearance at his will, and, not so surprisingly, this eventually puts him onto the road to vengeance.   

As its anti-hero character gets more accustomed to his disturbing ability, the movie often jolts us with more blood and goriness to decorate the screen. No matter how much Dr. Corr tries to stop what is irreversibly happening to him, Hagan cannot help but driven more by his dark power, and his consequent killing spree soon attracts the attention of Detective John Borrelli (Max Minghella), who is incidentally Dr. Corr’s fiancé.

While we are supposed to care more about what is going on in the story, the screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, which is developed from Flanagan’s story, does not have much depth or substance to hold our attention. Hagan’s struggle and conflict along the story feels contrived and superficial as the story merely pushes him toward the expected ending, and his increasingly strained relationship with Dr. Corr lacks enough emotional ground for generating any poignancy or gravitas.

Furthermore, the movie is seriously deficient in terms of mood and style. Compared to how it is stylishly presented in “Joker” or Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” (2022), Gotham City in “Clayface” feels quite bland and anonymous to say the least, and many of its main characters do not have much personality to observe. As a result, several good performers including Eddie Marsan and David Dencik are criminally under-utilized in the film, and Max Minghella is probably the most unfortunate one, considering his utterly thankless supporting role.

In case of Tom Rhys Harries, I must say that I did not notice him much even though he appeared in several recent notable films including Uberto Pasolini’s “The Return” (2024). As far as I can observe from “Clayface”, he is a fairly good actor, but he is sadly hindered by weak storytelling and thin characterization, and he also does not generate much chemistry with his co-star. Naomi Ackie, who previously appeared in Eva Victor’s “Sorry, Baby” (2025) and Bong Joon-ho’s “Mickey 17” (2025), brings some tenderness to her several key scenes, but she does not have anything else to do except looking concerned, and that is another big disappointment for me.

In conclusion, “Clayface”, directed by James Watkins, is another misfire from DCU after “Supergirl” (2026), which is relatively a bit better for some interesting potential at least. It must have been like a good idea to mix some body horror into a comic book story, but the overall result is too mushy to entertain us, and its failure reminds me more of my growing fatigue from numerous comic book hero/villain movies during last several decades. No, I am not against the genre itself at all, but, for Christ’s sake, is there anything really new or fresh out there?

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Tenzing (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): A solid biographical drama about Tenzing Norgay

Posted on October 20, 2026 by kaist455

“Tenzing”, which was released on Apple TV on last Friday, is a solid biographical drama about Tenzing Norgay, a famous Sherpa who succeeded with Sir Edmund Hilary in their 1953 ascent of Mount Everest. While this is your average clean-cut biopic, it handles its main human subject with enough sincerity and respect, and we come to have more understanding on the considerable efforts of its hero behind that historical feat.

The screenplay by co-producer Luke Davies, which is developed from the story written by Davies and director/co-producer Jennifer Peedom, opens the story with a rather clichéd moment. We see how Tenzing (Genden Phuntsok) came to aspire to climb onto the top of Mount Everest someday when he was just a little boy in the early 1920s, and then the movie flashes forward to 1953. After many years of following his aspiration, Tenzing becomes a well-experienced Sherpa, and he was almost successful in climbing onto the top of Mount Everest during the Swiss expedition in the previous year.

When he is later requested to join the upcoming British expedition, Tenzing is hesitant mainly because he promised to his family that he will not risk his life again, but, after having a heartfelt private conversation with one of his children, he eventually decides to join the British expedition on one very important condition. He demands that he should join the expedition as one of the team members, and John Hunt (Willem Dafoe), who is the leader of the British expedition, cannot say no because Tenzing is undeniably one of the best professionals in the area.

Nevertheless, Tenzing faces some discrimination from not only Hunt and his expedition team right but also some of his fellow Sherpas. While Hunt and his white team members sleep inside a big house, Tenzing’s fellow Sherpas have to sleep in a stable instead, and Tenzing chooses to stick to his fellow Sherpas even though he is not regarded well by some of them just because of his different ethnic background. As shown from a series of flashback scenes along the story, he and his family moved to Nepal from their hometown in Tibet when he was young, and he already experienced a fair share of discrimination even at that time.

Anyway, Tenzing keeps focusing on doing his job as a team member who is also in the charge of the other Sherpas in the team, and we see how the expedition team makes progress step by step. During their first several days, the weather is warm and sunny as you can expect from springtime, but it gets colder and harsher when they arrive at the foot of Mount Everest and then set their base camp there. Because they have only a few weeks before the weather gets much worse, they must be as fast and efficient as possible, but, of course, there are a number of obstacles including the mountain itself.

While showing more of his bravery and resourcefulness, Tenzing comes to get more respect and recognition from Hunt and the expedition team members, though we still see the distance between them and Tenzing. In addition, his fellow Sherpas are worried about whether they will lose their main source of income if the expedition turns out to be successful, and this naturally causes some conflict between them and Tenzing.

At least, Tenzing gets unexpected support from Hilary (Tom Hiddleston). As a New Zealander, Hilary understands a bit of how Tenzing is often disregarded and discriminated by the others in the team, and he and Tenzing come to bond more with each other once they agree to become a team together at the last stage of their ongoing expedition.

While these two guys and several other team members go through one risky obstacle after another, the movie doles out a series of vivid and realistic moments to chill or amaze you. The cinematography by Stefan Duscio is often stunning for its coldly crisp landscape shots, and the performers in the film look believable as their characters handle their numerous obstacles on their way, though I am sure that they performed under much safer conditions.

Around the point where Tenzing and Hilary are about to go through the last stage of their historical ascent (Is this a spoiler?), the mood becomes a bit melodramatic as Tenzing cannot help but become haunted by the memories of his recently diseased wife, but the movie sticks to its understated mood as steadily focusing on how Tenzing and Hilary depend more on each other for their common goal. Regardless of which one actually climbed onto the top of Mount Everest first, they came to have more respect toward each other as sticking together more, and it is no surprise that they really became lifelong friends after getting their mission accomplished.

The main cast members of the film are well-cast on the whole. Genden Phuntsok, a Chinese actor of Tibet descent, holds the center well with his earnest performance, and his solid acting is also connected well with Samdrup Dorje Lama and Tenzin Dalha, who respectively play younger Tenzing in several flashback scenes in the film. In case of Tom Hiddleston, Willem Dafoe, and Caitríona Balfe, they dutifully fill each own place without overshadowing Phuntsok, and Hiddleston subtly supports Phuntsok during several key scenes of theirs in the movie.

In conclusion, “Tenzing” is more or less than your typical standard biopic, but it is still worthwhile to watch thanks to its respectful storytelling coupled with considerable realism and several good performances. After watching the movie, you may be interested in learning more about who Tenzing Norgay was, and I think the movie accomplishes that mission fairly well.

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Re-Animator (1985) ☆☆☆(3/4): A trashy fun with some goriness

Posted on October 19, 2026 by kaist455

Stuart Gordon’s 1985 film “Re-Animator” has a trashy fun with some goriness to be savored and admired, and its morbid sense of humor remains fairly intact even after more than 40 years. As an outrageously gruesome mix of horror and black comedy, it will surely make you cringe more than once for good reasons, but you will also be amused a lot by its many darkly humorous moments as appreciating a considerable amount of wit and craft behind them.

The story, which is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “Herbert West – Reanimator”, is pretty simple in terms of story and characters. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs), a young medical student as ambitious as Dr. Frankenstein, has worked on developing a very special reagent which can reanimate dead animal tissues, and, needless to say, his little experiment runs amok when several other characters around him get involved with it along the story.

And what we will get next is not exactly a pretty sight to watch. Besides a disturbing scene which will make any cat lover wince (FULL DISCLOSURE: I do whenever I watch the movie), there is a gory sequence where West and his fellow medical student Daniel Cain (Bruce Abbott) get a very nasty experiment result from a certain recently diseased body. When they subsequently come upon another fresh dead body, they cannot possibly resist, and, of course, things only get worse for them as well as several other characters who unfortunately happen to be around them.

Nevertheless, its main characters are absolutely serious about what is happening around (and to) them, and that is another source of fun for us. No matter how much he tries to be sensible, Cain only finds himself getting more and more involved with West’s increasingly loony experiment process, and this inevitably affects his romantic relationship with Megan (Barbara Crampton), who is incidentally the daughter of the dean of the medical school where he and West are studying at present. The mood becomes a bit tender whenever the movie pays some attention to Cain and his girlfriend, but their romantic subplot is often interrupted by what is caused by him and West, and then there comes that infamous scene where Megan is about to be forced to have a sexual encounter with one of West’s latest experiment results.

That scene is surely a good example of how willingly the movie goes for more bad taste. While we get more blood and goriness along with a bit of full-frontal nudity, this deranged moment somehow rises below vulgarity just like many of Mel Brooks’ comedy films, and it certainly helps that the performers on the screen play straight to the end without any self-conscious wink to us.

When it eventually shifts onto a full-throttle mode during its climactic part, the movie goes all the way for more blood and goriness to decorate the screen, and you will be alternatively shocked and impressed by how intensely it presents a series of gruesome moments via its fairly good special effects and makeups. Nevertheless, the movie still does not lose any sense of its black humor, and there is even a little poignancy from when Cain decides to do something drastic just for love.

Several main cast members of the film have always been associated with the film since it came out. Jeffrey Combs, who subsequently collaborated with Gordon again in “From Beyond” (1986) and “Bride of Re-Animator” (1990), is quite committed in his character’s mad ambition, and his intense performance here in this film certainly boosted his acting career a lot. Since the success of “Re-animator”, he has appeared here and there in a number of genre films during next several decades, and I still fondly remember his wacky supporting turn in Peter Jackson’s “The Frighteners” (1996).

In case of the other main cast members, they naturally take backseats to Combs’ showier acting, though they are all as effective as required. Although his character feels rather flat and colorless compared to Combs’ character, Bruce Abbott acquits himself well on the whole, and he and Barbara Crampton did a good job of giving a little sense of normalcy to the story. In contrast, David Gale and Robert Sampson eagerly go over the top when their characters are reanimated later in the story, and Gale has a lot of naughty fun as his reanimated character becomes an unexpected opponent for West and Cain (“Who’s going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow.”).

The movie is also a career high point for Gordon. Although most of his subsequent works including “From Beyond”, which is also based on one of Lovecraft’s short story, failed to reach the level of success attained by “Re-Animator”, he steadily worked for many years at least before sadly passing away in 2020, and he certainly solidified his own place in horror genre as “Re-Animator” gained more appreciation and admiration during next several decades (Raise your hand if you were reminded of that special reagent when you watched Coralie Fargeat’s Oscar-winning film “The Substance” (2024)!)

In conclusion, “Re-Animator” may require some tolerance for goriness from the beginning, but it ultimately works as an entertaining genre film which will alternatively jolt and tickle you once you go along with what and how it is about. This is indeed trashy to the bone besides being quite gory and bloody, but you will definitely agree with what my late mentor Roger Ebert wrote in his review: “I was reminded of Pauline Kael’s sane observation: “The movies are so rarely great art that, if we can’t appreciate great trash, there is little reason for us to go.””

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