Apex (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): A standard survival thriller driven by Charlize Theron

Posted on April 27, 2026 by kaist455

Charlize Theron is one of the most singular star actresses working in Hollywood. After she earned her own spot around the top of Hollywood with her great Oscar-winning performance in Patty Jenkins’ “Monster” (2003), she steadily and boldly rolled her career along a number of various genre films ranging from George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) to several recent Fast and Furious flicks, and Baltasar Kormákur’s Netflix film “Apex”, which was released a few days ago, shows us again what a charismatic action movie performer she is. Although the movie itself is quite typical to the bone, Theron’s undeniable physical presence diligently carries it to the end with considerable commitment, and that is something worthwhile to watch in my trivial opinion.

The movie opens with the prologue scene where Theron’s rock climber heroine, Sasha, is trying hard on her latest challenge along with her husband and fellow rock climber played by Eric Bana, who probably agreed to accept his thankless role just for working with Theron a bit in front of the camera. Not along after their another attempt to scale the Troll Wall in Norway is failed, a big heavy snowstorm is approaching, so they have no choice but to rappel down the Troll Wall as soon as possible, but, alas, an unexpected accident happens to them in the middle of that process.

Several months later, Sasha comes to a vast wildlife region in Australia, and she remains haunted by that unfortunate incident, which consequently made her give up rock climbing. Nonetheless, she is still drawn to other challenging outdoor activities besides that, and her main purpose of visiting is kayaking along the rapids in the region alone by herself.

Needless to say, there are several alarming signs right from her arrival. For example, Sasha is told that there have been a number of visitors who got vanished for no apparent reason during last few years, and then she encounters a couple of rather unpleasant lads at a gas station shop. At least, she gets some help from some other dude, who later gives her a bit of advice on which rapid is more challenging for her.

Once Sasha begins her journey along that rapid in question, everything feels fine for her for a while. The rapid surely turns out to be quite challenging to say the least, but she feels alive again as going through one tricky spot after another along the rapid, and the movie did a good job of making us brace ourselves more than once.

And then the situation becomes gradually disconcerting for our heroine. Not long after she happens to have an unexpected trouble, Sasha comes across that guy who helped her a bit early in the story. She appreciates another help from him at first, but it does not take much time for her to sense that there is something odd and suspicious about him.

Of course, this dude has a diabolical plan behind his back, and this certainly tests our heroine’s survival skill and instinct a lot. While running away from him as much as possible, Sasha also must cope with the unforgiving aspects of the wildlife area surrounding them, and it goes without saying that she must use her particular set of skills more than once for saving herself.

I have no idea on how much Kormákur, who previously directed “Everest” (2015) and “Beast” (2022), and his crew members including cinematographer Lawrence Sher actually shot the film at those real wildlife locations in Australia, but the numerous wildlife scenes in the film look quite believable on the whole. While I could exactly notice where they use CGI from time to time, these wildlife scenes are packed with enough verisimilitude, and this makes several intense moments of action look realistic enough on the screen.

And Theron, who also served as one of the co-producers of the film, looks convincing as her character goes through one challenge after another along the story. Although the screenplay by Jeremy Robbins is rather thin in terms of narrative and characterization, Theron’s committed performance fills the gaps and holes in the story as well as her character, and we become more engaged in her urgent struggle for survival.

On the opposite, Taron Egerton goes way over the top with his deliberately unhinged performance, which deserves to be compared with Jai Courtney’s equally deranged turn in Sean Byrne’s “Dangerous Animals” (2025). As his loathsome character viciously corners our heroine in one way or another, Egerton brings some twisted sense of humor to his several key scenes including the grisly one involved with a certain “homemade” product of his character. As watching that scene, I could not help but think of that unforgettable line from Kevin Connors’ deliciously nasty B-horror film “Motel Hell” (1980): “It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent Fritters.”

In conclusion, “Apex” does not exceed my expectation much as predictably going from one predestined point to another, but the overall result is still entertaining enough for recommendation thanks to Theron’s commendable efforts as well as Kormákur’s competent direction. It could have more substance in terms of storytelling, but it compensates for that weakness with considerable skill and commitment, so I will not grumble for now.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The General (1926) ☆☆☆☆(4/4): Stone-faced and great as usual

Posted on April 26, 2026 by kaist455

1926 silent black and white film “The General” is simply a great comedy. Although it is 100 years old at this point, the movie is still capable of amusing and entertaining us a lot with many inspired comic moments to remember, and it is certainly one of the finest moments in the career of its legendary star Buster Keaton, who has been regarded as one of the best comedians/filmmakers of the silent film era during the early 20th century along with Charlie Chaplin.     

Although it is indubitably one of the last great works from the silent film era, “The General” was actually as a commercial dud when it came out. The movie was not so welcomed by both the audiences and the critics, and its disappointing box office returns compared to its big production budget ($750,000) led to the long career downturn for Keaton. As being consequently forced to make a restrictive deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he irrevocably lost his artistic independence, and then he saw his status gradually diminished during next several decades, before his significant achievements in “The General” and his several other comic masterworks were belatedly recognized and admired around the 1950s.

 When I happened to get a chance to watch “The General” at a local movie theater thanks to a little special event for Keaton’s several notable works, I observed again how effortlessly Keaton, who also served as its co-director/co-writer/co-producer, handles those numerous amusing moments in the film. No matter how silly and absurd things become for his everyman hero on the screen, the movie sticks to its straightforward tone to the end, and so does his performance – with that famously phlegmatic, or stone-faced, attitude and a bit of earnest sense of bafflement. Usually occupied with what is the most important to him without noticing any absurdity of the situation surrounding him at all, his character comes to function as an oddly calm ground to support everything in the film, and Keaton accomplishes his mission with graceful agility even during its most frantic moments. 

At the beginning, the movie, which is set in an American Southern region in the early 1860s, quickly establishes the two most important things for Keaton’s character, who is a plain train engineer working for Western & Atlantic Railroad. One is his locomotive named “the General”, and the other one is a young Southern lady played by Marion Mack. Early in the film, we see how Keaton’s character tries to win this young woman’s heart, and we are amused by how oblivious his character is to the accumulating comic momentum on the screen. At first, he is simply followed by two little boys imitating his gait, and then he is also followed by that young lady, but he does not notice this at all before he eventually arrives at her family house. We are more amused as this scene becomes more absurd later, but Keaton and the movie maintain their deadpan attitude as before, and this certainly tickles us a lot.

When the Civil War begins, Keaton’s character tries to enlist in the Confederate Army mainly for impressing that young lady more, but, to his disappointment, he gets rejected as being told that he is more useful as a train engineer than a soldier. He is understandably disappointed, but there comes an unlikely chance for proving himself one year later. When a bunch of Union Army soldiers take away his locomotive for their latest military operation, that young lady happens to be on a boxcar connected with that locomotive, and he naturally becomes quite determined to save her by any means necessary.

What follows next is a series of inventive comic moments shining with sharp creativity and precise timing. We are gradually amused as Keaton’s character trying one vehicle after another before eventually driving a locomotive for chasing after those Union Army soldiers, and then there comes a hilarious chase sequence along the railroad. While this is basically one-dimensional chase, Keaton and his co-director Clyde Bruckman, who wrote the screenplay with Al Boasberg and Charles Smith (Their screenplay was based on William Pittenger’s 1863 memoir “The Great Locomotive Chase”, by the way), steadily doles out unexpected comic obstacles for Keaton’s character, and one of the biggest laughs in the film comes from a big cannon clumsily handled by him at one point. As this cannon is slowly pointed toward him and the locomotive, there seems to be no escape for them as the cannon is moving straight along the same railroad just like them, but then there comes a sudden comic turn which still amuses me a lot for considerable ingenuity.

It is known well that Keaton threw himself into all of these and other action scenes in the film like he always did in his other notable works. In case of one certain scene early in the story, he had to sit on one of the coupling rods of a moving locomotive without any safety measure, and he could have got himself seriously injured at any point as shooting this scene. When he performed a very dangerous stunt as placing himself right on the front end of a locomotive moving at a considerably high speed, he had to take a lot of chance despite the sheer peril of this stunt, and you will admire his professional dedication more as appraising this moment.

Amid all these dangers and silliness, Keaton remains calm and earnest, and we come to laugh and then care more about his character’s bumpy quest for winning the heart of that young lady. During one particular key scene in the middle of the film, his character happens to hide under a big table surrounded by his opponents, and the movie has some little visual fun as he gets a chance to look at her via a little accidental hole in the sheet covering the table, which comes to function as an “iris shot” to our little amusement. As sensing more of his sincere love toward her, we come to root for him all the more than before, and the ending feels both sweet and hilarious as we gladly put aside our modern perspective on the Civil War for a while at least.

Overall, “The General” remains fresh and interesting mainly thanks to Keaton’s ingenious unflappable presence and talent. If you have not seen any of his movies, this great film will be a suitable beginning for you, and then you will probably want to check out his other excellent works such as “Our Hospitality” (1923) and “Sherlock Jr.” (1924). They may look quite old to you at first, but their timeless comic qualities will linger on you for a while, and you will appreciate more of his significant contribution to cinema.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Name (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): As her painful past returns

Posted on April 25, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “My Name” tries two different things together. On one hand, it is about an old woman who comes to face the repressed pain and sorrow from her hidden past. On the other hand, it is about her adolescent son who has his own personal issues to handle. While the former often shows considerable emotional power, the latter is quite rote and redundant to say the least, it is a shame that the movie stumbles more than once in its bifurcated narrative setting.

After the prologue part set in Jeju Island at present, the movie goes back to 1998 and focuses on the daily life of Jeong-soon (Yeon Hye-ran) and her high school student son Yeong-ok (Shin Woo-bin). While they have lived happily together in Jeju Island, Yeong-ok hopes to change his name someday just because it feels too girly for him, but his mother does not allow that – even when he prepares a document for officially changing his name.

Meanwhile, it turns out that Jeong-soon has been medicated for years due to some anxiety problem. When her new psychiatrist wants to delve more into the origin of this mental issue of hers, Jeong-soon is understandably reluctant, but then she begins to remember more of her almost forgotten past, and both her mind and body become more unsettled for good reasons. Nevertheless, she is still willing to regain those repressed memories of her past, so she starts to look around here and there around the island for finding any clue for that.

Because I and other South Korean audiences knew well from the beginning that the repressed memories of her past are involved with the Jeju Uprising in 1948, I guess I should tell you a bit about that tragic historical incident in question. In 1948, the South Korean government under the control of the US Army was about to be established via its first national election as opposing to the North Korean government under the Soviet Army, many people in Jeju Island protested against this because they did not want to see their country divided in half, and this eventually led to the brutal clash between them and the local police. Around the point where both US and South Korean Army got involved later, numerous incidents of killings happened on both sides, and this massive tragedy was cruelly suppressed during next several decades before the South Korean government eventually recognized it and then gave a public apology in the early 2000s.

As we wonder more about what exactly happened to Jeong-soon at that time, her mind comes to remember more of her past as it gradually goes back toward what she is still struggling to remember. It turns out that there is also some other painful private memory involved with not only another tragic incident in the South Korean history in the late 20th century but also her son, but she is still not so willing to tell him anything about that.

Nevertheless, Jeong-soon becomes more determined to get to the bottom of her issues, and there eventually comes a point when all the pains and traumas hidden somewhere inside her mind vividly come back upon her. This is quite a harrowing moment, and we are all the more touched as she attempts to sublimate all those painful feelings of her in her own way around the end of the story.

However, this intimate human drama of Jeong-soon is unfortunately interrupted by the other narrative associated with her son, who lets himself associated with some bad classmates who frequently bully the other students in the class including his best friend. Not so surprisingly, there inevitably comes a point when Jeong-ok betrays his best friend, and the following consequence is clumsily intercut with Jeong-soon’s narrative, which could be more effective if it were just presented alone by itself.

At least, Yeom Hye-ran, who recently gave a scene-stealing supporting performance in Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” (2025), gives a strong performance to carry the film to the end. Besides being convincing in her character’s slow but steady personal quest along the story, Yeom ably brings a lot of life and personality to her role, and Jeong-soon eventually comes to us as a dogged survivor has managed to go on despite a lot of pain and sorrow inside her.

The rest of the cast members in the film are unfortunately flat and bland compared to Yeom’s strong lead performance. Shin Woo-bin is merely required to fill his thankless role, and you may also notice that many of the performers playing his classmates in the film look a bit too old to play high school kids. In case of Yoo Jun-sang, who plays older Yeong-ok in the present part, his scenes are mostly perfunctory except the obligatory epilogue which will surely remind you again of why that immense tragedy of the Jeju Uprising should be remembered more.

On the whole, “My Name”, directed by Chung Ji-young, is a well-intentioned but inherently flawed drama film. Although I appreciate its strong elements including Yeom’s admirable acting, it is relatively less successful than O Meul’s “Jiseul” (2012) and Ha Myung-mi’s “Hallan” (2025), and I would rather recommend these two films which did a better job of presenting the same historical subject in my humble opinion.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008) ☆☆☆(3/4): A Holocaust fable

Posted on April 24, 2026 by kaist455

Mark Herman’s 2008 film “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”, which happens to be released in South Korean theaters in this week, works as a fable rather than a realistic Holocaust drama. While its story premise is no more historically accurate than, say, Roberto Benigni’s “Life Is Beautiful” (1997), the story and characters are engaging enough to hold our attention up to its devastating finale, and the main subjects of the movie still feel relevant even at this point.  

The story is unfolded mainly via the viewpoint of Bruno (Asa Butterfield), a young boy living in Berlin, Germany in the middle of the World War II. For him, everything looks fine and well as he freely hangs around with his school friends, but, of course, we cannot help but notice a number of disturbing things besides many soldiers and Nazi flags shown here and there in the city.

 And his affluent family turns out to be closely associated with the Nazi German government. Bruno’s father Ralf (David Thewlis) is a high-ranking SS officer, and his family is now about to leave Berlin because Bruno’s father happens to be assigned to some important position outside Berlin. Needless to say, both Bruno and his older sister Gretel (Amber Beattie) are not so pleased about this change, but their mother Elsa (Vera Farmiga) assures them that they will have a good time over there.

Needless to say, we gradually sense a number of disconcerting signs as Bruno and his family arrive at their new place to live. Their new house looks fairly big and nice while being located in the middle of some rural region, but then Bruno notices something odd. There seems to be a “farm” not so far from their new house, and he is baffled as wondering why the people in this “farm” are wearing “striped pyjamas”. As he later meets one of those “farm” people later, he becomes all the more curious, but both of his parents still do not tell much about the “farm”.

 Unlike him, we all know too well from the beginning that the “farm” is one of many concentration camps under the Nazi Germany government and Bruno’s father is its new commandant, but the movie firmly sticks to his innocent viewpoint. As he becomes more bored in the house, he eventually decides to explore the backyard of the house and the area beyond it even though his parents do not allow that all, and he finally beholds the concentration camp for himself, though he cannot enter there due to the electric wire fence surrounding it.

Still not perceiving the grim human atrocity right in front of him at all. Bruno soon encounters a young Jewish boy around his age. His name is Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), and he also wears “striped pyjamas” just like all others in the concentration camp. Just because he has no other boy to hang around with him, Bruno attempts to befriend Shmuel, and that is the beginning of their unlikely friendship.

Needless to say, as getting to know Shmuel bit by bit, Bruno becomes gradually conflicted along the story. While his older sister willingly absorbs and follows whatever is told to them about Jewish people, he begins to have questions and doubts in contrast, but that sadly does not prevent him from committing an act of cowardice later in the story. Nevertheless, he becomes more conscious of what his parents are hiding from him especially after his parents clash over that issue, and this consequently leads him to making a choice which will affect not only him but also his family a lot.

The movie, which is based on the novel of the same name by John Boyne, does not flinch from the horror of the Holocaust during its final act. Although the finale is blatantly melodramatic with more gravitas from the score by James Horner, we care about what inevitably happens at the end of the story, and we also come to reflect more on Bruno’s choice. Yes, he is quite naïve even at that point, but he does what he believes is the right thing to do, and that certainly makes a poignant contrast to most of the adult characters around him, who simply follow or conform to their evil government without much question or resistance at all.   

The two young performers at the center of the movie are effective in their earnest performances. Asa Butterfield, who would become more prominent as the young hero of Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” (2011) and then went further as recently shown from the acclaimed Netflix series “Sex Education”, is convincing as his character slowly opens his eyes to the evil around his limited environment, and he and Jack Scanlon are effortless in their tentative interactions on the screen. In case of several other main cast members in the film, David Thewlis and Verga Farmiga ably handle their respective archetype characters without never toning down their characters’ association with the evil of the Holocaust, and Amber Beattie, Rupert Friend, David Hayman, Sheila Hancock, and Richard Johnson are also well-cast in their small supporting parts. 

On the whole, “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” does not reach the level of Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” (1993) or Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” (2023), but it is still worthwhile to watch thanks to the sensitive direction of Herman, who previously directed “Brassed Off” (1996). It is not great, but, considering what is happening in our world right now, this modest Holocaust fable will leave you something to muse on after it is over.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Renoir (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): Detached and confused

Posted on April 23, 2026 by kaist455

Chie Hayakawa’s latest film “Renoir” takes some time for letting us grasp what and how it is about. At the beginning, you may often be baffled about where the story and its quirky young heroine are going, but you will gradually grasp the emotional confusion behind her rather detached façade as the story leisurely moves from one episodic moment to another.

The movie, which is set in Tokyo around the late 1980s, mainly revolves around the viewpoint of an 11-year-old girl named Fuki Okita (Yui Suzuki), and the rather disturbing opening scene shows a bit of her odd but imaginative sensitivity. She recently wrote a story to be presented as a class homework of hers, and the story is about the sudden death of a young girl around age and its aftermath. While her teacher appreciates her good writing, he is a little concerned because she has frequently written such disturbing stories like that, and her mother is not so amused to say the least.

However, there is a good reason behind those dark stories of Fuki. Her father, who is your average company man, is dying due to his terminal illness, and there eventually comes a point where he really needs to spend his short remaining time at a hospital. Now Fuki’s mother has to take care of a lot more stuffs than before, and it seems that her resulting stress affects her job to some degree.

In contrast, Fuki looks rather detached compared to her mother. As her summer vacation begins, she has more free time for herself, and we observe her befriending a new girl in her private English academy. Although their first interaction is rather awkward, it does not take much time for them to get close to each other, though Fuki cannot help but notice how strained her new friend’s parents look. Although they are fairly affluent on the whole, there is some emotional distance between her new friend’s parents, and we are not so surprised when Fuki comes upon a little secret behind them later in the story.

In the meantime, things are getting worse Fuki’s father day by day. While he enjoys being with his daughter, he becomes more aware of his impending death, and he certainly wants to find any possible chance for survival. When his wife happens to come upon someone willing to provide them some special medicine which may cure him, he does not hesitate at all, but Fuki soon comes to notice something going on between her mother and that figure in question. Getting more frustrated with her ongoing struggle to maintain the status quo of her family, Fuki’s mother comes to lean more on that figure, but, of course, this eventually turns out to be a very unwise choice.

And we come to sense more of Fuki’s emotional confusion along the story. While both of her parents are struggling with each own issues, she becomes more isolated in her own little world, and the movie sometimes blurs the line between reality and her imagination. For example, her accidental encounter with a young female neighbor is overlapped a bit with her experience as well as that story written by her, and there are also several other scenes where we will have reasonable doubt on her viewpoint.

However, there are also a number of sobering moments which make us more concerned about her. When Fuki’s father goes to a racetrack outside the city along with her just for having what may be the last fun time for them, she is reminded again of how sick and helpless her father really is. After she comes across an advertisement for blind phone chatting, she decides to leave a little message for connecting with anyone out there, and that leads to a very unnerving scene between her and some questionable dude. As this guy approaches closer to her, we surely become all the more uncomfortable, and the movie subtly dials up the tension beneath the surface, while our young heroine seems rather oblivious to what may happen sooner or later.

During its last act, the movie blurs the line between reality and imagination a bit more, and we are not so sure about what actually occurs around the eventual death of Yuki’s father. Nevertheless, we also sense some growth and acceptance from her changed appearance, especially after she happens to have a moment of unexpected emotional support around the end of the story. While she remains oddly imaginative as before, things will probably get better for her as she continues to grow up more, and the last scene between her and her mother is quietly touching even though they do not say much to each other.

Young performer Fuki Okita’s unadorned performance diligently carries the film, and she is also supported well by several other solid supporting performers Lily Franky and Hikari Ishida have each own moments around Okita as Yuki’s parents, and Yuumi Kawai, Ayumu Nakajima, and Ryota Bando are also effective in their small but crucial supporting parts.

In conclusion, “Renoir”, whose title is incidentally associated with a replica of one of the notable works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir which appears later in the film, can be rather frustrating due to its occasionally opaque storytelling and slow narrative pacing, but it is worthwhile to watch for its competent handling of mood, story, and characters. It will require some patience for you just like Hayakawa’s previous film “Plan 75” (2022), but it is a bit more engaging with more care and sensitivity, so I recommend you to give it a chance someday.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Little Prayer (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A little family issue of his and his family

Posted on April 21, 2026 by kaist455

“A Little Prayer” is a simple but intimate drama film which comes to show more much depth and complexity than expected. Via a series of little but revealing human moments among them, we get to know more and more about the main characters in the movie, and their aching humanity will leave a lasting impression on you after it is over.

Set in some suburban neighborhood of North Carolina, the story mainly revolves around Bill (David Strathairn) and his family. He and his son David (Will Pullen) have run a local factory together, and David is living with his wife Tammy (Jane Levy) right next to the house where Bill lives with his wife Venida (Celia Weston). In the opening scene, we see Tammy beginning another day with her parents-in-law not after waking up in her and David’s house, and we observe how close she is to Bill and Venida, who have regarded her as another child in their family.

However, it gradually turns out that there is a serious issue involved with David. Besides showing the signs of being a high-functioning alcoholic, he has also been having an affair with one of the employees of the factory. While Tammy does not know anything about that yet, Bill surely knows, and he becomes all the more conflicted and frustrated when his son does not seem so willing to do the right thing right now as advised by him at one point early in the story.

Rather than having its main characters merely driven by this tricky domestic circumstance, the movie takes more time for letting us get to know them bit by bit. There is a small scene showing Venida working as a guide for the visitors of a nearby historical site, and then we later see Bill attending the funeral of an old military comrade of his. Although it is just briefly mentioned that David served in the US Army several years ago just like his father did a long time ago, we gather that he has struggled with some PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) problem, and, as reflected by a brief but revealing conversation between him and one of his surviving military comrades, Bill understands that to some degree.

Meanwhile, the mood is perked up a bit by the sudden appearance of Bill’s daughter Patti (Anna Camp) and her little daughter. She is going through another difficult period of her rather messy life, and Bill and Venida are certainly worried about their daughter as before, but they are also glad to see their dear granddaughter again. Although she is often a bit too silent and distant, Hedley (Billie Roy) is gradually brightened up mainly thanks to Bill and Tammy, and that leads to several small but humorous moments for us.

Nevertheless, David’s extramarital affair remains as an issue to bother Bill a lot. When David’s married life seems more troubled than before, he seriously considers being more active about this issue, but then he is only reminded again of how life can usually be out of his control regardless of whether he likes it or not. Yes, there eventually comes a point where he comes to see David’s lover for a serious conversation, but their conversation turns out to be much more than expected to his little surprise.

The screenplay by director/writer/co-producer Angus MacLachlan, who previously wrote the screenplay for Phil Morrison’s Oscar-nominated film “Junebug” (2005), handles its main characters with a lot of care, insight, and sensitivity. During one key scene between Bill and his wife, a lot of things are exchanged between them on and beneath the surface, and that is more than enough for us to sense how much they have known and understood each other for years. While she looks shallow at first, Patti comes to show more human depth along the story, and the same thing can be said about David’s lover, who really knows what she wants for her life right now and has already decided what she is going to do about that.

And the movie depends a lot on another very good performance from David Strathairn, who has been one of the most dependable character actors working in Hollywood for more than 40 years (Raise your hand if you still fondly remember his scene-stealing supporting performance in Phil Alden Robinson’s “Sneakers” (1992)!). Even during those wordless moments in the movie, he subtly conveys to us all those feelings and thoughts churning behind his character’s reserved appearance, and his excellent performance steadily holds the film to the end as its humble emotional anchor.

Several other main cast members in the film are equally solid as the other crucial parts of the story. Celia Weston, another dependable veteran performer who incidentally played a supporting character in “Junebug”, effortlessly interacts with Strathairn, and we instantly accept their characters’ enduring relationship right from the beginning. Will Pullen, Anna Camp, Ashley Shelton, Billie Roy, and Dascha Polanco are also effective in their respective parts, and Jane Levy has a very moving moment with Strathairn when their characters open themselves a bit more to each other around the end of the story. Although they care a lot about each other, Bill and Tammy have to accept how things will soon change for both of them, and the bittersweet quality of this scene may take you back to that touching moment between the old hero of Yasujirō Ozu’s “Tokyo Story” (1953) and his daughter-in-law.

Overall, “A Little Prayer” is a small but precious little gem which has been unfortunately overlooked since it was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival early in 2023. It was shown at the 2025 Ebertfest in last April, and then it was released in US theaters several months later, but it still did not get much attention nonetheless. In short, this is a sublime human drama of goodwill and decency, and, considering how things have getting worse and worse around us these days, we surely need something like this more than before.

Posted in Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Dust Bunny (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): So this little girl hires a hit man…

Posted on April 20, 2026 by kaist455

“Dust Bunny” is a whimsical fantasy adventure film about a young little girl who happens to hire a professional killer for taking care of a monster under her bad. Now this sounds pretty preposterous to you to say the least, the movie handles the story and characters with enough gravitas even while wielding deliberately its offbeat style across the screen, and we come to care about its two different main characters as occasionally amused by their absurd relationship.

At the beginning, the movie quickly establishes its young heroine’s serious trouble. Aurora (Sophie Sloan) has been quite terrified by some mysterious monster under her bed, but her parents, who later turn out to be her latest foster parents, do not believe her at all even though they care a lot about her. Unfortunately, this monster turns out to be not a pigment of her imagination at all, and her parents are soon killed and then eaten by it to Aurora’s horror. 

Now left alone by herself in their apartment, Aurora certainly becomes all the more terrified than before, so she decides to seek some help from the aforementioned professional killer, who happens to be one of the neighbors residing on the same floor. After watching this dude killing a “dragon” in a nearby Chinatown neighborhood, Aurora is convinced that he is the one who can take care of her big problem, so she sends him a letter with some money (How she gets that money is one of the most amusing moments in the film, by the way).

When he receives the request from Aurora, the killer, played Mads Mikkelsen, is not particularly amused. While he seems touched by Aurora’s helpless status, he does not believe much of what she tells him, and what follows next is a series of funny moments as he tries to handle his situation with her as tactfully as possible. He comes to stay with Aurora in her apartment, and he willingly goes along with her several cautions involved with that monster, though he does not still believe her monster at all.

Meanwhile, things become a bit more complicated for this mismatched duo. When the killer later notifies that Aurora witnessed what he did in that Chinatown neighborhood, his no-nonsense handler, played by Sigourney Weaver, is not so pleased about that because their business does not allow any witness at all. In addition, the killer and Aurora are visited by a female social service worker, who instantly senses something strange is going on in Aurora’s apartment even though she does not say anything too directly.

As its story becomes more absurd, the movie cheerfully throws a lot of offbeat style upon the screen. Because of the numerous stylized aspects in the film, we come to accept its decidedly unrealistic background, and Aurora’s monster feels all the more real even though it does not reveal itself a lot during the first half of the movie. At the beginning, we only see how it grows from a little dust ball as reflected by the very title of the film, and then it becomes quite terrifying as swiftly moving beneath the floor of Aurora’s apartment.

The screenplay by Bryan Fuller, who incidentally made a feature film debut here after making several acclaimed American TV series including “Hannibal”, dexterously goes back and forth between humor and drama as its two main characters pull and push each other along the story. Yes, it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that our gruff killer hero comes to care a lot more about Aurora than expected, but it is still engaging to observe how they gradually bond with each other along the story, and we naturally come to root for both of them when they have to face not only the monster but also some other trouble involved with the killer.

Needless to say, the movie depends much on the chemistry between its two lead performers. Mikkelson, who can be both intense and humorous as shown from his darkly amusing performance as Dr. Hannibal Lector in “Hannibal”, dutifully holds the ground for his younger co-star, but he also reminds us again that he is quite good at comedy as shown from “Another Round” (2020) and “Riders of Justice” (2020). While fairly convincing in several action scenes of the film, he also adds a sense of deadpan humor to them without any misstep, and his unflappable appearance in the film often functions as its main source of humor.

On the opposite, young performer Sophie Sloane holds her own place well with her natural charm and pluck. Thanks to her good performance, we are engaged in her growing fear toward that monster, and we are not so disappointed at all when it is fully shown on the screen at last. It may look a bit ridiculous, but it looks quite scary with its very, very, very sharp teeth, and the movie has some nasty fun with its brutal nature.

In case of several notable cast members placed around the fringe of the story, they also have each own small moment to shine. Weaver clearly enjoys every minute of her brief but juicy appearance in the film, and she and Mikkelsen did a good job of conveying to us an old history between their characters. Sheila Atim and David Dastmalchian are also effective in their respective supporting parts, and Atim is subtly funny when her social service worker character confronts Mikkelsen’s character at one point in the story. 

Overall, “Dust Bunny” is a competent genre flick packed with enough style, wit, and personality, and Fuller made a modest but solid start for his nascent filmmaking career. Considering how skillfully he showed his own touches in “Hannibal” and his several other TV series, he is a promising filmmaker in my trivial opinion, and it will be interesting to see what he will direct next.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Silent Friend (2025) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Across the time of a gingko tree

Posted on April 19, 2026 by kaist455

W.G. Sebald once said: “Men and animals regard each other across a gulf of mutual incomprehension.” As watching Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi’s latest film “Silent Friend”, I wondered whether that can be also applied to our equally longtime relationship with plants. As juggling three different human stories across the time of one big old gingko tree, the movie calmly and deftly toys with its rather fantastic but undeniably intriguing story premise, and the result is one of the most singular cinematic experiences during last several years.

The main part of the story revolves around the accidental research of Dr. Tony Wong (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), a Chinese neurology researcher who moves to the old university town of Marburg, Germany for continuing his ongoing scientific project in early 2020. He has been particularly interested in how child brain shows a very different activity pattern compared to adult brain, and we see him enthusiastically lecturing on his research in front of many students.

However, the campus is soon shut down due to the following COVID-19 Pandemic, and Dr. Wong finds himself isolated alone inside the campus. Because his laboratory is also shut down, he does not have any particular thing to do right now, and his only companion in the campus is a gruff maintenance man who is not so friendly to him to say the least.

And then something begins to intrigue Dr. Wong’s inquisitive mind. He comes to notice more of a big old gingko tree in the campus, and, after watching an interesting YouTube lecture by some prominent French plant biology scientist, he becomes quite curious about whether plants can think or feel just like animals including humans.

While Dr. Wong embarks on his little impromptu scientific project bit by bit, the movie also presents the two additional stories set in the same campus but in different time periods, respectively. In case of the story set in 1908, we meet a promising young female college student named Grete (Luna Wedler), and this story observes her rather difficult quest for recognition and independence. In case of the other story set in 1972, we meet a plain male college student named Hannes (Enzo Brumm), and this story depicts how he becomes interested in his close female friend’s little scientific project involved with a pot of geranium.

At first, Grete’s story instantly draws our attention as showing how often she must cope with misogyny and sexism. While she simply wants to study more on plant biology, several haughty male professors do not hide their condescending attitude at all during their interview with her, and one of them deliberately insults her more than once. Nevertheless, she stands her ground with her intelligence and determination to the end, and that is how she is eventually allowed to study along with many male students in the campus.

While she still has to deal with more obstacles just for being a young woman, Grete keeps trying anyway. When she subsequently does a part-time job at a local photography shop, she comes to learn much about all those photography skills thanks to her generous employer, and this actually helps her a lot when she decides to take a bold forward step for her academic career later.

Hannes’ story feels rather flat and redundant at times, but things get more interesting when he finds himself focusing more on that geranium during the longtime absence of that female friend of his. Once he comes to sense the intriguing possibility of communication from it, he goes all the way for detecting more of that, and what follows next is as amusing and intriguing as that communication development sequence in “Hail Project Mary” (2026).

All these three narratives in the film are linked with that big old gingko tree in one way or another, and it is compelling to observe how it gradually takes the center of the story. At first, it draws our attention a bit mainly for its considerably old age (As often reflected by a small plaque attached on it in the film, it has really been there in the campus since 1832, by the way), but then it slowly becomes another main character in the story as Dr. Wong continues to do more test on it. I guess a lot of his research in the film is mostly fictional, but it still looks quite fascinating nonetheless, and I will not deny that I was mesmerized by a number of wondrous moments involved with the gingko tree in the film.

Even when shuffling a lot among its multiple narratives, the movie does not lose any of its narrative focus and momentum. I particularly appreciate how Enyedi and her crew members including cinematographer Gergely Pálos and editor Károly Szalai ably balance their movie among its three different time points. The three main stories of the film are imbued with each own distinctive visual mood and texture, and they are seamlessly intercut with each other without any awkwardness. In case of the main cast members, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Léa Seydoux certainly draw our attention right from the start, but their humble low-key performances often step aside for several other main performers including Enzo Brumm, Sylvester Groth, and Luna Wedler, who deservedly won the Marcello Mastroianni Award when the movie was shown at the Venice International Film Festival in last year (The movie also won several other awards including the FIPRESCI Prize, by the way)

In conclusion, “Silent Friend” impresses me a lot for its masterful handling of moods and ideas, and it is surely another interesting work from Enyedi, who drew my attention for the first time with her Oscar-nominated movie “Body and Soul” (2017). As your average “slow” film, it will require some patience from you from the very beginning, but its many rewarding moments will linger on your mind for a long time, and you may also come to reflect a bit more on those countless plants around us.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) ☆☆☆(3/4): This plucky delivery girl 

Posted on April 18, 2026 by kaist455

Hayao Miyazaki’s 1989 animation film “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, which is being shown at selected theaters in South Korea, flies on a substantial amount of charm and beauty to be savored. Although it is relatively less engaging compared to Miyazaki’s more compelling films such as “My Neighbor Totoro” (1988), it is still a fairly entertaining work decorated with enjoyable moments, and we gladly go along with its simple but bright story and characters. 

 At the beginning, the story, which is based on the children’s fantasy novel of the same name by Eiko Kadono, quickly establishes its plucky adolescent heroine and her family background. Her name is Kiki (voiced by Minami Takayama), and she is about to leave her family home due to her magical lineage. Just like her mother, she is a witch, and now there comes the time when she must go through her training period at somewhere else outside her hometown. 

 After not only her parents but also many of their neighbors give her a hearty sendoff, Kiki instantly flies away on a broomstick given by her mother, though she is not so certain about where she can begin her training period. At least, she is accompanied by her little black cat, which can be rather sarcastic during its conversation with her.

In the end, Kiki comes upon a port city on some seaside area, and it does not take much time for her to decide that this city is the one where she is going to stay. Although she unintentionally causes some trouble during her first several hours in the city, she fortunately comes across a number of nice people including a generous lady who incidentally runs a local bakery with her taciturn husband. Because this lady happens to need someone to assist her, she gladly hires Kiki, and she even rents Kiki a little staying place in her residence.

After trying to be as useful as possible during next several days, Kiki finally comes upon a job quite suitable for her magical ability. Thanks to her flying ability, she begins to work as sort of an express delivery girl around the city, and she is pleased to earn her living for herself as diligently giving helpful service to several clients of hers including a wealthy old lady.  

Leisurely rolling the story and characters from one narrative point to another, the film sometimes becomes quite humorous. I was tickled again by an episode where Kiki’s cat must disguise itself as a doll for a while, and this hilarious situation culminates to a quietly amusing moment of payoff thanks to a certain old dog which turns out to be more considerate and intelligent than expected. In addition, there is also a subplot involved with a local boy clearly smitten with Kiki, and their developing relationship along the story is balanced well between humor and sincerity.

In addition, just like any other work from Miyazaki, the film is simply lovely in terms of mood and detail. Its cell animation style is often quite vivid and striking with big and small touches to be admired and appreciated, and the port city in the film looks as crisp and gorgeous as those beautiful Mediterranean cities in South Europe. Although the period background of the story is not so specific, it is fun to watch how Miyazaki and his animators mix several different period elements into the main background of their film, and you will not be surprised at all when a huge zeppelin enters the picture later in the story.

Needless to say, there are a number of flight sequences in the film as required, and they remind us again that Miyazaki is absolutely peerless in case of the depiction of the joy and excitement of flying across the sky. Yes, it sometimes looks quite perilous for our young heroine whenever she rides on her broomstick without any particular safety measure, but we can put aside this realistic concern for a while as being entertained by those epic moments of flying across the screen. Fortunately, I happened to watch the film at the big IMAX screening room in a local movie theater of my hometown, and this experience easily surpasses when I watched the film for the time in the early 2010s.

Nevertheless, I also observed some weak aspects of the film during my viewing. Many of the main characters in the story besides Kiki and her cat remain to be more or less broad archetype, and there is not much conflict in the story except what unexpectedly happens to Kiki during its final act. This is not much of a problem in “My Neighbor Totoro” because it is so effortlessly driven by much more charm and spirit in comparison, but “Kiki’s Delivery Service” unfortunately struggles to stay afloat at times because it feels rather flat and plain in terms of story and characters.       

 Maybe this is because Miyazaki initially participated in the production of the film as a producer before eventually taking over the project later, but the result is still a quintessential Miyazaki animation film. While you can sometimes spot the foreshadowings of his very next work “Porco Rosso” (1992), you can also notice how much it influences recent Pixar film “Luca” (2021), which clearly emulates several works of Miyazaki here and there. 

In conclusion, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” does not reach the level of “My Neighbor Totoro” or “Spirited Away” (2002), but I must point out that even those middle-level Ghibli animation films have much more style and personality compared to many passable products such as, say, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (2023) and its recent sequel. It is not exactly great, but it is still wonderful to watch it from a big movie screen anyway.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dear Juhee (2025) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Uneven but sincere anyway

Posted on April 18, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean independent documentary film “Dear Juhee” sincerely attempts to juggle a number of different subjects together, and I appreciate that to some degree. Although its result is a bit too uneven and unfocused at times, it has several genuinely moving moments to remember, and I was touched by them even though being distracted by its flawed aspects from time to time.

The documentary mainly revolves around the personal journey of Jang Ju-hee, who directed it along with Kim Sung-hwan and Bu Seong-pil. When she was a high school girl in the early 2010s, Jang aspired to become a filmmaker someday, but then there came a big setback to her life. She happened to have a serious case of leukemia, and then she also struggled a lot with the domestic violence involved with her abusive father.

While she was having a medical treatment on April 16th, 2014, a shocking incident shook up the whole nation, and she vividly remembers watching the news reports in her hospital room. On that day, the ferry MV Sewol sank while en route from Incheon towards Jeju City in South Korea, and many of the high school students who happened to be there for their field trip to Jeju Island at that time died, mainly due to the infuriatingly late response from the authorities to this devastating accident. 

As young documentary filmmakers, Jang and Bu were willing to approach closer to this incident and the families of those dead high school students. We see Jang and Bu looking around here and there in the sunken ship which was eventually salvaged a few years later. We also observe them following the efforts of the families of the dead high school students, who are still quite frustrated about not being able to receive any public apology from the South Korean government as well as those authorities responsible for the catastrophically slow response to the incident.

Bu understands well the personal pain of these people because of the tragic history of his family in Jeju Island. His grandfather and uncle were killed during the Jeju Uprising in 1948, and his father is still not so willing to talk more about the circumstance surrounding their death. Even at this point, there are numerous personal tragedies buried here and there in Jeju Island, and the South Korean society belatedly became more aware of the enormous human tragedies behind the Jeju Uprising as the South Korean government issued a public apology in 2003.

The documentary also focuses on a disabled man named Sun Cheol-gyu. He was born with a serious case of cerebral palsy, but we soon observe his fierce struggle for his independence and civil rights. While he still needs some help from others around him, Sun can freely move for himself by his electric wheelchair, and he is certainly determined to live his life as fully as possible.

Nevertheless, there are always challenges for him in one way or another. At one point, Sun becomes quite willing to do a bungee jump for himself, but, not so surprisingly, he is only told later that there is not any possible option for him. He cannot help but express his anger and frustration in front of others including Jang and Bu, and that is followed by a painful personal moment between them and Sun.

The documentary later tries to couple Sun’s story with the story of the story of Jeon In-sook, whose adolescent son was one of those many victims of the sinking of MV Sewol. Sun sincerely showed some solidarity to her, and he even suggested that she and her husband should take a trip to Jeju Island along with him for remembering not only her son but also all other victims of the incident. Although it was naturally quite difficult for Sun to travel to Jeju Island due to his disability, he eventually joined Jeon and her husband, and we see them visiting the memorial site for the victims of the Jeju Uprising.

As closely observing her human subjects more and more, Jang came to find her own strength to deal with her personal issues. Besides trying more for processing her old memories of domestic abuse, she also became a passionate activist for female rights and feminist, and she also involved in a number of different social/political activities including a big public demonstration against President Yoon Seok-yeol and his vile attempt to destroy democracy in late 2024. 

All these and many other things are presented with enough respect and sensitivity by Jang and her two co-directors, but the documentary often loses its direction and focus as trying to show and tell a lot within its rather short running time (104 minutes). Its several human subjects are certainly interesting to observe from the beginning, but the documentary somehow fails to balance itself well as moving back and forth among them, and we never get to know any of them enough.

On the whole, “Dear Junee” is hampered by its occasionally deficient narrative, but its strong individual moments will probably linger on your mind for a while after it is over. It is a shame that these good moments do not gel together well for engaging me more during my viewing, but, considering the considerable competence shown from their efforts, I sincerely hope that its directors will impress me more in the future.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment