Tag Archives: Christianity

Them That Follow (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Trapped in her isolated religious community

Posted on December 11, 2019 by

As a small but intense drama set in an isolated religious community, “Them That Follows” delivers several strong moments to remember. Although it is relentlessly gloomy and moody from the beginning to the end, the movie manages to avoid becoming … Continue reading →

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Jesus (2018) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A simple but haunting coming-of-age drama

Posted on August 10, 2019 by

Japanese film “Jesus” is a simple but haunting coming-of-age drama to be admired for not only its sensitive coming-of-age tale but also its thoughtful handling of its religious subjects. While it is often a little playful as observing how its … Continue reading →

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Svaha: The Sixth Finger (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): A South Korean Occult Story

Posted on February 21, 2019 by

South Korean film “Svaha: The Sixth Finger” is filled with gloomy spookiness from the very beginning, and it did not disappoint me at all. While I am still not sure whether I understood all of its numerous religious details, this … Continue reading →

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Boy Erased (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): A restrained drama on gay conversion therapy program

Posted on January 20, 2019 by

“Boy Erased” intends to give us a close look into the horror of gay conversion therapy program, and it mostly succeeds as sticking to its restrained but sobering storytelling approach. Although I think it could be angrier and edgier on … Continue reading →

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First Reformed (2017) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The Reverend in a Room

Posted on September 3, 2018 by

Paul Schrader’s new film “First Reformed” is a calm but intense experience you will not forget easily. Intensely driven by its lonely hero’s moral and spiritual conflict, it gives us a number of sobering moments to impress you with their … Continue reading →

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Thelma (2017) ☆☆☆(3/4): Her power awakens

Posted on August 8, 2018 by

“Thelma”, which was chosen as Norway’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in last year, is a calm but unsettling experience. Firmly sticking to its young heroine’s increasingly agitated state of mind, the movie constantly unnerves us throughout … Continue reading →

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Romans 8:37 (2017) ☆☆☆(3/4): Inside a Christian community

Posted on December 3, 2017 by

South Korean film “Romans 8:37” is something we do not encounter everyday: a thought-provoking Christian film which does not give us any easy answer in its gloomy tale of faith and disillusionment. As an agnostic atheist who grew up in … Continue reading →

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A Stray Goat (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): A melancholic wintry tale of two troubled teenagers

Posted on March 16, 2017 by

I once wondered whether sad, cold independent movies about desperate people were becoming a genre of their own. Usually filled with somber wintry ambience, such movies tend to serve us with the bleak sense of harsh reality via their gloomy … Continue reading →

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Silence (2016) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): That deepening silence on human suffering

Posted on February 13, 2017 by

At the beginning of Martin Scorsese’s “Silence”, we hear the sound of insects on the soundtrack. Recurring throughout the film, that plain sound of nature becomes more chilling as accentuating the deepening silence on human suffering in the film, and … Continue reading →

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The Witch (2015) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): An isolated terror in the wood

Posted on July 24, 2016 by

Shrouded in the gnawing sense of dread and terror, “The Witch” will give you a creepy experience as calmly observing how its characters are slowly crumbled under an unknown influence out there. When it is over, you may wonder about … Continue reading →

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