Tag Archives: Coming-of-age drama

Leave No Trace (2018) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Father and daughter in the wood

Posted on October 8, 2018 by

Understated but undeniably powerful, “Leave No Trace” drew my attention right from its very first moment and then engaged me more through its intimate depiction of the strong relationship between its two main characters. As closely living with each other … Continue reading →

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Eighth Grade (2018) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Before high school

Posted on October 8, 2018 by

I like movies making me emphasize with people different from me, and “Eighth Grade” is one of such good films. Although its teenage heroine’s tumultuous emotional journey feels rather alien to me because my adolescent years were less eventful in … Continue reading →

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Love, Simon (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): Conventional but Notable

Posted on September 2, 2018 by

“Love, Simon” reminds me again of how things have been changed a lot for queer films these days. After the considerable success of “Brokeback Mountain” (2005), LGBTQ characters have become more common in American films during recent years, and now … Continue reading →

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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): The trouble with her letters

Posted on August 19, 2018 by

Netflix film “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is a conventional coming-of-age comedy drama, but it distinguishes itself with several good things to notice. First, it is rather refreshing to see a major American teenager film featuring an Asian … 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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Morris from America (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): African American father and son in Germany

Posted on July 1, 2018 by

“Morris from America”, which received the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award when it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2016, is plainer than I expected. As phlegmatically observing the bumpy struggle of its young hero in his new … Continue reading →

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Beach Rats (2017) ☆☆☆(3/4): Bright summer days of a sexually confused lad

Posted on June 10, 2018 by

Calmly and closely observing bright summer days of its sexually confused hero, “Becah Rats” gives us a palpable sense of uncertainties surrounding him. While not so sure about his sexuality, he casually lets himself drifted around drug and sex, and … Continue reading →

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