The Threesome

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Connor Blake (Jonah Hauer-King) has had a crush on Olivia Capitano (Zoey Deutch) for ages. Aside from one night where they hooked up, she’s only ever seen him as a friend. When Jenny Brooks (Ruby Cruz) is stood up at the bar where Olivia works, the three strike up a conversation. One thing leads to another and the three engage in a night of passion. It all comes crashing down around Connor when he discovers that both girls are pregnant.

My initial reasoning for wanting to check the film out was its cast. I don’t understand why Deutch isn’t on my screen more because I have always liked her as an actress. Hauer-King has been popping up more and more lately and I can’t say that I’m mad about it. I was unfamiliar with Cruz, but she impressed me. I was just expecting a cute romcom of sorts and that wasn’t exactly what I ended up getting.

The relationship between these characters was the grounding force of the film. Their chemistry was palpable and I thought that the love triangle was fell thought out. I don’t blame those for thinking that the story would warrant more explicit material, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The threesome was just the launching pad of what was otherwise going to develop into something else.

Although this was pegged as a comedy, I don’t think that that is a very fair description. Sure there were some moments, particularly in the first act or two that had me giggling. As time went on, however, the tone shifted to something more dramatic. At the core, these people were thrown into an impossible dilemma that had me wondering how they were all going to get out of it. Understandably the characters changed as time went on, but I did not like the way in which Deutch’s character was taken; she was quite unlikable by the end. I also felt like the run time could have been cut short by about twenty minutes because it did drag a bit.

I had had high hopes from The Threesome, especially after hearing many positive things about it. While it did uniquely portray such a situation, I felt like it didn’t really know what it wanted to be at the end of the day. I also felt no satisfaction with the ending and as a result did not think it was very realistic.

Rating: ♥️♥️.5

The Woman in Cabin 10

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Based on the 2016 novel by Ruth Ware, The Woman in Cabin 10 follows Laura ‘Lo’ Blacklock (Keira Knightley), a journalist who has been invited on a luxury cruise for an assignment. When she sees a woman thrown overboard late one evening, she is told that no such thing happened. Despite nobody believing Lo’s claims, she does what she can to find out the truth.

Although I’ve not read the book, I was familiar with the story. I am also always up for a good whodunnit and this one seemed to tick all the boxes. While it was far from groundbreaking, I had a ton of fun with it and thought that it provided some satisfying entertainment.

Locked room mysteries are one of my favorite tropes because everything is heightened. The players cannot leave the premises and they are forced to coexist in close quarters. Having the film take place on a yacht was a smart choice because not only does it serve as a stunning backdrop, most is spent in the middle of a body of water with no sign of land for miles. This makes it feel even more isolating and therefore like something bad is about to happen.

I’ve been a fan of Knightley’s ever since I was a teenager. I’m so glad that she’s been coming back to the silver screen as of late. She carried the film on her back and was absolutely perfect as our protagonist. As Lo, she was fearless and never gave up despite everybody around her telling her she was crazy. With any thriller comes a slew of characters. Guy Pearce, David Ajala, Art Malik, Hannah Waddingham, Kaya Scodelario, Lisa Loven Kongsli and David Morrissey all portrayed obnoxiously rich people who were along for the ride. Some were featured more than others and that was one of the downsides. I wish each had their own chance to shine. I still have questions about some of these people!

Maybe I’m just not good at solving puzzles, but I didn’t see the twist coming. For that reason alone, I have to say that I had a great time watching the events unfold. There were many red herrings and just when I thought I knew what was happening, I realized how very wrong I was. I do wish the final act had been fleshed out a little bit more. It seemed rather rushed.

Overall, The Woman in Cabin 10 was a decent enough mystery that had me engaged from the get go. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a great way to spend a quiet Saturday night in. I doubt I’ll remember much about it in a week’s time and that’s okay. It more than served its purpose when I needed it to.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

I Swear

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John Davidson (Scott Ellis Watson and Robert Aramayo) was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome when he was just thirteen years old. Back in the eighties, not many people knew about this condition and as a result, John was alienated from his family and friends for being different. As he grew older and learned more about himself, he was able to educate those around him.

I had a feeling that this film would tug at my heartstrings and I was not wrong. Everything about it from the casting, to the story, to the message was perfect. Every once in a while a film comes around that could change somebody’s life. I truly think that this is that film.

Both Ellis Watson and Aramayo were phenomenal as John Davidson. From seeing how it all started right up to present day was an emotional rollercoaster. Ellis Watson was nothing short of heartbreaking as a young boy unsure of what was happening in his body and feeling like a complete outcast at school. Aramayo only further showed how Tourette’s affected his adult life. He struggled to find a job and a romantic partner amongst many other standard human things.

The supporting cast were just as brilliant. Maxine Peake starred as Dottie Achenbach, the mother of one of John’s friends who ends up taking John in. She acts as his main support system. Their friendship was beautiful. For the first time in his life, John had somebody who believed in him. Peter Mullen was Tommy Trotter, a friend of the Achenbach family and the man who gives John his first job at the community centre. He gave John a chance and also served as a mentor to him. Lastly, there was Shirley Henderson who played Helen Davidson, John’s mother. She had the tough task of a mother who was scared of what her son was going through and as a result did not give him that acceptance that he desperately needed.

While many moments had me laughing out loud, there were just has many that utterly destroyed me. John Davidson went through so much and at times I found the film hard to watch. All he ever wanted was to be accepted, not only by those around him, but he needed to accept himself too. Seeing him come into his own was incredibly inspiring and it was so validating for him to have a happy ending.

I Swear is one of the best films I have seen this year. All John Davidson wanted was to be normal. He was ridiculed for his condition and because others around him simply didn’t understand. I have dealt with anxiety and depression my whole life and as a result I never really felt like I fit in either. This movie made me feel seen and I am sure that it will help others too. Having it come out on World Mental Health Day (this should really be every day, but I digress) was well planned too. I am so glad that it exists!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Maintenance Required

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Based on You’ve Got Mail and The Shop Around the Corner, Maintenance Required follows Charlie (Madelaine Petsch), who runs the mechanic shop that she inherited from her father. Together with her best friends Kam (Katy O’Brian) and Izzy (Madison Bailey) the business has become a staple in their neighborhood. When a big time car dealership moves in across the street, Charlie’s business is threatened. What she doesn’t know is that her business rival Beau (Jacob Scipio) just so happens to be the person she’s been confiding to online for months.

I really wanted to like this film. Romcoms are always a good idea and the fact that this one was a remake of one of my all time favorites certainly peaked my interest. Unfortunately it all fell apart for me rather quickly and I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It did have potential, but that potential just never really saw the light of day.

I have been a fan of Pestch’s since her Riverdale days (Cheryl Blossom was my spirit animal). Now that the show is over and done with, I have been looking forward to seeing what she would do next. While she’s already tossed her hat into the horror genre ring, I had not yet seen her do something more contemporary and I think it really suited her. The character of Charlie is one who is one hundred percent dedicated to her job. She’s so dedicated that she lets other parts of her life take a backseat. Although she had to make some difficult choices, she always stayed true to herself. I was not familiar with Scipio prior to this role and while I thought he and Pestch had decent enough chemistry, I did not like his character one bit. I know that was the point, but I wish we had seen more of a backstory to him to garner some sort of empathy.

What I did enjoy about the film was the friendship between Charlie, Kam and Izzy. You could tell that they had each others’ backs no matter what. The way that Kim and Izzy in particular would always show up for Charlie and help find ways to keep the business going was so sweet. Everyone deserves friends like them! Their scenes together really lit up the screen; that was the true love story.

Overall, Maintenance Required was not great. It had some flickers of promise, but it never came to fruition. It had some pretty big shoes to fill and yet it just fell short. There was a magical spark that I couldn’t help feel was missing and that just made watching it through difficult.

Rating: ♥️♥️

The Lost Bus

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Based on true events, The Lost Bus tells the story of the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Bus driver Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) is a down on his luck guy who recently moved home after the death of his father. He answers the evacuation call from an elementary school where twenty two students and a teacher named Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera) are stranded. With the fire raging all around them and getting worse, it is up to Kevin to get them all to safety.

I have always enjoyed a good disaster movie (The Day After Tomorrow is one of my all time favorite films ever). It’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen one so I was quite looking forward to this. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect going into it, but I certainly didn’t think I’d get so wrapped up in this story of hope when it didn’t seem like there was any.

While I am not the biggest fan of McConaughey, I have to say that he delivered a solid performance. When every obstacle was thrown in Kevin’s way telling him to give up, he just kept going. Ferrera couldn’t have been more perfect as the teacher who tried her best to keep the kids, and herself, calm. I’ve seen some people say that they didn’t buy the camaraderie between the two main characters though I do not agree. For two people who were thrown together in such circumstances, they developed a natural respect and trust with one another that I appreciated.

The script was not perfect and I could have done with less of the broken family cliches. It took some time for the film to properly get going, but once it did, I was on the edge of my seat. I honestly felt like I was right there in the bus with them. It was so intense and it looked like real life footage was used as well which just drove him the authenticity of it more. I couldn’t fathom how they were going to get out of this predicament!

Overall The Lost Bus more than exceeded my expectations. The fact that it was based on actual events only heightened my experience while watching. McConaughey and Ferrera did a great job at bringing to life Kevin and Mary who are heroes in their own right. It was also important that the very real threat of wildfires was brought to light and it didn’t shy away from the devastation it causes. One of the biggest surprises for me this year.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️.5

All Of You

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In a near futuristic world, Simon (Brett Goldstein) and Laura (Imogen Poots) have been best friends since university. Simon is clearly in love with Laura though no line has ever been crossed. His hopes are dashed when she decides to take The Test to find out who her soulmate is. She’s matched with Lukas (Steven Cree) and the two get married and have a daughter. But when Laura discovers Simon’s true feelings for her, she is forced to make a choice.

Having penned this with director William Bridges, Brett Goldstein is branching out from his Ted Lasso days. This science fiction romantic drama had all the ingredients for a home run and I had been really looking forward to it. While there were some positive aspects, I have to admit that there was something about it that didn’t quite work for me.

Where the film excelled was certainly in its casting. Goldstein and Poots were perfect as Simon and Laura. They had such an easy yet organic chemistry; I bought the fact that they had known each other for years and this only intensified when they became romantic with one another. I thought it was smart to focus on different moments in their lives instead of following every single moment. It did mean that I had to fill in some of the blanks on the way, but I liked that.

Unfortunately I felt like the pacing was off. It started slowly and although I appreciated setting the groundwork, I didn’t think it needed to take so long. I also wasn’t a fan of the whole cheating thing. I know that the film is about so much more than that, but it was something that kept niggling away at me. Though I understood why Laura struggled, but after seeing it over and over, I just wanted a different outcome.

Overall, I really wanted to love All Of You, but something was missing. The acting was superb and the sweeping romance between the leads did keep me invested for the most part at least. Unfortunately it’s not the first time we’ve plot device and the eventual pay off was not at all satisfying.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Swiped

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Swiped tells the story of Whitney Wolfe Herd (Lily James) who, at the age of twenty two, co-founded Tinder. Being the brains behind the famous app, she never got the credit she deserved. Not being able to trust her partner Sean Rad (Ben Schnetzer) and finding herself in a toxic relationship with Justin Mateen (Jackson White), she eventually had no choice but to leave the company. When she meets Andrey Andreev (Dan Stevens) a few years later, he convinces her to start a new app by the name of Bumble.

As someone who has used both apps in the past, I found the film to be very interesting. I didn’t know about their origins and so there was a lot to learn. I thought it would be your average run of the mill biopic that we have seen so many times before. I didn’t realize that there would be a whole other side to the story that inevitably helped elevate it for me.

I have always liked James as an actor and thought that she did a fabulous job as our protagonist. The fact that the real Whitney Wolfe Herd was not involved in the project due to her Tinder NDA meant that James had to dig deeper to sell her performance. Despite how much she went through in her personal relationship as well as trying to make her voice heard in an otherwise male dominant industry, she still preserved. Schnetzer and White were perfect as the stereotypical tech guys. I don’t want to say White has been typecasted as the resident douche, but with this and his character on Tell Me Lies, he really has it down pat. While Stevens wasn’t as prominent as he could have been, I felt like he served his purpose (and he reminded me so much of his character in Eurovision with the accent!) I also loved Whitney’s best friend, cheerleader and colleague Tisha who was portrayed by Myha’la. She was always there in the background, but she played such an important part in Tinder and Bumble respectively.

What I enjoyed most about the film was how empowering it was to watch as a woman. The sisterhood between Whitney and Tisha, as well as the other women who started off working at Tinder and went on to thrive at Bumble was lovely to see. During the short period of time the I dabbled in Tinder, I didn’t have many positive experiences. Seeing this depicted in the film was refreshing because it did shed light on the downsides of online dating as well as the upsides. Having Bumble come into play where women were able to make the first move made me feel safe when it came to romantic and platonic relationships. I’m glad that this was properly explored and that it also reflected the lives of the women who were behind the app in the first place.

Overall, Swiped is definitely one of the better biopics that I have seen in recent years. With a brilliant lead performance by Lily James and the girl power that oozed throughout, I walked away from it feeling like I wanted to do better and be better for all the other women out there. I definitely recommend checking out.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

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David (Colin Farrell) and Sarah (Margot Robbie) meet at a wedding. When they discover that they both got there with cars from the same rental agency, they embark on a journey suggested to them by the GPS. Coming across doors leading to various moments from their pasts, David and Sarah are forced to face the things they once buried deep while determining their future together.

Directed by Kogonada, this is not your average romance flick. While it is marketed as so, it really focuses on the individual journeys that the two main characters have to go through. You know the saying it’s important to love yourself before you can love somebody else? That couldn’t be more true here. David has always had impossible standards when it comes to finding the one while Sarah is a serial cheater who would prefer to hurt others before they can hurt her. The way in which they must make peace with integral moments of their lives was done in a truly unique way.

The cinematography featured was beautiful. Magical realism at its best, in order to properly enjoy it, you just need to go with it. From discovering a bright red door in the middle of the forest, to one filled with graffiti in a field of wild flowers, the locations just got more and more intriguing. I particularly loved the scene where David and Sarah were sitting on top of a hill, looking down on Earth.

Farrell and Robbie shine. Their chemistry wasn’t as palpable as I would have liked, but individually they did a great job. Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kevin Kline are scene stealers as the Female Cashier and Mechanic who work at the car rental agency while Jodie Turner-Smith lends her voice the GPS system. I wouldn’t have minded more time with the former two as they were really funny.

Overall, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey boasted some ambitious ideas. Unfortunately they didn’t always stick the landing. The film’s authenticity was questioned due to a shaky script and being too self-aware of itself. At least the performances and scenery helped pull it through.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Splitsville

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Carey (Kyle Marvin) and Ashley (Adria Arjona) have been married for only thirteen months when she says she wants a divorce. Beside himself, Carey runs to his best friend Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and his wife Julie (Dakota Johnson) for advice. When Carey learns their secret to a happy marriag, he decides to go for it, leaving a trial of chaos in his wake.

Written by both male leads and directed by Covino, this is an interesting take on open relationships. This is a concept that has recently become more popular and while it may work for some, it is clear that it becomes quite complicated for the four main characters. As a result, they come off as being annoying and unlikeable, but that is what makes the film work so well. The fact that the film is so self aware is why it excels.

This was brilliantly casted. Marvin and Covino are hilarious and completely over the top. They may be best friends, but they do butt heads. One of the funniest scenes I have had the pleasure of witnessing all year took place between the two of them. I have not laughed that hard or that long in ages. Johnson is once again beautiful and magnetic while Arjona is fiery; stubborn and needed more screen time. All four worked so well off of each other.

While the film starts strong, immediately hooking the audience, it does lose pace in the final act. I couldn’t help but wonder how long the same jokes would work until they began to feel overstuffed and repetitive. It also felt like everything was tied up way too neatly for my liking which almost seemed out of place.

Overall, Splitsville is one of the funniest films I have seen in some time. It’s modern and isn’t afraid to push boundaries when needed. Though it is not perfect by any means, there is still a lot to enjoy as long as it’s not taken too seriously!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

Oh, Hi!

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Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) have been dating for four months when they decide to go away together for a weekend. What starts as the perfect romantic getaway complete with stopping at a roadside strawberry stand, swimming in the private pond and a scallop dinner complete with dancing under the stars quickly escalates. When Iris finds out that Isaac isn’t exactly on the same page as she is in their relationship, she does the only thing she can think of – leave him tied up against the bed to try and convince him why they would be good together.

Sophie Brooks wrote and directed this offbeat, quirky romantic comedy. I went into the film not really knowing what to expect; I certainly did not think it was going to be so funny. This helped balance out the slow descent of chaos that Iris eventually finds herself in. What could have very well been something dark and unsettling was actually believable enough that the audience can understand why she makes the choices that she does.

I love that this took place primarily in one location. It made the whole thing feel a lot more intimate and like we were right there with the characters. The farmhouse and its surrounding landscapes were beautiful; it was a great juxtaposition for what ends up happening. There also was a small amount of characters which made it easy to keep track of. Gordon and Lerman did a fab job as Iris and Isaac. Throughout the film you find yourself siding with both of them and seeing where they are both coming from in this predicament. Geraldine Viswanathan and John Reynolds star as Max and Kenny, Iris’s best friend and her boyfriend. Their addition halfway through the film is a welcome one as the comedy ramped up even more.

Oh, Hi! surprised me in the best way possible. I knew very little going into it and I think that was the best way to experience it. While the loose ends are tied up a bit too neatly, the overall message shone through. As a result it was way more relatable than I was expecting it to be.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️