Author: Joel Fisher

At the age of 14, Blake Hyland had an accident which would change his life forever. An active boy, Blake was into sports and during a gymnastics display he hit his head which caused a traumatic brain injury. The doctor told his parents that Blake’s injury was like being hit by a car at 60mph.

However, Blake had surgery and the doctors were confident that he would recover, although Blake would never be the same as he had been before.

Hi I’m Blake is a documentary that follows Blake’s road to recovery right from where he went into surgery to where he graduated from high school. Taking video footage from when Blake was very small, director John Michael Simpson uses those moments to punctuate the times where he was learning to do all the things that he had taken for granted before.

Although, the documentary uses Blake as a springboard to talk about the wider issue of people who suffer brain injuries and proves that with the right care, people like Blake can still continue in life.

When somebody sees a documentary or a movie about somebody who has gone through a life changing injury then there are certain things they may expect. There is a certain level of over dramatization as the documentary or movie emphasises how the person who they were before has been lost forever. There’s also a focus on the dramatic struggles that a person has to go through in order to carry on. Thankfully though, Hi I’m Blake does none of these things and instead chooses to look positively at how who Blake was before may have gone, but who he is now is what’s important.

That’s where the documentary’s subject comes into his own because Blake is shown to have a personality and a willingness to learn which surely helped in his recovery. He’s shown to be good with people, caring for those he doesn’t know and he even has a sense of humour which may lead to a side career in stand-up comedy.

Following Blake so closely shows a fully rounded depiction of what people go through when recovering from a brain injury. It may even inspire more of a focus in brain injuries so that people like Blake can get the help they need.

Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter) has had some troubling times and was forced to make an apology when he said something bad while he was streaming. Now he’s back though and looking for forgiveness as he hopes to start afresh.

His idea in order to save his internet career is to go into a haunted house all by himself and live stream the whole thing, so what could go wrong?

Deadstream is a horror movie written and directed by Joseph and Vanessa Winter which pokes fun at the ‘influencers’ who reveal a little too much of themselves and try to reclaim that fanbase glory. Joseph Winter seems to have found the right voice for the character as well as Shawn comes across as the kind of narcissistic, fame hungry person that you may often find hosting such channels.

However, by making Shawn such an unlikeable character, spending time with him and him alone for such a long time may become grating to the audience. There’s something to be said about watching a bad person in a horror movie get what’s coming to them, but as Shawn’s the sole victim throughout his ordeal, the audience may just want it to stop.

Winter does play his role well and the script does have some funny moments, but as Shawn never changes or grows as a person then the audience does not care about his constant torment. Shawn knows he’s been cancelled and so does the audience, so why try to pretend that they want it end well for him?

There are some good moments though and the movie is clearly meant to be a homage to The Evil Dead, so it may placate some viewers who can recognise the influences. However, even Ash J Williams had some sympathetic moments throughout the franchise.

Deadstream is one of a long line of emerging horror movies about social media personalities and this is a fun spin on the tropes of found footage. The reveal of the ultimate villain’s motives is funny when revealed as well, but it seems that the overall idea could have been executed better.

The Storied Life Of A. J. Fikry: Review – A. J. Fikry (Kunal Nayyar) is seriously depressed after losing the love of his life. Her sister, Ismay (Christina Hendricks) makes sure that he doesn’t drink himself to death, but the lonely book store owner’s life just isn’t the same anymore.

Then after one drunken night, A. J. wakes up and realises that his most prized possession, a valuable book, has gone missing and so he contacts Officer Lambiasse (David Arquette) about what he can do.

However, not only did A. J. lose his book, but he found a small child who after some time, he decides to raise as his own. Life seems to slowly get better for A. J. and soon a romance blossoms with Amelia (Lucy Hale) who shares his passion for books.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is a movie directed by Hans Canosa and written by Gabrielle Zevin, adapted from her book of the same name. This is the fourth collaboration between writer and director as well and considering Canosa has only adapted Zevin’s work for his movies, it seems that they have a solid working relationship. However, it seems that the eagerness in adapting Zevin’s latest New York Times best seller into a movie has its problems.

The main complaint about book to movie adaptations are that there just isn’t enough time to put in everything and the things that are there may come across differently than they do in the book. This seems to be the case with A. J. Fikry as although there may have been many fleshed out characters with intriguing story arcs of their own, the translation doesn’t work as well on film.

The title also suggests that the story will solely be about Mr. Fikry, but over time it becomes clear that Zevin’s book may have taken a multi protagonist approach. Because although the movie sets up the film to be his story, there are plot points and character developments that come out of nowhere.

This may come across as confusing for an audience who hasn’t read the book and with very little focus in the characters, it feels like there’s very little reason to care about anybody.

Max (August Diehl) is a Jewish man who lost his wife and child during the atrocities carried out in Germany during World War Two. After the war ended, he got a job in Nuremberg in their water supply department, but the emotional turmoil that still runs through and he finds an opportunity to put those feelings to rest as he finds the blueprints for the facility.

Handing it over to a Jewish resistance group, Max puts a plan in motion to poison Nuremberg’s water supply and seek revenge for his people.

Based on a true story, Plan A tells the tale of the events that led up to the plot to avenge those lost in the Holocaust shortly after the war. Directed and written by Doron and Yoav Paz who are Israeli, it takes the story of the shared experiences of antisemitism and attempts to tell an untold story and do it justice.

However, it feels like in an attempt to pay respect to the real people and events, the story doesn’t have the weight and gravitas that such a story could have been given from a more objective view. Also, the conflicts of morality and the effects of trauma aren’t explored in a way that they could have been.

To tell a true story and to put it on the screen may give the filmmakers a certain artistic licence when putting across their point of view on the story. It could have been done to pull on the heartstrings of the audience and depending on the filmmaker, feeling like a tribute to those whose lives were taken away. It could also have been an emotional manipulative film made to garner awards.

However, there’s also something to be said about telling the story in an understated way and that is how Plan A plays out. Unfortunately, it seems that by doing so and being as respectful as possible to those who were lost, it feels like the weight of the story was lost with it.

There doesn’t need to be a thrilling adventure packed with characters building up to an impactful ending, but because this isn’t the way the story is told it may long be forgotten.

Cecilia (Aisha Dee) or Sissy to her friends is a social media influencer who talks about the power of positive thinking and mental health to her hundreds of thousands of followers. However, Sissy seems to be the one that needs the most care herself because of a childhood trauma which has stayed with her to this day.

Then one day whilst out shopping she meets Emma (Hannah Barlow) who she hasn’t seen since school and she invites Sissy to her engagement party. Careful not to overstep her boundaries, Sissy is nervous at first. Although as soon as she gets back together with her childhood best friend, it feels like nothing has changed. However, Sissy’s journey in getting to know Emma’s friends may not go as smoothly as intended.

Sissy is a horror comedy exclusive to Shudder which parodies social media as well as taking a sinister look at parasocial relationships and how overstepping a mark can go horribly wrong.

For example, as Sissy meets all of Emma’s friends, she’s horrified to find that she’s still friends with Alex (Emily De Margheriti) who used to bully her at school. Finding herself drawing upon her mental health coping skills, Sissy finds herself withdrawing and wondering if she’s doing the right thing.

However, Aisha Dee gives a great performance and with the help of a funny and insightful script the film manages to stay sympathetic to Sissy’s needs whilst also delighting in how the horror develops.

The topic of mental health could be a tricky one for a horror movie, because it evokes things like Single White Female and Fatal Attraction. However, Sissy has just enough of its tongue in its cheek to maintain the satire.

There’s also plenty there for genre horror fans and the kills are funny and inventive enough to keep the audience interested even when Sissy seems blissfully unaware of what she’s doing. Social media has certainly dealt out its fair share of issues for many people who can’t seem to get away from it. However, Sissy strikes the right balance between the dark and the light as it tells a story about how we all hide a little something of ourselves from others.