film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Category: REVIEWS

Here is where you would find our film reviews on BRWC.  We look at on trailers, shorts, indies and mainstream.  We love movies!

  • The Kissing Booth 2: Review

    The Kissing Booth 2: Review

    Elle Evans (Joey King) just had the most romantic summer of her life with her reformed bad-boy boyfriend Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi). But now Noah is off to Harvard, and Elle heads back to high school for her senior year. She’ll have to juggle a long-distance relationship, getting into her dream college with her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney), and the complications brought on by a close friendship with a handsome, charismatic new classmate named Marco (Taylor Perez). When Noah grows close to a seemingly-perfect college girl (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), Elle will have to decide how much she trusts him and to whom her heart truly belongs.

    Alita: Battle Angel, District 9, World War Z, and Zootopia – all of those are movies that people have been wanting to get sequels to for many years. Vince Marcello’s The Kissing Booth was definitely not one of them, yet, here we are in 2020 with a sequel to that film. A film that was so painfully bad, corny, and trope-filled that it was hard to sit through. Not only that, but it was a film that featured a toxic relationship and passed it off as okay. It seems as if a lot of people truly like the character of Noah, and I will never understand why. After being smacked on her behind at school, Noah tells our lead protagonist Elle that she was “asking for it” due to the way she dressed.

    Yet at the end of that first film, spoiler alert, the two of them get together and I couldn’t help but feel completely put off by that. The way the screenplay handled its lead character Elle was extremely bad. There were so many things to complain about with that first film. The romance, the attempts at humor, the love drama. Thankfully, though, the running time wasn’t one of them. Even though the first film was only one-hundred and ten minutes, it felt much longer than that.

    But The Kissing Booth 2‘s running time is one-hundred and thirty-one minutes and you can definitely feel it dragging along. In this film, we pick up right where we left off the first time around. Keeping in tradition with the previous installment, this movie also begins with our lead character Elle blandly narrating points of her life ever since the end of the first film. It’s frustrating because this opening is supposed to let us have a peek at what has happened in the life of our main character, but instead, it just comes across as a massive exposition dump scene and that’s exactly what it is. It feels like the screenwriters Vince Marcello and Jay Arnold had no idea how to visually tell this, so instead, they just threw a bunch of information at the audience in the first couple of minutes and hoped they liked it. I, for one, didn’t.

    This sequel is so much similar to its predecessor that it’s not even funny. It plays out virtually the exact same which was equal parts confusing and annoying. There never comes a scene anywhere in the film where we get justification for this sequel even existing. They could have ended it all with the last one, but they decided to make another because they knew that a lot of teenagers were going to watch it and they would make money.

    The formula for both movies feels the exact same and they each have no surprises up their sleeves. The story on display not only comes across as sappy and predictable, but tired and slow-paced. In the first thirty to forty minutes of the film, we just watch scenes of Elle playing Dance Dance Revolution at the arcade with her best friend Lee, Elle talking to Lee about how much she misses Noah, and scenes of her accidentally embarrassing herself at school. All of those things also happen in the first film too, by the way. I just don’t understand why the film needed to be as long as it is. It wouldn’t be a problem had the film used up every precious second of its running time and put it to good use. Using it to excellent flesh out its characters, give them reasons to care for their plight, and actually make the love triangle here entertaining enough to watch. But, instead, they spend nearly half of the film showing our characters just goofing around and making the love triangle extremely boring and cringe-inducing.

    If I had to scrounge around my mind and come up with one thing about the film that genuinely didn’t bother me it would have to be Joey King. I want to make it crystal clear that I think she is a terrific actress. She has proven this in the past with the television series The Act, and her performance there garnered a ton of attention during awards season. It’s one of the reasons why I’m so surprised that she is still taking on roles like this.

    To put it bluntly, this film just doesn’t deserve an actress of her caliber. It’s obvious to tell when watching the movie that she is an extremely talented actress. While trying my best to power through this cinematic bore, I couldn’t help but wish I was watching something else with her in it. Something a lot better.

    Joey King and Joel Courtney actually have good chemistry with one another and they honestly feel like they are best friends in real life. I don’t know if they truly are, but if you told me that they were, I would believe you one-hundred percent. But at the end of the day, just because your two lead actors feel like they are having fun in a film doesn’t make the film as a whole good. All of these actors deserve to be working on better projects in the future, and one can only hope that’s what happens sometime soon. This movie fails on all accounts. It fails at being a sweet romance film, it fails at developing an interesting and memorable lead character, and it fails at doing the most important thing – telling a good story.

    The Kissing Booth 2 is a tremendously predictable, cringe-inducing sequel with an incredibly slow pace, bland characters, and a central romance that feels tired.

  • Most Wanted: Review

    Most Wanted: Review

    Inspired by a true story, an investigative journalist named Victor Malarek (Josh Hartnett) unravels a twisted case of entrapment wherein a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, Daniel (Antoine-Olivier Pilon), is forced into a dangerous drug deal against his will and is sentenced to 100 years in a Thai prison. As Daniel endures torture and abuse, the journalist must track down the shady undercover cops benefiting off the conspiracy, while also fighting for Daniel’s freedom.

    Daniel Roby’s Most Wanted is an appreciated effort that has quite a number of things to enjoy, but also has a lot of things to be frustrated by. It’s a crime thriller/drama that works best in its second act particularly, once some of the puzzle pieces seem to be aligning, but its first and third can be a little bit of a chore to sit through.

    The first act plays out relatively familiar and doesn’t have any surprises up its sleeves, but that’s okay. It serves as a major set up act with the purpose of enticing viewers and reeling them into this story by getting to learn a bit more about the characters first. That’s one of the strongest elements of Most Wanted – it’s a movie where you really get a sense of who these characters are. A lot of them are ruthless in their pursuits and a lot of them are quiet and more reserved. The character development given to Antoine Oliver Pilon in particular was excellent and quite well-done.

    Speaking of Pilon, he delivers a nuanced and powerful lead performance and disappears totally in the role. In real life, he is more than likely a happy-go-lucky man, but here, he looks tired and ready to snap at any moment. Also great in their role is Josh Hartnett as Victor. There truly isn’t a weak link amongst this highly talented cast.

    Sadly though, a lot of the actors feel underused, despite their great acting skills on display. We get lots of screentime with Daniel and Victor in particular, but as a result, it can sometimes feel as though the other characters don’t get as much time to shine. But aside from the underuse of its characters, Most Wanted‘s biggest problem is its pacing. It’s not too long of a film, with a running time of one-hundred and thirty-five minutes, but here, you can definitely feel it.

    There could have been a good twenty to twenty-five minutes of screentime completely removed and it would have felt more coherent and the narrative would have felt much smoother. The screenplay can feel a bit messy as you can tell that the story they are trying to tell is full of so many details, but sometimes, not all of these details are entertaining to watch.

    At the end of the day, Most Wanted falls just a bit too short of its big ambitions. It has an excellent cast of actors that give it their all and has its moments of intrigue, but its running time is stretched too thin and its story mostly feels messy.

  • Summerland: Review

    Summerland: Review

    By Alex Purnell. Summerland: Review – Award-winning playwright Jessica Swale’s directorial debut is heart-wrenching yet light, a much needed warm story for these chaotic times.

    As cinema’s nationwide slowly open their shutters and dust off their seats, Summerland is a welcome and timely treat. Looking back at one of the darkest times during the 20th century, Swale invites us into the home of the reclusive busy-body Alice (Gemma Arterton) near the white cliffs of Dover during WW2. The young-frantic academic who somewhat resembles a story-book witch with frazzled hair is shocked to find a young evacuee on her doorstep. Initially cold to her new roommate Frank (Lucas Bond), the duo end up warming to each other, creating lovable mother-son dynamic. It’s a somewhat bittersweet tale of motherhood, sexuality and grievance, and has a lot more depth than one might expect from the rather sluggish opening hour. 

    Though initially rather slow, the story finds its stride and as a result, creates a rather enduring and captivating period piece with a distinctly British charm only enhanced by stunning countryside and some impressive set pieces. From sharp, white cliffs to London engulfed in smoke and debris, it makes you comfortable with the serenity of country life before throwing you into the chaotic streets of WW2 London head first.

    The village feels alive, with characters such as Edie (Dixie Egerickx) and Mr Sullivan (Tom Courtenay) giving it that magic of ordinary life.  

    The acting talents of Gemma Arterton as Alice make for an enjoyable watch, Alice, although initially icy and unlikable, has hidden lovable qualities and a great character arc. A strong, although hot-headed woman, her past is tormented by a long lost love who could have been, if not for societal pressures at that time. Constantly hidden away, constantly typing away whilst the local school children berate her for either being a witch or a Nazi spy.

    Her relationship with Frank is largely a highlight of the flick, and with great revelations unfolded in the latter half of the film, Summerland’s ending feels satisfying, making you want to weep like a child and smile with glee as it radiates a grand sense of joy. Alice’s characters blossoms while caring for young Frank, a bubbly youngster, curious and optimistic despite his Father fighting in the war as a pilot, and his mother working in London during the Blitz.

    Summerland has come at the perfect time, feeling refreshing like a breath of summer countryside air, it’s a story of companionship and responsibilities being thrust upon you during difficult times. It’s heartwarming, a lighter Goodnight Mr Tom (1998) and is well worth heading back to the Cinema for.

  • Impetigore: Review

    Impetigore: Review

    Maya (Tara Basro) and Dini (Marissa Anita) are best friends who work at toll booths. It’s a boring job, but one night after a mysterious and creepy man gets out of his car and attacks Maya, they realise that they need a change in their lives and need to get away.

    Maya finds out that she’s inherited a house from a relative on the island of Java, and although unsure as to what they will find there, Maya and Dini set out to find out exactly what Maya has been given. However, when they get there, the two women soon find out that they may not be all that welcome and that there is a curse on the town and when the best friends get separated, Maya starts to realise the extent of her inheritance.

    Impetigore is an Indonesian horror movie written and directed by Joko Anwar, famous for directing and writing Indonesian’s biggest horror hit, Satan’s Slaves, and is coming to Shudder exclusively.

    The movie starts off in quite a light hearted way, the relationship between the two women is quite funny and warm and you can tell how close they are from the start and that keeps going for the rest of the movie. However, even before the title card appears the audience will be aware that this is a movie that will play with their expectations and keep them on edge for the duration.

    Basro and Anita play very well off each other and are a believable pair with a close relationship and that closeness feels real, especially when they’re making fun of each other and each of the characters that they meet only add to the creeping horror which is ramped up just when they least expect it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RfEwT2LI2M

    For fans of slow burn horror movies that create an eerie atmosphere and delivers a story that’s steeped in lore that will make them wonder if there may be some truth behind the fiction, Imeptigore gives them exactly what they need.

    Impetigore will give audiences a suspenseful, blood by the bucket load kind of horror that will scare, repulse and unsettle its audience right until the final frightening frame.

  • Papicha: Review

    Papicha: Review

    By Nasu Nguyen.

    Papicha takes place during the late 90s in Algeria, a time where the country was in a civil war against radical Islamic rebel groups in favor of an Islamic republic. We follow young student Nedjma and her journey along a very tumultuous period where she is forced to question her own dignity.

    In response to the Islamic propaganda and rhetoric that she encounters, she decides to host a fashion show with her friends, mainly using material from haik, a traditional Maghreb garment for females made out of a single piece of fabric that covers the whole body, as a way to honor her culture while finding a way to express her and her friends’ own individuality.  

    Mounia Meddour pulls no punches with her first full length feature. This is a cold and heavy film that is not afraid to embody the horrors of political extremist groups and the power they had over anybody that disregards their ideologies. From the beginning, Meddour immediately places the audience up close and personal with our main characters and remains consistent on capturing a raw and intimate atmosphere with her style of camera work.

    She captures the anxiety of certain moments with moving shots and fast paced edits. One of her biggest strengths as a director is getting the most out of their actors. There is a bold feminist energy that she cultivates with her female characters. I felt the chemistry between Nedjma and all of her friends whether it be them basking in the ocean waves of a beautiful beach or giving rap numbers while sewing fabric together. Although we do get strong development with Nedjma and her dynamic with her close friend Wassila, the other female characters could have used more fleshing out since Meddour introduced interesting aspects about them that I wanted to learn more about. 

    Lyna Khoudri is the standout performance of the entire film. She plays Nedjma with fierceness, compassion and vulnerability. I felt her commanding presence bleeds through the film with fiery intensity. Her co-star, Shirine Boutella, also gives a solid performance as Wassila, who is vibrant and perplexing in her own right. Both are magnetic on screen and they display a complex relationship together. 

    Moddour explores heavy themes about being a woman during a politically charged era in Algeria. In Papicha, we see Nedjma experience moments of oppression and subjugation as she is forced to live under strict circumstances that challenges her free will. She is a strong minded woman who strives to be liberated, yet feels the need to stay in the country because she doesn’t want to leave her friends and family.

    Her dreams of being a fashion designer are at risk because of the regulations imposed by Islamic extremists, highlighting their profound and evil power. This can lead to jarring tonal shifts that can feel too sudden and made for shock value. However, unless I have experienced it first hand, it is not in my place to criticize whether these shifts were appropriate because they could have possibly been the reality for society living in that period. This was loosely inspired by true events, so I trust that Moddour is treating the events with the utmost respect.

    The Algerian Civil War was a serious matter, and Meddour evokes the anger and hostility that our characters experience. Nonetheless, the denouement could have wrapped up tidier to provide more closure after a major event transpiring in the third act. 

    Papicha is an acrimonious look at socio-political tensions during the Algerian Civil War and how it primarily affected women and their place in society. While it’s not a perfect film, it solidly succeeds at telling a coming of age story of a young woman with passions that were considered taboo and her volition to express her creativity despite the repercussions.

    Meddour proves to be a potent storyteller with her first film feature and I’m excited to see the next project she decides to tackle. 

    As well as being released on 7th August on digital platforms and as a virtual cinema release, PAPICHA will now physically be playing in a couple of cinemas from that date too, including the Curzon Bloomsbury.