Queer (2024)

Luca Guadagnino’s second film of this year, Queer creates a setting that visually enthralls the audience just to completely shatter their view of the film, and it is beautiful.

Queer follows William Lee, played by Daniel Craig, as he navigates his desires in 1950s Mexico City. Lee struggles with building emotional and physical connections with other homosexual men, or men in general. However, this changes once he meets Eugene Allerton, played by Drew Starkey, and the two develop a strange relationship with each other. Along with love, Lee also struggles with many addictions, ranging from cigarettes to heroin. While a story this complex seems intimidating to portray on screen, the film is told masterfully through the writing, the acting, and the entrancing visuals.

Justin Kuritzkes’ writing is the first pillar in piecing Queer together. This is his second time working with Guadagnino, with Kurtitzkes writing the screenplay for Challengers, which came out early this year. In that film, audiences got just a sliver of what Kurtizkes has to offer as a writer, with Challengers being an original screenplay. Queer is adapted from a novella with the same title by William S. Burroughs, and though I have not read the original story as of writing this, I think that Kurtizkes does a phenomenal job at immediately throwing audience into the setting of this film. There is not much dialogue in the beginning, but the small details and movements make up for it. Another feature of the writing that is very simple but effective is dividing the film into chapters. I always love when films do that, especially films adapted from books. It helps to pay homage to the original form of the story, and I think that is sweet. It also helps to chunk the film into sections, allowing for a tonal shift to make sense in the context of the story.

The writing is beautifully portrayed onto the screen by the stellar performances by the cast. Daniel Craig is truly the standout in this film. He takes so small details about William Lee as a character and makes them grander. Lee feels so well rounded compared to some depictions of gay men seen in media. We see him feel secure with his relationship with Eugene, but then he’ll immediately feel betrayed and insecure due to Eugene’s flakiness. Another part of his performance I adore is the physicality of it. From the moment Lee shows up on screen, his insecurity is so noticeable that it’s almost embarrassing. Just the smallest movement says so much about Lee’s identity and his self-doubts. This also comes through when it is seen just how bad his addictions are; how much of a toll it takes on him. Those awkward traits from before are seen in a completely different light once the audience knows he is a “junkie”.

I also want to highlight some of the supporting roles in Queer, because they are just as amazing. Drew Starkey is stellar at showcasing just how illusive and mysterious Eugene is to Lee. He just exudes that sexy, sultry vibe that a young (possibly) queer man would have to someone in Lee’s situation. It’s really breathtaking how much he does by doing so little, but in a completely different way than Craig does with his performance. I also have to talk about Jason Schwartzman’s performance in this film, because he was such a breath of fresh air any time he was on screen. His character was the perfect amount of goofy, but not too goofy as to throw off the tone of the film. Every time I saw him I knew I would chuckle.

The final part of Queer that I want to highlight is just how visually stunning it is. Luca Guadagnino is known for the beauty in his films, which is probably why he continues to work with Sayombhu Mukdeeprom in many of his projects. The setting is so visually stunning and colorful that you don’t want to look away, almost entrancing you by its beauty and detail. Someone on Letterboxd put it best when they described how Luca Guadagnino portrays bodies on screen like no one else, and this film is no exception. From the phantom hands touching Eugene at different points to Lee and Eugene essentially melding together during their drug trip in the jungle, the film showcases how desperate Lee is for both physical and emotional connection. He wants to touch Eugene but cannot bring himself to out of fear. He is so fascinated by telepathy because he wants to understand how people feel about him. Their bodies melding together is the only time they will have real connection with one another, and it didn’t even really happen. All of this shows just how masterfully everything about this film goes together to tell this insanely complex story on the big screen. If you have not already, go see Queer in theaters, and be prepared to be moved.

Also, the “Come As You Are” by Nirvana needle drop might just be the most amazing thing I have ever seen on screen. That’s all!

Anora (2024)

Mikey Madison takes full control in Sean Baker’s newest film Anora. An homage to the classic Hollywood style with the glitz, glamour, and grit.

Anora follows Ani, a young Brooklyn sex worker, as she falls for Ivan, a Russian client who just so happens to be the son of a very rich Oligarch, and marries him while in Las Vegas, so he can stay in America. What occurs afterwards is a slapstick fight scene between Ani and the henchmen of Ivan’s father that turns into a wild goose chase for Ivan all around New York. The chemistry between Ani, Igor, Toros, and Garnick is so captivating and hilarious that you basically cannot look away. Anora ends with massive tonal shift as Ivan’s parents finally arrive in America to end this chaos. The reality of Ani’s situation becomes apparent; none of these people cared about how she felt about this arrangement, except maybe Igor. All they wanted was for it to end to save their reputations.

All throughout this film, Mikey Madison stands out amongst everyone. She has so much charisma as Ani that it practically seeps out of the screen. She could read a phone book in her Brooklyn accent and it would still be amazing. However, she gives more than just comedy in this film. Once she realizes that her escapades with Ivan are finished, and that he did not really care about her, she delivers so much emotion and vulnerability throughout the final act of the film.

This vulnerability also ties into the tonal shift of Anora’s ending. Igor has been tasked with taking Ani back to Brooklyn from Las Vegas. As they spend the night in the house Ivan had been living in, Igor tries his best to make conversation. The two of them are essentially in the same situation; they are both people who are used to do tasks for money. Still filled with anger towards Ivan, Ani lashes out at Igor for just trying to talk. This comes to a head when he drops her off at her house, possibly being the last time they see each other. Igor gives Ani the ring that was taken away from her, the one Ivan gave her when they married. At first, she doesn’t know what to think about this exchange. After some awkward silence between the two, Ani climbs into the drivers seat of Igor’s car and beings to do what she believes is right to do in the situation. She begins to unbuckle his pants and have sex with him. However, as he leans in to kiss her, she hits him. The film ends with Igor holding Ani as she cries, finally letting her emotions go.

This scene really puts Baker’s message behind this film into perspective. Sex workers are not seen as real people by many; they’re seen as people who just sell themselves for money or have no self respect. This is seen very clearly through the language of Ivan’s mother towards Ani, even when she is only trying to make a good impression. However, sew workers are real people with real emotions, and they should be respected just like everyone else.

Along with the stellar acting of Anora, the writing, direction, and the editing really shine as something both timeless and unique. You can tell that Sean Baker loves old Hollywood just with the way he films certain things. The way the glare from the sun will directly cover Ani sometimes is genius. One shot that keeps lingering in my mind is when she is sitting in the car and all of the lights of New York are flashing behind her. It perfectly demonstrates how she is feeling in that moment, all of this chaos behind her stone-cold demeanor. Anora is a film that perfectly fits into Baker’s catalogue of wildly charming projects, but is also one of a kind on its own. Go check it out if you have not already.

The Substance

Caroline Fargeat’s film The Substance builds a world where the person you always wanted to be can live out your dreams.

In our modern society, women have been programmed to believe that they are no longer valuable once they reach a certain age. That they can be discarded and replaced with a shinier, newer version of themselves. In the film, this is something Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore, discovers she can do to herself. All she needs is a product called “The Substance” that will create a better version of herself. Once she begins the process, she births her new self, played by Margaret Qualley, out of her. This new Elisabeth begins to call herself Sue, and soon snags the job as Elisabeth’s replacement on her television show. Demi Moore perfectly encapsulates the pain that older women experience of trying to hold onto the past life they are pushed out of by the media. By trying to keep her life going and parading this younger version of herself, she actively destroys what she has left of her own life. This is because while the newer self is technically different, they are still one, and must act as so. This is where Margaret Qualley shines as this power, fame hungry young woman who just wants success, not even considering what her actions might due to herself.

Where both of their performances shine, they also add to the overall symbolism of the film. The Substance perfectly portrays how holding onto your past instead of moving on, you can destroy yourself both mentally and physically. This is portrayed through the creation of Elisasue Monstro, who is created when Sue tries “The Substance” on herself to be able to remain presentable for the New Year’s Eve Show. This creature is a horrific amalgamation of Elisabeth and Sue, with multiple sets of teeth, breasts everywhere, and Elisabeth’s whole face on its back. When she arrives at the New Year’s Eve show, everyone is horrified (rightfully so) and attempt to kill her. By creating this worse version of herself in order to remain in the limelight, she ruins her life and becomes something out of your nightmares. The gore of this ending scene is both marvelous and disgusting, which also serves as a symbol for plastic surgery culture. Elisasue has no ides just how horrific she looks to others, while everyone else can see just how wrong her appearance is. Similarly, women feel obligated to get multiple surgeries, injections, and procedures done to look “presentable” to the rest of the world. When others look at them, however, they can see just how much they have done to try and remain attractive, which typically looks horrifying to most people, just look at most of the Real Housewives.

While I do think her appearance is both horrifying and hilarious, I do not see this portrayal of the surgery/Botox/Ozemipic culture as a mocking one. I see it as a message for women that they do not have to feed into this disgusting mindset. Having Elisabeth be played by Demi Moore, a woman who is stunning but shunned because of her age, makes the purpose feel more prevalent. The whole time you are watching, you are wondering why she even feels the need to do this. She knows that people still find her attractive, especially her former classmate, Fred, who she almost goes on a date with. This is the same question we think when we see any woman who gets this procedures done: Why? Well, the answer to this is the media and tabloids. All the time, magazines and articles are being written criticizing famous older women for just existing. They could be wearing a swimsuit or leaving dinner, and suddenly they are disgustingly fat and should be burned at the stake for that. This fat-shamming, age-shamming mindset is damaging to both older and young women, and The Substance tells people that they don’t need to believe in that mindset. They are allowed to look whatever they look like, and there is noting wrong with it.

We Live In Time

In John Crowley’s most recent film We Live In Time, Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield race time by making the most out of their circumstances.

The film follows Tobias and Almut throughout multiple stages of their unusual relationship, from her hitting him with her car to her battle with ovarian cancer. The film does not flow in chronological order, rather showing the different stages of their relationship to show just how far they have come as a couple. You can really tell that Garfield and Pugh know how special this story is in their performances. Love and grief are two of the biggest feelings a person can have; put those together in a movie, and you get a tear-jerker like We Live In Time.

As simple of a plot this film has to work off, the two lead’s chemistry shoots the quality sky high. Both Pugh and Garfield are very charismatic and engaging actors on their own; together they work off each other wonderfully. At some points, you forget that you’re watching a movie but rather an actual couple. Almut has so much personality and spunk, even when she is dealing with the risk of dying. Tobias is the perfect husband (and I am not just saying that because it’s Andrew Garfield). You can tell that he cares about his partner through everything, no matter how defiant and stubborn she is. He is even willing to completely end any romantic endeavors with her based solely on the fact he does not want to pressure her with the idea of children, which becomes slightly ironic as the two have a child together. I really do not need to add anymore to the acting, because if you have seen the movie, you know just how good it is. The leads are truly what make We Live In Time shine.

A feature of the film I also really enjoyed was the looming presence of time. There is always some sort of clock or timer in most scenes, whether Almut is being timed for her speediness while cooking or Tobias is timing her while she is pregnant. Almut is always aware that her time is ticking. She strives to do something with her life before she has nothing to show for it. Almut actively fights against time throughout the film in multiple ways. The first scene of the film is her running. As the film goes on, she competes in the cooking competition, and ends up winning by the end of the film. This is what all of her running, both physical and metaphorical, has been for. She finally has something she can be proud of, aside from her beautiful family. She has cemented a legacy for herself, ending her short time on Earth with a high-note.

Even with the film’s great achievements, there are some details I wish had been developed. For one, there was so much more that could have been done with the struggle of losing a parent. It is briefly touched on at the beginning, and it is implied that both Tobias and Almut have lost one of their parents. This is such a real emotional battle that many people face, and I just wish more had been done with it in the plot. If the film had been maybe just 10-15 minutes longer, this could have been further developed. I also wish we got to know more about Tobias. Almut is truly the main character of this story, but I wanted to know more about him as a person. In some cases, he feels almost like a figure to point out Almut’s dilemmas, especially towards the end of the film. But, I still really enjoyed this viewing experience. Even with these few gripes, I think the film does a phenomenal job at telling this heartbreaking story. Go see it if you have not, and bring some tissues with you.

The Apprentice (2024)

Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice strives to do the unthinkable: make Donald Trump feel more human.

However, you are not supposed to feel sympathy for the man, even with Sebastian Stan’s charming demeanor. The goal of making him feel human is to understand how he became the monster he is today. We get to see Trump go from a man striving for success to the human embodiment of lies and deceit. This was achieved with the help of infamous lawyer, Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong.

Strong plays such a strong part in what makes the film work. You have to hate Roy Cohn from the second you see him. His gross and slimy nature are what make him so menacing and appealing to Trump in the first place. His presence lurks throughout the first half of the film, as he gains more and more influence on Trump’s image. But by the time he has gained his fame and notoriety, Cohn seems to almost vanish from the plot. While this was likely done on purpose, you can’t help but feel like something is missing from the film once Strong is gone.

A plus side to Strong’s departure is seeing Sebastian Stan sell his performance as Donald Trump. He is practically unrecognizable in his portrayal. He has perfectly captured his mannerisms and speech patterns without going full Alec Baldwin impression territory. He and Strong bounce off of each other so well as Trump and Cohn, that it almost feels like watching a documentary. It is also interesting to view this as one supreme succeeding another. As Roy Cohn becomes more and more ill, it is almost as if Trump absorbs the last bits of evil in the man, taking all of his worst traits. Another great performance in the film is Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump. She perfectly showcases how people can be easily manipulated by people they believe they love. However, I wish she got a little bit more to do in this rather than being used only to show Trump’s growing corruption.

Aside from the acting, the camera work is another intriguing factor in this film. The story is shown to us in a home video format with shaky camera work, lots of static, and a smaller aspect ratio. While sometimes this does not work for me, other times it does. It does help to further immerse the audience into the time period and circumstances of the era.

While some parts feel very on the nose with what it’s trying to say, I do think this film gets its message across well. I think some of those obvious parts help to show just how unoriginal and hypocritical this man is sometimes. At this point in America, Trump feels like a fictional character on a sketch comedy show. Nothing he says feels real or coherent anymore, and I think this films existence goes to show that he used to have some decency. His own arrogance and ambitions just destroyed all of it.

Saturday Night

Jason Reitman's Saturday Night is a fast-paced, high tension, joy-ride of a film. Seeing it in a theater is truly the proper way to get the full experience.

It is hard to pick out just one performance that sticks out the most, because everyone does an amazing job. However, there are a few who shine above the rest. Dylan O'Brien as Dan Aykroyd is captivating. His charisma seeps out of the screen any time he is shown. Corey Michael Smith makes Chevy Chase seem almost...likable? It is truly an accomplishment to be able to do that. Lamorne Morris is an actor where any time he is on screen, you cannot help but smile. As a fan of his for quite a while, I am so excited to see him finally get his flowers. I could go on, but others like Andrew Barth Feldman, Ella Hunt, and Matt Wood do amazing jobs at stealing any scene they are in, but in the best ways possible.

Two of the biggest heavy hitters in this are Gabriel Labelle and Rachel Sennott. Playing Lorne Michaels and Rosie Schuster, they are the people carrying this whole show on their backs, mainly Lorne. Gabriel Labelle does great at showing his increasing insanity and frustration, especially towards the end of the film. Something he does that I really appreciate is he makes the character of Lorne feel human. Lorne Michaels has in recent years become the Logan Roy of the comedy scene. He is this figure that everyone knows who he is, but don't know anything about him. Labelle brings that human side back to the Lorne Michaels image. As for Rachel Sennott, she is obviously a master at comedy and acting. Her sense of humor is infectious and so dry. My only issue with her performance was that it felt to "Rachel Sennott" and not enough character. Her performance is still great, I just don't imagine her in the setting she is trying to portray herself in.

Something else I really enjoyed was the music. I am a sucker for jazz, and any time I hear something slightly jazzy I am immediately hooked. This specific soundtrack helps to further create the insanity of Saturday Night with its fast pace tempo and perfect timing for the comedic bits of the film. The cinematography and the soundtrack work hand-in-hand with each other in this, and I think that it's great

Overall, Jason Reitman has truly created something that will be talked about for years to come. Whether it's about the acting, the pacing, or the white boys of the century that are in it (looking at you, Dylan O'Brien), the discussion will be well deserved. Go see this in theaters if you can!