Adolescence
Adolescence is a new Netflix mini-series created by Stephen Graham (who also stars) and Jack Thorne, and directed by Philip Barantini. It follows a thirteen-year-old boy (played by Owen Cooper) arrested for the murder of a classmate, and his family, psychologist, and the police trying to figure out what really happened. It is four episodes long, with each episode being filmed in one continuous take. This directorial style worked well the majority of the time, besides for the second episode, where it quite bothered me. In the other three episodes, it being filmed in one take felt natural and was never distracting, but in episode two, they have to go to great lengths to keep in one take, and it just made it feel like a unnecessary gimmick. The writing was great, besides for, once again, the second episode. Episode two involves a lot of children and their writing just struck me as feeling very unrealistic and disingenuous, as well as the overall writing that episode just not being all that gripping or engaging. I thought episode four, the finale, was the strongest, writing wise. The emotion in that episode is so powerful for the entire runtime, even when it isn’t at the forefront. Episode one and three are very well written as well. This show gives the audience a very interesting look at family, parenting, and growing up in the modern era, and I especially love how this is reflected through this show’s ending, which was just the perfect way to end a story like this. This is a wonderfully acted mini-series. Owen Cooper is definitely the standout. Just an incredibly realistic performance that really doesn’t feel like acting. It feels like you are viewing real life when watching Cooper’s performance. The forth episode has three amazing performances, with Stephen Graham, Amélie Pease, and Christine Tremarco. All three of those performances portray pain expertly in a way where it feels like the pain stays with them during the entire performance even when the characters are smiling or laughing. Erin Doherty gives a great performance in third episode as well. Overall, Adolescence is a flawed, but fantastic mini-series with phenomenal acting and mostly great writing and direction that I definitely recommend.
Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Born Again is a Marvel Cinematic Universe television series and continuation of Netflix’s Daredevil series. As a big fan of the Netflix series, I was cautiously optimistic for Born Again. I was looking forward to seeing the return of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page, and Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson. The series started rough with its first two episodes. I found those two episodes largely uninteresting and poorly written. There were a lot of parts that felt very unintentionally silly. The big decision that was made in the first ten minutes of episode one really didn’t sit right with me, and I think it would have worked much better if they made it several episodes into the series instead of right off the bat. I thought episode two had some really poor directorial choices as well. After the first two episodes, the show picked up. Episodes three and four were really enjoyable. The court scenes shined especially. Episode five was a weird departure in tone and structure from the rest of the series, but I did very much enjoy it despite that. Episode six was strong overall, especially in its first and last scenes. There has been some interesting political commentary that I am excited to see where goes. After watching episodes one and two, I came to the conclusion that the show is much worse for fans of the Netflix series and much better for fans new to these versions of these characters. After more has been released, I can’t say that statement is completely true anymore. The more episodes come out, the more this show feels like a natural continuation of its predecessor, except for episode five. That one’s kinda weird. The show is exploring very similar themes to the Netflix series in new, interesting ways. I had some qualms with it at first, but I really like the direction both Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk are being taken in and what it shows about their characters. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio’s acting has been great so far, with D’Onofrio being truly electrifying in episode six. I’ve enjoyed the action for the most part, although I found the action in the first episode to be pretty bland. Daredevil: Born Again is nowhere near as good as the Netflix series, and I didn’t expect it to be. Netflix’s Daredevil is a special show and one of the best pieces of live-action superhero content ever made. Born Again is not on the same level, but it is fun, interesting, and filled to the brim with potential.
Mickey 17
The only new movie release I watched this March was Mickey 17, and I think I made the right choice. Written and directed by the Oscar-winning director of Parasite, a film that I like, but don’t love as so many others do, Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 is a sci-fi comedy that follows Mickey, played by Robert Pattinson, a man who works as an expendable in a space colony, a position that has him go into dangerous scenarios that mostly end in his death and subsequent resurrection, where his consciousness is then transported into a new body that is always a perfect clone of his old one. We follow Mickey in his seventeenth new body, and soon his eighteenth as well when another clone of him is made without knowledge that there is already a version of him that is still alive. With two Mickeys running around, tensions rise when Mickey and his girlfriend Nasha, played by Naomi Ackie, become afraid that his predicament will be discovered by the maniacal leader of the colony Kenneth Marshall, played by Mark Ruffalo, and his as maniacal wife Ylfa, played by Toni Collette. Pattinson shines in this role. I adore the voice he puts on for this character, and his performance is a massive contribution to why Mickey is such a likable character. Pattinson plays him in a very down-to-earth way, despite the ridiculous scenarios he is in. The entire ensemble cast of this film are great. Ruffalo and Collette are a blast to watch. They are so funny as the whacky cartoonish villains they play. Ackie is strong as well, and despite his small amount of screen time, I really enjoyed Steven Yeun’s performance. He was very commanding and had great screen presence. Even the actors with small roles give great performances. Cameron Britton is so funny in this movie as the head of the science team. I also really appreciated the performances of Patsy Herman, Dan Henshall, and Anamaria Vartolomei. One of my favorite things about this movie is that not only did every actor in a side role shine, the characters did too. This is a movie where attention was given to making every character interesting and memorable, which is truly a testament to how well- written of a screenplay Mickey 17 is. The story is very clever and enjoyable from start to finish. There are loads of interesting and fun ideas explored with the concept of cloning. The ending is incredibly satisfying, and, despite how silly the movie is, surprisingly emotional. It is a hilarious script full of many memorable lines and charming character moments. I love how much personality is injected into every one of Mickey’s lines. Mickey is a great, incredibly likable protagonist that was so easy to root for. I appreciated how much the characters would stutter and mess up words, as it made the film feel more real and the characters feel more alive. The direction of this film was great. It had a lot of style to it that I thought fit the film well and enhanced the experience. There are a lot of very memorable shots that showcase the science fiction of it all very effectively. The cinematography was beautiful. The visual effects and production design were fantastic. Unfortunately, I found the score to be very mediocre and unmemorable, but that’s the only aspect of the movie that I would describe that way. Mickey 17 is a funny, bold, visually stunning, wonderfully acted riot of a movie that, in my very unpopular opinion, is a substantial step up in quality from Bong Joon Ho’s previous movie, Parasite. I love that this is the next movie he made after winning Best Picture. This weird sci-fi comedy. It’s really cool to see him not fall into making Oscar bait and is instead just continuing to pursue the projects he’s interested in. I’m excited to see what he does next.
Severance Season 2
After a three-year break, Severance returned in late January and concluded this March. In this review, I will mostly just be talking about the three episodes that were released in March. I first watched Severance back in 2022 and loved it, so I was very excited for it to finally come back, and I was not disappointed by season 2. For those who don’t know, Severance is a show that follows the employees of a company called Lumon who have their version of themselves that goes to work and the version of themselves that live the rest of their lives separated into two separate consciousness. The season as a whole was great, with its lowest points for me definitely being episodes seven and eight. I don’t think they are bad episodes by any means. They both have some great aspects, but they just weren’t nearly as engaging as the rest of this season’s episodes. Episode eight really suffered from the fact that it focused on Harmony Cobel, played by Patricia Arquette, and Arquette’s performance in Severance is just straight-up horrible. It’s so strange. I know that Arquette has given some great performances, I loved her in True Romance, but she is comically awful in Severance, a show that otherwise has a phenomenal ensemble cast. The Season 2 finale is far and away my favorite episode of the season and my favorite episode of the series as a whole. It is brilliantly written for the entire runtime, and that final scene is just so perfect in every way. An electrifying episode of television. I want to note how interesting the weird personality of this show is. The finale works so well on a dramatic level, but it is also full of strange charm that I really enjoyed and thought complimented the themes of the show well. This season was amazingly directed, especially the finale, which was directed by comedy legend Ben Stiller, who is a shockingly talented dramatic filmmaker. Like I said, the acting was mostly phenomenal this season, with the standout being Adam Scott in my opinion. He plays Mark, the main character, and his performance in the season finale is unbelievable. He plays desperation and sorrow and anger pitch-perfectly. John Turturro really shined this season as well despite his smaller amount of screen time compared to the first season. Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, and Jen Tullock are also all terrific in their roles. Overall, Severance Season 2 was a wonderful and satisfying follow-up to the first season, and I can’t wait for Season 3.
The White Lotus Season 3
As someone who hated Season 1 and loved Season 2, I am really enjoying The White Lotus Season 3 so far. The White Lotus is an HBO comedy-drama television show where each season follows different characters, but are linked by the fact that they all take place at a fictional hotel chain called The White Lotus. This season takes place in Thailand. The strongest thing about Season 2 was its incredible ensemble cast, and this’s seasons ensemble is on the same level, with Walton Goggins and Jason Isaacs being the standouts thus far. Goggins is able to convey so much emotion in the simplest facial expressions. For example, Sam Rockwell received a lot of acclaim for his performance of his monologue in episode five, which Rockwell did do a good job with, but I was more impressed by Goggins’s silent reactions throughout the scene. Isaacs plays a man who is constantly under an insane amount of stress the entire season and he plays both the stress and the repression of that stress very realistically. Speaking of stress, Tayme Thapthimthong also plays a man under a lot of stress incredibly effectively. Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, and Michelle Monaghan play a friend group this season and they all give unbelievable performances, especially in episode seven. Parker Posey and Patrick Schwarzenegger give master-class comedic performances as well. The White Lotus has always been a show of beautiful cinematography, and this season has been the prettiest yet, especially in the fifth episode. The score by Cristobal Tapia de Veer is as brilliantly stressful and hypnotic as ever. This has been a well-directed season of television so far and episode five was definitely the best representation of that with how surreal certain scenes in that episode felt because of the unique and interesting camera movements and shot compositions. I’ve really enjoyed the writing so far. The comedic writing has been some of the funniest in the whole series, and the character writing has been very compelling. The character relationships and dynamics this season are fascinating. I specifically find the relationship between Chelsey, played by Aimee Lou Wood, and Rick, played by Goggins, to be extremely interesting. We see Rick be consistently mean to Chelsey, but when she talks about her love for him, we are still able to understand the good that she sees in him. I am really interested to see how they wrap up Rick and Chelsey’s plotline. My favorite piece of writing in the season so far is a brilliant scene where the friend group of three discuss their political views. This season has been very gripping and I am incredibly excited to see how it wraps up. If they hit it out of the park with the finale, I could see this easily being the best season of The White Lotus yet.
