There have been months without watching any movies. And then—bang—I watched a whole bunch in just a few days.
I don’t care much about spoilers, so beware! (Actually, spoilers can make you enjoy stories even more.)
All of Us Strangers
It starts slowly but then introduces a cool idea. The main character, a writer, is revisiting his childhood home while writing about the world back then. It’s a mix of introspection, time travel, and present-day reality—blurring the lines between worlds and times. When you finally understand what has happened, you’re thrown into a deep well of sadness.
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
I started watching this film many years ago, but only now finished it. A gut-wrencher. I lived there, during that time. I even thought I saw familiar places and faces, though I know it was shot in Bucharest. Back then, it was all the same anyway: the same gray buildings, the same kind of people, the same feelings.
In a flash, I realized the grayness—the darkness running through the movie—is a sign of something missing. A kind of existential black hole. People taking advantage of others, friends trying to help but breaking themselves in the process. A growing unkindness that pulls everything into itself, leaving no hope behind.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Radu Jude doesn’t play around. His movies may feel strange compared to traditional filmmaking—he includes shots that might seem out of place or too much. But they work for me. They need to be there. They make sense.
The main character, a math teacher, is on her way to a parent-teacher meeting. Her walk through the city paints a chaotic, loud, bustling portrait—such a stark contrast to the city in the previous movie. A few decades apart, and they couldn’t be more different.
Better Days
Ugh. Tough one. Lives under pressure. People giving up so much—feelings, connections, stability—just to hold on to hope that they might succeed. And as it often happens, things don’t turn out the way they imagined.
Drive My Car
At times, it feels slow—like it’s reaching for more than it can grasp. But somehow it’s still a pleasure to watch. You let yourself be taken places, given thoughts to think and feelings to feel. It is… how should I put it… polite, in a way.
Ghostlight
I watched it on a whim, and it almost made me cry—twice. Just the thought of dealing with that kind of pain! It feels less like a movie and more like a memory, like a conversation you once had with someone close to you—one that sticks with you for a very, very long time.
Hive
What a small gem of a movie. Unassuming. Quiet. But loud on the inside. Sad, but also somehow hopeful.
LaRoy, Texas
So many twists! It’s dark, for sure, but the story keeps you hooked. And the characters… wow. They seem live in a kindness void.
Summer 1993
It almost feels like a documentary. You watch this girl, how she moves through her new life, and you feel for her. It’s difficult to understand some of her actions, but from the perspective of a six-year-old, everything makes sense—or doesn’t. It’s a search for identity and roots, and, as we all know, that’s always a complex journey.
There’s Still Tomorrow
This movie is like a dance (which is also an essential part of it): it draws you in, then pushes you away—then draws you in again. It gives you hope, then takes it away. It makes you witness violence without ever showing it, and you still feel it deeply. It makes you love it, but also question it. It plays with you—and your emotions.