Category Archives: Drama

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

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The Miseducation of Cameron Post          4 stars

I recently saw The Miseducation of Cameron Post, a little seen movie from last year by director Desiree Akhavan and recipient of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize.  The film tackles the subject of gay conversion therapy for wayward teens in 1993, which was a prevalent thing then.  It stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Cameron Post, the teen girl caught making out with her female best friend who then gets sent off to a Christian gay conversion camp by her relatives.  The topic has been tackled before but feels real here as Moretz gives a convincing performance that is aided by two costars playing teens that she connects with at the camp.  The camp directors (John Gallagher Jr. and Jennifer Ehle) use half thought out methods on their subjects that seem to mainly make the kids feel badly about who they are.  (Each has to create an iceberg on paper that lists what they don’t like about themselves.)  One nice thing about it is how the film is not all heavy drama but includes several moments of comedy (making it different from Boy Erased also from last year).  Miseducation does show us the pain that these young people go through as they experience what can only be described as abuse.  One scene near the end involving a troubled teen is especially shocking.  See it if you can find it.  It is just too bad that so few people saw it when it hit the theaters.

The Voice of Hind Rajab

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The Voice of Hind Rajab                5 stars

One of the most important films of 2025 must be The Voice of Hind Rajab, written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania of Tunisia. She heard of an incident that happened in Gaza in January 2024 where during the war, a six-year-old girl named Hind Rajab was killed by the IDF. The manner of her death was most harrowing. For hours she was trapped inside a car with the dead bodies of family members and was in telephone contact with volunteers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The volunteers tried frantically to get an ambulance to her while dealing with the bureaucratic nightmare of messages being passed to the Red Cross, then the IDF Cogat, then to the IDF in Gaza and back again. Ben Hania chose to represent the events by confining the action to the call center in Ramallah where four actors played the roles of the volunteers who were on the phone with the girl and with the government agencies. She chose not to represent Hind Rajab with an actor but instead used the actual audio recordings of her voice as part of the movie. The results are some of the most intense moments I can remember seeing on the screen. The three volunteers, Rana, Omar and Nisreen go from frantic to reassuring as they deal with the frustration of the situation but also try to keep the child calm in the face of danger, while Mahdi is trying to relay the urgency of the danger to the bureaucrats on the line. The scenes are gut-wrenching as we hear Hind Rajab’s small voice describing the terror around her but also calm as the volunteers try to reassure her that help is coming. But, alas, it never comes. The movie was honored with a nomination for the Best International Academy Award. I recall one other movie with a similar setup, limiting the action to a call center with voices on the phone, that being The Guilty, in 2018. That one though was entirely fictional, but still equally dramatic. I recommend The Voice of Hind Rajab if you are up for something this intense.

Breathless

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Breathless           5 stars

I took the chance to see one of the great films of the classic film era. According to many lists Breathless or À Bout de Souffle by French director Jean-Luc Godard ranks as one of the best films ever made. It is part of the French New Wave era in film or Nouvelle Vague, films that appeared rougher than the traditional films of the time. It was released in 1960 and is listed as number 12 on the Films 101 list of the 100 greatest films of all time and stars two actors who went on to have many notable film roles later. The movie was filmed in Paris on a shoestring budget and is entirely in black and white. The story is a simple one. Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a small-time criminal who wears a fedora, always has a cigarette in his mouth and thinks of himself as a tough Humphrey Bogart. But, in fact he is quite unattractive. He survives by pickpocketing and stealing cars and is being hunted by the police for killing a police officer. He has fallen for Patricia (Jean Seberg), a young American journalism student working for the Paris edition of the New York Herald Tribune and wants to enroll at the Sorbonne. Michel begs her to run away to Italy with him and hangs out at her small apartment while he’s not out trying to score some cash. Patricia is all too willing to go along with him despite his being a criminal and his appearance. There is something about his confidence that attracts her. The pair go well together because of their shared narcissism, and their being oblivious to what is going on in the world around them. The film is notable for several things. Godard invented a technique of editing where he cut segments of film within a scene creating jumps. He said he wanted to make the scenes shorter by cutting out the boring parts. (This practice is now common in action films.) Some of the actors were actually the filmmakers themselves including the screenwriter, Pierre Boulanger, writer of the original story, Francois Truffaut, Godard himself and the assistant director, Pierre Rissient. This helped keep the budget quite small. Godard even used handheld cameras in a time when cameras were quite heavy. The film is full of references to other great works or Easter Eggs as they are called. One extended scene in the middle of the film is exceptional where Patricia comes home to her apartment and finds Michel there in her bed. They talk on and on, flirt with each other and finally end up in bed together. The 21-year-old American Seberg who left the US after some bad film reviews to be in French films speaks excellent French and is quite beautiful. She steals every scene she is in. Breathless was Godard’s first directing effort and is considered to be one of the greatest directorial debut films ever, next to Citizen Kane. Godard, of course, went on to make more influential films in the 1960’s. I am glad to have finally seen this classic.

The Drama

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The Drama          3 stars

When I saw the trailer for The Drama, I became curious about the premise behind this movie, directed by Kristoffer Borgli (2023’s Dream Scenario): A young couple meet, hit it off, get engaged, then just before the wedding she reveals the worst thing she ever did, and this changes the whole dynamic of the relationship. In the movie we first find Charlie (Robert Pattinson (Mickey 17, The Batman)) meeting Emma (Zendaya (Dune, Challengers and Spider-Man: No Way Home)) in a café by pretending that he is familiar with the novel that she is reading. After fumbling his way through the encounter, the pair succeed in staying together for two years and get engaged. Then in the pivotal scene before the wedding, Charlie and Emma are having dinner with their married friends in common Mike (Mamoudou Athie (By Design, Kinds of Kindness and Elemental)) and Rachel (Alana Haim of the pop-rock group Haim) where Rachel asks the group to share what’s the worst thing they have ever done. Each tells something from their past that is funny but relatively harmless. That is until it’s Emma’s turn to tell something and when she does the tone of the conversation takes a sudden dark turn. Rachel has the worst reaction, but Charlie tries to be understanding about it at first. Now, I am going to follow the example of the trailer and not tell you what Emma’s deed was so that you can be just as surprised as I was when I heard it. But I can say that Emma is the definite winner of this game. The whole movie takes a dramatic turn at this point from comedy to something much more troubling. The relationship between the two couples changes with Mike and Rachel not believing they can trust Emma anymore. Charlie isn’t sure what to make of the situation and tries to imagine Emma as the person he thought he knew, while harboring doubts at the same time. Emma becomes more withdrawn when seeing how her friends react as she remembers the challenges she was going through in her younger years. Charlie gets increasingly confused about the whole situation, while getting a coworker involved that only escalates the problem. Ultimately, we get to the wedding reception where things blow up with some of the most backhanded wedding speeches ever heard. Things are, shall we say awkward and go from bad to worse in a hurry. Borgli is definitely going for shock value like he did before in Dream Scenario, but falls short of the level of dark comedy in that movie. It’s hard to accept Charlie’s reactions to events, given the weird roles that Pattinson has had before. Charlie is supposed to be a relatively normal person here but doesn’t really seem to be. Zendaya though is an expert at displaying the array of emotions of her character. (Remember her performance in Challengers!) This uneven movie is not so much about drama as it is about how people react to unexpected events. It would be interesting to find out how others react to the film. At least I satisfied my own curiosity. Look for Zendaya in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Look for both Zendaya and Pattinson in the upcoming The Odyssey and in Dune: Part 3.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri             5 stars

I finally got around to seeing Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a full year and a half after it was released and now that I have I can say that it is the movie that should have won Best Picture for 2017.  The movie stars Francis McDormand as Mildred Hayes who has lost patience with the local law enforcement’s failure to find any suspects in her daughter’s murder, to the point that she puts up a message on three billboard near her home to bring attention to the case.  This move is not appreciated by the local sheriff (Woody Harrelson) and his second in command racist deputy (Sam Rockwell).  All three lead performances are superb in this complex story about loss, anger and reconciliation as the characters rage against one another and eventually come to see one another’s points of view.  Not only is the story interesting, but the filmmaker, Martin McDonagh seems to have gotten the perfect blend of drama and humor.  The most impressive aspect of the movie to me was how each of the actors were able to display the pain and anguish that each was going through.  I only wish I would have seen this gem much earlier when it was getting so much attention.

The Dead Don’t Die

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The Dead Don’t Die         3 stars

The Dead Don’t Die by Jim Jarmusch puts a new comedic twist on an old genre, the zombie movie.  This light but bloody comedy brings together a very talented cast that includes Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane and Tom Waits.  With this group of actors you wonder how could this film possibly miss.  The movie has more hits than misses so has some moments that don’t hit the mark.  The premise is that polar fracking being done by corporations has caused the earth to move off of its axis leading to strange events throughout the world.  Of course this includes the dead rising from the graves to seek out human flesh to satisfy their appetite which is completely logical, right?  Much of the comedy is delivered by Murray and Driver who both give their lines in the most deadpan manner imaginable.  (Remember, the way to stop a zombie is to Kill the Head.)  Also making a significant contribution is Buscemi as Farmer Miller, the white racist whose accusations have little basis in reality.  There is an ongoing gag involving a new country song that bears the title from the movie.  Tilda Swinton has a most unusual role as the Irish undertaker, a new comer to the small town of Centerville.  It is a very strange role that only Swinton could deliver on.  It being a Jarmusch film, it wanders into the ridiculous at a couple of times that detracted from the overall feel of the movie.  The Dead Don’t Die is not the funniest Zombie movie I’ve seen, but if you are a zombie movie fan you should not miss this one.

Capernaum

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Capernaum        4 ½ stars

Capernaum is a very intense depiction of life in a poverty stricken city in the Middle East by Lebanese director, Nadine Labaki.  The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.  It tells the story of a young boy of about ten or eleven, Zain, who leaves his negligent parents and lives on the streets to be eventually taken in by illegal Ethiopian immigrant Rahil, where he helps her take care of her baby.  The story is tragic and hard to watch at times as you see this young boy struggle to survive and see how this shapes his attitude toward the world.  The movie has a non-linear structure as it starts showing us a civil trial where Zain is suing his parents for the crime of allowing him to be born into such a terrible place.  It then shows us the background of the immense struggle the characters have to face each day.  The director used all non-professionals as actors in making the movie and allowed the actors to improvise some of the scenes.  The result is a compelling story and one that is hard to watch at many points.  I recommend it for those that can take in such a tragic but real story.

Late Night

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Late Night           4 stars

Late Night, starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling, (some of my favorite actresses) is a very amusing comedy about a female British talk show host, Katherine Newberry (Thompson) who when threatened with losing her show hires an unknown woman writer (Kaling) onto her otherwise all male writing staff.  The movie tackles sexism in the workplace issues with some biting comedy and some really engaging wit especially from the intelligent and witty Thompson.  Kaling of The Office and The Mindy Project contributes greatly to the telling of the story as both writer and as co-star.  The Newberry character is forced to deal with her staff in a more human fashion as lower ratings threaten her show and Molly, (Kaling’s character) has to deal with the sexism of the staff as she tries to gain acceptance as a capable writer.  This movie was very well received at Sundance this year and was picked up for distribution with a very high bid I have read.  Fans of The Mindy Project will recognize the actor who played Morgan (Ike Barinholtz) from the show.  Also recognizable is Paul Walter Houser who played the idiot body guard in I, Tonya last year.  I finally got to see Late Night in the theaters, having missed my chance at the film festival.  This film is among the best comedies so far this year.

Rocketman

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Rocketman         4 stars

From Director Dexter Fletcher comes Rocketman, a dramatic musical telling of the rise of musical prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John.  The film tells the story in a most unconventional way as it uses John’s songs as part of the narrative with characters doing some of the singing to describe their part.  Taron Egerton does a convincing performance as the adult Elton John including doing his own singing.  A central part of the movie is John’s checking into rehab after realizing his problem with drugs and alcohol where he recounts the story of his life to the members of the group.  Key to Elton John’s success is his collaborating partner, Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) who stood with him through his difficult journey.  John was a producer of the film and made sure that it told about his many problem’s through the seventies and eighties that included his addictions and lack of acceptance as a homosexual by his family and others.  Bryce Dallas Howard is memorable as the mother of the young Reginald in the movie’s early scenes.  Mostly though the movie is a joy to watch as it shows his many musical creations came to be.

Midsommar

Midsommar       4 ½ stars

Midsommar might be the fright fest of the summer.  This horror movie really establishes Ari Aster as a first rate talent in the horror genre.  Last year he brought us the disturbing “Hereditary” and now he brings us Midsommar, a horror story told in broad daylight.  We start the story with Dani, a young woman who suffers an unimaginable tragedy when her sister and parents are all killed.  She decides to accompany her boyfriend and his graduate school friends on a once in a lifetime trip to a summer festival in a remote Swedish village.  Once there the friends are welcomed to this commune like society and are invited to join in with the villagers in their ancient pagan rituals.  Being involved includes enjoying the effects of hallucinogenic drugs that distort their sense of reality.  The happy mood continues for a good while but things eventually take a dark turn as things are not all what they appear to be. (How could it be any other way?)  Things go from bad to worse for each of the American guests as they discover what their hosts really think of them.  Aster is a master at creating these disturbing scenes that are played out in broad daylight unlike most horror movies.  This movie may also be appropriate for the MeToo movement as it shows how women can react toward the men they are disgruntled with.  Beware, there are several very disturbing images in this one as you would expect from a first rate horror movie.