There’s something vaguely masochistic about Kelly Reichardt’s Ode. Not in the fun, leather-and-latex kind of way — no, this is the quiet, drawn-out misery of watching grass grow in real time while someone whispers poetry you don’t care about. It’s a cinematic whisper. A sigh stretched out over 50 minutes. It’s the kind of movie … Read More ““Ode” (1999) – A No-Budget Haunting of Boredom, Brought to You by Kelly Reichardt and the Color Beige” »
There’s something funny about The Eternal Daughter—not “ha-ha” funny, but “oh no, I’ve made a terrible mistake” funny. Joanna Hogg, patron saint of upper-crust emotional repression, returns with a ghost story that’s about as scary as a gentle breeze passing through lace curtains and just about as thrilling. What’s pitched as an eerie, intimate reflection … Read More ““The Eternal Daughter” (2022) – Ghosts, Guilt, and Glacial Pacing” »
🎞️ 1. The Plot That Barely Is The Souvenir is the cinematic equivalent of watching a relationship decay in ultra-slow motion while someone lightly reads Virginia Woolf in the background. Joanna Hogg’s semi-autobiographical fever dream centers on Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne), a privileged film student who falls for Anthony (Tom Burke), a man who looks … Read More ““The Souvenir” (2019) – A Film About a Toxic Relationship That Feels Like One Itself” »
Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir Part II is less a sequel than a drawn-out eulogy for a character we already didn’t care about. It’s a film about filmmaking, which, if we’re being honest, is already a red flag. Nothing says “pretentious detour” like watching a filmmaker make a film about making a film about her feelings. … Read More ““The Souvenir Part II” (2021): Grief, Film School, and the Longest Hangover in British Cinema” »
If you’ve ever stared at a wall long enough and thought, “I wish this had fewer emotional stakes,” Joanna Hogg’s Exhibition might be your kind of punishment. It’s not so much a film as it is a hostage situation disguised as an art installation — the cinematic equivalent of watching two mannequins argue telepathically while … Read More ““Exhibition” (2013) — A Portrait of a Marriage in Purgatory, with Wallpaper” »
By the time Emily Sharp laced up her boots in 2002, pro wrestling had already chewed up and spit out a thousand hopefuls with tighter abs and flimsier backstories. But Sharp—better known in the rings of the independent wrestling world as Daizee Haze—wasn’t some flash-in-the-pan diva or sports-entertainment bimbo chasing a payday. She was a … Read More “Daizee Haze: The High Priestess of Psychedelic Pain” »
There’s a special place in cinematic history reserved for movies that don’t just tell a story — they seep into your DNA, usually sometime around your 13th birthday, when you’re too hormonal to think and too dumb to understand what’s happening to you. My Tutor is one of those films. It didn’t aim to win … Read More “My Tutor (1983): Caren Kaye Made You Believe in Summer, Love, and Rewinding” »
Watching Archipelago is like being invited on someone else’s awkward family vacation, but instead of sun and memories, you get two hours of people whispering passive-aggressively about chicken and self-worth while a cello mourns the concept of emotional progress. Joanna Hogg’s 2010 arthouse darling is a film for people who enjoy the taste of cold … Read More “Archipelago (2010): Joanna Hogg’s Wet Cardboard Symphony of Repressed Whining” »
🏖️ 1. Premise That Promised Soul Searching… Just Gave Us Sand Unrelated centers on Anna (Kathryn Worth), a middle-aged woman tagging along on a luxury vacation to Tuscany with her best friend, Lucy. We’re promised a cultural and emotional journey—a chance to reflect, reconnect, maybe even escape midlife doldrums. Instead, the film slowly drains any … Read More ““Unrelated” (2007) – Joanna Hogg’s Cultural Retreat That Never Finds an Exit” »
🌡️ 1. Promised Political Heat, Delivered Humid Haze Set amid Nicaragua’s current chaos under COVID, the film depicts Trish (Margaret Qualley) stranded—passport confiscated, national crisis looming. In theory: perfect storm. In practice: she spends most of 138 minutes trading sheets with Daniel (Joe Alwyn) in sweaty hotel rooms. There’s mention of extrajudicial killings and political … Read More ““Stars at Noon” (2022) – A Torrid Love Story That Turns Into Moldy Salsa” »
