Reviews

Immaculate vibes, hollow script.

I was scrolling through Netflix when I stumbled across Left-Handed Girl. Right from the beginning, the visuals in here are enchanting. Taipei is beautiful with its blur of vibrant lights and humming traffic. I liked that some of the scenes were shot at the eye level of I-Jing; it perfectly emphasizes how vast and wondrous the world feels when you're only five years old. Nina Ye, the child actress who played her, is my favorite part of the entire film.

Sadly, aside from the aesthetics, everything else fell flat for me. There isn't much of a plot, but somehow there are plenty of plotholes and unanswered questions. I'm not entirely sure what the film was trying to achieve with the story, but the way it uses cultural superstitions — such as the left-hand taboo — feels more like an afterthought than anything else. It comes across as superficial rather than thought-provoking. The characters aren't just infuriating; they are poorly written and lack depth. Except for I-Jing, I didn't care for anyone else.

An underwhelming film, I don't recommend.

Although, thanks for the stunning cinematography, I guess?

Read More

An interesting film that doesn't really know what to do with itself.

Short review, it's worth watching if you're there for a specific reason, but I can't see myself recommending it to anyone. It's so non-committal to a lot of what it tries that it leaves you afterwards just thinking about what could have made it better and questioning what it was trying. Try it out if you fancy it, it's got some diamonds in the dirt, but they're small gleams of what could have been great.

Longer review, every bit of it feels as if they just got a slightly better person onto the job, it'd be wholly a very solid movie, but as it stands, it's weak. The premise is interesting, and it's got good foundations, but it tries to layer too many things on at once. The movie would have been so much better if it simply focused on two of the main characters, as it seems to not quite solidify itself into what it wants to be. Does it want to be a romance between an assassin and an innocent girl, or does it want to be a gritty tale about two assassins who worked together since childhood? It tries to burn it at both ends and ends up fizzling out.

The script is just okay, it does the job. It does some lacklustre attempts at being deep in areas, but again, the lack of commitment to what it wants to be doesn't help. It tries a lot, some hits and some misses. The highlight was the actors themselves. Ryoma and Yuki give some great performances, not their best, but if you like either of them, then you'll see them really get into their role here. Even with a slightly poor script, they gave it their all, and you'll get some good moments out of it. It does have some rather good visuals in places, but it's not exactly idealistic to look at half the time, either. It attempted, but didn't quite reach the mark.

The worst part, personally speaking, was the weird unattentiveness to detail with the whole premise of the film, that being the assassination business. The tone the movie sets wants you to think to be realistic and gritty but it takes you back out of that over and over again. Countless times, you see things that would clearly not work, nor be done in the underworld that it tries to portray, and it ends up looking stupid. It takes you seriously out of the moment, and I personally found myself in fits of laughter at the ending sequence. It tried to have a serious moment and yet it turned around into being goofy. After you've stepped back from the film after the fact, you realise half of what was going on wouldn't have worked in almost any situation but the movie. If it set a different tone, then it'd probably work in it's favour, but it just doesn't know what it wants to do.

In conclusion, it's an interesting watch, but that's about it. You won't get anything deeper than that, particularly. One can enjoy it still, but it's really a form of something that could have pulled off something better.

Read More

Not scarry

This drama is divided into three stories, and each one gave me a very different feeling.

First Story – Fake Couple

The first story, about the fake couple, honestly felt too much and unfair to me. The idea that the princess kills the person who prayed to her as part of a fake couple was already okay, but what I really didn’t like was how their friends were killed for no reason. Those friends didn’t do anything wrong. They didn’t pray, they didn’t go to the “princess,” so why did they have to die? That felt completely unethical.

Another problem is how the story just ends after the girl is killed. There is no proper closure. Older people and others clearly saw what happened, but the drama doesn’t show the university finding out the truth or any consequences afterward. That made the ending feel incomplete and unsatisfying. Even though I didn’t like the story, I must say the actors did a good job.

Second Story – Hazing

The second storyline, which is about hazing, is kind of okay. However, I don’t understand why horror dramas always have to be so dark—literally. Everything is shown in deep darkness. Even when the characters are in a university, they walk around using their phones as lights. Why are there no proper lights in the university? It honestly feels like the production tried to save money, and that affected the quality.

Also, I don’t think this story truly ended. I feel like Sun might still be possessed. He hummed the ghost’s song, and in the morning scene, his eyes looked red. That detail made me think the ghost was still inside him, or at least that the ending was left open on purpose.

Third Story – Comedy

The third story is my favorite. I laughed a lot while watching it. It has a proper storyline, good comedy, and well-balanced scenes. Everything worked well together, and the actors did their best. Compared to the first two stories, this one was much more enjoyable and entertaining.

Overall

Out of the three stories, I liked the third one the most. The first one disappointed me, the second one was just okay, but the third one was fun, light, and engaging. Overall, the drama is not boring, and you can enjoy watching it—especially for the third story

Read More

it could have been better

this short story is about 2 guys who have girlfriends but one of them was feeling horny and the other guy helped him out.
the end shows they both still have girlfriends but secretly holding each others hands, im honestly not a fan of cheating stories (its a huge turn off) ,other than that, the ending showing them all 4 like that looking happy and i see nothing happy about it, they are "secretly" together, the girlfriends kept getting cheated on, whats good about this?
more things not shown like: id appreciate if they shown them struggling with figuring out their sexuality ,maybe their parents being so agaisnt it etc idk i feel like this short movie could have been done much better

Read More

What a wonderful movie

I loved, loved this movie. One of the best coming of age stories I have ever seen. Beautiful, intelligent storytelling with wonderful, talented young actors. Chen Fei Yu is not only gorgeous but also an insanely talented young actor. I suppose it helps to have a famous director dad and talented actress as mom, so Chen Fei Yu' s enormous talent maybe partially due to DNA but one can also tell that he is an extremely hard working actor who is only relying on himself and hard work to perfect his acting skills. As for the FL, this is the first time I have seen He Lan Dou and like her a lot. She is also a very talented young actress whose talent is not relying on appearance ( like many other actresses in the entertainment industry) but on her great skills. This was an excellent casting as the ML/FL have really made this story very real and memorable. Thanks to the whole crew and actors for making this great movie.

Read More

HOLY F**K, what a ride!

The idea alone is enough to hook you. Talking to someone 20 years in the past sounds cool on paper until you really start thinking about the consequences. One small change doesn’t just fix things, it warps everything. And this movie leans hard into that. Every time you think, “okay, maybe now it’s safe,” it immediately proves you wrong. The butterfly effect here isn’t subtle, it’s brutal.

The movie kept me locked in almost the entire time. No dead air, no boredom. Just constant “wait… WHAT?” moments. The tension ramps up fast, and once it turns dark, it doesn’t let go. Watching the past and present collide in real time is genuinely stressful in the best way. It messes with your head because you start realizing that sometimes the worst thing you can do is interfere at all. Some things are just meant to happen, and trying to outsmart fate can literally turn someone into a serial killer.

The acting absolutely carries this movie. Both leads commit hard, especially the villain. She’s unsettling in a way that sticks with you. It never feels cartoonish, it feels wrong, which makes it scarier. Visually, the movie looks great too. The atmosphere does a lot of heavy lifting and adds to that constant uneasy feeling.

That said… man, that ending.

I was so on board until they decided to pull that final move. I’m fine with dark endings. I’m fine with unhappy endings. But this one just felt like it tripped over itself trying to be clever. Instead of feeling earned, it felt like the movie flipping the table at the last second just to shock you. It took me from “holy shit this is great” to “why would you do that?” real fast.

Still, even with that ending, I can’t say I regret watching it. The concept is strong, the ride is wild, and it keeps your brain working long after the credits roll. Just be prepared: you’re probably going to love most of it… and then get pissed off right at the end.

Worth watching. Just don’t expect to walk away fully satisfied.

Read More

It was very wholesome and heartwarming, not as sad as expected, I thought I'd cry rivers, but I watched the whole thing and didn't cry, maybe I'm not that sensitive lol

Everyone did great, and the lil girl was so adorable and cute, I loved the adoption story the most, also this is all connected stories which is something I like.

I'm not a pet person at all, I can't bear to watch them go which is why one of the stories was hard to watch for me, but still it was very lovely movie I'd recommend it for pet lovers and owners of dogs.

The big golden dog was so cute 🥰

Read More

A deeply moving piece about identity

I was holding off watching this movie because I thought it was gonna be deeply sad. What I got instead was a movie about the ideals of morals, self identity and the roles families play in our lives.

This movie felt deeply upsetting. Kore-eda carefully layered all these actions that made it feel like he was leading us to a material conclusion only to swerve many times. I expected many things but I was wrong. It was amazed how he played with our preconceived notions of how we view events without any details. I also think this movie is a little bit of a discussion about the harsh culture in Japan about responsibility, even when it's not your fault.

The acting was superb from everyone. I felt bad for everyone by the end. Saori the mother, felt like she was constantly struggling to understand her child. Hori, the good willed teacher who wasn't even doing anything wrong. Someone who did care about his students and tried to be a better person. His girlfriend I think was meant to show his displeasure of the mundane life he had.(If it is to be believed she's from the hostess club). He also being a child of a single parent household demonstrated another aspect of the story I think is overlooked. Someone who is kind and t to help but in the end gets trampled by everyone else.

And Minato's storyline took such a swing that I didn't even realize what was happening at first. I think his realization of his sexuality is what sealed the deal that this movie is simply incredible. When we understand the events leading up to the main story, everything really starts to click. I was impressed with many revelations such as how dirty ended up in his mug and how he was trying to protect Yori.

As usual Kore-eda focused on a lot of character moments that just tell you so much more without having to say it. The act of spreading of I think cheese (?) on toast. Or how Saori did a slight head tilt as she was going up the stairs to talk to the teachers. The careful ironing of Minato's shirt.. all these moments really make a kore-eda film go from good to great.

The music was peaceful and solemn. They lead you into a sense of quiet melancholy.

Just being able to sit and really envelop myself in this movie, I reflected on how the bonds we have shake the foundation of self worth. Minato had no father and to me it felt like he was lost because of it. Yori had a father but he was mainly absent and treated a child who clearly had some sort of ADHD or autism as scum. The parallels of family households where one is present and the other it's fine have profound effects on our mental states. I felt so bad that Yori was being constantly bullied and his only friend didn't even try to stand up for him. The sociatile pressure of keeping up appearances hit harder once the realization of his sexuality came forth.

It reframed all of Minato's actions in a different context and then the story took on a whole other meaning. Same with the title, "Monster." That could mean more so many things in this movie now that I understand. Society, a slur, a responsibility, anguish, self worth.. it really makes you think about how we see each other.

My only main concern is the ending is very abrupt and I don't like that they left a huge thread about what Saori and Hori did after they didn't find the children.

Either then that, this is fantastic.

Read More