Film Review: Conclave (2024)

 

Electing a new pope of the Catholic church is all about rituals, Conclave shows us. But, what ritual is more ancient and more sacred than the ritual of politics, where powerful players jock and muscle for the leading position? In the film, directed by Edward Berger, the process of choosing a new pontiff ebbs and flows with the internal politics of the Catholic factions. Will the conservatives take over the reins, or will the liberals prevail and move the dogma into a more inclusive and powerful chapter? 

The key element of those struggles is Thomas Lawrence, played by Ralph Fiennes, who presides as the dean over the College of Cardinals. Once they agree, the election of the pope is over and the new leader of the church will take his spot at its head. To the outside world, that is the moment when the black smoke above the Sistine Chapel turns white. 

However, Lawrence’s position begins to complicate as he comes into possession of new information about the wishes of his close friend, the recently deceased pope. With each voting cycle that fails to find the new head of the church, the doubts and fears of Lawrence intensify. As this happens, Finnes masterfully presents this emotional turmoil by embodying a person who otherwise seems like calmness and reason personified.

Gradually, here’s where the film makes its transition from a documentary-like feature to a political thriller. On that road, Berger avoids taking any paths that even hint at violence - despite violence occurring on a grander scale - and keeps the film about people, their ambitions, and their beliefs. This, as Conclave shows, is a much more complicated and self-examining issue than it first might appear. Through that process, the movie builds into an impressive feature about the nature of power and human needs that fuel it, even though the same tale is told through a lens of ritualistic but very brutal politics.

Film Review: Alien: Romulus (2024)

 

Well-made horrors usually tend to include some form of elegant simplicity. Recently, works like Oddity excelled in that regard. But, when you're dealing with a massive, world-famous franchise like Alien, it's a lot harder to keep things simple. Luckily for all fans of sci-fi and horror, director Fede Álvarez managed to pull this off with Alien: Romulus.

The simplicity begins with the plot - on a destitute corporate world where the Weyland-Yutani corporation turns workers into slaves, a group of young people wants to escape and find a better life among the stars. The way to do it is to reach a derelict space station and recover the necessary gear for their years-long journey. On the same space station, however, a xenomorph awaits.

The plot is simple, while the elegance of the film comes from the clever obstacles and dangers that the scavenger team tries to overcome, as well as some gorgeous cinematography. The cast is securely led by Cailee Spaeny, who echoes the collected composure of the much more famous Ellen Ripley. At the same time, the film does not suffer from injected nostalgia or oppressive homages, even though it does transplant (pun intended) one of the original characters into the plot.

The presence of that character, like everything else in the film, is ultimately very smooth. From start to finish, Alien: Romulus is probably the most worthy successor to the first film that was made so far, which is why both the cast and crew deserve a lot of praise.

Film Review: Heretic (2024)

 

Hugh Grant's transformation is truly a spectacular sight to behold. From a bumbling but very charming Englishman, through his career, Grant grew into something that can possess so many horrible human forms. Films like The Gentlemen and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre show a Grant that is sly, greedy, and selfish to the point of disgust. But in Heretic, he took his ability to inhabit unique villains to an entirely new level.

In this setup, he plays Mr. Reed, an elderly recluse who is visited by a pair of young women, acting as missionaries of the LDS Church. But, in his deceivingly humble home, Mr. Reed begins to question the church and their faith, slowly but surely putting them on a path of choices and terrible outcomes. As he does this, he remains both relatable and clearly driven, while each and every idea or question of his comes with a potentially sinister edge behind it.

The film, written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, navigates an interesting space that is brimming with social commentary - connecting things like versions of Jesus-like god throughout history with the Landlord's game - but remains a chilling horror tale that is constantly ratcheting up. The linchpin in all of that is Grant, of course, but both Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East do a great job of initially clueless missionaries engaging themselves in his web of choices and beliefs.

While there is a sense of constant danger that Heretic will slide into the tropes of other similar pawn-in-a-maze-like films, it dodges all of them and instead blossoms into a space neither too fresh nor too stale. Besides being a really good genre film, Heretic also convinced me that I can't wait for what new monsters Grant will create in his upcoming movies.

Film Review: The Bikeriders (2023)

There's so much true star power in The Bikeriders. People like Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jodie Comer lead the cast in the main roles. Supporting roles are filled with names like Norman Reedus and Michael Shannon. With all of those people, you'd think anyone would have a hard time making a bad movie. That's true when it comes to The Bikeriders, but its director, Jeff Nichols, did not manage to make a great movie either.

The fault isn't in Nichols - he too is a brilliant artist, who made excellent films like Mud or Midnight Special. His scope and interests are extensive, which is why he chose a proto-bike gang story as his main theme for this film. Set in the middle of the 20th century, The Bikeriders tells the tale of the older Johnny and the younger Benny as they ride their beloved bikes, drink beers, and slowly turn into a violent criminal venture.

Now, there's a lot of space in the public imagination when it comes to outlaw bikers. Sons of Anarchy created a pop-culture niche all on its own. But, The Bikeriders feels most similar in my view to Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. This book was written by Hunter S. Thompson and also shows an interesting but deeply unsettling look into the world and minds of bike gang members. Comer's female perspective was likely a way to make the film more appealing and unexpected in its narrative delivery, but it didn't move it far from its basic premise of complicated dudes on powerful bikes.

In Thompson's book, just like in Nichols' film, there is a sense of authenticity and the stories of characters do grip the audience, but only as individual vignettes. As a whole, The Bikeriders doesn't resonate as a documentary piece, while as a fictional tale, it drives the viewers around but in the end, doesn't take you anywhere. I guess some films are about the journey, and not the destination.

Film Review: The Crow (2024)

It's hard to deny that the new rendition of the The Crow murder & revenge story is not stylish. The tattoos, the dark lights, the janky spaces - all of it fits into The Crow's neo-gothic iconography. However, in the clash of style versus substance, director Rupert Sanders found very little substance. Because of that, the result is a bland retelling of the film that back in 1994 had so many macabre vibes going for it, even though a bit of that came from the tragedy of Brandon Lee's death.

In the 2024 version, yes, there is a lot of fictional, violent death as well and loads of goth visuals too (not on the level of the brilliant Nosferatu, but still sufficient). But, the chemistry that should either bind characters in eternal love or place them on a path of bloody vengeance is missing. Bill Skarsgård does well as the torn Eric but fails to get it on with FKA twigs. Danny Huston is always interesting to watch, but as the main antagonist, he simply fails to make his character have the kinetic force of evil that is needed here.

Sanders is by no means an inexperienced director, but with The Crow, so much stuff simply falls through the metal mesh floor that should have been the film's foundation. I'm certain that the same foundation in this case has to be the characters, but there's just too much room between all of them, allowing for so much void space. The same sense of pretty emptiness is what the film ends up providing to its viewers.

Hi How Are You? (2023) - Meditative Journey into the Heart of Love

Having a feature-length movie recorded on nothing but iPhones and doing so primarily in selfie mode might sound like a strange idea. However, the movie Hi How Are You shows that ultimately, like ever, the substance overcomes the format. In this romantic drama with a strong undercurrent of science fiction, two souls reconnect with each other when a hangover Lou, who is in Paris, decides to call Mani, a rock star from Iran who's in New York. At the same time, a celestial body called MX6292 apparently sets itself on a collision course with the Earth. 

Through conversations ranging from video calls between friends to amateur scientists calling into news channels, the unusual video format works well. The film includes many characters that slowly revolve around Lou and Mani, while at the same time, something much larger is taking place in the endless void above. Interestingly, the film also uses plenty of VFX and superimposed elements in its shots, like billboards and other details in external locations, which all work surprisingly harmoniously with each other.

The film was written and directed by Clemy Clarke, who is a French filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Clarke brought an interesting blend of sensibilities to the film, showing something hard to pinpoint geographically, both literally and metaphorically. However, the film's overall ambiance and sensitivity to a changing, interconnected world, which can still feel so lonely, is incredibly poignant.

Through many languages, covering English, French, and Farsi, Hi How Are You? tells a very natural story of relationships that forever change and evolve, but which still yearn for that essential connection and the love that lies behind it all. Because of that, the element of the mysterious celestial body works so well on focusing the otherwise very loosely threaded story. The film's tragic and powerful culmination, which is fully steeped in music, is, in the end, all about that human connection.

In a very shrewd manner, Clarke bridges so many of these surface ideas of what it is to be alive in this strange and modern world of ours. She then funnels them all towards the core of the film - which is a love story, told from such a strong, universally human, perspective. In the end, the tale of this touching film shows us that it really is all about - love.

Watch Hi How Are You? on Amazon Prime today!