julieshotmail
Joined Dec 2019
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Reviews441
julieshotmail's rating
I only tuned in for Dolly De Leon. She's everywhere now - popping up in American films, prestige TV, always magnetic. A Filipina actress who doesn't try to steal scenes - she owns them, quietly, completely. That was enough to get me in the door.
But then the lead caught me off guard. I couldn't figure him out. Every expression felt like a half-truth, every silence said more than the lines. I kept watching, trying to decode him. That was the hook - he wasn't supposed to be easy.
And the daughter? Firecracker. Not the usual angsty-teen trope, but something sharper. Raw. Honest. There were moments where I forgot she was acting. She should've won something. Seriously.
Then came the kicker - after the credits, I looked it up. They're a real family. The father, the mother, the daughter - on screen and off. The film doesn't come out swinging. It creeps. Starts in a haze of monotony - dead routines, quiet resentment, the kind of slow-burn pain people live in and never name. But it's all part of the setup. When the story lands, it doesn't explode. It settles. Heavy. I felt it in my chest.
By the end, they don't tie it up with a bow. But there's something there - a breath, a shift, a maybe. Not a happy ending, but a human one. And that stuck with me. It still does.
But then the lead caught me off guard. I couldn't figure him out. Every expression felt like a half-truth, every silence said more than the lines. I kept watching, trying to decode him. That was the hook - he wasn't supposed to be easy.
And the daughter? Firecracker. Not the usual angsty-teen trope, but something sharper. Raw. Honest. There were moments where I forgot she was acting. She should've won something. Seriously.
Then came the kicker - after the credits, I looked it up. They're a real family. The father, the mother, the daughter - on screen and off. The film doesn't come out swinging. It creeps. Starts in a haze of monotony - dead routines, quiet resentment, the kind of slow-burn pain people live in and never name. But it's all part of the setup. When the story lands, it doesn't explode. It settles. Heavy. I felt it in my chest.
By the end, they don't tie it up with a bow. But there's something there - a breath, a shift, a maybe. Not a happy ending, but a human one. And that stuck with me. It still does.
It had all the makings of something sharp. A horror premise wrapped in prestige-two seasoned actors sinking their teeth into an artsy, slow-burn setup. The kind of movie that whispers promises in the first act, coils with tension, and you wait for the snap.
But it never really comes.
Instead, it drifts into a moody drama with a grating antagonist and side characters who behave like they're under hypnosis. They vanish when it matters, shrug off the impossible when it slaps them in the face. You're left yelling at the screen, not from fear, but from sheer frustration.
Still, John Lithgow delivers. Vintage, unhinged Lithgow. Shades of "Dexter," but here he leans in even further - almost vaudevillian at times. He recites, he dances, he owns the frame. That part? Worth it. The rest? A long walk to nowhere with eerie lighting.
But it never really comes.
Instead, it drifts into a moody drama with a grating antagonist and side characters who behave like they're under hypnosis. They vanish when it matters, shrug off the impossible when it slaps them in the face. You're left yelling at the screen, not from fear, but from sheer frustration.
Still, John Lithgow delivers. Vintage, unhinged Lithgow. Shades of "Dexter," but here he leans in even further - almost vaudevillian at times. He recites, he dances, he owns the frame. That part? Worth it. The rest? A long walk to nowhere with eerie lighting.
I missed this back in 2022. Only circled back after finishing "White Lotus" season 3, still reeling from that fever dream. That's when I stumbled into "The Staircase." Parker Posey. Patrick Schwarzenegger. Both magnetic in their own right. Add Toni Collette - who never misses - and the hook was set.
The premise? Juicy. Real-life scandal, buried secrets, forbidden affairs, and owls - yes, owls. It had all the right ingredients. But somewhere in the edit bay, the tension bled out. Scenes hang too long, like a guest who doesn't realize the party's over. The pacing drags, the pulse weakens, and what should've been a thriller starts to feel like a nap.
There was potential here. You could feel it in the bones. But if anyone could've wrung out the drama, twisted it until it screamed, it would've been Ryan Murphy. He would've made it sing. Instead, we get a slow drip where there should've been a geyser.
The premise? Juicy. Real-life scandal, buried secrets, forbidden affairs, and owls - yes, owls. It had all the right ingredients. But somewhere in the edit bay, the tension bled out. Scenes hang too long, like a guest who doesn't realize the party's over. The pacing drags, the pulse weakens, and what should've been a thriller starts to feel like a nap.
There was potential here. You could feel it in the bones. But if anyone could've wrung out the drama, twisted it until it screamed, it would've been Ryan Murphy. He would've made it sing. Instead, we get a slow drip where there should've been a geyser.