saryraffaelli Reviews

Barbarian (2022)

Predictable monster movie with unexpected plot expansions

[6/10 · 24 September 2023]

Barbarian can be considered an evolution of the typical "psychological horror" movie, where we can find the female protagonist going into a house and encountering the worst monstrosities.

More in detail, the movie plays a lot on the unexpected evolution of the story, especially around the character of Keith: I believe everyone who watched the movie thought Keith was a sadistic psychopath, because that's exactly the intent of the movie, and I must say it was really effective.

I appreciated the idea of "unlocking" new areas of the house with the progression of the story because it grew my curiosity and kept my attention to the movie high for its entire duration.

However, I think too many narrations were inserted in the plot, and, as a consequence, they weren't appropriately deepened (for instance, the previous owner of the house's story, who apparently used to kidnap women by breaking into their dwellings).

Hence, I felt like many pieces of the puzzle were missing, many questions I had remain unanswered, and, to me, it feels like also many additional scenes of this movie are missing.

Also, I couldn't empathize with any character because, in my opinion, they weren't adequately described and deepened: we know barely nothing about their lives and especially about their personality... They're quite flat.

I'd consider this movie an evolution of the typical psychological horror movie, however, it didn't succeed at overcoming the annoying clichés that characterize this genre, as the uselessness of police, the stupid character who ventures in terrifying places (sometimes even without any weapon), the victim being unable to escape the killer because of the multiple falls to the ground, and the character calling out to someone like "is anyone there?!" - Of course there couldn't be anybody good down there, watcha think?

Finally, a few words about the ending: unsatisfactory and nonsense, in my opinion. The actual owner of the house gets brutally killed by the monster, who becomes attached to Tess (?) ... And how come she survived such a fall? How come did she end up laying on the monster if she was the first one to fall? Why on earth would the guy be so stupid to wait for the monster to kill him?

In a nutshell: 6/10 also because I feel like this movie didn't leave any particular emotion or reflection, nor it taught me anything. I just appreciated the unexpectedness of the many plot twists and the expansion of the areas of the narration (hence, of the plot too), even though many scenes were definitely predictable (for instance, the previous owner shooting himself on his deathbed).

Parasite (2019)

What desperation can do to people

[8/10 · 9 March 2023]

I couldn't really understand the meaning of the title before watching this movie and, as soon as I watched it, I immediately made the connection and thought it was the perfect headline for such a piece of art of the actual cinema.

Parasite narrates the story of a desperate family, whose condition is meticulously depicted: a dirty, small, underground house with narrow corridors and a short ceiling, full of insects (which are, in turn, the parasites of their house) and exposed to every kind of mistreatment by society and any disgrace (such as the flood).

What is the effect of desperation on human beings? Becoming extremely selfish, ruthless... They'd take advantage of everything to survive and obtain what they crave for.

In our case, every member of the poor family manages to infest the rich one, by ruthlessly eliminating anyone on their way, like a virus: destroying all of the defenses and feeding themselves with the victim's body (the rich family's wealth).

I appreciated that the storyline was very unusual and involving, and also made me reflect about two important themes, which constitute a real issue in nowadays society, and appear to be highly criticized in the movie: the power of recommendations and the superficiality of rich people.

Respectively, the topic of networking: being "close" to a relevant person in the working environment can be crucial to obtain a job, no matter who you are and what your abilities... I believe the movie points the finger against corruption in the working places.

Secondly, rich people's naivety: the stereotype of rich people being seen as very gullible and superficial is clearly shown by the wealthy family's behaviors: they appear to be blind to what reality looks like, they only see the superficial part because they are convinced to be able to buy everything with money, they see money as the certainty to all the best in life and seem to never have experienced anything bad in life, because they were lucky enough to live in the right part of this society, in which money leads everything and everyone.

What I didn't appreciate about Parasite, though, was the absence of a deep characterzation of the protagonists, which I personally would have added, to empathize more with them, and some forcings in the plot, which made it less realistic (as, for instance, the ending: the poor family's father ends up sending morse signals to his son, which understands everything he wants to communicate).

Overall, however, I'd really recommend watching this movie, because, other than very well-made graphically, has a lot to leave to the spectator.

The Platform (2019)

Humanity's true face

[6/10 · 21 February 2023]

El Hoyo represents an anguishing and surreal vertical prison, with apparently unlimited floors, each one inhabited by two people.

The environment perfectly creates a dark, suffocating and desperate atmosphere, along with the dialogues between the main characters.

I particularly enjoyed the fact that the movie clearly represents the real human nature in this extreme case of food deprivation and fight for survival: violence and absolute egoism reign over every other feeling that people could perceive.

Consequently, it induces the spectator to reflect about our ruthless and sad society, in which personal interests prevail, everything we do is guided by obtaining something in exchange and where values as solidarity and altruism are just a sweet lie and a mere utopia.

An example could be the relationship between the protagonist and the old man: they appear to develop a sincere friendship, however, in a critical moment, they end up hurting each other without mercy.

Even though the characters and dialogues were involving and appreciable, they weren't really well developed.

The movie overall deserves a 6 because it was involving and the idea was interesting and unusual, along with the location, but, to me, it doesn't stand out of all the other movies of this genre I've seen.

Alice in Borderland (2020– )

DDD: deadly dramatic developments

[7/10 · 20 February 2023]

Alice in Borderland develops around a very popular theme in movies and tv shows: deadly games.

As we can see in Squid Game, a group of main characters find themselves in an alternative reality in which they need to win various games to survive.

Although I'm a great fan of this kind of plots, an element which really bothered me was the certainty that someway, no matter the game progress, the protagonists would always win the challenges (even if this implied forcings in the plot), consequently killing new characters with whom the audience may have emphasized more (for instance, the King of Clubs: we were sure that Arisu would have won against him even though he was totally losing the match until almost the end).

Moreover, two important and recurring themes in the series are friendship and sweat.

More in detail, in my opinion, friendship is over-romanticized in an unrealistic way: Arisu's friends literally sacrifice their own lives for him, Aguni fantasizes about killing himself because of his friend's murder... In general, I would say that the show exaggerates many scenes, values and emotions, becoming ridiculously dramatic or too slow at times.

Regarding sweat, we often see this detail exaggerated on character's faces, highlighting the strength required to go on taking part to the games.

The elements of the plot are clearly explained and understandable and each relevant character is given a dramatic and traumatic background which explained their present attitude towards their reality, however, the transition between these scenes and the rest of the story looked forced to me and, sometimes, too detailed or insufficient if confronted to the relevance of the character in the show.

Although i didn't appreciate the way of describing characters' backgrounds, I loved the depiction of their actual personality: each one of them has clear and distinctive traits, the dialogues are studied in detail and the spectator is easily able to empathize with whoever he mostly relates to or he would admire most: in my case, Chishiya represented the ideal figure of the rational, smart and sly survivor, who always succeeds at obtaining what he wants, through careful observation of people's behaviors and an excellent use of words.

However, even though the dialogues and the messages that the show sends the spectator through particular characters are deep and incisive, I believe that the story doesn't give a realistic representation of what reality looks like; for instance, people in the series sometimes sacrificing their own life for complete strangers, which would most likely never happen in the real world.

Why did I award a 7?

Despite all these negative points, I empathized a lot with some characters (as the King of Clubs and Chishiya) and appreciated the ideas of the various games and how they were clearly explained, the plot in general and also the graphics of the show (a dystopic representation of Tokyo and Shibuya).

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Very intricate storyline with noticeable forcings

[7/10 · 21 January 2023]

The Lincoln Lawyer has an intricate plot, which can definitely be difficult to follow at times.

I'd say that this movie is like a complex puzzle, so it does require a lot of concentration to connect every piece and make a sense out of the entire narration.

The plot revolves around Mickey Haller, a well-known defensive attorney who is in charge of defending a young wealthy and powerful man who's accused of aggression against a prostitute.

The main character is undoubtedly fascinating and his role as an attorney is perfectly studied; more in detail, his physical appearance, his posture, attitude and also the content of his assertions.

However, I believe that other important aspects of the movie weren't developed appropriately as, for instance, other that the character's story and personality itself, his relationship with his ex-wife (with whom, in a nutshell, he sometimes, almost randomly, has intimate meetings while they're both high) and his daughter. In my opinion, a deepening would have been interesting because of the relevance his family has for the plot and it would have helped the spectator empathizing more with the protagonist.

Moreover, I realized that the plot needed some unrealistic elements to make every piece connect with the other, as, for instance, many huge mistakes that the killer makes which lead to his arrest (as confessing his homicide to another prisoner) or great coincidences that happen in the story (the killer chose the same defensive attorney as the man who was wrongly convicted for his victim's murder, which, in turn, found a way to frame him).

Finally, why would the killer's mother break into the attorney's house and shoot him without killing him? Why wouldn't the killer murder the second prostitute instead of leaving a witness alive?

I awarded this movie an overall 7 because I recognize that, even though the previous points I explained are relevantly penalizing to me, the storyline is involving, some plot twists are appreciable and smartly studied, and the protagonist is a fascinating figure.

Lolita (1997)

A fatal seduction game

[7/10 · 17 January 2023]

Lolita tells the story of a fatal obsession which inevitably leads to a tragic epilogue: an adult man irreversibly falls for a fourteen year old girl.

Humbert Humbert is a teacher who moves into a widow's house, who lives with her young and rebel daughter Dolores Haze. He instantly becomes obsessed with her physical appearance and the girl seems to do everything to tease him and seduce him.

The movie basically focuses on Humbert's intense attraction for Dolores and on her sensual and rebel personality.

In my opinion, both of the characters are very well developed: Humbert is a calm and almost always rational man, while Dolores is a dynamic and energetic young woman, who constantly appears to play a seduction game with him.

The two characters are one the opposite of the other, and Dolores, although she looks like an innocent young girl, succeeds at obtaining whatever she wants from Humbert, leading the whole plot of the movie.

During the movie, we see Humbert as a protective and caring fatherly figure, but this "equilibrium" is totally broken when Dolores deserts him for another man; at that point, Humbert completely abandons himself and his rationality, blinded by an uncontrollable rage.

We can clearly understand that Dolores had become the most important element in his life and he didn't care about anything else anymore.

I thought the theme of madness/love/death was very fascinating: a hopeless lover seeks revenge by spilling his enemy's blood because he understands that his love is gone forever.

Last but not least the topic of the age gap between the two lovers: personally, I think Lolita narrates a sick love story, because it is entirely based on Humbert's physical attraction for Dolores and because of the huge age gap that divides the two lovers: Dolores is very immature because of her age, and Humbert doesn't consider this, taking advantage of the situation instead.

Collateral (2004)

Full night taxi service for an elegant Terminator

[7/10 · 9 December 2022]

Where there's Tom Cruise, there's an action movie!

Collateral was introduced at me as a thriller story and I decided to watch it because the plot looked (and it definitely was) captivating: a taxi driver is held hostage by a peculiar hitman who is in charge of murdering 5 people during a common night in LA. Streets are empty, clubs are filled with people and the film also depicts the luxury of modern apartments and offices in the typical skyscrapers.

The movie can be categorized in the action/thriller genre, even though I also really appreciated the comedy which was smartly inserted in some of the scenes.

The figure of the hitman is impeccable: to me, Vincent is the representation of a sociopath killer, who is capable of always maintaining his lucidity and coldness, ready to react in every situation, totally extraneous from ethical principles and moral values such as compassion, respect and the value of human life.

The character itself is not really well developed, in fact Vincent remains a mysterious figure, almost a machine (at some point he remembered me of Terminator, in his mechanical moves, his way of talking and his facial expressions) and we cannot really empathize with him.

On the contrary, we get to know more about Max (the taxi driver) and this inevitably leads us to see everything from his point of view.

Even though i'm not really a fan of action movies (they bore me to death because of their usual lack of plot and unrealisticness), Collateral succeeded at involving me for almost all of its duration and, although many events were narrated, I got to understand everything the movie wanted to communicate.

It is obviously not a movie which stimulates deep reflections because of its genre, but i'd say it succeeded in its intent of capturing and maintaining viewer's attention.

Very entertaining!

Elements that would have made the movie more appealing to me: the deepening of the relationship of friendship between the two main characters, a rounder description of Vincent's character and the elimination of police investigations in the movie (they are a very common theme in action movies: useless policemen who chase the main characters).

Misery (1990)

An anguishing and thrilling confinement story

[8/10 · 8 December 2022]

Complete isolation, total inability to move, Misery narrates the anguishing story of a man trapped in a room by a psychotic killer nurse.

Paul Sheldon is a very sly and self-controlled character, with whom the spectator easily empathises. The actor succesfully uses body language and facial expressions as a realistic and fascinating mean of communication, thus increasing the bond between the spectator and the character.

The plot is easy and the setting is basically a room in a cozy house, but the movie was able to keep the viewer's involvement high for all its duration.

The figure of Annie Wilkes was also very powerful and the music and the framings strengthened her image: an impulsive, unpredictable, bipolar, aggressive and violent woman.

Some features of the movie vaguely reminded me of Kubrik's masterpiece "Shining", for the theme of the isolated house and the deviated antagonist who threatens and holds hostage the few victims of the house... And also the presence of a typewriter!

Specifically about writing, I must underline that I really appreciated that the movie developed around the topic of writers and creative writing: Annie forces Paul to burn his novel, which is very precious to a writer because it is the uninque result of his inspiration and creativity, and it took a lot of effort... And she monitors him, obliges him to write what she wants, taking away art, freedom (which are the elements that make creative writing special) from his work.

I really felt the pain in those moments.

In addition, I also noticed the parallel development of the sheriff's investigation: well made in the sense that they didn't feel non coherent with the rest of the narration and, finally, cherry on top, the small funny scenes during the movie (in general) didn't make it lose in quality.

In a nutshell, what really made me appreciate this movie was the constant emotional involvement that it gave me for its whole duration: plausible and interesting development of the plot, appreciable and unexpected plot twist and an excellent interpretation and description of the two main characters.

Apostle (2018)

An anguishing and involving Outlast II tribute

[7/10 · 6 December 2022]

This movie has a rich plot and variety of characters, which I appreciated.

In particular, I admired the fact that there were more than one main character and each of them was adequately described, followed, and developed, succeeding at emotionally involving the spectator. I also noticed the evolution of some of these characters, which i consider to be a bery positive element to add to a movie, difficult to enact effectively and unlikely to find in films.

The setting is suggestive and the framings are also appreciable.

I'd say Apostle could be the film version of the videogame Outlast II, because of its identical environment and main theme of village of religious fanatics, headed by an evil Papa. Funny to see also the analogy with Outlast I and the loss of Miles' fingers or the torture bed that Eddie Gluskin uses in Outlast Whistleblower, which is the same as the one shown in the movie... And the importance of blood!

Apart from that, the movie was certainly very violent and of strong visual impact, the camera captured every second of the torture moments, guaranteeing the spectator many detailed gore scenes, realistically made.

What I didn't enjoy about Apostle was the more "fantasy" part, where the old lady representing Nature is shown and in which blood represents nourishment for the island (totally nonsense to me!).

In conclusion, I'd say that the movie succeeded at evoking particular emotions and involving the spectator, through the description of a very interesting story, the enough detailed depiction of a few main characters and the use of the right framings, musics and sounds to emphasize the atmosphere.

However, there were a bunch of scenes which didn't really convince me because they were unrealistic and sometimes nonsense (why would human blood make nature prosper?)

Split (IX) (2016)

Perfect character, perfect interpretation

[8/10 · 6 December 2022]

I was so impressed by James McAvoy's perfect performance, he played his extremely difficult role in a manner which completely succeded at making the spectator follow the complex plot: the 4 main characters (all theee embodied by the actor: Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig and The Beast) were meticulously studied in all of their identifying features, postures, voices and facial expressions and this made them easily distinguishable from one another, even though Mc Avoy didn't radically change his physical appearance during the movie.

The facial expressions, in particular, were fundamental: I particularly appreciated the close-ups on the protagonist's face and his perfection at performing his role literally impressed me.

It was also admirable that the movie succeeded at involving the spectator for all of its duration even though the plot, looked at from an objective point of view, is just a crazy guy with a multiple personality disorder kidnapping 3 girls and murdering his therapist...

The shots were also meticulously planned and the setting was an excellent fit for the whole story, contributing to the creation of a suffocating, isolated and tense atmosphere.

Moreover, the tool of music was rightly exploited to enrich the figure of The Beast with terror and anguish.

The main topic that the movie brings about (the human brain, its mysteries, whether it's possible to exploit it at his maximum, whether if mentally ill people are superior to others, the superiority and evolution of traumatized and hurt people) is intriguing, unusual and a source of inspiration of interesting reflections and speculation for the mind.

Why an 8 and not a 10/10? Because of very stupid details, such as the ending, which I personally didn't like (I would have been more satisfied with an absolute predominance of evil: The Beast killing the final girl as well) and the unexplainable predicting power that the therapist had (why would she write Kevin's full name on a piece of paper and used a napkin to keep the door unlocked? How could she know that this would have helped the girl escaping?).

Finally, I also didn't really feel like the association with the girl's traumatic past wasn't well developed: to me, it looked pretty random and not deepened enough to develop an emotional connection with Casey's character: in a nutshell, i didn't like how this main character was explored during the movie.

The Menu (2022)

A mere attempt of shocking spectators

[4/10 · 5 December 2022]

This movie, to me, was nothing special but a mere attempt to make a dark movie about an unusual topic: haute cuisine.

It is basically developed around a single main environment, which is the dining hall, and very few and obvious things happen: the cooks cook, the courses are served and people eat and talk to each other.

The vane attempt to create some tense scenes completely fails to me and some events that were supposed to be shocking and unexpected revealed to be obvious and, in my opinion, randomly put in the movie just with the intent of surprising the spectator.

However, I really appreciated the main actor's performance (the chef) and thought that he was a good fit for the role.

Many features of this movie also reminded me of other movies of the genre, such as the Saw series (the theme of the deadly game, created by a deviated master, who wishes to punish sinners for their mistakes) or Death on the Nile (the theme of isolation, the boat...)

Lady Macbeth (2016)

Absorbed by this piece of art

[8/10 · 17 November 2022]

Master of her own isolated world, ruthless, manipulator... The main character of this movie left me breathless for these traits that briefly summarize her essence.

The storyline is linear and clear, the setting fully reflects the tense, suffocating, lonely atmosphere that characterizes Lady Macbeth and Pugh was perfect for the role.

Every visual detail was meticulously studied, starting from facial expressions to each element on the movie set and every position that each character occupied on the stage: i consider it a very artistic movie, which sometimes sacrifices the realism of certain scenes and inserts some little forcings for the sake of its artistic realization (ex. When Mrs Macbeth is accused of Ted's murder, nobody believes it or when the husband is killed the lady gets away with it very easily).

I believe this is partly a point of strenght of the movie, since it doesn't bore you with useless scenes and details: it's just Lady Macbeth, a mistreated and misrespected lonely wife, which finally gets to avenge herself and eliminate everyone who represents an obstacle to her happiness and satisfaction.

Lady Macbeth is a round character, very well developed and narrated, extremely expressive: she suffers, she loves with deep passion, she craves freedom and she follows her istincts, although she also has the lucidity to behave properly when the situation requires it, to lie, and to do everything to achieve her goal.

In a nutshell, what mostly influenced my positive feedback was the absolute freedom expressed by the movie: no excessive realism (even though the plot definitely makes sense), ruthlessness without any moral filters (ex. Some very strong scenes are fully shown), and pure expression and victory of prary instincts and passion.

The Loft (2014)

Involving but unrealistic bundle of intense events

[6/10 · 16 November 2022]

The Loft presents an interesting and unusual plot, along with a pleasant and elegant setting which realistically reflects the american wealthy businessmen class, both in the physical appearance that the characters have and in the system of values that they share (self-centered, they see women merely as instruments, self-assured...)

However, many details and elements of the plot unfortunately shatter the realism of the whole movie, such as the surreal behavior adopted by the police (they continuously make assumptions about what the suspects could have done, the woman exposes her doubt to one of the suspects...), the way the man kills the victim in the bed, the so many coincidences that happen throughout the series of events (such as the punctuality of the visit of the real estate agent), then Luke's speed at stealing the suicide note, which is totally unrealistic. Moreover, many other scenes definitely look like annoying forcings, just to make the pieces of the puzzle connect with each other (such as the recordings of Vincent sleeping with all women involved with his friends... How could Luke install security cams without the others realizing? How did Vincent manage to seduce those women specifically? But, most importantly, why would he do that?!) The basis of the movie isn't credible at all: what advantage would Vincent have to share his own personal loft with his friends? Why would he pay a woman to convince Chris to join this idea?

Unfortunately, all these things negatively impact my overall evaluation of the movie.

In addition, I also felt like adding a more personal consideration: I also didn't appreciate the depiction of this side of society, although I must say that it really exists... Women who blindly chase rich and powerful men, men who have such a materialistic consideration of the opposite sex; in other words, total absence of genuine feelings and values such as respect and faithfulness.

To conclude, I gave a 6 to this movie because, overall, I didn't consider it as a total flop: it involved me in the narration and surprised me with its plot twists.

A Cure for Wellness (2016)

A visual masterpiece with delusional plot

[6/10 · 16 November 2022]

What I mostly enjoyed about this movie was the photography, i'd say excellent, I absolutely loved the setting (so many liminal, suggestive spaces!).

Moreover, I also appreciated the attention to details that was put into the movie (for instance, the close-ups on the glasses of water) and the actors' performance, which was very realistic and involving.

And that's why this movie gets to be awarded a 6/10 from me.

All the rest really disappointed me, starting from the plot.

The story that the movie narrates is nothing special, merely able to keep the spectator attention due to its step-by-step structure (which consists in gradually uncovering unanswered questions that the movie induces you to ask during its duration).

However, what really made me lower my overall evaluation was the annoying banality of many scenes and plot twists: the hero gets to save the princess even though it seemed he was about to lose it all, the villain dies, the newly formed couple escapes the burning castle, the so frequently used topic of the religious cult and the burning building (randomly dropped into the movie, just to add some "spice" to the scenes)... I saw these elements too many times and was expecting much more from such a graphic masterpiece.

Unfaithful (2002)

Involving passion and death story

[8/10 · 15 November 2022]

This movie has a very linear and easily comprehensible plot which is able to involve the spectator both because it is (in my opinion) emotionally intense and very interesting at the same time: in fact, the main topics covered are love, unfaithfulness, passion and death, which are very powerful at gaining people's interest.

Personally, I watched this movie multiple times because of its storytelling and because it wasn't too difficult to follow (you can easily watch it when you're tired, just for entertainment).

However, I wouldn't say that this movie is just pure entertainment, but also an expression of art: i really admired the aesthetics of some scenes and details of the movie (for instance, Paul's house or certain dialogues between the husband and the wife...)

The House That Jack Built (2018)

Artistic masterpiece for the few

[8/10 · 14 November 2022]

The house that Jack built succeeded at differentiating itself from other horror/crime movies. It is definitely an artistic movie, very deep and theatrical (this aspect really reminded me of Tarantino's style: the characters are acting in a play).

Even though at times it can be slow and difficult to follow, I believe that this movie really has the capacity of emotionally involving spectators and culturally enriching them with interesting notions at the same time.

Matt Dillon performed his role perfectly and the conscience-dialogue structure that the movie has is very unusual, interesting and introspective.

Regarding the graphic, very good in my opinion: realistic dead bodies, very creative and suggestive representation of hell.

I also appreciated a lot the references to Dante's Inferno and the character of Virgilio + the fact that some scenes were really good at making you reflect about some very deep issues (ex. Hypocrisy of people when you need help -> they pretend you don't exist)

Finally, also the division in 5 incidents helps keeping the viewer's attention high, keeping the narration dynamic.

Negative sides in a nutshell: a bit slow, needed a lot of concentration, and maybe sometimes the dialogues were too theatrical for my taste.