Heracin

Very bingeable and gripping series ! Loved the friendship and the growth!

This very bingeable series took me by surprise. I was not expecting that intricate level of psychology and mind games from what started as a pretty classical bullying story, between rich and poor high schoolers. But once the Pyramid Game revealed itself : I was hooked ! The friendship between some of the girls was the most memorable part of the series. There was a lot of variety in the characters and their motivations, it never felt repetitive.

Where the writing hit the hardest was on putting the focus on the bystanders, sharing the blame not only on the active bully but on the herd mentality that can be so damn damaging. If the script sometimes felt a bit bland for the adult characters, it really stood out in highlighting the relationships between the teens, with all the social dynamics and the hierarchy and power imbalance at play. Despite wishing for a longer epilogue, I enjoyed the conclusion, the pay off of the story made a lot of sense.

The ensemble cast did a very good job. I got very attached to Myung Ja Eun, portrayed by Ryu Da In. This character was incredibly touching, being a mix of good heart and social awkwardness. Despite her being so heavily bullied and ostracized, she managed to build bridge with the heroine Seong Su Ji (played by Bona) and the external world.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for an angsty school drama. If you enjoy psychological thriller, I feel this is a great pick. It is a quite short series, well paced. Once you start, you are in for a brutal ride!

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A not needed sequel, less thrilling than S1

To be honest, I was part of the people that find that season 1 of Squid Game was enough by itself and did not warrant a continuation. However, I still decided to watch the season 2 to see what it was about. Overall, I have the same take away than for the original show: great production value but some flaws in the writing and pacing. There is also of course less of an effect of surprise and an impact that when season 1 was released, as the concept is not new anymore.

The ensemble cast remains solid. There a couple of actors that I found were a bit overplaying their roles : T.O.P (as the rapper) and Chae Gook Hee (as the shaman) were clearly doing too much in a almost caricatural way. But there were also a couple of great addition to the cast that did an excellent job in portraying their characters, giving them layers that I think were not necessarily detailed by the script: Kang Ha Neul, Yim Si Wan and Park Sung Hoon.

Production value is impressive. There is a clear cinematography that leaves an impact with the gore and bloody details on top of colorful and childish decors. The soundtrack was quite good in fitting with the angsty vibe of the story.

I would recommend this to people if you have seen the first season of course. I think this season 2 is beneath season 1 but it seems also to be just an introduction to season 3 which I hope will be reaping the benefits of all what's established by the season 2. The production value is still very impressive, there are some ups and downs in terms of writing with less effect of surprise and a filler side quest out of the game.

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A profound and heartfelt movie, an intangible win for its viewers soul : impactful !

This movie centered around a Thai family and more particularly the relationship between a grandmother and her grandson was a huge critical and box office success, setting up record for a Thai movie release and rightly so ! The story is very deep but relatable and anchored in a reality that is both sad, full of pain but also full of love and moments of joy. The family bounds around which the movie articulates itself is complex and can resonate I think with most human beings as we are all confronted to life's thematic faced by the characters, as parents and grand parents gets older.

Acting was excellent, especially on the male lead part with Billkin playing the grandson. He is really good in it: he maneuvers a greyish character with blurry motivations at first as he grows into his own individual and learns. It is extremely interesting. The grandma is amazing in this: the writer and director choose to make her a very nuanced character, flawed both with good and bad which I found particularly judicious. You love her for her quality and all the good she brings, but you also need to bear a lot of things while trying to help her, her personality being not so easy to handle.

The production was very good, pretty real and gritty with the house in which the grandma live being almost a separate character. You learn also a lot of cultural elements that are not often depicted (or at least not in so much details) regarding the culture of Thai family of Chinese descent, care of elders and so on. I love a lot the soundtrack, the ending song (sung by Billkin) is beautiful.

I strongly recommend this movie if you are looking for a movie that is both heart wrenching and healing. It is really worth a watch and it relates a lot to our common human life experience on earth. The viewer certainly get out of the watch having won something intangible, not measurable but that leaves a mark.

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Fun and cute travel short show to see again the cast of His Man Season 2

This special show (cut in 6 small episodes of about 12 minutes) features the cast of His Man Season 2 in a format similar(but much simpler and with clearly less budget) to the TV show "1 Night 2 Days" as they all go somewhere for about 2 days and spend the night together.

The production value is quite low but the atmosphere among the cast, the good vibes and honestly the pleasure to find them all back together is really satisfying. My favorite couple from the whole dating show is there and they are for sure as lovable as when we discovered them. The poor guys seems to be destined to freeze when filming as they travel during winter times, but at least the weather and activities provide to the viewer a sweet nostalgia throwback.

I would recommend this to people that enjoyed His Man Season 2. Do not expect anything deep, just fun fluff moments between the cast members with not a lot of production. The friendship between the participants feels real, cute and wholesome.

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Creepy cautionary tale about smartphone power, quite thrilling despite some scenario flaws

I liked a lot this thriller about a woman stalked through her smartphone. It is clearly a creepy cautionary tale about the power that have smartphone upon the life of most people and how dangerous it is when somebody get a hold on your personal data and what you do on internet.

The premise is really interesting and I wish they would have taken the societal criticism even deeper. It remains pretty on surface of what it is trying to say about society as the scenario put the focus much more on the villain than on the social dynamics. I loved the pacing of the story in its first half, you can feel the anxiety crippling as the heroine gets deeper into the trap set for her. However, I think the second half of the story could have benefited from a better rhythm. It was thrilling but some actions taken by the characters lacked logic.

I found the acting solid: especially Yim Si Wan who does a really commendable job carrying the plot. I'm pretty sure that with a less gifted actor, the scenario would have felt much flatter. He brought a huge range of emotions to his part, making the character he played complex and multi-layered despite the scenario being quite open and vague regarding his motivations. It is my first time watching him in a main role and I will be for sure digging into his filmography for more. Similarly, I'm quite impressed by Chun Woo Hee acting. I thought she acted beyond what the scenario was offering her.

The production was good. I particularly enjoyed the opening sequence with the phone being the window into the life of the heroine. It was super efficient into conveying the point of the movie. The music did not left a lasting impression on me but was appropriate for the angsty thematic.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thriller supported by good acting. It is pretty horrific in some way as it is centered around a very prominent feature in most humans modern life: the smartphones. It is a quite violent movie, so be mindful if you have any trigger.

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Liked the insomnia / sleeping concept, they should have exploited it more

This sweet sport BL set in university was not memorable but still super cute. I liked the insomnia topic and the solution found to it, it led to very charming scenes between the two main characters. The story is not very deep nor intricate, just a simple and relaxing watch. The flashbacks were incorporated in the right way to make the viewer really curious about what happened between the characters.

Chemistry-wise there were some good points between the male leads but overall it felt a bit too timid. Especially given the fact that both the sport and the sleeping concepts could lead to a lot of skinship, it was not exploited enough. Same for the kisses, it was very tame. The secondary characters also were totally bland.

Despite the fact that I liked the snippets of the OST spread through the series, it felt very strange in the way those were edited. The music feeling both too overpowering and on the nose at many moments while leaving me at other points with the impression there was not enough time to listen to it for the songs I liked...It was quite jarring and strange. Other than that, I found the rain sequences and summery vibe enjoyable.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a short and sweet BL in a university setting with some sport element. It is cute but not really memorable and I think they could have done better in terms of chemistry as well as exploiting the insomnia/sleeping concept that led to some charming scenes.

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Memorable slice-of-life story, beautifully acted and filmed

I really enjoyed the story. It follows the character of Hirayama who finds joy and light in the simple things of everyday life. It addresses strong societal but human issues: loneliness, shadow workers, can you feel surrounded but alone, can you be alone but satisfied...There is very little dialogue in the first half of the film, and it is the part that seduced me the most. The second arc allows more introspection on the character and also calls a lot of things into question. The ending scene shook me and was memorable in its simplicity... It is bittersweet and concludes in a sober but strong way the film which values ​​the concept of Komorebi all throughout.

The acting performance of Yakusho Koji is incredible. His acting is the cornerstone of the film. There are so many moments that are solely relying on the way he looks at the world and the people he meets. As there are not that many dialogs, without an excellent actor, the ideas that the script conveys might have not be transmitted as well as it was. Nakano Arisa (in her first role here) was very good as well and brought a fresh breeze to the story through her part.

Music is an important part of the movie. Our main character listens to a lot of tapes while he rides, and it is so acutely fitting with the vibe of the film. It is a common thread to the story and I really enjoyed being carried on by the music which is part of the life of Hirayama. The piano pieces also contributes to the masterfully crafted cinematographic experience that this movie provide. The filmmaking is beautiful, very atmospheric with some sets I found really interesting.

I would recommend this movie to people that enjoy slice-of-life genre and introspection. It is a very chill film in its pace, very simple in its story and therefore which might not please everyone. That said, the poetry that pores through this slice-of-life story, the fact that I got so attached to the main protagonist as well as the beautiful filmmaking featuring stunning shots of Tokyo (and more precisely Sumida) make it for me an excellent discovery really worth the watch.

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Artsy and unfathomable Chinese thriller - will leave you pondering

This Chinese thriller is centered around Detective Ma Zhe as he investigates a series of murders that happened in a rural area nearby a river in 1995. It is not a typical "Who's done it?" mystery as it focus much more on psychological aspects (with some quite crazy / feverish scenes) and an unreliable narrator... The spectator is left to ponder about the resolution of the mystery. I'm unsure if I enjoyed the film or if I am more perplexed by how to interpret it. I also think pacing could have been better.

Acting was good. Especially the performance of Zhu Yi Long who brought a lot of gravitas to his role. I personally enjoyed as well the actor playing the sidekick of our main detective. His role was a much needed relief to the overall pressure felt by the main character in his resolve to find out the truth.

Filmmaking is properly impressive as it clearly makes the viewer feel that the movie is shoot in the 1990s. The dark colors, the gloomy atmosphere of the story under a lot of rain contribute tremendously to the heaviness and almost thickness of the unfathomable plot. The background music with a lot of classical tunes has a melancholic vibe properly fitting the story.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thriller supported by good filmmaking and acting. It features rural China in the 1990s and is quite dark with the scenario deeply rooted in exploring the darkest aspects of people in small town. If you enjoyed series like "Mare of Easttown", you will likely enjoy it. However, there is a part of frustration bounded to the resolution of the mystery as it left a lot to the viewer's interpretation.

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So much more than a romance: poetic and beautifully filmed <3

This movie showcases an amazing story, pretty deep and far from a conventional sweet romance. As I never read synopsis, I had no idea from looking at just the title and the poster how raw and pure the story was going to be. It exceeded my expectations on a lot of aspects as it is a powerful tale featuring captivating characters developing a strong and beautiful relationship, bounded through their inner and external wounds. It is gut-wrenching and I was on the edge of my seat towards the end.

The pace of the story was pretty good in setting up the characters, the relationships as well as what's at stake in their lives. The last arc is truly compelling and I just wish they would have given even more time to the ending...But that's likely me being greedy.

I was totally impressed by the acting. I picked up this movie because of Yamada Ryosuke which I did not see since a while on my screen. I found his acting very convincing. He really worked on his micro-expressions and was able to emote really well. I am honestly so astonished on how good he has become. His chemistry with Hamabe Minami was also very credible.

The sounds are super important in this film: it is the music, the voices, the light noises that are the driving strength of the story...from the beginning into the conclusion. The filmmaking is truly beautiful, there are some pretty brutal sequences and you feel in your gut the pain of the characters. There are also some really pretty and poetic moments.

I would strongly recommend this to people looking for a deeply romantic and lyrical tale. Do not expect sweet and fluffy romance here, that is not the point of the story. It is for sure highly rewatchable for the acting and cinematography itself that bring out the best of this poetic and gut-wrenching story full of sensibility.

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Too bad the storytelling around the stakes and the editing hindered my enjoyement

I was quite disappointed by this action movie. More specifically because the most interesting aspect of the plot (with the submarine scenes, all involving a deep and gutwrenching psychological aspect) is only coming up past the 2/3 of the movie. I'm left to wonder if I would not have appreciated much more the film if it had been edited in another way around rather than creating a false suspense regarding the identity of the antagonist.

The performance of the casting was overall good but not stellar. At the end, surprisingly enough, it is two of the guest roles (played by Cha Eun Woo and Lee Min Ki) that grabbed the most my attention. I wish that Lee Jong Suk would have been given a bit more room to shine and do more in terms of dialog as well as characterization. Once again, maybe a different edit of the story would have allowed to have much more powerful stakes for the story.

Regarding the production value, it was pretty good. There are some rather thrilling action sequences and good ideas in terms of directing. There are a lof of variety in the dangerous situations faced by the main protagonists. The soundtrack is quite absent from the movie, not that memorable but there is a pretty sorrowful song that I enjoyed during the ending generic.

I would not necessarily recommend this to people as I did not particularily enjoyed my watch. My main issue with the film is coming from the scenario and the way the story is building up the characters. I did not manage to engage with the main roles and in an action movie, rooting for the good guys and understanding from where they are coming from is critical to really get me invested and care about the story. Here, I started to care much too late and felt that the 2/3 of the movie was not as exciting as I would have wished.

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Loved the intention of the story, the main actors chemistry...A bit too short to conclude solidly

A bitter sweet BL story where two former high school lovers meet again in their thirties after breaking up in quite ambiguous circumstances. I truly enjoyed the intention behind the script: to go from the nostalgia and bitterness of young love to the passion and uncertainty of love at adulthood.

Given the short duration of the series, I felt the scenario managed to accomplish a lot in the development of the relationship, at least until its last episode where I felt the resolution of the external conflict a bit too easy. I would have prefer they kept the issue and evolution mainly internal to the couple because there were clearly not enough time to conclude properly on what felt as a last minute external obstacle.

I liked a lot the two main actors as well as their younger selfs counterparts. I found both iterations of the couple had great and palpable chemistry. The secondary roles were less convincing to me, they were either transparent (e.g. the office coworkers) or too caricatural (e.g. the "antagonists/rivals").

I enjoyed the original soundtrack, it was very slice-of-life, not that original but very pleasant and completely fitting the story. The production was quite standard for the genre with not a lot of variety in the sets and decors. There was obviously not that much budget but it was not detrimental to the storytelling.

I would recommend this to people looking for an adult BL story, which manage to bring together an innocent youth love with a mature romance when they reunite. It is a bit of shame that the last conflict and the conclusion are less solid than the introduction and middle part of the series but it is overall a very enjoyable watch.

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Uninspired BL movie: banal story + bad acting

This BL movie depicts a quite banal romance. It had some cute moments but honestly I could not get behind the romance. I felt no chemistry and I really think the way they set up the romantic elements make it difficult to support it. Too much "destiny" stuff preventing any real character development. Destiny is pushing them together (-at least we are told so) but there is not much else there to show why they would develop mutual romantic feelings. It feel very surface level despite the fact that the film address some concern faced by the protagonists regarding their sexuality and their acceptance within society.

Unfortunately, the actors skills are pretty weak. Most of the dialogs felt super flat though strangely enough, there are also so many over-the-top and overacting moments. I cringed at so many scenes, which I am pretty sure was really not the purpose.

The production value was overall ok, it felt like your standard / middle-of-the-road high school series. The saving grace of the movie was a couple of songs sang by one of the main character. It was nice without being very remarkable.

I would not recommend this to people as there are much better BL highschool romance out there. It is only the second production from Philippines I watch and I must say that so far, I'm not convinced about what I have seen. I still want to discover more from this country because I think I might just be not lucky so far with my picks.

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Disturbing: I'm not sure about the what and why, icky but kinda grossly fascinating

This very short movie of about 15 minutes is very indie as it focus on a very odd and relatively disturbing topic as one of the character has a strong secret kink. No judgment from my part, but I personally found it quite gross and icky.

The camera does not shy from the disturbing details and the main actor does an overall convincing job. The filmmaking has a very strong approach on featuring the specific kink of the main character. It is kinda fascinating in a way and I felt a bit sick watching it.

It is impactful in a way but I am absolutely not sure of what the movie is trying to say or why...Honestly there are many fascinating elements in the psyche of the main character that would be interesting to explore...But the short length of the movie prevent any kind of plot & character development.

I would not recommend this movie as I am so unsure of what to think of it after watching it. It is pretty short so you might want to give it a shot if you like indie movies featuring somewhat obscure and disturbing topic.

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Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji stole a place in my heart ~~~

The story is beautifully built. Each of the narrative arc is interesting not only for the storylines but as well because they participate so much to characters development. There are a lot of clues spreaded through the script that results in highly satisfying payoff. The characters are very well written: they remain consistent during the whole saga and their motivations and actions make sense, which given the length of the show is quite an achievement in itself. The pace of the series was very good, you feel immediately compelled to watch the next episode. There might have been a bit of overexplanation scenes toward the end (it can feel slighlty repetitive, especially if you guessed some of the revelations like I did)...But at the same time the ending offers so many rewarding and great moments for the viewer that I was really happy with it.

The acting was really good. Especially regarding the actors playing the central protagonists: Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji. Wei Wu Xian was my favorite character and Xiao Zhan portrayed him with a lot of charm, candor and charisma...The variety in his acting game really seduced me. Wang Yi Bo who portrayed Lan Wang Ji had a difficult job as his character is very cold/reserved but he managed to do a lot in terms of micro-expression and you can see the evolution of his character as the series progresses. The secondary cast was also very convicing in incarnating the support roles (such asJiang Cheng, Jiang Lan Yi, Wen Ning...so many interesting parts who shined through with amazing and emotional scenes.) Overall, the ensemble cast was very good with maybe some weaklinks on a few very secondary roles.

The production value was good but lacked in some way. I'm probably nipicking because I loved this series very much but I truly wish they had a bigger budget for some scenes (the battles ones), the fights in small numbers were good and special effect were okay in overall. But clearly there were some obvious limitation when showing scenes in an impactful / big picture way, the grandiosity was not there (or at least not as much as I feel the story deserved). I wish the special effect make up would have been much better because it was frankly not good. The music was lovely: mainly the musical themes, as some of the characters plays instruments to fight, the soundtrack theme was of utmost importance. It was very nice and pretty.

I would strongly recommend this to people looking for an historical saga splendidly built, with amazing characters and relationship developments as well as some great acting. It is an adaptation of a Chinese BL novel (which I have not read -yet) and despite the censorship in China regarding those, they manage quite successfully to make the viewer understand the subtext behind some of the relationships.

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So many issues, grotesque but somewhat entertaining in a confusing way.

This horror movie is such a mixed bag for me. It has some gripping and really WTF moments...But it failed on many elements. Indeed, in terms of horror, unfortunately, I was never really frightened. I often cringed and was quite appalled by some scenes...But the visual effects are quite bad and the acting is also very limited, which is problematic for the horror to properly work.

The main issue is that some characters are part of a theatre club doing grotesque and gruesome pieces, so they do "fake horrific scenes" BUT the real horror situations seems to be put at the same level...You cannot be really scared therefore because everything feel unreal due to the context in which the characters evolve. If they had a bigger budget to make the horror part frightening enough and different enough from the theatric club part, that would have worked so much better...

Regarding the acting, it got a bit better in the second half but most of the actors were average at best. Some were saying their lines in such an unconvincing way that it was comical. Some were clearly under-acting (instead of over-acting) which is an error because it did not match the craziness of the plot.

Regarding the story, it is a bit of shame that they did not lean more into characterization for the main protagonists. It makes it super difficult to care for whatever was happening to them. I think they were too many to be properly developped given the length of the movie. The adults roles were pretty limited and boring but there was a lot of interesting aspects relating to the students. It could have made a fascinating series expanding on each of the characters with all their kinks and unhealthy relationships.

I would not recommend this movie because I am very ambivalent about my feelings about it. It is objectively bad on so many aspects but still it is so WTF that it might be worth a watch (?). It is super gruesome and graphic, so if you are squimmish, it is definitely not for you. The scare level is not really there because of the acting and context in which the characters evolve make everything pretty unconvicing.

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