Reviews

This pulled me in more than I was expecting and didn't let go

This popped up while I was looking for my next Netflix watch. I loved BKPP in I Told Sunset About You—the acting was incredible, and their chemistry was almost unbearable in that series.

I haven’t seen the Taiwanese original of this one, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it ended up being a really satisfying watch. The comedy worked well, with strong timing and natural chemistry, and the drama hit the right emotional notes without feeling overdone. I especially enjoyed watching the gradual warmth develop in their relationship. Grandma was a standout and added a lot of heart.

The story included a few twists, but nothing felt out of sync. Even when I knew what was coming, the emotional moments still landed because of how thoughtfully they were handled (and the acting).

I enjoyed this from start to finish, and no scene felt wasted. Highly recommend. I’m only taking off half a star because it came a little too close to body‑shaming one character, which stood out in an otherwise enjoyable film.

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GREAT MOVIE. HONESTLY.

Starts off strong with si min, a teacher, who was an aspiring athlete in the past as a boxer, yet had to pull out due to her dad’s debt, which led to her becoming a contract teacher at a school that is labelled to “excel at anti-bullying”, only to find out that it’s a school thriving on violence, with a boy named Su gang being the main perpetrator. As Si min finds out Su gang was targeting his classmate named Jin hyeong, she decides to wear a cat mask, and disguise herself and fight Su gang to get justice. This was working GREAT until Jin hyeong’s friend, byeong Jin, a graduate from the same school, and Su gang’s old target, finds out Si min’s identity as the “kitty cat” as the students labelled her, and begs her to save Jin hyeong. After some cracking down, Su gang also finds out who the kitty cat was, and decides to go against si min by planning a match at the school festival, only to notice that everyone was supporting si min, and now FINALLY AFTER ALL THE BS SU GANG GETS ARRESTED AND WHEN HE’S ASKED WHY HE DID ALL THE VIOLENCE, HE REPLIES THAT HE JUST DID IT FOR FUN. LIKE IT WOULDVE BEEN SO GOODD IF SU GANG JUST HAD A TAD BIT MORE DEPTH. SOME JUICY BACKSTORY, A TRAUMATIC CHILDHOOD, ANYTHING WOULDVE WORKED, BECAUSE SU GANG JUST SEEMED A LITTLE BLAND TO ME BUT GREAT MOVIE OVERALL.

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Lost the campy quality trying to take itself a bit too seriously.

This is not a good movie, but it could have been fun to watch, if it did not try to be a good movie. And if it tried to be more of a horror and less of a make out sessions compilation.

I’m not even joking, it feels like there were more ass, boobs, make out, shower masturbation scenes then the actual kills, gore and scares. Lower budget horror movies can be fun, often are, but they need to understand what actually works for the audience. Yes, “sexy horrors” are a thing, but you need to keep the balance between hot ladies and them dying.

The whole set up was more or less useless and way too long. Why they are going on the trip, how they are going on the trip, who took them to the resort - it took just the first 10 minutes of the movie, but with how it was written and directed, it felt like 30. The whole movie was not dynamic enough. There was no real tension.

On the bright side, I do like how who died when made logical sense. The local cannibal did use their brains during some sense, and I appreciate how we get an actual explanation why they kept the leads for the last. Another big props for the married couple - that was a solid way to go. Approved.

As for the acting - god no. Funny enough, there were moments when it felt really natural, then I was hit with the robotic delivery, to end on unreasonable screaming and overexaggerated reactions.

The blood and practical effects were not bad. Even good for the last confrontation. Mostly the issue was not the props, but how they were used by the actors that felt off.

Overall, it’s a movie.

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I started watching Mudborn without expecting much, and the truth is that I found a movie that does its job but doesn't take any risks. It is conventional horror, entertaining enough to pass the time.

Taiwanese horror has found its comfort zone in Taoism, and Mudborn is no exception. The film relies heavily on classic iconography: priests, rituals, and those paper talismans that are a staple of their cinema. However, the twist here is the use of virtual reality as a plot hook. This mix of the digital and the spiritual gives it a different feel, though it feels more like a wrapper than a deep exploration of the topic.

The movie doesn’t hold back when it comes to gore and explicit violence. They don't skimp on the blood. If you like horror movies with gore and straightforward jump scares, you’ll find plenty here.

Everything that happens can be seen coming from a mile away. There are no big surprises, and the plot follows the easiest path. Some elements feel very overused, like the pregnant wife used to gain sympathy or the priest who is introduced a bit clumsily into the story.

Mudborn is an entertaining choice if you are a fan of video game aesthetics, virtual reality themes, and Asian folk horror. It isn’t perfect, and its lack of subtlety is obvious, especially with an ending that leaves the door wide open for an inevitable sequel.

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A Story That Understands What We Don’t Say About Friendship

I really loved this movie, and what stayed with me the most is how real it felt. The female lead is beautifully written, not perfect, not always easy but deeply human. She makes mistakes, she feels things intensely and she moves through life in a way that feels honest rather than polished. That’s what made me connect with her so much.

What truly touched me, though, was the relationship at the center of the story. It felt genuine in a quiet, almost familiar way.

I’ve always believed that friendship breakups can hurt even more than romantic ones and this film captures that feeling with so much care. It hit something very personal for me, especially since I haven’t always been lucky when it comes to friendships. Watching it felt comforting and a little painful at the same time like it understood something I’ve never really been able to put into words.

I also loved how grounded everything was especially the ending. It didn’t try to force anything dramatic or overly neat. It just let things exist as they are, and that made it feel even more sincere.

It’s a beautiful film that touches on so many things without ever going too far in one direction, not too heavy, not too light, just the right amount.

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It felt so real.

A beautiful story about an old man who never forgot the love of his life, that he lost in the war.
When he encouters a young man that looks just like his long lost love, he follows him , thinking back at te time his love was stil by his side. He even gets confused that the boy is his lost love. When they finaly have a confrontation he is forced to realize that the boy is not his lost love and he is finaly able to move on, knowing his love is never coming back.

I read comments that this drama is confusing, well i didn't find it confusing at all....it's a beautiful story and i even cried wen he finaly realized his love was never coming back.

The drama isn't a high quality drama, but for me that gave the drama more impact, it felt real.
The actig was not great but good enough and the kisses were good.
The visuals were ok and the music is nothing special, but it fits the movie.

For me, though the drama really moved me, one time watching was enough.

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It reeks

I was hoping for a wacky, cheery, and colorful low-budget film. What I got was an attempt at comedy, a poorly acted, dull & boring fantasy type of movie. Yeesh now wonders if Liu Xiao Qiao gave up acting after being in a movie like this. I can’t blame her.

Liu Xiao Qiao is soon beautiful. She is no longer active, sadly. I am guessing I tried to make it big but got tired of being in B-movies. She never appeared in TV shows. In the age of traffic dramas, I am shocked to not see a few here!!! Is she traveling the world? Did she “settle down” to raise a family? Or is she now a business executive who made her own product ? Whatever she is doing now, I hope she’s happy. I still hope she makes a comeback and to TV shows this time!

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Bloody when South Korean gangsters settle scores.

New World is a sometimes bloody thriller that, despite its length, manages to keep the tension up almost the entire way.

When the leader of a large criminal organization dies in a car accident, a power struggle begins over who will take over his place. In the highly hierarchical organization, there are two candidates for the leadership position, each of whom leads two factions of criminals, and the loser risks both being murdered himself and having all his followers murdered.

With one of them, the arrogant and materialistic Chung, the police have managed to place one of their men, Ja-sung, who over several years of work has managed to rise to the top and is now Chung’s right-hand man. Since his wife is pregnant, he hopes to soon be released from his assignment for the police, but the death of the leader and the ensuing power struggle put the situation in a different position, and he is forced to continue with his assignment. Fearing what will happen to his wife and future children, he is torn between loyalty to his profession as a police officer and loyalty to Chung and the group of underlings who completely trust him.

The film sets the tone right away, with a bloody opening scene in which a suspected infiltrator is tortured to death. The film then follows a traditional but effective dramatic curve, where dialogue dominates while the premises of the film and its characters are explained, before the action scenes take over towards the end.

The film's greatest asset lies in the acting. Having a bunch of costumed gangsters running around and fighting with each other could easily be silly, but thanks to a simultaneously restrained and fateful, personal and conscious acting style, the characters appear as cool as they themselves seem to want to be perceived. The many extreme close-ups of the characters' faces, showing both sweat and the slightest twitch of their eyelids, bring us even closer to their inner thoughts. A constant awareness of the characters’ personal stakes, especially the risk to Ja-sung, creates a tension that is maintained throughout the film. It is heightened by the many twists and turns in the story, which make the film both unexpected and unpredictable.

The police chief who gives Ja Sung his assignment is played by Choi Min Sik, known from Oldboy, otherwise the actors are relatively unknown in the West.

The photography contributes a lot to the coolness of the film and the characters. The camera really enjoys the color-saturated images of the exclusive surroundings in which the wealthy gangsters move. The sterile and stylish surroundings reflect the perfect surface that the characters seem to want to convey, but stand in stark contrast to the chaos that prevails beneath the surface, where loyalties are questioned and lives are at stake. The editing is smooth and flawless and the image composition balanced and well thought out. The editing keeps the pace up and the tension intact even through the less fast-paced scenes, which retain their intensity through a combination of close-ups and tense dialogue.

It is actually unclear what illegalities they are actually up to, apart from murdering scoundrels. But that does not matter much, what is clear is that the organization has unlimited money that primarily benefits those high in the hierarchy, and that it takes cold-bloodedness and violence to get there. The tension that has been at a fairly even level through large parts of the film rises towards the end in a crescendo of violence and blood that makes the rest of the film fade, while the final scenes are etched on the retina.

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Why Every Butch Deserves a Jane, Not a Pie

​As a butch myself, watching Yes or No was a journey of mixed emotions. While I love the visibility, I have to be honest: Pie’s personality is not romantic—it’s a nightmare in the real world.

​Pie starts the relationship with heavy prejudice, and unfortunately, she never outgrows that "self-centered" mindset. In the real world, a partner like Pie is a second battlefield. She is high-maintenance and demanding, constantly refusing to share your interests. For example, Pie turning off Kim’s video game while she was playing was incredibly rude and dismissive. Kim showed genuine interest in Pie’s hobbies, even bringing her a jellyfish aquarium, but we never see Pie reciprocate. Even when helping with Kim’s university project outdoors, Pie did nothing but whine about being there during the holidays.

​Her lack of trust is also incredibly destructive. In the scene where Jane kisses Kim, it was visible that Kim had an eye mask on and couldn't see. Instead of using common sense, Pie jumped to the idea of cheating and destroyed Kim’s thoughtful gift in a fit of rage. She loves Kim in the dark but rejects her in the light to protect her own image.

While Pie whined about Kim’s university tree project, Jane was quietly nurturing a plant of her own to understand Kim's passion. Pie was ashamed and rejected Kim in front of her mom, while Jane was proud—she flirted openly and fought for Kim’s attention without shame.
​
As a butch, it was impossible not to fall in love with Jane. My heart ached for her because she represents the genuine sweetness and good heart we actually crave. Jane showed "brave softness." She didn't find Kim shameful; she leaned into Kim’s world and gave the kind of silent, honest support that is the real prize.

​A warning to my fellow butches: Don't let the "Happy Ending" fool you. If you check the sequel, the jealousy and toxicity only get worse. Girls like Pie rarely change because they think their lover’s job is to "endure" their flaws. Kim might have chosen Pie, but any butch who knows her worth would have chosen Jane in a heartbeat.

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A fresh bite on a familiar genre

Odd Family: Zombie on Sale is a quirky Korean zom-com that flips the undead genre on its head, centering on a dysfunctional rural family who stumble upon a zombie from a chemical lab mishap. Instead of panic, they see dollar signs: the family patriarch gets bitten, gains youthful vigor, and they turn it into a bizarre fountain-of-youth scam for the village elderly. Directed by Lee Min-jae, it blends slapstick chaos, dark humor, and oddball heart without typical gore overloads.
It is exactly the kind of movie its title promises — weird, warm, and wonderfully funny. It won't scare you, but it will make you laugh and, unexpectedly, tug at your heartstrings. It is simply a well-executed zombie horror-comedy with a great cast, great characters, and okay story.

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Nothing lost in translation!

When a film in one language gets adapted for the screen in another language, it often loses a bit of its original essence. Happily, this 2025 Thai remake of the 2022 Taiwanese film "Marry My Dead Body" more than does justice to the original. Chiefly, the remake resurrects the original's sense of whimsy, maintaining a light comedic touch throughout. To differentiate itself from the source material, a few details change, but these innovations serve primarily to add a bit of Thai spice to the mix. The Red Envelope never feels like a shot-for-shot remake, although it does retain a few notable screen shots from the original. Those deliver the hijinks as effectively in this version as they did in the progenitor. As with the original film, a young man finds himself bamboozled into a ghost marriage. A string of terrible bad luck overwhelms his natural reluctance to marry a dead person, and he agrees to the union in a bid to change that luck. As with most ghost stories, the plot then concerns itself with the living person trying to figure out what tasks the deceased left undone, so that they might move on to whatever is next. Along the way, the audience is treated to a man streaking through a sobriety check, a Pose-style dance off that would make Mother proud, a Muay Thai boxing camp, and a cops-and-robbers shoot-out. Lead actors Billkin and PP Krit, serving here as executive producers as well, established a proven chemistry with one another across multiple previous projects, and they use that familiarity to good advantage here. The actors bounce off each other in a way that keeps the film energized. If you enjoyed the Taiwanese film, you'll probably enjoy this take on the same story. If you never saw the Taiwanese film, you don't need to start there as this version stands on its own merit.

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Monstrously bad

It has been a long time since something irritated me as badly as Hoshi 35. Ostensibly billed as a kaiju flick, it underperformed in that manner epically. The kaiju was on screen for less than five minutes--in all forms. The rest of the film was a disturbing tale of human sacrifice, brain washing, and murder. If that sounds more exciting…it wasn’t.

1000 years ago, in a remote village near the Tengen Mountain, a young woman is sacrificed to the Beast of the Star. Whenever the meteor appears in the future, young women are sacrificed to keep the Beast happy. Two geology employees studying the crater stumble upon the deadly and very creepy secret. They manage to escape when the villagers decide the outsiders are too big a risk. Thirty-five years later when a meteor approaches Earth headed for the mountain, the two return to the village hoping to save the villagers and keep another tragedy from happening.

Why are young women always sacrificed and not the village elder, warriors, or virgin boys? And in this case also offered up as some sort of companions? The film started turning into a village horror story but didn’t commit to that angle. Instead, it came across as misogynistic religious rites gone very wrong. After a bloody beginning it strayed into very boring territory.

A rubber costume was created, so why not use it more? Aside from the lack of a kaiju presence, because dear goodness I was truly wanting the villagers to be stomped on, the biggest transgression was in regards to the actors. Many of the older actors had been in numerous kaiju films. Odaka Megumi who played Aki starred in multiple Heisei Era Godzilla films. They even wasted Moll (Kobayashi Megumi) one of the Elias from the Mothra Rebirth trilogy. Almost no kaiju scenes and Godzilla/Mothra alums being relegated to this dreck-monstrous.

24 April 2026

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I can’t speak high enough of the young girl who played the FL. Incredible!

Yang Enyou is a Revelation. It would be an absolute travesty if Yang Enyou (who plays the young orphan, Zhang Xiaoyu) does not become a global megastar after this. Her performance is truly, unbelievably brilliant. In a genre often dominated by stoic fighters, she brings a raw, visceral vulnerability that anchors the entire film. You don’t just watch her pain and anger, you feel it in every single frame she occupies. She goes toe-to-toe with martial arts veteran Xie Miao and in many scenes, completely steals the spotlight. Her ability to convey that level of soul-crushing grief and white-hot rage at such a young age is nothing short of a masterclass in acting.
The only reason this isn’t a perfect 10 is that it is occasionally very difficult to stomach. Even for a gritty revenge thriller, the level of violence directed at a child is extreme. Seeing a young girl get gang-beaten, kicked, strangled and even poisoned is incredibly heavy and may be too much for some viewers. While it successfully fuels the fire for the eventual revenge, those specific scenes are undeniably brutal.
The sequel manages to surpass the original by adding a profound emotional core. Watch it for the top-tier action, but stay for the legendary performance by Yang Enyou. If this is the start of her career, the sky is the limit.

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