I thought I could. I’m only nineteen, so it wasn’t exactly a lifetime ago. I thought I was somehow immune to the mundaneness of adulthood; that I’d never lose the whimsy and the wonder that my child self carried. I thought I remembered what it was like to be so excited by the simple pleasures.

Turns out I didn’t. I thought I did, until I watched new The Magic Faraway Tree film adaptation. Sitting in that cinema, I realised I’d forgotten how big everything used to feel. How bright colours used to look. How magical it felt to frolic around an empty field because in my imagination it was the garden to my fairy-princess castle.

When I heard they were making a film adaptation of one of my favourite childhood stories, I was skeptical. Part of me wanted to keep my foggy memories of pop-cakes as just that; memories. There was no guarantee that the production designer and I were visualising the Land of Sweets the same way, what if they got it wrong? Or worse, what if I was wrong? Perhaps the version I saw in my child-brain wasn’t in line with the description in the book, but that didn’t matter to me at the time. I had an image of my Enchanted Forest that I wanted to preserve. In my head, the art direction was going to make or break the film for me. My nana bought me every Enid Blyton book under the sun when I was a little girl, and I adored them. Every one of them was spine-cracked and dog-eared, but the one I always went back to was The Magic Faraway Tree.

Fortunately for me, the art direction was fantastic. Other than the fact that the allegedly freshly grown sweets in the Land of Sweets looked like they came straight from the cinema pick ‘n’ mix stand, but, to be fair to them, what other sweets were they supposed to use? Still, I think the emotions the film stirred up inside me were strong enough that I’d have loved it even if I didn’t like the set design. Just like I managed to look past the fact that they made Moonface a crescent Moonhair.

I was convinced the chances of them managing to do such a magical story justice on the big screen were slim, but when I finally saw it, I thought it was so beautiful that I had to see it again, and this time take my Enid Blyton-loving nana to see it too. It wasn’t Oscar-worthy by any means, but it made me feel things, and a film that makes you feel things is a good film in my book.

Here are some of my thoughts — this is one review I actually feel qualified to give, as I must’ve read the original book series ten times as a child.

A Brief Word on Enid Blyton

Let me preface: my nana loves Enid Blyton stories for the same reason I do — she has happy childhood memories attached to them. Neither of us agree with the prejudices that the author held. Whether they’re just generally reflective of the time period or she truly was just a hateful person we will never know, but there is no excuse for her bigotry. The Royal Mint and I are in agreement about this, since they refused to print her face onto a commemorative 50p coin calling her a ‘racist, sexist homophobe’ (all true). In fact in 2018, the year Enid Blyton’s rejected coin would have been released, we instead got two Paddington Bear coins. In my opinion, he is far more deserving.

Several revisions have been made to Blyton’s work, starting in the 1990s. All mentions of slapping children have been removed, characters have been renamed and words with prejudicial roots that were once used so casually have been replaced. Children today can enjoy Enid Blyton’s magical characters without the oppressive subtext.

Changes to the plot

The addition of technology with the children felt relevant too. In the books, Joe, Fran and Beth hated living in town, and were excited to move to the countryside. Of course, this was in the 1930s. The film versions, as to be expected of modern children, were horrified at the idea of moving to the countryside, and laughably, the big reason is because of their attachment to WiFi. Not their friends. The damn internet. Beth’s character especially struggled a lot; I remember groaning whenever she came on screen. I felt bad for it, because she was only supposed to be about thirteen, and by the end of the film I realised I’d probably been projecting. I hated Beth because I am Beth. We all are. We’re all so dependent on technology, that life without WiFi is genuinely unfathomable. It’s sad, thinking about how content I used to be simply sitting in the sunshine with a book. Whilst that is still something I enjoy, I can’t seem to shake my own tech addiction.

Upon discovering the Enchanted Wood, the children learn to love their new home. Perhaps I’m too easily moved, but watching fictional children get so excited to play outside made my eyes well up. As I said, my youth is hardly a distant memory, but there’s something about knowing we will never get to experience childhood again makes me feel something I can only describe as grief. To children, this was probably just a fun movie about magic, but when you engage with children’s media as an adult and finally pick up on the nuances, it takes on a whole new meaning. I often see people throw around the phrase ‘healing my inner child’ as a hook for a TikTok video, and whilst I don’t necessarily think my inner child needed healing, I definitely think it satisfied my inner child. Awoke her, perhaps.

Thoughts on the casting

I’m not here to pick apart the performances of children because I think that’s a little cruel, but I will say Beth’s performance wasn’t my favourite. She did, however, do a great job at getting on my nerves, which means she must’ve done something right. Joe’s actor sold me on the tween boy with a one-track mind for video games thing. Little Fran though, played by Billie Gadson who was only around eleven at the time of filming, completely stole my heart. There was a scene in which she started singing as a last resort when everyone else was feeling defeated, and although it was heavily autotuned, it was absolutely adorable.

As for the parents, Claire Foy was an awesome matriarch. Also, consider this article the start of my petition to get Andrew Garfield in more embarrassing dad roles. He has this incredible ability to convey such complex and raw emotion with the slightest facial movements. His performance was layered, as he was playing a character who was acting as a brave face for his children when really he was worried for their family’s finances, and you could tell. His face remains so beautifully expressive in this era of Botox — I have newfound hope that micro expressions aren’t a lost art. I almost wish the movie wasn’t about the children, because every time Garfield was on the screen I wanted more!

Nicola Coughlan was such a perfect fairy! I’m a big fan of when they let actors keep their accents, so I was happy to hear her Galway accent for once. I didn’t even mind that Moonface didn’t have a moon-shaped face because Nonso Anozie played him so beautifully. Have you ever noticed that little kids are strangely drawn to stern-looking men sometimes? I certainly was as a child, and nobody could understand it. My entire family could be over and I’d be most eager to play with strict grandfather. I felt safe with him, and I also found it funny seeing such a serious man holding a Barbie doll. I got the same impression from Anozie’s Moonface — stern, but a big softie really.

How could I forget about Rebecca Ferguson? All I have to say is that her filmography is so diverse that I would love to have a conversation with her agent. Now, right underneath the iconic agent Ilsa Faust in Mission Impossible and the concubine Lady Jessica in Dune, she can add fly-eating schoolteacher Dame Snap to her resume. Interesting choice, and I’m intrigued as to why on earth she made it. She was very scary, though, great work.

What about the visuals?

I blabber on about how much I care about art direction, which I do, but I’m still learning the ins and outs and the technicalities of it all. So I tend to ask myself: does it look real or not? I won’t pretend to be an expert in VFX, but I thought it was pretty good. In my head there is a scale that goes from baby Renesmee from Twilight to Davy Jones from Pirates of the Carribean, and I’d say it was closer to Davy Jones.

I did think some of the lands were better done than others. The Land of Sweets actually looked like a land, with citizens walking around and fields in the distance. There was attention to detail in terms of textures, colour schemes, geography. You couldn’t see the edge of the land at any point. Whereas the Land of Birthdays and the Land of Dame Snap looked like floating rocks no larger than an athletics track. Not a major drawback, but continuity is always nice. That’s the thing about films, there’s never enough time to delve into the specifics the way books can. Such confusions could be cleared up with a mere paragraph in a book, but they’re often brushed over in movies to save time.

Regardless, I could feel the magic in every scene, and that was what I was most concerned about. This film was as vivid as a child’s imagination. It has the colour grading we all wanted from Wicked. It made me feel like I was eight years old again, staying up past my bedtime to read under the covers with a torch. It wasn’t even a torch, it was one of those little penlights — I used to get a thumb cramp from holding the button down for hours on end, and it got dimmer and dimmer every day. I was just too invested in my books.

The Magic Faraway Tree was a wholesome film, but I will admit I was biased with my review because of my emotional connection to the story. It might not change your life, but it might make you reevaluate what is important to you, and reconnect you with your inner child. If you don’t fancy something hard hitting, I do think this is worth seeing.

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[MILD SPOILERS FOR EMERALD FENNELL’S WUTHERING HEIGHTS] Hot take, nobody would care that Emerald Fennell scandalised the 18th century by making it camp and sexual if she hadn’t done so under the guise of a Brontë adaptation. I thought the film was wonderfully unique and stylistically gorgeous, but I can see why lovers of the classic novel were frustrated. Whilst the quotation marks around “Wuthering Heights” are there with intention of warning viewers that her adaptation is a relatively loose one, I’m not sure they can excuse the fact that she decided to make Isabella Linton wear a collar and leash. [END OF SPOILERS]

The release calendar is stacked for the rest of this year! This is not a comprehensive list, simply the ones I am most eager to see. If you’re curious what else is coming to the cinema, I recommend looking up the DCM Film Release Calendar 26/26! Other titles include Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (Am I missing out having never seen any of the Star Wars franchise? Please let me know) Insidious: Out Of The Futher, and the live-action Moana. Plus, the Cannes lineup looks incredibly promising this year, but not all of them have confirmed dates for their theatrical release.

I’m a proud supporter of indie cinema, but also a sucker for a big-budget production that smashes Box Office records. Here are 12 blockbusters I’ll be showing up for on opening night:

1 May 2026 — The Devil Wears Prada 2

Everyone’s picked up on it in recent years. Studios are churning out reboots and sequels, playing it safe by sticking to franchises that they have confidence will sell. Still, I think they’re finally starting to realise people want to hear new stories. Ryan Gosling said it best: “It's not your job to keep theaters open... it's our job to make things that make it worth you coming out”. Movies like Project Hail Mary make showing up to your local cinema and spending your hard-earned money worth it. That being said, there is something special about seeing characters you love grow and change throughout movie franchises, the same way we do throughout our lives — it makes them feel more real. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a sequel I actively want to see, not just one I’ll passively watch. I think Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are all brilliant. Plus, Vogue by Madonna is on the soundtrack, and it’s always nice to hear a Madonna song trending.

8 May 2026 — The Sheep Detectives

This film is one I want to watch because it’s such an odd concept. Do you ever see something and wonder, who on earth would think of this? That’s exactly how I feel about The Sheep Detectives. If you haven’t seen it advertised, this film is exactly what it says on the tin. A flock of sheep step in and act as detectives when they’re unsatisfied with police attempts at solving the murder of their shepherd. Bizarre, right? It’s a comedic Knives Out style whodunnit with talking animals, and it’s starring one of my biggest celebrity crushes: Hugh Jackman.

29 May 2026 — Backrooms

A24 could release a two-and-a-half hour movie called Watching Paint Dry and I’d still go and see it, because I’m that confident that there will be some sort of unexpected twist. No studio is doing it like A24. The exciting thing about this particular project of theirs is that they completely handed the reins of this project to a 20-year-old with absolutely no directorial experience — or film industry experience for that matter. Kane Parsons hadn’t even been a floor runner or a camera assistant when he was handed a big budget and full creative freedom to create a feature film about the creepy internet urban legend of The Backrooms. I’m particularly fascinated by this decision, and I have a full article on this coming in a few days!

10 June 2026 — Disclosure Day

Even those who don’t care for film know the name Steven Spielberg. His upcoming film Disclosure Day is probably the one I’m most excited for out of this entire list. It revolves around a sudden revelation — or, disclosure — of aliens existing among us. Spielberg believes the themes explored offer “more truth than fiction”, making me think that theres going to be political and religious metaphors embedded. Science fiction is growing on me as a genre, and if you like your sci-fi dark and serious (something closer to Arrival than Project Hail Mary — can you tell I liked Project Hail Mary?), I think this will be a film for you.

19 June 2025 — Toy Story 5

Does this franchise need an introduction? The release of Toy Story 5 will mark almost 36 years since the first film came out. A lot of the children who saw Toy Story in cinemas will probably be taking their children to see Toy Story 5, and I think that’s beautiful. In fact, it might be my favourite thing about the franchise — it’s never felt like Pixar churned out movies for money. 1995, 1999, 2010, 2019, and now 2026. They waited until they felt there was an important story to be told, and this time around it’s about how technology is stealing childhoods. The Magic Faraway Tree explored the same theme this month, and I thought it was very relevant and moving. Take away the iPads and let kids play!

26 June 2026 — Supergirl

You’ll notice there are both Marvel and DC films on this list. I see the rivalry, I respect the rivalry, but I’m still an enjoyer of both! If you’ve never really gotten into superhero films, the new DCU is a great place to start. It began with Creature Commandos (2024), which I confess I haven’t seen, followed by Superman (2025) which I loved. For a darker, less gimmicky take on a classic hero, Robert Pattinson is great in The Batman (2022) but he’s not a part of the new DCU. Whilst Superman is your classic heroic good guy, his cousin Supergirl is more of an anti-hero of sorts. The kind of strangely loveable character who at first glance isn’t heroic at all, but pulls themselves together in the third act. Milly Alcock is a great actress if you didn’t catch House Of The Dragon or Sirens, and her portrayal of Supergirl looks promising!

17 July 2026 — The Odyssey

Leave it to Christopher Nolan to deliver a star-studded cast. I feel like The Odyssey is one of those books that’s on everyone’s reading list but nobody has ever read. It’s a challenging read that I’m yet to attempt, but I trust that if anybody can do this complex story justice on the big screen it’s Nolan. This film is also one of the three films Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are starring in together this year, along with The Drama and Dune: Part Three, which I think is pretty cool.

31 July 2026 — Spider-Man: Brand New Day

In my personal opinion, Marvel is so back. Of course, it helps when the two leads are head-over-heels in love in real life (can you believe Tom and Zendaya got married in secret?). Marvel went through a rough patch after Endgame, but recent releases have given me hope. Plus, if you’ve ever seen a single clip of Tom Holland talking about Spider-Man, it’s so clear how passionate he is about this character. I love when actors love their work and are proud of it, it always reflects in their performance. Plus, in my eyes, and in Stan Lee’s, Spider-Man is the superhero. Even if I ever fall out of love with the MCU, I know I’ll always keep up-to-date with Spider-Man.

20 November 2026 — The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping

This one is a big win for the fans, since Haymitch’s games have been something we’ve wanted to see for a very long time. The art direction in this film looks absolutely phenomenal - everything is so vibrant that when I watched the trailer I felt the way I imagine people felt when the first technicolour film came out. If you liked how The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes visually separated itself from the original trilogy to avoid comparison, you’ll appreciate the direction they’ve taken this film. Lionsgate want you to know that their prequels stand on their own, and that you’re allowed to enjoy them without feeling like you’re betraying your beloved Catching Fire.

25 November 2026 — Focker-In-Law

This is a film I’ve spoken about before from a franchise I’ve spoken about before! After 16 years, we are returning to the Meet The Parents universe. Ben Stiller is now the age that Robert De Niro was at the time of the first film, and has said that this was what sparked the idea. If you’ve seen the original film, let’s just say history will be repeating itself as Henry Focker introduces his new girlfriend Olivia (played by Ariana Grande!) to his father. If not, hurry up and watch the first three films in this franchise before November 25th! I think Robert De Niro is hilarious in dry comedic roles, and Ariana Grande shocked us all with her comedic timing in Wicked. I can’t wait to see them together. Roll on November!

Now for the most anticipated double feature since Barbenheimer…

18 December 2026 - Dune: Part Three & Avengers: Doomsday

Now, these two don’t have the stark contrast that Barbie and Oppenheimer did, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t an exciting double bill. Part Three is to be Denis Villeneuve’s final Dune film, whereas Doomsday is the penultimate chapter of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. In Dune: Part Three, we welcome newcomers like Anya Taylor-Joy (who had a cameo in part two, but I’m excited to see her character in more depth) and Robert Pattinson. Avengers: Doomsday will unite all the new teams we’ve seen form — the Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts/New Avengers, Sam Wilson’s New Avengers — with some familiar favourites like the X-Men!

Which will you be seeing first?

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P.S — Did the italics get old after a while? I feel like I name-dropped so many movies that they started to look silly. As I’ve said, I’m here to hone my craft so any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated, just please be nice when you phrase your constructive criticisms because I’m sensitive.

Thank you and lots of love,

Lily

We’ve all seen them. The films with the posters that look like the main characters have been snipped out of a magazine and stuck on to a piece of white printer paper with PVA glue. Still, arguably less of a crime against graphic design than those floating-head promo posters.

I was inspired by my own recent activity on Letterboxd - how funny do all these posters look alongside each other? They all look the same! It’s literally as if they all lined up the way we used to on school picture day and all used the same white backdrop and same lighting.

So why were they everywhere?

I’ll be honest, its never bothered me enough to look into it. I quite like them. I believe the purpose of the white background was to easily capture your attention by showcasing the characters, which is ironic because I find them rather bland and uninteresting. I can’t hate them though, because of the nostalgia I feel when I look at most of them. Still, I find them perplexing.

Something I do like about them is how they indicate the tone of the film and the relationships between the characters by the way they’re posed. It’s fairly obvious from the poster that one of the of the key themes in Bend It Like Beckham is going to be friendship, and that there’s going to be some tension between Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents. Perhaps that’s why we mostly see this style of poster in lighthearted genres like romance and comedy - above you can see the Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers floating-head poster from the same year as the Bend It Like Beckham white-void poster. I’m not sure that an isolated image of Frodo Baggins would market the franchise as effectively as the dark backdrop they opted for.

Since I consider myself a connoisseur of this particular nanogenre, I thought I’d share some of my favourite White Void movies (should I trademark that?). You’ve probably seen them, but if you haven’t and you tend to gravitate towards feel-good films after a long day, here’s a few of my faves.

1. 10 things I hate about you (1999)

I’m sure this will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody. A Shakespeare-inspired 90s rom-com with Heath Ledger as the love interest? I’m sold. This film is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew, and follows Patrick [Ledger] in his efforts to get Kat [Julia Stiles] to date him so that new-student Cameron [Joseph Gordon-Levitt] can date her sister Bianca [Larisa Oleynik].

This film is everything I could possibly want in a teen rom-com. Kat is strong and independent, and doesn’t immediately succumb to Patrick’s undeniable charm. I also particularly enjoy when the guy is the one doing the chasing, even if it does mean that my standards for men in my personal life are now frustratingly high.

2. Meet The Parents (2000)

This is a recent watch for me, but I thought it was brilliant. My mother insists that Ben Stiller isn’t funny unless you’re a 14-year-old boy, but my step-dad and I were cackling the whole way through. It follows Greg Focker [Stiller], a friendly nurse and loving boyfriend to Pam Byrnes. They’ve reached that point in their relationship where it’s time to meet the parents (no pun intended), but Pam’s dad Jack [Robert De Niro] proves to be a difficult man to impress.

It’s funny in a let’s all laugh at this guy’s misfortune sort of way and is a great pick for family movie night. Robert De Niro is absolutely brilliant - I honestly prefer him in this comedic role than any of his classic films (Breaking News: Taxi Driver, The Godfather and Goodfellas found dead in a ditch). Plus, if you enjoy it, there’s two more films in the franchise and a fourth film coming this November.

3. Winning London (2001)

If theres one thing my generation missed out on, it’s Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — somehow nobody my age has ever seen a single one of their films! Fortunately for me, I grew up with a cool young mother who had every single one of their DVDs. In my opinion, Olsen twin movies deserve the same appreciation as Lindsay Lohan’s or Emma Roberts’. Winning London in particular was always one of my favourites.

Like all teen movies, this is far from cinematic excellence. It follows American twins Chloe and Riley Lawrence [Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen] who travel to London to represent their school in Model United Nations. During their trip they must navigate a competition mishap, seeing the sights of London, and their unexpected romances. It’s cheesy, and predictable at times, but that’s all part of its charm. Expect killer montages and 2000s outfits to die for!

4. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Has Wes Anderson ever made a bad film? I don’t think so. There’s a few I’m yet to see, but I’ve loved all the ones I’ve watched, The Royal Tenenbaums included. From its star-studded cast (I particularly love when Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson get to work together) to its stunning art direction, I consider this a near-perfect movie. I’m a sucker for a visually pleasing film, and this one does not disappoint.

The Tenenbaums are a family of child prodigies — Chas [Ben Stiller] got into real estate and finance as a teen, Margot [Gwyneth Paltrow] was already an amazing playwright by 9th grade, and Richie [Luke Wilson] was a tennis champion. Their brilliance was forgotten after two decades of family drama, and the film follows their unexpected reunion. This is a film I put off watching for ages, and regretted waiting so long once I finally did. Whilst some of the films on this list may be personal favourites, I think this one is objectively great. Letterboxd users have very high standards for films, and this one has an average rating of 4.1 stars, which has to count for something.

5. The Nanny Diaries (2007)

My lockdown Black Widow obsession led me to binge Scarlett Johansson’s entire filmography. Whilst I preferred We Bought A Zoo, it was this film that met the criteria for this list. I really liked this film; I’m sure you’ve noticed by now I have a soft spot for feel-good films. Since Uptown Girls is in my Letterboxd top four, perhaps I also have a soft spot for films about cool nannies and dysfunctional children.

The Nanny Diaries follows a working-class college student called Annie [Johansson] who finds herself working as a nanny for a rich family. She must juggle her studies, her new romance with ‘Harvard Hottie’ [Chris Evans], and her new job looking after a very spoiled child. I’ve seen some harsh reviews of this but as someone who rates films primarily on enjoyment, I think those people are far too pretentious. It’s got the rom, it’s got the com, and it’s got Scarlett and Johansson and Chris Evans playing lovers. Personally, I think this is a fun movie.

Bonus: The Red Shoes (1948)

This a rogue inclusion for this list, but I figured go big or go home for the final pick. If we’re being technical I suppose the background of this poster is more of an off-white, but this is my article so I’m going to let it slide. This film is one I’d never have thought to watch on my own, but saw a screening of with my university Film Society, and was pleasantly surprised by. Watching Babylon made me want to get into Old Hollywood cinema, but I didn’t know where to start. Though this film is British, I’d say this was my gateway, since it’s older than my grandparents.

The Red Shoes is a drama about ambitious ballerina Victoria Page, who is forced to choose between her dedication to her career and the man she loves. There’s drama, sacrifice and betrayal, and if it came out today I think it’d be a massive hit. If you love technicolour, extended visual metaphors and the charming style of old movies, you’ll love this film.

Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama follows young couple Emma Harwood [Zendaya] and Charlie Thompson [Pattinson] in the week leading up to their wedding. During a final menu-tasting with maid of honour Rachel [played by Alana Haim] and best man Mike [Mamoudou Athie] Emma reveals something that alters her fiancé’s perception of her entirely.

‘Before we got married we did this thing where we said the worst thing we’ve ever done’

This icebreaker-style question quickly evolves into something darker.

‘What the fuck, Emma?’

The trailer for this film is easily one of the best I’ve ever seen. It revealed enough to lure me to the cinema on opening night, all whilst withholding the actual plot of the film. Based on the trailer alone, never in a million years could I have foreseen the direction in which this was going to go. I can guarantee one thing: whatever you think Emma is about to say, she isn’t. My screening was so packed that the collective gasp we let out made up for the awkward silence at the on-screen dinner table.

I hope more directors utilise trailers in such a way as Borgli did here. Instead of writing obscure plot-twists that all follow somewhat of the same structure - around the end of act two the audience will learn that all is not as it seems - perhaps we should stop revealing the entire main plot of the film in the promotional material. With books, the only information you know going in is what can fit into the short blurb on the back cover. A three-minute-long trailer gives away too much. I found it refreshing to go in almost completely blind, and the shock I felt from the big reveal stayed with me for hours after I left the cinema. After getting too comfortable rewatching familiar favourites (2000s DCOMs, if you must know), this reminded me how powerful cinema can truly be.

Like all great films, one of the key themes here is morality. It almost serves as a thought experiment - in fact, there are points where Charlie even phrases his situation like one. Hypothetically, what would you do if X? It’s really not clear who you’re supposed to root for here, if anyone at all. Everybody I know who saw this film is in agreement about their feelings towards certain characters, Haim’s character in particular being the one to unite viewers. Like the rest of the characters, she is complex and incredibly real, but if there’s one thing from the trailer that you can take at face value, it’s that Rachel is a force to be reckoned with. The most unnerving movie characters are never the otherworldly entities. They’re the ones you recognise from your own life; the ones you may even see a bit of yourself in, whether you like that or not. It makes you question who you would align with as you mentally immerse yourself in their world, and in doing so you learn something new about yourself. Alternatively, here’s my slightly less profound analysis: Rachel’s a bitch, but I also somewhat understand her.

I’ll be honest, the main theme of the film could definitely have been developed further. Not that I was dissatisfied, because the story was definitely more character-driven than plot-driven. I was too invested in Charlie and Emma’s relationship to dwell too much on the lack of backstory depth. However, if I could talk to Emma, I’d almost certainly seem like an annoying toddler with the amount of why questions I would have for her. That being said, it was really interesting to see this topic discussed in the romance genre. It’s one that is often dramatised in cinema for entertainment purposes, so I liked seeing a more realistic depiction of an issue that has such an effect on so many lives. It tests the limits of what is forgivable versus what isn’t, and whether individuals are at fault for problems caused by greater society. I realise this doesn’t mean much without knowing what topic I’m referring to, but I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that this film is darker than it initially lets on.

And since this is my first time writing a spoiler-free film review (?), I’m going to leave it there. Overall I thought this film was brilliant, and I highly recommend seeing it in cinemas and going in as blind as possible. You won’t regret it.

Long live A24!

Love,

Lily

Yeah. I’m a self-proclaimed film girlie and yet there’s a bunch of ‘classics’ I’ve just never got around to watching. In my defence, I am only nineteen. And I’m a uni student. I’ve been known to rate objectively terrible movies five stars because I simply enjoyed them, and I continue to defend Marvel movies.

1. I will get around to Interstellar someday

Given that I just rated Project Hail Mary five stars, (amaze, amaze, amaze!) that day will probably come soon. However, I will be holding out on The Godfather for as long as humanly possible. My watchlist seems to be never-ending (Interstellar has genuinely been on there since the dawn of time), and yet I always seem to go back to the same comfort films (Uptown Girls is a big one for me).

2. I like to think of myself as a non-pretentious film girlie

We Bought a Zoo was in my Letterboxd top 4 for a very long time. I’m a sucker for a Disney Channel original movie. I wont shame you for not watching niche foreign-language silent films because honestly, I don’t do that either. I’m sure they’re fantastic, but I should probably see Oppenheimer first. Probably The Dark Knight too. Perhaps I should be marketing myself as an aspiring film girlie, considering I’m definitely not qualified to give recommendations. Still, I have a passion for film and I’m gonna keep giving them anyway. I especially love films that are visually beautiful as well as emotionally moving, and I love to give my friends hyper-specific recommendations that suit their vibes!

3. Yes, I did just follow the template Substack gave to me

It seemed like the easiest way to check off the ‘create your first post’ box of the profile setup. I promise I’m usually far more insightful and literate. It is currently 1:31am, and I decided to act upon my impulses and start this blog. I’m halfway through writing a spoiler-free review of The Drama, which I saw this week and LOVED. I’m going to aim to post something film-related every week.

4. Let’s be friends!

I’m really hoping to build a little community here! If I’ve managed to capture your attention I’d be eternally grateful if you’d subscribe, and equally if you think I’d like your blog feel free to interact, I’d love to check it out!

5. Here’s my Letterboxd!

I drop the occasional witty one-liner, if anyone’s interested. My username is lilsashl, and I don’t have many mutuals yet! I also only really locked in with letterboxd recently, so dont be alarmed if it says I’ve only seen about eighty films. I’m logging as I go!