Movie Review - Caddo Lake

Director: Logan George, Celine held
Genre: Drama/ Mystery/ Thriller
Runtime: 99 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Eliza Scanlen, Caroline Falk, Lauren Ambrose, Sam Hennings, Diane Hooper, Eric Lange
 
Description: When an 8-year-old girl disappears on Caddo Lake, a series of past deaths and disappearances begin to link together, altering a broken family's history.

Review: Caddo Lake is a zone of hundreds of lakes and streams with overhanging trees in the southern United States. A young girl goes missing among the mangrove forest when she chases after her older half sister Ellie in a boat. Fed up with the arguments at home, Ellie spends the night at her friend’s house on the other side of one of the lakes. When she learns that her sister is lost, she rushes back to her mother and stepfather to join the search.

In another storyline about the residents around the lake area, scrap metal collector Paris is still struggling with the death of his mother, who crashed years ago. Paris led a reclusive existence ever since, still searching for answers around that mysterious day. Ellie’s physical quest and Paris’ spiritual one seem to have little connection, yet converge. Caddo Lake connects their lives in a way that is as chilling as it is meaningful.

Directing duo and husband and wife Celine held and Logan George set a tremendously atmospheric mystery with “Caddo Lake” that remains intriguing all the way to the end, when the pieces of the puzzle fall together. The mystery surrounding the characters and that vast lake builds slowly, but the tension is palpable in every scene.

Dylan O’Brien, who plays Paris, never managed to land on Hollywood’s A-list, but his acting has proven for years that he belongs among the talents of his generation. It is Eliza Scaneln as Ellie, however, who is the absolute star of the film. Her performance is mesmerizing.

“Caddo Lake” is best to watch without knowing to much about the plot. It has some mind blowing plot twists and remains intriguing until the very end. Really strong mystery, streaming on Prime right now.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

TV Show Review - Sharp Objects (Mini Series)

Season: Mini Series
Genre: Drama
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2018
Starring: Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina, Eliza Scanlen, Elizabeth Perkins, Sophia Lillis, Matt Craven, Henry Czerny, Taylor John Smith, Lulu Wilson, Miguel Sandoval, Barbara Eve Harris   

Description: A reporter (Amy Adams) confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to cover a violent murder.  

Review: “Sharp Objects” make is painfully clear that this is a psychological drama series, with a hint of mystery. Admittedly, Camille Preaker is sent to Wind Gap, her hometown, by her employer Frank Curry, to report on the murder and disappearance of two teenage girls. However, we only learn the reason for this decision as the series unfolds.
“Sharp Objects” is not for people who like fast-past whodunits. The HBO series choose a bold path of looking back to the past and a killer who targets young girls. The series, with its protagonist wonderfully played by Amy Adams, is a portrait of a damaged woman who sees words as pain, as an enemy and a friend in the world she lives in.
You need to pay attention to detail since there are words you can see along the way, that have a certain meaning or effect on Camille. In the street, in her car, on her body. And there are many theories of why Camille is the way she is.
Amy Adams is, a I mentioned before, amazing as the lead. You really feel her emotions and her performance is so strong, it blows off the screen. And she is accompanied by some really strong people. Patricia Clarkson, as her mother Adora. Her performance gave me the chills. She scared me in some way. And Eliza Scanlon, who plays Camille’s younger sister Amma. What a performance by this young rising star.
The slow pace does not bother me one bit, since the characters are all very complex and there is time needed to develop them and make them realistic. Bit by bit you are discovering why Camille didn’t want to go back to Wind Gap in the first place, why her younger sister acts the way she does and why Adora is so cold towards Camille.
“Sharp Objects” is not an easy watch, it’s a pretty depressing series. But well worth your time, since the performances and the story that unravels are really good. And that ending, it left me in awe. No happy ending here I can tell you.

Movie Review - Little Women

Director: Greta Gerwig
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, James Norton, Louis Garrel

Description: Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters: four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms.

Review: Louisa May Alcott’s novel “Little Women” has stimulated filmmaker’s fantasies for over a hundred years. The story, which revolves around four sister who tried to develop their artistic talent during the American Civil War, has been adapted for film several times. But never as good as now. After the highly praised “Lady Bird”, director Great Gerwig once again delivers a feminist tour de force, bubbling with life. “Little Women” is an anything but stiff and old-fashioned costume drama. See for example the smooth dialogue Gerwig has written for her female protagonists. The ladies don’t wait their turn before they are allowed to speak, but tumble verbally constantly. This gives the film a lot of dynamic.
Louisa May Alcott’s novel is divided into two separate periods, in which the youth and adulthood of the sisters Jo, Amy, Beth and Meg March are the focus. Gerwig remains faithful to the content of this story, but fortunately does not opt for the same, predictable structure of the book. She cuts up the two timelines and mixes them up, creating a story structure that is actually much more exciting. Because only gradually does it become clear how the past exactly influenced the present.
Although the story takes place in the nineteenth century, “Little Women” often feels surprisingly contemporary. This is mainly because the traditional division of roles between men and women is changing. Whereas the women with their fiery ambitions are the driving force behind this story, the men are merely on the sidelines as spectators or desperate love interests. And yet it is inevitable that even the sisters come up against certain limits set by sexism as they travel their ambitious life path.
Jo in particular is sick and tired of doing what is expected by society. She has no interest whatsoever in marrying a rich man, but above all she wants to be independent and publish her own novel. Even if this means ending up lonely and poor. Sister Amy, on the other hand, is much more willing to give up her dreams in exchange for security and prosperity. It is there kinds od contradictions from which the subtle drama in “Little Women” derives its power. Gradually, the bond between the sisters dissolves in the flow of time, after which each one chooses her own path and different destinies become visible.
Finally, it should be mentioned that Greta Gerwig has brought together a star cast for “Little Women”. Afterwards the performances by Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh, both nominated for an Oscar, will remain in the memory. But the real star is Greta Gerwig herself, who, with her skillfully crafted costume drama, once again resounds a strong feminist sound in Hollywood. Sadly the Academy didn’t acknowledged her great direction for an award.
I can’t fault “Little Women”, it’s a movie I could watch over and over again.

Rating: 5 / 5