Reminiscence is a 2021 sci-fi thriller film directed by Lisa Joy, starring Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, and Thandiwe Newton. Set in a future Miami that has been partially submerged by rising sea levels, the film follows Nick Bannister (Jackman), a private investigator who helps people relive their memories through a technology called “The Reminiscence.” On one particular visit, a mysterious woman named Mae (Ferguson) walks into his office and Nick becomes obsessed with her. After they build a relationship she suddenly disappears leaving Nick to look for her. This leads him down a dangerous path filled with secrets and betrayal.

As Nick delves deeper into Mae’s past, he discovers that she is linked to a powerful businessman named Walter Sylvan (Brett Cullen) and his shady business dealings. With the help of his colleague Watts (Newton), Nick uncovers a web of corruption and deception that threatens to destroy everything he thought he once knew. As he races against time to save Mae and bring the perpetrators to justice, Nick must confront his own memories and confront the harsh reality of a world where the past can be both a comfort and a curse.

Interpretation

Overall, Reminiscence is a gripping and atmospheric film that combines film noir and science fiction elements to create a compelling and thought-provoking story. With stunning visuals, strong performances from its cast, and a haunting score, the film offers a captivating glimpse into a familiar and unsettling future. While it may not be perfect, Reminiscence is definitely worth watching for anyone who enjoys a good mystery with a sci-fi twist.

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The Night Agent is a 10-episode series streaming on Netflix about an American government conspiracy. The story follows an FBI agent who found himself at the right place at the right time, Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) was on a train when he discovered a bomb. His ability to neutralize the threat and drastically reduce the number of casualties caused him to get a promotion. Because of his actions, he became the agent that picks up the phone of an emergency FBI line. A phone that normally never rings until Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan)  is on the other end. The both of them find themselves so deep in a conspiracy that it reaches up into the Oval Office. 

Peter is someone who religiously does everything by the book, with hopes of helping him escape the tainted past of his father. While Rose has no problem bending the rules in order for her to survive. They both have to find a way to compromise if they wish to stay alive. 

Interpretation 

The show had a great pace the whole way through as the audience slowly unravels the truth behind what is going on in the White House. The depth of the characters made it hard to assume what would happen next and who you could trust. The viewers had no choice but to become their own detectives throughout Night Agent. The series showed a multitude of thrilling scenes that had me on the edge of my seat. This is a series for those who love conspiracy theories. Also, a show made for the people who loved the Jason Bourne series.  I would definitely recommend The Night Agent as a great short show to watch, especially since it’s already been renewed for another season. 

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Uncut Gems is a 2019 criminal thriller film that was directed by both Josh and Benny Safdie. Adam Sandler plays the role of Howard Ratner, a jeweller in New York City who is addicted to gambling and makes a series of high-stakes wagers in an attempt to pay off his debts. The film is directed by Todd Phillips.  Howard He purchases an extremely rare black opal with the intention of auctioning it off for a substantial sum. But, things rapidly go out of control as he is put under pressure by his creditors, struggles to maintain healthy connections with his family, and endures a series of unfortunate events.

The level of suspense in the movie steadily rises due to Howard’s increasingly precarious circumstances brought on by his reckless actions and poor choices. It is difficult for him to maintain his personal ties, and he fights a losing battle to keep his company going while also indulging his addiction to gambling. The narrative takes place against the backdrop of the NBA playoffs in 2012, which lends a heightened feeling of both urgency and excitement to the experience of watching the movie.

Interpretation 

As time in the movie passes Howard put more bets on his parlay. Howard as a character has a moral flaw of Greed. Nothing is enough for him, he always wants more. Even when he has enough money to pay off his debts he still opts to get a bigger payout if he can. Howard as a protagonist is definitely well-written but the characters around him lack any depth. Perhaps this is cause we didn’t get to spend a lot of time with the other characters, so they just seemed one-dimensional and static. In order for Howard as a character to change he would have to let go of his want in order to find his need. There is not a single point in this movie where I thought he was going to do that. 

The Safdie brothers and Adam Sandler each shine in their respective roles in the exhilarating and gripping Uncut Gems, which demonstrate their respective abilities. The movie is a wonderful example of how to create suspense and build up tension, and it also features an outstanding supporting cast that includes Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, and Lakeith Stanfield, among others. In the end, the movie delves into topics such as addiction, greed, and the perils of putting oneself in dangerous situations for no reason, which makes it an intense and thought-provoking film to watch.

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Michael Mann is the director of the crime thriller “Heat,” which was released in 1995. The film tells the narrative of two individuals in Los Angeles who are on opposing sides of the law. The movie contains an amazing cast that includes Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, and Tom Sizemore. The story follows a crew of highly trained and experienced criminals, commanded by Neal MacAuley (Robert De Niro), as they plan and execute a string of high-stakes robberies around the city. LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), takes on the case after one of their operations goes astray and culminates in a violent encounter with the police. He then begins a search to bring down MacAuley and his team. 

The film delves deep into the psyches of its characters, presenting them as nuanced characters who face their own challenges and have their own reasons for doing the things they do. Because of the demands of his profession, Hanna, a veteran police officer, is a workaholic who struggles to form meaningful relationships with his wife and stepdaughter. On the other side, MacAuley is a self-disciplined and systematic thief who is plagued by his previous failures and is resolved to retire after making one final score. As the two men chase after one another across the city, they gradually acquire a resentful admiration for one another. This leads to a decisive encounter, which puts their abilities and commitment to the test. 

Interpretation

“Heat” is widely recognized as one of the greatest crime movies ever filmed, because of its brilliant performances, riveting action sequences, and thought-provoking themes. The movie covers hard subjects such as the nature of obsession, the cost of living a life of crime, and the thin border between legality and lawlessness. “Heat” is a must-see for anybody who respects excellent filmmaking as well as fans of the genre because of its high-octane car chases, dramatic shootouts, and sophisticated story twists.

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This movie starts in the thick of it with the company starting to lay off people on an entire floor. The first fire we see is of a man named Eric Dale. Eric is surprised that he was even going to be fired because of his role in the company but it seems that they are coming for everyone in this firing spree. As Eric is leaving he mentions that he’s been working on something. First, he tells Will who comforts him by saying that he no longer has to deal with the company’s business, he’s free now. The second person he tells is Peter. He gives Peter the hard drive that his work is on and before he goes he says “be careful.” Doing all of this naturally caused Peter to be curious as to what Eric had been working on. So that night Peter went through the work and was able to complete it. After doing so he found that the company had been replicating the same graphs of companies within a bubble. I believe it was 5 days out of the last two weeks that they replicated the graph. Eric’s work didn’t stop there, it also predicted that the company would not be profiting for very long. When Peter found this out he immediately got his friend Seth to bring Will in to see Eric’s work. With Will now seeing it two things had to be done: the high-ups need to be notified immediately and they need to find Eric Dale. This is what sets the movie into motion. 

Interpretation

The movie did a great job of illustrating the 2008 recession from the perspective of a large organization finding out before the rest of the world did. After 2008, the world looked at the large corporation as those who were responsible and to blame for the incident while in the movie they want them to know that they’re not alone. A recurring idea in the movie was that those in charge had almost no understanding of the company’s specifics. They made it abundantly clear that they were in the dark mainly because it wasn’t their job to learn the specifics. The movie also showed that the company was willing to let other people lose their money knowing that they were selling something that had no value. They tried to justify it by saying if the person wants to buy then let them buy. This was clearly wrong and it highlights the moral environment. Nothing is more important than money, they don’t care if other people are losing it if they continue to gain it. 

My favourite moment in the movie was Eric talking about the bridge that he made. This was Eric trying to explain to Will that there are more important things than money, which is helping people. Eric created a bridge, with his calculation he was saving people thousands of hours in the car because of where the bridge was and how it was set up. Eric took pride in that what he did allowed people to get back the most valuable thing in the world, time. This point put Dale in a new light. He was different than the people that he would work with by having different priorities. Will was trying to get him to come back to the office where he would just get paid to be there but with this story, he showed that some things are worth more than money. This great moment was ruined when we later saw Eric come back to the office even after how he was treated when fired. But just like he claimed, “he needed the money.” Showing that at the end of the day, it always comes back to money. Like many of the other people in this movie, Eric set aside their principles in the pursuit of money, and the 2008 bubble didn’t help them learn their lesson. 

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The Ghost of Tsushima starts with an all-out battle between the Japanese Samurai and the Mongols. The battle begins with a dual where a Mongol throws alcohol on a samurai and then lights a match on him. This is the first demonstration of how dishonourable the opponent is. We follow a samurai named Jin Sakai who rushes into battle alongside his comrades. After a while, it’s clear that the Samurai are outnumbered, and failure is inevitable. Several arrows hit Jin and he falls unconscious as a result. We wake up later and discover that we were healed by a thief named Yuna. We learned that she saved us to use us to help free her brother who was captured by the Mongols. Jin offers to help Yuna and repay his debt, but they will need his uncle’s help. His Uncle, Lord Shimura, was also captured by the Mongols. Jin’s main desire is to free his uncle so that they can fight back the invaders of their island. Jin and Yuna infiltrate the compound that Lord Shimura is held in and Jin duals the grandson of Genghis Khan. Jin proves no match for his opponent. He luckily survives the encounter and realizes that he will need more help if he wishes to free his uncle. 

Jin is able to quickly get the help of Sensei Ishikawa and Lady Masako. They both of course have their own problems that require Jin’s help in exchange. Jin begins to help Yuna save her brother but has to resort to actions contrary to what he was taught as a Samurai. He had been always taught to kill with honour. However, the only way that he can have a fighting chance against the Mongols is to resort to dishonourable methods. With Yuna’s influence, Jin assassinates his enemies. Jin justifies this to himself by saying that he does what needs to be done to save the people of Tsushima. With flashbacks of Jin learning the way of the Samurai, we can see glimpses in Jin’s character of him reacting out of emotion. 

The subplot stories of Sensei Ishikawa and Lady Masako are variations of Jin’s journey. In order to defeat the Mongols Jin has to participate in actions that are contrary to what he was taught. He goes against his tradition, the code that the Samurai live by. In Sensei Ishikawa’s story, a student of Ishikawa has betrayed him and is using what he taught her to teach the Mongols. Lady Masako is out for revenge against the people who slaughtered her entire family. Whoever did it seem to be close to the family in some way? Both stories centre around betrayal, much like Jin’s own betrayal of tradition. 

Jin eventually meets up with an old friend, Ryuzo. Ryuzo now leads a group of Straw Hats and Jin offers to help them find food in exchange for their help in freeing Lord Shimura. The Straw Hats are a group of Ronins who are classless Samurai. After a dual that took place when the two were younger, Ryuzo was forced to live a life of a Ronin instead of being a Samurai like he always wanted. Ryuzo has held some contempt towards Jin for how vicious he was during their dual. When the time came to free Lord Shimura from the Mongols Ryuzo was nowhere to be found. Not only did he not show up to help but he appeared later with the intent of killing Jin to reap the rewards of the bounty placed on his head. This is another act of betrayal, one between once close friends. 

With Lord Shimura now being saved the legend of The Ghost was now spreading around the Island of Tsushima. Jin is now known as a ruthless and unique fighter who is Tsushima’s saviour. His methods of dealing with the enemy are heavily contested by Lord Shimura who believes that what he’s doing is unforgivable and blasphemous to the way of the samurai. Jin has no choice but to walk separate himself from his uncle and look to deal with the invading threat on his own. A threat that he can now handle since he is The Ghost of Tsushima. 

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Taylor Sheridan is the director of the 2017 criminal thriller movie Wind River. The story of Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), a game tracker who finds the death of Natalie (Kelsey Asbille), a young Native American woman, in the middle of the Wyoming wilderness, which is set in the Wind River Indian Reservation. Cory teams up with inexperienced FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) to find the killer when she is assigned to look into the case.

The two become embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the murderer as they investigate the case further and uncover a web of corruption and secrets within the reservation. They must also confront their internal demons and the trauma they have endured in the past as they travel. This story shines a light on the unquantifiable number of Native American women who don’t get the proper attention regarding missing person cases. Along with one heartbreaking example of what could happen. An example that is based on a true story. 

Interpretation

The movie Wind River tells a compelling tale about justice, retaliation, and the extent people will go to protect those they love. It is dramatic, emotional, and powerful. The film gives Cory a chance at redemption for what happened in his own life by helping find out who killed Natalie. This is where the emotional cord is and the writers do an amazing job of tugging at it. Much like Prisoners, the story shows what someone is willing to do for family. It was a real tearjerker, but still a movie I’d recommend to someone that wants to go through a world wind.  

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Denis Villeneuve is the director of the crime-thriller movie Prisoners. The film’s opening scene shows a deer looking for food in a snowy forest as a shotgun barrel enters the picture. In the movie, Hugh Jackman plays Keller Dover, who goes deer hunting with his son Ralph (Dylan Minnette).  Keller advises Ralph to always be prepared as they make their journey home.

When two young girls vanish and the police are unable to discover any clues, the movie takes a terrible turn. In an effort to recover his daughter and the other missing girl, Keller decides to take matters into his own hands. The movie focuses on the conflict between Keller and the primary investigator Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), as well as the emotional and physical toll placed on the two criminally suspected prisoners. When the characters see startling inconsistencies in their environment, their nerves get frayed and their tempers flare.

Interpretation 

The compelling and powerful movie Prisoners examines issues of justice, morality, and the extent people will go to defend those they care about. Hugh Jackman, who plays the frantic father, gives a standout performance, as does the rest of the ensemble. The tension-filled environment of the movie, along with its cleverly devised narrative, makes for an exciting and intense viewing experience. Prisoners is a must-see for those who enjoy criminal thrillers and well-made movies that keep you on the edge of your seat.

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“Sound of Metal,” directed by Darius Marder, was released in 2020. The film tells the story of Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a heavy metal drummer who suffers from unexpected and severe hearing loss. As he struggles to accept his condition and the prospect of a life without music, he seeks help from a deaf and hard-of-hearing support group. He meets and begins to learn from Joe (Paul Raci), a recovered drug user and community member who can assist him in adjusting to his new world.

The film focuses on Ruben’s emotional journey as he deals with the loss of his hearing, the sense of identity he finds in music, and how he adjusts to his new reality. Along the way, he is dealing with the pressure in his relationship with his girlfriend (Olivia Cooke) and bandmate. Identity, community, and the strength of human connection are also explored in the film. Sound of Metal garnered strong accolades from critics and viewers alike, winning multiple awards and nominations, including the Academy Award for Best Sound.

Interpretation

Rubens’s entire life gets turned upside down when he loses the ability to hear. He has no choice, but to stop drumming, even though it’s the only thing that can pay for his implants, the most important thing is to get his mind wrapped around the idea of being deaf. This brings him on a journey of how to experience life through this new lens. 

In this new world, he learns to navigate without a key part of his identity (being a drummer). And even though he can’t hear his surrounding he’s still distracted. Ruben is unable to be still. He keeps trying to find a new way so that life doesn’t pass him but that’s not where the true value is. The value is in his ability to be in the moment, present, and still. To really take in the world instead of just living in it. 

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“On the Count of Three” is a dark comedy about two best friends, Val and Kevin, who decide to end their lives together. As they make their final preparations, they reflect on their past and realize life’s true value. However, as the clock counts down to their chosen moment, a series of unexpected events forces them to question their decision and confront their inner demons. They also start to reflect on their relationship as friends and how they have affected each other lives and start to find new ways to cope with their struggles. As they come to terms with their past and future, they must make a choice that will change their lives forever.

Interpretation 

At the heart of the movie is the beautiful friendship between Val and Kevin. We see the ups and downs that they go through and them figuring out what’s worth living for. They agree that they won’t be living to see tomorrow they live differently than normal, It’s a life with no regrets. Whether that be attempting to fix old relationships or clearing your conscience through actions.

The performance, by both Jared Carmichael, and Christopher Abbott, was both amazing and kept you engaged in the story. A quick movie that only last an hour and 30 minutes but It still left a lasting impact on the viewer. If you are having thoughts of depression or suicide please talk to someone. Search up hotlines that are available 24/7 and are there to help. 

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