Veron The Reviewer

The Flight Attendant is a thriller comedy-drama series starring Kaley Cuoco, Michiel Huisman, Zosia Mamet, Rosie Perez, and Michelle Gomez, among others. It is based on the novel of the same name by Chris Bohjalian. Its story concerns the misadventures of hedonistic and alcoholic flight attendant Cassie Bowden as she desperately tries to solve an increasingly complex mystery while the authorities and her past catch up with her. The plot was twist-filled and had an abundance of thrilling moments. It was also a fascinating study of someone like Cassie, dealing with a lot of baggage and trauma by losing herself in alcohol and other hollow indulgences. The story featured assassins, corporate espionage, murder, betrayal, and a bevy of personal secrets. There are a few concurrent plot lines running, and most of them (except one) basically tie back to the central mystery Cassie must solve or are extensions of Cassie's interpersonal conflicts with the people around her, making the story ti...

The Edge Of Seventeen  is a 2016 comedy-drama film starring Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, and Kyra Sedgwick. The film focuses on troubled seventeen-year-old teenager Nadine (Steinfeld) as she grapples with the growing relationship between her best friend Krista and her brother Darian, dealing with the fears of her friend "abandoning" her for her brother and navigating through the lingering trauma of her father's death. The film shows an honest, raw examination of what it means to truly grow up. Throughout the entire film, Nadine presents a sarcastic facade to everyone and behaves in rather self-centered ways. We can understand that she is likely still reeling from the death of her father, and her mother is distant, while her brother is too wrapped up in shouldering responsibility in domestic life to really put up with her. Everyone gave great performances, especially Hailee Steinfeld, almost effortlessly juggling the shifts between her snarky exterior and her more vu...

Pieces Of A Woman  is a drama film directed by Kornél Mundruczó and written by Kata Wéber. It stars Vanessa Kirby as Martha, Shia LaBeouf as Martha's partner Sean, and Ellen Burstyn as Elizabeth, Martha's mother. It is a deeply affecting and emotionally intense drama centered around the aftermath of the tragic stillbirth of Martha and Sean's daughter. The at-times heart wrenching and doubtlessly sincere performances from everyone involved are what make the film so great. The cinematography, especially in the opening act, feels intimate, as if you were peering into the lives of the characters as they navigate the uncomfortable fallout from the inciting incident, all the way to the sad-yet hopeful finale. The acting is impeccable. Vanessa Kirby, best known for being Princess Margaret in the first 2 seasons of The Crown , delivers what is probably the best performance of her career, especially in the standout sequence near the beginning of the film where Martha begins to go in...

Hereditary  is a horror film directed by Ari Aster, starring Toni Collette as Annie Graham, Gabriel Byrne as her husband Steve Graham, Alex Wolff as son Peter, and Milly Shapiro as daughter Charlie. It centers on a family that suffers from a horrible tragedy and begins to fall apart, all the while sinister secrets are dug up. Much like The Witch , the film is more of a slow-burn horror in terms of pacing. Unlike The Witch , the film is set in the modern day. Firstly, the acting. Toni Collette's acting as Annie, mother of two and whose own mother had recently died, is beyond excellent, with certain scenes in particular allowing her to show a wide range of emotions and deliver a genuine performance, at times unsettling, at times heart-wrenching, but 100% real and believable. Gabriel Byrne, as well-meaning father Steve, serves as the most grounded center for the film, the middleman in the familial conflict between Annie and Peter. Alex Wolff's Peter is a 16-year-old with a lot of ...

The Witch  is a horror film directed by Robert Eggers, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, and Kate Dickie. It follows an American Puritan family in the 1630s living in exile at the edge of a nearby forest as they are tormented by hostile otherworldly forces. Firstly, the acting. Anya Taylor-Joy's performance as Thomasin, eldest daughter of the family, is wonderfully intense and sincere in displaying the hardships of the life of a young Puritan girl, especially one whose role in the family is so thankless and ignored. Throughout the film, she tries to win her mother's approval and dutifully support her family, but is instead repeatedly used as a scapegoat for much of the family's woes. Ralph Ineson plays gruff but well-meaning father William, and Kate Dickie plays distant mother Katherine. Every character feels real, no doubt helped by the authentic dialogue accurate to the time period, which must have been difficult to remember and was painstakingly researched by the p...

Run  is a thriller directed by Aneesh Chaganty and starred Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen. Kiera Allen stars as Chloe, a young woman excited to go to college but is unfortunately plagued by various illnesses that necessitate the constant care of her mother Diane, played excellently by Paulson, who has homeschooled her ever since she was young. The film is mainly set in their house, and from the start there are already hints of underlying tension slowly developing between mother and daughter as Chloe begins to suspect her mother of keeping secrets from her. The plot is simple enough. Chloe is a wheelchair-bound young woman who begins to notice something strange about her mother and her secretive manner and strives to understand more about her situation. Kiera Allen, herself a wheelchair-using actress, plays Chloe as a sheltered but resourceful young woman trying to understand her mother's increasingly sinister-seeming actions, played with a sense of vulnerability and quiet intelligen...

This is a review of Carrie (2013) , the 2013 remake adaptation of Stephen King's classic horror novel. It stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Carrie White, a troubled teenager who discovers that she has telekinetic powers, while having to contend with an abusive mother and school bullies. The film also stars Julianne Moore as Margaret White, Carrie's abusive mother and a religious fanatic; and Judy Greer played Miss Desjardin, Carrie's supportive gym teacher. Directed by Kimberly Peirce, the film is competently shot and the acting is good, but it just seems superfluous at times and comes off as a retread of well-worn territory. Regarding the acting, Chloe Grace Moretz was a perfectly fine Carrie White, showing an apt level of vulnerability needed for the character and keeping that sense all throughout the film, even as she gains some more agency and confidence through her development of her powers. However, I have noticed (as have many others) that Moretz seemed a little too pictur...