dazed41 Reviews

The Ancestral (2022)

Lots of Interesting Elements though Somewhat Confusing

[5/10 · 30 July 2022]

The Ancestral (Bong de) is a 2021 Vietnamese movie that had a promising, albeit cliche start. It started off as a typical haunted house movie that involved a bereaved family trying to have a fresh start in a strange place.

The movie was heavy with jump scares which, to be honest, kept me from dozing off during the first half. The musical score was able to set up the eerie atmosphere.

It's as if the scriptwriter wanted to have a shocking big twist but couldn't decide if he wanted a supernatural or psychological horror story as the reveal was a bit confusing. He either thought he'd do both or the supernatural element was all in a certain character's head. I just couldn't take the CGI seriously which ruined some scenes for me. As for the acting, I thought the child actors did very well. Overall, I thought there were a lot of interesting ideas in the film -- IG: cof.feestains.

Spiderhead (2022)

Entertaining yet forgettable.

[5/10 · 30 July 2022]

Spiderhead is a 2022 movie adaptation of the short story, Escape from Spiderhead, by George Saunders. The premise is interesting and reminiscent of Black Mirror--sadly, not as thought-provoking. Considering the dystopian nature of the story, they could've done more with it but it had nothing mind-blowing and kind of just fell flat towards the end.

On the other hand, it's good to see Chris Hemsworth showing his acting range. Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett were unsurprisingly good. Miles became one of my favorite actors since watching Whiplash and I loved Jurnee in Lovecraft Country-- IG: cof.feestains.