Category: Drama

5.8

Not what I expected from A24. Or really from a stripper movie. This was dumber than “Showgirls,” and that’s saying something. I guess the lesson here is don’t ever base a movie script off a chain of tweet and reddit threads. I don’t even think they re-wrote and polished them. Just printed screenshots and ran with it.

Another valuable lesson – don’t go to Florida with a stripper you just met to go dance. Especially when she travels with a duo of… questionable men.

I’ll fully admit that I may have missed some deeper meaning here, but I also feel almost as resentfully confused as I was walking out of “Uncut Gems.” Also slightly offended? Let’s just say I have new frown lines and almost lost my voice yelling “WTF?!?” at the screen throughout the runtime. (Don’t worry, I was the only one in the theater)

7.6

I loved the sense of community that bled through the screen and into your heart while watching this one. The story was a bit cheesy at times, but the people were so damn relatable and likable, you couldn’t help but root for them and their horse. Get ready to cheer like a fool at a movie screen while watching the race scenes. After the past year, it’s great to see such an uplifting film that has a happy ending even more since it’s based on a true story.

8.1

Get ready to get sad. Then mad. Then worry. Then sad again. Then happy? I think it’s happily ever after, but damn… if it wasn’t a rough path to get there.

Huge Kudos to Mila Kunis and Glenn Close for taking on these roles. For a mainstream film, this story goes down some dark rabbit holes. It’s fairly unafraid to go places that help give the narrative much more weight and impact in the end. Stephen Root is a bit of a sleeper hit, though, serving to provide perfectly timed perspective to the other cast around him. Without him, I don’t think the story lands half of the punches it does.

May have to set your morals aside for the third act, or be ready to process some things. In the end, an incredible story to bring to the big screen.

8.5

A24 made this?!? I mean, there is a fire in the third act that reflects flickering light in the face of the cast that serves as a potent metaphor. But it’s not one of their family members ablaze, and there’s no witch in the woods who steals the children. Very out of character for them.

That said, this was an incredibly heartfelt and impactful family drama about the struggle to find the “American Dream” as an immigrant family. I loved the way that the story wove together so many different perspectives. American Culture, Korean Culture, Midwestern culture. The similarities and differences. What ties us all together as a community and what makes us unique as individuals.

Well worth having to read subtitles. I look forward to the film market becoming more international in the future, because of films like this.