Roma (2018) - Movie Review

Before getting into this film, I want to show you all something:

That video was made in collaboration with Autism Speaks, an organisation that, for me and many other autistics, has become emblematic of just how much work needs to be done when it comes to autism awareness. It shows a level of sickening propaganda that it has also become an emblem of how we see the world perceiving us. It’s frankly hard to sit through without feeling like a pariah on one’s own planet. And it was directed by one Alfonso Cuarón, director of Y Tu Mamá También, Children Of God, Gravity and a bunch of other work more worth having one’s name attached to than this shit.

I bring all this up because, as I get into his latest effort, know that I am struggling with trying to separate his place as a genuine cinematic marvel with his culpability in something that haunts the autism movement to this day, especially since that very video is one of the reasons why I’m an advocate for the cause in the first place: I don’t want this shit hanging around and making things harder for me and others.

Okay, rant over: Let’s actually get into the film itself.

Arrival (2016) - Movie Review

This might have the single weirdest initial expectation of any film I’ve covered on this blog so far, based purely on the people behind the scenes. On one hand, you got director Denis Villeneuve, one of the greatest filmmakers working today who specialises in digging deep into the murky guts of humanity to create genuine works of art. On the other, you have writer Eric Heisserer who, aside from penning the woefully unnecessary Nightmare On Elm Street remake, also wrote this year’s winner for “No, I’m still not over this piece of shit” Lights Out. Conflicting opinions is putting it mildly. Then again, the big failing with Lights Out wasn’t exactly the writing, but more the director’s unwillingness to accept the far darker aspects of the themes involved. Anyone who has sat through Villeneuve’s recent works like Prisoners and Sicario will know that he can do no such thing. To make matters even weirder, what really makes this film stand out ultimately has nothing to do with explorations of morality or even getting into properly dark territory. Why did I bring it up then? Because sometimes, even if we want to argue otherwise, expectations don’t mean a damn thing.