Before we dig into the Holiday season I wanted to do a quick recap of some movies I’ve seen recently. These aren’t going to be too in depth but I wanted to get them out of my head before it’s time to focus on the best that Christmas cinema has to offer. As always, I’m going to do my best to avoid spoilers, but if you’re really curious about something in one of these movies just leave a comment and we can discuss it there! Let’s start with the biggest of these three releases, Smile 2!

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Smile movie, brilliant marketing campaign but not too much else going on, so I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed Smile 2. This time around, Smile 2 focuses on a pop start recently returning to the world stage who ends up exposed to the Smile Demon, which slowly begins driving her mad. I really enjoyed the main character, Skye Riley, who is a flawed and kind of shitty person who seems to be trying her best despite dealing with substance abuse issues and a demon, which helped connect me to the narrative with its realism. A lot of the visuals and atmosphere here were also great, playing with the concept that Skye’s perception of reality is shifting and breaking under the weight of everything she has going on. I’m not completely sold on the ending. In a vacuum, it’s a really strong ending, both story-wise and visually, but I’m not sure how it matches up with the rest of the movie, because it functions as kind of a deliberate subversion of expectations. Either way, Smile 2 is a good movie that I would recommend, which is available for rental and I believe also streaming on Paramount Plus.

After really enjoying We’re All Going To The World’s Fair, I was pretty excited for I Saw The TV Glow, and even though I missed it in theater, seeing it at home did not disappoint! The story here is about Owen, a shy young student, who finds his life begin to change after being introduced to a mysterious television show by a new friend. Director Jane Shoenbrun’s signature atmospheric vibes are on full display here, weaving a surreal narrative about a myriad of topics, from how people relate to each other to small town life and even getting into deeper subject matter about depression, identity and the passage of time. Coupled with some fantastic performances, especially from Justice Smith, I think this is going to resonate with anyone who has trouble connecting with society. This isn’t a scary movie per se, but there is something weird and eerie always pushing at the edges of what’s present. I would definitely recommend this but it is a quiet movie for a more contemplative viewing experience. It is currently streaming on Max.

With the Blumhouse produced MEGAN being surprisingly good, I was cautiously optimistic that their latest movie about a dangerous AI would continue this streak. Boy, was I wrong. The plot is essentially that after a family is given an experimental AI home assistant, things go very wrong very quickly. Shamelessly borrowing plot points from quality science fiction movies, including MEGAN oddly enough, AFRAID speeds through a grocery list of dangers of the digital age without spending nearly enough time developing any of them. It’s difficult to overstate how badly this movie handles its own social commentary, as it brings up bullying, screen dependence, deepfakes, digital surveillance, gamification, and even swatting without saying anything about any of those topics beyond ‘that’s bad’. John Cho and Katherine Waterston are trying their hardest to make the clunky dialogue work but even these quality actors can’t lift the material, particularly with how sloppy and downright confusing the ending turns out to be. If you’re still really curious, this is on Netflix.

Thanks for sticking with me! We’re going to have a lot of fun in the next few weeks!