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Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey… Why?

On January first 2022 the 1926 novel of Winnie the Pooh entered the public domain, enter this guy Rhys Frake-Waterfield.

I want whatever he is on, because not only has he single-handedly turned our beloved woodland creatures in to cannibalistic, psychopathic murdering machines he has come out and said that he plans to make a shared universe with… Bambi and Peter Pan, ladies and gentlemen we are getting a multiverse that no one has asked for and one we don’t even need.

But anyway let’s dive in to possibly one of the most unintentionally hilarious horror films of this year.

Prepare yourself, because the plot I am about to dive in to is real… this isn’t some weird fever dream, this is an actual movie, someone has actually made this film… that being said let’s begin.

So we’re all familiar with Christopher Robin and Winnie The Pooh right? They hung out in the one hundred acre wood with Tigger, Rabbit, Owl and Piglet, right well Christopher brings them food for them to survive, he then heads off to college to study to become a doctor.

Pooh and the gang grow hungry during the winter and end up turning to cannibalism and savagely eat Eeyore alive.

I certainly did not have that on my 2023 bingo card but yet here we are!

It’s all downhill from there, I don’t even know where to begin with this film, I think the one question on mine and everyone else’s mind is… why?

Why take a beloved children’s character that so many generations have grown up watching and reading and turn him in to something like… this!

There isn’t even a justifiable reason why Winnie the Pooh kills in this film, Christopher just simply grew up, he grew up went to college I mean what sixteen year old do you know that has imaginary friends that live in the woods… not many.

You are probably thinking right now “you are reading way to much in to this dude, it’s a film enjoy it” maybe I am but still in a way I’m not wrong.

Blood and Honey is everything that is wrong with public domain movies, filmmakers make these films and then wonder why people hated it, I mean they received death threats from die hard Winnie the Pooh fans, yet they still went ahead and released it… it earned a dire 3% on rotten tomatoes.

Critics said that there’s zero coherent story, and the production value is bad, they’re not wrong it shows, however there is a plus… it does have a good slasher element to it and some kills are dare I say it brilliant, gory but brilliant.

Sadly that’s the only plus that’s in this film, it gets a very rare 0/10 from me, it’s bad that’s all you need to know.

As always catch ya later 🙂

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Barbarian, An Absolutely Terrifying AirBnb Horror

I heard about this when it came out, didn’t go cinema to see it but I had heard very good things about it, when it was available on Disney+ I went in completely blind and was blown away by just how scary it was.

Barbarian follows a woman named Tess checks in to an AirBnb only to find it’s been double booked, enter Keith who has to now share the home with Tess.

We get a couple of bits of dialogue between the two as well as a bit of background for each character, Tess the next morning heads to a job interview and is warned not to go back to the house.

This ladies and gentleman is where we get the first unpredictable moment in the film, Tess heads back, sees a hidden room in the basement, she finds a stained mattress and a bloody handprint, someone else is in this house.

After finding Keith he goes and investigates the hidden subterranean tunnel, when he doesn’t return Tess goes and finds him, badly beaten he is then killed by a deformed woman known as The Mother.

Mother turns out is a woman who back in the 80s was kidnapped and cruelly tortured by a man named Frank.

This is where we meet the homes current owner AJ, a disgraced sitcom actor accused of raping his female Co star, to afford the extortionate legal fees he is told he needs to sell some of his assets, the Airbnb home included.

He heads to the home and works out the value, discovering the tunnel he now believes this hidden secret room will now up the value.

He discovers Tess who is being held captive by Mother, AJ is then dragged away by her and forced to be breastfed by her, it turns out that the mother wants AJ and Tess to be her children.

AJ escapes mother and finds another doorway, this doorway mother seems scared to go near, opening it we meet Frank, AJ believes Frank to be another victim of mother and tells him he’s going to help him, then Franks true nature is revealed and he winds up killings himself.

AJ and Tess manage to get away with the help of a homeless man, mother promptly deals with him and kills him in a rather gruesome fashion, the two climb up a water tower where AJ pushes Tess off in order to save himself, mother saves Tess and goes all game of thrones on AJ and breaks his skull.

Cradling Tess mother sheds a tear, Tess then kills Mother by shooting her with Franks revolver.

We are then treated to one of the most out of place songs in this film, Be My Baby by The Ronettes as the credits roll.

I honestly wasn’t expecting this film to be really good, I was really surprised by it, I saw the trailer and it didn’t give anything away, it led me to believe that Keith (played by Bill Skarsgård) was the villain, but alas it took a route I really was not fully prepared for.

Mother is by far one of the most terrifying monsters I’ve seen in any horror movie (the entity in Smile is a close second) the way she looked from the first moment you saw her is truly the stuff of nightmares.

The scares were brilliant as well, most horror films really use the jump scare to death, but this film relies on tension as well as couple of jump scares here and there, it doesn’t overdo it which I found to be a massive breath of fresh air.

If you love horror then Barbarian is definitely a go too film for you, it has everything… a terrifying monster, terrific scares and a ton of tension enough to put anyone on the edge of their seat, it gets a massive 10/10 from me, check it out you honestly won’t be disappointed!

As always… catch ya later 🙂

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Interview With Award Winning Short Film Director Jack RH O’Sullivan.

I had the privilege of sitting down earlier this week with an award winning short film director, he has directed films such as the award winning short Tourette’s And I, and the short crime thriller Injustice, I had spoken to him via his Instagram about his recent work, as well as his upcoming film The Projectionist which begins shooting this June.

Tourette’s and I, where did the idea for the story come from, like what made you wake up one morning and say “you know what I’m going to make a film about this Tourette’s?

“I’ve always wanted to make a movie about it, but never felt I was ready or the time was right. It wasn’t till we saw we had an audience at film festivals with PsychoPath, I felt we can really show awareness internationally. I wanted to make a film based on my life experiences with Tourettes, and when I finally knew we had an audience, and a crew all dedicated to bringing the story to life, I knew we were ready”

Growing up with Tourette’s how did you cope as a child/teenager with it?

“I struggled with it badly, it really made life hard growing up, very tense fears when leaving the house to go out to school, college and uni. It was painful with the tics, always in pain. But I’ve accepted it now, making the film was very cathartic”

I can imagine, you say you’re a massive movie buff who would you say your big sort of influences are when filmmaking

“Georges Méliès, Wes Anderson, Spielberg, Nolan, Jean- Luc Goddard, Shane Meadows”

Wide array of filmmakers there, some current and some old I like that, Georges Méliès that’s quite impressive what drew you to him?

“1902’s Trip to the Moon, the film that inspired me to direct. I love how he was part of the beginning of special visuals effects and the way without sound, you are still engaged to his movies via visuals and artistry”

I love that, let’s propel ourselves let’s say ten years in to the future where do you see yourself then?

“I’d like to see myself making a feature for theatrical distribution. Get films in Cannes and Venice Film Festival, which is what we’re planning with my next short film”

Very ambitious I love that! When you released Tourette’s and I did you ever anticipate the reception that it got?

“I didn’t no, I was overwhelmed, it meant a lot people wanted to listen and see what life with the condition is like. Made me very happy”

I bet! When you got the email or however you found out regarding the first award what was that like, surely that must’ve been overwhelming?

“I was so overwhelmed, I got an email saying we won both best drama short and best trailer at the same festival, it was amazing. People really responded to the movie and its emotional arc”

And which festival was that?

“The Europe Film Festival”

You also won awards in various other countries again what was that like hearing that you reached other countries?

“It was a great feeling, we had reached so many people all over the globe, people really accept the awareness, and awarding the film, was helpful in spreading said awareness”

You have another film in the works titled The Projectionist, in which you describe as a love letter to cinema, tell me… what was the inspiration behind this project?

“Always been fascinated with film and the power of cinema. The film is a character study in mental health and how cinema can be a powerful tool to help. It helped me when depressed, so I wanted to do a film that showcased both”

Reminds me of Cinema Paradiso was that one of your inspirations for this film?

“It was indeed yes”

You said earlier that Spielberg was one of your inspirations, I take it you have watched The Fablemans if so that and Cinema Paradiso would you safely say they were your top inspirations for this project?

“Those two, and the smallest show on Earth”

I can’t say I’ve heard of that one who directed it and how was that an inspiration?

“Its an 1957 British comedy film, directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Peter Sellars, its a comedy about a run down cinema, our film isn’t a comedy its a drama, but Sellars plays a Projectionist in the film who has his own emotional issues, like ours, oh and empire of light for the visual influences”

If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring filmmakers out there what would it be?

“Make movies, get your phone or camera, make a movie, submit to festivals on FilmFreeway, there’s loads of free ones as well as paid ones, but that’s what we did, we tried to break in the industry for years, but we make our films, submit to festivals and that’s how we broke in. You got a film studio In your pocket, our next film is shot on iPhones, you can do the same”

Random question to wrap up here, as a child was your dream always to be a director?

“It was since I was seven and a half”

it’s been an absolute pleasure, for the record the projectionist starts shooting in June when can we expect it to be released?

“Late this year early next year, maybe even New Year’s Day”

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The French Dispatch, You Cannot Get Any More Wes Anderson Than This Flick

I absolutely love Wes Anderson, his style of filmmaking is fantastic, the symmetrical shots, the colour pallets he uses, it’s a treat for the eyes that is for sure.

The French Dispatch is an homage to the world of journalism and journalists, each of the characters you meet is based off of real journalists who worked at the company The New Yorker, a rather popular weekly magazine that covers a whole variety of topics, from politics to the fine arts and culture, even works of fiction, poetry and cartoons have appeared in the magazine.

The readership for this magazine are diverse but mostly they’re affluent and culturally savvy people.

What I love about this film is it definitely feels like a Wes Anderson movie, it has the trademarks seen in most of his films, the perfect symmetrical scenes that are just so satisfying in a rather odd way, it’s dare I say it but… an OCD sufferers dream.

Let me explain.

Everything in the shot fits like a glove, perfect… in fact so practically perfect you see everything that’s going on in the scene, it’s so organised that it’s a treat not only for your eyes but for your brain as well, everything works so well that… there’s no need to nitpick at all.

The plots to his films are absurd but again they work so well, The Life Aquatic, Bill Murray’s character Steve Zissou goes after the shark that killed his best mate and partner, it’s a revenge story but done in the most Wes Anderson style way.

The Grand Budapest, Ralph Fiennes plays a famed concierge named Mr. Gustave who is framed for the murder of a rich widower played by Tilda Swinton, again it’s practically perfect.

What I find baffling is… he has never ever won an Oscar… sure they have been nominated but he’s never won, which in my eyes is criminal, he brings such a quirky take to making films, I think that is why I am such a fan of his, because his films are so pleasing to watch, so eye catching, so… perfect.

The French Dispatch is really good, I really recommend it, if your a fan already of his work your in for treat, if it’s your first film by him… well then you are also in for a treat, a solid 10/10 for me.

Until next time… catch ya later 🙂

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Avatar, Are The Sequels Really Needed

Avatar: The Way Of The Water has hit theatres, twelve years after the first film was released, we’re expected to get not one more, no not two more, definitely not three more… five more Avatar movies!

Yes ladies and gentlemen five Avatar movies are being made, we have the first two done and dusted we just need the other three to wrap things up.

This brings me on to entire point of this post, are the sequels really needed.

No.

Avatar saw groundbreaking CGI, no one had ever seen CGI like it in 2009 and critics loved it, just look at the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes

“It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron’s singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking”

The film was hailed as a new way to see CGI in movies, it was as I said groundbreaking, it did usher in 3D cinema (look how long that lasted)

3D cinema died a slow painful death, it was expensive to shoot in 3D and those glasses… expensive as well.

Now of course we still have 3D movies in the form of 4DX, yes while that is still relatively expensive it is definitely worth the price of admission.

But I digress, let’s get back to Avatar.

The way the first film ended, Jake as we remember became one with his avatar, the humans failed to achieve what they set out to do, which was as we know to mine unobtainium, the villain died, so he’s not coming back after getting shot by two arrows, he practically ceases to exist anymore.

They bought him back! Yes ladies and gentlemen Stephen Lang’s character is back, why you may ask, well your guess is as good as mine and that is… I don’t know.

He’s now an AI sending the humans back to Pandora! (Because it worked so well first time round for them didn’t it) seriously I don’t get it either but James “money bags” Cameron certainly gets it.

As I’ve stated before, the way the first film ended there was no need for a sequel, let alone five more.

The box office well let’s just say it was below expectations, that’s a big oh dear as they were hoping for big numbers, it’s tenth in the highest grossing movies of this year and Cameron came out and estimated that due to the films near record breaking budget, it would have to be in the top eight highest grossing films in history, and that’s just to break even.

So in answer to this question and that is are the sequels needed, the answer as I have stated is a simple resounding… no… they are not needed at all.

Anyway guys as always catch ya later 🙂

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Tourette’s And I, Quite Possibly One Of The Most Eye Opening Short Films I Have Seen

I love a good short film, it always astounds me how directors can cram so much story in to a twenty-thirty minute timeframe, you get short comedy films, short documentary films even short horror films (there is a dozen on YouTube that are well worth a look at)

I want to talk about a little film called Tourette’s And I, it’s a film about yes you guessed it Tourette’s syndrome and how it effects one man’s day to day life.

I have known people with this, I went to school with a boy who had Tourette’s, we still talk to this day believe it or not.

Tourette’s and I follows the story of a man who attempts to go for a job interview but is quickly overcome by a bout of tics, he quickly leaves the interview.

It’s possibly one of the most eye opening short films I’ve seen, Children Of Leningradsky was the most hard hitting short film but Tourette’s and I is the most eye opening.

It highlights a disability that people don’t really understand, people who have Tourette’s are constantly bullied and mocked for their tics, it’s sad but it happens.

There is another film that highlights Tourette’s syndrome titled Front Of The Class, again well worth a look as it’s a true story, once again it highlights how one child is bullied because of his tics and how his school principal helps him.

I do think people need to understand a bit more about Tourette’s, at the end of the day they are still people too, they have jobs like what we have, I mean some have families, they are normal people like you and me, but the whole bullying aspect it really needs to stop.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, as I have said countless upon countless of times, it’s eye opening, as it highlights a disability that people need to understand better.

10/10 for this one, the acting is brilliant and the story will indeed make you cry.

As always guys until next time… catch ya later 🙂

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Nope, Jordan Peele Knocks It Out Of The Park Again!

Jordan Peele is slowly but surely becoming one of my all time favourite directors, from his debut smash Get Out (which won an Oscar for best original screenplay) to his sophomore smash Us.

His movies are like a breath of fresh air, sure we’ve seen plot lines like Get Out before and yes we have seen UFO movies before, but Peele adds his own twist to it, I think that’s why I like him, he brings something new to a plot we’ve seen time and time again and they all have these underlying themes to them.

With Us it was about the Tethered, and how we as humans are our own worst enemy, it’s clever, it’s… fantastic.

But alas we are not here talking about Us, nor are we here talking about Get Out (if you haven’t seen both of those then… stop reading! Go watch them, get out from under that rock) no we are here to talk about Nope.

Nope follows the story of brother and sister duo OJ and Emerald Haywood (trust me there’s a joke in there about the name OJ and it is actually really funny)

They along with their father played briefly by Keith David run a horse ranch where they enter said horses in to film and tv productions such as commercials, after their father mysteriously dies by having a nickel impale him through his eye they are running on hard times.

One horse reacts violently when a crew member working on a project startles the horse so they end up selling a few horses to rival ranch and theme park owner Ricky “Jupe” Park who owns the western themed ranch Jupiters Claim.

Jupe uses his theme park to exploit his tales of when he was a child actor, basically long story short Ricky was a child actor on a sitcom called Gordy’s Home, the titular chimpanzee Gordy gets startled when a helium balloon pops, he then goes and maims three of his co-stars.

That is one of the most disturbing scenes in this movie, you don’t see anything but you do see it from Ricky’s point of view (he hid underneath a table) but you hear everything, it’s grim, really grim.

Anyway, Jupe decides to buy OJ and Emeralds ranch off of them which obviously Em thinks is a great idea and tries to encourage OJ to accept the offer.

They then discover that a UFO has made itself at home above their ranch, horses disappear and electricity starts playing up, they soon discover the cause of the horses disappearances, the UFO is scooping them up and spitting out inorganic matter from the ship.

Wanting to cash in and attempt to get wealthy the Haywoods decide to document the UFO.

Jupe however decides to cash in a different way, by having a paying audience see the UFO in what I like to call “the most disturbing scene from a horror movie” the paying audience which includes children… oh yeah this movie goes there, they get sucked up in to this rather claustrophobic tube and are then dismembered, the Haywoods then get a rather bloody rainstorm (I’ll let your mind guess whose blood it is) I’ll give you a hint… it’s not horses blood.

I won’t say anymore about the plot but just know this, it gets better.

I honestly do think this is Jordan Peele’s best work, it is terrifying to say the least I was on the edge of my seat watching this, disturbing yes, funny… there were a few funny moments granted but I don’t think it was as funny as Get Out and Us, it was more dark… really dark and those two scenes I have mentioned above show just how truly disturbing this film is.

Would I see it again… yes. Yes I would, I enjoyed it, it was a really good film, as I said it has to be Peele’s best work by far it was amazing.

Definitely gets a solid 10/10 from me, it’s brilliant it’s everything you could ask for from a Jordan Peele movie, honestly you won’t be disappointed!

As always guys catch ya later 🙂

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Is The Jurassic Park Franchise Dying?

Jurassic Park not only ushered in a new era of filmmaking, it ushered in a new way we saw special effects in cinema.

Stan Winston with his animatronic dinos were something no person had ever seen on the big screen, paving a new way as to how we saw creatures on the big screen.

Gone were the days of the stop motion era, from Jason and The Argonauts to Clash Of The Titans, the Harryhausen era was over and animatronic creatures were in, believe it or not but Spielberg cited Harryhausen as one of his inspirations.

The first Jurassic Park which was released way back in 1993 was groundbreaking, it paved a new way for how we saw creatures and monsters, as I said before gone was the stop motion era.

The film was released to widespread critical acclaim, the Rotten Tomatoes consensus states “Jurassic Park is a spectacle of special effects and life-like animatronics, with some of Spielberg’s best sequences of sustained awe and sheer terror since Jaws”

It was so popular with audiences and critics that it spawned a sequel titled The Lost World, albeit it wasn’t well received, the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes states “The Lost World demonstrates how far CG effects have come in the four years since Jurassic Park; unfortunately, it also proves how difficult it can be to put together a truly compelling sequel” it earned a 53 percent rating by critics.

The film is… dare I say it but, okay.

It’s silly, granted, but where else are you going to see a T. rex rampage through San Diego.

The third instalment was… yeah let’s not dive in to that one, granted I enjoyed it as a kid but now I just think it’s stupid.

After years of waiting we finally got a new look at Jurassic World, and what a movie that was… I reviewed it years back when it first came out, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Then we got Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom… I can’t even begin to explain how poor this movie was, with the whole cloning the little girl to the auction, yeah I really hated this one.

Now the third instalment, going by the consensus on this one it’s bad “Jurassic World Dominion might be a bit of an improvement over its immediate predecessors in some respects, but this franchise has lumbered a long way down from its classic start”

This now brings me on to the whole point of this post, and that is… is this franchise dying, should it just die and become a prehistoric fossil.

Jurassic World was a step in the right direction, Hammonds dream had been made, and people were flocking to the park in their dozens.

In my honest opinion it should have ended there.

The rise and fall of Hammond’s vision would have worked wonders as a one off movie rather than three.

Understandably they wanted to make sequels but the way Jurassic World ended they didn’t warrant the need for any sequels to be made.

Dominion was so misleading with marketing, they released a prologue, a T. rex rampaging through a drive in cinema, it’s not even in the film.

The trailer made it look amazing, dinosaurs on the loose in various cities across the world, but instead we got a mission impossible type movie.

It’s certainly not the best entry that much is true, it was however great seeing Laura Dern and Sam Neill back.

Sadly it does fall flat, and it’s definitely one of if not the worst in the Jurassic Park series.

In my honest opinion it does need to die, this last one has perfectly shown that, it needs to become a prehistoric fossil, especially after this one.

As always guys catch ya later 🙂

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C’mon C’mon, heartfelt, funny and a definite Oscar contender

Two amazing films have come out in the last few months, we’ve had Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical drama Belfast, and we have Mike Mills with C’mon C’mon.

What can I say about this movie that hasn’t already been said by various critics and audiences alike, it’s not only a great film it’s a fantastic one at that, the film stars Joaquin Phoenix as John, a documentary maker travelling various cities such as Detroit, New York City and New Orleans.

Tagging along is John’s nephew Jesse, now I’m going to stop right here and talk about this particular character because critics have been raving about this kid, “future star in the making” “he’s going to be big” “remember this name because he is going to be taking over Hollywood”

Jesse is played by newcomer child actor Woody Norman in quite possibly one of the best acting gigs he’s done (being it’s his debut) his character is played so well that during the 108 minute runtime, you sympathise a lot with this nine year old.

Basically his father is suffering from bipolar disorder and is receiving treatment for it, hence why he’s tagging along with John helping interview kids.

Now these segments involving these children are nothing short of remarkable because these children are not actors… they are real ordinary children which I have not seen done in a movie before… ever. Some of these questions and answers that are given is quite honestly very intriguing, such as “what do you think the future will look like”

It’s a fantastic movie that I predict should do quite well at this years awards season, from BAFTAs to Oscars and SAG Awards, you name it it’ll be a massive awards contender.

10/10 for this one, it’s a great movie, acting is brilliant specially from the young actor, Joaquin Phoenix does a really good job as well here too, cinematography is brilliant I should also mention too.

Until next time catch ya later 🙂

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Silent Night, Not Your Average Festive Christmas Movie

Tis the season to be jolly, at least that’s not what happens in Silent Night.

Now your probably wondering why that is, well let me tell you, a family of five that consist of mum (played by Keira Knightly) dad (played by Matthew Goode) and their three sons (played by Roman Griffin Davies and his younger brothers)

They invite friends and family for Christmas dinner and drinks, now again your probably wondering what’s wrong with that, well… here we are.

A toxic cloud of noxious gas is covering the Earth, and if your caught in said cloud you start bleeding from every and I mean every orifice on your body, really unpleasant if you ask me.

So the government have issued what’s called an Exit Pill, a suicide pill if you will, and everyone excluding illegal immigrants and the homeless have access to these death pills.

Yeah I did say it’s not jolly about two paragraphs back now you know, by the way side note, did I mention this is a black comedy, no? Well it’s a black comedy, there…. Now you know.

So, what happens during the final night on earth well secrets are revealed and home truths are said drinks are drunk and food is eaten.

That’s it, I’m not going to tell you the ending because let’s face it we all know what happens and it’s bleak, like really bleak.

Now, I want to mention one thing, the acting, especially by young Roman Griffin Davis star of the absolutely brilliant JoJo Rabbit, well he plays Art a boy who is fed up by the adults and how they’ve treated this planet, he references Greta Thunberg and the things she’s done as well.

Everything comes to a head around the table, and let me tell you this is the best part of the movie by a clear mile, you relate to this kid and it speaks volumes about the world we’re currently living in.

It also asks the question of what would you do.

What would you do if you was in this situation, how would you tell your kids that they have to take a pill that’ll kill them, painlessly and with dignity, after all the governments slogan for the pill is “die with dignity” or something along those lines.

It’s a rather thought provoking movie, and director Camille Griffin nails this, it does exactly what it says on the tin because it does make you think.

Camille Griffin pulls the rug out from underneath you during the second half of the movie, because what starts off as a Christmas movie quickly descends in to complete horror, and… I’m not going to lie but… it’s… it’s brilliant, fantastic even.

Now when I say bleak I’m talking about the final scenes, we see a family including a baby dead in a car, next thing you know families are having heart to hearts and taking the pill, it’s a very depressing ending to a film that I’ve seen since watching Fail Safe for the very first time.

Silent Night isn’t your standard festive Christmas movie for sure, but is it a good movie…

Yes… yes it is.

10/10 for sure, the acting is brilliant specially during the dinner table scene.

As always catch ya later 🙂