When winter days come and it gets dark rather early, I tend to stay in. You know… just cuddle under a wool blanket or duvet, sip something warm and tasty, and when one of these cosy afternoons gets to a later stage, I love to watch something. In the end, there’s no better time than now to go through your lists of movies we’ve been wanting to watch.
Whilst we all get constantly suggested all those big production movies and current series, it’s nice to see something different, more independent and give the mainstream a little break.
For these cosy late afternoons and evenings, we made yet another selection of movies we recently watched and enjoyed.
Scrapper
☆☆☆☆☆
Some people compare this movie to Aftersun (a movie we reviewed here), but the only connection here is a father-daughter relationship and another female director’s debut. But that’s it. Scrapper is lighter, it’s a sweet drama of resilience and growth with a sad warm undertone. Sometimes seen through the young girl’s eyes, the colour palette of the movie is so bright that it almost makes you forget the difficulties the story holds, which simultaneously explores themes such as grief, loss, and abandonment. It’s definitely worth watching.
Passages
☆☆☆☆
Passages is a powerful French drama that explores love and betrayal through the rather unlikable main character while challenging the viewer’s morality and values. It deals with difficulties in relationships and shows how intimacy can also be messy, hurtful and devastating when tainted by selfishness and irresponsible acts. It’s a movie filled in with a heavy atmosphere but with a beautiful French cinematic ending. That’s what we like. If only it was all in French…
Fremont
☆☆☆☆☆
The movie Fremont, shot in a beautiful black-and-white palette is an ode to the universal beauty and restless pull of human connections. It’s funny, deeply moving, and leaves you longing for more at the end. Fremont tells the story of an Afghan girl, played perceptively by the real-life Afghan refugee Anaita Wali Zada, who comes to a suburb in California when she flees her country and shows her struggles as an immigrant in a new place, with a new life. There are some great twists and turns in the story that keep you entertained and smiling, but also feeling really sad.
Past lives
☆☆☆☆☆
“Past Lives” is a sincere, touching and romantic drama, which portrays two people and the way that life has aligned their fates. Directed and written by Celine Song, this directorial debut tells a complex story of lost love, closures and a found purpose. And it tells it really well… primarily because of the director’s understanding of when to allow silence to speak and also because of the great cinematography portraying a gloomy New York which complements the movie’s melancholic tone. It’s already streaming on several platforms in some countries and will be (unfortunately quite late) in cinemas in Denmark next spring 2024. But if you happen to find it listed on your platform or notice that a cinema is projecting it, go and see it, especially if you are a fan of other movies from A24 production. This might be the best movie we’ve seen so far this year.
