Movies::2026::V2
The end of the challenge?
After almost eleven months, I managed to complete 55 movies this year. I will talk again about my favorite selections of the second part, but I also want to mention things that I was not expecting at all. Besides the movies, or mainly because of them, I ended up meeting a new group of people who is also into cinema. I also got a monthly subscription to go out and watch movies in smaller cinemas in Stockholm; I discovered new movie festivals and got the opportunity to volunteer at a cinema festival.
It is so interesting how commitment to one thing has implications and consequences that escape our imagination.
Enter the Void [2009]
This movie was a trip itself. I felt trapped in it; I wanted it to finish and to let me got, but I was not there yet. I liked how the trauma of the main character was portrayed during the movie, with a constant jump between present and past that made me scared, confused, and also nostalgic. The visuals are still good by 2026 standards (in my personal opinion), and the story was not predictable at all. The movie made me reflect on drugs, why some people use them, and how they impact the lives of not only the consumers, but everyone around them. I will revisit this movie in the future, but I need to rest from it for a long time.
Left-handed Girl [2025]
An interesting and feel-good movie. For the most part, I was not expecting a big twist, revelation, or anything to happen at all. So I was quite surprised by how the movie ended. Besides that, it is impressive how it was filmed with just an iPhone, it had amazing visuals, scenes, frames, and, in general, I felt that I was looking at the world from the main character’s perspective. The motorcycle shots in the traffic of the city felt realistic and served as a smooth transition between chapters of the movie. Also, it was my first time being exposed to the day-to-day life in Taipei, or at least it felt like I was exposed to it.
I felt a bit sad about the life of the mother; feeling obliged to take care of the husband’s funeral, feeling the pressure of the shop owner, not getting support from his mother and sisters. I had the impression that she was miserable all the time, surviving life rather then enjoying it. The big sister was also dealing with complex dynamics, and I also kind of understand why she snapped at the end; she was also tired of dealing with work and the life that she was living in general.
Resident Evil [2026]
Great movie, just that. I saw it after a five-minute break from the previous movie, and I think the contrast between both made it even more scary. My biggest bias for this movie is the fact that I played some of the video games of the franchise, and even tho is not an exact recreation, it made me feel like I was in that video game world. The zombies were scary; the main character struggled and barely made it alive a couple of times, but also adapted and made good decisions to keep pushing forward. The general sound during the movie was immersive and made me feel uncomfortable from time to time.
Two scenes stayed with me as the best ones: The farmhouse and the tunnel; both of them had me on my toes about what would happen. Another was a bit ridiculous and funny: the babies hospital room: at this point, the character just fully embraced this faith and went with it.
Personally, it brought good memories and added a new one. I want to play back some of those games, both original and remakes, and I also want to watch the rest of the director’s movies (Zach Cregger).
Tony [2026]
I wanted to become a chef during and after the movie. Not because of the work culture or the workplace in general, but because I envy one particular thing in the characters of this movie: some of them really enjoyed cooking, learning, and creating something new. Being able to craft something with your hands, from simply opening an oyster to making a ‘fire’ on the beach for 200 people, felt like a skill that I lack and want to have in life.
In terms of the story, it was quite a simple redemption movie. Tony was quite stubborn, by design, but I still felt both sorry for and happy with him when he abandoned his first idea of becoming a writer and embraced the new situation he was in. As I wrote in the start of this blog, we never know how one decision would impact our trajectory in life, and I can imagine scenarios where he ended up with him picking up fights and destroying his life by just being angry all the time. Also, nice to see Antonio Banderas in a new scenario.
Bad Apples [2025]
Uncomfortable, from start to end. This movie really kept me on my toes for a long time; at first, I wanted the protagonist to be punished, and then when she tried to, society was somehow on her side. I’m still not quite sure what the critic behind this movie was: Schools, Teachers, Kids, Parents associations. It seems like every single one of them was committing a different crime, and everyone agreed on their part. If anything, I’m happy for the kid who managed to escape, and I also admired him; he had a difficult life for sure. But he still had the strength to keep it together and run away after everything seemed to be lost. And I’m honestly quite intrigued about his faith; I cannot decide if he will take revenge or if he will just run away from everyone and start from zero.