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Amid the crowd of noisy characters, a few emerge as more engaging people we can root for, including Gang's likeable Jung-seok, who simply gets on with things as they come. Although his motivations are never terribly complex. Lee Jung-hyun adds soul in a more interesting role, and she also has some fiery spark as a mother who has learned that holding a grudge and being afraid are both pointless. Her tenacity holds our interest, as do Lee Ra and Lee Ye-Won as her brightly engaging daughters.

Yeon fills the film with cool details that keep the film entertaining. And there's witty subtext in the way the survivors have learned how easy it is to distract the impulsive undead with something shiny. While the film's pace is energetic and often thrilling, with some outrageous set-pieces, a lack of connection leaves it rather numbing. It's anticlimactic that there's so little to the movie, including the usual "greed kills" message and added contrived emotion.

themes, violence

25.Oct.20

Sukowa and Chevallier offer effortlessly transparent performances as 70-ish women who are looking forward to a future of their choosing. Their impulsiveness is strikingly realistic, as is their underlying affection and view of the wider world. There's a vivid sense that both women have led full lives but have only been happy in these decades together. Drucker is also excellent as a daughter who's reluctant to accept the truth about her mother, for a variety of reasons. And Benazeraf gives a remarkably intense performance in a key side role.

There's a series of surreal cutaways to a childish game of hide and seek that seems to have wider implications, but this never quite registers. It does, however, add to the filmmaker's challenging approach, disarming the audience with several tangential ideas about the emotional connections that stretch across generational lines. Even the most responsible children expect things of their parents, including stability and an inheritance. But perhaps they can forget that their parents are also simply looking for happiness.

themes, language

23.Sep.20

With his monobrow and observant eyes, Cestaro is an intriguing central character, likeable even when he's shifty. As the story goes along, he displays a growing confidence tinged with underlying emotions. So when he becomes a predator, he remains sympathetic. Rodriguez's gentle Mono is a young man of few words who is clearly preoccupied with something that later becomes clear, leading to even more layered emotions. Meanwhile, the younger Rodriguez is also superb, bringing an easy authenticity to Juan, who also knows what he wants, even if he's under age.

Berger's strength is his refusal to make homosexuality easy to define. His characters always have longings they don't fully understand, and each person expresses them in a different way. Turning this approach to young teens is a bold move, but Berger's naturalistic approach skilfully avoids sensationalising anything. Even the depiction of absent parental figures is authentic. The slowly meandering pace sometimes sits at odds with the darker plot points, but by avoiding melodrama Berger leaves us thinking rather than shocked.

themes, language, violence

24.Oct.20