Category Archives: Unusual ending

2015, Character Driven, Fatal Accident, Fatherless child, Kanopy streaming, Narcissist, Quiet, Reconciliation, Slow, Talking Heads, Unusual ending, Wim Wenders, Writer

Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015)

From IMDB:

One day, driving aimlessly around the outskirts of town after a trivial domestic quarrel, a writer named Tomas accidentally hits and kills a child. Will he be able to move on?

From Kanopy:

A horrific car accident alters the lives of James Franco & Rachel McAdams in legendary director Wim Wenders’ gripping film about love and redemption.

From Kanopy you can stream this 1 hour 59 minute drama film.

Slow, quiet, heavy on conversations between Tomas (played by James Franco) and one of the many people in his life, this film doesn’t drive toward some conclusion, but rather seems to want to understand Tomas’ character.  You should draw your own conclusions about Tomas. Is he a selfish, unfeeling narcissist? Does he really care about the people he affects?

While watching the film, at several points I asked myself “Why am I enjoying this really slow, understated story that seems to jump from one point in Tomas’s life to some later unrelated point?”

Would someone volunteer their reading of Tomas?

2022, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Anti-Gay Laws, Art appreciation, Art Museum, Based on a Book, Bisexual theme, British Drama, British Police, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Gay Bashing, Gay theme, Homophobia, Longsuffering wife, Love Triangle, Marital Infidelity, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Police Culture, Prison, Promiscuity, Sex Scenes, Sexual Seduction, Surprise Ending, Trial Scenes, Unexpected Ending, Unhappy Ending, Unhappy Marriage, Unusual ending

My Policeman (2022)

From IMDB:

The arrival of Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previously.

From Amazon Prime:

A tale of forbidden romance and changing social conventions, My Policeman follows the relationships between three people—policeman Tom (Harry Styles/Linus Roache), teacher Marion (Emma Corrin/Gina
McKee) and museum curator Patrick (David Dawson/Rupert Everett)—and their emotional journey spanning decades.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 54 minute British drama.

In this intense drama Tom marries Marion all the while carrying on a secret love affair with Patrick.  Such an explanation is far too simple for such a superb, complex, well acted drama.

Because the action switches continually between the past and the present, each of the three characters are presented by two actors,  a younger actor for the past and an older actor for the present.

  • Harry Styles as young Tom also stars in the film “Don’t Worry Darling.”
  • Linus Roache as older Tom is well-known as the assistant DA from several seasons of “Law and Order.”
  • Emma Corrin as young Marion played Princess Diana Spencer in one of the seasons of “The Crown.”
  • Gina McKee as older Marion for me will always be Irene from “The Forsyte Saga.”
  • David Dawson as young Patrick played Alfred in “The Last Kingdom.”
  • Rupert Everett as older Patrick played George Downes in “My Best Friend’s Wedding.”

Critics found many negatives but audiences, including Kathy and me, loved it.

DO NOT MISS!

2020, Accidental Death, British, Brother-Sister relations, Complicated, Cooking, Creepy, Dark, Drama, Extramarital Affair, Flashbacks, Ghost story, Good Production Values, Horror, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Revenge, Strange Ending, Uncle-Nephew relations, Uncle-Niece relations, Unusual, Unusual ending

The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

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From Netflix:

A bright-eyed American au pair hopes to make a difference caring for two orphans in a grand English manor. Yet the feeling of dread is undeniable.

From Netflix you can stream 9 episodes of this one season “horror” story. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

Probably it is fair to call this series a “horror” story.  But there are no cheap theatrical tricks or ugly monsters.  Almost unfortunately the acting and production details are so good that I was willing to watch the complicated plot to the end.  Little by little the underlying premise and explanation for the strange events are revealed.   But this show is easily one of the strangest I have ever seen and is clearly not for everyone’s tastes.  By way of warning you to avoid spending time here, do NOT expect a happy ending.

If, however, you are determined to watch a well-done “ghost” story, then hopefully you will enjoy it.

2020, Abandoned child, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Trash, Action sequences, Addiction, Adopted child, Aliens from outer space, Anti-Immigration, Bisexual theme, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Conspiracy, Cooking and food, Corny, Dancing, Drugs, Father-daughter relations, Flashbacks, Friendship, Gay theme, Government cover-up, Government medical experiment, Immigrants, Incomplete ending, Latino Culture, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Love Triangle, Melodrama, Mental Illness, Mildly Suspenseful, Mildly Violent, Missing Person, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Nice Aliens, Occasionaly violent, Racial Prejudice, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sister-sister relations, Strange Ending, Unusual ending

Roswell (2020)

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From IMDB:

Centers on a town where aliens with unearthly abilities live undercover among humans. But when a violent attack points to a greater alien presence, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose them.

From Netflix;

A decade after the death of her sister, Liz reluctantly returns to her small hometown and reconnects with her teenage crush Max.

From Netflix you can stream 2 seasons of this sci-fi soap opera. Each season consists of 13 episodes, each episode usually lasting exactly 42 minutes (think of the film cutting involved!)

Ignore the seemingly serious thumb print summaries above. Nothing about this pseudo sci-fi love fest should be taken seriously. Rather the point is to just relax and enjoy the corny and acceptable trash.

As far as the virtually unknown actors let us briefly note that Nathan Parsons (who plays Max Evans) is Australian and that Jeanine Mason (who plays Liz Ortecho)  won Season 5 of FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and earned the title of America’s Favorite Dancer. So much for fame!

If there is anything serious about this fun time-waster, it is the theme of the problems faced by illegal immigrants. In this respect the story is often political. Border agents are painted as racist bullies.  And there there are the fairly common difficulties of drug addiction.  Finally let us not overlook the prominent gay theme.

Because season 2 ends so abruptly,  the series demands another season.

I LOVE TRASH!

2017, Alcoholism, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Creepy, Dark, Disturbing Image, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Marital Infidelity, Masturbation, Medical Theme, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Occasionaly violent, Outrageous Behavior, Physical child abuse, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Tragedy, Unusual, Unusual ending, Upsetting ending, Valium appropriate

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

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From IMDB:

Steven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart, when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.

From Netflix you can stream this two hour complete film.

When I saw that the surgeon Steven Murphy was played by Colin Farrell and his wife Anna Murphy was played by Nicole Kidman, I was eager to see the film. Yikes!

“Weird” is the closest one word that seems to apply here. Other words might be “strange”, “creepy”, “outrageous” or “unnerving.”  Hopefully not everyone will even want to start watching after reading this review.  However, I was both hooked and horrified from the very beginning.

In Wikipedia you can find a discussion of the film but I have inserted below a summary from IMDB:

After the untimely death of 16-year-old Martin’s father on the operating table, little by little, a deep and empathetic bond begins to form between him and the respected cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Steven Murphy. At first, expensive gifts and then an invitation for dinner will soon earn the orphaned teenager the approval of Dr Steven’s perfect family, even though right from the start, a vague, yet unnerving feeling overshadows Martin’s honest intent. And then, unexpectedly, the idyllic family is smitten by a fierce and pitiless punishment, while at the same time, everything will start falling apart as the innocents have to suffer. In the end, as the sins of one burden the entire family, only an unimaginable and unendurable decision that demands a pure sacrifice can purge the soul. But to find catharsis, one must first admit the sin.

In the film there are at times oddly explicit sexual discussions and situations.  Martin is played by Barry Keoghan whose physical appearance presents anything but a Hollywood type. Speech throughout the film is so stilted that it seemed I was watching a stage play.  Spoken lines, especially from Martin, seem at times inappropriate.

From the very stylistically rigid beginning and onward there was a sense of anxious foreboding that tempted me to stop watching this tragedy.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

2018, Abduction, Basically Sad, Bullying, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, French, French Culture, Friendship, Gay theme, High school students, Homophobia, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Promiscuity, Unusual ending, Violent, Young Adult

I Am Jonas (2018)

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From IMDB:

Two moments of Jonas’s life intertwine, each reflecting the other: in 1995, when he was a secretive teenager, and 18 years later, as an attractive and impulsive thirty-something looking for balance in his life.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 22 minute French film with English subtitles.

Also from IMDB:

Boys (Jonas) is a mystery told in two separate timelines. In the first, it’s 1997 and Jonas is entering 9th grade. A new boy in school immediately catches his eye. Perhaps it’s the bad-boy scar on his cheek or his devil-may-care attitude, but Jonas is smitten. The two boys quickly become friends and before long are skipping class to kiss in an empty gymnasium. In the film’s other timeline, it’s 2015 and the excitement of a teenager in love has been replaced with the sorrow of a man who can’t escape the past. The adult version of Jonas (Félix Maritaud, outstanding in this year’s sexually graphic Sauvage and last year’s ImageOut favorite BPM) is a broken man. His boyfriend has thrown him out for cheating on him a few too many times, and he’s been arrested for getting into a fight at Boys, a local gay bar. There’s something about the bar that seems to set him off. He meanders through life still carrying that same old Game Boy, trying to fill a hole that can’t be filled. So what happened …

Curious as to why Netflix is strongly promoting this film, I decided to give it a try.  Turns out the film is a well-made story about two gay boys Jonas and his impulsive friend Nathan. There is no sex in the film except for a kiss or two.  While centered in Jonas’ adult life, the story proceeds by flashbacks.

Different, satisfying while inconclusive ending, and not at all a waste of time.