this is just my personal opinion, and the reviews are quite lengthy so do what you will.
This movie is one of the best I’ve seen and one of my comfort movies. I loved the ambiance and the way it made me feel. The small details to the soundtrack, everything. The movie centers around 5 sisters and is narrated from the POV of the neighborhood boys who were fascinated and obsessed with the Lisbon sisters. Like the title says, the 5 sisters commit suicide, having the youngest sister go first and then the rest. The Lisbon girls are seen as something pure, innocent and maybe even fragile which all roots back to the male gaze. The boys were so caught up in their idealistic fantasy of the girls that they failed to see the girl’s struggles behind closed doors because obviously they never really cared in the first place and not just the boys but their strict parents were also a huge factor to how the girls ended up. The boys claimed to have loved the girls despite not having any clear romantic connection and it proves the fact that they were in love with their own fantasy of the girls because they never bothered to get to know the girls at all. If they really loved them, they would’ve noticed and did something when the girls showed signs and cries for help. One of the scenes that depicts this perfectly is when Trip leaves Lux at the field after he got what he wanted to take. His purpose from the very start was to take Lux’s “innocence” and when she died, this made Trip want her again because she once again became unattainable and unattainable is how the boys saw the Lisbon sisters. This movie is one of the best I’ve seen and one of my comfort movies. I loved the ambiance and the way it made me feel. The small details to the soundtrack, everything.
A realistic coming of age movie and with a mix of comedy in it too. It shows the realities vs. expectations of adolescence with Saoirse’s perfect acting. Lady Bird’s relationship with her mother is shockingly similar to mine and it drew me even more to the movie than I originally was when I first saw it back in 2019. It captured the aspects of mother-daughter relationships, friendships and romantic relationships. Lady Bird strives to become more independent and search for something more to life, having lived in a small town and studying in a religious school for almost all her life. Her relationships weren’t what she had expected, an unexpected turn of her first love and a Not Like Other Boys boyfriend that she ditches to go to prom with her best friend who she can be herself around. She moves on with her life and leaves Sacramento to go to college in New York, letting go of the expectations from everyone else and finally focusing on herself. All in all the movie is relatable, comedic, and inspirational and one of the best representations of coming of age and a realistic dive into teenage life.
An amazing adaptation to Vladimir Nabokov’s book accompanied with brilliant acting, although a very controversial and misunderstood movie because it makes it easy for you to feel uncomfortable which is reasonable since I felt that way watching the film, it still managed to show us that Humbert is in fact the bad guy in the story. It’s very reassuring that the movie is in no way made to justify and glorify Humbert’s actions but narrates it. A tragic tale of abuse, manipulation and forbidden romance that starts out when Humbert begins to develop feelings for his pre-teen step daughter but claims that she had seduced him . Humbert takes advantage of Lolita’s innocence and curiosity but with that comes consequences. Even if Lolita acted seductive or the like, Humbert should’ve known better as an adult because Lolita was only 14, a literal child. Lolita seeked validation from men having grown up with no father and an emotionally absent mother who then dies leaving her with Humbert. She could no longer tolerate Humbert so she leaves him. She then marries a man at 16 and when Humbert tracks her down, the sense of obsession is still there even if she’s pregnant with another man’s baby. But it’s a tragedy, as we find out that Lolita then dies from childbirth. It’s easy to say that this film is a disgusting justification of pedophilia and sexual abuse because we are looking at the story from Humbert’s eyes and his sick fantasy, and it really isn’t a justification like I said before. Lolita did escape from Humbert but still ended up from the hands of men who constantly took advantage of her. Lyne’s adaptation is far better from the one 40 years before, most likely because of social conditions back then, and personally because the first adaptation made it look like Lolita was at fault and that she deserved what Humbert had done to her. This film was a rollercoaster of emotions, filled with dark turns, great cinematography and storytelling.