By Neha N., Grade 10
Movie Review: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
This movie is about Lara Jean, a high schooler who writes a letter to every boy she really likes. One day, all of her letters get mailed out, and all the boys find out about her crushes. LJ’s most recent crush, Josh Sanderson, also happens to be her sister’s ex-boyfriend however, so Lara Jean decides he can’t know she liked him. This leads her to start fake-dating another recipient of a letter, Peter Kavinski so she wouldn’t have to face Josh. Since Peter had recently broken up with his ex, Gen, he agreed to the fake relationship to make her jealous.
This movie was pretty funny and wholesome, and I thought it was really sweet. Lara Jean is a super relatable main character, very shy and kind. I wouldn’t say my main highlight of this movie was the plot, since it was pretty standard and easy to guess, but it didn’t feel boring either. The moments of humor, especially from LJ’s friend Christine, her dad, and her little sister Kitty, made this movie very lighthearted and upbeat, but it also explored themes of grief through the family’s sadness about the passing of Lara Jean’s mother (which happens years before the movie takes place, but still impacts all the characters to this day). This movie was full of warm and fuzzy moments, and I gained a lot of unexpected joy from it, which I didn’t expect from such a simple-seeming concept. Watching Lara Jean and Peter Kavinski gradually fall for each other throughout their fake relationship made me so happy and I loved how they both made each other the best version of themself–Lara Jean becoming more brave and Peter becoming more wise.
Overall, this was a super feel-good movie with a super relatable and likable main character and amazing vibes. It felt a little simple, but in the grand scheme of things, I think this movie was a good break from reality where everything could end up good for the main characters. 4.5 stars.
Movie Review: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Glass Onion: a Knives Out Mystery is a murder mystery movie about a group of people who get invited to billionaire Miles Bron’s private island near Greece for a murder mystery themed weekend getaway. However, once the group reaches the island, an unexpected death occurs, and it becomes apparent that everyone in the group has more secrets than they’re letting on. As the group tries to solve the murder, huge truths are revealed and it becomes more apparent that Miles Bron needs to be taken down.
I really loved this movie. The suspense, the plot, the little moments of humor, the characters, the acting–everything was perfect. I think a good plot is a good base for any good movie, and everything else has to build upon it. It’s possible to produce a strong movie without a good plot, but in the case of a murder mystery, the storyline has to be written deliberately so the audience feels the suspense without getting confused because of an excess of plot twists. This murder mystery (which I won’t spoil) is just the right amount of shocking, creating several revelations for the viewer that I was hooked on for the whole two and a half hours. On top of that, the actors were amazing, playing their roles perfectly and bringing the unique characters to life. I clearly understood everyone’s actions, motives, and emotions while watching, which is important when the plot is complicated. The setting was also amazing, and the island this movie was filmed on was beautiful. Overall, there was simply no aspect of this movie that was lacking.
I’d recommend this movie to almost anyone. Of course, murder mystery enjoyers would get the most benefit out of it, but anyone who likes some good suspense and thrill with sprinkled in humor would enjoy this too. Truly a must-watch. 5 stars.
Movie Review: Crazy Rich Asians
Crazy Rich Asians is a movie about Rachel Chu, a Chinese-American economics professor. Her boyfriend, Nick Young, turns out to be part of an extremely wealthy and powerful family in Singapore, and when he takes her there to meet his parents, Rachel becomes judged and scrutinized by all of Nick’s family members, who think she’s dating Nick for money and deem her unworthy because she was raised in America. Throughout the movie, Rachel tries to prove them wrong, until she finally realizes that she shouldn’t have to prove herself to anyone based on the country she was born in.
This movie is always a go-to comfort movie for me. I love how Rachel becomes stronger and more sure of herself throughout the film, starting as a nervous, young woman and ending up strong enough to walk away from her life with Nick (although Nick’s mother eventually realizes the error of her ways). Rachel never liked Nick for his money, and she held onto her integrity for the whole movie, staying true to herself. Most of Rachel’s inner conflict comes from her self-worth declining after Nick’s mother’s constant harsh statements towards her. She faces and successfully wins her inner battle when she has to decide whether she’s going to let Nick’s family define her self-worth. I also like the side characters in this movie, one of which is Nick’s sister Astrid. Astrid finds out about her husband’s affair, and when she finally worked up the strength to leave him and take her kids with her, I felt so proud. Astrid and Rachel were friends during the movie, which I found beautiful as they helped each other struggle with their own inner demons. Down to every detail, every minor family member, this movie was spot-on. Even the most unlikable characters didn’t detract from the experience at all, and even though I’m not the biggest fan of Nick’s mother, I could still understand her character and appreciate her growth as Nick eventually helped her see how she was wrong about Rachel.
I wouldn’t really say this movie is particularly directed toward a particular group of people. It has a little bit of everything- drama, romance, action, humor, wholesome friendships, family, and more. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone who’d regret watching this movie. 5 stars.
Movie Review: Divergent
Divergent is a dystopian book to movie adaptation set in the city Chicago after a terrible war that left the rest of the world dead. This last city on Earth decided that in order to keep peace, they would split into five factions, each valuing a different quality. The Abnegation valued selflessness, the Candor valued honesty, the Erudite valued knowledge, the Amity valued kindness, and the Dauntless valued bravery. Every year, all the 16 year olds of Chicago get the choice to join a new faction. This process begins first with an aptitude test, which is supposed to show which faction one truly belongs in–although ultimately, it’s a choice. Beatrice, the main character, was born into Abnegation, but she decides to leave and join Dauntless when it’s finally her time to choose. Beatrice starts a new life as “Tris” in Dauntless, but finds out that her aptitude test results had confirmed the worst. She was Divergent, meaning that she showed an aptitude for multiple factions. Being Divergent is dangerous, and many Divergents had been mysteriously killed in the past, leading Tris to have to shield her secret before it’s too late for her.
Immediately when watching this, one thing that jumped out at me as a pleasant surprise was the book accuracy. Having read the Divergent trilogy before watching the movies, I was expecting some grossly changed scenes and characters, but I was completely wrong. Mostly everything from the book was represented perfectly in the movie, from big details like the characters and plot to small details, like the ferris wheel Tris climbs during a game of capture the flag or the tattoo parlor Tris goes to with her friends. One of the most disappointing feelings when watching a book to movie adaptation is when you realize that the movies had taken a completely different and unexpected direction which ruined the books. And since that happens quite frequently, I was very happy to find out that the Divergent movie was so accurate.
I think the plot of this story is reasonably good, and this movie sets the viewer up to crave more–which is where the rest of the trilogy comes in. However, I think that the plot did lack a little. For example, the still-developing relationship between Tris and her mentor, Four. The student-teacher relationship dynamic always feels weird to me, but in the books I didn’t mind it that much because Four and Tris really got to know each other before falling in love. However, in the movie, I felt like I didn’t get to know Four’s personality enough before Tris and him started falling for each other–which was a little weird. For all that’s shown, Tris doesn’t even know how old he is, which is very strange for a romantic relationship. It just felt rushed. That being said, Divergent still had a good amount of non-Four-related scenes throughout the movie–we saw fight training, dining hall conversations, and of course, battles at the very end. The combination of these factors made this movie very enjoyable to watch.
I’d recommend Divergent to anyone, whether they’ve read the novel trilogy or not. If you’ve read the novels, I’d encourage you to not avoid watching the movies (as I know many of us do!) in fear of them being so bad the books are ruined for you–because this truly was an exception. Although dystopia enjoyers are definitely the target audience for this movie, I’d encourage everyone to give it a try, since it was worth a respectable 4.5 stars.
Movie Review: Enola Holmes
Enola Holmes, the younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, was raised by her mother for her whole life. However, her mother mysteriously disappears on her sixteenth birthday, leaving only a few gifts for Enola. Enola soon finds that the gifts were clues, which lead her to find out that her mother wasn’t missing, she actually left on purpose. After Enola’s brothers arrive to visit and find out about Enola’s mother, Mycroft becomes Enola’s caretaker. He decides to put her in finishing school, which is when Enola decides that she can’t live her life as a “proper young lady”. She has to find her mother. During the journey, she meets a stranger, Tewkesbury, who’s being hunted. After helping him escape death, the two stick together for a bit then go their separate ways–but the constant threats to their lives cause them to have to find each other again.
I can definitely see this movie being rewatched several times. It fills all the criteria necessary to become a fast favorite for me. Action, check. Humor, check. Amazing costumes, check. Mysteries, check. It does a great job of blending a lot of different genres together into one film so even while the characters are in danger, I’m still smiling and laughing. I really liked Enola’s character, and even though it’s normal these days for women to be independent, it was frowned upon during the time that this movie takes place. Enola felt like an inspiration to me, since she was breaking the norms for what she believed in. My favorite thing about this movie was the relationships between Enola and her brothers. With Mycroft, Enola often shut down or yelled, because Mycroft simply couldn’t accept the fact that Enola had been raised independently enough to be able to take care of herself. He also didn’t believe in feminism or independence from women, which made Enola righteously angry. Because of those disagreements between them, Enola and Mycroft had a rocky relationship with little respect or kindness. However, Enola and Sherlock’s relationship is more interesting to me. Sherlock seems like the peacekeeper between the three–it’s obvious that he respects Enola and recognizes her intelligence, but he also knows how to subdue Mycroft and make it sound like he’s agreeing with him. Throughout the movie, as Sherlock and Mycroft try to find Enola, Sherlock figures out Enola’s intentions and gains more respect for her and her skills. At the end of the movie, Sherlock figures out where Enola is–although he decides not to tell Mycroft and instead gives Enola one of her childhood toys, as a symbol of friendship.
Overall, this movie was pretty good. I wouldn’t say it provoked any thought or emotions in me, but it was a good experience watching it and it’s a movie I’m likely to put on in the background in the future. I’d recommend this for anyone that likes less serious movies, filled with breaking the fourth wall, humor, and a twist on your favorite classic detective, Sherlock Holmes. 4.5 stars.
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