esme's film blog

Heartstopper (2016-) Created by : Alice Oseman Director : Euros Lyn Okay so, I know that Heartstopper isn't a film, but in light of the first official teaser trailer for the show being released yesterday I thought it was only appropriate to write about it. If you aren't aware of what Heartstopper  is, it is a series of graphic novels created and written by Alice Oseman, with the television adaptation of it being released this Spring. The story follows two central characters, Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring, as they experience love, friendship, mental health, and coming of age. Along the way they are accompanied by their best friends and family, demonstrating the importance of community. Heartstopper  is filled with authentic and genuine representation for queer identities, as well as individual stories of experiencing mental health.  LGBTQ+ representation in  Heartstopper A common theme in many pieces of media which involve LGBTQ+ identities, whether it be just a cha...

 The surrealist work of Apichatpong Weerasethakul Over the past couple of weeks, two of the films I have watched that have stood out to me most are two of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's films: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives , and his most recent film, Memoria.  The first follows Uncle Boonmee, a man diagnosed with kidney disease, as he reflects on his past lives with the help of the ghost of his wife and his estranged son. It is a beautiful, authentic portrayal of grief, loss, and reflection, and how those who leave us never really leave us. Due to my complicated relationship with grief, I tend find I have a complicated relationship with the way in which it is portrayed in films. Often, it gets skipped over, pretending that it's not there, or that it's easy to move past. In Uncle Boonmee , however, this is not the case. Rather, it shows the complexity between ourselves and the souls of those we lose, and what loss can teach us. Whilst this is different for every...

Baba (2021) Directors : Adam Ali, Sam Arbor In only 18 minutes, Baba  manages to tell such a captivating and meaningful story that is often not represented in media. The short film follows a young, queer Libyan (Britannia) who is questioning whether to stay or flee from his homeland after a surprising discovery. It is an important story of family and friendship, and having a support system of people who love and support you, no matter what.  Baba  shows the reality of what it is like to be young and queer, and how this can impact lives in ways that many people will never experience or understand, such as living in a place where being queer is not accepted.  Various aspect ratios are used throughout Baba  to differentiate Britannia's childhood and present day, with seemingly archive-type footage of his childhood being shown in 4:3 ratio and present day being shown in a 1.6:1 or 2.75:1 ratio. This suggests he has separated past memories from new ones, but still re...

 Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2021) Director : Jonathan Butterell  When watching  Everybody's Talking About Jamie in cinemas on its opening weekend, I was in tears by the second song. A film crafted so beautifully, with the perfect amount of comedy, emotion, and happiness.  Based on a true story, Everybody's Talking About Jamie  follows 16 year old Jamie New who dreams of being a drag queen. But as he is met with discrimination from his bullying, and neglection from his father, he must overcome these challenges in order to pursue his dream alongside help from his supportive mother and friends. With catchy songs and amazing performances, Everybody's Talking About Jamie  is an absolute joy to watch.  One of the standouts for me was the level of performance from newcomer Max Harwood, who plays Jamie New. He completely embodies everything about Jamie, from his snappy one liners to his incredible singing voice, I would struggle to think of anyone who wo...

The demonisation of mental illness in horror and thriller films  In honour of it being the halloween season, I felt it only appropriate to write a post about two of my favourite genres: horror and thriller. However, I couldn't decide on one film to do so instead, I decided on writing about a few that all have something in common. Horror films are made intended to elicit fear or disgust within their audience, whereas thrillers are made to make the audience feel suspense, anxiety, and anticipation. Although, there are a lot of crossovers between these genres in films. As I started watching more films portraying mental illness, I noticed a trend in that many of them were often from either the horror genre, or the thriller genre, and typically, the character who had the mental illness being portrayed was also the antagonist, or the 'bad guy'. I started thinking about how this could negatively impact the way in which mental illness is perceived in society, especially those that ...

Black Widow (2021) Director : Cate Shortland Initially, I wasn't going to do a post about  Black Widow . But the more I thought about the film, the more I realised there is to discuss and write about it. Despite being the first female avenger,  only now has Natasha Romanoff finally got her own standalone film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it is also the first MCU film directed solely by a woman. Yep. It has taken 23 Marvel films for a woman to be the sole director. And to me, one of the biggest standouts of Black Widow , is how differently Natasha Romanoff is portrayed by a female director compared to a male director. ! As always, spoiler warning ! I will be discussing events that occur in this film, so if you don't want it spoiled, I highly recommend stop reading here, go and watch the film, and then come back to read this:) For non-Marvel readers, if you want to watch Black Widow  but don't want to watch all other 23 MCU films, I would re...