Directed by Atom Egoyan The Sweet Hereafter can be a gut wrenching film, as it should be considering the subject material. It's about the tormented people in a small town after a fatal accident involving a school bus full of children, and despite the obvious trauma of such a thing the film isn't as manipulative … Continue reading The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
tragedy
Ordinary People (1980)
Directed by Robert Redford Robert Redford's first film as a director is a doozy. Ordinary People chronicles the struggle of a family to relate to each other and to themselves following the death of a teenaged son. The people left reeling in his wake are parents Beth and Calvin (Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland) and young … Continue reading Ordinary People (1980)
Chappaquiddick (2017)
Directed by John Curran Go read the youtube comments under the trailer for Chappaquiddick, it's quite strange and eye-opening, not to the way things are but the disparate narratives people can pull from the same thing. I didn't view this as a movie about politics but rather about power, privilege and little else. The top comments on … Continue reading Chappaquiddick (2017)
Philomena (2013)
Directed by Stephen Fears Philomena is a gut-wrenching story of forgiveness. It's one of those tales that gives you a clear villain, and while that may come off as reductive, it certainly demands the right emotional reaction from the audience. That villain here is Sister Hildegarde, and because this is based on a true story … Continue reading Philomena (2013)
Mystic River (2003)
Directed by Clint Eastwood Mystic River tries to tell you that the past never really dies. This is a film about a working class neighborhood in Boston in which the three central characters are deeply haunted by a moment from their childhood. The story opens with this tragic memory before jumping multiple decades into the … Continue reading Mystic River (2003)