Popular reviews

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  Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★★ 8

  A beautifully-shot psychosexual drama about a young woman desperately struggling for control. Burning meets Raw meets We Need To Talk About Kevin meets Marriage Story. (And then when they meet, they decide to have a foursome.) A wonderful, pulsating score. An ending that would’ve made me scream had I not finished it at 3 in the morning. Imagine how pissed Pablo Larraín was when he learned the title “Bad Moms” was taken.

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  Review by Wes ★★★★½ 6

  that was the saddest Step Up sequel i've ever seen

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 8

  An anarchic, liberated, and contagiously alive character study that feels like it was born out of a three-way between “Amélie,” “Oldboy,” and Gaspar Noé before maturing into a force of nature all its own, Pablo Larraín’s “Ema” doesn’t always dance to a clear or recognizable beat, but anybody willing to get on its wavelength will be rewarded with one of the year’s most dynamic and electrifying films. Which isn’t to suggest the movie — Larraín’s first since the one-two punch of “Neruda” and “Jackie” in 2016 — doesn’t grab you from the moment it starts, only that it keeps you on your toes for a little while before you can figure out the steps, and it never lets you take…

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  Review by Jaime Grijalba ★★★ 25

  Ema (2019)

  6/10

  I just don’t want to be rude, but every review here doesn’t come close to describe how fucking atrocious the dialogue is. How pretty it looks, how convinced it is of what it is, are surely high points, but this might be Larrain’s weakest film by far. Empty provocations, queerbaiting, a plot that absolutely makes no sense, strong idealization of madness, a forced sense of normalcy that doesn’t sit well at all. This is an effort that doesn’t amount to much. It’s frustrating to see so many talented people doing this kind of shallow, empty gesture towards nothingness.

  PS: that’s not fucking reggaetón, that’s like what rich people think reggaetón should be so they are comfortable dancing it and making a movie out of it.

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  Review by Laura ★★★★ 3

  i think all movies should have women with flamethrowers & gael garcía bernal in overalls

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  Review by CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️ ★★★ 3

  Beautiful looking music video with a bunch of unlikable dancers as protagonists. In a nutshell: Climax with flamethrowers.

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  Review by Hannah Strong

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

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  Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★ 3

  All of the colors of the rainbow, coming together in pitch dark — a reflection of ink in the face of an aurora borealis. Heartbreaking, investigational, and invigorating. Not one to miss, or necessarily even “understand,” but one to feel on a deep, internal level; the coal black fire of the soul heating a disco of death and rebirth.

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  Review by Ella Kemp ★★★★½

  “Burn, in order to sow again.”

  Knotty, messy, sexy, manipulative, playful, infectious, seductive, lustful, dangerous, I love it I love it I love it

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  Review by reibureibu 11

  More than anything else, Ema (along with much of Pablo Larraín's filmography) is a film that cannot be fully understood unless you understand the history and politics of Chile, and though his films are accessible enough to outsiders we likely will miss much of the subtext for the glimmer and shine he coats them in.

  And what glitter and shine this has! As evidenced by the captivating dance scenes within that feel ripped straight out of a music video, filmed against the colorful backdrop of a seaside city complete with rolling hills and vivid streets where the people are as diverse as the exteriors of the buildings. For most viewers, the spectacle is more than enough of a draw to…

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  Review by Kambole Campbell ★★★★ 3

  still thinking about the dance sequence on the rooftop a week later - loved the complicated, messy polyamory and the film's focus on sensation over everything else, pretty much beats CLIMAX at its own game

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  Review by Sara Clements ★★★★½

  file this under: gorgeous cinematography lit by neon, “motherhood is a mental illness,” movies featuring dancing that make me horny, a couple on the verge of divorce fuck with each other mentally, and gay.