A Distant Place (South Korea, 2020)

A sheep farmer whose remote and quiet life is disturbed by the arrival of both his lover and his twin sister.

A Distant Place is a really slow-moving drama that's in no hurry in delivering you to the next act, and going in knowing that should help you just enjoy it for what it is. That is, a complete countermeasure to all the bloated junk cinema that's being released. It boasts some amazing visuals, and one shot of the genuine beauty of a forest-filled canyon is worth more than a million green-screened action scenes. While the characters deal with their family-related problems and relationships, they inhabit a world of lush colors and serenity. The story doesn't do anything revolutionary but accompanied by the cinematography I think it all clicks in place beautifully.

Genre: Drama. 1h 57min. 

Aloners (South Korea, 2021)

Jina, a solitary woman re-evaluates her isolated existence after her neighbor dies alone in his apartment.

What Aloners does right is the spot on portrayal of a modern, low income worker who seems to exist only for the company to make money. Jina is an employee in a call center where everyone is a small cog in the wheel, and her life sort of just blends in with the noise of the world around her. It's all very real in how Jina, while being a high ranked employee and surrounded by colleagues, still lives in isolation. Aloners is the debut of Hong Seong-eun, who wished to confront her own experience of loneliness in a society where everyone is connected. She has talked about how the devices in our hands and the screens we stare at distract us from getting to know ourselves. A relatable and great film. 

Genre: Drama. 1h 31min.

Intolerance (Japan, 2021)

A teenager girl's accidental death incites a media frenzy and causes her harsh father to turn his range against those he believes are responsible.

Revenge is a common theme in films, so to really make it interesting the story has to resonate with me. Intolerance doesn't tread any new ground, but the story of a broken father and a guilt ridden store manager got me hooked by not being a bloody vengeance trip but more about the emotional aftermath following a horrible accident. Good actors, the father character is an aggressive hellraiser but due to his  situation you can't help but feel for him. 

Genre: Drama. 1h 47min.

Drive My Car (Japan, 2021)

Two years after his wife's unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku, a renowned stage actor and director, receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There, he meets Misaki Watari, a taciturn young woman assigned by the festival to chauffeur him in his beloved red Saab 900. As the production's premiere approaches, tensions mount amongst the cast and crew, not least between Yusuke and Koshi Takatsuki, a handsome TV star who shares an unwelcome connection to Yusuke's late wife.

I gotta say, author Haruki Murakami has been very fortunate with the movie adaptions of his stories; Tony Takitani (2004), Norwegian Wood (2010, Burning (2018) among others. His short story Drive My Car appeared in the collection Men Without Women (2014) and the film version by Ryusuke Hamaguchi took the world by storm and won a slew of awards. Rightfully so, the look of the film has been praised to the skies. Often we get these long distance shots which places the characters, or the red car, far away and I loved that particular technique. 

The interplay between the characters are the meat of the bone here and being a three-hour long film, there's bound to be small missable details to be found in rewatches. Drive My Car is a celebrated extraordinary work, and a great story with a lot of depth. 

Genre: Drama. 2h 59min.

Belle (Japan, 2021)

Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters "U", a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious "beast" and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.

Belle is the latest adventure from acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, Wolf Children) and it gives a modern twist to the Beauty and the Beast tale. The visuals are, as you'd expect, absolutely stunning and the world of U is exhilarating to behold. It's an interesting idea to adapt a story we all know and view it from inside a virtual reality, which resonates with modern viewers who know what it's like to have an online persona. 

Accompanied by some beautiful pieces of music, Belle delivers a classic adventure in a high-tech skin and is certain to draw you in to its fascinating and sometimes all to relatable world of online horrors.

Genre: Animated/Drama. 2h.

The Medium (Thailand, 2021)

A horrifying story of a shaman's inheritance in the Isan region of Thailand. What could be possessing a family member might not be the Goddess they make it out to be.

The Medium will immediately grab any horror fans attention just by the names behind the film. Director Bangjong Pisanthanakun gave us the spooky Shutter (2004), and South Korean screen-writer Na Hong-jin made a huge splash in the industry with his fantastic The Wailing (2016). The Medium digs into possessions and has a documentary team follow a small village shaman in the midst of strange and disturbing events. 

While you'd be correct to expect nothing else than a milestone in Thai horror, given the credentials of the people involved, The Medium doesn't reach heights it should. The main possession that we're following feels like it could be a sub-story in the previously mentioned The Wailing which was much deeper. I thought the documentary hand-held camera style was unnecessary and when people start to die there's really no justification for trying to keep filming the action. That aside, the director captures some great amount of atmosphere and the setting of rural Thailand looks to be perfect for a story of this kind. 

I've read some people got terrified of this film, and while that's very far from my own experience, it's still worth a look if you want to see the latest in Thai horror. 

Genre: Horror. 2h 10min.

Blue (Japan, 2021)

Nobuto is a boxer who is not going to be a champion anytime soon. He works hard, trains, attends consistently and yet ends up amassing losses. In the same gym and training with Nobuto is Kazuki. The latter man looks destined for success. Moreover, he is engaged to Chika who was crushed on by Nobuto when they were children.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film centered around a couple of friends going through tough times together and seeing  their relationship twist and turn. A slight love triangle develops but remarkably doesn't make the film into some romantic sap-fest. It's just there and we're invested in the characters, played by actors who've become big stars in recent years. Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Norwegian Wood, Death Note) was a highlight for me as a likeable but interestingly flawed character in that he's lifted up as an authority figure in the gym but in reality he's quite timid and leaves a lot to be wished for in the boxing department. 

A film that doesn't try to overdo it with hidden meanings and life lessons, but portrays 3-4 characters small personal journeys. 

Genre: Drama/Sport. 1h 47min.