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jillianmourning
Reviews
American Nightmare (2024)
Infuriating Injustice with some closure
I wasn't planning on staying awake until 3am but I was hooked pretty early on. The case seems wild yes, but I didn't feel like the boyfriend was guilty like they tried to make it out to be initially. Those male cops suck at their jobs because their intuition was horrible. They also lacked professionalism, compassion, and ignored their duty to serve. Instead of curiouser and curiouser like Alice said I kept saying crazier and crazier. You also become angry as it progresses at the complete incompetence of the Vallejo police department and the FBI agent. It doesn't make you feel confident in their ability to solve crime based on their handling of the case.
Thank heavens for the hero female cop who pushed and didn't give up to help break the case finally. Even with evidence, the Vallejo PD and the FBI agent Sesma were trying to avoid doing any work to investigate. The chief, detective mustard (I just kept thinking of Clue when they said his name-oh and he gets cop of the year-vomit,) and the Asian cop who publicly demanded an apology from Denise for wasting valuable resources all should have been fired. Since they weren't, I hope they get internet shamed thanks to the exposure of this documentary.
I'm glad Denise and Aaron got a couple million dollars for the insane amount of defamation from the department and subsequent media, but that wasn't enough. It should have been money and disciplinary action for those officers and the FBI agent. I also hope everyone who messaged her such horrible things and the media vultures who played a role will face karma for their actions.
The female cop said the kidnapper looked relatively normal but I disagree, his eyes showed pure evil. I'm glad he got 40 years and hope he dies while in there. It's still scary they refused to try to find his accomplices and just moved on. Maybe Muller was the ringleader and the others won't act again without him, but they still deserve to go to prison for what they did.
In the end, my emotions were incredibly angry (because I can't type what I really feel about the PD and FBI agent without my review being flagged,) and relieved they at least can move on with their lives.
Nowhere (2023)
Gut-wrenching, Emotional, and Captivating
Anna Castillo's performance was outstanding. For the overdone survival movie, this is one of the best I've seen. Despite much of the movie taking place in a shipping container and limited actors, you don't lose interest.
The film makes you empathize with her character, especially as a mother. I watched this with my kids laying in bed asleep beside me and tears flowed during several scenes. You can feel her desperation, hopelessness, starvation, pain, panic, fear, frustration, anger, and more. The birthing scene was so realistic and executed beautifully.
I do wish the ending had a bit more but I like more detailed closure.
In the Dark (2019)
I wanted to like it more
It's entertaining with some twists and turns to.keep you hooked.
The main character is occasionally just repulsive. I do understand she is frustrated at everyone wanting to help her, but she treats people like garbage sometimes and has no remorse. Her extreme stubbornness is reckless and puts others in awful positions too.
With that being said, her commitment to helping solve her best friend's murder is beautiful and heartbreaking.
They develop all the characters well and flashbacks are a helpful inclusion to explain what otherwise seems to be missing details. I also love the flashbacks give us more details about Tyson and Murphy's relationship and the sweetness of his character.
It's also nice the show gives a small insight into some of the struggles of those who have lost their sight.
Justine (2019)
Depicts multiple realities
Is this a fast-paced blockbuster? No.
It's a slower slice of life depicting realities of grief, racism, medical conditions, the pressure and hope of a "normal" family and more.
We see a woman who has lost her husband (shot in the military in "friendly" fire,) who is grieving. She's closed off, has her wall up, trouble interacting with her children and FIL, and trying to figure out life. In her getting a job as a caretaker for a child with spinal bifida, we see her soften and make a human connection. I'm doing so we see the judgments on a child with a medical condition from other children, her parents who want her living in a bubble, and said parents who have a troubled marriage and allow their racism to show. Now she's working for a family who acts as if she's less than but she deeply cares for their daughter.
We see a grandfather stepping up to care for his grandkids while his DIL figured out her grief.
It's a heartwarming film that should click with empaths and those who can connect with others.
I wish there had been a bit more of an ending versus we see her sorta smile and try to start connecting with her kids again.
Nevertheless, I'm glad I watched it.
Dukhtar (2014)
Beautiful scenery, excellent acting, subtlety in the issue of child marriage
I loved this film. The beginning sets you the strong mother/daughter relationship where both characters exude their love, friendship, and connection. This relationship continues throughout the duration of the film and feels like the main focus. The issue of arranged child brides/marriages is secondary. You have just enough set up to understand the pain of the issue and the blatant violation of human rights to promise a 10 year old to someone who is likely in his 60s or older. The issue isn't enough in your face to feel like a pure human rights film; yet enough that it makes the audience process this human rights abuse.
The colors of their wardrobe and Soheil's truck contrasting with the landscapes of the Northern Pakistani mountains create a stunning visual.
The plot is subtle, but more than delivers enough suspense to want to watch the story unfold as you hope for a somewhat happy western ending, yet the reality is true stories like this often don't have a happy ending, allowing for either ending to feel appropriate.