Reviews Reactor

Stranger Things 2 is a follow-up to last year's excellent Netflix original series Stranger Things, and it takes place approximately 1 year after the events of the first season. A new threat is looming, and poor Will Byers is once again at the center of it.  I absolutely adored the first season, it was one of my favorite new series to come out recently and I was super pumped up for the second season. And thankfully, it delivered once again. The Duffer Brothers managed to give us another season full of mystery and thrills, fun and feels. Once again, the performances were great across the board, talking about them would take too long so I'll just mention my personal favorite this time. Mille Bobby Brown (Eleven) was the standout last time; this time, however, Noah Schnapp (Will) absolutely KILLED IT. He didn't have much to showcase his acting talent chops in season 1 since he was absent for most of it, but here he brought it all, and it was wonderful. Shawn ...

Glitch is an Australian mystery-drama TV series and it is about a small town where things turn upside down for a cop and other people as six deceased people suddenly rise back one fateful night.   The story/premise intrigued me from the start. You feel just as confused as the people in the show. How did they come back? Why are they back? Is it something supernatural? Or is it science related? All these questions and more raise through your head in the first episode and becomes the framework of the series experience.  Now, there is a good amount of characters in it, but they don't get an equal amount of development, nor are they all interesting or well acted. But the ones that are interesting certainly keep the intrigue level high enough that you want to know more and want them to solve this mystery and get answers.  The story creates interesting scenarios and makes you wonder what would you do if you were thrown in this situation. And like I ...

The Nigh Of is a mini-series from HBO and it's about a guy who, on one night, finds himself in a very sticky situation when the girl he was with ends up dead and he becomes the main suspect. From a glance, this might look like another murder mystery type show, but in actuality, it is more about being in this situation, and how the system is flawed.  In usual HBO fashion, the pacing of the show is slow, but the good kind. Everything takes its time and lets you soak it all in. The tension slowly creeps up on you during crucial moments, and builds and builds, putting you on the edge of your seat, without rushing anything. Since there are only eight episodes, there isn't a moment of boredom to be found, even if things slow down to a great deal.  From crime-scene to police stations and trials, everything feels laid out to a great degree of detail. People are simply doing there job, going about their business while the protagonist finds himself in this situation. It al...

Stranger Things is a Netflix original series about a disappearance of a boy in a small town, and the efforts of his family and friends in order to find him, in the midst of strange events. This show's popularity really blew up after its release this year. It was everywhere, and I finally got around to watching it, and to see what all the big fuss was about. And well, the hype is real. I'll be very honest, I don't think I have ever seen a show that got me hooked so badly, so quickly, and maintained that interest throughout with extreme consistency. I started it after midnight, with a plan of watching a couple of episodes that night (Working Day, had to get up early), and continuing the rest next day. But instead of that, I stayed up till morning and completed it in one go. It literally glued me to the TV. Now, the thing that was most prevalent in hooking me to this show, at least at the start anyway, was the setting. It hit all the right points for me considering...

Unknown is a mystery thriller about five guys who wake up in a warehouse without any memory, and they try to figure out who they are and what happened.  Now this movie does a good enough job of creating the suspense, the setting and the characters so that you are invested enough to be thrilled. You try to figure out who's right and who's wrong, who's good and who's bad, and stuff like that along with the characters, hooking you in the movie.  The acting was good enough to sell this premise. And just like the characters are doubting their-selves and each other, you start to do the same, which is a job well done for a movie like this.  The bulk of the movie takes place in the warehouse, but there are scenes of the law enforcement side, which aren't as interesting, and hence break the pacing a bit. Nothing too serious, but worth mentioning. Now, unfortunately, two things in particular ruined the movie for me. First, the ending. In hopes of trying t...

It is a series based on the famous novel by Agatha Christie of the same name and it is about a group of people from different walks of life who are invited by a rich family to stay in their mansion on an Island. But someone there starts to kill them one by one creating terror, suspicion and alliances among one another. I loved the premise and it was very well executed. Different and varied characters came to life by great acting, with actors like Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister in Game of thrones) and Toby Stephens (Captain Flint in Black Sails). As the situation gets more dire, you see the true self of these people and I loved how the show focused on the mental state of everyone and how they were coping with this. The cinematography was gorgeous. The show was really well shot. Now, my main issue with the show was its three episodes length. It was just too short to fully develop a large character set and while the show did a good enough job with the time it had, it often felt too r...

"See, you're done with the past, but the past is not done with you." The gift is a drama-mystery-thriller written, directed and acted by Joel Edgerton which acts as his first director debut. It also stars Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall. The movie is about a couple, Bateman and Hall, who move to a new city and their lives are disrupted by Bateman's old friend played by Edgerton. This was a surprisingly well-made movie, especially considering it is Edgerton's first step into the Director realm. He was great in the movie as well. Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall also were really great. This is only the second role where I've seen Bateman in a serious role and it confirms again that he definitely has talent for this and is not only a comedic actor. The movie plot progression is what really made me like it. I was constantly thinking about the plot and the movie kept throwing shifts at me, making me more involved in it. It was well shot too, with tons of static-s...