Drama

A script is often a crutch. It allows an actor to retreat into memorization rather than existing in the terrifying present moment. For most directors, the script is a security blanket that they violently cling to. In The Souvenir, Joanna Hogg stripped that blanket away, pushing her cast into a state of terrifying, absolute freedom. The ‘One Rule’ Constraint: No Screenplay Hogg’s central constraint was simple but radical: there was no traditional screenplay. ...

There is a disturbing trend in modern cinema: the complete eradication of physical reality in favor of digital convenience. When a director wants to bend time, they immediately surround their actors with green screens, hanging digital doves in the air, creating a sterile, lifeless vacuum. Joachim Trier refuses this cowardice. For the iconic frozen-time sequence in The Worst Person in the World, he proved that magic is only compelling when it is anchored in the physical world. ...

Warning: contains mild spoilers for Euphoria, but only for Kat’s storyline. Promise. The premise for Euphoria feels like any other teen show: an ensemble of characters from varying cliques (popular girls, jocks and weirdos included) all attempt to navigate adolescence, participating in parties and prom nights whilst still trying to make their grades. But there’s a depth to this show that sets it apart from the rest. Created by Sam Levinson (Assassination Nation) and starring Zendaya (most recently seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home), Euphoria is a depiction of what it’s like to be a teenager right now – at least, that’s what it feels like to me, at the grand old (irrelevant) age of 26. ...