So today, I did some writing and watched horror films.
A powerful hurricane smashes into the Florida coast and a young woman goes to check on her estrange father. Unfortunately, the hurricane has flooded the swamps and the alligators have decided to make the neighborhood their new home. It’s survival horror as daughter and father fight to survive and get help.
I like this horror film because it has a female lead that isn’t serialized or forced into having a love interest. It focuses on a wholesome relationship between a parent and child and other than one small scene, the characters act with intelligence and common sense.
A childhood prank that ends in death, sends an innocent boy to prison and four years later, he’s out and the kids responsible have a stalker on their hands.
This wasn’t my favorite of the films I saw. The acting was okay, but the writing wasn’t that great. I’m not really a fan of teenager slasher films because they keep recycling the same old tropes. Leading girl wants a better life for herself, but that’s about it. She doesn’t come across as particularly interesting and the ring of friends (pranksters) are too large to keep track of. There was so much teen drama and romance that whenever the stalker makes an appearance, I am reminded that this is a slasher film. There was very little if any character development to be seen in this film.
Another film I liked would be Sweetheart. A shipwrecked young woman washes up on the sore of an isolated island. At first, it comes across as a survival film, but things get dangerous when a monster rears it ugly head.
The female lead isn’t serialized and is quite smart and resourceful. She manages to forage for food and stay a step ahead of the monster. Not much is known about her life before the island, but we’re given hints of it when other characters appear.
This is my favorite film I saw today.
This film explores the question of what would happen if a small child wakes up one morning to find herself alone to fend for herself. This is a unique film as the movie follows a two year old girl who wakes up next to her deceased mother while her father is out of own on business.
It’s a hard watch. Not because of gore, violence, or extreme triggers, but because of the tension and heartbreak. Heartbreak because Pihu, the titled character, doesn’t understand why Mommy won’t wake up and tries multiple times throughout the film to get her mother to respond. From pulling on her feet, headbutting her head, to smearing cream and food in her face, nothing moves or cajoles her dead mother to answer her pleas and cries. I teared up when Pihu burns her fingers on a iron that’s been left on and runs to her mother for comfort only to lay weeping on the body that can’t hug or hold her.
And the tension made me hold my breath. What sets this horror/thriller apart from others is the danger itself. Usually, it comes in the form of monsters, aliens, killers, wild animals, and all sorts of boogies to haunt and scare us. In Pihu, the danger comes from everyday items and she doesn’t know she’s in danger because she’s only a two year old girl.
She plays around a hot iron that’s sitting on a rickety ironing board, struggles to open a fridge where glass bottles on top that rattle threatening at the edge above her head, and she tries to use a stove to heat food. Other films, the characters know or quickly learn they are in danger and can take actions to protect themselves or fight back. Pihu doesn’t have that luxury because she’s practically still a baby.
The only adult we see on camera is the dead mother. All other adults are either heard through the phone, seen on television, or only their voices are heard outside the door of Pihu’s apartment home, all of them are ignorant of Pihu’s predicament.
Of all the films to watch on Netflix, this is the one I would strongly recommend. It’s unique take on the thriller genre and would definitely watch it again.
