Thom G
"We might hurt each other" defies expectations with its twists and turns. It's psychologically sophisticated, nuanced, and realistic, adeptly portraying a variety of late teen social dynamics. On top of that, it's a great horror film!
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
04/03/24
Full Review
Christina B
"Pensive (2023) played at FrightFest Glasgow in March 2023, an arm of the U.K.'s largest international thriller, fantasy, and horror movie festival. The film takes place within a dark rural landscape and combines psychological horror with more conventional gore and jump-scares. Director Jonas Trukanas and his co-writer, Titas Laucius, started developing Pensive‘s screenplay in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic as Lithuania and other countries went into lockdown. Indeed, the claustrophobia of this writing environment seems to have created a heady and memorable film that reflects themes of isolation and confinement. Putting the spotlight on a troubled teenage protagonist, Pensive is a mash-up of teen slasher and folk horror's most memorable elements."
Full review: https://signalhorizon.com/glasgow-frightfest-2023-pensive/
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/02/24
Full Review
Rob H
Complex movie mixing the styles of a psychological thriller and a slasher film. The main character, Marius, is a shy, introverted boy who seems to have only friend, the far more outgoing Vytas. Marius's parents don't seem to care much about him—in fact, in one horrifying scene his father calls at 4:30 in the morning to tell him that the class jock is about to be drafted by the Chicago Bulls.
Well, back to the plot: It's graduation day, and afterward everyone in the class wants to have a sex, drugs, and tolerable techno party. Marius suggests a remote cabin that he knows about (or maybe his parents own? I missed that), I think feeling peer pressure from Vytas and a desire to fit in at least once in his life.
All begins well, although Marius isn't having much fun. Various people try half-heartedly to get him in the right mood. In one scene, Rimas (the jock) has his arm around Marius and gets angry when someone takes a picture; in another, somewhat inexplicably, Rimas kisses Marius full on the lips and says "Tonight there are no rules!" That tantalizing plot turn doesn't have a real payoff, though.
By the time of the kiss, the major problem of the movie has already occurred. There are some curious, anthropomorphic wooden sculptures in the forest, and everyone in the party—because most of them seem to be vacuous, drug-loving, privileged kids—think it will be a great idea to chop them into firewood, slit them with their knives, and deface them in other ways. And I'm not sure, but I think they do it simply to tease Marius, who begs them to leave the scuptures alone.
Afterward, as the synopsis on Google will tell you, there are a lot of horrible, gory teen deaths. To say more will really spoil the movie if you haven't seen it yet, but I will say that, well before the end of the movie, Marius is a very sympathetic but ultimately flawed character who is forever changed by the terror he endures.
Film in Lithuanian, so the subtitles are essential. Once the party begins, the lighting is very dark with occasional splashes of color supplied by the fire and accessories of the teens. In general, I think it's beautifully filmed, and all of the teen actors are very good and very easy on the eyes. A few of them we get to know—Marius, Rimas, Vytas for the males and, to a lesser degree, two of the girls, Saule (Vytas's new love interest) and Brigita (Marius's fantasized one). As of this writing, it's available for free and well worth a watch. I think I'll watch it again.
Major spoilers below:
As the horror begins, Marius's complexity really begins to develop. He seems largely too withdrawn to be heroic, and so is accused as being somehow responsible for what is happening or at least more interested in his own preservation rather than that to others. That's probably true, but this is hardly a crime and, given the way he's generally been treated, the kids' reaction toward this is way too harsh (but then again, kids aren't known for being particularly nuanced and understanding—maybe the current generation can change that). In one pathetic scene, for instance, Marius confesses his love to Brigita—weird time to do it, for sure, and very unrealistic since they had had only one conversation. Her rejection of him is horrible, brutal, and insensitive. This triggers something in Marius, who ends up saving the day after all (though he gets hardly any credit for it from the remaining teens).
In the aftermath, one more put-down causes Marius to lash out with fatal consequences (as intimated above, I really understand why he did it and can sympathize to some degree), but as one of now two survivors (the other was too drugged out to remember anything) he suddenly gets treated like a celebrity for "all the horror" he went through. His parents are by his bedside showing him all the attention that he deserved for all those years As the cameras flash about him, Marius's stoic expression nevertheless suggests that maybe he enjoys all the attention, finally. What happens afterward is anyone's guess: I think the experience psychologically damages him in a new way, and he ends up being not unlike the serial killer in the movie. That would be an exciting sequel—a sort of art house Wolf's Creek, perhaps.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
07/31/23
Full Review
prawnda s
pretty solid. there are some slow bits and a lot of it is pretty derivative, but the ending was pretty interesting.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
07/14/23
Full Review
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