Bria Lou Reviews

When I first heard about this film, for some reason, I thought it was a thriller, and was really excited to see it. So when I realised it wasn't, it took me a while to get around to seeing it. On a visit to her hometown, Ally (Allison Brie) runs into and reminisces with her ex (Jay Ellis), before finding out that he's engaged. I felt disappointed with this film. I didn't really enjoy it at all. In the beginning, things move too quickly. You don't get to know Ally at all, and when she meets Sean, there's no build-up of chemistry with him. They don't feel believable as a former couple. The film has a weird tone, not quite romantic or dramatic or funny. A lot of it felt like we were just watching things develop. There wasn't even enough to have an opinion on at some points. I never connected to any of the characters, and I saw no chemistry with any of the potential or established couples. My biggest problem with the film was with Jay Ellis's character, Sean...

I knew of the book by Taylor Jenkins Reid that this film was based on, so I knew the premise, but as I haven't read the book, I went in relatively blind. After getting engaged to her best friend (Simu Liu), Emma's (Phillipa Soo) husband (Luke Bracey), thought to be dead for the last 4 years, resurfaces, forcing Emma to make a difficult choice. I immediately liked the premise after hearing it, but I didn't have much hope for the movie. Thankfully I enjoyed it. There was believable chemistry between both potential couples, which made it so much easier to be invested in the dilemma. The actors also had great chemistry, which helped. These were times in the film where I was rooting for one couple over the other, and this changed multiple times as the film continued. For me, this is what makes a successful love triangle story - when there isn't an obvious choice, but also where each choice holds real stakes.  The story could have ended in multiple ways. My favourite characte...

  As I say every year, I absolutely love T. M. Logan. He is my favourite author (sharing first place with Karen M. McManus), and I pre-order his books every year so I can read them as soon as they come out. I didn't love last year's book, 'The Curfew', but I was still really excited to read this one. After spending 10 years in prison for a crime she didn't commit, Heather will stop at nothing to get her sons back and uncover the truth behind her husband's murder. I loved this book. I was excited to read it because I really liked the premise, and thankfully it was executed really well. Usually, I'm not a big fan of prologues, but the prologue for this book is great. It gives nothing away while making the reader want to know more. You get to know and sympathise with Heather really quickly, which just makes you as the reader all the more eager to find out the truth. Without giving anything away, the character of Jodie was probably my favourite of all the charac...

I had never heard of this film before seeing it appear on Amazon Prime Video. I recognised the main actress from the latest Scream movies, and after reading the premise, I was really interested in seeing it. When a pregnant woman (Melissa Barrera) moves into a new home and is placed on bed rest, she begins to wonder if her new home is haunted. This film was better than I thought it would be. I really didn't have any expectations and was pleasantly surprised. As mentioned, the premise is an interesting one. It's not the most original concept, but it's intriguing enough to draw people in. Having said that, while it is interesting, not a lot actually happens in the film, particularly in the first half. Some parts felt especially predictable. For example, there were a lot of props introduced in the first half of the film (walkie-talkies, a weirdly-placed camera) that felt like they were only in the film for horror purposes. It made sense, but took me out of the film a bit each ...

I was irrationally excited to see this film. It looked like a cheesy, bad-on-purpose horror movie that would have been fun to love and hate in equal measure, and I love films like that, especially horror. After being abandoned by Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon), Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet terrorise a grown-up Christopher Robin, as well as anyone else they come across. This was a trip. The opening scene was 10 minutes long and felt like it was at least 30. I couldn't tell if the film was supposed to be serious, funny or stupid, and honestly the overall tone is a mix of the three, none of which really worked well. It is obvious right away that these are not characters the audience is supposed to care about, so why is time wasted giving them half-hearted backstories? Particularly the group of girls who have nothing to do with Christopher Robin or the villians. Speaking of the group of girls, the weirdest thing the film did was not allow the audience to follow Christopher Robin. He sh...

I put this film on the day I saw it come out on Prime Video, for no other reason than it looked vaguely interesting and quite short. I wish I had read some reviews before I watched it. When Michelle (Emma Roberts) and Allen (Luke Bracey) come to a crossroads in their relationship, they have dinner with both sets of parents to sort out their problems. But soon it is discovered that their parents already know each other. I still have no idea what to think of this film. What was it about, and what was it supposed to be? The cast is amazing. Michelle and Allen's parents are played by Diane Keaton, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and William H. Macy, and as much as I love those actors individually, I'm struggling to see why they chose to play these roles. The film didn't make the audience care about the characters, and because of this, it is hard (if not impossible) to care about anything that happens. This could have worked really well as a full-on comedy if it really leaned into ...

This year's Oscar nominees are a bit hazy now, but this was the one out of them all that I most wanted to see, so I'm really glad it came out on Prime Video. A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher (Brendan Fraser) tries to reconnect with his daughter (Sadie Sink). I don't know how I feel about this film yet. I definitely found it interesting, and enjoyed some of the ways it explored certain themes, but I don't think it was as impactful as it could have been. For a start, the exploration of the relationship between Charlie (Fraser) and Ellie (Sink) was really interesting to watch, but while this was set up to be the heart of the film, I didn't feel this until the end. I actually felt that the heart of the film was Charlie's relationship with his friend Liz (Hong Chau). The cast was amazing, and it is clear why Brendan Fraser won an Oscar for his role. The film touches on themes of loneliness, grief, family, abandonment, religion and so much more, but it neve...

I know practically nothing about the Dungeons and Dragons game, but I really liked the trailer for this movie, and after hearing some of the great reviews, I was really looking forward to seeing it. A group of adventurers go on a dangerous heist to recover a lost relic. I absolutely loved this film. The first note I wrote, 10 minutes into the film, was that I was already in love with the characters. 10 minutes in. And I stayed in love with them until the end of the film. I still love them now! They were well-written, unique and so much fun to watch. I was immediately invested in the story, and was definitely rooting for these characters. It's easy to feel connected to them, and I found myself really caring about them very quickly. The cast was amazing. The film stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Regé-Jean Page and Hugh Grant and all of the actors were perfect for their roles. But even without these characters, the story itself is so much fun to watc...

  Full disclosure, this film is made by the same producers who make the 'After' movies, and after seeing the trailer, I only watched it to hate it.  Retired poker prodigy Abby (Virginia Gardner) goes to college for a fresh start and meets underground fighter Travis (Dylan Sprouse), who she automatically hates. But as Abby is forced to spend more time in Travis's presence, she begins to see that there is more to him than meets the eye. I'm so surprised that I'm giving this a positive review, but I actually liked this movie! It starts off as a group of cliches, which was expected. The film tried to force the hate-to-love trope when the characters clearly didn't dislike each other, and had no reason to. I found Abby to be a really annoying, unlikeable character. This changed as the film went on, and I definitely warmed to her, but I didn't like her in the beginning at all. The writing wasn't great -  it felt really unrealistic at some points. But everything...

I hadn't heard much about this film before seeing it, but I had seen the filmmaker's other movie, 'The Father' and loved it, so I was very interested in seeing this one. Peter's (Hugh Jackman) perfect life with his wife and new baby gets upended when he finds out that his teenage son (Zen McGrath) is depressed. This was actually better than I thought it would be. The cast was great - the film stars Hugh Jackman, Zen McGrath, Vanessa Kirby and Laura Dern. Some of the performances felt disingenuous at times, as did some of the dialogue. The film is a really interesting look at family dynamics and relationships. Even if we don't take into account Nicholas's (mostly unnamed) depression, it is great watching the way that the relationships between the old and new family change. It moves really slowly. This works sometimes, but there are some scenes that feel like they drag on a bit too long. The film allows you to reflect on your own life - particularly if you end...