Bria Lou Reviews

When Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) travels to Transylvania for a meeting with the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is plagued with horrifying visions. I was so excited to see this film! Taking away my love and excitement for anything horror, I studied the original 1922 Nosferatu back in university and loved it, so I really wanted to see this new take on it. It's not a surprise that I loved the film. The first thing I made a note of after watching was the way the director used light and dark so effectively to tell this story. There's a lot of darkness in the trailers, and because it's a gothic horror you expect the darkness to play a huge part, and it does. But the advantage of this is that the use of light is sparing, and is used to emphasise the most important parts of these scenes. It's clear that every single instance of light was thought about really carefully and it definitely paid off. There are a lot of impressive things a...

This isn't one that I was particularly excited to see, but it's been on my list for a while because I've always been interested in seeing the Alien vs Predator movies (in the same way that I love the Godzilla and Kong movies), so I've always known that I'd see this eventually so I could watch the crossover. I had fun with this movie. It's not the most enjoyable monster movie I've ever watched, but it's not a bad one. I think the design of the predator was great. Even today it would be a really interesting, unique design, so it's definitely great that it was created like this in the 80s. But also the visuals of the predator when he's cloaking were also really interesting and inventive. The idea of the film isn't quite as original today as it was when this was made, but there are definitely elements of this film that feel like a blueprint for other similarly-themed modern monster movies. There's a reason it has spawned 4 sequels and a cross...

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a girl with green skin and mysterious powers, forms an unlikely friendship with Galinda (Ariana Grande). A friendship that will change both of their lives, for good or bad, forever. I was so so excited to see this film. Not only am I a fan of musicals in general, but I saw the stage show of Wicked years ago and loved it, so I've been waiting with bated breath for the movie adaptation! I absolutely loved this film! I had chills from the first bar of the opening song and they stayed with me the entire way through. It was a really interesting experience seeing it in the cinema, it almost felt like seeing it in theatre. I wanted to applaud after every song. And this was partly due to how well the songs were sung, and by extension, how well the parts were played. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were perfect - I wouldn't have changed a thing about what either of them did in this film. They completely embodied their roles, played these characters and their dev...

While investigating a series of bank robberies, FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) is led to investigate a white supremacist group called 'The Order'. I was looking forward to this film just as a fan of Nicholas Hoult, though it wasn't one I was particularly excited for. But I've seen a few similarly-themed movies, so it was interesting to see how this one differed. I liked this film, but I didn't love it or enjoy it as much as I wanted to. The first thing I have to point out is the acting. All of the actors were amazing in their roles, particularly Hoult, Law, Jurnee Smollett and Tye Sheridan who all carried the film so well. There were definitely sections of the film that were very engaging, but I didn't find the entirety of the film engaging. There were scenes that, while necessary, seemed either too long or not really moving the story forward. The pacing could have been a bit tighter, but overall for a straight 2 hour movie it works quite well. I think the fund...

  Lou (Kristen Stewart) meets and quickly falls for Jackie (Katy M. O'Brian). But their romance soon turns deadly as they are both pulled into the ways of Lou's criminal family. I remember hearing a lot about this when it came out, but since then I've heard nothing, so I wasn't really thinking about it when it came out on Prime Video, but I was interested in seeing it. I liked this film, but not as much as I wanted to. The thing I liked the most from the start was the characters. They're well written and for the most part feel really authentic. You can't tell just from watching the film where it will go, but the more you watch, the more compelling it is. The acting is great, both Stewart and O'Brian are the heart of the movie and they do an amazing job with their characters. But as interesting as their characters are, I never felt any connection to either of them. They were fun to watch, but it didn't really matter to me how they ended up. While watching...

On her 18th birthday, Elliott (Maisy Stella) goes on a mushroom trip that connects her with her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). But when her older self starts giving her warnings and advice, Elliott has to decide which version of herself should control her future. I was looking forward to this film. Not just because I usually enjoy Aubrey Plaza’s performances, but because the premise for the film was so original, and so fun!  Unfortunately I ended up being disappointed with this one. But let’s start with the good things! I’ve already mentioned that the premise is original, and the entire film is very original. It’s also written really well, particularly the dialogue, which is really important for a film like this that is entirely character driven. Plaza and Stella work really really well together, and I’d love to see them together in another film. In fact, a pitfall of the film was not having these characters together more. Plaza isn’t in the film for nearly as long as she should ...

  Two missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) are caught up in a dangerous game when they knock on the door of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), a man who forces them to question their faith. I was looking forward to seeing this one, mostly for Hugh Grant, but also because it looked like a really unique horror movie and I'm always seated for horror. I had mixed feelings about this film while watching it. I was unsure for a long time, but by the end I did really like it. As mentioned, the story is really unique, and there's no way you can guess where it's going. And some of the uniqueness is added by the camera shots and imagery, which were so original and well done. At the beginning it moves very slowly and is incredibly dialogue-heavy. This can become a problem if you don't care about the conversation or the characters, as it can become a bit heavy and boring. Though the dialogue itself is well-written.  But if you're not enjoying it, this problem is solved really quick...