Bria Lou Reviews

I have to admit, I judged this film completely on the poster. I had no idea what it was about before watching it and only clicked on it because I thought it would be a fun coming-of-age movie with cake. Unfortunately, I was very wrong! Corinne (Odessa A'zion) convinces her bake-loving best friend Jane (Yara Shahidi) to bake cakes and bring them to bars as a way to meet people. I don't want to give anything away, but the film takes a huge turn away from this theme. I thought the idea of them baking and bringing the cakes to bars was weird but fun. But even with this, I didn't care about the characters. There was no reason for the film to be 2 hours. I'm not against long films at all, but there wasn't enough material for this to be so long - the length made it become boring and it started dragging on. Though I will say it was sweet. The two main actresses have great chemistry and their scenes together, especially more towards the end of the film, were really endearing...

  It's Christmas Eve! I left this film until last because it was the one I was most looking forward to seeing. I saw the trailer and was really intrigued by how the events would play out, and I was already a fan of the two main actors. Thankfully it was a great choice for Christmas Eve because it surpassed my expectations! When two gift bags from Tiffany's get accidentally swapped, Rachel (Zoey Deutch) is given an engagement ring meant for someone else, and Ethan's (Kendrick Sampson) proposal is ruined. Can they swap back and each have the perfect Christmas, or was the swap a blessing in disguise? I loved this film. The concept in itself is fun and cute. It didn't have to be about Christmas and could cause a variety of different outcomes, making it more unique than the average Christmas movie. I really liked all of the characters, whether they were main or supporting. The film also stars Shay Mitchell, Ray Nicholson and Jojo T. Gibbs, but the standout performer, without...

  I had been looking forward to this movie for such a long time! Not only am I a fan of Asa Butterfield, but the premise looked really original and fun, so I was excited to see how it would play out. Students Hayley (Cora Kirk) and James (Asa Butterfield) surprise each other for Christmas by travelling to each other's homes for the holidays, leaving them trapped with each other's families for Christmas. I loved this movie! At this point in Blogmas I was starting to get Christmas Movie fatigue (which happens every year), and this film cured that in the first 5 minutes. The actors and characters had a chemistry that was so believable, they didn't even need to spend the movie together to feel authentic. In fact, they had more chemistry apart than a lot of Christmas Couples have together! Not only is the story unique, but it's also really interesting, and would be interesting without the Christmas backdrop. The humour works really well - the funny moments are actually funny...

  This is an Amazon Prime Video movie that I was initially attracted to because I'm a fan of John Cho. But thankfully the premise was a really interesting one, and I was excited to see how emotionally invested I would become in these characters. When a single father (John Cho) learns his devastating diagnosis, he takes his daughter (Mia Isaac) on a road trip to find the mother who abandoned her. I enjoyed this movie... until the end. John Cho and Mia Isaac have great chemistry. They work really well together and were completely believable as father and daughter. Their dynamic was realistic and enjoyable to watch. The film includes important messages and themes of love and family, told in a way that makes you think about your own life. It is heartbreaking to see this film from Max's (Cho) point of view, knowing what his end goal is. Having knowledge that Wally (Isaac) doesn't have makes the audience feel like we are involved in this film, and in on a secret, which made me fe...

  This is a film that came out on Amazon Prime Video a couple of months ago. I didn't fully understand the premise, but it was definitely intriguing enough to watch. After an accident, Laura (Clara Rugaard-Larsen) uses a time-travelling mixtape to save the love of her life. This film is okay. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It was a long time before anything actually happened. I had to re-read the description 20 minutes in just to make sure I was actually watching the right film. The characters never strike me as a particularly strong couple, let alone the love of each other's lives. If anything, I wish the first 20 minutes/half an hour had been spent establishing and authenticating the relationship.  Once we actually get into what the film is about (which was an interesting concept) the film becomes an intriguing and interesting watch. For a film that relies so heavily on music, the song choices never felt particularly significant. I understand that the ...

  To be honest, I'm not sure I would have picked this film had it not starred Ben Affleck (or been on Amazon Prime Video), as I'm such a huge fan. The concept itself seemed a bit familiar, a bit predictable, but I was interested to see where it would go. In 1972, young J.R. (Daniel Ranieri) moves in with his grandfather. In search of a father figure, he turns to his uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), who inspires older J.R. (Tye Sheridan) to become a writer. I enjoyed this film. It wasn't amazing, but it was more interesting than I thought it would be. The film has an amazing cast. As well as those mentioned, it also stars Lily Rabe and Christopher Lloyd, who play J.R.'s mother and grandfather. The characters are really fun to watch. It is fun to see the different family dynamics, the dialogue is quick, realistic and authentic, and you really feel like these characters are a family. The best thing about this film is the relationship between J.R. and his uncle Charlie. I love ...

  I'm a huge Chris Pine fan, so this film had been on my radar for a while. And while I was looking forward to seeing it, I knew that it possibly wouldn't be something I'd love depending on whether it focused on the spy story or the love story. When the CIA discovers a mole within the organisation, Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) is forced to reunite with his former colleague and lover, Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton) to discover the truth. I didn't love the film for various reasons, most of which I'd been expecting. For a start, the film begins at a running pace. It took literally 3 minutes for the entirety of the story to be explained to the audience. There was absolutely no time to sit with these characters, get to know them, or actually like them. The film never really did anything to make the audience care about either the incident (a plane hijacking) or the mole. A lot of this movie rests on the chemistry of its main characters, and for me the characters (or perhap...

I heard nothing about this film before it came out on Amazon Prime Video, and ultimately I watched it as soon as I did because I'm a huge fan of James McAvoy.  When Edmond Murray (James McAvoy) finds out that his 7-year-old son has gone missing, he and his ex-wife Joan (Claire Foy) do everything they can to find him. The gimmick of this movie is that, everyone involved in the film was given a script apart from James McAvoy. His performance is completely improvised. And as amazing as that is, I didn't actually realise this fact until I had already watched and made my mind up about the film - so I'll definitely be giving it another watch! While the film was somewhat interesting, I didn't really enjoy it. James McAvoy and Claire Foy have great chemistry, and make a really good team, both within the film and as an acting duo. The film is tense and uncomfortable. There are multiple times, particularly in the first half-hour of the film, when you are on the edge of your seat ...

So, the third 'After' movie. Of course, I was always going to review it (as I'll continue to do if more are made), but after not really enjoying the second film, I wasn't that excited to see the third.  Just when Tessa (Josephine Langford) and Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) are back on track, a job offer, the return of a family member, and secrets from Hardin's past threaten to destroy their relationship for good. This is a weird one for me. I would say that I didn't really like maybe 80% of the movie, but the parts that I did enjoy were enough to excite me for a possible fourth film. The first thing I noted about the film is that it feels really juvenile. The characters feel a lot younger than they're acting - how old are they actually supposed to be? I had a problem with Tessa's character development in the second movie, but I felt like in this one, the filmmakers have finally decided who she is going to be, and started working towards that, which is gre...

I had been really looking forward to this film before it came out. I haven't seen the stage show, so I only knew the basic premise, but I couldn't wait to see it. Jamie New (Max Harwood) wants to be a Drag Queen - but can he overcome the bullying of his peers, the discrimination of his school, and his estranged father to step into the spotlight? I didn't love this film as much as I wanted to, but I did still enjoy it. The beginning of the film felt a bit cheesy, which is definitely not a bad thing in a musical. But because I had no experience of this musical, it took me a little while to get into it because it didn't feel real to me at first. I love the story, and the fact that this was even made into a musical in the first place. The story (as opposed to the film) is perfect in a musical setting, and I completely understand why the stage musical is so popular. This story is empowering and heartbreaking at the same time. The balance of emotions is created really well. M...

I love the story of Cinderella. I love the story, I love the Disney movie, and I always have time for a remake, so I was always going to watch this movie.  This modern musical-take on the classic fairytale sees Cinderella (Camila Cabello) as an ambitious, aspiring business owner who tries to make her dreams come true while under the thumb of her step-mother. But will things change when she meets Prince Robert (Nicholas Galitzine)? I'm struggling with this. I don't want to say that this is a bad movie, because I know some people will really enjoy it. But from my point of view, there are many other Cinderella movies that are much better than this one. From the start, I couldn't tell whether the film was supposed to be taken seriously or not. I just couldn't work it out. I was confused about the time period, whether this was supposed to be modern, or old-fashioned. I think this would have been better if the film had either been completely modern (including the clothing and...

  I had heard a lot of great things about this film before seeing it, so I went in with really high expectations. It's currently free (in the UK) with an Amazon Prime subscription. Maud (Morfydd Clark) is a nurse who becomes a carer for retired dancer Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), who is dying from cancer. When Maud meets Amanda, she quickly becomes obsessed with saving the woman's soul from eternal damnation. I didn't get this film at all. There were some things that I liked about it, but overall it wasn't for me. A lot of the film, particularly in the beginning, is completely created by the atmosphere. When there is little speech, and not a lot actually happens, we understand exactly what the tone is because of the atmosphere. For example, if the film took place exclusively in daylight, with the exact same plot, everything would have felt different. It is a slow film, and it took me a while to get into it, because it takes a while for anything to happen.  Maud is an interes...

  At the time of writing, this show came out two days ago. It's a 7-episode anthology with episodes lasting between 20 and 30 minutes, which is why I was able to finish it so quickly. This series explores what it means to be human, and the connections that humans share. I'm not totally sold on this series. There were some things that I absolutely loved about it, and other things that I could have done without. If you've read my blog before, you might know that I'm a huge fan of Anthony Mackie. Originally, I had only planned to watch his episode (Episode 2 - Tom), and that's what I did. I then watched the next one (Episode 3 - Peg) because of the connection there, which I won't spoil. But I found myself so intrigued by the descriptions of the other episodes, that I decided to just go for it and watch them all. In order, the episodes star Anne Hathaway (Leah), Anthony Mackie (Tom), Helen Mirren (Peg), Uzo Aduba (Sasha), Constance Wu (Jenny), Nicole Beharie (Nera),...

  I've wanted to see this for such a long time, long before I heard that it was nominated for any Oscars. It's out on Amazon Prime Video, and it's definitely worth watching. Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) is a drummer whose life completely changes when he begins to lose his hearing. One of the reasons that I was so keen to see this film was because I loved the concept. I thought it was a really good idea, and I wanted to see how it would be executed. It goes without saying that sound is really important to the film, but the film uses sound really uniquely and effectively to tell this story. Ruben is such an interesting, fully fleshed-out, well-written character. I also really loved his relationship with Lou (Olivia Cooke). I've been a fan of Riz Ahmed for a while now, and this is one of the best performances of his that I've seen. He is amazing as Ruben.  Watching the journey of this character is extremely thought-provoking. It also feels really important to see him in rel...

  I was doing a binge of Jamie Bell's filmography back in September, and I noticed that this was on his Wikipedia as an upcoming project. I looked it up and it sounded really interesting, so I made a mental note to watch it when it eventually came out. John Clark (Michael B. Jordan) is a Navy SEAL who has to go to dark places in order to get revenge on the men who murdered his pregnant wife. I didn't end up liking this film half as much as I wanted to. I haven't read any of Tom Clancy's works, and I've only seen one Jack Ryan movie, so I was going into this completely unaware of what it is based on. For a start, the concept, while interesting, isn't really anything new. In fact, the husband/wife/child/dog murder revenge thriller has been done to death. But this looked like it would be a slightly different take on what we're used to.  The film is made up of quite a few action scenes, but there were a lot of them that just felt lacklustre and underwhelming. Th...

I heard a lot about this film before I saw it, in terms of people's opinions. There have been quite a lot of negative reviews, but the people who love it really love it. So of course, I had to watch it so I could see which side of the debate I stood on. Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) is a corrupt legal guardian who makes a living from scamming the elderly. However, one of her scams goes dangerously wrong when she discovers that the elderly woman she's scamming isn't who anyone thought she was.    I loved this film! It was nothing I expected, and completely exceeded my expectations. For a start, this is such an interesting story, and it comes from an original point of view. How often do we see films about corruption from the point of view of the corrupt? There are really interesting dynamics between these characters. They all play off of each other really well. This isn't a one-person film, and everyone's character is informed by the actions of someone else. The event...

  I knew absolutely nothing about this film before I watched it. It is an Amazon Original movie, and was recommended to me when it came out on Amazon Prime, which is how I found it. After reading the premise, I was interested to see where it would go. Mark (Kyle Allen) continuously lives the same day, and he has perfected his daily routine. Until one day, he discovers something he hadn't accounted for - someone else stuck in the same time loop. As Mark and Margaret (Kathryn Newton) try to find the tiny perfect things that make up their never-ending day, they soon have to discover if they can, and if they want to, leave their time loop. I liked this film, but I didn't love it as much as I could have. This film had a really great opening. We get to know the character of Mark really well in a really short space of time. I really liked the fact that the movie begins in the middle of the time loop, rather than showing us the character being really confused and having to work out wha...

  This film premiered on Amazon Prime Video a couple of weeks ago. It came out in 2020, but wasn't available for Prime members until the premiere. I didn't know much about it, other than it being a true story, but the plot sounded like something that I would really enjoy, so I decided to watch it. Jeremy Camp (K.J. Apa) is an aspiring singer who meets Melissa (Britt Robertson) in college and instantly falls for her. But soon, tragedy befalls the new couple. I really enjoyed this film. There is really great chemistry between the two leads. Not only do you believe them as a couple, but you believe that they are really going through everything that is happening in the film. As well as being a drama, music is very important to this story. The music throughout is completely stunning - each song serves a different purpose, and they all work really well in the context of the film. This may be due to this film being a true story, but even in a short time you can feel how 3-dimensional ...

  I knew nothing about this film before it came out on Amazon Prime Video. But I am a fan of both Dave Franco, who directs the film, and Alison Brie, who stars in it, so I had high hopes! Two couples go on a weekend getaway, and slowly become suspicious of the owner of their rental home. But suddenly a fun couple's retreat becomes something much scarier. I didn't like this film, which is a shame because the premise is ambiguous enough that it could have become so many different things. Now, as ambiguous as it is, the premise is also something that has been done before. I'm pretty sure at least 50% of the horror movies that no one ever watches are about a group of people who end up at a mysterious house. However, this film does turn that premise around and make it something else, which was interesting to see. The characters are interesting enough (if a bit bland), but we don't really get to know too much about them. This would have been fine if the film was completely pl...

This is an Amazon original, and I had been aware of it for a while because I'm a fan of Tessa Thompson, but all I really knew about it was that it was a love story. And I'm always ready to see a love story. In the '50s, Sylvie (Tessa Thompson) and Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha) meet when Robert takes a job at Sylvie's father's record store. This meeting sparks a deep connection that changes their lives forever. I heard a lot of amazing things about this film before I saw it, but I was actually a bit disappointed with the end result. But I'll start with the things that I liked. There's something really innocent and pure about these two characters and their story. They feel transparent - what you see is what you get, and I really liked that about them. Music is a big part of the film, and it does a really good job of keeping the audience in the right time period. You almost feel like you live in the 50s/60s too. There is amazing chemistry between our lead actors. Th...