To understand One Battle After Another, I want you to think about a garden. If you put time and effort into a garden, it will look nice. If you ignore the garden, then slowly and inevitably other ...

Eddington has so much going on that it’s easy to feel lost. Thankfully, our First Rule of Film Analysis holds true: if you compare the beginning to the end, narrative and thematic intention becomes ...

Ryan Coogler uses the opening shot of Sinners to establish the film’s primary theme: freedom. Modern cinema has defaulted to using the very beginning of the movie as a thesis for the story’s main ...

If you want a quick explanation of A Complete Unknown, here it is. A Complete Unknown has two levels. The first is Bob Dylan’s journey into and out of the folk scene. Initially, it’s something he ...

If you want to understand Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that much of the story boils down to a simple theme: connection. And that explains essentially 95% ...

Bishop Robert Barron had quite the response to Conclave. He said: If you are interested in a film about the Catholic Church that could have been written by the editorial board of the New York Times, ...

Man, Naomi Scott gave everything she had to Smile 2 to convey Skye Riley’s grief, trauma, and struggle. One of the most memorable horror performances in recent memory. And Skye feels very much of the ...

The Silence of the Lambs is, for the most part, a pretty straightforward movie. But it does have two bits of subtext I think are pretty cool. The first has to do with time. And the second with the ...

The end of Joker: Folie á Deux really begins following the assault by the guards and the death of Arthur’s fellow inmate and friend, Ricky. The assault itself is a full circle moment, as we find out ...

When trying to figure out a movie’s theme, the first thing I usually do is look at the very beginning. Many writers like to crystallize the story’s point in an image or via foreshadowing through ...

What is Transformers One about? Transformers One introduces the idea of “staying on protocol” as a challenge to viewers. It’s that message that you’re more than meets the eye. You have potential. But ...

The Substance is an immediate cult classic. It’s arguably the best body horror movie of the 21st century. But also has meaningful, necessary things to say about our relationship with aging and modern ...