Darlings, On Netflix, Is Dense and Daring

Dear Reader, First, some bad news. This is going to be our last newsletter for a while. We're taking a break, but we promise that when we come back (which will be soon), it'll be in a new and exciting format. Don't worry, we will meet again. There's lots to look forward to. The movies that we watched this week all seemed to have a recurring theme, that of being trapped. The first of these is Bullet Train, which stars Brad Pitt, Bad Bunny, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Andrew Koji (and so many more actors in cameos!) as assassins who find themselves on a high-speed bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. The title has a cheeky double meaning because sure enough, the bullets start flying. There's lots of mayhem and murder as they realise that the train, with its limited stops and tight schedule, might just be one big trap. If this sounds like fun, Gayle Sequeira agrees. Read her review below. This week also saw the release of Thirteen Lives, the Amazon Prime Video film about the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue. Four years ago, 12 boys and their coach were safely extracted from a flooded Thailand cave in perilous conditions after an agonising 18-day wait. It's easy to see why the Hollywood adaptation was greenlit — the inherent drama of the incident lends itself to a tense survival thriller. Does the film nail the tone? Read Gayle's review to find out. The third film this week about people who find themselves trapped is Bollywood Netflix release Darlings. Alia Bhatt plays a Mumbai housewife whose husband is prone to physical violence. It doesn't sound like a premise that lends itself to comedy and yet Darlings swerves between scenes of terrifying violence and laughs, writes Anupama Chopra. Thinking about watching it? Let her and Rahul Desai's reviews help you decide. REVIEWS Bullet Train, Starring Brad Pitt, May Not Be Fast Or Furious, But It's Fun By Gayle Sequeira Thirteen Lives Flattens An Incredible Story By Gayle Sequeira Darlings Has Strong Performances And Lots Going For It By Anupama Chopra Darlings, Starring Alia Bhatt, is Dense and Daring By Rahul Desai We've spent the past week revisiting classic Bollywood films. Rahul didn't like what he found, emerging from his Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! viewing with the idea that this film and its misplaced exclamation mark are responsible for the recent spate of ultra-nationalist historicals and saffronised action dramas. Twenty-eight years after its release, the country is yet to recover from the record-breaking success of a harmless Hindi family drama. We have to say, this isn't an angle we'd previously considered, but sure, let's hear Rahul out. Saaya Vaidya didn't have as visceral reaction to Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na (what it is with these films and their random use of punctuation?). Rewatching it, she realised that it's a lot more similar to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai than she remembered. They're both college romances featuring tomboyish women. But with 10 years between them, these films also reflect the changing way the urban youth is perceived and how femininity was idealised in Bollywood films. You can read her essay below. We also celebrated composer Vishal Bhardwaj's birthday this week by combing through his discography. After all, he's a composer first and a filmmaker later. Sankhayan Ghosh picks five-lesser known songs of his that you need to add to your playlist ASAP. PICKS OF THE WEEK The Façade of Happy Families in Hum Aapke Hain Koun…! By Rahul Desai The Bollywood Tomboy: From Kajol's Anjali to Genelia's Aditi By Saaya Vaidya Five Underrated Earworms by Vishal Bhardwaj By Sankhayan Ghosh Copyright © 2022, Film Companion LLP, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: info@filmcompanion.in Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list filmcompanion.in