Reviews

The Maid is an interesting take on the horror genre. It surely had the gasps, the confusion, and some chills. As you watch the movie, it slowly moves away from the horror genre and puts itself across to the viewers as a crazy thriller. Personally, I have never seen a Thai movie before, and this was my first introduction into the world of Thai cinema. I must say I was impressed with the way they managed to tell the story of a small girl who manages to get revenge for the death of her sister. At first, I was under the impression that maybe this is about a doll, like Annabelle but by the time the movie ends, you understand the purpose of the monkey doll was absolutely nothing. The monkey doll which had its moments in the first 20 minutes, later had no role in the movie and so there was no purpose to the monkey doll. When the character of Joy is introduced, you eventually get to see more of the ghost Ploy as well. The music was on spot, creating the horror atmosphere and the sense that something crazy was about to happen. The movie has three chapters to it, the first introduces you to the kid and the new maid Joy. The second introduces you to the complex relationships of everyone in the house and hints at a possible relationship between the new and the old maid. The third and final chapter is by far the most interesting chapter, the true characteristics of Joy is shown to the audience, and Joy becomes more vital to the story than Ploy ever was. This change of narration from Ploy to Joy and the relationship between the two characters is what stands out the most in the entire movie. Watch The Maid for the narration of the story, it has many loopholes though but it sure isn't your traditional horror flick.

Ray Monroe lost Abby in an accident. He was drunk, an alcoholic, who was reckless, and did not care about anything. How many times do we all get drunk and still go about driving our cars and bikes and risk not only our lives but the lives of everyone around us? Wake up and do the right thing. Ray did not know what was real and what wasn't ever since that accident took place. He left alcohol behind, he gave up drinking, he in fact lost everything so a little too late to give up isn't it? What was worse for Ray was that Abby was pregnant and, in that accident, he just did not lose one person, but he lost two. It will always be hard to find love again, replace people we love, to even move on in life but Ray was lucky. Ray was able to find love again, he was lucky to have a daughter, but his mind was completely lost and that was one thing he could never recover ever since that accident. His mind played the most cruel of games, in one reality he killed his wife Joanne, and his daughter Peri, while in the other he saves his daughter and takes her to a hospital where he later believes everyone in the hospital is only trying to kill his daughter and wife. Tricky isn't. Your mind can make anything happen, your mind is in fact the strongest and most powerful asset you have, imagine the games you could play, the good and the bad. Fractured is a movie which makes you believe that there are twists and plots you cannot understand, but it is quite easy to unravel the mystery.

Marriage Story captures both sides of the story for once, which is kind of rare I would say in the cinematic world. Charlie and Nicole start the story by writing about each other, the things they love about each other when they are in one of the therapist sessions. Nicole declines to share her writings and Charlie was keen on sharing his but Nicole was no longer interested in Charlie or his thoughts. What sounds like a perfect marriage, slowly shows us how the two ends up destroying each other in ways they never thought they could. Charlie has always been dependent on his work, his life revolved around his theatre. His choices were based on what he thought would be best, Nicole never had a say and it was getting to a point where she felt she was nothing but worthless as an individual. The writer and the director of the movie have played with emotions, not everything is sad and dull, there is a lot of humor as well. The scene where Nicole wants to serve Charlie with the papers has to be one of the best scenes in the movie, it shows the complete chaos that happens in a family. The couple had agreed to solve everything by themselves and make sure that their son does not feel the wrath of the divorce. But when Nicole moves back to LA, she becomes a totally different person, in her terms she's finally free and can make decisions and choices of her own. Henry, their son slowly loses interest in his father as he enjoys his mother's company more. Charlie does not give up on his son easily, he in fact fights for him till the very end. You get to experience the true bitter nature of both the characters when they involve the lawyers. Nicole's lawyer Nora is well known to get the best possible deals for her clients, while Charlie struggles to find a lawyer at first, he later finds someone who was very lethargic in nature. Charlie eventually hires Jay after he realizes Nicole is ready to destroy him no matter what. A scene where Charlie and Nicole go against each other is probably one of the most emotional scenes of the movie as you get to understand how bad they could taint each other. The movie ends with possibly one of the best sequences in which Henry is reading the notes that Nicole had made in the first scene of the movie, Charlie reads it and eventually bursts into tears and Nicole stands behind him equally emotional. Marriage story is indeed a complete circle.