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# A Shot Magazine: Your go-to for cinematography, always in sync with pop culture.

## Sitemaps
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## Posts
- [Avantika Vandanapu Wants the Horror, the Romance and Everything In Between](https://ashotmagazine.com/avantika-vandanapu-wants-the-horror-the-romance-and-everything-in-between/): Avantika Vandanapu wants it all: horror, Indian cinema, a return to Columbia, and a love story she’s writing herself. The only thing she’s stopped making room for? The internet’s opinion.
- [Alex Ullom, Please Do My Movie](https://ashotmagazine.com/alex-ullom-please-do-my-movie/): Alex Ullom made It Ends for $80,000 with a cast he found on Instagram. Now he's sitting in the NEON office with a second film in the can, wondering how long the road goes.
- [One Night Only Review: Sizzling Chemistry Can’t Quite Make Up for Bizarre Premise](https://ashotmagazine.com/one-night-only-sizzling-chemistry-cant-quite-make-up-for-bizarre-premise/): If you’re a rom-com lover, the name Will Gluck probably sounds familiar. From Easy A to Anyone but You, Gluck has built a reputation for knowing exactly how to make a crowd-pleasing romantic comedy: charming leads, quick banter and enough chemistry to carry even the thinnest of plots. One Night Only certainly has the chemistry and the charm, but unfortunately, its bizarre premise and underdeveloped plot prove impossible to overcome, no matter how much sparks fly between its leads.
- [Gus Birney Finds the Grey Between the Two](https://ashotmagazine.com/gus-birney-finds-the-grey-between-the-two/): Gus Birney has spent the spring being hated by strangers, and she couldn't be happier about it. As Portia Cunningham in Netflix's Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, the youngest of a family closing in around a doomed wedding, she gave the series its most divisive figure, funny and unsettling in the same breath, cruel in ways that feel uncomfortably ordinary. Critics called the performance "off-putting" and meant it as praise.
- [Why Can’t We Quit Beautiful Teenagers Making Terrible Decisions?](https://ashotmagazine.com/why-cant-we-quit-beautiful-teenagers-making-terrible-decisions/): Why teen dramas feel more adult than ever—and why we’re addicted to them.
- [Keen Ruffalo is Just Getting Started](https://ashotmagazine.com/keen-ruffalo-is-just-getting-started/): Sitting down with Keen Ruffalo, you get the sense that he is still catching up to what is happening to him. He has a cold from being run down after an insane two weeks of press, has tripled his Instagram following in roughly the same amount of time, and continues to watch his breakout role in Sterling Point generate fan edit after fan edit (Team Sully and Connor, obviously). When asked about how he is handling the unnaturally fast pace of people becoming aware of him, he seems unsure of where to put all of the newfound online attention, "It's messed up, man," he says. "I'm like, oh my God, okay!"
- [Samara Weaving Has a Few Superpowers of Her Own (Exclusive)](https://ashotmagazine.com/samara-weaving-has-a-few-superpowers-of-her-own/): Samara Weaving talks about the “goat-like wail” that made her horror’s reigning Scream Queen and the “new pair of glasses” motherhood gave her to see the world through.
- [Noomi Rapace Is Closer to the Soil Than to the Machine](https://ashotmagazine.com/noomi-rapace-is-closer-to-the-soil-than-to-the-machine/): The star of Agnieszka Smoczyńska's "Hot Spot" on playing a survivor who barely speaks, why the film got more relevant with time, and the one frame she'd want to be.
- [Lizzy Greene’s Winning Streak](https://ashotmagazine.com/lizzy-greenes-winning-streak/): Lizzy Greene talks football dreams, filming through injury, and taking ownership of the women she plays, from Ransom Canyon’s Lauren Brigman to US soccer icon Kristine Lilly.
- [Nicolas Winding Refn Thinks We are Living in Comfortable Pain](https://ashotmagazine.com/nicolas-winding-refn-thinks-we-are-living-in-comfortable-pain/): Nicolas Winding Refn Talks Hell, Building an Opera and Being Hideo Kojima’s Eye Candy.
- [Mikaela Hoover’s Endless Summer](https://ashotmagazine.com/mikaela-hoovers-endless-summer/): Eighteen years after James Gunn first put her on camera, Mikaela Hoover is having the year her intuition always promised her, trading scenes with Carey Mulligan in BEEF, giving a talking reindeer a soul in One Piece, and stealing pages of the Daily Planet as Cat Grant. She talks to A Shot about sixth senses, working with OCD, and why she'd give anything for a great horror script.
- [Juliette Gariépy Doesn’t Flinch](https://ashotmagazine.com/juliette-gariepy-doesnt-flinch/): The star of Red Rooms on silence, screens, the horror of the feed, and the strange business of being watched back.
- [Luciane Buchanan Lets Loose in Evil Dead Burn](https://ashotmagazine.com/luciane-buchanan-lets-loose-in-evil-dead-burn/): On Evil Dead Rise, Luciane Buchanan's job was to keep a child safe on set. On Evil Dead Burn, her job is to tear a family apart. From chaperone to deadite, we spoke to Buchanan about lioness research, sixteen takes of a headrest stunt, and finally getting to let loose.
- [The Odyssey Review: Christopher Nolan reminds us who we are, and where we’re going ](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-odyssey-review-christopher-nolan-reminds-us-who-we-are-and-where-were-going/): This is an adaptation of Homer’s epic that is somehow monumental in scale yet intimate in its execution, culminating in what is an undeniable and absolute cinematic achievement.
- [There Is No Time in Eternity: A Conversation with Romy Nassar](https://ashotmagazine.com/there-is-no-time-in-eternity-a-conversation-with-romy-nassar/): A Shot meets the woman strangers keep mistaking for a goddess.
- [Jeremy Cox on Backrooms and Why Proximity Creates Fear  ](https://ashotmagazine.com/jeremy-cox-on-backrooms-and-why-proximity-creates-fear/): Jeremy Cox had an answer for almost everything, but rarely the one I expected. Ask him about horror, and he talks about geometry. Ask him about cameras, and he mentions distance. Ask him about landscapes, and he imagines Icelandic volcanoes and endless seas.
- [Megan Lawless Hustled for Her Goals Without a ‘One Wish Willow’: “I Wouldn’t Get Near That Thing”](https://ashotmagazine.com/megan-lawless-hustled-for-her-goals-without-a-one-wish-willow-i-wouldnt-get-near-that-thing/): Inspired by Wicked on Broadway, Megan Lawless has pursued acting since she was 13, supporting herself with jobs at a tennis court, grocery store, restaurants, and as a math tutor before breaking out in the global hit Obsession.
- [Maya da Costa Shines (And We Can’t Look Away)](https://ashotmagazine.com/maya-da-costa-shines-and-we-cant-look-away/): Girls Like Girls is da Costa's feature debut, the center of Hayley Kiyoko's most personal story, carried by a 20-year-old still assembling her toolbox in real time. One of the tools she landed on was disarmingly simple.
- [The Soul and the Shadows of Joe Bird](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-soul-and-the-shadows-of-joe-bird/): Joe Bird on artistic authenticity, finding fear in Leviticus, and building a career on his own terms.
- [As Girls Like Girls Enters Its Next Chapter, So Does Myra Molloy](https://ashotmagazine.com/as-girls-like-girls-enters-its-next-chapter-so-does-myra-molloy/): “Not every queer story needs to end in trauma or heartbreak.” Myra Molloy reflects on Girls Like Girls and the importance of expanding queer representation on screen.
- [Lindsey Normington on Why Sex Work Is Art — And Hollywood Still Doesn’t Get It](https://ashotmagazine.com/lindsey-normington-on-why-sex-work-is-art-and-hollywood-still-doesnt-get-it/): She just finished an acting class, a run, and yoga, all before noon. Next month, she shoots her first self-written, self-directed short film. But that's not what we're here to talk about.
- [Why Horror Is the Most Interesting Art Form Right Now](https://ashotmagazine.com/why-horror-is-the-most-interesting-art-form-right-now/): For much of its commercial history, horror was treated as the lowest rung of culture: disposable, juvenile, pandering to our worst impulses. Today, that picture has been almost entirely reversed.
- [Julia Doyle Embraces Her “Crazy Eyes”](https://ashotmagazine.com/julia-doyle-embraces-her-crazy-eyes/): At just 22, the Toronto-born actress has become one of television’s most compelling new villains in FROM. We sat down with Doyle to talk “crazy eyes,” narrow escapes, and the fine art of playing a monster in a church girl outfit.
- [Stephen Dawes Is Creating a Musical Time Capsule](https://ashotmagazine.com/stephen-dawes-is-creating-a-musical-time-capsule/): Nineteen, living in Los Angeles, and the messy art of growing up, through the eyes of Stephen Dawes.
- [Mattea Conforti Understands the Power of Being a Teenage Girl](https://ashotmagazine.com/mattea-conforti-understands-the-power-of-being-a-teenage-girl/): Mattea Conforti dives into queer identity and teenage girlhood in The Testaments.
- [Inde Navarrette is Obsessed](https://ashotmagazine.com/inde-navarrette-is-obsessed/): Inde Navarrette describes her acting as instinctive and emotionally precise. In Obsession, she says she immediately understood Nikki on a deep level, allowing her to move between grounded realism and intense emotional extremes with ease.
- [Grace Van Dien: “I Get Depressed That I Keep Getting Cast in Horror Films”](https://ashotmagazine.com/grace-van-dien-talks-rom-com-dreams-spring-breakers-2-more-i-get-depressed-that-i-keep-getting-cast-in-horrors/): From Stranger Things to our exclusive May cover, Grace Van Dien is stepping into her own—expanding beyond the scream queen label with indie roles, rom-com ambitions, and a growing voice behind the camera.
- [Greig Fraser on Project Hail Mary, Making Space Feel Human and More](https://ashotmagazine.com/greig-fraser-on-project-hail-mary-making-space-feel-human-and-more/): There’s a quiet precision to the way Greig Fraser talks about images, as if every frame already exists somewhere, waiting to be refined rather than created.
- [Enza Khoury Dreams in Solarpunk Levant Futures](https://ashotmagazine.com/enza-khoury-dreams-in-solarpunk-levant-futures/): Discovered by Euphoria’s casting directors through 800 applicants and five rounds of callbacks, Enza Khoury’s rise might look like an overnight change. But for her, it felt inevitable — a life already in motion, now catching up to itself.
- [Inside The Boys: Eric Kripke on Violence, Satire, and a World Gone Too Far](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-boys-eric-kripke-interview/): Eric Kripke has never chased shock for shock’s sake. With The Boys, he has built a ruthless reflection of power, celebrity, politics, and human insecurity.
- [Lee Cronin Talks Egyptian Representation In ‘The Mummy’, His Viral ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Title Card & The Horror Short He Plans to Revisit](https://ashotmagazine.com/lee-cronin-talks-egyptian-representation-in-the-mummy-his-viral-evil-dead-rise-title-card-the-horror-short-he-plans-to-revisit/): “Casting is a challenge,” says Lee Cronin — but he absolutely nails it. From Evil Dead Rise to his bold new The Mummy, he proves he knows exactly how to bring out the best in his cast.
- [Sarah Yarkin is Living Her Own Horror Movie (And Having the Best Time Ever)](https://ashotmagazine.com/sarah-yarkin-is-living-her-own-horror-movie-and-having-the-best-time-ever/): Sarah Yarkin is done waiting for the green light—she’s already floor-it in the getaway car.
- [Salma Abu Deif Details The “Hectic” One-Location Scenes of ‘Ard Wa Talab’: “We Lost Our Minds”](https://ashotmagazine.com/salma-abu-deif-details-the-hectic-one-location-scenes-of-ard-wa-talab-we-lost-our-minds/): Salma Abu Deif has earned praise for her growth as an actress, becoming a leading lady audiences trust through her humility, passion, and dedication to constantly improving.
- [Cailyn Rice Is Drawn to the Dark](https://ashotmagazine.com/cailyn-rice-is-drawn-to-the-dark/): For Cailyn Rice, everything starts with feeling—long before the dialogue, the character already lives within her body.
- [Ella Hunt Finds Her Voice in the ‘Blindspot’](https://ashotmagazine.com/ella-hunt-finds-her-voice-in-the-blindspot/): Between borrowed lives and her own voice, actress and singer Ella Hunt is finally speaking in her own voice.
- [May Calamawy Is Entering Her Horror Era](https://ashotmagazine.com/may-calamawy-id-rather-be-the-one-making-people-scream/): May Calamawy brings real conviction to nuanced Arab representation — from Ramy to Moon Knight, and now The Mummy.
- [Actress Giorgia Whigham on Playing Characters That Don’t Ask to Be Liked](https://ashotmagazine.com/actress-giorgia-whigham-on-playing-characters-that-dont-ask-to-be-liked/): For Giorgia Whigham, likability is secondary—what matters most is building a character from the inside out.
- [How Heated Rivalry’s Nadine Bhabha Became the Internet’s Best Friend](https://ashotmagazine.com/how-heated-rivalrys-nadine-bhabha-became-the-internets-best-friend/): Canadian actress Nadine Bhabha became the friend everyone needed.
- [Egyptian Artist Nourine Abouseada the Unconventional Voice of Egyptian Pop](https://ashotmagazine.com/egyptian-artist-nourine-abouseada-the-unconventional-voice-of-egyptian-pop/): “I’ve gotten used to being different my entire life,” says Nourine Abouseada. “It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, but I do it anyway.”
- [‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’ Asks the Age-Old Question: Is He the One?](https://ashotmagazine.com/something-very-bad-is-going-to-happen-asks-the-age-old-question-is-he-the-one/): Do you believe in soulmates? Camilla Monroe’s character only starts to—once things turn bloody.
- [Nina Kiri Talks Fear, Vulnerability, and Her Intense Performance in Undertone](https://ashotmagazine.com/nina-kiri-talks-fear-vulnerability-and-her-intense-performance-in-undertone/): In Undertone, Nina Kiri delivers an intimate, unflinching performance in a tightly contained, fast-tracked shoot that distilled filmmaking to its essentials.
- [Forbidden Fruits Director Meredith Alloway Thinks Belonging Might Be the Scariest Thing of All](https://ashotmagazine.com/forbidden-fruits-director-meredith-alloway-thinks-belonging-might-be-the-scariest-thing-of-all/): Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp make being a “girl’s girl” feel a little too close to a cult in Forbidden Fruits.
- [Palestinian Artist Sarah Bahbah on Alchemizing Grief & the Act of Feeling Everything](https://ashotmagazine.com/palestinian-artist-sarah-bahbah-on-alchemizing-grief-the-act-of-feeling-everything/): The artist discusses the catharsis of her cinematic one-liners and why her vulnerability is not for sale—even if it is often stolen.
- [‘Sound of Falling’ – A Ghost Story of Phantom Pains](https://ashotmagazine.com/sound-of-falling-review-a-ghost-story-of-phantom-pains/): The corridors of a large European house could feel vast and overwhelming on a young girl walking between its walls and taking up little space, and so can individuals feel small and insignificant navigating the corridors and labyrinths of time, history, and collective memory. A person’s dark thoughts, the uncomfortable feelings crawling under their skins, hiding under their eyes and attempts to smile, could feel so tiny, almost invisible, as compared to the span of time itself.
- [BAD IDEA, Learning to Live with the Void: Inside Lana Lubany’s Self-Made Universe](https://ashotmagazine.com/bad-idea-learning-to-live-with-the-void-inside-lana-lubanys-self-made-universe/): I first discovered the music of Palestinian American artist Lana Lubany only a few months ago. At the time, I was deep in a phase of listening to darker, horror-leaning sounds, and the moment I pressed play on her music, something immediately clicked. I couldn’t stop listening. For days, her songs were on repeat as I fell further into her world—scrolling through her socials, absorbing the atmosphere of her work, and realizing I had found an artist I was instantly fascinated by.
- [‘Frankenstein’ Cinematographer Dan Laustsen on Del Toro, Digital vs. Film, and the Evolution of Cinematography](https://ashotmagazine.com/frankenstein-cinematographer-dan-laustsen-on-del-toro-digital-vs-film-and-the-evolution-of-cinematography/): I had the chance to speak with one of my all-time favorite cinematographers, Danish cinematographer Dan Laustsen. A longtime collaborator of Guillermo del Toro, he has shot some of the director’s most memorable films, including The Shape of Water and Nightmare Alley, earning two Academy Award nominations for their work together. Laustsen’s work goes far beyond his collaborations with del Toro. He was also behind the camera on the John Wick franchise and helped turn the character into a modern myth. His career spans decades and genres.
- [Kaouther Ben Hania on making ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’: “I was scared to death”](https://ashotmagazine.com/kaouther-ben-hania-on-making-the-voice-of-hind-rajab-i-was-scared-to-death/): The year 2025 has brought forth many profoundly moving films, yet few have matched the raw emotional power and urgent relevance of Kaouther Ben Hania's Palestine-centered drama, The Voice of Hind Rajab. Widely regarded as one of the year's most courageous and indispensable works, the project compelled the director to set aside another film in progress so that she could bring this story to the screen without delay.
- [Amr Salama Talks Dream Projects, His Paused Amazon Series, Paranormal 2 and More (EXCLUSIVE)](https://ashotmagazine.com/amr-salama-talks-dream-projects-his-paused-amazon-series-paranormal-2-and-more-exclusive/): If there’s one Arab director who truly shaped me, aside from Daoud Abdel Sayed, it’s Amr Salama. Not only because of his films, he directed Asmaa, one of my all-time favorite films, but because of how much I learned from him as a person. He has always spoken with the intention of helping young, aspiring filmmakers who are struggling to take their first steps.
- [‘Yunan’ Review: Malick and Tarr Would Kill for a Main Actor like Georges Khabbaz](https://ashotmagazine.com/yunan-review-malick-and-tarr-would-kill-for-a-main-actor-like-georges-khabbaz/): In a jaw dropping Canvas, Munir Noureddine stands alone in a yellow field, the golden sunbathes him and a flock of sheep. An angry, heavy look in his face, his eyes are as wide as the eyes of a child, and his beard like the beard of a prophet. The clouds are as thick as the darkness and longing in his heart; the wind and the deep blue waves violently express the feelings that he himself is holding back.
- [‘The Copenhagen Test’ Review: Simu Liu and Melissa Barrera Are Charming Spies in This Tense Espionage Drama](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-copenhagen-test-review-simu-liu-and-melissa-barrera-are-charming-spies-in-this-tense-espionage-drama/): In a world where we're already questioning so much, from the news we see online to the everyday things we trust, Peacock's new espionage thriller The Copenhagen Test, created by Thomas Brandon and executive produced by James Wan, will push that paranoia even further.
- [‘100 Nights of Hero’ Director Julia Jackman Talks The Power of Storytelling, Casting Charli XCX, And More](https://ashotmagazine.com/100-nights-of-hero-director-julia-jackman-talks-the-power-of-storytelling-casting-charli-xcx-and-more/): In 100 Nights of Hero, director Julia Jackman turns Isabel Greenberg's beloved graphic novel (itself a clever, feminist twist on One Thousand and One Nights) into a charming film full of whimsy, dark humor, and subtle magic, lifted by a pitch-perfect ensemble cast.
- [‘El Sett’ Review – A Cliff Notes Biography that is Actually an Autobiography](https://ashotmagazine.com/el-sett-review-a-cliff-notes-biography-that-is-actually-an-autobiography/): In 1967, Egypt (and other Arab nations) was defeated by Israel in “The Six-Day War”. All Arabs were broken and shocked by that defeat, for the defeat itself and what it revealed to them about themselves and their leaders. Um Kalthoum, by then Egypt’s most important singer, a legend so big that she was already being called “The Planet of the East”, that peasants would travel hundreds of miles just to hear her sing, that all Egyptians would unite around the radio listening to her concerts like Americans did with David Letterman, decided to boost the morale of the people, and collect money for the Egyptian military.
- [Avatar: Fire and Ash: An Unsatisfying Return to Pandora](https://ashotmagazine.com/avatar-fire-and-ash-an-unsatisfying-return-to-pandora/): Avatar has always been divisive, loathed by some but loved by many. I’ve always championed these films for the same reasons that James Cameron continues to make them: they quite literally defy the boundaries of not only filmmaking, but storytelling.
- [Cherien Dabis Details The Traumatizing Experience That Inspired Palestinian Epic ‘All That’s Left of You’](https://ashotmagazine.com/cherien-dabis-details-the-traumatizing-experience-that-inspired-palestinian-epic-all-thats-left-of-you/): Among the most powerful and emotionally resonant films of the year is Cherien Dabis’s ‘All That’s Left of You’, a sweeping, heartbreaking Palestinian family epic and Jordan’s official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Starring Saleh Bakri, Dabis herself, and Muhammed Abed Alrahman, the film left audiences reeling at its Sundance premiere, with strangers approaching the director in the days afterward to say, quietly and through tears, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know about the Nakba.”
- [Sarah Goher: How Happy Birthday Became a Learning Model for Egypt’s Path to the Oscars](https://ashotmagazine.com/sarah-goher-how-happy-birthday-became-a-learning-model-for-egypts-path-to-the-oscars/): It always feels numb, almost hopeless, to care about which Egyptian film gets submitted for Oscar consideration. It’s the same cycle every year, the same choices, the same disappointing picks.
- [Tatiana Maslany Talks ‘Keeper’, ‘The Young People’ and Her Incredible Year of Work: “I can’t wait to lay down”](https://ashotmagazine.com/tatiana-maslany-talks-keeper-the-young-people-and-her-incredible-year-of-work-i-cant-wait-to-lay-down/): Renowned for her multiple roles in Orphan Black, Tatiana Maslany continues to work at a remarkable speed and versatility. In the same year that Osgood Perkins’ horror films ‘The Monkey’ and ‘Keeper’ were released, The Emmy winner also shot Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, and two short films. It’s a schedule she says left her feeling “creatively lit-up”.
- [Plestia Alaqad on her acting debut in ‘The Visitor’: “I had this on my vision board” (EXCLUSIVE)](https://ashotmagazine.com/plestia-alaqad-on-her-acting-debut-in-the-visitor-i-had-this-on-my-vision-board-exclusive/): At just 23, Plestia Alaqad turned her phone into one of the most vital lenses on the Gaza genocide, reaching tens of millions with raw, unflinching dispatches from inside the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Now the Palestinian journalist is taking her first shot in front of the camera. Not as a reporter, but as an actor. In Rolla Selbak’s chilling horror feature The Visitor, Alaqad makes her screen debut.
- [Die My Love Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey on Day-for-Night, Ektachrome, and Creating a Fever-Dream World](https://ashotmagazine.com/die-my-love-cinematographer-seamus-mcgarvey-on-day-for-night-ektachrome-and-creating-a-fever-dream-world/): Seamus McGarvey, the acclaimed cinematographer behind Die My Love, takes us inside the making of the film, sharing insights into his creative process, the challenges of working with a small crew, and the collaborative effort required to bring Lynne Ramsay’s vision to life.
- [It Was Just an Accident: Half Absurd Comedy, Half Nightmare](https://ashotmagazine.com/it-was-just-an-accident-half-absurd-comedy-half-nightmare/): “It was just an Accident” marks Panahi’s first film this 2011 that isn't “starring” him as himself, his first “Normal” fictional feature film. You see, in 2011, he was put under house arrest and banned from making films, he then made a trilogy of illegal films made under house arrest about the creative frustration of living under dictatorship, “This is Not A Film” and “Closed Curtains” filmed in his two houses (so under house arrest) and “Taxi” filmed by hiding a camera in a taxi and shooting the whole film with a hidden camera like a prank show.
- [Why do Egyptians in Egyptian films feel European?](https://ashotmagazine.com/why-do-egyptians-in-egyptian-films-feel-european/): In Theory, one way that “Art/ Alternative and Festival Films” are different from “Mainstream/ Commercial Cinema”, is: Mainstream Cinema is meant to follow certain rules, certain conventions, please those with the money, and cater to specific demographics and audience expectations. In contrast to Art Cinema which is all about Freedom of Artistic Expression, and rebellion against all those conventions and requirements.
- [Annemarie Jacir Finds the Joy amidst the Struggle in Palestine 36](https://ashotmagazine.com/annemarie-jacir-finds-the-joy-amidst-the-struggle-in-palestine-36/): Annemarie Jacir immediately relaxes the moment I break the ice in Arabic. For both of us, this interview comes after a long period away from home, and because of that connection between us, the conversation quickly sheds any formality. By the time we start talking about Palestine 36, it feels less like an interview and more like a conversation on the nuances and humor that sustain life in the Middle East, a levity Jacir herself says Palestinians hold onto amid struggle. We spoke on the morning of October 17, the day of the London Film Festival premiere of Palestine 36, just a week after a ceasefire was agreed upon in Gaza and only two days before it was seriously violated.
- [Between Languages, Between Worlds: Yasmine Hamdan Redefines Arab Music](https://ashotmagazine.com/between-languages-between-worlds-yasmine-hamdan-redefines-arab-music/): In an exclusive conversation with Lebanese singer and songwriter Yasmine Hamdan, we kick off our new series exploring the intersection of cinema and music. Yasmine opens up about the making of her new album I Remember I Forget, her first in several years, and reflects on rediscovering the essence of why she creates music. She discusses how the world’s instability and chaos shape her art, what truly defines an artist, and how humor, poetry, and playfulness remain powerful tools to endure and transcend the times we live in.
- [“I’m a Loverboy at Heart” Alien: Earth Star Jonathan Ajayi on Writing a Song for Smee and Craving Onscreen Romance](https://ashotmagazine.com/im-a-loverboy-at-heart-alien-earth-star-jonathan-ajayi-on-writing-a-song-for-smee-and-craving-onscreen-romance/): Since his debut, Jonathan Ajayi’s career has spanned nearly every medium, from the stage to television to film, each role marked by intention and heart. Now, he’s stepping into even bigger territory with FX’s Alien: Earth and Hulu’s The Man in My Basement, two projects that showcase his range.
- [My Father’s Scent: Ahmed Malek Steals the Show in the Intimate, Dreamy Drama](https://ashotmagazine.com/my-fathers-scent-ahmed-malek-steals-the-show-in-the-intimate-dreamy-drama/): ‘My Father’s Scent’ starts with a death. An old man with terminal cancer has been in a coma for six months and has just been released from the hospital (or, as one “high” beggar puts it in one scene, he came back from the other side). The old man then spends his first day out of the hospital with his younger, drug addict son, only to die the next day.
- [50 Meters: An Anxiously Brave Conversation with a Father](https://ashotmagazine.com/50-meters-an-anxiously-brave-conversation-with-a-father/): The following statement is a compliment, and a huge one: “50 Meters” is a very frustrating watch, to the point that it is “about” that frustration itself. That might sound pretentious describing a documentary about a club of elderly male swimmers in Maadi, that has early on a beautifully contemplative scene where the camera captures the movements of their bodies, obviously old yet still graceful and acrobatic.
- [Life After Siham: A Cinematic, Years Long, Therapy Session](https://ashotmagazine.com/life-after-siham-a-cinematic-years-long-therapy-session/): Namir Abdelmaseeh, father of two, son of two people and two worlds, wishes life was like a movie. This is not because he loves Cinema, even though he certainly does, a love he inherited from his father, as he is surprised to find out during the course of this film that his father worked in film in the 60s. Namir wants his life to be a movie because he wants control.
- [One Battle After Another: Paul Thomas Anderson at His Most Entertaining and Vulnerable](https://ashotmagazine.com/one-battle-after-another-paul-thomas-anderson-at-his-most-entertaining-and-vulnerable/): “One Battle After Another” is an interesting title in many ways: For a commercial film, it is a promise, that the film will have one setpiece after another, one chase/shootout/fight after another. But you could use the phrase about everything or about life itself: surviving life can feel like one battle after another, raising a child is one battle after another, understanding yourself, your world, trying to change its rules and shortcoming, or profiting from them, or just following them. A revolution is one battle after another, maintaining the status quo is one battle after another.
- [Aisha Can’t Fly Away: A Sisyphean, Thankless Chore](https://ashotmagazine.com/aisha-cant-fly-away-a-sisyphean-thankless-chore/): Some needed context, in 2023, A Civil War broke down in Sudan, two opposite armies fighting for territory: The Sudanese Army, and The Rapid Support Forces, killing sprees destroying cities, taking slaves, and killing people left and right. Sudan became (and still is) a warzone, and a lot of Sudanese started fleeing to neighboring countries and beyond. This led to the formation of Sudanese populations in Egypt and led to Murad Mustafa’s international success as a filmmaker.
- [How ‘Together’ Director Michael Shanks Made an Indie Horror Look Like a Blockbuster](https://ashotmagazine.com/how-together-director-michael-shanks-made-an-indie-horror-look-like-a-blockbuster/): Australian filmmaker Michael Shanks has always lived by “going big or going home”. He’s built his career on squeezing the most spectacle out of any budget, from his comedy work and early YouTube days to his heartfelt short Rebooted and his Blacklist–topping script Hotel Hotel Hotel Hotel. Now he’s gone larger than ever with his feature film debut TOGETHER, the funniest, most romantic body-horror you’ll see this year.
- [Perfumed With Mint: Turning Egypt into a Purgatory of Ghosts](https://ashotmagazine.com/perfumed-with-mint-turning-egypt-into-a-purgatory-of-ghosts/): "My Heart hurts” This is the first line of dialogue in the film, that is said near the 9-minute mark, or rather, this is the first “audible” line of dialogue.
- [100 Nights of Hero: A Bold, Queer and Feminist Fairy Tale](https://ashotmagazine.com/100-nights-of-hero-a-bold-queer-and-feminist-fairy-tale/): Fairy tales have long been a cultural mirror, reflecting both societal ideals and entrenched hierarchies. For centuries, they trafficked in the trope of the passive princess: a delicate figure confined to towers or castles, waiting for a prince to rescue her, her fate largely determined by the whims of men. Julia Jackman’s “100 Nights of Hero“ gleefully dismantles this archetype. Adapted from Isabel Greenberg’s acclaimed graphic novel, the film transforms the structure and spirit of One Thousand and One Nights into a distinctly queer and feminist narrative, merging absurdist humor, romance, and sharp satire. In her sophomore feature, Jackman demonstrates a cinematic imagination that is both lavish and daring, offering a layered spectacle where storytelling itself becomes a revolutionary act.
- [The Voice of Hind Rajab: A Cry the World Did Not Answer](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-a-cry-the-world-did-not-answer/): On January 29, 2024, the Palestine Red Crescent Society received an emergency call unlike any other. Six-year-old Hind Rajab was on the line, trapped in a car in Gaza as Israeli tank fire killed her family. For more than an hour she pleaded, her small voice raw with terror and exhaustion: “Please come and get me, there’s shooting here.” The volunteers tried everything: calming words, promises of rescue, dispatching an ambulance, but the ambulance was destroyed before it reached her, its two medics also killed. Investigators later counted 355 bullets fired into Hind’s family’s car. At 7:30 p.m., her voice went silent.
- [The Threesome: A Steamy Hookup Turns Into the Year’s Most Tender Rom-Com](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-threesome-a-steamy-hookup-turns-into-the-years-most-tender-rom-com/): In recent years, the rom-com genre has been flourishing with new and exciting films that are a mixture of fantasy, horror, and oftentimes thrilling. This year is no exception; with Materialists releasing earlier in the summer, and Oh, Hi! following close behind, there's never been a better time to be a romantic. Rounding out the summer of love is Chad Hartigan's The Threesome, which takes a hookup gone wrong and makes us expect the unexpected. The Threesome holds its best moments when exploring complicated relationships and the irreversible consequences. With a performance from Jonah Hauer-King that would make anyone get swept off their feet, this sexy romp offers more than just sexual tension and steamy romance to its audience.
- [Roqia: Allegorical Horror With Purely Middle Eastern Lore And Themes](https://ashotmagazine.com/roqia-allegorical-horror-with-purely-middle-eastern-lore-and-themes/): Arabic horror movies are rare, and Arabic horror movies that are legitimately creepy, made with artistry, and are not laughable, are even rarer.
- [BUGONIA: Yorgos Lanthimos Delivers a Stinging Masterpiece](https://ashotmagazine.com/bugonia-yorgos-lanthimos-delivers-a-stinging-masterpiece/): Everything begins with something extraordinary. A flower and a honeybee gathering pollen and pollinating without causing harm - yet a third of our food supply depends on them. But the bees are dying, like in a pandemic. The worker bees maintain order for their queen, and above this system lies a dangerous truth: the queen is both source and threat. Our bodies and minds seem hardwired to seek her out, to unburden our psyche.
From this observation, Yorgos Lanthimos has created his latest masterpiece: "BUGONIA", a bold reimagining of the Korean cult classic "Save the Green Planet!". From the very first frame, the film announces itself as Lanthimos’ most daring and accessible work, only to erupt in the second half into the unmistakable, unsettling madness for which the director is famous. It is a film of razor-sharp satire, dark humor, and merciless insight, effortlessly oscillating between heartbreak and grotesque comedy.
The story follows two cousins. Teddy, brilliantly portrayed by Jesse Plemons, is the restless, driving force, while Don, played by newcomer Aidan Delbis, is the reserved follower hoping to be saved. They see themselves as the ”Headquarters of Humans" the last line of defense against an alien invasion. Their audacious plan: to abduct Michelle, the powerful CEO of a pharmaceutical company, played by Emma Stone, whom they are convinced is an alien queen. She is to endure four nights as a captive until the arrival of the mothership and during that time, the cousins hope to become heroes.
Lanthimos stages this claustrophobic descent with surgical precision. Violence is presented in stark contrast and paired with a daring soundtrack, including Chappel Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” and Green Day’s “American Idiot,” which almost distorts the acts of cruelty into pop-cultural spectacle. Out of this emerges a bitterly sharp meditation on delusion, obsession, and the human urge to dominate others in pursuit of freedom.When all seems lost, the drive for renewal takes over. Formally, the film recalls Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria, a reimagining of the original that simultaneously asserts a radically independent vision. Like in "Poor Things", brief, almost ghostly black-and-white flashbacks add depth to the characters. Lanthimos and Stone have developed one of cinema’s most compelling director-actor partnerships over the years, and here they are at the height of their creative powers.
Stone delivers the most physically and emotionally demanding performance of her career: magnetic, dangerous, repulsive, and utterly captivating. Plemons is a force of nature, unpredictable, restless, and electrifying in every scene. It is precisely the combination of manic intensity and vulnerable depth that makes his performance one of the best of his career.Technically, the film is flawless. Lanthimos’ cold, precise visual style meets breathtaking sound design, threaded with Jerskin Fendrix’s score, sometimes piercing, sometimes buzzing, always echoing the omnipresent hum of the bees. The music screams, the images ache, and political language becomes a sharp blade.
The result is one of Lanthimos’ most accessible and simultaneously most merciless works. A film that makes you laugh and barely endure it at the same time, repeatedly tipping into absurdity and then suddenly becoming profoundly serious.Like a swarm of bees that continues to hum despite all danger, it leaves an unforgettable impression. BUGONIA confirms Lanthimos as a master of modern cinema: fearless, inventive, deeply entertaining, and uncompromising in its exploration of cruelty, humor, despair, and wit. A film that must be seen on the big screen.
Long after the credits fade, the bees’ murmur still reverberates: gentle yet unyielding, etched into memory, as the hive dissolves, slow and golden, like spilled honey.
- [’28 Years Later’ Star Chi Lewis-Parry Teases ‘The Bone Temple’, Recalls Terrifying Danny Boyle During Audition & More (EXCLUSIVE)](https://ashotmagazine.com/28-years-later-star-chi-lewis-parry-teases-the-bone-temple-recalls-terrifying-danny-boyle-during-audition-and-more-exclusive/): Portraying the primary antagonist in a sequel to one of cinema’s most cherished horror franchises is a formidable responsibility. Chi Lewis-Parry delivered a captivating performance as the Alpha Zombie in ’28 Years Later’, earning the admiration of fans who now champion (and thirst over) his chilling character.
- [Pools: Odessa A’zion Shines in a Summer Hangout Film with Hidden Depths](https://ashotmagazine.com/pools-odessa-azion-shines-in-a-summer-hangout-film-with-hidden-depths/): Dealing with grief comes in many forms, and it often impacts every aspect of our lives. Losing our loved ones, especially at formative ages, can pose even more challenges during an already difficult world. Pools is the debut feature from writer and director Sam Hayes that is a cozy, warm summer day that slowly pulls you in with a charming lead performance. A coming-of-age film that is equally funny and empathetic, it's the perfect film for the summer. Its silly nature makes it a breezy watch that leans on its somber moments to propel the film along.
- [Weapons: The Cathartic Act of Killing the Cronies](https://ashotmagazine.com/weapons-the-cathartic-act-of-killing-the-cronies/): Zach Cregger finds fear in small towns—or rather, abandoned neighborhoods of small towns. There’s something peculiarly sinister about the way he treats those familiar places with familiar faces that suddenly turn on one another. His branch of horror (a subgenre of sorts) is the massive fear of the known.
- [Freakier Friday: A Heartfelt, Hilarious Body-Swap Sequel That Bridges Generations](https://ashotmagazine.com/freakier-friday-a-heartfelt-hilarious-body-swap-sequel-that-bridges-generations/): Being a daughter teaches us women how to be mothers in unexpected ways, but without actually experiencing life as a mother yourself, it's difficult to truly understand the sacrifices moms go through to raise a child. Freakier Friday takes placing yourself in your mother's, or even grandmother's, shoes to the extreme.
- [Eddington: Sympathy for The White Man Before Extinction](https://ashotmagazine.com/eddington-sympathy-for-the-white-man-before-extinction/): Ari Aster is a destroyer of worlds. As a filmmaker and an auteur, he has this immaculate ability to create worlds out of vacuum, only to destroy them afterward. In Beau is Afraid, Beau’s world crumbles, deteriorates, as does his masculinity. In Midsommar, Dani’s world is turned upside down as she is faced to confront her mental illness, and the sunshine-laden nightmare she and her friends have set their sails in. In Hereditary, the family structure crumbles, as the sinister nature of the relationship between its members gets revealed one after the other.
- [Oh, Hi!: A Kinky Rom-Com Turned Chaotic Breakdown of Modern Love](https://ashotmagazine.com/oh-hi-a-kinky-rom-com-turned-chaotic-breakdown-of-modern-love/): Modern day dating is a nightmare. With countless apps focusing on finding a perfect match, and societal pressures to have it all figured out by a specific age, dating is daunting rather than exciting. Oh, Hi! puts all of the ugly bits of dating out in center stage and shows what happens when expectations don't align but the chemistry does.
- [Superman: A Myth Rebuilt from the Rubble](https://ashotmagazine.com/superman-a-myth-rebuilt-from-the-rubble/): James Gunn and Zack Snyder are both talented filmmakers. They are also friends who worked together in the first movie for both of them (Dawn of the Dead). Love it or hate it, the two are the two most prominent auteurs in the superhero genre. However you think of “auteur theory,” whether you think like Truffaut that it’s what makes cinema a legitimate artform, or like Pauline Kael that the smell of a turd is more singular than that of a flower but not exactly better.
- [The many “Oners” of prestige Television](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-many-oners-of-prestige-television/): I find it very fascinating, that two of the most prestigious limited series of the year, Netflix’s “Adolescence” and Apple TV’s “The Studio” implement “the oner” or the long take, as an integral part of those two shows’ style and visual identity.
- [‘The Assessment’ director Fleur Fortuné on the Film’s Minimalist Design, Motherhood, and Sci-Fi as Social Commentary](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-assessment-director-fleur-fortune-on-the-films-minimalist-design-motherhood-and-sci-fi-as-social-commentary/): Following its acclaimed premiere at TIFF and ahead of its international digital release on Amazon Prime Video, we spoke with director Fleur Fortuné about her powerful feature debut, starring Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel, and Alicia Vikander. In this conversation, Fortuné discusses the film’s minimalist design, the influence of her music video background, and how her personal experience with motherhood shaped its emotional depth.
- [The Self vs The Market: Severance, Mickey 17, and The Substance.](https://ashotmagazine.com/the-self-vs-the-market-severance-mickey-17-and-the-substance/): We’ve been having a lot of confrontation with the self in our media recently, haven’t we?
- [‘Drop’ director Christopher Landon on the Hardest Shot of the Film, Violet’s Red Velvet Jumpsuit, and Creating a New Final Girl (EXCLUSIVE)](https://ashotmagazine.com/drop-director-christopher-landon-on-the-hardest-shot-of-the-film-violets-red-velvet-jumpsuit-and-creating-a-new-final-girl-exclusive/): First dates have always been incredibly awkward, but nothing can quite beat the first date that occurs in Christopher Landon’s Drop. Told through one singular location, Drop follows Violet (Meghann Fahy), a widowed mother going on her first date in years. After meeting up with her date, Henry (Brandon Sklenar), Violet soon begins to receive threatening airdrops sent to her phone anonymously. The drops reveal that Violet must poison her date, or her son will be murdered if she does not comply. The film has various twists and turns, and all eyes are watching Violet from afar.
- [Melissa Barrera On Playing A Spy In ‘Copenhagen’, Wanting To Direct A Romance Film, Her Love For Chappell Roan & More](https://ashotmagazine.com/melissa-barrera-on-playing-a-spy-in-copenhagen-wanting-to-direct-a-romance-film-her-love-for-chappell-roan-and-more/): Melissa Barrera has become one of the most recognizable scream queens in recent years, by portraying final girls in horror films such as 'Scream', 'Abigail' & 'Your Monster'. The way she stood unshaken in the face of intimidation proved she was just as strong and courageous in real life.
- [‘Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo’ is an endlessly atmospheric, gently suffocating journey through Cairo’s underbelly.](https://ashotmagazine.com/seeking-haven-for-mr-rambo-is-an-endlessly-atmospheric-gently-suffocating-journey-through-cairos-underbelly/): Last year, Saudi director Ali Kalthami, described his directorial debut “Night Courier” to be part of “sigma cinema”, films about lone, emotionally closed male protagonists with repressed violent tendencies, navigating a merciless night, a lone wolf, a modern knight, films like “Drive”, “Taxi Driver”, and “Nightcrawler”.
- [Melissa Barrera Dazzles in Caroline Lindy’s Heartwarming Horror Rom-Com.](https://ashotmagazine.com/melissa-barrera-dazzles-in-caroline-lindys-heartwarming-horror-rom-com/): What if the beauty from ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was named ‘Pearl’ instead of ‘Belle’? Caroline Lindy’s heartwarming yet unhinged feature debut ‘Your Monster’ has the answer, in a fairy tale about a woman finding the strength to stand up for herself following a series of mistreatments.
Played by Melissa Barrera, Laura Franco is this fragile actress who has recently been diagnosed with cancer, undergone radical treatment and dumped by her terrible boyfriend, Jacob (Edmund Donovan, who nails the pretentions of theatre life). Lindy does her best to build Laura’s miserable and lonely world. She moves back to her childhood home, where the only person who bothers to check up on her is her quirked-up and stylish best friend Maisie (Kayla Foster), who can’t really be counted on. Laura has no choice but to reconnect with the monster (Tommy Dewey) under her bed, whom she has avoided for the entirety of her childhood.
As if being dumped by her boyfriend while she’s in the hospital isn’t brutal enough, Laura also learns that the self-centered and pseudo feminist Jacob is moving forward with the musical she helped develop, replacing her with a more famous actress (Meghann Fahy) in the lead role of “Laurie Francis” (Sounds familiar?). At first she’s scared of and resented by ‘Monster’, but as the days go by, he offers her the courage and love that’s missing in her life.
It feels like Tommy Dewey was born for the role of ‘Monster’. It’s no surprise Lindy brought him back after casting him as the creature in the short this film is based on. He has the charm and charisma necessary, not only to make Laura fall for him, but also to make us root for their unlikely romance, even with David LeRoy Anderson’s fantastic prosthetic makeup on. As for Melissa Barrera, she’s already cemented her status as a scream queen with films like the last ‘Scream’ sequels, ‘Abigail’ & ‘Bed Rest’, but ‘Your Monster’ is the perfect movie to showcase her versatility as an actress. She equally impresses in the emotional and comedic moments.
Lindy deserves props for the ambitious mash-up of horror and rom-com alone, but what specially stands out is her ability to make it work, without one genre cancelling the other out, and appeal to the fans of both. However, the metaphor of ‘Monster’ being a manifestation of Laura’s repressed anger, is a little too obvious for her own good. Lucky for her, the chemistry between Dewey and Barrera, is strong enough for the revelation to still feels effective. This is followed by a shocking third act that includes another twist and is especially cathartic when you know how much of the film is autobiographical (Well, the intro says it’s a “true-ish” story); The filmmaker herself went through the cancer diagnosis and treatment and the douchebag boyfriend who dumped her during the ordeal.
- [A Fresh Take on Nostalgia in Modern Cinema](https://ashotmagazine.com/a-fresh-take-on-nostalgia-in-modern-cinema/): Everyone is offering us the same old stuff, our Hollywood executes are just repacking it, while our Auteurs are trying to give it an injection of the Substance drug, to make something new come out of its spine.
- [Pattinson’s take on the Batman is pretty interesting to watch unfold on the screen.](https://ashotmagazine.com/pattinsons-take-on-the-batman-is-pretty-interesting-to-watch-unfold-on-the-screen/): Pattinson’s take on the Batman is pretty interesting to watch unfold on the screen. While I had a feeling that he’ll be “Travis Pickle”, or “Ryan Gosling”, he took me of guard. Elements of those are still there, This Batman is so damaged that he writes a diary and has zero social skills, even his Bruce is as lonely and introverted, unlike the charming playboy he usually is.
- [‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ is “trying too hard” as the use of French in the title suggests.](https://ashotmagazine.com/joker-folie-a-deux-is-trying-too-hard-as-the-use-of-french-in-the-title-suggests/): ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ is adventurous and suffocating, as conflicted as its main character, as experimental and “trying too hard” as the use of French in the title suggests, and yet, I have this sinking suspection that it may be a more focused, more aimed and more substantive than the first one... and maybe even better.
But let’s get this straight, the first film was “a comedy director wanting to make a serious film in a superhero genre he contempt, wearing the skin of other movies to elevate itself”, so wanting to be artsy, wearing high heels in order to look bigger is part of the DNA of the franchise from the start, not something invented for the sequel. And the first movie worked, for me, due to strong convictions from everyone involved, Phoenix acting his heart out, The DOP and music composer experimenting and giving it their all, “Joker 1” is such a strong emotional experience that shakes you with brute force. Joker 2 is still like that, the same guys are still giving it there all, the soundtrack is still haunting, and the images are still striking and strong, but with two differences:
1- It has a unique worldview and something to say2- It burns with contempt for the fans of the first film
That second one is already said a lot in reviews, Joker 2 hates Joker fans, shows them as an angry toxic mob of suffocating monsters, angsty teens idolize The Joker persona as a Messiah and a savior, basically they are Trump supporters, who don’t see who Trump really is and would do a January 6 for him. After The Boys season 4, it’s interesting that The Superhero Genre’s idea of innovation is “Let’s do Donald Trump” complete with referencing his real life trial from earlier this week. But wouldn’t that be contradictory with the film being sympathetic to Arthur? As subtext maybe, it doesn’t hinder the story or text themselves, but it may hinder any real life specific current day political commentary useless and muddled (The Boys went in an opposite direction turning into a Right Wing parody that diluted a lot of the uniqueness of the world), but as a counter point, the distance and dissonance between Arthur Flick and his supporters is so explicit and so “The point” of the film, that it can work, the supporters can work as a commentary on extreme Trump supporters without turning Arthur himself into a Homelander like Trump avatar. (More on that later)
Another way the film contempts the fans of the first one, is how it is a musical, you get the cynical sense that this is a musical cause people (and those fans specifically) hate musicals, like the decision is taken out of edgy Lars Von Trier like spite (to the point that Arthur almost only appears in Joker clothes during those musical scenes), and then integrated retroactively into the DNA of the film.
But let’s talk about the musical aspect, specially two aspects, how will it is “integrated” and how will it is handled. Integration: It fits Arthur Flick, a performer by nature, a dreamy character, this is the same Arthur that danced to a Chaplin film in the cinema during the first film, that danced in the bathroom after his first kill, his same obsession with TV that made him obsessed with Murray Franklin in the first film is his obsession with old musicals in here, the way Gaga’s Lee sings to him feels like a mother singing calming lullabies to her child (one of many Freudian aspects about Harley’s character here), even the antagonist nature of the decision to make this a musical fits narratively, as the dissonance between how Arthur is just a sensitive gentle boy and the vicious Joker persona idolized by his fans is a point here (clue, the Puddles scene)
But how are those scenes handled? Like Tom Hopper’s Les Miserables, Joker 2 prefers emotions to “good singing” ,the voices are raspy and broken, and the notes are off (it’s not just a Pheonix thing, Gaga does so as well, so it is a choice), it does not always work, but it is admirable, this is one way the musical numbers don’t fly away that much into escapist fantasy land, I am not sure about that, they are meant as escapism for Arthur, but they are rusty and relatively minimal, constrained and grounded, in a space between Lars Von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” and Chazelle’s “La La Land”. That said, while a lot of these are tied to the grounded bleak world of the film, the line of demarcation between fantasy and objective reality is sometimes too clean, the movie spills it out when a scene is “in his head” (but after it happens, not before, the starting transition is seamless, the return to reality is blunt), another problem is when the songs repeat where we already know from the dialogue, like you say you are sad then sing a song about sadness! That makes them feel redundant. All those issues become non existent in the second half, that has both the most grounded and the most fantastical musical scenes, and both work really well and give a sense that the film finally “getting the hang of this thing”
Back to Arthur, as this is a film about Arthur, it’s an anti- sequel, an anti comic book movie, It’s relationship to being a commercial comic book movie is like Arthur’s relationship to Joker here in a way. As Todd Phillips himself feels that he has to make a “Joker” movie to be listened to or taken seriously, you can call that delusional or narcissistic, or argue how much of the film’s value would be lost if it hasn’t been a comic book movie, it would have drowned in an ocean of sad film festival films, but Todd feels like he has to wear the Joker mask too. This is one of many ways the film is meta, the trial being a trial for the first movie as much as for Arthur, to the TV film about Arthur Lee is a fan of, to the musical numbers all being existing songs (with many references to the “That’s Entertainment” song from Singing in the Rain), if SoCieTy shaped Arthur, then its media -a part of said society- shaped him as well, Same to Lee who is shaped by the TV movie, with the idea of therapy by music introduced early on. How can a movie about a performer not be meta? But the layers of meta here are a rabbit hole. Perhaps that’s to the film’s fault, and that is the reason people call this unnecessary or empty, as the meta aspect makes it spend too much time examining the first film, to the point that the trial turns into a movie review for Joker (2019), I can see people finding that hallow or not substantive even if I don’t agree.
Other than that, the film does interesting things to the Joker/Arthur dichotomy, from it being a shadow self, an extension, a performance, a second personality which I think the film refutes, the D.I.D diagnosis is just a lawyer defense, Arthur did those things, he is accountable, The Joker is not just the violence, it’s the confidence, the performance, the mannarism, the attitude, the charisma. The accountability vs Sympathy, Mental health vs Society’s Fault are interesting dichotomy that provide most of the film’s meat for me. He is a messed up child in a Beksinski like skeletal thin body, (hence the interesting Freudian aspects to most female characters here) the violence is childish, the search of affection is childish, his reactions to everything is childish, this is explicitly not the clown prince of crime, or the force and embodiment of Chaos, again, another reason this might seem empty to some people, in a film almost determined to self sabotage itself like it is as disturbed as Arthur himself. To discuss this more would be getting into heavy spoilers.
But before I end this, I NEED to talk about just how bleak and hopeless this film is, darker than the original and more cruel, Joker 2 is a prison film, where we rarely see the outside world from rare shots or from car windows, a ballsy choice, a film where the cruel prison guards replace the cruel people of the outside world in the first film, from the bullies to the guys on the subway to Murray Franklin, but their authority over Arthur and everyone else m and the helplessness of those inmates make them way more oppressive, like the cruelty of the first film concentrated more, add the cynicism, the failed escapism nature of the musical numbers and the whole third act. The world of Joker 2 is a never ending prison, layers and layers of walls till you reach down and more abstract concepts and your own self become other prison cells inside prison cells, inescapable, unavoidable, omnipresent and overly suffocating. And I am used to depressing hellish cinema, but the walls of the prison here is so close that they leave no room for air, you can argue if the film does justice to mental illness, handling childhood trauma, Schizophrenia, or multiple personality disorder, but this, this is what depression feels like.

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