Guild Reviews
DNA
Drama (Tamil)
A young woman with borderline personality disorder, fights a lonely battle when she believes her newborn baby was swapped with someone else’s minutes after her delivery. Her loving husband, who initially doubts, eventually believes and starts investigating with an experienced cop.
Cast:
Atharvaa Murali, Nimisha Sajayan, Maanasa Chaudhary, Riythvika, Karunakaran, Balaji Sakthivel, Chetan, Ramesh Thilak, Viji Chandrasekhar, Gayathrie Shankar
Director:
Nelson Venkatesan
Writer:
Nelson Venkatesan, Athisha Vino
The Long Review: DNA
Mon, June 23 2025
A chilling investigative drama bogged down by commercial cliches
Fri, June 20 2025
Tamil cinema often explores the complexities of marriage. From marital discord due to forced marriage to people falling out of love, and hoping the other one falls into love, we have seen various facets of marital life be explored in our films. And when director Nelson Venkatesan introduces a distraught Anand (Atharvaa) and a chirpy but disturbed Divya (Nimisha Sajayan) in his latest film, DNA, the stage was set for yet another exploration of two random people deciding to live their lives together. This is a space Nelson has excelled in, right from his debut film, Oru Naal Koothu, which dealt with the idea of marriage. Even in Monster, although the primary story was a man-rodent conflict, it spoke about companionship, empathy, and loneliness. And it was a culmination of all of these themes in his third film, Farhana. However, in DNA, Nelson lets go of his strong suit to put on an armour of investigative drama, and is unable to balance both with the required panache.
Atharvaa-Nimisha's film is a smart thriller with few unwanted detours
Fri, June 20 2025
Tamil director Nelson Venkatesan has been in the industry since 2016. Nearly a decade in Kollywood, the filmmaker is just three films old, and all three films have made noise for their themes and filmmaking style. After the underrated ‘Farhana, he returns with his fourth offering, ‘DNA’, starring Atharvaa and Nimisha Sajayan. Anand (Atharvaa) is a brooding alcoholic drifter who is struggling to come to terms with life after a breakup. Divya (Nimisha Sajayan) is a naive woman diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, who often gets branded as paithyam (a derogatory Tamil term for someone with mental illness). One good-for-nothing man deserves a woman with a condition – this is what both families decide as they come together for a marriage of convenience. But, Anand and Divya navigate through this and find love in each other. He is a man who makes life easier for Divya, while she is a woman who lights up his life. When they get pregnant and are all set to step into their lives as new parents, tragedy strikes - Divya finds out that the infant handed over to her is not her child. Anand, who initially doubts Divya, eventually believes her and takes the police’s help to find their missing child.
Kuberaa
Crime, Thriller, Drama (Telugu)
A ruthless billionaire, Neeraj, uses beggars as benamis to launder money, with the help of a disgraced civil submit servant, Deepak. One of the beggars, Deva, escapes with ₹10,000 crores and becomes the target of a deadly manhunt. He meets Sameera, who joins him in his mission to use the money to uplift society's poor. With Deepak's help, Deva fights back.
Cast:
Dhanush, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Rashmika Mandanna, Jim Sarbh, K. Bhagyaraj, Dalip Tahil, Sunaina, Bagavathi Perumal, Hareesh Peradi, Priyanshu Chatterjee
Director:
Sekhar Kammula
Writer:
Sekhar Kammula, Chaitanya Pingali
The Long Review: Kuberaa
Sun, June 22 2025
Kuberaa - A YouTube Review
Fri, June 20 2025
Compelling premise meets conventional end
Fri, June 20 2025
Telugu filmmaker Sekhar Kammula’s reputation speaks for itself. With films like ‘Anand’, ‘Godavari’, and ‘Fidaa’, among others, his films are rooted yet progressive at the same time. His films, even after years, make you fall in love with it all over again. His latest offering, ‘Kuberaa’, with a power-packed cast including Dhanush, Nagarjuna, Jim Sarbh and Rashmika Mandanna, is a film that touches upon various topics including power, money, betrayal, humanity and justice. Has he managed to strike gold again? Let’s find out! Neeraj Mitra (Jim Sarbh) is a powerful and ruthless businessman who discovers oil reserves that could support India for the next 15 years. He strikes a deal with the ruling government that would benefit both parties in the long run. To help execute his plan, Neeraj approaches Deepak (Nagarjuna), an honest CBI officer who is in prison due to a false case. Although Deepak initially refuses, he eventually joins forces with Neeraj and his father after much prodding.
The Mortician
Documentary, Crime (English)
A trusted family-owned funeral home hides behind a façade of decency and propriety to take advantage of loved ones at their most vulnerable moments.
Cast:
David Sconce
HBO true crime series ends with a scandalous confession designed to shock and awe
Sat, June 21 2025
Depending on where you live in the world, the first episode of HBO’s new true crime series, The Mortician, will either be scandalous or sloppy. In the 1980s, a man named David Sconce took over his family’s respectable funeral home business, and took it in an altogether macabre direction, all in the name of aggressive expansion. But the sort of shenanigans that he got up to would hardly draw a second glance in India. A lot of what he was convicted of doing would be brushed off as ‘jugaad’ here. In the United States, however — especially the wealthy Pasadena neighbourhood where Sconce conducted his activities — a scandal erupted. It was discovered that Sconce was mass-cremating bodies and essentially scooping out ashes from large barrels, and presenting them to the families of the deceased. They had no idea that the urn being given to them contained the remains of several dead people mixed together, and not just their loved one. Sconce said that this was a common practice in funeral homes, and that most businesses would be lying if they pretend that it wasn’t. You could imagine white people getting all hot and bothered about something like this, but in India, where the cost of human life is negligible, it would be more surprising if there was no skullduggery going on.
Detective Sherdil
Comedy, Mystery (Hindi)
For Detective Sherdil, crime-solving is his superpower. But can his wit, intellect and street-smart instincts help him crack the murder mystery of the industrialist Pankaj Bhatti?
Cast:
Diljit Dosanjh, Diana Penty, Boman Irani, Ratna Pathak Shah, Banita Sandhu, Sumeet Vyas, Mukesh Bhhatt, Kashmira Irani, Chunky Pandey, Sarah Barlondo
Director:
Ravi Chhabriya
Writer:
Ali Abbas Zafar, Ravi Chhabriya, Sagar Bajaj
Endearing Detective Diljit
Sat, June 21 2025
t’s a classic whodunit, says our desi Pink Panther, Detective Sherdil (Diljit Dosanjh). Of course, somewhere in the middle, he turns the phrase to “howdunnit”. Peppered with many red herrings, some dead giveaways too are thrown in. Set almost in comic book fashion, coming from the stable of Ali Abbas Zafar’s production house, ‘Detective Sherdil’ cuts no corners as far as the production design is concerned. Cinematographer Marcin Laskawiec trains his camera not only on the beauteous locales in Budapest, Hungary, but also matches the effervescent atmospherics of the film. Otherwise, the Hindi-English feature has all the regular trappings that come with an Indian murder mystery.
Diljit Dosanjh’s endearing performance can’t save this flat film
Fri, June 20 2025
A billionaire is found dead. It is murder most foul. His will reveals a shocker. His fortune is split between his favourite canine and a complete outsider. Cue, shock and outrage. Enter sharp sleuth Sherdil, and the worms come wriggling out. On the suspects’ list is Pankaj Bhatti’s (Boman Irani) entire family, starting with wife Rajeshwari (Ratna Pathak Shah), son Angad (Sumeet Saigal) and daughter Shanti (Banita Sandhu). The dead man’s driver is also under the scanner, but the family’s ire is directed against Shanti’s boyfriend Poorvak (Arjun Tanwar), a deaf-mute like her, who is the biggest recipient of Bhatti’s generosity.
Unenthusiastic, predictable whodunnit
Fri, June 20 2025
Kerala Crime Files S02
Crime, Mystery, Drama (Malayalam)
A team of six policemen is on a chase to solve a murder in a suburban lodge room, with just one clue - a fake address, from the park register.
Cast:
Arjun Radhakrishnan, Aju Varghese, Lal, Navas Vallikkunnu, Indrans, Harisree Ashokan, Sanju Sanichen, Fara Shibla, Noorin Shereef, Jeo Baby
Director:
Ahammed Khabeer
An intriguing sequel that improves upon the original
Fri, June 20 2025
As far as series openings go, Kerala Crime Files 2 takes off from quite a peculiar situation. All the police officers at a particular station have received transfer orders over suspected links with criminals and goons. A new set of police officers, clueless about the place or the criminal activity in the area, have just taken charge. Before they could ease into their new seats, they are forced to launch a search operation for one of their own. The initial piecing together of the complex character of Ambili Raju (Indrans), the missing Civil police officer who was among the transferred bunch, makes up some of the best passages in the six episode-series directed by Ahammed Khabeer, a follow up to the first web series made in Malayalam in 2023. The unassuming officer is the kind of person who is vital to any investigation team, with his wide network of acquaintances and deep knowledge of the place. He has his share of shady links, most of them cultivated for the purpose of his profession, yet he remains unsullied by it all through sheer strength of character.
Materialists
Romance, Drama, Comedy (English)
A young, ambitious New York City matchmaker finds herself torn between the perfect match and her imperfect ex.
Cast:
Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Zoe Winters, Marin Ireland, Dasha Nekrasova, Emmy Wheeler, Louisa Jacobson, Eddie Cahill, Sawyer Spielberg
Director:
Celine Song
Writer:
Celine Song
Doesn't follow a formula, and that makes it a standout
Fri, June 20 2025
Since its release, Materialists has stirred a fair amount of conversation, inviting diverse interpretations of its theme, tone and treatment. A recent article in Indiewire goes as far as to state that the film not only subverts the conventional romance genre but is also director Celine Song’s takedown of the transactional nature of Hollywood itself, a ‘business’ where commerce weighs heavy on art; one in which cinema has largely been reduced to an assembly-line product that needs to ‘check boxes’. Where films are no longer films, but generically referred to as content. It is an interesting way to read the film, like many of the other exegesis of Materialists that have sprung up over the last week. At its core, Materialists poses the age-old question of what makes two people come together in a marriage — love or security. Song uses an unexpected and clever sequence set in prehistoric times to frame her film’s central theme, that of romantic relationships being either transactional or emotional, or often both.
What makes two people come together in a marriage — love or security.
Tue, June 17 2025
“Are we in the right film?" a girl in the row behind me asked her friend. You could see why she’d be confused. They’d turned up for a New York romance with Pedro Pascal and here was an unkempt man wearing animal hide handing a bouquet to a woman in front of a cave. He puts a ring fashioned out of single flower on her finger. The title drops and then we’re in New York, watching Lucy (Dakota Johnson) get ready for another day as an in-demand matchmaker.
प्रेम त्रिकोण के बहाने भौतिकवाद पर कटाक्ष
Sat, June 14 2025
कहते हैं कि जोड़ियां आसमान में बनती हैं, मगर जब जमीं पर जीवनभर का रिश्ता जोड़ने यानी शादी की बात आती है, तो ज्यादा अहम क्या होना चाहिए? दिलों का तार जुड़ना या रूप-रंग, पढ़ाई-कमाई, उम्र-कद जैसी कैलकुलेशन? इस जटिल सवाल का बड़े ही सरल तरीके से पड़ताल करती है, डकोटा जॉनसन, क्रिस इवांस, पेड्रो पास्कल की बेहतरीन अदाकारी से सजी फिल्म ‘मटीरियलिस्ट्स’। कहानी एक स्मार्ट और महत्वाकांक्षी मैच मेकर लूसी (डकोटा जॉनसन) की है। अपने काम में बेहद माहिर लूसी का मानना है कि शादी एक डील है, जहां लड़के-लड़की की चेकलिस्ट का मैच होना ज्यादा मायने रखता है। इस चेकलिस्ट मिलान में अपनी काबिलियत की बदौलत वह 9 जोड़ों की शादी करवा चुकी है। लूसी का अपने लाइफ पार्टनर के लिए एक ही मापदंड है कि वह बेहिसाब पैसे वाला हो। उसे हैरी (पेड्रो पास्कल) के रूप में 12 मिलियन डॉलर के अपार्टमेंट में रहने वाला पैदाइशी रईस, साथ में सज्जन, स्मार्ट और छह फिट से भी लंबा, यानी मैचमेकिंग की दुनिया में यूनिकॉर्न बंदा मिल जाता है। पर एक झोल है।
Alappuzha Gymkhana
Action, Drama, Comedy (Malayalam)
A group of youngsters, after failing their plus two exams, aims to join a common college through the sports quota. They choose boxing as their sport. By luck, they manage to survive the district-level competitions. But what will happen at the higher levels?
Cast:
Naslen, Lukman Avaran, Ganapathi S Poduval, Sandeep Pradeep, Anagha Maya Ravi, Franco Francis, Baby Jean, Shiva Hariharan, Shon Joy, Karthik
Director:
Khalid Rahman
Writer:
Khalid Rahman, Sreeni Saseendran
A Spotify Review
Thu, June 19 2025
The Malayalam-language sports comedy film Alappuzha Gymkhana has no stakes, no villain, and no classic structure. This could either have been a bold decision or an act of self-sabotage. It’s somewhere in the middle. We talk about the film’s underdeveloped characters, its over-reliance on flashy camerawork, and its overlong second half. We also discuss its cultural specificity, its zero-stakes narrative, and its refreshing idea of male friendship.
Bollywood directors keep talking about ‘rooted cinema’, but they have no idea what it even means
Thu, June 19 2025
In recent years, several Bollywood big-shots with varying degrees of wealth and intelligence have said that South Indian movies are performing better than their Hindi counterparts because they’re more ‘rooted’. The word has become a part of the lexicon, alongside terms such as ‘elevation scene’ and ‘BGM’. Anurag Kashyap has said it; Javed Akhtar has said it; if they’d asked the women, they’d have said it as well. But what does the word ‘rooted’ even mean? The one movie that perfectly captures all the ingredients that are missing from Hindi cinema these days, the one movie that Bollywood would do well to emulate, is the Malayalam-language sports comedy Alappuzha Gymkhana, which debuted recently on SonyLIV after an excellent theatrical run. It’s as rooted as they come. But the definition of this kind of cinema could vary. While Kashyap thinks that ‘rooted’ cinema refers to stories of the heartland, Akhtar has complained that Hindi filmmakers are losing touch with the language. He forgets that his own children write in English and have their scripts translated. For most Bollywood producers, ‘rooted’ is merely a code word for a very specific kind of big-budget movie; the chauvinistic and bombastic sort of cinema popularised by the Telugu industry and bastardised by the north.
(Writing for M9 News)
Quirky Sports Saga Minus Cliches
Sat, June 14 2025
Five friends who fail their 12th-grade exams seek college admission through sports quota (boxing). Led by Jojo Johnson, they join the local Alappuzha Gymkhana boxing school under coach Salim, and later, Antony Joshua. What begins as a casual effort to bide their time evolves into a tale of friendship, self-discovery, and grit as they train and compete in district/state championships. Though Naslen is the most recognisable face in the film, the story wisely avoids overly distracting itself to give him more prominence. It still makes the most of his goofy persona, and the actor fits the role of Jojo perfectly. Lukman Avaran is well-cast as the hot-blooded coach, while Anagha Ravi has a lot of fun in her brief appearance.
Kesari: Chapter 2
Drama, History (Hindi)
A dramatization of the life story of C. Sankaran Nair, the lawyer who fought for the truth behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Cast:
Akshay Kumar, R. Madhavan, Ananya Panday, Mark Bennington, Sammy Jonas Heaney, Rohan Verma, Alexx O'Nell, Regina Cassandra, Simon Paisley Day, Amit Sial
Director:
Karan Singh Tyagi
Writer:
Amritpal Singh Bindra, Karan Singh Tyagi
Akshay Kumar’s courtroom drama accidentally exposes Bollywood’s handling of sexual misconduct
Thu, June 19 2025
A few years ago, Karan Johar debuted his Dharmatic Entertainment banner with a Netflix film called Guilty. It remains memorable for two reasons; first, Kiara Advani is terrific in it, and second, it’s perhaps the only time that Bollywood has addressed the #MeToo movement head-on. Guilty, which made solid use of the Rashomon effect, ended with a rather on-the-nose title card about Bollywood having turned a blind eye to the accusations made against some of its most prominent figures. Years later, their alleged crimes are essentially forgotten. Many of the accused continue to work freely, while several of those that raised their voices were quietly outcast. Entirely by accident, Johar’s recent co-production, Kesari Chapter 2, turns out to be an accurate indictment of why, as a system, the industry failed its most vulnerable members.
(Writing for M9 News)
Patriotism Packed in a Courtroom Drama
Sat, April 19 2025
Advocate Sankaran Nair, a key member of the Viceroy’s Council, remains staunchly loyal to the British Crown in his professional tenure—until the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre changes everything. Branded as terrorists, thousands of innocent civilians are slaughtered in cold blood, shaking Nair to his core. As the truth unfolds, he joins forces with a young advocate, Dilreet Gill, determined to hold the British accountable for what they believe to be an act of genocide. Akshay Kumar has always been a perfect foil for plot-driven sagas that have no space for flabby distractions. In the shoes of Sankaran Nair, the seasoned actor delivers a classy performance – his subtle humour, ease with dialogue delivery help him immensely. Ananya Panday, without doubt, is steadily finding her rhythm as a performer, and her portrayal of Dilreet is a firm indicator of her evolution.
‘F***ing’ hard-hitting courtroom drama with lots of creative liberties
Sat, April 19 2025
Just last month, filmmaker Ram Madhvani came up with his Sony LIV web series The Waking of a Nation. It was based on the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and how General Dyer was dragged to the court for the same. Although it was inspired from C Sankaran Nair’s case that shook the British Empire after the massacre, it was a fictionalized version with a fictitious protagonist. Filmmaker Karan Tyagi’s Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Truth Of Jallianwala Bagh sees C Sankaran Nair himself fighting the case against the British Empire where he accuses the latter of a planned conspiracy in the form of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that killed more than a thousand Indians gathered at the site for a peaceful protest. Although Tyagi’s film also uses a lot of fiction, it is more impactful than The Waking of a Nation.
The Survivors
Drama, Mystery (English)
Fifteen years ago, the loss of three young people tore this sleepy seaside town apart. Now, the mysterious death of a young woman dredges up the past.
Cast:
Yerin Ha, Miriama Smith, Charlie Vickers, Robyn Malcolm, Catherine McClements, Damien Garvey, Ned Morgan, Eloise Rothfield, Johnny Carr, George Mason
Director:
Cherie Nowlan, Ben C. Lucas
Writer:
Tony Ayres
A potent if not a very polished watch
Thu, June 19 2025
The Survivors, the new six-episode Australian miniseries on Netflix, will remind you of Big Little Lies. People gone missing, secrets held close both in the past and present, deaths hanging over a closed-knit group of residents, and a fresh murder that not only triggers old memories but also reopens an old case. But unlike Big Little Lies, when it comes to crafting a compelling mystery with engaging characters, The Survivors just about passes muster. Based on the eponymously named book by Jane Harper, the action in The Survivors takes place in the fictional Tasmanian town of Evelyn Bay, the hometown of Kieran (Charlie Vickers), that he visits — girlfriend Mia (Yerin Ha) and their infant girl in tow — to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the night of a terrible storm. It was an unfortunate event in which Kieran himself nearly drowned, while his brother and a friend died trying to save him. Memories of that dreadful night — and its aftermath — loom large over Evelyn Bay, with most residents believing that Kieran was to blame. In fact, the young man’s mother Verity (Robyn Malcolm), having lost a son, also holds Kieran responsible for the deaths.
The Buccaneers S02
Drama (English)
A group of fun-loving American girls burst onto the scene in tightly corseted 1870s London, kicking off an Anglo-American culture clash. Sent to secure husbands and status, the buccaneers' hearts are set on much more than that.
Cast:
Kristine Froseth, Alisha Boe, Matthew Broome, Josh Dylan, Barney Fishwick, Aubri Ibrag, Guy Remmers, Mia Threapleton, Josie Totah, Imogen Waterhouse
British Period Drama About American Young Women Becomes Full-Blown Soap Opera
Wed, June 18 2025
The Apple TV+ period romance The Buccaneers returns after a year and a half for its second season, in which the five young American women plant firmer roots in England. But compared to the events of the premiere season, the women are faced with more obstacles as they assert their identities in the middle of a patriarchal society. Amidst that, the series created by Katherine Jakeways develops into a more vibrant and messier version of itself than Season 1, especially when dealing with its romantic storylines. Set in the 1870s during the Gilded Age, the American women have now married into British society. Nan (Kristine Froseth) becomes one of the most powerful women with the title of Duchess of Tintagel, a position she uses well to shield her sister Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) against her abusive husband. The rest of the young women, American heiress Conchita (Alisha Boe) and sisters Lizzy (Aubri Ibrag) and Mabel (Josie Totah), have newer mountains to overcome. Nan’s mother, Patti (Christina Hendricks), decides to leave her husband with her sister, Nell (guest star Leighton Meester), by her side. Nan’s mother-in-law, the Dowager Duchess (Amelia Bullmore), also gets a second chance at romance. But not all of these endings are happily-ever-after this season.
Second Chance
Drama (Hindi)
After experiencing the first major trauma of her young life, Nia retreats to her family summer home in the Himalayas where time, nature and unlikely friendships help her heal.
Cast:
Dheera Johnson, Thakri Devi, Kanav Thakur, Rajesh Kumar, Ganga Ram
Director:
Subhadra Mahajan
Writer:
Subhadra Mahajan
Subhadra Mahajan’s Debut Is an Assured Tale of a Reawakening
Wed, June 18 2025
Nia (Dheera Johnson) is scared. In the first scene of Subhadra Mahajan’s Second Chance, we hear the protagonist’s voice over a black screen. She’s calling Kabir – her partner, presumably. She’s pregnant, and doesn’t know what to do. “Please call me back when you see this,” she drops him a text, one of the many that have gone unanswered. The screen comes to life, and she’s in the middle of thick snow. It takes a while for us to register that she’s in some remote corner in Himachal Pradesh. As details trickle down, we learn that Nia comes from a rich Delhi family, who own a holiday home in the hills. Overcome with fear about the pregnancy, Nia flees from the capital. With limited network coverage in the home (near a bedroom window), a silent boyfriend, and seemingly supportive-yet-distant parents, Nia finds her refuge among the caretaker family of the home: Raju (Rajesh Singh), his son Sunny (Kanav Thakur) and mother-in-law Bhemi (Thakri Devi).
Rephrasing the Cinema of Grief
Tue, June 17 2025
Grief is too absolute an entity in cinema. Like joy, disappointment and love, it’s often treated as a ‘phase’ in a story: a striking part of a whole. It is seen and staged, either as a brooding montage or an atmospheric song or a transformative conflict or a sullen flashback about a character’s retreat from civilisation (think mainstream movies like Jab We Met). But grief — or its more familiar version, heartbreak — is actually a part of a hole. The pain is abstract, undefined, still, and often, violently simple. In Subhadra Mahajan’s Second Chance, this simplicity is laid bare. It’s not a time in life but life itself. It’s not a phase in a story but storytelling itself.
Assured debut takes the time to sit with grief
Sun, June 15 2025
Writer-director Subhadra Mahajan demonstrates remarkable confidence in her debut feature—a lyrical film that explores grief, loss and healing in the spiritual setting of a hill town, characterised by silence and stillness. Set in the Pir Panjal mountains of Himachal Pradesh during winter, the film follows 25-year-old Nia (Dheera Johnson), who takes refuge in her family’s remote summer home after experiencing personal loss. This escape from family, city, and a painful reality offers Nia the opportunity to work through her turmoil and emerge from the darkness. Rather than surrounding Nia with noise or heavy backstory, Mahajan distils the narrative down to essentials. Nia lives alone in the cosy house, blanketing herself from the cold and her own pain, until she begins to forge an unlikely bond with the caretaker Bhemi (Thakri Devi) and her playful grandson Sunny (Kanav Thakur). In spite of class differences, three generations coexist and build human connection through small chores, simple joys, and wordless understanding—spurred by rustic cricket games, local delicacies, and a cute kitten.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Action, Thriller, Crime (English)
An assassin trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma organization sets out to seek revenge after her father's death.
Cast:
Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Keanu Reeves, Norman Reedus, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ian McShane, Gabriel Byrne, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Robert Maaser
Director:
Len Wiseman
Writer:
Shay Hatten
The Long Review: Ballerina
Mon, June 16 2025
Knives, Guns, Action!
Sat, June 14 2025
A spin-off of the John Wick films, Ballerina represents the fifth installment in the franchise known for its unrestrained action. Additionally, the extended title (From the World of John Wick: Ballerina) indicates that the filmmakers intended for audiences to recognize this as a John Wick film, rather than a standalone entry.
An Effective Origin Story That Expands The John Wick Universe
Sat, June 14 2025
Set around the third installment of the John Wick film series, Ballerina is the story of another assassin from that world who defies the rules and faces consequences. With action set pieces that are increasingly bloody and creative, a well-etched character arc, and a similar philosophical core to its parent series, Ballerina turns out to be an effective companion piece to the John Wick films. However, if you are someone who finds yourself in the theatre unaware of the franchise’s legacy, Ballerina might come across as an excuse for a series of incredibly sophisticated fight sequences stitched together by a semblance of a story. As an origin story, Ballerina takes a familiar route: an orphaned child, robbed of her innocence, with a burning vengeance deep in her heart, that doesn’t let her choose a path that would save her from getting her hands bloody. Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas), as a child, witnesses her father die at the hands of a cult while saving her from their grasp. She grows up with her father’s family, which turns out to be the Ruska Roma, the same criminal organisation that John Wick belongs to. Under the mentorship of its Director (Anjelica Huston), Eve is taught to become an assassin and, more importantly, to “fight like a girl." However, that’s the extent to which the film explores gender politics, as there isn’t a lot of depth to Eve, and she does almost everything John would have done in her place.