“Babyteeth.” / “Dreamland.” / “Things Will Be Different.”

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“Babyteeth” (2019, Tubi) Australian coming-of-age comedy-drama film. Newbie Eliza Scanlen plays Milla, a 16-year-old girl from a wealthy family who falls in love with a drug-addict shortly before she has a cancer recurrence. This is Ms Scanlen's first film appearance but her easy restraint and controlled magnetism are veteran aesthetics, indeed. 



       Anchored on Shannon Murphy's nuanced direction from a tight script by Rita Kalnejais (based upon her stage play), perennially competent Essie Davis and Ben Mendelssohn (as Milla's parents Anna and Henry) also shined in this indie that deservedly won several awards in 2020). 

       I never liked Toby Wallace. But his junkie Moses, Milla's friend, is a revelation. He can actually act! 🎥👍📽


“Dreamland” (2019, Paramount+) period thriller. In 1930s Texas, Eugene Evans lives with his family in a small town, then she meets fugitive Allison Wells. Eugene is Finn Cole; Allison is Margot Robbie. Both are awesome performers. But this movie is not awesome.

       Sappy, predictable, slow-moving. Not even the able support of Travis “Vikings” Fimmel and always sweet to watch Kerry Condon could save Nicolaas Zwart's lifeless screenplay and Miles Joris-Peyrafitte's unimaginative direction. 🎥💻📽




“Things Will Be Different” (2024, Hulu) science fiction thriller. Brother and sister robbers use time travel to lay low after their crimes. A fine enough directorial debut by Michael Felker, who also wrote the screenplay.

       The indie started and developed in an mysteriously alluring manner, anchored on the nuanced performance synergy of Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy as brother and sister Joseph and Sidney. However, the storytelling evolved into a ho-hum sci-fi dalliance and moralizing redundancy. 

       Yet for its technical cinematic values, “Things Will Be Different” is a fine watch. 🎥💻📽




GAVE UP. <>“Cleaner” (2025, Max) British action thriller. Joanna "Joey" Locke and her older brother Michael have grown up in a London household with an abusive father, which forced Joey to take to wall-climbing to escape the domestic violence. I like Daisy Ridley but not in this movie.

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