Reviews

TLDR Life is messy and imperfect, so were our characters. Not everyone gets a happy ending. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices.

I saw lots of reviews bashing the finale for leaving things unresolved, but I don't think that's the case at all. Otis and Maeve aren't together, and that's ok. Sometimes you have to let the one you love go so they can flourish. She would have gotten bitter and resented him over time and he would have been eaten alive with guilt if she stayed. It showed a lot of emotional maturity.

As for the rest, Eric found a way to reconcile both parts of himself and will do amazing things. Aimee and Isaac will be great together, they complement each other in very interesting ways. Every kite needs a tether. Adam is accepting himself for who he is. Will he and the farm girl work out? Who knows, but he's on the right path and that's really all we needed. The same can be said for his father, he's getting the help he needed and becoming a better man. Ruby could have had a little more closure that she got, but it was never her story anyway. Cal had a good arc, as did Jackson and Viv. We don't really need to know about Maeve's brother. He seems to be in the same spiral their mom was in and it's a shame, but hopefully he did get help.

The characters we didn't see... well, it would have been nice for Jean and Jacoub to be together but it was a very big betrayal and I don't blame him. The rest, I didn't really miss that much.

What a waste of time.

The movie starts with a ridiculous, over the top competition that Diana wouldn't have been allowed to compete in or train for, given her mother's reluctance in the first movie. The rest of the movie is pretty predictable, annoyingly so. Kristen Wiig's Cheetah is just embarrassing and the CGI fight was silly.

If you're into gore, slashers, jump scares, and/or creatures, this is not the film for you. This film is packed with symbolism and very little actual horror. If you liked The Babadook, you might like this one. I really enjoyed this movie, it isn't perfect, but I think it's worth a watch. The pacing was a bit slow, but it was a slow burn to a fitting ending. The film is filled with unease and builds as it goes. If you can sit through one viewing, I think it's worth a second to see what may have been missed. The real horror in this film is dementia. I have someone in my life with dementia and it was heartbreaking to see what the grandmother went through, especially at the end. Dementia will turn someone you love into someone you barely recognize as it consumes them.