arden has written 18 reviews for films during 2020.

  • Soul

    Soul

    ★★★★

    Forgetting the trauma of birth is the greatest gift of the universe!

  • Fan Girl

    Fan Girl

    ★★★½

    This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

    This film.... it's terrifying. Parts of this film felt like I was watching a horror film because of not only how dreary and claustrophobic the atmosphere was, but also because of what Jane went through. Fuck, I couldn't get myself to watch several scenes without crying. The power dynamics and it's danger creeps up sliwly throughout the film. The light, happy nature of being a fan girl pitted against the violent, nature of her idol. It's manipulative. It's scary.

    Wish…

  • Apocalypse Child

    Apocalypse Child

    ★★★★★

    Disclaimer: Numerous drinking glasses were harmed in the making of this film.

    This was so stressful to watch as everything felt as turbulent as its setting. Every character is absolutely fucking unhinged, I love it so much. I don't think I have the words to make a concrete review on this, maybe I need to watch it again. But whatever that was, it was unexpected. And really fucking good.

  • Cleaners

    Cleaners

    ★★★★★

    There's a lot of things that's nostalgic about being a Filipino Teen in the 2000's and this film just captures it so well. It's such a simple film that manages to tell an amazing coming of age (that's so distinctly Filipino) without having to do the most. It's radical, it's rebellious; it's what growth should be. It's what high school feels like. The final sequence was so cathartic and relatable.... ganyan din ako kapag Friday cleaners kasi tangina sino ba naman gugustuhin mag Friday cleaners diba? Ganda.

    Also grabe talaga mga taga UP Cineastes Studio ano meron sa inyo at napakaganda ng lahat ng film niyo?

  • Before Sunrise

    Before Sunrise

    ★★★★½

    A rather personal short review ahead as I've spent the entire weekend doing the same thing: yearning. As pretentious and as pompous as it sounds, I've been yearning too much! I watched Fleabag in all of its entirety, I spent at least five hours on a playlist trying to capture the liminal feeling of yearning and being wanted, and I've spent a few minutes of everyday trying to squeeze in a conversation about longing to my friends. This just manages…

  • Childer

    Childer

    ★★★½

    That took cabbage patch kids way too far

  • Other Side of the Box

    Other Side of the Box

    ★★★★

    I think I peed myself, I hate you Jenina

  • Arise

    Arise

    ★½

    So..... what was the point?

  • Fatigued

    Fatigued

    ★★★½

    I went into this film blind thinking it was going to be an interactive drama.... I was wrong

  • Fallen Angels

    Fallen Angels

    ★★★★★

    This is my second time watching this film and this time... in a less adequate quality than before. (Which I’ve found to be the most personally enjoyable way to watch a Wong Kar-wai film.) Nonetheless, I’m still in love with the chaos of it all. I’ve never seen a director work with incoherence and so much movement the same way Wong Kar-wai has done with this. I’m obsessed.

  • Saint Nena!

    Saint Nena!

    ★★★

    I’m going to hell for this one

  • What Happened on What Did Not Happen

    What Happened on What Did Not Happen

    ★★

    First time I’ve seen a ‘Benilde’ film, was surprised seeing the cast (expensive!) but I realized this film was made by a Vidanes. Anyway, I don’t usually write reviews but here’s a few opinions on the politics (or lack thereof) of the film. 

    Spoilers ahead. 

    The film sends us into the home of an conflicted “activist” family, one that has lost their patriarch due to their movement. The family acquires a scandalous audio recording of a tryst between a certain…