Sara Elena

Highly recommended. The acting in this series in spot-on, with major kudos to Anya for her impeccable performance, as always. The stylistic direction is rather superb, with wonderful soundtrack selections and gorgeous cinematography. The storyline itself is compelling, leading you to become very invested in Beth Harmon's story. Elements of misogyny and racism are brought forth, but not harped on excessively, hence striking a very good balance. I have only two major compliants, both of which are due to the sheer unrealstic nature of these plot points. First, the drug which Beth is addicted to was initially labelled as "Xanzolam" in Methuen and later, switched to Librium (Chlordiazepoxide) as spoken directly by Beth and shown on screen on the medicine label. I have major problems with this. Chlordiazepoxide is a benzodiazepine, indicated for anxiety and alcohol withdrawal. As shown in the series, it has abuse potential. However, psychosis is NOT a common adverse effect of this drug. I simply cannot fathom why the original author and the screenplay writers chose to use Librium, instead of any other possible medicine out there which has psychosis as a common ADR. And yes, I know that in the finale, she was able to hallucinate the ceiling chessboard while sober. But it still doesn't explain why a benzo was able to induce hallucinations in a young Beth. There are a handful of research studies that investigate Chlordiazepoxide and psychosis, but these date back to the 60s and overall, psychosis is not commonly caused by the drug. This really bothers me, especially since no one else seems to be talking about the fact that Chlordiazepoxide is NOT a psychedelic agent. Second, when Beth wins against the Soviet competitors in Moscow, other Soviets are seen cheering and applauding for her. This is the single most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. The competition was in 1968, during the Cold War. Hell, even her US bodyguard told her that she was invited to the Whitehouse and that her win against the Soviets was going to be highly publicised. This indicates that the Cold War was indeed ongoing in this fictional universe and that her win definitely had political implications. As such, it is utter baloney that the citizens of USSR would cheer for an American enemy who defeated one of their own. Even if they cheered for the fact that she is a woman who managed to beat all the men there (unlike the USSR female champion who was only allowed to compete against other females), I do not believe that they would dare to publicly support Harmon. Bear in mind that this was 1968, long before Gorbachev came in with his radical policies. Freedom of speech was NOT allowed at that time. There was no way that those Soviets would've been free to publicly cheer for the American. However, other than these two glaring missteps, this series was highly enjoyable and I strongly recommend it for anyone who isn't a passionate pharmacist with a penchant for historical accuracy.

The first thing that I loved was the unreliable narration. It reminded me of FX's Legion, such that the point-of-view provided to the audience is that of Ellen's, whose perspective is compromised due her blindness. Thus, you soon come to realize that nothing can be trusted and you should also second-guess every detail. This leads me to another great aspect of the film: the mystery. While I had my suspicions about the plot (which turned out to be true!) from the very beginning, there were a fair share of curve balls that threw me off the scent at times. It provided a lovely puzzle to solve together with the main character. And Madelaine's performance was exquisite. Her deep dive into the character's despair, fear, loneliness and desperation helped me to really see the movie through her eyes (no pun intended) and evoke the same emotions in me. Last but not least, Ellen is an amazing heroine. Most of these types of movies have heroines that make questionable, frankly idiotic decisions, that sometimes makes me want the bad guy to win. Ellen is one of the rare breed: a heroine who fights for survival, doesn't give up, doesn't make nonsensical moves and does her absolute best despite her limited abilities. There wasn't a single moment when I went, why doesn't she just do that? Because this heroine was actually smart and not cringe-worthy. Ultimately, Sightless was a delightful surprise and much more stylistically pleasing than expected. Highly recommended.

I genuinely don't understand why the reviews for this movie are so terrible. It was pretty hilarious to me, giving me full-on belly laughs and uncontrollable snorts at times. Yes, the plotline could've been much tighter - some details of the characters and decisions made were a little too unbelievable. But aside from that, this was truly funny, humorous in a way that reminds me of The Young Offenders. Furthermore, I absolutely loved the stylistic direction taken. The visual imagery was stunning at times, and the scores and music choices were very on point. Many reviews hated the violence, but I for one, enjoyed it. The star of this movie would have to be Robert Sheehan. He delivered his lines with such comedic timing and a hilarious stoner-like tone. The thing about Rob is that he fully commits to his roles, even when his line is the most ridiculous, funny, unbelievable line ever. Grint and Perlman also do a fantastic job with their roles and the chemistry between the characters is wonderful. Overall, an enjoyable movie to watch. Highly recommended.