Swastika Films

Very rarely comes a film that divides audiences like this one does. The Menu not only divides the audience on the basis of like or dislike, but on the basis of how evolved you are, on the basis of whether can you define art or not? The film is a portrayal of a chef who is an artiste & runs a boutique restaurant in a remote island which caters to the whose & who of the elite & curates a menu which offers experience over anything. But on this day, the chef decides to take his menu a notch above by integrating his patrons into it. Except one, all of his patrons find themselves uncomfortable with this scenario which justifies the actions that the chef has taken to himself. The film depicts the mad world a fine artist pursues in search of his god which is the image of perfection for him in return for nothing but feedback & acknowledgment from his peers & patrons. The film toes perfectly on these lines & shows this life scenario just as it is. Those from the audience who felt bad for the patrons in the film will not like this film, because it makes them question their own choices when dealing with art in life. & those who side with the chef team can find some solace in the fact that their pain is understood & now even found a voice through a film. This film is a gem just for this fact.

This is modern day slasher film where you do not need a jason to cut you up but your friends are enough to get the job done. Bodies bodies bodies works just fine as a tragedy only that there is something about modern day tragedies which make them more funny than serious & so is the case with this one. None of the character is likeable & that works in keeping you detached from their sufferings & at the same time it lets you enjoy their pain as a rude joke. This "who done it" film is a perfect night out with friends with twisted characters & a very twisted ending.

A village girl, dreams big & fights all odds to realize her dream. Only that the odds happen to be her illusions & her dream is to be a famous movie star. This plot may sound very cliché but trust me it's portrayal is not. This is a film which takes itself literally & so seriously, perhaps one of the most truthful depictions of a human mind fractured by its own desires & expectations. The film begins with pearl, a farm girl who had married a liberal rich dude who left her at her parent's farm to fight in war as she kills her time dreaming of becoming a big movie star & performing for the cattle. As she bears with her farm life, she is informed of a dance audition & believes it is god sent for her. Believing she will win it; she fails it miserably. Unable to cope with rejection, breaks open her mind & in order to protect her thought she takes up to violent killing of her family & friends. I found this film to be hilariously scary, as it quite rightfully depicted strange dreams most harbor of becoming a movie star without any know-how & how rightfully they get aggressive when the universe refuses there fancies. Pearl could have been easily a story of a boy rather than a girl. But the female lead narrative adds a delightful girl vs the world element to it, not making it seem to be a regular revenge plot which would have been the case with a male lead narrative. But there is something strangely unique about it this time. Seemed to me that the world was right this time but the girl just did not care. Pearl is a hell of an anti-heroine movie.

This is a quite essential bad film. It's so bad that it makes everything else look better. Sometimes it baffles me that why directors & writers take an easy, simple plot & twist it so hard that they eventually end up breaking it's neck. Why would you like to make a film which need's articles in movie magazines, with snippets from lead creative team explaining you the film? Why not just make a film that speak for itself? The film is not about the girl who is protagonist for 85% runtime of the film. But is about the boyfriend character whom we are made to dislike from the start by the director himself (title itself tells you that she wants to get rid of the guy). But then who is this boyfriend? Is he fictitious? is he a retard who lives on man made knowledge or is he the old sweeper? Till the time you try & find answers to these, the girl lead simply is ignored in the story leaving you further lost & sleepy. Yes i slept while watching this. Except for the parents who touch you with the freshness of their characters & a lot of snow, there is just nothing lovable in this film. It is visually repetitive, intellectually a joke & cinematically a major loss. Charlie Kaufman please stop directing & let others do that for you. You still are a very talented writer. Just build on that sir. - Utkarsh Thukral

I am not at all ashamed of giving this film 5 stars. Yes this film has some unethical scenes, yes this film glorifies murdering stupids, yes this film promotes gun violence's. But then what have we as a society yet done to safeguard our intellectual rights? Freedom of speech is still misunderstood & oppressed, & morons are definitely on the loose. I mean how many of us have not used cuss words against stupid media reports, & fake celebrities who are deliberately pushed on us during prime time viewing? This film is very relatable to the times we love in. & that is mostly due to the right casting & smooth, uninterruptible screenplay. A guy living the normal life is mentally tortured, & he knows it. & decides to do something about it, becoming hero for some & zero for others. It can be a very entertaining film for you encapsulating a very important value that we all tend to forget. Don't Skip it. Just remember that it is only a film. & you are not supposed to get inspired by it literally.

Sometimes as an audience we need to ask ourselves what kind of films should we support? Whether this film that I am going to watch for the next two hours is going to make any difference to my life? Am I going to get any smarter after watching this? If I look for answers for the above questions in relation to Hostiles, the answers I get are not good enough. There is nothing new in this film. & there is nothing appreciable in this film either. I am not an American, & yet I feel so accustomed to such stories & landscapes & hostiles that this film depicts. Therefore the hostiles did not scare me or tempt me at all. The only bit i enjoyed in this film was the start. Because it was quick & feeling full. However the film loses gas after the first five minutes & fails to live up to it's inspirations like "the searchers". The story is flat, film definitely feels long, most of the cast in this film is a waste & only fulfill mere caricature requirements. I have given two stars here only for the landscape of America. SKIP THE FILM. - Utkarsh Thukral

First reformed works well as a polite film about validity & importance of religion in current times & days but this movie is not for everybody. & that is because of the catholic nature of the character. The film demands you to know certain nuances of the religion in order to fully understand the pain & agony the protagonist of the story goes through. Having said that I totally agree that juxtaposing the topic of climate change & existentialist crisis with religion is noble & I wish that such topics are discussed & supported even more. Film is presented in a box aspect ratio (1.33) which works well for the individual character driven plot by eliminating the unimportant. The film borrows a lot from Shrader's previous important work Taxi driver in a very good way. But then it fails to do much with it. & what it does is not enough. But still watch it if you can. It's the kind of film that keeps unravels in your head, if you try ofcourse. - Utkarsh Thukral