🍿 3 dramedies to stream this weekend
Plus, a review of The Monkey.
Happy Friday!
Today I’m recommending three short dramedies for a quick 90 minute movie night (or double feature).
In theaters: The Monkey, the newest movie from Longlegs director Oz Perkins, is in theaters this weekend. I’ll let you know if you should watch it below.
With love,
Karl
Streaming on Max
Tangerine
What it’s about: It’s Christmas Eve. Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), freshly out of a one-month prison stint, discovers her boyfriend and pimp Chester (James Ransone) hasn’t been faithful. Along with her friend Alexandra (Mya Taylor), they trek across L.A. to find him. Watch the trailer.
Why you should watch it: Before director Sean Baker received mainstream acclaim for Anora (his Oscar-nominated masterpiece), he was known as the quintessential indie director. That was no better demonstrated than his scrappy, heartfelt and delightfully entertaining Tangerine. Shot completely on iPhones through the streets of L.A. and frenetically edited by Baker himself, it is as independent as things get.
The movie throws you headfirst into the dreamy L.A. underbelly—and literally underneath the famous Randy’s Donuts donut. It’s almost surreal. However, within that dreamscape are characters so daringly planted in reality. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor imbue their characters with both bite and heart, as their mission brings them through several debauched hijinks. At its core, however, Tangerine is a love letter to these trans women. Their strength, tenacity and vulnerability.
🎬 Directed by Sean Baker
🖊️ Written by Sean Baker
🎭 Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan
⏱️ 87 mins
Streaming on Prime Video
Dìdi
What it’s about: A coming of age tale about Chris (Izaac Wang), a shy, acne-suffering 13-year-old facing down the summer before his first year of high school. He verbally spars with his sister, argues with his mother (Joan Chen) and tries to find a group to fit in with at school—which involves firecrackers, crushes and AIM drama. Watch the trailer.
Why you should watch it: Through a hilariously (perhaps painfully) accurate reconstruction of the late 2000s—AIM, early Facebook and Billabong shirts—Dìdi explores the intricacies of ones early teenage years. Capturing the nuances like changing your relationship status on Facebook, your embarrassment of your parents and the specific feeling of not doing anything right.
As a second generation Asian-American, the movie was an entertaining, affirming, slightly cringy but ultimately healing experience. Wang takes threads about boyhood, the Asian-American diaspora, the American dream (or illusion of) and race and releases them. Not to remove them from his narrative, but to feel at peace. I'm not sure whether the story of Dìdi is something Wang experienced first hand or simply a way to work through his own generational traumas, but what he did was heal mine just a bit. If anything, just to be known and seen for 90 minutes.
🎬 Directed by Sean Wang
🖊️ Written by Sean Wang
🎭 Izaac Wang, Joan Chen
⏱️ 91 mins
Streaming on Netflix
Shiva Baby
What it’s about: Danielle (Rachel Sennott), a college student and seemingly never-good-enough daughter, attends a family shiva where her relatives constantly accost her with questions about her life, her ex-girlfriend looms large, and, oh yeah, her sugar daddy is there with his family. It turns out just as well as you think. Watch the trailer.
Why you should watch it: There’s a new trend of family dramas presented as horror movies, which just shows the current millennial mental state when it comes to our families. Shiva Baby takes the same approach. The camera lurks around corners and Ariel Marx’s terrific score amplifies the dread-filled mood with discordant strings.
But director Emma Seligman doesn’t go full-tilt horror. She toes a precarious line between comedy, drama, horror, and tragedy. Let’s be honest. We all know what it feels like to come home for a family gathering. Shiva Baby captures that feeling with a witty sense of humor that will make you laugh through your trauma.
🎬 Directed by Emma Seligman
🖊️ Written by Emma Seligman
🎭 Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon, Polly Draper, Dianna Agron
⏱️ 78 mins
In Theaters
The Monkey: Slays or DOA?
What is it about? When twin brothers (both played by Theo James) find a mysterious wind-up toy monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Years later, the monkey has resurfaced forcing one of the brothers to track down its whereabouts to stop the killings.
Is it good? Director Oz Perkins, best known for last year’s horror Longlegs (read my review), has a knack for coming up with great premises. The Monkey is no exception with its fascinating lore that combines Final Destination with Annabelle. And while he has some success in executing (pun intended) on that premise with generally delightful and bloody kills, they’re not enough to make up for the slog of a story. Theo James, playing a dual role, gives a terrific performance that helps the movie along, but is marred by the surprisingly thin plot.
Should you watch it? If you’re looking for kills and only kills, The Monkey should be enough to whet your devilish appetite. But if you’re looking for much more, maybe skip it.
📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.
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