Netflix Nourishment: 36th Edition

Brandon Vick reviews Pieces of a Woman, His House, Over the Moon, The Life Ahead, and Rebecca on this edition of Netflix Nourishment!

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PIECES OF A WOMAN

Vanessa Kirby delivers one of – if not – the best performance of the year as a woman who’s trying to pick up the pieces after the loss of her child. As Martha, she pushes the pain and grief deep down inside, refusing to let it show on the outside in her extraordinarily emotional passage of wanting to feel again. Shia LaBeouf is explosive and Ellen Burstyn as Martha’s mother is first-class.

Directed by Kornél Mundruczó and written by Kata Wéber, this is a powerful and poignant character study where an immense sense of loss rips apart everything else in life. It’s heart wrenching and involving, though viewers may never fully recover from the stunning and devastating opening act. Above all else, what Kirby does in this film is career-defining. Period. **Starts streaming on Jan. 7, 2021**

HIS HOUSE

Co-written and directed by Remi Weekes, his first feature is tightly wound as he depicts the refugee crisis in an entirely new light as a traumatized Sudan couple escape from one hell to live in another. In a place that’s intended for a fresh start, it’s anything but with the past following them from room to room and through the walls surrounding them. Call it a social thriller or a haunted house ghost story – either way its terror and twists are well-executed and impactful.

OVER THE MOON

An animated space adventure that doesn’t necessarily blast off with its simplistic storytelling of a grieving girl who goes looking for a goddess. And the songs aren’t that snappy, either. Howbeit, bursting with vibrant colors, director and longtime Disney animator Glen Keane doesn’t permit such an emotional journey of love, loss, and the strength to carry on to miss its overall landing. Family is at the heart of this fairy tale and that’s what shines brightest.

THE LIFE AHEAD

The legendary Sophia Loren makes a triumphant return gracefully exhibiting strength and fragility in her son/director Edoardo Ponti’s Italian drama. An aged Holocaust survivor runs a daycare for children of prostitutes, and for the sake of helping a friend – she reluctantly takes in a West African immigrant boy after he steals from her. As two people in very different stages of life, they form a surprisingly strong bond that neither could’ve imagined. Ibrahima Gueye is a stellar young actor and it’s hard to believe this is his first acting gig. The scenes shared by him and Loren is what makes this pretty standard but sweet story bare its soul and allow its kindheartedness to shine through.

REBECCA

This shiny and gorgeous remake from director Ben Wheatley cares more about looks than its story that quickly loses suspense. It’s missing so much psychologically, and if Wheatley would have brought more of that it would have easily formed more of a feeling of fear and creepiness than what’s thrown together here. Armie Hammer and Lily James can’t create chemistry and without it – how could we ever be interested in their characters and what happens to them? Kristin Scott Thomas delivers the one notable performance in this period romantic thriller that can’t haunt but might make you yawn.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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