It's Monday again, so welcome to a new week of discussing what we've been watching recently. This week, we're delving into the stunning world of Sinners and discussing the finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Sinners is, without a doubt, one of the best films I've seen all year, and easily a top 10 horror pick. The finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty was mostly satisfying, but also quite bittersweet, as goodbyes are never easy.
Sinners has been on my to-watch list for a long time, and I finally got around to watching it this weekend. And wow, have I been missing out on a true masterpiece on all levels. Sinners is visually gorgeous and utterly captivating from start to finish, with an incredible cast to back it.
This film follows the story of twin brothers Smoke and Stack, played by Michael B. Jordan, as they return home to Mississippi and try to start a juke joint. Jordan's acting is phenomenal in this movie, as the two brothers couldn't be more different, making them easy to tell apart despite being played by the same actor. The founding of this joint starts off great, but things quickly go south when it catches the attention of some supernatural beings.
One of my favorite scenes in this film and in general cinema is when Sammie's singing at the juke joint activates this special, transcendental space where spirits from the past, present, and future all dance and sing together. The different beats of instruments and voices throughout time harmonizing together is so special, and this moment is also what drives the main conflict for the film, as a group of bloodthirsty vampires are entranced by this magical music.
The vampires can only enter buildings when directly invited inside, so after they hear Sammie, they start trying to enter the juke joint. Things spiral out of control quickly, as they slowly transform more people into creatures of the night, and those left inside end up trapped and scared that everyone around them might secretly be a monster.
There's so much going on at once in every scene, creating a tense, thrilling, and frightening story backed by captivating music and a blend of both supernatural and real horrors. It touches on some relevant and timely stuff, while also slowly building up to a scary supernatural story, and I think it's a pretty perfect film overall. If you haven't had a chance to watch it yet, I can't recommend it enough. It's not overwhelmingly scary, so even if horror isn't your thing, you'll be fine with this one.
After four years, The Summer I Turned Pretty officially ended with the finale episode of the series airing on Sept. 17. Well, sort of, as we found out soon after that there's actually a movie in the works to truly wrap it all up.
The second half of the season and the final episode were still a big event, though, as the love triangle was finally put to rest for good, Belly set out to find herself again, and Belly and Conrad finally got together and are now thriving. Going into the finale, I was quite worried about it feeling rushed, as it felt like there was still a lot that needed addressing without enough time to do so.
The final episode was less rushed and crammed than I expected, but there are plenty of loose ends I'd be upset about if I didn't know we had a movie coming. We didn't get enough of Belly and Conrad actually together after all of the suffering. We never got to see Belly reunite with her family, and basically everyone back home still owes Conrad loads of apologies, so hopefully, we get to see all of this unfold when the movie is released.
We also didn't get to see Belly and Conrad's wedding, which is featured in the ending of the book this show is based on. I imagine this will be the big focus of the movie, though, so this omission makes sense, and I don't mind it as long as we still get it eventually.
The ending of the series wasn't perfect, but since it's not actually the end just yet, I can't be too mad at where everything ended up. I will be mad if we actually have to wait years to wrap this story up, though, so I'm hoping we get the true finale sooner rather than later.
So, Destructoid, what about you? What have you been enjoying watching recently? Have you had a chance to check out either of these projects, or have you been occupied with other watches? Let us know in the comments so we can discuss.
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The post Weekly Watchlist Vol. 12 – Scene-stealing sinners and bittersweet beach goodbyes (Sept. 22-29) appeared first on Destructoid.
