High Life (2019)
Movie Watch
A father and his daughter struggle to survive in deep space where they live in isolation. The father...
some of that stuff is milk some of it is definitely not milk
The Beloveds
Book
A dark psychological thriller, a sinister tale of obsession, in which sibling rivalry fuels a deadly...
thriller
The Stepford Wives
Book
For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too...
The Twilight Zone
TV Show
The Twilight Zone is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by...
InfernalNinja (49 KP) rated Last Night in Soho (2021) in Movies
Nov 21, 2021
The Cruise
Book
A glamorous ship During a New Year’s Eve party on a large, luxurious cruise ship in the...
Psychological
John Roope (4 KP) rated Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) in Movies
Feb 12, 2019
In my opinion in horror it's best to have some kind of rules so you know what to be scared of. Even the slightest hint of ghosts or the supernatural will do at separating horror from something more psychological. Here it's unclear as to why these paintings have these properties as everything feels like the real world and for the first act the film it balances on this in between of something psychological and actual physically alive paintings. And for the most part these horror sections are terribly predictable as soon as we see a main character alone with one of the paintings it's pretty clear as to what's gonna happen.
Where the movie excels is in between these horror parts when we get more of Morf(played by gyllenhaal in scintillating form) trying to figure out what's going on while experiencing haunting visual and auditory hallucinations. This descent into paranoia and almost madness is far more engaging than the cheap thrills the film seems more eager to give us. More of these characters being entranced yet horrified by these pictures and subtle things going wrong would have made for a far creepier experience.
Overall what could have been a really interesting psychological thriller ended up being a slightly above par horror movie with good performances all round and a interesting premise and while the horror elements were my least favourite part they were very creative and any horror fan would be sure to get a kick out of it
Midge (525 KP) rated The Perfect Betrayal in Books
Mar 16, 2019
The story is told predominantly from the point of view of the main character, Tess, along with snippets from her grief counsellor and brother-in-law. Tess’ conversations that she had with her late husband were heart-breaking. It was an incredibly emotionally charged book, well written and beautifully plotted and so cleverly constructed to help conceal major reveals in the natural progression of the story.
“The Perfect Betrayal” is my favourite type of psychological thriller - where the voices and thoughts of the characters and the reader’s own imagination complement the story. From the beginning, it is an absorbing and riveting novel as well as being massively addictive. The main protagonist, Tess, did not know who to trust and nor did I.
Highly recommended, this is a sad and harrowing story of grief, love and loss, with a fulfilling but shocking finish. Lauren North’s writing is just exquisite and I will be looking out for her next offering.
[Thank you to #NetGalley, Random House UK/ Transworld Publishers, and Lauren North for my free ARC of #ThePerfectBetrayal in exchange for an honest review.]
Oxford Handbook of Chinese Psychology
Book
In recent years China has witnessed unprecedented economic growth, emerging as a powerful,...
Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art
Book
Look past the legends and learn about the REAL ninjas of feudal Japan with this entertaining,...