The Movies

Daniel Berrios
  • 5.0 (9)
  • FILM REVIEWS
  • UPDATED DAILY

I'm Daniel Berrios. This is my journey to learn about the movies - the art form I adore - one review, interview, editorial at a time. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Take care of the movies.

  1. 3D AGO

    250. HEEL (2026) dir. Jan Komasa

    In HEEL, a 20-something ne'er-do-well named Tommy (Ansel Boon) spends his night engaging in total debauchery. Any ingestable pill, powder or liquid is taken. In equal measure, every possible form of fluid is publically expunged from his body. Bouncers are sucker-punched. Women are seduced with inebriated charm. No form of property is safe. Tommy is a f*****g s******d. And at the end of the night, he's kidnapped. He wakes up in a dingy basement, chained to the wall by a collar around his neck. A schlubby 40-something named Chris (Stephen Graham) greets him, announcing his intent to reform Tommy into a productive member of society. His team is a family affair: reclusive wife Kathryn (Andrea Riseborough) & sensitive son Jonathan (Kit Ratuksen). As you can expect, Tommy doesn't take too well to this. I'd expect more grime and nastiness with this kind of bad-dude-gets-kidnapped flick but HEEL immediately takes a sharp left turn. What starts as Tommy's attempt to slyly feign trust from the family evolves into mutual understanding and respect. This focus on relationships and Tommy's moral growth leads me to eventually question: Was all of this for the greater good? The chloroform, the elaborate railing system allowing Tommy to explore the home while still chained? When compared to our current prison system, is this approach a better shake? As is often with Jan Komasa's films (SUICIDE ROOM, CORPUS CHRISTI), the answers aren't so clear and it makes for cinema that lingers in my mind after the credits. --- Music provided Content ID free by @goodkidband Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!⁠

    29 min

  2. 3D AGO

    249. Interview | BIRITA Director Búi Dam

    Búi Dam is on The Movies talking about his new documentary, BIRITA, which premieres today as part of the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (CPH:DOX for short). BIRITA is named after Búi's mother, Birita Mohr, a legendary presence and actor in Faroese theatre. (The Faroe islands are located between Iceland and Norway, currently part of the Danish kingdom, though the independence movement is loud and f****n' proud.) Birita was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2011 and since then, hadn't performed on stage. In a bid to give his mom another at-bat and help her channel this joy and experience which lives baked into her bones, Búi put together a prodcution of Shakespeare's KING LEAR, casting his mom in the title role. He talks about the process of crafting the play, lessons learned about his mother and the relationship with his own aging, what legacy he'd like to leave behind for his children, and much more. BIRITA premieres at CPH:DOX today, March 15, at 16:15pm. More details can be found here. --- Music provided Content ID free by @goodkidband Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!⁠

    37 min

  3. 5D AGO

    248. Interview | SLANTED Writer/Director Amy Wang

    SLANTED is about a Chinese-American teen (Shirley Chen) who undergoes an experimental surgery to transform her body into that of a blonde, blue-eyed white girl. She steps in looking like Shirley Chen, comes out looking like McKenna Grace. Why? She wants to be prom queen. She wants to be exalted, adored, loved, appreciated for her contributions, not dismissed or treated unfairly due to her race and oh...this is gonna backfire, isn't it? I interviewed writer/director Amy Wang about the movie, its origins, symbology, production process and the intricacies of building a unique dual role using two actresses. Listen on and venture forth! SLANTED is now playing, only in theaters. --- Music provided Content ID free by @goodkidband Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!⁠

    17 min

  4. 5D AGO

    247. SLANTED (2026) dir. Amy Wang

    SLANTED is the debut of writer-director Amy Wang, about a Chinese-American teenager (Shirley Chen) who undergoes an experimental surgery in order to become white. Not like skin-bleaching white. I mean, blonde hair, blue-eyed, McKenna Grace. Joan Huang, ever since her emigration to the U.S. from China as an elementary-school-aged kid, has absorbed and subsequently lived by racial hegemony. Fair-skinned, thin blondes reign supreme. Dark-haired Chinese girls do not. Prom queens don't look like her. The artists plastered on her bedroom walls also don't look like her. Hell, her Snapchats don't even look like her, partially due to a skin-lightening filter made by Ethnos, a company who keeps sending texts praising her loyalty to said filter, offering her a chance to change her life forever. Joan can dress the part of the school's local Regina George protege Olivia (Amelie Zilber), even dye her hair the same color, but as Olivia says, in one of the movie's most scathing lines, "I can still see your black roots." Something more drastic must occur. Joan finally gives Ethnos a shot. They offer her the ability to surgically transform her body, skin tone, hair color, facial structure, all of it, in order to abandon her Chinese identity and become white. Enter Jo (McKenna Grace). She looks like the ideal Joan's always searched for. On the street, she turns heads, elicits the warmest, friendliest smiles. Joan is now beloved, at the expense of the body and face she's always known. And as one can expect from a body horror movie, the MONKEY'S PAW of it all eventually rears its head but what I think allows SLANTED to stand apart from its most-often pitched combination of THE SUBSTANCE & MEAN GIRLS is the length of time by which I learn about Joan Huang. I meet her hard-working dad (Fang Du) who's more optimistic about adopting Americanisms than her mom (Vivian Wu). The movie reveals how racial hegemonies, contradictions and all, are adopted into the psyches of immigrant children. Joan doesn't see this rejection of her Chinese self in service of the benefits of assimilation as anything other than normal. To her, a surgery that rips her hair out of her scalp and cracks her jaw/orbital bones into a mold of a different genetic makeup is merely the logical path forward. She wants to be prom queen, right? Exalted, loved, adored? Like we all do. The roots of this self-hatred run deep and as a result, craft a portrait of someone with little stability regarding her own identity. It's already tough to be a teenager but Joan thinks she has no other recourse. Hell is the body of a teenage girl rejected and judged by the world. SLANTED is now playing, only in theaters. --- Music provided Content ID free by @goodkidband Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!⁠

    36 min

  5. MAR 8

    246. Little Spark Films Hosts LSF Fest V in Mansfield, TX

    On Sunday, March 1, I attended LSF Fest V at the Farr Best Theatre in Mansfield, TX. LSF stands for Litte Spark Films, a production studio based out of Arlington, co-founded by husband-wife duo Joe Manco & Catalina Querida in 2013. From music videos to 48-hour-shorts submissions, fake trailers for Texas Frightmare Weekend (including one starring Troma King Lloyd Kaufman) and much more, Little Spark Films has built a reputation in the DFW metroplex as a community-centered studio making irreverent, scrappy horror flicks with mischeivous grins and buckets of blood. Last month, LSF announced, after receiving a million-dollar investment from now-CFO Chris Rushing, their plans for expansion into a full-fledged genre studio, including a film slate, new executive team members and collaborations with outside productions as co-producers. LSF Fest V was their victory lap, a party celebrating the studio's past, showcasing recent works of friends and previous collaborators, alongside a few glimpses into what the future holds. Walking around the century-old theater, I got the sense like I was the new boyfriend at a family reunion. The LSF cabal, specifically, the crew from last year's short DEATH WORLD, showed up to support: actress and key makeup artist Tori Yeager, key makeup artist Regan Schenck, lead actor and cowriter Cory Ahre, sound recordist Cameron Hazelwood. If I'm the new boyfriend, this analogy suggests my date is Jacob Harper, fellow entertainment journalist contributing to 1428 Elm and his own podcast Talkin' Terror . We met outside the theater, started chatting and inevitably I learn he was a set decorator on DEATH WORLD. All roads lead back to Little Spark Films. LSF's social media presence includes a daily filmmaking tip, everything from respecting one's fellow man to ensuring your legal documentation is on-point. Their YouTube channel also features a guide on building one's own production bible. Judging from these posts and the wealth of repeat collaborators in LSF's circle, I get the impression these folks live in an abundance mindset, sharing whatever knowledge and resources (minus Lloyd Kaufman books, because y'know, you lend people books, you never get that shit back) they can. Schenck's short, SHADOWS AT THE ALTAR, played at LSF Fest V, along with Travis Patten's HAHTINU, which was co-produced by Hazelwood's company Pensive Pictures. LSF's future slate includes directorial efforts from Hazelwood and Ahre. Chief creative officer Preston Fassel has two scripts in production. It seems like the studio invests in the growth of their friends, building a community, not just a film library. If LSF Fest V was anything to go by, I think they've made good on that effort. --- A BEN EVANS FILM dir. James Henry Hall & Bret K. Hall - a man makes a film starring his recently deceased parents. The feature aims to start production this spring; you can watch the short here. --- Music provided Content ID free by @goodkidband Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!⁠

    39 min

  6. FEB 28

    245. Interview | IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH Director Alexandria Collins & Writer Montserrat Luna-Ballantyne (Slamdance 2026)

    IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH is a short about a woman named Veronica (Yumarie Morales) who struggles to reconnect intimately with her husband, Luis (Rufino Romero), after he underwent an exorcism. Director Alexandria Collins & writer Montserrat Luna-Ballantyne use conventions of the possession subgenre to reflect on how trauma lingers in the body, the difficulty in reconciling one's religious devotion and frayed mental health, and spousal abuse. This interview hops all around: Mexican Catholicism, bilingual childhoods, beautiful improvisations, the distinct glee expressed when messing up a gorgeous space with goofy fake blood, the works! --- Music provided Content ID free by @goodkidband Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

    42 min

  7. FEB 26

    244. Interview | SEAWEED SNACKS Director Sylvia Ray (Slamdance 2026)

    In SEAWEED SNACKS, Ellis (Patrick Cage) is a dad trying to traverse the awkwardness of being the only parent at a kid's birthday party who doesn't know anyone else...and who also just doesn't wanna be there. Enter Rick (Kamal Angelo Bolden). He's everything Ellis isn't: bubbly, outgoing, embraced by every other parent. And he's walking in Ellis' direction - ah, damn it. The movie takes a surrealist approach to entering me into Ellis' mind as he's bombarded by Rick's social (and overly personal) invasion. It's playful, mischievous, but that's mostly because I can also see way too much of myself within Ellis and I think I need that weird angle or insane sound effect to keep from reflecting too hard upon my life. Plus, I think the director, Sylvia Ray, is a big proponent of giving oneself grace if (and when) perfection isn't achieved. --- Music provided Content ID free by @goodkidband Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

    40 min

  8. FEB 24

    243. Interview | BRB Actress Autumn Best (Slamdance 2026)

    *FULL SPOILERS AHOY FOR BRB, ALL HOPE ABANDON YE WHO ENTER HERE* I interview Autumn Best, the lead actress in BRB, which premiered last Friday, Feb 20, at the Slamdance Film Festival in Los Angeles. In it, Best plays Sam, a socially awkward teenager growing up in the socially awkward early '00s. It's a time where dial-up and Myspace coexisted, a transitory time wherein people took their first steps in establishing a digital identity alongside - or in some cases, a replacement of - their analog one. Sam meets a guy on a chat group for fans of her favorite TV show and bolstered by her older rebellious sister Dylan (Zoe Colletti), who may have ulterior motives for supporting the following venture, they travel cross-country on a quest to meet Sam's online crush. Best's performance makes Sam like a raw nerve, to be tenderly handled lest a fiery or heartbroken reaction be provoked. She physically restricts herself in her body movements, her layered wardrobe. She'll look at herself in the mirror as though her own body is an outfit that doesn't fit right. It makes for a naked performance, one that feels honest to my experience as a teenager who's (still) so much more comfortable expressing myself behind a screen than in person. BRB is one of the current highlights of my year and Best my favorite performer. I can't wait for y'all to meet her. --- Music provided Content ID free by @goodkidband Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

    21 min
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5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

I'm Daniel Berrios. This is my journey to learn about the movies - the art form I adore - one review, interview, editorial at a time. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Take care of the movies.

Information

  • Creator
    Daniel Berrios
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    252
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Daniel Berrios
  • Show Website
    The Movies