This Is Not the Way

            For the first time in seven years, a new Star Wars film was released to the theaters with The Mandalorian and Grogu. There was also a new horror this week called Passenger, which was creepy, and last weekend, there was Guy Ritche’s In the Grey and Obsession, a new horror that came from a guy who made scary YouTube videos. So, it has been quite an interesting two week at the theaters.

            The first film I saw this week was Passenger. This was a van life horror film. When a couple sees a car crash in the middle of the forest, and they stop to help, they unknowingly invite a demon into their van with them. The wife starts to see the demon first. When they stop at a van-life meet up, she confides in a fellow van lifer, and she receives a warning about what is out there. Sadly, it is already too late for her, and soon her boyfriend starts to see the demon too, so they are in a race to find a way to get rid of it, before it causes them to crash too.

            This movie does have some effective scares, and it made me feel uncomfortable multiple times. It is not the most compelling watch though. They live in a van, so there is a ton of footage of them just driving around and camping. They try to bring in some relationship distress, but its ability to entertain is minimal, so besides the scares, there is not much to this movie, but it did continually pull me in with the scares.

            As I was sitting there on a Thursday afternoon after work, I was wondering why this movie was making me feel so scared, and then it hit me. It is because Mya and I had been witnesses to a car crash the previous night. It was 2 a.m, and we had our windows open to stay cool, when suddenly, we were awoken by screeching tires and then a crash. There is something unmistakable about hearing the sound of a car crash. The sound of car plastic hitting car plastic is very specific.

            So we crept out of bed and looked out the window. There was a car parking right in front of our window. The lighting was obviously poor at 2 a.m. and I was unable to tell if there was any damage to the car, but when the guy got out of the car, I scared the crap out of him by asking if he was okay, and he said he was, and that was that. He walked into our apartment building, and with our adrenaline now pumping, we tried to go back to sleep. I did not realize it at the time, but he had parked right next to my car. When I woke up the next morning, I saw that the front of his car was dented and the grill had a crack. Then when I saw it was next to my car, I went out and investigated. Thankfully, he had not hit my car.

            When I left to go to work, I looked around the parking lot to see if any of the cars looked damaged, but I did not see anything, and I thought maybe he had crashed into one of the poles by the parking lot, but they all looked intact too. Mya stayed home for the day, and she saw people talking about their car being damaged outside the window, and she went and talked to them, and eventually she talked to the police too. So the guy did get into trouble for it, and he was not the one that reported the incident. So I found it unsettling to watch a horror movie about a demon being transmitted through the witnessing of a car crash on the same day in which I had witnessed a crash. What are the odds.

            The other creepy horror movie that came out recently was Obsession. This movie received a large amount of critical acclaim. So I went into it with high expectations, and although it did not quite reach those heights, it was still really good. It made me feel uncomfortable throughout, and the acting was incredible, especially by the girl that was being possessed.

            The guy who made the film Curry Barker came to fame via YouTube. He was making and, in some cases, starring in his own horror videos. They could last anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour, and I checked a couple of them out this weekend, and they were impressive. I see how he was able to get funding for a cinematically released horror. The tension and uncomfortableness that he created in his movie is present in his YouTube videos as well. So it is safe to say that he will have some staying power in the coming years in the horror genre.

            The Mandalorian and Grogu differs greatly from these previously mentioned films. This was just a fun time at the movies. It felt good to be hanging out with Mando and Grogu again. The movie did feel like it was three episodes crammed into one movie, but I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. Their formula worked as a TV series, so it still works as a movie. The mission in the opening scene worked the best. It had me gripped as Mando chased down an imperial smuggler. It involved snow, explosions, and AT-ATs. It was also great to see Mando take down so many foes right at the start of the film.

            The one thing that did not work as well for me was Grogu’s immaturity. It felt like he had regressed from the end of the tv show, and that he had become more immature. Repeatedly, they made him do silly things just for a laugh, and honestly it worked, but that reduced his power. It felt like he should not be able to do what he does with the force because he is just an unserious goofball, who struggles to focus.

            There has been some serious hate directed at this film, and that it does not live up to the cinematic expectations of a Star Wars film. I think this is unfair. It feels like so much of it is in its own world, that I feel like placing the larger expectations of the Star Wars universe on it is unfair. Mando is not Luke Skywalker, he is a bounty hunter. He is not here to save the galaxy; he is here to collect bounties and go on adventures during the process. Not everything needs galaxy changing stakes.

            Finally, there was In the Grey. This was made by Guy Ritche, who is an incredible action director. His stories are usually lacking, and this film is not immune from this, but the action sequences in this make up for that. Plus, it stars Jake Gyllenhall and Henry Cavill, and their chemistry is impeccable. They are going after some evil oligarch, and they are the muscle for a lawyer, who is trying to take him down. I loved it, even though there were times when I felt lost.

            It was a great two weekends at the movies. There was some incredible action from The Mandalorian and Grogu and In the Grey, and there were some great scares coming from Obsession and Passenger. What is even better is that the summer is just heating up, there are still more great movies coming in the next weeks and months, so get out to the movies!

Passenger: 2.5 Stars

Obsession: 3.5 Stars

Mandalorian and Grogu: 3.5 Stars

In the Grey: 3.5 Stars