The basic premise of The Furious is simple; A mute father with a mysterious past and exceptional fighting skills tries to rescue his daughter from a human trafficking ring. It’s Taken meets prime Jackie Chan with the brutal fight choreography from a Timo Tjahjanto film where the characters have unrealistic healing ability and pain thresholds. Actually – Jackie Chan has already made a Taken-coded film in the form of The Foreigner so it’s really The Foreigner meets Timo Tjahjanto with characters that can shake off blows to the skull with monkey wrenches and hammers. This semi-recent genre of action movies where the martial artists have unclear powers is common now (The Raid, The Night Comes For Us, Shadow Strays, etc). This isn’t the type of movie you watch for logic and common sense. You come for the classic/simple plot and stay for the brutal Jackie Chan-inspired fighting.
In my generation, the older kids in Japan loved to watch Jackie Chan movies – Kenji Tanigaki, Dorkaholics
Wheels on Meals / The Furious
First Strike / The Furious
Operation Condor / The Furious
Project A / The Furious
Police Story / The Furious
The Young Master / The Furious
And like Jackie Chan, Tanaigaki draws from the originals sources that inspired Jackie Chan…
I love classic films like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Gene Kelly - Kenji Tanigaki, Third Coast Review
The Three Muskateers / The Furious
Jackie aside, this movie also pulls from classic 80s Hong Kong action in general
In my childhood, I loved Hong Kong action cinema - Kenji Tanigaki, Dorkaholics
Yes Madam / The Furious
If you’re willing to accept the almost fantasy-like aspect of The Furious, this is an incredibly fun movie. It’s got the old school action film sensibility with up-to-date fighting that combines mixed martial arts with Tekken finishers.
Rose of Nevada is an almost perfect Venn diagram of ghost story, traditional horror and psychological thriller. All three genres are different but they have a few key similarities like spirits, supernatural beings/occurrences and tortured psyches. This movie has the type of jump scares that you’d find in a traditional horror film. One of the main characters is plagued with disturbing visions that one might find in a physiological thriller. And this is very much a ghost story as it involves a dying town that’s haunted by the disappearance of a boat crew from over 30 years ago. In the film, two inexperienced sailors in need of money are hired to take a boat out on a fishing excursion on the same cursed fishing boat that once carried the missing boat crew 30 years ago. The job goes well but when they return to their dock, they soon discover they have somehow been transported 30 years in the past to the exact same place but with different identities.
This is sort of a spiritual sequel to Jenkin’s last film; Enys Men. A lot of the imagery is almost identical, we see a lot of the same actors and the tone/music/pacing/ambiance are all the same. The only difference is there is more of a plot to Rose of Nevada.
Mark Jenkin even borrows/steals/pulls from the same sources of inspiration (click here and here to read my thoughts on Enys Men).
Between The Tides / Rose Of Nevada
Meshes Of The Afternoon / Rose Of Nevada
The purest film included in this collection. A camera, a voice, some music. A beautiful and apparently simple portrait of a loved one, but also a love letter to the medium of film itself; a past-tense art form that shows us ghosts and freezes time. Truly transcendental filmmaking - Mark Jenkin on A Portrait Of Ga, Vice
A Portrait Of Ga / Rose Of Nevada
I can’t articulate what effect Bresson’s films have on me, that’s the beauty of it – Mark Jenkin, Ukfilmreview.co.uk
Pickpocket / Rose Of Nevada
For me, Tarkovsky’s films exist outside of time and space. I can’t imagine how a film like Mirror sat within the cinema of its time - Mark Jenkin, Criterion
The Mirror / Rose Of Nevada
this [A Warning To The Curious] is my favourite – a highly atmospheric piece of visual storytelling with a chilling climax. I find the simplicity of the filmmaking invigorating. No doubt born of limitation, this is cinema by way of TV - Mark Jenkin, Vice
A Warning To The Curious / Rose Of Nevada
After watching this movie I think Mark Jenkin and Jean Epstein deserve to be mentioned in the same conversation. The majority of their films take place in rural/remote European fishing towns with (some) non-professional actors.
Finis Terrae / Rose Of Nevada
L'or Des Mers / Rose Of Nevada
Mor'vran / Rose Of Nevada
Much like most new releases that I post about on here, this is a movie I enjoyed very much but don’t know too many people I would recommend it to. I mostly just used this as a cheap excuse to share some side-by-side comparisons that I had fun making.
Her Private Hell is Nicolas Winding Refn doing a parody of his own films. There’s even a few direct callbacks to Only God Forgives.
Only God Forgives / Her Private Hell
Only God Forgives / Her Private Hell
If you don’t like post-Drive Refn, this movie is not for you. It’s almost as if Refn used every negative critique of his work over the years as an inspiration for his latest project. This is his slowest movie to date. There’s tons of neon lighting and homages to his favorite filmmakers.
And the thing is...I’m not even mad at it. I will not recommend this movie to anyone. I barely know what it’s even about but I enjoyed this in a guilty pleasure kind of way. In a dystopian future, a young actress trying to find her father crosses paths with a violent soldier trying to find his daughter. Beyond that, this is kind of a feature length perfume commercial where the pretty imagery trumps the plot (the city that the story takes place in is plagued with a mysterious gas that fogs the city 24/7 along with a leather-clad serial killer).
Instead of the typical reference points like Michael Mann, Williams Friedkin, Dario Argento and others - Refn references the likes of Kenneth Anger, Mario Bava, Kubrick and his mentor Jodorowsky. To be fair, Anger has always been a reference point for Refn but, outside of Ryan Gosling posing in the Scorpion Jacket in Drive, no one ever seems to highlight that except me (click here to read more)…
I’m not a film analyst but most of the things we do nowadays, also in advertising, lead back to Kenneth Anger’s work - Nicolas Winding Refn, Indiewire
Fireworks / Her Private Hell
Scorpio Rising / Her Private Hell
Scorpio Rising / Her Private Hell
Planet Of The Vampires / Her Private Hell
Planet Of The Vampires / Her Private Hell
Planet Of The Vampires / Her Private Hell
Vampyr has always reminded me of a mysterious dream I once had when I was very little. The film has always stayed with me. I watch it before I make every film - Nicolas Winding Refn, Criterion
Vampyr / Her Private Hell
Unique, brilliant, fantastic! I love this movie! - Nicolas Winding Refn on Tokyo Drifter, Criterion
Tokyo Drifter / Her Private Hell
A Trip To The Moon / Her Private Hell
Seeing The Shining is like watching a painting of pure terror. It has no purpose, sexuality or function other than to completely terrorize you - Nicolas Winding Refn, Moviemaker Magazine
The Shining / Her Private Hell
2001... / Her Private Hell
I offered to read the tarot for him [REFN] and from then on he had me read his tarot every time he made a new movie - Alejandro Jodorowsky, Vulture
The Holy Mountain / Her Private Hell
Refn does kind of reference Michael Mann but instead of typical stuff like Manhunter and Thief, he pulls from The Keep.
The Keep / Her Private Hell
This could also be seen as a reference to everything from Demons to The Fog
The Fog / Her Private Hell
The Fog / Her Private Hell
Demons / Her Private Hell
I'm hesitant to compare anything even slightly weird to David Lynch, but Refn is a fan and there are some very specific Lynch-isms in Her Private Hell
film is such an early medium in a way. You know what I mean? If you go through the history of painters, you can always say that somebody was inspired by someone to do that or to do this, and of course, it's the same thing with film. Every art form is an exchange to someone else, whether it's generational, whether it's of an experience, of an opportunity - Nicolas Winding Refn on influence of David Lynch, nrftsjournal
Inland Empire / Her Private Hell
Wild At Heart / Her Private Hell
This indiewire article from a few years ago serves as a nice companion to Her Private Hell (click here).
If anything, this was just an excuse for Nicolas Refn to make a movie collage of his inspirations (which gives me an excuse to make a bunch of side-by-side comparisons to share).
People have been comparing Bassam Tariq’s latest film to Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog just off of the trailer. After watching Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother last night, I can confirm that the comparisons are more than understandable. Tariq himself admits to drawing inspiration from Ghost Dog.
When I watched it [Ghost Dog] a long time ago there was this feeling where I was like, 'Oh there's this man that lives in an urban environment that wants to follow some kind of ancient code - Bassam Tariq, Huffington Post
Ghost Dog / Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Both movies are about proud stoic Black hitmen that live by a conflicting and somewhat vague spiritual code. In Ghost Dog it’s Samurai-ism and in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother it’s Islam with a mixture of various eastern philosophies sprinkled in. Both films also find our hitmen with targets on their backs after a job goes wrong (classic hitman movie trope). Both films also have interestingly misplaced moments of awkward/dry humor. At the start of Ghost Dog we get a quick peek in to what might have been a lost loved one while Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother opens with our main character’s wife passing away.
Ghost Dog / Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Ghost Dog / Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Both films are rooted in hip-hop. Rza did the score for Ghost Dog and was a huge part of the promotion of it. This time around, Mahershala Ali credited Ka’s Honor Killed The Samurai album as an influence on his portrayal of Latif (I imagine an alternate world where Ka was alive to score this film).
Both movies even have similar opening scenes!
Ghost Dog / Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
The major difference between the two films is that Ghost Dog is a loner. In Your Mother, Latif has to juggle his violent occupation with single fatherhood.
It should be noted that while Ghost Dog is an excellent film, it is a loose remake of Jean Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai. But what’s incredibly fascinating is that outside of the mysterious hitman living his life by a cool-sounding spiritual code, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother takes from all the elements that Ghost Dogdidn’t lift/borrow/redo from Le Samourai. There are social and racial elements to Ghost Dog and Your Mother that aren’t in Le Samourai. Bassam Tariq's movie is sort of a looser remake of an already loose remake.
Le Samourai / Ghost Dog
It also wouldn't be right to not make the obvious comparison to Lonewolf and Cub. There's an action sequence involving Ali's Latif fighting his way out of a strip club/church with a baby strapped to his chest.
Lone Wolf and Cub / Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
On paper, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is very cartoonish and unbelievable. This story is set in a sort of underground world within Houston, Texas made up of Mormons, Muslim hitmen, gun-toting religious cult leaders with gold fronts and lactating ex-porn stars. Bassam Tariq somehow makes these cartoonish elements seem somewhat believable. Had another director worked with the same source material this would have been a mess. Even though this movie is filled with spiritualism and grief that is meant to be taken to heart, you have to view it on the same level as something like Hard To Kill or Commando. This is a slow-burn action movie at the end of the day.
Now...I’m still grappling with the finale. I don’t know if it fully works but I appreciate what I think Tariq tried to do. Sensical people will write it off as silly whereas folks that like open endings will be dissecting this for quite some time. I also think there was an opportunity to go full-on John Woo in the end but it only goes half way.
At the end of the day this is a collage of Ghost Dog, Lonewolf and Cub and the residue of the failed Blade movie (both Tariq and Ali were attached to the Blade reboot before it was scrapped). I’m hardly the first person to note this but Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is the positive result of another failed project. I would have loved to see what Mahershala Ali would have done with the Blade character but I’ll settle with this.
I recently appeared on the Score This Podcast to talk about one of my favorite subjects: Upgrade (2018). Listen as we talk about Jed Palmer's phenomenal score, sound design, what it means to be a cult film in 2026 and so much more.
Click here to read my thoughts on Upgrade as well.
For those of you that are tired of reference/homage-heavy cinema where the director is constantly tipping their hat to their favorite directors - this might not be the movie for you. As much as I love a good side-by-side comparison, I find myself getting sick of all the Tarantino-esque movie collages out there. Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma is an exception. Jane Schoenbrun gets a pass with her latest film. The basic plot centers around a young queer filmmaker, "Kris", tasked with rebooting/revamping a fictious horror franchise about a trans serial killer at a Sleepaway camp. The franchise started in the 80s when trans and queer elements in film were treated problematically. The studio responsible for the film and the sequels thinks hiring a younger queer director would make the franchise, and its queer elements, more up-to-date.
So…a film about rebooting a slasher franchise directed by a cinephile filmmaker (Schoenbrun) known for putting references in their movies (click here and here to read my thoughts Jane on Schoebrun’s other films). If you go in to a movie like this expecting to not get an obvious nod or a tip of a hat to something like Friday The 13th then you’re being disingenuous.
Friday The 13th / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is full of intentional nods to everyone from David Cronenberg and Bergman…
I just find the glow of a screen to be appealing. It's something that I very naturally gravitate toward, in the way that David Cronenberg gravitates toward body horror - Jane Schoebrun, The Hollywood Reporter
Videodrome / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
Videodrome / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
Persona / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
Persona / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
Persona / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
Persona / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
To David Lynch and Shinya Tsukamoto
Tetsuo The Ironman / Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
Between when I was a kid and watched Twin Peaks for the first time and when the show got rebooted in 2017, I just had recurring nightmares about it- Jane Schoenbrun, Inverse.com
Twin Peaks / Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
I’m a big fan of thinking of a film as infinitely deep. I think I got that from [David] Lynch - Jane Schoenbrun, Letterboxd
Inland Empire / Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
Chantal Akerman is often referenced in her films and this seems to be no different...
Jeanne Dielman... / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
The body horror elements reminded me of Dr. Caligari (1989)
Dr. Caligari / Teenage Sex and Death at Miasma
All four filmmakers have explored topics like body horror, body dysmorphia, gender reassignment, queerness and more. It makes sense that a queer filmmaker like Schoebrun would pull from these folks. Her films deal with a lot of the same topics.
These influences are also connected to each other as Bergman's imagery coincidentally influenced Lynch who influenced Tsukamoto. Tsukamoto was also heavily inspired by Cronenberg. Cronenberg and Lynch have always been compared to each other or mentioned in the same writings and reviews for decades.
I acknowledge that some of my comparisons are a little surface level but when you consider everything I've laid out - even the most seemingly surface-level comparisons have a good amount of depth no matter how basic they may seem at first glance.
Referencing something like Friday The 13th is an easy layup. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is really a reassessment of some of the themes in Sleepaway Camp (1983). The backstory of the killer in the Camp Miasma franchise, "Little Death", was raised both male and female by their parents. In Sleepaway Camp, we come to find out that the killer is trans. I am greatly simplifying the plots to both films in hopes you will seek them out if you haven’t seen them. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – I’m not a fan of movies being made out of ironic/cynical film twitter or letterboxd talking points. But, again, this is the exception. Sleepaway camp found a new audience years after it’s initial release. Young queer and open-minded cinephiles took to platforms like twitter, medium and various podcasts to reassess what they felt were queer themes in the film. Every once in a while a young generation of film fans discovers an older film with a plot or subplot that was ahead of its time and not handled correctly during the film’s initial audience. Sometimes it takes young millennials or Gen Zers to catch something that Baby Boomers or Gen-Xers missed. Trans stories in film are still a bit taboo and/or misunderstood in 2026 so imagine a 40+ year old movie like Sleepaway Camp being exposed to mainstream audiences expecting to see another Friday the 13th.
There is a very meta aspect to this movie. It’s clear that elements of Kris represents Jane Schoenbrun. Kris trying to breathe new life in to a slasher film with queer themes is clearly Schoenbrun herself working this all out with her own movie. Hannah Einbinder's performance as "Kris" also mirrors her character in Hacks (an aspiring sexually fluid filmmaker that gets in to a complicated relationship with an older established female celebrity).
It’s no mystery that I’m a Jane Schoenbrun fan and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is no different. This is her most ambitious project to date. But it isn’t for everyone. I think “outsiders” of all kinds will gravitate towards this in the same way they did to Schoenbrun’s previous films. I feel like when the dust settles on this there will be a huge generational contrast between how this it's received. Again – the young millennials and Gen-z folk that I referenced earlier with appreciate this while Baby Boomers and older Gen-xers might jus brush this off as nonsense. Considering I just missed Gen-x and am one of those older millennials raised by Baby Boomers that feels like they don’t have any connection to younger millennials – perhaps that’s why I have a potentially unique perspective on this.
