Skip to main content
⚠️

Hold Up!

🎬 I'm NOT your casual movie reviewer!

I don't do plot overviews or safe, spoiler-free summaries. For that stuff, there's Wikipedia.

What I DO: I share my raw, unfiltered experience and thoughts on movies and TV shows. That means MAJOR SPOILERS could hit you in the very first line of any review.

I talk about films the way you'd chat with a friend who's already seen them. No dancing around plot points. No vague hints. Just honest, spoiler-filled conversation.

You've been warned. Now let's have a real talk about movies! 🍿

On Falling (2024)

A medium shot of Joana Santos as Aurora in "On Falling." She stands in what looks like a warehouse or office, wearing a thick, grey-brown ribbed turtleneck sweater with a yellow lanyard around her neck. She has dark hair with bangs, tied back, and is looking off-camera with a weary, slightly tense expression. The background is blurred, showing industrial blue shelving and neutral-toned walls.

Plot Summary: A Portuguese immigrant struggles to maintain her dignity while working in a dehumanizing warehouse job in Scotland, where algorithmic management and productivity targets slowly chip away at her humanity.

Director: Laura Carreira
Screenplay: Laura Carreira
Producer: Jack Thomas-O'Brien
Cinematography: Karl KΓΌrten
Editor: Helle Le Fevre
Music: Ines Adriana
Production Companies: Sixteen Films, Bro Cinema

Starring:
Joana Santos as Aurora
InΓͺs Vaz as Vera
Piotr Sikora as Kris
Neil Leiper as Ben
Leah MacRae as Anne
 A header image for a movie review from "Freddy's Movie Review." On the left is a blue-tinted photo of the blog's author, Freddy, smiling while wearing sunglasses and giving a thumbs-up. The text "freddy's movie review" is on the right.
***SPOILER ALERT***

A Punch to the Gut I Wasn't Expecting


Let me start this with a Portuguese expression: "que nΓ³ no estΓ΄mago." What a punch in the stomach. I am completely blown away by On Falling. This is the most relevant movie I've seen in maybe five years. It's a British-Portuguese co-production shot in Scotland, and it's just a stark, quiet, and elegant critique of the dystopic lives so many of us are living in this gig economy. The film follows Aurora (Joana Santos), and I gotta tell you, I've been in her situation. I've known so many people living just like this. I've been in similar humiliating, dehumanizing situations—like when your 'bonus' for slave work is a single chocolate bar, or you have to do f*ing drug tests just because it's 'company policy.' That sh makes my blood boil. It's why this movie gave me real stress and so much anger, but also this genuine compassion for Aurora. That feeling was even stronger because she's Portuguese, and it just felt like I was watching a personal friend of mine in a truly back-breaking, mind-breaking situation. This only works because the direction and acting are amazing. The dialogues are 100% natural, which is rare. I'm far from an expert on Portuguese cinema; I've seen so many bad movies I've avoided it for years. So when my wife told me the director (Laura Carreira) was Portuguese, I literally said, "Ooooh noooo, boring time again." Man, how wrong was I.

Watch this canteen scene below; it's one of the few moments of real human warmth before the system crushes it.

The Real Villain Isn't a Person


This is the best drama I've seen this year, and I'm keeping Laura Carreira on my radar from now on. She is so young! If she keeps this up, (se Deus quiser), she could do so much for our national cinema. Joana Santos also deserves massive credit. I was truly heartbroken in that job interview scene; she perfectly shows how this system alienates us from ourselves. In a normal, conventional drama, all this suffering would be because of some clear villain, like a cruel b****** of a manager. But On Falling makes a smarter, more radical choice. The managers are just "hapless boy-men," and other authority figures are just "doing their job." As Carreira said, the co-workers aren't the antagonists. The true antagonist is the system itself: the algorithm-driven economy, the compassionless labor politics, the whole economic force that runs our lives. The cruelty isn't personal, it's structural. This elevates the film from a simple workplace drama to a profound systemic critique. Carreira is clearly inspired by masters like Ken Loach and the Dardenne Brothers, and the film was even produced by Loach's own company.

Below is that job interview scene I mentioned. It's absolutely heartbreaking.

I Love This Movie (And I Wish I Didn't)


To make sure this all felt real, Carreira actually did extensive research, interviewing current and former warehouse pickers. Those interviews gave the film its texture. At its core, this movie is a chilling exposΓ© of what our unfettered consumerism is doing. The warehouse, ironically called a "fulfilment centre," is a place of profound dehumanization, a place that strips the workers of their humanity and sanity. The ending... damn. It was so simple, but the song choice was so powerful that I just broke down and cried. I completely love this movie, and I think I wish I didn't. We have to do something about this slavery. It is inhumane that in a world with so much abundance, so much food and useless junk wasted every day, people are trapped like packages on a conveyor belt as illustrated in one of the movie scenes, while a few others have all the money and freedom. Of course I recommend this movie. 100%.

Check out this scene where workers are forced to hear how great the company is (and get free cupcakes) while being asked to donate to charity. The nerve.

Freddy's Final Rating

95

A devastating and essential critique of our modern work culture

🎡 The Powerful Ending Song

The devastating final song that perfectly captures the film's message about economic inequality and the struggle to survive in a system that treats humans as disposable.

Lankum - "What Will We Do When We Have No Money?"

🎬 You Might Also Enjoy:

All We Imagine as Light (2024)
Another festival-acclaimed film that follows the lives of marginalized people in a society that often overlooks them.

Drama Movies List
Explore more thoughtful drama films in my curated collection of drama cinema.

Mind Blowing Movies
A selection of films that will challenge your perspective and expand your cinematic horizons.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hipsters (2008)

Stilyagi is a 2008 Russian musical comedy-drama film directed by Valery Todorovsky. It won several Golden Eagle Awards and Nika Awards, including Best Film in both. In Russia, it has become a cult film, as most of its score consists of covers of 1980s and 1990s Russian rock music from bands such as Bravo, Nautilus Pompilius, Nol and the Red Elvises. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stilyagi_(film) While the Cold War heats up on the world stage, rebellious youth in 1955 Moscow wage a cultural battle against dismal Soviet conformity, donning brightly colored black-market clothing, adopting American nicknames and reveling in forbidden jazz. Straight-laced 20-year-old Communist Mels finds these brazen 'hipsters' shocking until he falls under the spell of one, namely Polly, and joins the new revolution. Soon he's a peacock, cavorting in the latest flashy fashions, sporting an enormous pompadour and wailing on the saxophone. source: http://www.imdb.com/title...
Post a Comment
Click to read

Forbidden City Cop (1996)

Plot Summary: Ling Ling Fat is a royal bodyguard who specializes in inventing rather than martial arts. When a conspiracy threatens the Emperor, Ling must use his wits, inventions, and hidden talents to defeat a pair of supernatural villains and save the kingdom. Director: Stephen Chow, Vincent Kok Screenplay: Stephen Chow, Vincent Kok, Edmund Liu Producers: Wong Jing Music: Tats Lau Cinematography: Lee Kin-keung Editor:   Kwong Chi-leung Starring: Stephen Chow as Ling Ling Fat Carman Lee as Gum Tso Carina Lau as Kar-Ling Cheung Tat-ming as Emperor Yuen Cheung-yan as No Face's Wife Law Kar-ying as Fat Yan Shun-Yee Yuen as Two Face   ***SPOILER ALERT*** Starting Stephen Chow's Wild Ride Hello plebs! A while back, when I asked for Chinese movie recommendations on Red Note, Stephen Chow's name kept pop...
Post a Comment
Click to read

La Mante (2017)

Plot Summary: Twenty-five years after being imprisoned, Jeanne Deber, a notorious serial killer known as "The Mantis," offers to help the police catch a copycat killer, but only if she can work with her estranged son, who is now a police officer. Director: Alexandre Laurent Writers: Alice Chegaray-Breugnot, Nicolas Jean, GrΓ©goire Demaison, Laurent Vivier Music: FranΓ§ois Lietout Starring: Carole Bouquet as Jeanne Deber / The Mantis Fred Testot as Damien Carrot Jaques Weber as Charles Carrot Pascal Demolon as Dominique Feracci Manon Azem as Lucie Carrot Serge Riaboukine as Crozet Robinson Stevenin as Alex Crozet FredΓ©rique Bel as Virginie Delorme Jump to the Plot Explained Section   ***SPOILER ALERT*** A Boring, Wannabe Hannibal Lecter This is officially the first TV series review I'm doing here at Cine It. I'm no...
Post a Comment
Click to read

King of the Children (1987)

Plot Summary: Set during China's Cultural Revolution, The King of Children tells the story of Lao Gan, an educated youth sent to a remote village in the Yunnan-Guizhou region to work as a teacher. Director: Chen Kaige Producers: Xi'An Film Studio Screenplay: Adapted from Ah Cheng's novella with the same name Starring: Xie Yuan as Lao Gan Chen Shaohua as Principal Chen Yang Xuewen as Wang Fu   ***SPOILER ALERT*** Jumping Into Chinese Cinema Blindfolded Hey everyone. So, back in January, the internet had a little moment, and suddenly, millions of Americans rushed to a Chinese social media app called Red Note. I got curious, joined in, and ended up discovering a whole new world of culture thanks to some incredibly welcoming Chinese users. Naturally, I decided to ask for movie recommendations, and wow, they flooded in. But despite all the amazing suggestion...
Post a Comment
Click to read

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Plot Summary: In 1940s Shanghai, a wannabe gangster named Sing aspires to join the notorious Axe Gang. His bungled attempt to extort the residents of Pig Sty Alley inadvertently leads to a gang war that gradually reveals surprising martial arts masters hiding among the slum's humble residents. Directors: Stephen Chow Writers: Stephen Chow, Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, Tsang Kan-cheung Story by: Stephen Chow Cinematography: Poon Hang-sang Edited by: Angie Lam Music by: Raymond Wong Starring: Stephen Chow as Sing Danny Chan as Brother Sum Yuen Qiu as Landlady Yuen Wah as Landlord Leung Siu-lung as Beast Xing Yu as Coolie Chiu Chi-ling as Tailor Dong Zhihua as Donut Lam Chi-chung as Bone Huang Shengyi as Fong Tin Kai-man as Adviser Gar Hong-hay and Fung Hak-on as Harpists Introduction: A ...
Post a Comment
Click to read

Last Night in Soho (2021)

Last Night in Soho is a 2021 British psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Terence Stamp and Diana Rigg. It marks the final film appearances of Rigg and Margaret Nolan, who both died in 2020. The film is dedicated to the memories of Rigg and Nolan. The film was nominated for two BAFTA Film Awards, including Outstanding British. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Night_in_Soho An aspiring fashion designer is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something darker. source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9639470/ ***SPOILER ALERT*** 60s Glamour Meets Psychological Horror KRASNAYA: Hello everyone! Today we plunged into ...
Post a Comment
Click to read