Weekly visions - week 18, 2026

Une liaison pornographique / A Pornographic Affair / An Affair of Love, directed by Frédéric Fonteyne, written by Philippe Blasband, Belgium/France, 1999 - ⭐⭐⭐½

It’s always fascinating when a film gets different English titles on the two sides of the Pond, highlighting cultural differences and sensibilities. I guess US distributors didn’t want to scare part of the potential audience away from the film, despite it having absolutely zero explicit scenes.
The ‘affair’ in question is initiated by a woman (Nathalie Baye) wishing to enact a fantasy with a stranger (Sergi López). Their chemistry works, so they’ll keep seeing each other weekly in a purely physical relationship that, following her rules, forbids the exchange of any personal information.
But people are people and feelings end up getting in the way.
And as they grow fond of each other, we viewers do the same and become invested in their story.

From the production side, someone must have thought that showing-not-telling wasn’t enough to capture the audience, or that the running time was too short (the whole film is just 80 minutes long), so the plot is interrupted, here and there, by interview scenes with the two characters, who, separately, tell their side of the story. This choice adds some curious personality details - like the way their accounts differ - and, despite being unnecessary to the plot, perhaps actually helps the rhythm of the film.

Paranormal Activity 2, directed by Tod Williams, written by Michael R. Perry, Tom Pabst and Christopher Landon, US, 2010 - ⭐⭐⭐ (up from ⭐⭐½)

A couple of podcasts I listen to have decided to revisit the Paranormal Activity series, so I took this opportunity to rewatch the second chapter. I agree with my past self pretty much on every point, but I enjoyed the film a bit more this second time: I was still not very unnerved by a dog barking to the void, but the escalating events were more effective and I was worried for Kristi.
I also noticed this time how these two sisters clearly have quite a similar taste in men.

There’s sort of a loss of innocence, compared to the original film: the opening card still implies these are ‘real events’, but then there are real film credits at the end of the movie, with characters and actors clearly having separate identities; the ’lore’ expands and I’m not sure anything holds to scrutiny (if Toby-not-yet-Toby only cares about the first boy in the family, why haunt the girls when they were little?).
Or maybe this film doesn’t really exist and I’m the haunted one? Otherwise how to explain that in the most memorable scene of the film, the cupboards that are not visible from that camera stay peacefully closed?
I think I might have identified a Christopher Landon moment in the Ouija board scene, where the demon is spelling out its intention, but the girl is too excited to pay any attention.

Apex, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, written by Jeremy Robbins, Australia, 2026 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Apparently I’m one of the few who quite liked this film about Charlize Theron facing the Australian wilderness and its most dangerous predator. I usually don’t enjoy these Deliverance-like stories where men just take pleasure in terrorising people, but this one moved fast and took some unusual turns.

I was so involved that I started watching it at the time I usually go to bed, thinking I would quickly get very sleepy… and ended up very awake, having trouble falling asleep even an hour after the film had ended.
Yes, the final scenes are a bit extended and maybe unnecessary, but we can’t blame a film for wanting to tidily end its narrative, can we?
Another fundamental question: why do we care about actors doing their own stunts? Fine, they are fit and brave, but what difference does it make?

Blue Moon, directed by Richard Linklater, written by Robert Kaplow, US, 2025 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Up to the moment the credits ran, I had completely forgotten this was a Linklater film. And soon after the initial scenes, I also forgot Ethan Hawke was in it, completely absorbed by the character of Lorenz Hart, a lyricist who puts on a positive face during what might be the worst night of his life (although it’s made clear that it probably isn’t), facing the success of his former work partner and the private confessions of the young woman he loves.

As someone who’s heard his fair share of the ‘but not that way’ speech, it’s easy to feel heartbroken by Hart’s insistence and availability towards people who clearly have moved on. And you completely get both why those people have been attracted to him once, and why they’ve had enough of him, his neediness further highlighted by the insufferability of Margaret Qualley’s Elizabeth. I’m puzzled by Andrew Scott winning the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance, not because he isn’t great, but because his role is so small.

The director of last week’s The Sting, George Roy Hill, appears briefly as a character.
I guess it’s time for me to finally watch my blu-ray of Linklater’s Me and Orson Welles, which was based on a novel written by the screenwriter of this film, Robert Kaplow.

Becky, directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, written by Nick Morris, Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye, US, 2020 - ⭐⭐

I was only vaguely aware of the Becky films, and just a little bit curious when I found out that the young lead actress was none other than Mike Flanagan’s favourite haunted child, Lulu Wilson ¹. So first they had my curiosity but then, as they say, they had my attention when I learnt that Paul Blart - Mall Cop Kevin James played the big bad white supremacist, threatening Becky’s family to collect a misplaced McGuffin.

I expected a much lighter film: something violent, yes, but also darkly funny. Instead, this movie hits hard on the gore, and - for my taste - is completely devoid of humour.
And very calculated: you can picture the screenwriters figuring out the whole setup: Becky’s angst is fuelled by having lost her mother, so it has to be exacerbated by her dad (a very bland Joel McHale) wanting to marry again; since the villains are Neo-Nazis, then, to increase the tension, the dad’s fiancée must be a person of colour (Kim’s Convenience’s pastor Amanda Brugel) and she has to have a child of her own to protect. And the family must have two dogs, so that one can be sacrificed.

Even with some attenuating circumstances, one needs to come equipped with a suspension of disbelief at least as giant-sized as ex-wrestler’s Robert Maillet’s baddie Apex.
So, finally, what is left to enjoy are the same elements that brought me to this film in the first place: the performances by Wilson and James.