Skip to main content

Personal Shopper (2016) / The Invitation (2015)



First up in my Tubi double feature was this 2016 drama/thriller starring Kristen Stewart as a medium who’s trying to get evidence of the afterlife from her dead brother.








Stewart plays Maureen, a young woman who is working in Paris as a personal shopper for a famous model. Her twin brother, who had also been living in Paris, had died as a result of a heart defect that they both share, and she and him made a promise to each other that if one died first, the other would attempt to contact the surviving sibling from the dead to let them know they’re ok. Also, both Maureen and her brother were psychic mediums, able to detect the energy of spirits, though Maureen is not so sure of her abilities. Her brother’s girlfriend, whom she’s still close to, is having her stay overnight at the brother’s house to see if she can detect his presence. She eventually senses something, and begins to receive mysterious text messages from an unidentified person.





The film plays like a character study, and while slow, I found it very well done and it kept my interest. Stewart’s fine performance is what drives the film, as does the mood and lighting. Everyone in this film does a good job, and I liked how they treated her psychic gifts as a normal thing, without resorting to over the top sensationalism. This is one of those movies you’ll need to be in the mood for. Despite enjoying it a lot, I probably wouldn’t recommend it to just anyone. If moody, character driven dramas are your cup of tea, then you may enjoy this one. It’s a different kind of ghost story, more thoughtful and introspective.




The next film is from 2015, a psychological thriller called The Invitation, about a guy who goes to a party thrown by his ex wife and her new husband.




Will and his new girlfriend Kira are driving to the home of his ex wife Eden and her new man David. Eden is throwing a reunion party for their old group of friends, many of whom haven’t seen each other in 2 years. While Will and Eden were still together, their son died in a tragic accident, which is what lead to the breakup of their marriage. Upon arriving at the house, Will is already feeling uncomfortable, as it’s the same home he and Eden shared during their marriage. Still grieving the death of his son, being back in the house starts to bring back painful memories for him. He is also feeling suspicious about his ex wife’s free spirited, calm attitude, considering she once attempted to take her life shortly after their son’s death. As the night progresses, Will begins to notice things that make him increasingly uneasy, and he struggles to keep his cool while all their friends happily socialize.













This film is a shining example of how to craft an effective psychological thriller. Fantastic performances, a great script, and sharp direction all come together perfectly to create an emotionally claustrophobic experience. The movie is creepy, tense, and so damn uncomfortable at times, it really got under my skin. Part of me wanted to shut it off, but I also wanted to continue watching to see how things played out in the end. I think I recall this playing on Netflix some years ago and hearing some positive chatter, but you know how that goes. A film will get raves, and then when you watch it, you find yourself disappointed. This film really impressed me. I can’t recommend it enough.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Titanic Creations Yongary 1967

This figure was released in late December, and I got it about 2 days before the New Year, so I'm counting it as a 2025 release. It is the Titanic Creations version of the Korean kaiju Yongary, Monster From The Deep. The film was released in 1967 as a Godzilla ripoff, with several ideas copied from the Gamera series, such as his tusks, his ability to fire a stream of flames from his mouth, and even firing a laser beam from his horn, similar to the slicing one used by Gyaos. The film is pretty goofy, but Yongary, like most of those Asian monsters, was pretty cool (to me, at least), so I was psyched that someone finally made a figure of this lesser known kaiju. When Titanic Creations put it up for pre-order, they announced a series of tiers, where they would add accessories when a certain number of orders were met. Enough fans ordered him, so that Yongary ended up with a shit ton of stuff, making him absolutely worth the price. In addition to the kaiju, you get a flame breath effect, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

RicSan Custom Toys Kyōrū Kaiju (Titanosaurus)

My latest kaiju figure purchase is the Titanosaurus made by Ricsan Custom Toys. I own and love the Varan & Gabara, so of course I had to preorder this one when it was available. He was delivered earlier this week. This kaiju hails from the last Godzilla film of the Showa era, 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla. The Black Hole aliens are back, rebuilding their robot in another effort to take over the planet. They enlist the help of an ostracized Earth scientist named Mafune and his daughter Katsura, who are able to control an aquatic dinosaur named Titanosaurus. They plan to use both kaiju and mecha to attack Japan. Titano was a cool monster, with his tail that opened into a fish fin, and he would use it to create whirlpools in the sea, and high winds on land. I'm hoping that S.H. Monsterarts makes one for the 50th anniversary of the film, but when I saw this Ricsan Custom version, I couldn't pass it up. Titanosaurus (called the Kyōrū Kaiju), comes in a white box, with its n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Help Me… I’m Possessed (1974) / #Missingcouple (2024)

I've watched some weird, obscure horror movies throughout my life. I can now add this lurid 1974 schlockfest to that growing list. In a castle in the desert, Dr. Arthur Blackwood runs a sanitarium filled with mentally disturbed patients (as well as staff). He claims to be working on finding a way to cure people of any violent tendencies they have, and brags about his younger sister, innocent, child-like Melanie, as evidence that his treatment works. When she was a child, their parents had to keep her locked up and chained in the basement, to control her violent fits. Now that he's cured her, Arthur has his wife Diane come to the castle to meet Melanie, so that they can be one big, happy family. Diane begins to grow suspicious that something is amiss after a Sheriff shows up investigating the murder of 2 local teens, and sets about on her own investigation, hoping to uncover the sinister secrets that she feels her husband is hiding. Help Me... I'm Possessed is an outrageous,...
Post a Comment
Read more