Movie Reviews | The Last Movie Guy

Sacrifice: A Dark Satire on the Enviromental Crisis – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 15 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Mother Nature has spoken and says she needs the sacrifice of three people to restore order and prevent total collapse. Sacrifice (2025) by Romain Gavras relies on satire to present its discourse loaded with social and political critique. After gifting us the frantic Athena (2022), Gavras now delivers a more restrained and contemplative proposal. The French director exchanges fury for reflection without losing his critical gaze toward contemporary society.

The Secret Agent: A Political Thriller Set in Brazil’s Dark Past – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 12 by Hugo Pagan Soto

In 1977, Brazil was in the midst of a military dictatorship. General Ernesto Geisel led the government and was the fourth military leader since the 1964 coup d’état. Against this political backdrop, Kleber Mendonça Filho gives us The Secret Agent (2025), an intense political thriller that revolves around Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a man trying to escape his past. Through the eyes of Marcelo, the director takes us on a journey that revives the dark past of a nation and, through fiction, tells a story that was the reality for thousands of Brazilians during the dictatorship.

No Other Choice: Park Chan-wook and the Portrait of Modern Life – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 11 by Hugo Pagan Soto

The perfect family dissolves into a fade that takes us to a machine spinning at full speed. With that simple yet powerful transition, Park Chan-wook delivers an absolute omen. In No Other Choice (2025), just a few minutes into the first act are enough for the idyllic life of a family to collapse into complete chaos. Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun) has dedicated his entire life to a company, but in the blink of an eye, he loses his job, and with it, misfortune begins to seep into every corner of his life.

It Was Just an Accident: Jafar Panahi’s Powerful Drama – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 10 by Hugo Pagan Soto

“Do not let your memories weigh more than your hopes” (Persian Proverb)

There are no ornaments or artifices; when the first images gradually appear on the screen, we can feel life without filters. A Simple Accident (2025) by Jafar Panahi is a drama built on a minimalist staging, supported by a story that is both robust and emotionally profound. In Panahi’s world, the narrative is the treasured jewel, and his actors become its jealous guardians, defending it as if with their very lives.

Caught Stealing (2025): Aronofsky’s Thriller

Posted on August 31 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Like Antoine Doinel standing before the immensity of the sea, Hank Thompson in Caught Stealing (2025) finally confronts the demons of his past. The worlds of Truffaut’s character and Aronofsky’s are as distant as the beaches of Normandy and those of Coney Island, yet both experience a kind of epiphany when facing the vastness of the ocean. Aronofsky has often taken us on journeys that explore the complex psyche of human beings. This time, it comes disguised as a fast-paced thriller—an unusual entry in his filmography, but one that, if we look closely, bears his unmistakable signature.