documentary | The Last Movie Guy

Scarlet Girls (2026): The Power of Uncomfortable Truths

The pen is mightier than the sword, as the immortal phrase by Cardinal Richelieu in Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s play suggests. The same applies to cinema; the power of ideas within cinematic storytelling has a more lasting impact than most mass media. Scarlet Girls (2026) by Paula Cury Melo knows how to wield this weapon to take a firm stance on a polarizing issue. One may agree or disagree with the film’s perspective, but its construction of discourse is powerful and addresses a sensitive topic with rigor and depth.

I Am Not Your Negro from Raoul Peck

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Hugo Pagan Soto

In 1979 an idea was born in the mind of James Baldwin. In a letter he explained to his agent that his next project, titled “Remember This House,” was going to encompass meetings with three of his closest friends: Medgar Evers (1925-1963), Malcolm X (1925-1965), and Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968). At the time of his death in 1987, Baldwin left behind an unfinished 30-page manuscript. With the documentary I Am Not Your Negro (2016), filmmaker Raoul Peck seeks a kind of closure for the unfinished work.

A Cop Movie (2021)

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Hugo Pagan Soto

There are two ways to shoot a scene and one of them is wrong.
David Fincher

Director Alonso Ruizpalacios could have approached his documentary A Cop Movie in multiple ways. The result brings us closer to the idea of the man from Seven (1995), there was only one correct way to approach this issue. The only thing that makes more headlines than corruption in Mexico is drug trafficking. We can argue that the two things are so closely linked that it is impossible to define where one begins and the other ends. Corruption was the yeast that fermented this idea of Ruizpalacios that in the end ended up focusing on a single institution within the entire political fabric.

The Rescue (2021) TIFF 2021

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Hugo Pagan Soto

The Great Cave of the Sleeping Lady (Tham Luang Nang Non) is a cave located in a mountain system that marks the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Its maximum depth is 279 feet, and its total length is 10.3 kilometers. Prior to 2018 it was just a tourist spot frequented mainly by cave diving enthusiasts. On June 23, 2018, the whole world was going to know this remote place. The Rescue (2021) tells the odyssey of 12 children and their soccer coach after being trapped inside this cave system. The documentary is approached from the perspective of rescuers and personnel who worked to accomplish one of the most incredible rescue missions.

Val (2021)

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Hugo Pagan Soto

We digest actors through the lens. We read them from the narrative that their characters dictate, and we think we understand them when they throw away their avatars to grant and interview. But the reality is that there is always a filter or an ulterior motive that prevents us from seeing beyond what they choose to show. Val (2021) demolishes paradigms and shows us an unadorned Val Kilmer, seeking to find his own voice by putting his life in perspective and building a retrospective of his career. Almost 40 years of career and more than 100 titles accompany the former Iceman, Doc Holliday, Simon Templar, Batman and even Jim Morrison himself.