Jolt (2021)

A woman affected by a serious pathological form of "short fuse" (kept in check with a device that gives her electric shocks) is on a journey to avenge the murder of her new boyfriend.

An action film made in a rush in the desire to find a Crank-like success, with an angry and amped British protagonist ("helped" by electric shocks from time to time), many a one-liner throughout and a lot of gratuitous violence. The idea of ​​the story sounds worse than it is, but the execution leaves much to be desired, in that the heroine's personality becomes irritating at times, the finale is very predictable, the audio quality is questionable, and the continuity of the scenes and the lack of so-called "plot holes" are not a priority.

Director:  Tanya Wexler    

With: Kate Beckinsale, Jai Courtney, Stanley Tucci, Bobby Cannavale

Rating: 6/10

Preacher (2016-2019)

An unusual pastor with a bleak past turns his life upside down when his old love returns to his life and starts a long adventure to find God who seems to have left his post.

Filled with crazy and absurd ideas, Preacher will provide plenty of uninterrupted fun for fans, whether they want comedy, action or ridiculous situations. Expecting everything to have a deeper meaning, the entire series will unfold in front of the eyes without such satisfaction. Nothing remains holy, nothing is left without offence, all the characters are victims of weaknesses and defects, be they negative or positive characters. Just as colourful as the comic book it's based on, Preacher is visually pleasing and filled with gore-like horrors and gratuitous violence, which is only  a negative for the audience who chose this series by mistake.

Creators: Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen

Production: AMC

Featuring: Dominic Cooper, Joseph Gilgun, Ruth Negga, Graham McTavish, Pip Torrens, Noah Taylor, Julie Ann Emery, Ian Colletti

Rating: 9/10

The House That Jack Built (2018)

A psychopath with intense illusions of grandeur presents the history of his crimes by choosing 5 precise events with importance for his evolution.

Another film by Lars von Trier that made the Cannes public where it premiered leave the theatre early.

Clearly from the start, this is not for just anyone.

It's a tad long too, but that's not the problem.

The problem comes from the difficult to watch scenes due to their unfiltered violence and the shock of some of the choices which are not stopped by any taboo. These are the elements that most frequently show up and can stop the audience from having the patience to discern the beautiful in the dialogue or in the scenes towards the end of the movie, and it's not something to condemn because the director intentionally created this situation to the detriment of his own art. And this is probably because the realism and lack of filters are part of the art for which he is well known and the artist did not want to contradict himself ... Probably.

I am torn between the consideration that the director is just very narcissistic and a megalomaniac himself or the idea that he's just showing us very cleverly and elaborately how easily one can manipulate ideas about art, beauty and humanity to enhance the importance of misconceived ideas, used for purposes that are contrary to their initial ideologies. However, the second option doesn't actually cancel the first one, because it is the director who controls the said manipulation ...

Matt Dillon is extremely believable and horrible, he will be and probably has been omitted from all the awards because of the film's negative reputation. On top of that, his portrayal of an obsessive-compulsive disorder sufferer is extremely realistic and I would say even comical. A bit of humour also comes from the situations where the protagonist seems lucky in very risky situations.

It isn't a bad or ugly movie per se, it will cause a lot of thoughts and analysis, but it will have negative effects in the first instance, probably even after the semi-liberating ending. This one is just for the brave who know what to expect!

P.S.: The scenes involving animals have PETA approval, so they are not real.

Screenplay / Direction: Lars von Trier
Featuring: Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman, Riley Keough, Sofie Gråbøl, Jeremy Davies

Polar (2019)

A professional assassin retires but he soon becomes the target of a group of younger assassins hired by his ex employer .

Entertaining and violent, sometimes funny, often cartoonish, this shows Mads Mikkelsen only a little bit different to how we know him. With a style mix of Léon: Le Professionel meets Smokin' Aces, it states indirectly - quite early - that this film is not John Wick (there are a few scenes involving a dog). It's not boring at all - despite its duration - , it has a most probably unexpected ending but it does not bring anything new to the genre, contrary to its aforementioned muses.

Directed by: Jonas Åkerlund
With: Mads Mikkelsen, Katheryn Winnick, Vanessa Hudgens, Matt Lucas, Richard Dreyfuss