Thrill: Films that will keep you on the edge of your seat

Akira – Visit a Dystopian Animated Tokyo

Watch this if:

You like Sci-fi and/or anime films
You want to visualise a Tokyo in a dystopian future
You love Motor Bikes!
The Matrix, Bladerunner, or Tron really got you going
You want to learn more about Japanese anime!

Akira Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Set in a dystopian future where society is crumbling, Akira is the anime equivalent of The Matrix. Pay attention to the superbly animated setting of ‘Neo-Tokyo,’ a city which resembles a mix of Bladerunner’s Los Angeles and the Hunger Games’ Panem. See the original before a Hollywood studio remakes their live-action version (which has been in the works for years at various Hollywood studios).

From: Japan, Asia
Watch: Trailer, Buy on Amazon
Next: The Matrix, Bladerunner, Tron

Ong Bak – An Incredibly Fun Muay Thai Action Thriller

Ong Bak Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you’re looking for some of the most awesome stunts and acrobatics you can see on screen, you’ve come to the right place. Ong Bak is a martial arts stunts fest that you can watch again and again. Yes,the script is a little basic and predictable, but, ultimately you won’t care, because this film is so much fun to watch. It’s a thrill ride from start to finish.

From: Thailand, Asia
Watch: Trailer, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon
Next: Enter the Dragon, Kung Fu Hustle, Steamboat Bill Jr.

Cuestion de Fe (Bolivia) – A Saintly Road Trip Around Bolivia

Cuestion de Fe Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Dodgy drug boss: check
Drunken protagonist: check
High stakes gambling: check

If you’re thinking Cuestion de Fe is a B-movie action flick, you’d be wrong. Whilst it does contain all the elements above, Cuestion de Fe is more of a fun, easy going road trip film. If you’re up for joining a drunk artist, a hanger-on, and a hustler in their bright pink truck to travel across Bolivia, this film is for you. You can watch the film here on Vimeo (Spanish only).

Image result for cuestion de fe bolivia

Why Watch Cuestion de Fe?

To see Bolivia!
If you like any of the following road-trip movies: Motorcycle Diaries, Into the Wild, Y Tu Mama Tambien, or Thelma and Louise
Learn how importance Catholicism is in Bolivia (hint: very)
See the quickest ever on-screen sex scene and marriage

The Breakdown

Meet Domingo. He’s a craftsman who’s an expert at making statues of Catholic saints. But, he’s also a drunkard who uses his statues to barter for bottles of spirits at the bar next door.

One evening, a big drug boss from the Yungas (a region in the shadow of the Andes perfect from coca growing) pays Domingo’s local bar a visit. He wants Domingo to make him an exact replica of the Virgin featured in a local church. What’s more, he wants Domingo to deliver the statue to his town deep in the Yungas (a few days drive from them) within 12 days! Of course, it sounds impossible. But Domingo is the only person who could do it, and this drug boss is offering 80 million Bolivianos.

80 million Bolivianos is a very big sum of money, so of course Domingo says yes. He immediately gets to work with his friend and recruit a local hustler who offers to drive them to the Yungas. With the logistics sorted, can they make the statue and transport it in time?

Is it better to be a Statue or a Woman?

Like a lot of movies, Cuestion de Fe doesn’t pass the Bechdel test (that a film has to 1. have at least two women, 2. that talk to each other 3. about something other than a man). But, whilst you may not notice it, the subjugation of women in Cuestion de Fe isn’t great. There are only around 5 women in the film, all with minute roles. Here are the most memorable women in this film:

A young woman sitting with 2 guys in the bar who returns Domingo’s stare and gets slapped by one of the guys, who is presumably her boyfriend, as a result.
A prostitute who Domingo pays to keep him company at a pit stop
The woman who Domingo’s hanger on instantly falls in love with and marries

In short, Cuestion de Fe does not show any independent women, they all rely on the male characters. In addition, the men don’t respect them or show them love.

When you contrast how the women are portrayed to the statue of the virgin that Domingo lovingly creates and looks after, I’d say that statues are treated better than the women in this film.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

Cuestion de Fe truly is a fun movie to watch if you can either find a subtitled version or are quite good at Spanish. You’ll get to travel across Bolivia with a hilarious trio of oddballs, what more can you want!?

For more great road trip films you should check out:

Motorcycle Diaries: charting the famous road trip Che Guevara took with his buddy across South America.
Into the Wild: follow a recent graduate burn his money before roaming across the United States
Y Tu Mama Tambien: a raunchy coming-of-age road trip across Mexico
Thelma & Louise: one of Ridley Scott’s greatest films, a road race thriller which passes the Bechdel Test

Saudi Runaway – Sundance Film Festival 2020

Despite reforms from MBS, the current ruler of Saudi Arabia, 1,000 women escape Saudi Arabia each year. Saudi Runaway follows Muna, a typical Saudi Arabian woman trying to make herself one of the 1,000 to escape the oppressive patriarchy. All the footage is shot on her phone camera, often in secret from under her hijab, to document a snippet of her life.

Muna gains our trust right from the start by showing us things we shouldn’t see. She takes us into the crowds of the Hajj pilgrimage circling the Kaaba by capturing the crowds from a phone camera hidden under her veil. She also documents her family secretly in prayer and the patriarchal words her family and fiance say without realizing they’re being filmed. From these secretive observational moments we can start to build a picture of the society and family she lives in and its restrictiveness. We can also feel the risk she’s taking in secretively filming her family. She obviously hasn’t told them about the film as all they’re faces are blurred. Because of the risks she takes and secretive shots she has shared with us, she immediately gains out trust and empathy.

The film strengthens our connection with Muna through a series of video diary entries in which she shares experiences from her life and plans her escape. We hear about the patriarchal oppression she faces: how her husband won’t let her drive and how she can’t go to the supermarket or leave the house without a man. We also hear about her slim chance for escape: she cannot leave the country without a man’s permission in Saudi Arabia, so she has to get married before attempting an escape in the UAE whilst she’s on her honeymoon. Amazingly, she captures all of the tension of her ordeal, even taking a minute to document her final thoughts before she attempts her escape.

The only fault I could give this exciting documentary is the touch of melodrama the European director adds to the raw footage from Muna. In some of the tense moments, the soundtrack feels like it’s emphasizing the emotions more than it needs to. It makes the film feel ‘more produced’ and therefore less intimate and trustworthy by taking away from the realness of the first hand footage shot by Muna. The ‘dear Sue’ addresses in Muna’s video diary also make the film feel more like an act, by recognizing the foreign hand in its creation.

Overall, Saudi Runaway is a documentary that any fans of escape documentaries (see Midnight Traveller) or viewers interested at an inside look of Saudi Arabia should watch.

Head to our Sundance Film Festival Hub for more reviews from the Sundance Film Festival 2020.

Purple Butterfly (China) – Wartime Resistance

Purple Butterfly Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

You might find Purple Butterfly confusing to watch at first. It’s not clear what’s going on because of the constant cutting and lack of dialogue. However, if you watch on, you’ll be rewarded with a film that is stylistically different from many you’ve seen and uniquely beautiful.

From: China, Asia
Watch: Trailer, Buy on Amazon,
Next: The Grandmaster, Summer Palace, Burning