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Media Reviews: Summer of 2025

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Summer 2025: Movies, dramas, and personal discoveries

 

This summer was marked by escape. Escape from toxic news—into fictional worlds where even the darkest stories have meaning, albeit bitter. I started writing down my impressions again—to keep from going crazy and maybe find like-minded people. Here are the main things that have struck a chord with me over these months.

 

🎬 MOVIES: Discoveries and disappointments

 

Absolute Cinema

  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (8.1/10): The perfect hybrid of gritty drama and dark humor. A story of madness and mercy with a stunning finale. Cinema with a capital C.
  • Taxi Driver (8.5/10): A powerful punch to the gut. A poignant story of a “little man” who accidentally witnesses the horrors of the Gwangju uprising. Funny to the point of tears and bitter to the point of pain. As relevant as the news feed.

 

Special Place In My Heart:

  • K-Pop Demon Hunters (9/10) - absolute masterpiece. Music, fights, doubts and personal growth - you're definitely not want to miss it.

 

Damn, You Should Watch This

  • The Companion (7.5/10): An unexpectedly clever sci-fi film about an android who is a victim of abuse. A frighteningly relevant metaphor for how we use each other. Makes you think about the rights of AI.
  • Saint Maud (7/10): A perfect portrait of religious obsession as a mental disorder. Orthodox and creepy. Morfydd Clark is brilliant.
  • Thunderbolts* (7.2/10): A decent attempt by Marvel to do something meaningful—a story about depression and inner darkness. But alas, it all gets lost in the usual destruction of digital cities. I'm tired of this.

Great Stuff, Actually:

  1. Love in the Big City (7.5/10): A touching story of friendship between two Korean outcasts — a rebellious girl and a guy who can't accept his sexuality. I watch it for Kim Go-eun's smile.

Wait, What?

  1. Minecraft (6.5/10): For five-year-olds — awesome. For us — too silly. But Jack Black is awesome! “First we mine, then we craft!”

 

📺 TV SERIES: The Korean Wave and Beyond

The Great and the Beautiful

  • It's Okay To Not Be Okay (사이코지만 괜찮아) (9/10): The top of my summer selection. A therapeutic fairy tale for anyone who feels broken and “not like everyone else.” Multilayered, sincere, perfect.
  • Demon / Goblin (쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비 (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God)) (8.5/10): A gorgeous, divine drama. A fairy-tale, sad, and bright story about love stronger than death. You watch it and become a little bit better.
  • Good Boy (굿보이) (8/10): A crime drama, comedy, and action movie all rolled into one. Fights like in John Wick, and the main villain is simply a Moriarty-level monster. Pure adrenaline.

Solid four

 

  1. The Mouse (마우스) (8/10): The Korean David Fincher. A mind-bending detective story with a perfect twist: the maniac is... the person you'd never suspect. Insanely cool plot.
  2. “One of Us: Part II” (7/10): Strong, painful, beautiful. But it feels like this is only half the story. I'm looking forward to the sequel, but with trepidation.
  3. “Rick and Morty", season 8 (7/10): Uneven, but there are a couple of brilliant episodes (especially the one about memory erasure). Old Rick still knows how to surprise.

Subtle Disappointment

  1. "The Handmaid's Tale", season 6 (6/10): Enough is enough. The characters walk around and reminisce about the past. It's time to wrap it up.
  2. Trigger (6/10): I was expecting a cool crime story, but got an abstract parable instead. Damn it! But the villain is a charismatic bastard.

🎮 GAMES / 📚 BOOKS

 

  • Portal RTX (8/10): A timeless classic that now looks like a Hollywood blockbuster. Delightful!
  • The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Welles (7.5/10): A charming, cynical robot who hates people but is forced to save them so he can watch TV shows in peace. Perfect light reading.

 

Summer 2025 results

 

The main discovery was Korean dramas — sincere, profound, and insanely high quality. They gave us perfect love (Demon), fast-paced action (Good Boy), and psychological depth (It's Okay To Not Be Okay).

The main disappointment was fatigue from the formulaic nature of the big studios. Marvel, The Handmaid's Tale... it's time to come up with something new.

Thank you for reading. I hope you found something worthwhile. Take care of yourself and choose what makes you feel.

Now, let's get to the point - click to the title to read complete reviews in English & Russian:

Movies

K-dramas:

TV Series:

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