Tension is one of the most difficult facets of filmmaking to pull off because it requires the script, direction, acting, and editing to all work in tandem to evoke the perfect pace. If just one part of that group misses then the most important part of the film falls apart.
In 2019 we continued to see some excellent use of tension used to build mystery or to be the harbinger of the coming dread, or even the ticking clock of inevitability.
So without further ado, these are the moments of tension that kept us on the edge of our seats in 2019. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question and you can click on the banners to be taken to the full reviews.
It was an amazing year for Australian Cinema, with each film I saw knocking it out of the park. There were intimate documentaries, films that held up a mirror to society, and those that brought the action to a new level. In this list, we will be looking more at the locally made Australian productions/co-productions and not films filmed in Australia.
So without further ado, these are the best of Australian Cinema in 2019. Be warned that there will be some big spoilers ahead for the films in question. Also, click on the banner to go to the full reviews.
TL;DR – This is an incredible, violent, and emotionally visceral film that will grab you in the first frame and not let go
Score – I honestly don’t know how to score this.
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
In a now previous life, I taught
international relations to university students. This is a large discipline and
one of the areas we looked at was terrorism, which happens to be one of the
most pressing security issues in the modern world, or not, it’s complicated.
All of this meant that when I walked into the theatre to review this film I
thought I had a pretty good handle on what I was about to see, as I was quite familiar
with the 2008 Mumbai Attacks, and well I could not have been more wrong.
So to set the scene, we open with a boat slowly making its way into one of the
many harbours on the Mumbai shoreline. On the boat are eight well-dressed young
men who could be there for work in the financial capital of India, but immediately
you know that is not the case. Each of them carries a large duffel bag and they
are listing to someone give them instructions, directing them to different
landmarks across the city. Meanwhile, across the city everyone else is just going
through their day as normal, Arjun (Dev Patel) is trying to get his dastaar perfect as he gets ready for work at
the Taj Hotel, Zahara (Nazanin Boniadi), her husband David (Armie Hammer), and
their nanny Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) are arriving at the hotel after a long
flight and everyone is racing to get the room ready for her as her mother is a
VIP, and the hotel head chef Hemant (Anupam Kher) is just trying to work out
how to get everything done in such a short time. None of them knows the hell that is heading for them.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 