Older Films, Rewatches and Catch-Ups: Short Reviews
First published on my writing site: www.aliamin.info/2026/10/older-films-short-reviews/
My Letterboxd reviews of films I watched or rewatched in 2025 and early 2026, from classics to recent catch-ups.
These are my Letterboxd reviews, copied as written. They may contain spoilers.
A Prophet (2009)
My rating: 5 out of 5
Breath-taking masterpiece. Prison & crime genre. Begins with a naieve and possibly innocent teenage boy thrust into an incomprehensibly harsh system. Forced to do the most horrific things, he learns everything he doesn’t want to be and everything he doesn’t want out of life from firsthand experience. Eventually, he carves out his own kind of morality and humanity from the despicable framework he is given. He doesn’t become a hero, but he becomes as good – in both efficacy and ethics – as he can conceive given the environment he is damned to.
Beautifully shot. Haunting scenes. Graphic violence. Essentially a meditation on how to participate and survive in an evil world when the only truly moral choice is to surrender and die.
Watched January 21, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
Blade Runner (1982)
My rating: 5 out of 5
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
Watched November 30, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
My rating: 5 out of 5
One of the greatest films of all time. A sentimental horror with, perhaps, the most astounding twist in all of cinema. What a shame that Shyamalan has lived in the shadow of this masterpiece and been unable to move on.
Haley Joel Osment gives one of the best child performances you can hope to see، and Bruce Willis is equally stellar.
Toni Collette IS horror’s mom.
That school is really screwed up, man.
Watched December 30, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
Donnie Darko (2001)
My rating: 5 out of 5
What does it mean to be alive at one particular time as opposed to another? How much of who we are is static and how much is predicated based on when we are? Every action has a consequence which reverberates throughout the fabric of spacetime affecting everyone else and their actions.
Donnie Darko is a very trippy horror-inspired exploration of one young man’s place in space and time. What does it mean that he is there versus his not being there? And given the choice, knowing the outcomes, what should a person do?
Watched September 21, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
Blue Velvet (1986)
My rating: 5 out of 5
Does the fact that everyone has the capacity to both commit evil acts & enjoy the infliction of evil on others mean we cannot be truly loving and therefore happy? Or is it possible to transcend our darker natures of sadism & masochism? What happens when we confuse the purity of true love with the Shaytanic indulgences of violence?
This movie is quite restrained for David Lynch when compared to something like Mullholand Drive or Twin Peaks: The Return. I do find Lynch more enjoyable when there is a more tangible plot, however bizarre.
Watched February 15, 2026. My review on Letterboxd.
I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
My rating: 5 out of 5
The horror of being too weak to live up to your potential, the terror of living an unfulfilled life when fulfillment was accessible, the nightmare of the safe existence over the true dangerous one. Most stories are about heroes that defy the odds to actualize themselves and seize their destiny. This is about all the people who eschew the heroic path and betray themselves – for nothing.
Watched August 21, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
The Count of Monte Cristo (2024)
My rating: 5 out of 5
A valuable retelling of Dumas’ epic novel. Unfortunately, the shorter runtime means a lot of the thematic depth and plot nuances were lost. This is definitely the Spark Notes version for an audience raised on a diet of short form. That being said, a swashbuckling epic with many emotional highs and gripping throughout
Watched December 30, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
Mulholland Drive (2001)
My rating: 4 out of 5
A pretty good movie but certainly not the best of the 21st century. Interesting motifs and visuals, but ultimately I don’t think the messages in the undercurrent were conveyed in a particularly compelling fashion. To me, David Lynch is the noir Haruki Murakami of film.
Watched July 29, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
Citizen Kane (1941)
My rating: 3 out of 5
From a historical perspective it is one of the most important and essential films ever created. Every film student & movie buff should see it just for that purpose. That being said, it certainly does not hold up at all today. It should not be viewed as a masterpiece that can contend with modern Hollywood, but rather an invaluable piece of cinema history.
Watched January 6, 2026. My review on Letterboxd.
Okja (2017)
My rating: 3.5 out of 5
A bizarre film. I guess intended to communicate the horror of mass animal slaughter & genetic modifications. Jake Gyllenhal is one of my favorite actors but this is his worst performance, although I think he did exactly what he was directed to do. A morally confused & strange piece.
Watched February 8, 2026. My review on Letterboxd.
Heretic (2024)
My rating: 3 out of 5
Thinks it is smarter than it is. An incredible set-up that they did not know how to capitalize on. The ending was not totally the expected cliché but overall a disappointment.
Watched November 14, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
Magnolia (1999)
My rating: 2.5 out of 5
An absolute mess of a film with nothing insightful to say about any of the topics it touches on. The dialogue is hanmy and overdone. The multitude of weaving plot threads don’t intersect in any meaningful reveal or for any other reason than intersection. The pacing is rapidfire at the beginning then slows to a halt. Suddenly it’s a musical. Suddenly there’s an incredulous coincidence. It’s like a Murakami fever dream if Murakami was boring and his characters one dimensional.
Watched November 15, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
My rating: 2 out of 5
Another unbearable “slow burn” where nothing happens and nothing meaningful is said. I am convinced these slow burn directors know they can just film the most boring scenes and film critics will fall over themselves to attribute the most pretentious interpretations to the film.
Watched September 20, 2025. My review on Letterboxd.
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