Tag: Amazon Prime

The House of Spirits (2026)–Karma and Magical Realism

Written by Diana Paul on May 25, 2026. Posted in Series. No Comments on The House of Spirits (2026)–Karma and Magical Realism

In this screen adaptation of the award-winning novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende, La casa de los espíritus, opens with Alba Trueba (Rochi Hernández), the granddaughter of a powerful, extremely wealthy landowner and mining magnate, grieving over her beloved grandmother, Clara del Valle Trueba (Dolores Fonzi). Spanning over half a...

The Girlfriend–Really?

Written by Diana Paul on October 27, 2025. Posted in Television reviews.

In this melodramatic thriller, based on Michelle Frances’ 2017 novel The Girlfriend, Laura (Robin Wright) has it all: a highly successful career as a gallery owner, tremendous wealth, a loving husband, and her prized son, Daniel (Laurie Davidson), a doctor. When Daniel brings home Cherry (Olivia Cooke), his current girlfriend, the...

For Love and Life: No Ordinary Campaign

Written by Diana Paul on October 6, 2024. Posted in movie reviews.

In the extraordinary 2024 documentary, For Love and Life, portraits in courage, we witness ALS patient Brian Wallach as well as his wife, Sandra, as they power through a commitment to fight for a cure. Previously an Obama administration lawyer, Brian and Sandra, also a lawyer, become indefatigable activists for...

Prisoner–Trapped with No Escape

Written by Diana Paul on May 28, 2024. Posted in Television reviews.

In this six-episode Danish prison drama (2024), Prisoner, the action pops in the opening scene. Miriam (Sofie Gråbøl) is a veteran prison guard with some compassion for the inmates, perhaps the only one with human feelings for the incarcerated. Until Sammi (Youssef Wayne Hvidtfeldt), of Danish-Arab ethnicity: a new...

Arctic Circle–Shivering with Fear

Written by Diana Paul on April 22, 2024. Posted in Television reviews.

Set in the Lapland region of Finland, the Finnish-German three-season thriller, Arctic Circle, Nina Kautsalo (Iina Kuustonen), is determined to solve three multiple murder cases, one in each season. Nina is a single mom with a Down syndrome daughter, Venla, who is cared for by her devoted grandmother. Nina, in turn, is supported by an...

Saltburn–Class Wounds

Written by Diana Paul on April 1, 2024. Posted in movie reviews.

Saltburn is a 2023 highly original indie psychological thriller written, directed, and co-produced by Emerald Fennell (creator of “A Promising Young Woman”, see my March 25,2021 review). A brilliant middle-class Oxford student with few friends (except for one rather sadistic roommate), Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan from...