Aarcflick

Rensil D'Silva shows a greater affinity for monotony than for his own story or characters. It is hardly surprising, then, that *Shaque* turns out to be so tedious. At the heart of *Shaque: Trust No One* lies the potential for a solid psychological thriller about a mother whose newborn is kidnapped—an ordeal that causes her to lose her grip on reality under extreme mental stress. To make matters worse, she is surrounded by a deceitful best friend, a backward-thinking mother-in-law, and an unfaithful husband. All the ingredients for social commentary and the exploration of subjective experience are present; however, doing justice to these elements required the touch of a skilled director.  Stars: Janhavi Bansal, AB Vampking, Harleen Sethi Rensil D'Silva—the man behind such "gems" as *Kurbaan*, *Ungli*, and *Dial 100*—is certainly not the right person if one is looking for subjectivity, style, or thought-provoking content. I do not mean to suggest that a director should ...

Wan, an elderly man suffering from dementia, becomes the prime suspect following a child's disappearance in the village. *Delusion* is undoubtedly a must-watch psychological mystery drama. What begins as an investigation into a missing child soon evolves into a story revolving around dementia, family secrets, superstition, guilt, and the gap between objective reality and public belief. The story unfolds in a quiet rural community where certain events bring an old local legend back into the spotlight. A child goes missing, and the prime suspect turns out to be Narong, an elderly man suffering from dementia.  Stars: Natapohn Phornprapha, Jes Jespipat Tilapornputt, Surasak Chaiyaat Legends surrounding *Phii Pong* add a layer of uncertainty, making it difficult to determine whether the threat looming over the town is supernatural, a criminal, or merely a superstition born of fear. Wan, Narong’s daughter, is a teacher who returns to the village to care for her father as his health rapid...

After retiring, a doctor who has always been able to see the dead finds herself forced to confront her own niece's supernatural abilities as ghosts, family wounds, and the violence surrounding her Buenos Aires neighborhood begin to converge. There is something wonderfully strange about *My Sad Dead*. It is a ghost story, yet it rarely behaves like one. The dead do not lurk behind doors waiting to deliver a jump scare. They sit around the house. They complain. They wander the streets. They carry the emotional residue of the lives they left behind. Sometimes they are frightening. Sometimes they are sad. At times, they are so absurd that the series becomes unexpectedly funny. And beneath it all lies a deeply human story about grief, family resentment, violence, and the things people would prefer to keep buried. That is what makes the series so interesting... and frustrating. Stars: Mercedes Morán, Dolores Fonzi, Alejandra Flechner Pablo Larraín’s adaptation of Mariana Enríquez’s work ...

The musical *Godspell*, created by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak, became a global phenomenon in the 1970s. Although it played on Broadway and London’s West End, it was the 1972 Toronto production that achieved legendary status, thanks to a cast of actors who were just starting their careers—most of whom went on to become established stars.  The story of this production is told in the fascinating new documentary *You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way)*. Director: Nick Davis Writers: Nick Davis, Jane Mendelsohn Stars: John Candy, Mike Myers, Catherine O'Hara The cast members included Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, and Dave Thomas. With the exception of the late Radner, all the stars appear in the film to share their memories. Joining them are their fellow cast members—less famous ...

 *Never After Dark* is one of the most hypnotic ghost stories to emerge recently. This Japanese production avoids the paranormal clichés that have become tiresome in post-*The Conjuring* cinema, creating instead a constant sense of psychological unease that emanates from both the human and supernatural characters. Airi (Moeka Hoshi) is an itinerant medium who helps people rid themselves of ghosts. She often relies on the help of the spirit of her late sister, Miku (Kurumi Inagaki), with whom she regularly converses (we see Miku reflected in windows and mirrors). Teiko (Tae Kimura), the new owner of a large, isolated house, hires Airi—along with her son, Gunji (Kento Kako)—to remove a ghost from the property. Airi accepts, but on the condition that Teiko and Gunji stay away while she works. Since the "veil" between the world of the living and the afterlife is too thin at night, she performs her work only during the day. The most novel aspect of *Never After Dark* is that Airi ...

Haru (Rinko Kikuchi—always a pleasure to see her on the big screen) is already prone to fantasy long before life’s harsh realities come knocking. One need only consider how she feels when engaging in her favorite pastime: ballroom dancing. When Haru (and her beloved husband Luis, played by Alejandro Edda) take the floor during a local competition in her native Tokyo, she imagines them soaring into the sky, literally dancing above everyone else. Haru is thus living in her own world when reality abruptly intrudes—and, in the context of her celestial fantasy, comes crashing down—robbing her in an instant of both Luis and her passion for dance. What follows is a drama about grief of a unique sort: part melodrama, part telenovela, yet entirely original and deceptively light in tone. Not every step may be perfectly executed (insert ballroom dance metaphors here), but *Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!* possesses an effervescent spirit often missing from stories of this kind, anchored by a charming ...