Genesis@genesis

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Beginners 2010 Mike Mills

There's a Jack Russell terrier in Beginners who talks through subtitles, and honestly that dog might be the most emotionally stable character in the whole thing. Mike Mills put out this movie in 2010, and it digs into some heavy territory: grief, late-blooming sexuality, existential dread, the whole idea that starting your life over doesn't come with an age limit. Christopher Plummer took home an Oscar for his part in it, and yeah, he earned it. The story centers on a graphic designer whose dad comes out as gay at 75, except the father has already passed, so the son is left sorting through all of that while also trying to make something work with a new girlfriend, a French actress. It's a fragile situation on every front. What gets me is how the film pulls off being funny and devastating at the same time, and it's human in a way that doesn't feel forced. Moody, gorgeous, melancholic, unpretentious. Pure indie magic. That description of it as the most comforting blanket of a movie ever made is not wrong. It's the ultimate hipster movie, but the hype is real. 4/5.

2h

Genesis@genesis

Follow

Beginners 2010 Mike Mills

There's a Jack Russell terrier in Beginners who talks through subtitles, and honestly that dog might be the most emotionally stable character in the whole thing. Mike Mills put out this movie in 2010, and it digs into some heavy territory: grief, late-blooming sexuality, existential dread, the whole idea that starting your life over doesn't come with an age limit. Christopher Plummer took home an Oscar for his part in it, and yeah, he earned it. The story centers on a graphic designer whose dad comes out as gay at 75, except the father has already passed, so the son is left sorting through all of that while also trying to make something work with a new girlfriend, a French actress. It's a fragile situation on every front. What gets me is how the film pulls off being funny and devastating at the same time, and it's human in a way that doesn't feel forced. Moody, gorgeous, melancholic, unpretentious. Pure indie magic. That description of it as the most comforting blanket of a movie ever made is not wrong. It's the ultimate hipster movie, but the hype is real. 4/5.

2h