 Thanks for checking out this movie review video This is for the 2018 film of starfish and when I'm doing this review and when I watched the film It was available on the shutter streaming service. So that's where you should be able to find it I know this is a newer ish film But I am going to be doing spoilers for this since it's you know about two years old ish So I feel like that's fine plus there's some things I want to say spoilery about it So just know that but if you haven't seen it yet, I would say pause right here. Definitely go watch it But real quick. It's not horror per se It does play on fears of people and there are some horror aspects to it But overall point of the film is not horror. There are some horror things in it, but it's one of those films It's kind of more of like a what do I write down the the films like Monsters or a ghost story or dogs don't wear pants, you know films like that that kind of get to Human nature human fears and come at it for more of an emotional standpoint and less of the actual like terrifying you scaring you thing, but the backdrop of it is Horror to a degree. So just saying but anyway, I definitely recommend it anyway This film is written and directed by a T white And apparently he hasn't done any other films prior to this feature length But he is apparently working on and this is according to him a left field invasion epic Sounds interesting a 70s infused emotional slasher Also sounds interesting and a sun drenched genre defying franchise. That's very vague But after seeing this film, I am down to check out anything that a T white does Very very interested to see what he does next This film stars Virginia Gardner who does an excellent excellent job as Aubrey in the film She did a wonderful job. She's been in like the show the Goldbergs. She was in the movie. Tell me how I die Halloween the 2018 Halloween. I Think it was 2018. Yeah Monster party, which is also on shutter at the moment and the show runaways She played Caroline and Dean and runaways. So she was a superhero a Marvel superhero So totally cool the first shot of this film you see is stunningly beautiful It is gorgeous the and that kind of speaks to directing and cinematography in general with this film is Outstanding I wrote down this film has style for days. It looks Gorgeous amazing. If you don't even like the story if you don't like the message behind the film You could just sit there and just watch it because it is beautiful Beautiful very well shot when I was watching it. It started making me think of the films of Alex Garland Very very similar aesthetic to them and acumen as far as you know cinematography and directing And Alex Garland did the films like Annihilation and Ex Machina Which are two other films that look phenomenal and I do recommend so yeah There's a lot of piano and string instrument that ends up getting used in this film And that's a good thing because it's perfect for the more Emotional matching of a lot of the scenes and the tone of the film in general And then they inject some alt rock songs in there That kind of pick up the pace and make you feel a little more upbeat at times and things feel a little bit more fun And those rock songs are also quite good Yeah, so but I do like that when there are more of the emotional things are using a lot of piano they're using a lot of string instruments and Because those you know, they're very soulful instruments that really do a much better job of Conveying emotion especially more sad and downtrodden emotions. So The overhead shot in this film after Aubrey has broken into her friend Grace's apartment after she passed away the overhead shot of Aubrey laying in Grace's bed on the Second pillow with the indentation the head indentation from Grace next to her I think is a beautiful visual shot of showing Aubrey with the memory of Grace still with her like that's a great visualization of her thinking about her As she's you know symbolically the memory is laying next to her in the bed And that's what I took that, you know, the head indent still being there and shooting from above with her in the bed That's how I took that film or that scene very good Aubrey going through Grace's apartment is trying to soak It's kind of like Aubrey trying to soak Grace in again and soak in the memories and bring these memories back But it also seems to be pushing her further into a lonely state It's kind of one of those problems where you know, yes, you can think about someone who's passed And it's gonna bring a mix of emotions that you're gonna have Elation you're gonna have good feelings with it because you're remembering the good times you have with that person your great connection your great friendship whatever But at the same time it's also gonna bring bad emotions because it'll make you sad because you no longer have that person and You see that really playing out in the film with Aubrey as she goes through her apartment And she's kind of reliving memories and then she's also getting sad about not having her there, you know all that stuff It's heard in her call to her mother mainly The the kind of sadness and loneliness that ends up kicking in for her Because she says that she just called her mom just to hear her voice. So at that point, I feel like she's been Going through the memory so much and it's kind of depressed her to a point where She's feeling super lonely and she just needs to reach out to someone to some human being to have a connection At least over the phone for a few minutes And the connection isn't even the best at that point where when she's talking to her mother but it's like she just needs something and You know, I know we've all kind of had that that time in our lives Maybe even now with with the whole covid situation happening where you feel like you just need some human interaction and you definitely see it in this film things go from zero to sixty real quick in this film as soon as That creature alien whatever it ends up being I believe, you know, it's an alien creature Chases Aubrey back to the restaurant and she eventually gets it to go away by that guy playing the The music the noises that were on the recording But that is really going from a zero to sixty because she just goes outside and it's kind of like oh What's going on and then all of a sudden she's being chased and that is the horror aspect to it But it backs off a lot from that You know, it comes back to it one more time where you know She's out again and she has to run into the truck because she's being followed and that's an even more horrific moment with Showing more of that creature, which I think looks really good the CG and this actually looks quite good And I like the design of the creature as well. So that works, but the actual horror moments in the film are very slim it's more about the emotional aspect of it and I'll tell you why at the end of me talking about the events of the film I'll tell you why this film is is the way it is the walkie-talkie Floating things in the restaurant the audio tape and notes and the notes lay out pieces to a mystery that you feel Invested in seeing through as soon as this whole thing is put out there and it's kind of like You know, it's a little bit of a treasure hunt that we're gonna go on with Aubrey and it's a little bit of you know Putting putting this mystery together I mean it truly is putting this mystery together of you know Putting everything in sequence and finding out what the overall point of this is and it's kind of like grace has left a The treasure hunt in essence for Aubrey although, you know, what you get in the end isn't necessarily a great thing It's a whole bundle of emotions. So kind of sucks in that sense But but in the end I believe she actually has Resolution and that's why her body ends up going up the way it does, you know, she can rest She can be with grace basically. I think she dies in the end is my thought The jump scare of the creature in her face when she was dreaming actually got me. I literally jumped There was another time. I can't remember what had happened in the film But I was not fully paying attention. I was looking down doing notes and then one of the Jump scares that they did mainly because of the music that they used actually got me to jump So I literally jumped twice with this film which barely ever happens to me once with any film So did a good job with that For many reasons it's not smart to take a tortoise outdoors with you I don't understand why Aubrey was taking the tortoise with her when she was going around searching for all these tapes I mean, I guess it's from the standpoint of That's the only other living thing that she has with her so she wanted to take it with her to feel like she's not alone I guarantee that's the reason but at the same time I don't really think it's smart to take the tortoise with you especially because you know There are things out there hunting you and if you have to run and you fall you don't want to fall on the tortoise Just saying I mean I like I got it, but it's not practical is my point. It's just a small gripe When you get a full look at the creature, it looks good Menacing like I said, I like it the animated portion. Yeah, there was an animated portion to this film It looks really good for what the animation is like it looks like professionally done awesome anime and You know the events that they have it go on totally fine totally good But what it why like what was the purpose of the anime? I don't I'm assuming that that had something to do on a personal level for writer-director A.T. White and That was an homage to to the person who this film is for who I will talk about later because in the beginning It says based on a true story and I'll talk about that a little bit more later But I'm assuming the animation portion is just a personal thing that he felt he really wanted in there for the person He dedicated the film to step away from that It doesn't really make sense to be used in the film you could have just filmed What happens after that like I understand it that maybe like she blacked out or something That's kind of what it seems because then she comes to and she's under the truck after she'd gotten into the truck But it also doesn't make sense like how did she get under the truck? That's one of the other things I wrote down I'm like how did she get under the truck all of a sudden like it's more interesting if you actually show us the Events of how she finally ended up dealing with that creature trying to get into the truck And then she ended up under the truck. That's more interesting. It just the animation thing. It just doesn't make sense There's no point to it really But I think it was his personal thing. I'm just saying when Aubrey listens to the music and With the alien noises incorporated as it actually take Is it actually taking her to different places or is that all something that's symbolic when she's kind of sitting in that one? I think in the library it is and listening to the tapes with her eyes closed kind of like sitting cross-legged and then it's like taking her to these different Terrain's like is that actually happening is is kind of the magic of these messages these alien messages Actually taking her somewhere else just like it's making things floats float from time to time or is that a symbolic thing? That's just kind of like all on her head. I couldn't figure that one out So I would be interested to see what other people say so put it down there in the comments They start with a clip of this segment at night on the beach and they end up showing flashes of that at different times So you really end up having to believe that this is kind of a key Something to the film that it kind of might explain the whole thing now in the end It seems that it's a symbolic thing in her mind about her cheating Because the like the ghost of grace in her mind at one point when she's laying under a sheet She's talking to her and she basically says, you know, you cheated so Excuse me. I believe a big portion of this is her coming to terms with her past I'm assuming that because she makes a comment about not having seen grace for quite a while I'm assuming that there was friction or a an issue a conflict between she and grace because of the cheating Situation that maybe grace had brought it up or she had taken that information to someone and it caused some sort of turmoil They don't really get into that But I get the idea that the cheating that she did on this this man that she was in a relationship with is Kind of the main thing that she has not dealt with that She needs to deal with in the end to get to that her end state where I believe she dies and is at peace with it because the world is ending at that point so Yeah, so just saying When you lose an important person in your life, your world is in turmoil because of your grief Aubrey's physical world is in turmoil because of this in alien invasion Just has her emotional world is in turmoil because of the loss of her best friend So I really think that the whole alien invasion backdrop is just meant to be a visualization of what she's Emotionally going through and mentally going through It's just a different way to represent it so I think it's a very interesting way to look at it as Her going through all this turmoil while the world is in turmoil because her world is in turmoil and The mirroring of that turmoil being in the real world is just an interesting way to represent it now That said I think at some point There is a point where one of the creatures comes face-to-face with her and walks away from Aubrey and I think I Think that may have to do with the fact that on some level it recognizes that she is Dealing with her own turmoil and that that turmoil is no longer needed for her Just another theory that may be a little bit half-baked, but go ahead and put comments about it In the end forgive and forget is the main message. It literally says that when she finally solves this, you know puzzle That's what sets her free in a sense So that's kind of one of the ultimate Lessons behind the film is forgive and forget and in that instance I believe it's not just a forgive and forget, you know the conflict that she had with grace But it's forgive and forget yourself In that instance Aubrey because she had cheated I think there was a lot of internal issues that she never really looked at that She never really dealt with that situation and realized, you know, I did this thing It was bad and I should feel bad about that But I also need to forgive and forget just like I need to forgive and forget other people for, you know Things they may have said to me or done to me in the past All right, so here's some of the extra stuff at the end that I said I would get to It says based on a true story in the beginning of this film So I looked that stuff up and I was able to find After seeing that it's dedicated to someone named Sayako Grace Robinson that was a friend of A.T. White's she was about 26 or 27 years old when she passed away from I think it was Angio Sarcoma cancer basically and She from I mean I read a whole write-up of her life like an a-yo bituary type thing through this cancer website She had a bright future. She was a very smart person she did a lot of stuff in her short time on the world on the planet and It's obvious that this was something that really caused Mental and emotional strife for white So this film was actually the writing in the script and the actual execution of the film itself Was white's way to work through his grief So what you see in the film and what was on the page of the script is a representation of basically white working through his grief working through all his emotions of The loss of this friend of his Sayako Grace Robinson So I thought that was very interesting And touching and the other thing that I found when I was looking that up That's really interesting is that all the money made from this film is going to be donated for cancer research So I think that's very cool. I have a few other things from the film There's a quote early on when she first goes into the restaurant in order to get to the apartment That says I have never met a man so ignorant that I didn't learn something from him This is a quote from Galileo This speaks the importance of human connection and the enrichment that comes from people Interacting with each other and that kind of speaks to you know How Aubrey had kind of made herself very lonely She kind of isolated herself before the events of the film and during the events of the film and how that's not a good thing Because you need to interact with each other to have enrichment in your life and you learn things that way And that's the point of that Galileo Quote being there that there's value in it in every person that you end up meeting Aubrey says this does a direct quote that she says from the film people die anyway But their stories don't have to And doesn't this end up speaking to one of our deepest fears as people in general is the idea that Who's gonna remember me when I die will anyone remember me when I die will What I've done and what I've left behind even end up mattering in the end and and will it matter that? I even lived in the first place and I think that's a big fear that people have whether it's subconscious or people are very conscious of it It's very spot-on and I think that quote in particular is there to kind of point out that People like his friend Sayako Grace Robinson need to be remembered and will be remembered for Not necessarily anything that they physically did or the work that they left behind But for the memories and the friendships that they had that type of stuff So he's making his mark and saying this person will not be forgotten. So a really touching film I did get very emotional at the end. I got close to crying I will say that I actually didn't not that there's a problem with that because I Have cried from films before horror films and other films alike I have cried because of it and that's there's nothing wrong with that feeling emotion is one of the best things you can do I really did enjoy this film When I was done with it, I had a hard time getting asleep because I was very sad But it also helps you when you watch a film like this to you know, look at the people in your life in a different light And and remember how thankful you should be for them to be there. So Great film if for nothing other than to remind you of those things, but like I said, it's visually amazing It's really well executed. It is slow. So some people might not like that. So it might not be for everyone but I'd say give it a shot and Recommend it to people. I I really enjoyed it. So out of five stars with half stars in play I'm gonna give it a four and a half star rating. It's not a perfect film, but it is really amazingly well done So I'm giving it four and a half stars really good Yeah, so I'd love to hear other people's takes on it Even if you hated it like you're not you're not really reigning on my parade if you say I thought this was a crap movie That's fine, you know, because we all have our opinions. So whatever you want to say down in the comments And do me a quick favor though hit that subscribe button because it means a lot to me and the growth of my channel And it keeps me going every time I see a new subscriber really, you know, I get pretty jazzed about that So it's very very awesome for me. So if you do that make sure you also hit the notification bell And that way you know anytime I'm putting up a new review or an unboxing or doing a live stream So yeah, that'd be great. But regardless, thanks for taking your time to check this out and until next time keep it brutal