BELFAST

Taking place during the late 1960's, the film follows the story of a family: Pa, Ma, Will, and Buddy that shows the origins of The Trouble in Belfast that lasted roughly 30 years. The film is shot in black-and-white and opens on a beautiful August day in 1969, where young Buddy is playing with his friends, imaging he's fighting dragons. On his return home his world, and those of his neighbors are suddenly shattered as a gang of Protestants target and begin destroying the homes of local Catholics. Once the violence has passed, the residents construct a makeshift wall in order to protect themselves. Ma is left home to raise the children as Pa works in England and comes home every 2 weeks. During one of these visits, Pa is attempted to be recruited by the leader of the Protestants, who gives him an ultimatum: you're either with us or against us. Pa, seeing the writing on the wall, looks for escape routes such as Vancouver and Sydney while Ma is reluctant to pick up her family and move as Belfast is all any of them (with the exception of Pa) has ever known. This is getting a lot of buzz since it's release and while it is a beautifully crafted film, with quite a bit of levity to balance out the harsh reality the family currently finds themselves, it's good but not great. I would hope this goes on to win Best Foreign Film at the Oscars but nothing on the level of a PARASITE. Could be worth a watch once released outside of theaters. 6.5/10