The movie "We Burn Like This" was disappointing and an average movie at best. The description of the movie sounded like there was going to be rampant scenes of Antisemitism. Unfortunately, there were 4 minor instances that does not compare to what really has been going on in the Jewish communities.
4 Reviews
Anticlimactic Garbage
ryanderekdalos14 July 2022
If the main character was actually "targeted" then I am a pink elephant. This felt like a huge and slow build up that ends in mouse farts and and a toilet that won't flush. It seemed like it had potential but the real issues were painted with cheap water color and never became apparent. Dang, I hated this so much. Waste of my life.
This movie is poignant and beautiful
KylaVGarcia29 December 2023
Stellar writing, grounded nuanced performances, and a very vulnerable perspective on racism and the many masks it wears in rural communities.
Alana's writing and direction is so, so beautiful. The cinematography and soundtrack, flawless.
Madeleine is fierce and raw as Rae, (loved her friendship with Devery) and the ensemble cast SHINES, especially Angelo Rizzo, Kendra Mylnechuk, John Budge, and Kate Britton.
This film is a home run and really captured the strength of women whose family lineages have inter-generational trauma as well as the spirit of Butte, MT.
It's a very human story. It's not sensationalism, if that's what you're expecting. It's the kind of story we need to see on the big screen, because acts of microagression that lead to racial violence are much more insidious than we are all led to believe.
It also reminded me of how much our Jewish friends and family need our protection and support more than ever.
Alana's writing and direction is so, so beautiful. The cinematography and soundtrack, flawless.
Madeleine is fierce and raw as Rae, (loved her friendship with Devery) and the ensemble cast SHINES, especially Angelo Rizzo, Kendra Mylnechuk, John Budge, and Kate Britton.
This film is a home run and really captured the strength of women whose family lineages have inter-generational trauma as well as the spirit of Butte, MT.
It's a very human story. It's not sensationalism, if that's what you're expecting. It's the kind of story we need to see on the big screen, because acts of microagression that lead to racial violence are much more insidious than we are all led to believe.
It also reminded me of how much our Jewish friends and family need our protection and support more than ever.
honest REVIEW
nazmussakibtarik23 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I'm gonna chalk this one up to false advertising. The logline for We Burn Like This begins thusly: "When 22 year-old Rae, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, is targeted by Neo-Nazis in Billings, Montana, her ancestors' trauma becomes real." I don't know about you, but something like that immediately put me in mind of something very pulpy, very poor taste, and very, very fun. I was picturing some sub-grindhouse thriller about a young jewish girl having to contend with the modern day neo-nazi movement...and dealing bloody mayhem on them.
In fairness, I should've read the full synopsis - "When 22 year-old Rae, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, is targeted by Neo-Nazis in Billings, Montana, her ancestors' trauma becomes real. As antisemitism continues to rise in the community, we follow Rae on her journey to forgive herself, her mother, and the broken world. Inspired by true events, this coming-of-age drama shows the inherited effects of historical trauma and the strength of survival and healing" - which frankly offers a much more accurate take on what this movie is; a very slow-burn, rambling, minimalist drama about this girl going on a very internalized journey of self-discovery.
Still, the fact that this movie isn't anything like Christopher Plummer's Remember - GREAT pulpy nonsense right there - is something that I cottoned onto real quick (even if I was thinking for a while, "So is this gonna be a low-key and grounded action thriller, a la A Vigilante or Catch the Fair One? I hope not, I didn't like either of those movies very much"). Which just leaves the movie as is, and honestly...not my speed. Even accounting for the fact that it's a much different kind of movie than what I was expecting, I don't think it's a particularly good example of that kind of movie; there's a difference between a slow-burn but interesting character study and a film that just feels like it's wasting your time, and way too often this felt like the latter.
Which sucks, because there is real value to films just nakedly talking about this stuff. The most effective scenes in the movie are the ones where the characters are in congregation, saying shabbat, and the film just...does that, for a while. Unfortunately, moments of quiet intimacy like that are few and far between in a movie that is permeated with so much dead air. And, on a personal note, I've long since come to the opinion that pulpy genre flicks are much better vehicles for social messaging than maudlin mumblecore movies; Remember with Christopher Plummer has more to say on the subject of jewish remembrance than this, is what I'm saying.
In fairness, I should've read the full synopsis - "When 22 year-old Rae, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, is targeted by Neo-Nazis in Billings, Montana, her ancestors' trauma becomes real. As antisemitism continues to rise in the community, we follow Rae on her journey to forgive herself, her mother, and the broken world. Inspired by true events, this coming-of-age drama shows the inherited effects of historical trauma and the strength of survival and healing" - which frankly offers a much more accurate take on what this movie is; a very slow-burn, rambling, minimalist drama about this girl going on a very internalized journey of self-discovery.
Still, the fact that this movie isn't anything like Christopher Plummer's Remember - GREAT pulpy nonsense right there - is something that I cottoned onto real quick (even if I was thinking for a while, "So is this gonna be a low-key and grounded action thriller, a la A Vigilante or Catch the Fair One? I hope not, I didn't like either of those movies very much"). Which just leaves the movie as is, and honestly...not my speed. Even accounting for the fact that it's a much different kind of movie than what I was expecting, I don't think it's a particularly good example of that kind of movie; there's a difference between a slow-burn but interesting character study and a film that just feels like it's wasting your time, and way too often this felt like the latter.
Which sucks, because there is real value to films just nakedly talking about this stuff. The most effective scenes in the movie are the ones where the characters are in congregation, saying shabbat, and the film just...does that, for a while. Unfortunately, moments of quiet intimacy like that are few and far between in a movie that is permeated with so much dead air. And, on a personal note, I've long since come to the opinion that pulpy genre flicks are much better vehicles for social messaging than maudlin mumblecore movies; Remember with Christopher Plummer has more to say on the subject of jewish remembrance than this, is what I'm saying.
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