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Shot Caller (2017)
Best movie I've seen all year
Intrigued by the trailer, I was expecting, as usually, to be let down by the actual movie. Didn't happen.
I really liked it's non-linear progression, which managed to not be annoying and made sense. But didn't give the whole game away either.
The pace was engaging - not too fast to where it's just bash-bang- boom and no time to pull you along on the journey and not so slow that you're staring at characters .
Also, a big question in the movie is the main guy's motivation for his actions - various characters wonder and ask him directly. While typically the reveal would form a big emotional piece of the plot or would do a 4 second cutaway to a simple explanatory scene, the makers of this movie managed to resist the easy answer and instead left us guessing as well. Thus, making the guy seem even more of a mystery and making the mystery of his motivations itself a theme.
Even the relationship with his son - an unavoidable theme - was surprising and seemed fresh.
It was also interesting to see the idea of how a good guy turns bad and enters the underworld in such a compelling way - the wannabe psychologist attraction.