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Oz Perkins still has a great sense of the "visual" side of things, which is honestly what keeps The Monkey watchable all through. The gory deaths keep piling up one after the other in an almost Final Destination-esque way, but paired alongside some half-baked Hereditary-esque commentary, the film feels tonally off. Theo James isn't someone I can identify as a horror movie protagonist, especially when he's playing twins wanting to murder each other.

The lead performance feels wooden and unidimensional, and even if that's warranted, I think it did the film no good overall. The dark humour hits the mark sometimes, thanks to (once again) the visual representation of people dying in the weirdest ways. The involvement of James Wan in the producer's capacity also made me believe there'd be more to the film, though it's nowhere in the league of Perkins' Longlegs or any of Wan's memorable horror ventures.

I really wanted more from this Yeon Sang-ho crime-thriller than what was offered. It has SUCH INTERESTING characters, a series of crimes that connect them, and the "revelations" that happen along the way. This either needed to be a full-blown character study or a seat-edge thriller. But Yeon Sang-ho decides to tread that fine line between both, leading to an okayish conclusion. The lead performances are solid, especially Ryu Jun-yeol who plays a pastor suffering from Apophenia.

The religious angle was always going to be the differentiator here, but I doubt it'll sit well with most viewers seeking a straightforward thriller sans theological references. The production quality is first-rate, and there's a spectacularly tense one-take sequence set in a derelict building. In fact, the film needed more such innovations in the thrills department to keep the plot progression from staggering. The current version is decent (for whatever Netflix offers), but Revelations won't be discussed as much as Train to Busan or some of Yeon-Sang-ho's earlier animated flicks.

Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, take a bow. The former not only is the co-creator, but also plays a leading role. Owen Cooper is a stunning find, playing the troubled teenager to perfection. Other notable names include Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty, Faye Marsay, Christine Tremarco, Mark Stanley, and Jo Hartley, all of whom deliver commendable performances. The series initially made me believe it was heading down the "unravel the mystery" route, but it didn't take long for me to realize that it was going to be SO MUCH MORE.

Themes surrounding parenting, school bullying, incel subculture, the influence of social media on budding generations, emotional quotient, and more are incorporated into a 4-episode miniseries that's a single-night-binge watch. Most importantly, the one-shot style of capturing each episode made it all the more captivating. Netflix gave away their secrets on how many (re)takes each episode actually went, before they got the version they were happy with. I don't really watch or recommend a lot of shows, but Adolescence is certainly amongst that rare few, alongside names like Chernobyl and When They See Us.