Not naive. Not sentimental. Just honestly good at showing what humans are capable of.
A dangerous combination of radiation and insecticide causes the unfortunate Scott Carey to shrink, slowly but surely, until he is only a few inches tall. His home becomes a wilderness where he must survive everything from spiders living in the cellar to his beloved cat.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
A brilliant plastic surgeon creates a synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
There's a moment in this that restores something. You'll know it when you see it.
In a mid-19th century Essex country house, a young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
The best version of this effect is quiet. Not a speech. A small moment. These films have them.
Rare but possible. Sacrifice and solidarity appear even here.
Sunday-afternoon pacing. Unhurried and rewarding.
Henry Frankenstein pieces together body parts in the hope of bringing a human-like creature to life. The mad scientist's dreams are shattered by his monstrous creation awakening with rage to a world that hates and fears him.
There's a moment in this that restores something. You'll know it when you see it.
Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far more evil planned.
There's a moment in this that restores something. You'll know it when you see it.
While working on a thesis about audiovisual violence, film student Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that she was a former student in her university, and that the authors of the video are not very far either.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
Some films earn their effect. These do.