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Tatler Asia
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
Millennial movies: the low-key traumatic films responsible for a generation's paranoia
2. 'The Land Before Time' (1988) Technically, a children's film. Spiritually, a grief seminar. This animated saga about orphaned dinosaurs was our gateway to intergenerational trauma. Littlefoot loses his mum in the first act, then wanders a desolate prehistoric wasteland learning hard lessons about death, scarcity and betrayal. For many, it sparked a lifelong fear of abandonment. That, and quicksand. 3. 'Brokedown Palace' (1999) Two girls. One drug bust. Zero justice. This film was the sole reason entire school trips to Thailand were vetoed. Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale's sun-soaked holiday devolves into a Kafkaesque nightmare involving corrupt systems, filthy prison cells and years lost to legal purgatory. Millennial movies did warn us about drugs and terrified an entire generation into law-abiding submission. 4. 'My Best Friend's Wedding' (1997) Presented as a romantic comedy, this movie is actually a psychological thriller where the protagonist ruins lives with shocking ease. Julia Roberts plays the deranged anti-hero whose 'grand gesture' is essentially emotional sabotage. Somehow, this got filed under "feel-good film" in DVD rentals, despite teaching us that even best friends are capable of Machiavellian manipulation. 5. 'When a Stranger Calls' (2006) It was supposed to be a disposable horror remake, but to millennials babysitting for extra cash, this was a PSA with lasting effects. The line 'the call is coming from inside the house' wasn't just a jump scare but a foundational fear. Today, it continues to echo as a millennial threat disguised as a fun internet meme. Landlines became ominous, babysitting gigs felt like Russian roulette and houses with glass windows and a second floor? No, thank you. 6. 'The Devil Wears Prada' (2006) Is it a fashion fairy tale or corporate horror with decked out in couture? Anne Hathaway's character spirals into a soul-crushing career path, sacrifices every personal relationship and learns that 'success' often looks like burnout in an expensive (not cerulean blue) coat. Millennials entered the workforce fully expecting to be emotionally razed for a vague shot at editorial glory. This is why we girlbossed so hard for expensive shoes and lattes. Thank goodness we're over that. 7. 'Final Destination' (2000) This wasn't just a film—it was a permanent shift in consciousness. Every mundane moment became a death trap. Log trucks transporting logs? Never drive behind them. Tanning beds? Absolutely not. Shower cords? Dangerous. This millennial movie warned us that death is not only inevitable but also ironic, complicated and vindictive. Yet in true millennial fashion, we're still watching Bloodlines . Millennial movies were all fun and games until someone was fired, imprisoned or orphaned. Yet, we walked out of those theatres with our spirits high because they played an upbeat pop song over the credits. The emotional whiplash was dizzying. But somehow, we accepted it—maybe even expected it. After all, if Sixpence None the Richer is playing while your life falls apart, is it really that bad? NOW READ 11 K-Drama villains with unexpectedly heartbreaking stories 10 books about travel that will spark your wanderlust 11 cancelled TV shows we still can't stop thinking about
Associated Press
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Movie Review: ‘Drop' doesn't phone it in
It's oddly comforting that a movie can still dial M when it wants to. Smart phones have largely been a bit of a buzzkill for horror films, leading filmmakers to find all kinds of reasons — dead batteries, no service — to strand potential prey. But at least since 1949's 'Sorry, Wrong Number,' phones have also been a reliable conduit for terror capable of reaching into the home, or your pocket. 'Drop,' a silly but suspenseful new thriller, carries on the tradition of 'When a Stranger Calls' and 'Phone Booth' by situating its tension around mysterious, threatening phone messages. Violet ( Meghann Fahy), a widow with a young child, is on her first date in years. After three months of texting, she has hesitantly agreed to finally meet Henry (Brandon Sklenar) for dinner. When they sit down in a fancy restaurant high up a sleek Chicago high-rise, he's charming and relaxed. But Violet, like countless dates before her, can't stay off her phone. In Violet's case, though, the distraction is legitimate. She keeps getting messages dropped to her phone threatening her son, who's at home with Violet's sister (Violett Beane), unless she does what he says, including killing her date. In her home security cameras she can see a man with his face covered brandishing a gun. 'Drop,' directed by Christopher Landon ('Happy Death Day'), doesn't differ greatly from the large swath of high-concept, low-budget thrillers that regularly flood theaters. But it's a taut little movie, almost totally set in the restaurant, with a just keen enough sense of plausible and preposterous. It knows to keep the pressure-cooker plot moving while not overstaying its welcome. At a nifty 95 minutes, 'Drop' knows when to hang up. As if adding a digital twist to the old line 'The call is coming from inside the house,' Violet is getting message from an app called DigiDrop that can only be sent from a person within 50 feet. That means everyone in the restaurant — the bro who bumps into her, the cheesy waiter, the kind bartender — is a suspect. With her terrorizer watching her every move and prohibiting her from breathing a word to anyone, Violet is stuck rooted to her table when every fiber of her being wants to rescue her son. A considerable help to the film are the grounded screen presences of Fahy ('The White Lotus') and Sklenar ('1923'), both small-screen breakouts who here show movie-star poise. As the plot unspools, there are, naturally, quibbles one could make. Would a mother, with a masked gunman outside her toddler's door be able to feign interest in a duck salad? Does the highly orchestrated trap laid for her match the motives of the criminal mastermind? And while we're asking questions, could we not someday get a phone-themed thriller titled 'Butt Dial'? But if 'Drop' is invariably quite a bit less than realistic, it has a whiff of metaphor. Violet isn't just stepping back into the dating pool as a single mom, she's trying to shake the past trauma of spousal abuse. Going on a date with Henry, whom she met on an app, is a kind of crap shoot. Will going out with a stranger met online end in love or violence? You could also read 'Drop' as an extreme version of a more ubiquitous scourge. This is a movie where the bad guy, for nearly the duration of the movie, is nothing but text messages. (They are typically flashed large across the screen.) As Violet grows increasingly preoccupied and frantic, she could be just about anyone — a workaholic after hours, a teenager, a desperate Knicks fan watching the score — whose attention is held prisoner by her phone. How much of the terror of 'Drop' would have existed at all, if she had just put it on silent?
