Sometimes you have dreams which are not understood by others. Your ambitions are patronized, your dreams ridiculed and your rebellion against the world ignored. And this is not only by people who surround you but by the circumstances themselves. How difficult is to survive the last year of high-school, money problems, parent conflicts, the inhibitions of religion, limitations of a small-town mentality, ups and downs of friendship and awkwardness of love and sex, especially when you are a young woman and you tend to dream big. Lady Bird.
Close your eyes for a while. Focus. Breathe. Remember the sweet joy of summer days spent with your friends and toys? Remember times when you were blissfully unaware of the seriousness of adulthood, the necessity to pay for bills, rent, and food? Do you recall the past when your parents' problems were incomprehensible to you and you'd rather eat sweets, chew the chewing gum, and do all those naughty little things that you were usually not allowed?
All of us had different childhood: some were kept in the bubble of financial security and high expectations, others had the money benefits taken away from them, but instead, gained great freedom, imagination, and adventure. Some witnessed things that they shouldn't witness, as parents were only people and we were yet to see how flawed, troubled, and mistaken they all were. A tribute to childhood, summer, and the miracle of us still being alive, taken into account the threats we came across every day and our guardians' issues. The Florida Project.
If you want to accomplish something in life, you need to take into account sacrifices that you are going to make. Endless hours of practice and repeating everything all over again until you achieve perfection are a must. Drive, initiative, and motivation are indispensable, but a cruel and challenging parent might be of use. Not everybody has talent, stamina, and persistence to achieve international success, but occasionally, pain in your personal life will enable you to boast gold in front of camera flashes and cheering crowds. A story of the personal road to success of Tonya Harding, and quite wicked family bonds, which helped to form a uniquely superhuman strength. I, Tonya.
It's difficult to jump back on your feet once you've fallen and bruised yourself hard. It's almost impossible to build everything from nothing. But once you've got the experience of falling down many times, the building process seems to be one of your deeply-rooted skills. There was a woman who was able to raise a gambling empire from pieces of information she heard, by putting together scraps of data that she knew nothing of, and acquiring abilities that she hadn't had before. By paying attention to the details, she managed to earn millions and control a group of particularly wealthy businessmen, celebrities, and some members of the mob. Proving that a woman's wit can be far more complex and cheeky than that of a dozen of men and that after every fall there's light at the end of the tunnel, a game of cards and minds, Molly's Game.
There are milestones in the course of your life which can make your life difficult. It can be the death of your parents, grandparents or siblings. It can be the end of school with the stresses of exams and the beginning of the unknown: studies, work, future. It can be a heart-break or first wobbly steps in discovering your sexuality or falling in love. It can be the redirecting of the trust that you had for some people and giving it to others with bigger or smaller doses of humiliation. It can also be the fact that your best friend can fall for your biggest enemy who is in fact related to you. Coming of age can be hard but all of us went through the awkward phase, didn't we? A few lessons learned, The Edge of Seventeen.
Have you noticed a crowd of people queuing in the supermarket, have you been stuck in a traffic or have you taken part in the crowd fight when they finally opened the shop during high sales season? Have you by any chance noticed that there are more of us, as a matter of fact, more than there had ever been, while the Earth seems to be just as small as it used to be? How to solve the problem of overpopulation, the lack of resources, the society's debt and an increasing feeling of being eaten by the threat of global warming? Is changing our size the solution to all the above? Or is human nature prone to inequality, racism, discrimination, and exploitation no matter what size we are? A modern tale of Gulliver's Travels and some really funny highlights of small people in a big big world. Downsizing.
A circus was a place which gathered those who could never fit in the societies norms. It allowed the exception to be seen to the wider audience, it provided jobs for those who couldn't make a living in regular nine to five jobs or manual professions. It gave entertainment to the masses and made people believe in the power of magic. You can think about the years of exploitation, which concerned animals and artists, but this film is far from dealing with the cons of showbusiness. When people were despised for being different, when they were made fun of for weight, height, hair abnormalities, when the color of your skin was still an issue which made it impossible to marry the love of your life, enjoy the evening at the theatre or be treated as equal, circus was a place where all could feel accepted. A tribute to art, music, dance, tolerance, love drive and motivation, and a big happy place for us to rewatch and resing, The Greatest Showman.
It comes just after the stresses of exams, the most hectic time at work, it allows you to find time for your hobbies, catching up with films that you missed, books that you skipped, socializing that you didn't have time for. Summer. It opens your eyes to new experiences, loosens the ties of your rigid routine and lets you float on the raft of new, unexplored and forbidden. It gives you space for summer love and a romance you'd never expect to take part in. Italy seducing with its food, architecture and landscape and a feast of sensual and ecstatic young love when all is still possible. Call Me by Your Name.