Our take
Paul Giamatti, man. Ever watched Win/Win? What a performance. I didn’t think he could do any better than that. But here he did.
This movie is now on Netflix. It’s about a couple that is trying to have a kid but can’t. Their frustration grows, but so does their willingness to do whatever it takes to become parents. They try to adopt, go to fertility clinics and ultimately ask their niece to donate her eggs. To really work, such a plot requires well-written, multifaceted characters one can relate to. I did, and it really worked.
Streaming arrival
What it won
Oscars
1 nom
Venice
2 wins
The story
Richard and Rachel, a couple in the throes of infertility, try to maintain their marriage as they descend deeper and deeper into the insular world of assisted reproduction and domestic adoption.
Elsewhere
"Hahn is one of the best actresses working today, and it's a thrill to see her at the center of a film, jagged with heartbreak, rage, hormones. This is a role worthy of her tremendous gifts."
— Sheila O'Malley
"Jenkins' writing underlines the fundamental instability at the heart of all our lives, while proposing that most universal of remedies: empathy, love."
— David Edelstein
The details
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.
This didn’t work for me. It’s a 90 minute movie stuffed into 2+ hours. Some great lines, but the plot points were all waiting for a conclusion that didn’t really seem worth the time.
Poor thriller. The story doesn’t adds up! Sometimes it doesn’t even make sense (the story). Didn’t like it!
If you watch movies for the characters, you will love Private Life.