Movie Reviews
Film Review: Pierce (2024) by Nelicia Low
Low uses her knowledge from the past to build a strong, unsettling thriller
When it comes to fencing which becomes the central stage of the plot in her dark debut feature, the psycho-drama “Pierce” set in Taipei, Singaporean director Nelicia Low knows what she is talking about. The former member of the Singaporean fencing team who was competing for her country doesn’t need the electrically conductive lamé to score points in this game of psychological duelling between estranged brothers, as she knows very well that tactics and control mean everything in this sport where faces are hidden behind a mask. Low uses her knowledge from the past to build a strong, unsettling thriller about unconditional love and treachery, about the destructive, manipulative, and unpredictable nature of a sociopath who can and does fool the environment into giving him a second chance, due to his mastery in tactics. But, the first-time director was also inspired by a big tragedy that shook Taipei in 2014, when a young man stabbed multiple people on the subway. While his parents immediately denounced him publicly, his younger brother stood by his side, in denial of what happened.
“Pierce” opens with a scene of a child drowning in the river in front of his mother’s eyes. As the woman repeatedly screams the boy’s name in agony, we see an arm pulling his almost lifeless body out of the water. We are officially introduced to much younger versions of brothers Zijie (Hsiu-Fu Liu) and Zihang (Yu-Ning Tsao) through one traumatic experience that will mark their lives.
Years flash forward, the younger brother Zijie is already a college student about to enter the official fencing team, and his older brother – a triple sabre champion of Taiwan – serves time for killing an opponent with a broken blade during a competition match. Unlike his mother, Zijie can’t wait to reunite with Zihang whom he considers innocent, and no matter what he is told about the dark side of his brother’s nature, he decides not to listen to it. When the news about Zihang’s early release from the juvenile prison reaches him, Zijie is filled with joy. He starts seeing his brother in secrecy, careful their mother doesn’t find out about it.
To help him, he even commits theft to provide for his older brother’s residency in Taipei, and in return, Zihang trains him in fencing which results in an almost immediate improvement of the boy’s technique and skills. He even gets selected to compete at the upcoming National Championships.
One of the strongest assets of “Pierce” is its cast. Hsiu-Fu Liu and Yu-Ning Tsao are great in their roles of two brothers completely different by nature and the goodness of their hearts. When Tsao’s face makes a little boy in the movie cry, we feel with the kiddo. He channels the psychopath with a blood-chilling genuineness, while Liu’s innocent big eyes tell us exactly the opposite. The character build-up in “Pierce” is generally finely done, with the right dose of emotional investment. Over the top is only the very end of the movie, with its final scene being a dash predictable and unnecessary. Interestingly, Zihang’s character was partly inspired by the biography of Ted Bundy’s long-term ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall who saw something good in him and was always wondering why he hadn’t killed her when he had so many chances to do it. Likewise, there is another real-life story of a psychopathic child who saved his younger brother from drowning which added to his character. Those moments between the complete dominance of mental disorder over Zihang, and the recurring waves of love for his brother are directed with a surprisingly sure hand.
“Pierce” is also laced with two love stories that never have a chance of fully developing due to the extreme chain of events. One of them is between Zijie and his teammate. Both young men are timid and new to the dating game, but they are barely given a chance to properly bond before the first competition that is supposed to catapult, ruins Zije’s life forever. The other romance is between the boys’ mother and a caring, but naive and conservative man of her age, who is unsuspecting of the family secret.
The drama co-produced between Singapore, Taiwan and Poland world premiered in the Crystal Globe Competition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it brought the Best Director Award to Nelicia Low.
Movie Reviews
I Know Exactly How You Die – Review | Indie Slasher | Heaven of Horror
Watch I Know Exactly How I Die on VOD
The director of I Know Exactly How I Die is Alexandra Spieth, who ensures a tight pace and some gorgeous shots. She previously directed Stag and created and starred in the web-series [Blank] My Life. The screenplay comes from Mike Corey, and I do really like the plot and evolution of this story.
As already mentioned, the star Rushabh Patel is the executive producer. As a result, this movie is billed as “Rushabh Patel’s I Know Exactly How I Die“, which I am not a fan of. Unless Rushabh Patel is famous in ways I am not familiar with – nor is IMDb, as this is his first and so far only credit there.
This is like people wondering if Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is connected to Stranger Things, because the media keeps referring to it as a new show from The Duffer Brothers. Sure, they produced it, but Haley Z. Boston created the original story and wrote the screenplay. And she’s not even a newcomer.
Okay, rant over, but I just don’t understand the marketing and press decisions of it all.
Anyway, as already mentioned, the practical effects in I Know Exactly How I Die are gorgeous. Any slasher fan should enjoy the concept of the plot as well as those amazing practical effects. And yet, you will have to endure a little terrible CGI, but this is an indie production, so budget restraints come into play. Of course, so does choosing the best talent, and that did not happen for CGI here!
I Know Exactly How You Die is out on VOD from April 7, 2026. You can rent it on Digital HD from your preferred platform, including Prime Video and Fandango at Home. The film will also be available on DVD.
Movie Reviews
‘Super Mario’ fans ignore weak reviews and send sequel to $372.5 million global box office debut, biggest opening of the year for a studio film | Fortune
Mixed reviews didn’t dissuade mass audiences from buying tickets to the “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which scored the biggest opening of the year for a Hollywood movie. The Illumination and Nintendo co-production earned $130.9 million over the weekend and a massive $190.1 million in its first five days in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Universal Pictures released the sequel globally on Wednesday, capitalizing on kids’ spring break vacations in the week leading up to the Easter holiday. With an estimated $182.4 million from 80 overseas markets, the film is looking at an astronomical $372.5 million debut — the latest hit for the PG rating. Mexico is leading the international bunch with $29.1 million from 5,136 screens, followed by the U.K. and Ireland with $19.7 million.
The animated sequel, Illumination CEO Christopher Meledandri’s 16th movie in 16 years, is the industry’s biggest debut since “Avatar: Fire and Ash” launched over Christmas. The Chinese movie “Pegasus 3,” which was not a Motion Picture Association release, has the slight edge for the 2026 global record, however.
It’s also a dip from the first film, which opened to $204 million domestically during the same five-day time frame in 2023 ($147 of that was from Friday, Saturday and Sunday). “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” went on to be the second biggest movie of 2023, with over $1.3 billion in box office receipts.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which features returning voice actors Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Day, had a massive footprint in the U.S. and Canada, where it played in 4,252 theaters, including 421 IMAX and 1,345 premium large format screens. It made $15 million from the IMAX screens alone.
“It’s exactly the kind of broad, crowd-pleasing release that brings people into theatres,” AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.
It also cost around $110 million to make, not including marketing and promotion expenses. But it arrived on a wave of less-than-stellar reviews. Its Rotten Tomatoes score is currently sitting at a lousy 40%. Ticket buyers were more enthusiastic, however.
The family audience gave the movie five out of five stars according to PostTrak exit polls, while general audiences gave it four stars and an A- on CinemsScore. Audiences skewed male (61%) overall, although when it came to families attending there were slightly more moms (52%) than dads.
“These kind of audience reaction scores just point to a ridiculously strong run, not only throughout the spring, but likely into the summer as well,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” will open in Japan later this month.
Last year, the first weekend in April hosted the launch of another video game blockbuster, “A Minecraft Movie,” which had a bigger three-day debut ($162.8 million) but didn’t have a “Project Hail Mary” in a strong second place, meaning the weekend overall is still up around 5%.
As expected, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ended the two-week reignof the Ryan Gosling-led sci-fi hit “Project Hail Mary,” which landed in second its third weekend in theaters where it added $30.7 million, bringing its running domestic total to $217.2 million. Worldwide, it’s made $420.7 million to date.
Third place went to A24’s provocative new movie “The Drama,” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, which made an estimated $14.4 million from 3,087 theaters. The film’s stars have been on a massive and charming press blitz to promote their R-rated movie about a engaged couple grappling with an unnerving revelation, which cost a reported $28 million to produce. The reveal has drummed up a fair amount of cultural discourse. While reviews have been more positive than not (82% on Rotten Tomatoes), it got a less promising B CinemaScore.
“Hoppers” and “Reminders of Him” rounded out the top five. And the box office outlook looks bright overall, up around 30% from last year.
“There’s no better opening act for a great summer than a huge month of April powered by a mega blockbuster like the ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’” said Paul Dergarabedian, comscore’s head of marketplace trends.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1.“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $130.9 million.
2.“Project Hail Mary,” $30.7 million.
3.“The Drama,” $14.4 million.
4.“Hoppers,” $5.8 million.
5.“Reminders of Him,” $2.2 million.
6.“A Great Awakening,” $2.1 million.
7.“They Will Kill You,” $1.9 million.
8.“Dhurandhar The Revenge,” $1.9 million.
9.“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” $1.8 million.
10.“Scream 7,” 915,000.
Movie Reviews
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