It’s been less than a month into 2021, and we’re back under Covid lockdown, as if nothing has changed since last March. We’re at home all day every day with only our friends’ and teachers’ faces on the screen to lessen the loneliness. Now more than ever, we want to get out of the house. There are places we want to be and people we want to meet, but perhaps the only thing that will offer an escape to another universe where this is possible is watching movies. Although your TV screen can’t substitute for a flight across the globe, it sure can help you forget your own problems by becoming absorbed in fictional characters’ for two hours.
Parasite
It should be no surprise that this Oscar-winning, record-breaking comedy-drama-horror film by Bong Joon Ho is on this list. If you haven’t seen Parasite yet, there’s no better time to watch it than now. If you have watched it before, there’s still no better time to rewatch it for previously unnoticed symbolism and motifs that will give you goosebumps.
Courtesy of / vulture.com The House That Parasite Built (From Scratch)
Friendzone
This Thai rom-com is about a man in love with his friend of 10 years who sees him as nothing more. Friendzone is a two-hour long story about friendship and romance that spans across beautiful scenes all over Southeast Asia. If you think lockdown has been lonely, you’re about to feel even lonelier :).
Courtesy of / thaipbsworld.com Thai Films Steadily Spread Soft Power Across the Region
The Queen’s Gambit
As one of the newer Netflix Originals, The Queen’s Gambit has already proven to be a powerful and immensely addicting mini-series. The show follows a chess prodigy in 1950s America from an orphan learning chess in secret to becoming World Champion. The Queen’s Gambit highlights the adversities and turbulences of being a genius.
Courtesy of / vanityfair.com The Queen’s Gambit: A Real-Life Chess Champion on Netflix’s Addictive Hit
Train to Busan
This famous horror movie is quickly becoming a classic, and it’s obvious why. In Train to Busan, a zombie outbreak plagues a train ride and turns it into a terrifying yet thought-provoking experience for both the characters and the viewer.
Courtesy of / empireonline.com Train to Busan Review
Ocean’s 11
This older, classic film is the perfect way to conclude our list. Though not on Netflix, Ocean’s 11 is undoubtedly worth watching, as it is a famous film about the beauty and glamour of robbing a Las Vegas Casino with a team of 11 unique con-artists. This mind-blowing film will make you wish you were standing in front of the fountains at the Bellagio, celebrating your success and newly-acquired $160 million.
Courtesy of / securityboulevard.com The Danny Ocean of Social Engineers
With five new movies added onto your must-watch list, you will, hopefully, feel a little less bored and a little more glad that even though all may be wrong in the world, at least movies exist to remind us of alternate, more fun universes.
— Copy-Managing Editor Suchita (Sushi) Thepkanjana can be reached at suchitat23@rism.ac.th. Follow her on instagram @suchitaaa.
