The Park

Granted, I didn't really have any particular high hopes or expectations to the 2023 movie "The Park" from writer and director Shal Ngo, as I sat down to watch it. Sure, I hadn't heard about the movie, but after having read the synopsis, it sounded like a very bland run-of-the-mill movie with a storyline that has been done and seen before.

But still, I opted to sit down and watch it, as I might perhaps be in for something great here, though it hardly would seem so.

And I wasn't in for anything grand. I have to admit that I found the storyline in "The Park" laughably boring and ridiculous. It was, as I had believed, just another movie that uses the trope of all-adults-in-the-world-are-dead. It has been seen and done before, and writer and director Shal Ngo didn't exactly bring anything new or thrilling to the game.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble, but the acting performances were fair enough, despite the fact that I abhorred the storyline and script.

Truth be told, then I didn't finish watching "The Park", and nor do I have any intentions of returning to attempt doing so, because the storyline utterly failed to entertain me.

My rating of "The Park" lands on a three out of ten stars.

All adults are deadfrom a mystery virus. Only the children survive and they have an expiration date. Hit puberty and they die.

Interesting premise. Right. Could be good......wrong.

Firstly I can't really imagine this generation would survive long if this happened now. Just saying. Over sensitive cancel culture kids or those identifying as a toasters and pondered to wouldn't prepare them for a world without adults let's be honest.

Silly film really. Can't make mind up what it wants to be. Dark or tweeny.

Kids murdering each other....dark. With machetes darker..... but don't see anything at all and more about clichéd tweeny drama.

Too tame to be horror or an adult apocalyptic film with too dark theme for sensitive little kids of today. 🤷🏻 I was hoping for more of an intelligent Lord of the Flies type film. This is nothing as cerebral.

Potential Violence yet that never really happens l Or seen, frustrating. They try to make it tense and threatening and gritty, kids swearing and welding machetes but ultimately is so tame it's kinda embarrassing!? Why not just commit to one or the other. Maybe the tweens will enjoy it but as soon as past puberty I wanted to die than continue watching. But I did. And the ending was lazy and abrupt.

It tries to be philosophical and deep but its just kinda embarrassing how much it fails to achieve anything. A pointless endeavour.

Stop with the superhero movies already!

My first impression seeing the previews was that this would be like Lord of the Flies in an amusement park. Once I got into the movie, the setting and the soundtrack played very well into the story of kids struggling in a dystopian world. The story is straight forward with some nice up and downs. The fact that they used lesser known actors (at least to me) was very refreshing because the movie banked on the story, setting, characters, which I loved. Overall, a very well made movie. I look forward to seeing more movies with these actors and by these writers.

This world rotates alongside what you believe, you define it as a cruel place where every kids kill others to survive until they grow up and die, or you can believe it as an amusement park where all kids can enjoy themselves and stay naive!

Faith needs motive, which in this story, is the pursuit of immortality, the hope of doing something from being forgotten, the courage of entering eternity without worrying about the actual harm & threat of death.

The reality is, believing can't prevent the virus to take away life, but it was so precious that survivors can use such belief to summon more of their kind, which is such an romantic reflection to reality.

The cinematography, locations and plot were top notch. The premise and plot was interesting, although it wasn't the focus of the story.

The trailer is kind of misleading. Don't expect a horror, survival or action film. Think more of a indie character study rather than a plot driven film. The film can be dark due to it being post-apocalyptic but the kids balance it.

This film covers topics of humanity, survival and empathy. It's unconventional and kinda keeps you guessing on what will happen.

The writing wasn't bad. The dialogue is believable, which most writers struggle when it comes to kids but Shal Ngo did a great job with a nice message at the end.

Most of the reviews that are hating on this gem seem to be miserable boomers who are literally "kids these days" wouldn't survive... It's a fictional film... get over yourselves.

The acting is probably the weakest aspect of the film but it's kids. Some of the kids over act but it's bearable. The main character Ines played by Chloe Guidry is surprisingly well done and subtle. Kuan played Carmina Garay seemed to be over expressive but it kinda fits her character. It does drag towards the middle.

I had to give this film 10 stars to out weigh the unnecessary hate. But the film is probably 7/10. An above average film that made me remember the wonder and hope of being a kid.