journal features
movie reviews
photo of the day

movie review - Nightbooks

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Kokubunji, 2024.06.09

This is a story about two kids held captive by a witch in the towering apartment building where the boy lives/lived with his parents. He was taken during an attempt at running away, which I think was a clever start. He strikes a deal with the witch to allow him to continue living by sharing his stories with her every night. While attempting an escape, he meets the other prisoner, a girl who seems to have been there a great deal longer.

We enjoyed the story, the setting, the boy's development through the affair, and rather good visuals of the mad-house apartment/labyrinth. The story is not exactly ground-breaking but they put in the effort to make a compelling story. The result was something at the right tone, balancing the lead's perpetual fear with the heroism needed to escape the maze/place down the hall.

Recommended.

rand()m quote

In an unequal society, those who land on top want to believe their success is morally justified.

—Michael Sandel