11001001 (S01E15)

Airdate: February 1st 1988

Written by: Maurice Hurley & Robert Lewin Directed by: Paul Lynch

Running Time: 46 minutes

The enduring negative reputation that the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation enjoys among hardcore "trekkies" remains something of a critical anomaly that is hard to reconcile with the high quality of certain episodes within that inaugural run. While it's true that Season One suffered from growing pains, uncertain characterisation, and occasionally clunky storytelling, to dismiss the entire season as subpar is to overlook several genuinely excellent instalments. A particularly telling example of this critical dissonance is the fifteenth episode, 11001001, which stands not only as the season's finest outing but arguably as one of the best episodes of the entire series. This episode represents a remarkable convergence of strong writing, compelling character moments, and thematic depth that would come to define The Next Generation at its absolute best, yet it often gets overlooked in discussions of the show's greatest achievements.

The episode begins with the USS Enterprise-D arriving at Starbase 74 for a scheduled maintenance check and technological upgrades—a routine procedure that provides the perfect narrative setup for the unfolding drama. Commander Quinteros (Gene Dynarski), the head of the team that had originally constructed the Enterprise, brings aboard a group of Bynars—alien technicians who operate exclusively in pairs, sharing cognitive functions between binary counterparts. These beings had previously earned commendations throughout Starfleet for their remarkable improvements to computer systems on other vessels. Always inquisitive, Wesley Crusher observes their work with youthful enthusiasm, and while their behaviour seems somewhat unusual—perhaps even slightly suspicious—nothing initially appears out of the ordinary aboard the ship.

This maintenance period presents a welcome opportunity for the crew to relax, and Commander William Riker seizes this chance to test the holodeck's newly upgraded capabilities. He creates a setting based on a 1958 New Orleans jazz club. What begins as a simple desire to enjoy some good music and test his trombone skills transforms into something far more profound when the holodeck, enhanced by the Bynars' modifications, indulges Riker's deepest subconscious desires by creating a holographic companion named Minuet (Carolyn McCormick). This sultry woman, whom Riker considers his perfect match, engages him in conversation and dance, creating what appears to be an impossibly ideal romantic encounter. The brilliance of this sequence lies not just in its visual appeal but in how it reveals Riker's character—his charm, confidence, and vulnerability all emerge through his interaction with Minuet. Even when Captain Picard arrives to investigate the holodeck's performance, Minuet seamlessly shifts her attention to the captain while maintaining Riker's complete lack of jealousy—a testament to how thoroughly the hologram understands and satisfies Riker's emotional needs.

While Picard and Riker are enjoying this seemingly innocuous holodeck diversion, a genuine crisis has struck the Enterprise. Wesley Crusher discovers critical problems with the antimatter containment field and, after consulting with Data, concludes that the ship faces imminent destruction within minutes. The decision is made to immediately evacuate the entire crew and, via autopilot, steer the Enterprise as far away from Starbase 74 as possible to prevent catastrophic damage to the station. The evacuation sequence is executed with appropriate tension, though what follows represents one of the episode's cleverest twists: the antimatter problem is quickly resolved, but it's already too late—the Enterprise has warped far away from the station, apparently having been stolen by the Bynars. This revelation comes as Picard and Riker finally exit the holodeck, only to discover they are the sole humans remaining aboard the ship. Acting with commendable caution, they arm themselves and initiate the autodestruct sequence as a last resort to prevent hostile capture of the Federation's flagship. Their subsequent discovery that they're in orbit of Bynaus, the Bynars' home world, reveals the true motivation behind the theft: a catastrophic supernova explosion has devastated the planetary supercomputer upon which the Bynars' entire civilisation depends. Their desperate act of commandeering the Enterprise was nothing more than an attempt to utilise the ship's powerful computer to restart their own failing system. Picard and Riker, recognising the non-hostile nature of the Bynars' actions, assist them in this critical task before returning the Enterprise to Starbase 74. The episode concludes with Riker's poignant return to the holodeck, where he discovers that Minuet's programme has been altered beyond restoration, leaving her only in his memories—a beautifully understated moment that avoids sentimentality while delivering genuine emotional weight.

Despite incorporating recycled shots from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock—particularly the spacedock sequences—11001001 looks like the most spectacular episode produced thus far in the series and represents the most technically polished production by that point in the show's development. Direction by Paul Lynch is flawless, with the narrative progressing at a pace that feels urgent without becoming rushed. The script masterfully doles out information, revealing the general mystery to the audience at precisely the same moment as the protagonists, creating a satisfying parallel between viewer and character experience. This careful balance of exposition and revelation demonstrates a level of storytelling sophistication that many early TNG episodes struggled to achieve.

The script by Maurice Hurley and Robert Lewin throws in several interesting character moments that enrich the episode beyond its central plot. It begins in a light-hearted, relaxed tone that effectively establishes the crew's downtime atmosphere, with humorous character exposition showing Worf's surprisingly literal understanding of sports and Data's earnest attempts to learn painting with Geordi La Forge's assistance—details that lead to a wry remark from Riker. These seemingly minor moments serve the dual purpose of developing secondary characters while grounding the episode in the everyday reality of life aboard the Enterprise.

However, Riker's holodeck adventure is undoubtedly the actual highlight of the episode. Unlike so many subsequent holodeck episodes where things inevitably go wrong, here they go precisely as intended—the Bynars have genuinely improved the facility following the problems encountered in The Big Goodbye incident. The simple scenery of the 1958 jazz club is put to remarkable use, transforming what could have been a generic setting into a richly atmospheric environment that perfectly complements Riker's character. Through his musical performance, Riker gains a new "cool" dimension that would inform his character throughout the series, and his encounter with Minuet represents one of the most compelling explorations of human-AI relationships in science fiction television history. Jonathan Frakes finds perfect chemistry with Carolyn McCormick, whose artificial character stands as one of the most memorable creations in all of Star Trek. Minuet's uniqueness was so recognised by the producers that they rejected cheap and unconvincing excuses to reuse her in subsequent series, with the exception of the season four episode Future Imperfect where she appears specifically as the embodiment of unattainable perfection that Riker uses as a psychological crutch.

Music plays an equally important role in establishing the episode's atmosphere, with Ron Jones' original score being complemented by several authentic jazz standards performed by John Beasley. The musical choices aren't merely background elements but active participants in the narrative, enhancing the emotional resonance of key scenes while providing crucial character insight into Riker's sophisticated tastes and emotional landscape.

The script also deserves commendation for its number of genuinely surprising twists that the audience doesn't see coming. What initially appears as a life-threatening crisis with catastrophic consequences for the Enterprise is revealed to be merely a ruse to facilitate the ship's theft. Riker being stuck in the holodeck while being entertained by the perfect woman turns out to be an integral part of the Bynars' actual plan. Most significantly, the Bynars' ultimate motive proves far from hostile—it's instead the product of both desperate necessity and cold logic, with the aliens correctly calculating that Starfleet would never willingly loan them the Enterprise's computer for their civilisation-saving mission. This nuanced portrayal of alien motivation perfectly embodies Gene Roddenberry's optimistic ethos of a spacefaring future in which aliens must be presumed to act with the best possible motivations unless proven otherwise—a philosophical stance that often distinguished Star Trek from other science fiction of its era.

In many ways, 11001001 has aged remarkably well, particularly in our contemporary moment when the development of AI-powered graphics and chatbots has brought us closer to the kind of artificial perfection Minuet represented. The episode's exploration of human relationships with artificial intelligence feels more relevant now than when it originally aired, as people increasingly form meaningful emotional connections with AI companions. The episode avoids the common trap of portraying AI as inherently dangerous or deceptive—it presents Minuet as genuinely fulfilling Riker's needs without malice or hidden agenda, challenging simplistic notions about artificial consciousness.

It's somewhat astonishing that 11001001 doesn't feature more prominently in discussions of The Next Generation's greatest episodes, especially considering it won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series. The episode represents a perfect synthesis of Star Trek's core values—exploration, understanding, and the belief in finding common ground with the utterly alien—while simultaneously delivering compelling character moments and narrative tension. It stands as definitive proof that the much-maligned first season of The Next Generation contained not just promise, but fully realised excellence, waiting only for viewers to look past the season's admittedly uneven reputation to appreciate its genuine merits.

RATING: 9/10 (++++)

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Clevatess

Allez, un petit manga, ça faisait longtemps, non ?

Présentation de Clevatess

Auteur : Yūji Iwahara Personnage principal : Clevatess Livres : Clevatess Tome 6, Tome 7, Tome 8 Adaptations : Clevatess (2025) Magazine : Line Manga ; Monthly Comic Alive (24 avril 2024 – présent) Studio : Lay-duce

Pour l’instant, on n’a vu qu’une partie de l’adaptation en anime et on n’a pas encore commencé la version papier, donc impossible de dire s’il y a des différences.

C’est une histoire où les « hominidés » (nom donné à tous les peuples intelligents du manga – pas seulement les humains) vivent sur un immense continent, divisé en de nombreux royaumes. Mais ce continent est encerclé par les terres des créatures démoniaques. Un pacte millénaire interdit aux démons d’attaquer tant que les hominidés ne franchissent pas la frontière.

Un jour pourtant, certains royaumes décident d’envoyer une armée… qui se fait écraser en quelques secondes. En représailles, le royaume humain le plus proche est anéanti en une seule nuit par une seule créature. Seul survivant : le bébé du roi, épargné par le démon suprême, qui décide de l’élever dans l’ombre. Son but ? Le faire monter sur le trône pour conduire les hominidés vers un nouveau pacte de paix.

Mais attention :

Si, à l’âge adulte, le prince devient mauvais, le démon reprendra tous les territoires de l’enclave.

S’il devient bon, il restaurera la paix… et pourrait même obtenir le droit d’entrer dans le territoire démoniaque.

En attendant, le démon voyage incognito en terres hominidés, pour observer si ces peuples sont capables du meilleur ou du pire.

Problème : avec un royaume rayé de la carte, tous les autres se lancent dans une guerre pour récupérer son territoire…

Et là je ne t’ai résumé que les deux premiers chapitres.

Bonne lecture ou bon visionnage !

After season 2 of this The Walking Dead spinoff series, Daryl Dixon, which was released in July 2024, we waited until this month (September 2025) to finally have season 3.

That’s a one-year interval, but I didn’t really feel the huge gap because it has been AMC’s culture with The Walking Dead universe to stretch the release of the seasons and episodes.

Episode One [Costa Da Morte]

So we see Daryl and Carol in their journey home to America, landing in England after they passed through the tunnel at the end of season 2. Along the line, they met Julian, “the last English man in England,” as he calls himself. A very fun character — I love his ease in acting, so natural and smooth — but I just knew he was going to be killed off, as has been the custom of the show.

Daryl and Carol convinced him to sail them across the big ocean as they continued their journey to America, but high tides attacked them on the way. The boat capsized and they landed where? Guess what? Spain. How???

As much as I love the series to the core, the traveling logic has not been so good. These countries share very large boundaries, and for them to be jumping across these geographical locations so easily doesn’t sound convincing at all.

Well, Julian died in the process of the boat capsizing and turned into a walker (zombie). He almost got Carol, but Daryl came to her rescue. Carol also sustained a severe injury from the boat accident, and for this, they needed medical attention. Unfortunately, they were stuck in a land they knew nothing about, and they didn’t even know whether people still existed there. They kept walking, sickly, looking for a means to treat Carol.

Episode Two [La Ofrenda]

Yo! They landed in Spain. Yeah, their boat crashed into Spain, and while they were searching for means to treat Carol, they stumbled upon two love birds having fun in the bush. But little did they know they were being trailed. Eventually, the attackers caught them and were about to kill them when Daryl decided to intervene with his iconic weapon, the crossbow. He killed all of them except one who escaped.

The two love birds thanked them and, though reluctantly, took them to their city after Daryl forced them — since Carol needed proper treatment.

I must say, I love seeing new people and new faces on the show. The city is a small and lovely one, but they have an ugly tradition, which the situation of survival has forced them to adhere to, just like in the days of Negan and the Saviors.

Trouble emerged, which I fully expected, and their long stay in the city cannot be guaranteed as we wait for the rest of episode 3.

Episode 3 is to be released next Sunday.

Thanks for reading.

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Other photos are screenshots

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13623632/
• Platform: HULU

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Weapons | Official Trailer

Many years ago, the Croatian public was shocked by a real-life horror story whose protagonist was a girl trapped in a car boot, left there by her violent and possessive ex-boyfriend. The most disturbing detail was that she had managed to hide her mobile phone and call the police, only for the duty officer—using an exceptionally creative interpretation of legal regulations—to inform her there was no basis for intervention. While the incident was widely condemned on internet forums as a deeply shameful act, there was little discussion about whether the officer had been motivated by his own or his colleagues’ experiences of being „burnt” after having done or attempted to do the right thing in similar past situations. Even fewer discussions addressed what an ordinary person would have done in such circumstances. The Bad Samaritan, a thriller directed by Dean Devlin, could serve as one attempt to answer that question.

The titular character is Sean Falco (Robert Sheehan), a young Irishman who moved to Portland, Oregon, with his mother. Though he appears to possess some talent for photography and his bohemian artist image was convincing enough to win over Riley (Jacqueline Byers), a sexy upper-class student, Sean attempts to achieve the American dream via the path of least resistance—engaging in petty crime. Together with his friend Derek (Carlito Olivero), with whom he works at a restaurant valeting guests’ cars, he devises a simple but effective scheme for extra income. While the guests, typically well-off, enjoy their dinner, either Sean or Derek uses navigation devices to drive to their homes, break in, and help themselves to valuables stored there. Everything functions smoothly until one evening when wealthy businessman Cale Erendreich (David Tennant) visits the restaurant. During the robbery of his luxury villa, Sean is shocked to discover that Erendreich is holding a woman named Katie (Kerry Condon) captive there in chains. Deciding to do the right thing, he first attempts to free her, but when this proves technically impossible, Sean flees and anonymously reports the incident to the police. However, Erendreich is more than prepared for such situations and, through smooth talk and a few tricks, successfully dispels all police suspicions. After Sean tries again to free the girl, Erendreich discovers who reported him. The petty Irish criminal soon realises that prison and deportation are not the worst things that could happen to him—he has drawn the ire of a wealthy, influential psychopath fully capable of turning his and his loved ones’ lives into hell.

For Devlin, long-time collaborator of Roland Emmerich and responsible for a string of spectacular though critically unloved sci-fi films, The Bad Samaritan represents an unusual foray into the thriller genre, featuring a budget far less characteristic of his oeuvre. The core premise of Brandon Boyce’s screenplay, however, relies on straightforward Hitchcockian principles of the 'ordinary man in an extraordinary situation'. Crucially, it doesn’t detract that the 'ordinary man' is actually a petty criminal—a segment of the audience, particularly from these geographical coordinates, can easily identify with his 'resourcefulness'. Sheehan, an Irish actor previously known exclusively for bit parts, is notably at ease in the rare opportunity to play the lead role. Yet the standout performance belongs to David Tennant, his Scottish colleague, who delivers one of the most striking portrayals of a villain on the big screen—a role made easier by the fact he previously played a similar psychopathic character in the TV series Jessica Jones. The rest of the cast is largely solid, particularly the relatively unknown Puerto Rican singer Carlito Olivero as Sean’s friend and co-worker.

Nevertheless, despite being markedly different from Devlin’s previous work, this film will not win over critics. The primary reason, as with many similar thrillers, is that a strong premise alone is insufficient when the screenplay is weak. The manner in which the protagonist’s situation unravels suggests precisely this. Viewers seeking a genuine thriller are forced to endure scenes and plot twists riddled with clichés and implausibilities that offend common sense. This applies especially to the main antagonist, who, like similar characters in poor thrillers, is endowed with almost superhuman abilities—whether it’s deceiving the police, covering his tracks, recruiting women to serve as alibis, or hacking someone’s life. The same holds true for the subplot involving the hero’s girlfriend, which, regardless of how pleasing Jacqueline Byers is to the eye (and she demonstrates this in a couple of clothing-free scenes), feels superfluous and merely elongates the film beyond its necessary runtime. There are hints that Devlin may have attempted to season the narrative with socio-economic commentary, linking the villain’s 'free activities' to his status as a member of today’s stock-trading mercantile elite, dominated by soulless, unscrupulous psychopaths. However, this is drowned in „political correctness”, i.e., agitprop that seems to have strayed from the Obama era, culminating in the deployment of an FBI agent—specifically a Black female agent (played by Tracey Haggins)—to confront the villain. Ultimately, the film concludes with a predictably melodramatic showdown in which hero and antagonist must measure their strength against each other in a lonely cabin deep in the woods. While the final shot is somewhat unusual for Hollywood productions of this genre, it will not dispel the generally poor impression of a film that could have been far better.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

(Note: The text in the original Croatian version was posted here.)

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It's been over 2 weeks since I was last moved to write something. It's not like I haven't tried though. Writing for me isn't a skill, it's not something practiced, it's more like a feeling for me, when I'm about to write about something, I just have that literary enthusiasm in my thumbs. I wrote about how inspiration affects my writing a while back and it's just in this period that I noticed how lack of inspiration feels. I felt dead. Music, books, movies; all the regular things that interested and inspired me before felt like nothing, life was without color and my mindset was in monochrome. I lacked motivation for anything that is until I watched this...

The Truman Show

The movie is of a simple and easy to understand scifi plot. The word building is nothing special, the story itself is one layered and everyone can already tell what is going to happen from the trailer above. It's a movie that had been spoiled from the onset. Nothing spectacular about it... Except from the acting.

Everyone did a wonderful job of course, but Jim was the star, both in the show and off it. Watching him rack his head at the mystery of people's disappearance. Noticing how somehow... His say and point of view always seems to matter.

The little consistencies that makes the world seem inconsistent. It's those small cues in his acting that engages the audience. The way he shows his confusion, frustration and annoyance.

Another thing I loved was just how well the supporting characters were, infact, everyone in the crew was something else. The supporting characters really did show their worth for as much as Jim's acting was phenomenal, it would have meant nothing without a great team to help accentuate it.

I mean the wife, his best friend, his mother, and the 50+ extra's on set. They all mastered their places, lines and cue's well, giving Jim's world the kind of subtle creepiness that he noticed but couldn't prove.

The last person to note is the antagonist Stephan. I don't understand the grade of narcissism he'll fall under bought he was sure deluded. The idea that he could truly televise such a show for so long is insane. Someone's full life as though it was a script.

In reality though, this movie talks about the world's perception of the screens and movies in general.

How the whole world can "hypothetically" be invested in a show or an actor while forgetting that he two is a human being just like them, going through difficult feelings just like them and whatever seen on the camera isn't real.

In the same way it reflects on the public just how little they care about the movies they watch, for as the show they've spent 30 years invested on ended, immediately they started searching for something else to watch.

I rate this movie a beautiful 9 out of 10 stars and I genuinely recommend it to anyone and everyone. It's the perfect watch for someone to get a bit of reality ✨

La película tiene una trama de ciencia ficción sencilla y fácil de entender. El desarrollo de las palabras no es nada especial, la historia en sí tiene una sola capa y cualquiera puede adivinar lo que va a pasar por el tráiler de arriba. Es una película que ya había sido spoileada desde el principio. Nada espectacular... Excepto por las actuaciones.

Todos hicieron un trabajo maravilloso, por supuesto, pero Jim fue la estrella, tanto dentro como fuera de la serie. Observándolo devanarse los sesos ante el misterio de la desaparición de personas. Notando cómo, de alguna manera... Su opinión y su punto de vista siempre parecen importar.

Las pequeñas consistencias que hacen que el mundo parezca inconsistente. Son esos pequeños detalles en su actuación los que enganchan al público. La forma en que muestra su confusión, frustración y enfado.

Otra cosa que me encantó fue lo buenos que eran los personajes secundarios; de hecho, cada miembro del equipo era excepcional. Los personajes secundarios realmente demostraron su valía, ya que, por fenomenal que fuera la actuación de Jim, no habría significado nada sin un gran equipo que la acentuara.

Me refiero a la esposa, su mejor amigo, su madre y los más de 50 extras del set. Todos dominaban a la perfección sus posiciones, diálogos y señales, lo que le daba al mundo de Jim ese sutil escalofrío que él percibía, pero no podía comprobar.

El último en destacar es el antagonista Stephan. No entiendo el grado de narcisismo en el que caerá, pero seguro que estaba engañado. La idea de que realmente pudiera televisar un programa así durante tanto tiempo es una locura. La vida completa de alguien como si fuera un guion.

En realidad, esta película habla sobre la percepción que el mundo tiene de las pantallas y del cine en general.

Cómo es posible que el mundo entero se interese "hipotéticamente" en una serie o en un actor, olvidando que él es un ser humano igual que ellos, que atraviesa sentimientos difíciles como ellos, y que lo que se ve en cámara no es real.

De la misma manera, refleja en el público lo poco que les importan las películas que ven, pues, al terminar la serie en la que invirtieron 30 años, inmediatamente empezaron a buscar algo más que ver.

Le doy a esta película unas hermosas 9 de 10 estrellas y la recomiendo de verdad. Es perfecta para ver un poco de realidad ✨

Heaving a sigh of relief as I write this, essentially because I’ve been on this series for about a month now, if not more, so I’m super glad to be done. It’s the second season of Wednesday, and it’s odd that I looked forward to this season as much as I did considering that I was disgruntled they took that much time to release a second season.

Wednesday Season 2 (2025)

So, yeah, it’s Season 2 and Wednesday is quicker on her toes. She delivers her sarcastic one-lines and deadpan wit with even more finesse. More unapologetic, and more brutal with her stares. I’ve always loved her performance. The coldness of heart and mind that leaves you gasping how one could be that cold, but then, in rare moments, there’s a glimpse of vulnerability that’s just endearing.

I love the mystery and the thickening of the plot in the never ending saga of Nevermore. Now, there’s a new villain committing atrocious crimes with crows. This masked villain follows Wednesday Addams everywhere, and it’s quite clear that this entity has a huge bone to pick with not just her, but perhaps Nevermore as a whole. The clever, dark humour and the perpetually eerie performance just keeps you glued to your screen.

I love the introduction of the invisible Agnes that makes the cold-hot friendship of Wednesday and Enid even more dynamic. I love how their friendship evolves into something much more worthwhile, and it’s nice to see that somewhat vulnerable side of Wednesday when it comes to her friends. I love the incorporation of Isaac Night in the whole story. Didn’t see where it was going to but a lot of things made a lot more sense, making this season not just gratifying but extremely eye-opening.

What were my little ticks about this series? First off, there were quite a few plot holes, introduction of stuff only to leave it hanging. The bird lady left the picture so unceremoniously, even though she came in with a bang. I expected some grand reveal, or something that will leave me with a gasp, but her rather uneventful termination to re-introduce the Hydes and their own family drama was just silly.

Also couldn’t care less about Bianca and her mother’s whole thing with the Principal. I think I only sat up and got interested when it had to do with Wednesday’s grandmother and her fortune. Whether Bianca’s story was developed or not, I just couldn’t bring myself to be bothered. I’m sorry.

I just love that the film ended on a more darker note than it started in the beginning. I really want to know the whole mystery with Aunt Ophelia, Wednesday’s aunt, and why their psychic abilities are so deeply intertwined. Hopefully, I don’t have to wait another three years. It really was a beautiful season, and the whole body exchange thing was just chef’s kiss.

It’s undoubted that every film production would have its ups and downs. But, I’m glad there was more to love and less to hate in Wednesday Season 2. Fingers crossed for Season 3. 4.4 stars from me. I honestly have to recommend this.

Jhymi🖤

_{Images from IMDB.}

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“You’re not leaving this world anytime soon”? That’s how Weapons felt to me. It didn’t even open like a movie; it opened like a wound. The screen goes dark, there’s silence, and then—bang. That first gunshot, not just loud but too loud, makes you jump even though you knew something was coming. And suddenly you realize this isn’t going to be about weapons as objects—it’s about weapons as shadows, as ghosts, as the unspoken thing everyone carries but doesn’t want to name. Right there, I felt my chest tighten because it wasn’t action, it was weight.

It is dragging you deeper and deeper in scene after scene. Like there is this moment in the diner, you know, you know the one I am talking of, people laughing, young people just being young, fries on the table, music low, life normal. And then the air shifts. You can practically sense when it is going to happen, it is as though the sound design is breathing down your neck. And when it happens… Good, that is worse than noise, God. The camera is stuck on spilled soda, ketchup on a plate, an unanswered phone ringing on the floor. I covered my mouth with some hand after that scene. Not that I was aghast but that I was aware of that hollowness. The manner in which a room can empty in a second.

Then it drags into these toilet effects--and each succeeding scene is the pieces of the same broken mirror. It is a family dinner table, where people are attempting to converse about anything besides what is between them. Scraping plates that are too loud, a hand shaking during the pouring of water, longer silence than conversation. I swear I felt the tension in my shoulders as though I was at the same table and I did not know what to say which made me fearful to say the wrong things.

And there is this shot in the school hallway--God, that hallway shot never left me. Fair queues, knapsacks, chatting, yet all of it dampened, as though the life is vacuumed out. The camera does not gaze at faces, it gazes at shoes, at banging locker doors, at the shuffling movements. It seems the film is saying: the aftermath is not just in the headlines but even in how you can no longer even look up because of it any more. I sat there and cogitated, this is what numbness is like on screen.

I was later messed with over the rooftop scene. There are two characters who are standing beneath this huge night sky, the city is faintly buzzing somewhere down there, and it is like there should be freedom down there. However, on the contrary, it is as though gravity is even heavier than ever. Their dialogue is interrupted, disjointed. The fear is not what they are discussing, they are evading it, going around it, as it is too dangerous to approach. And I recollected how we do it so many times in real life, we never utter the thing, we merely walk round it, hoping that another person will.

The film is not linear, it is not keen on being so. It is like treading on the nightmare of another in bits, a classroom here, a bedroom here with music playing too low, a parking lot where headlights are the interrogation lamps. Each scene smothers you, such as the air thickens. And guns are not the only weapons, they are words that are not spoken, looks that are incisive, silences that are puncturing more than any knife would be.

The thing that got me the most was a little scene--you may not even call it big by itself, though--but where somebody is attempting to wash their hands in a sink, scrubbing over and over, and the water splashes all about. There is no bloody thing there, no cleaning to be done, yet they cannot help. And I was sitting there just swallowing hard because that is how trauma is you scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub and nothing comes off.

Towards the last stretch, I was no longer only watching a movie, but I was holding my breath. The remaining few minutes--God, I shall not make it too much--but it is not what gives you good closure. It only leaves you with echoes. A room with nothing in it, a motionless camera, a buzz in your ears which would not no. And it brought me to understand: there are stories that do not die, they haunt.

I did not want to clap or even move, as I walked away from Weapons. Like a gutted swan, I was. It is not entertainment it is confrontation. And the worst thing, the thing that made me exposed, is how real it was, how it became so natural that it is monstrous, how fear becomes a part of breasting. It did not seem to be a movie-going. It was as though remembering something you would not like to have lived.

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