Melissa Barrera

Abigail

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Melissa Barrera as Joey

How to describe Abigail without ruining it? It starts out looking very much like a heist thriller, except it’s not money the gang in question is trying to lift, but a young girl called Abigail, the daughter of a very rich man, we later learn, who is expected to pay out $50 million to get her back. The gang all have aliases – Frank, Sammy, Joey, Peter, Dean and Rickles, the Rat Pack in other words, which gives everything a Tarantino-esque flavour. And Reservoir Dogs slight return is seemingly what’s on the cards once the gang successfully kidnap Abigail and wind up back at the big old mansion. Here it looks like they … Read more

In the Heights

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Usnavi and Vanessa

“Immigrants – we get the job done,” ran a line in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash musical. In the Heights deals more overtly with the immigrant experience in America but no matter which way you look at it, this film doesn’t get the job done quite as well as Hamilton did, not in terms of plot or songs or raps. Why would it? This was Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first go at creating a musical and though it won him a Tony – not bad for a debut – he’s still held back by the Broadway conventions that Hamilton rejected, and was all the better because it did. Big opening number, and we’re introduced to all the … Read more