2 Movies Like The Diary (2024)

Staff & contributors

, 2023

After Nimona's long journey to the big screen (involving the shutdown of animation studio Blue Sky, and Disney's resistance to LGTBQ+ themes), the fact that the movie has been completed and allowed to tell its story at all is something to be celebrated. The film itself is pretty standard fare for American children's animation, with a script that spends far too much time on quips, and visuals that don't take advantage of the movie's science-fantasy world. But if you can get beyond its more ordinary aspects, Nimona becomes a surprisingly thorough metaphor of Otherness and queerness—best represented in the title character's shapeshifting abilities, and how people fear and become violent with her before even trying to understand her. It's a film that's sadly become more relevant than ever now, addressing how prejudice is something that's taught and passed down, packaged in an easy, entertaining manner for younger audiences.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Science Fiction

Actor: Beck Bennett, Chloë Grace Moretz, Cindy Slattery, Eugene Lee Yang, Frances Conroy, Indya Moore, Jarrett Bruno, Julie Zackary, Julio Torres, Karen Ryan, Lorraine Toussaint, Matthew J. Munn, ND Stevenson, Nick Bruno, Riz Ahmed, RuPaul, Sarah Sherman, Tim Nordquist, Troy Quane

Director: Nick Bruno, Troy Quane

Rating: PG

The film starts off with the intense court case drama side of things and generous foreshadowing about disappearances. From there, it’s a seamless escalation of the sinister developments that make up the rest of the story. The start gives us a healthy amount of conflict, suspects, and directions to mull over. The middle, which sees the adventure veer off, is phenomenally paced with all the eerily long silences. Until it unfortunately peaks as the most infuriating watch in the world. This movie doesn't seem well thought out once the hoo-ha is stripped away and we're left to confront a story. Organic and promising developments, wasted on forced and empty follow-throughs and a nothing ending.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Annabelle Wallis, Arturo Alessandri, Bruno Ricci, Gaia Coletti, Giandomenico Cupaiuolo, Lorenzo Ferrante, Massimiliano Gallo, Riccardo Scamarcio

Director: Renato De Maria