Quick Thoughts: A Pairing of Trauma Films // (Don't) Pardon My French

Something that happens a good bit when I watch movies is that I often come up with a good double-feature companion. Such was the case recently when I was viewing the 2004 movie Speak. It starred a 14-year-old Kristen Stewart as Melinda, a high school student who gets scorned by fellow students because she called the police during a big party during the summer. What they didn't know was that she had been raped at that party, and calling was her reaction. It was co-written and directed by Jessica Sharzer, adapting the 1999 YA novel of the same name, authored by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Beyond the story of this film, what crossed my mind was how it can parallel 2025's Sorry, Baby. The stories are different, yes. However, I felt like both have at their respective centres portrayals of how to cope and heal from trauma. Speak by way of art and Sorry, Baby by way of undying support (and the cutest kitten ever).

"I wanted to make a film about trying to heal from something really bad, about how you’re just trying to put the pieces of your life back together. I am intrigued by the things that get you through...", said Sorry, Baby writer-director Eva Victor in a January 2026 interview with W Magazine.

Both films are similar in that regard. While such common ground serves as a good way of connecting them, their differences make for compelling stories individually. The teenageris trying to figure out coping with trauma on the fly, as all the changes that come with that age are about. And the college professor who finds healing through small life victories that pile up against the memory of the awful thing.

Two companion pieces. Two must-watches. Two vital stories.

Don't Pardon My French

Here's a story: Some time ago, I was watching Celine Sciamma's beautiful 2021 film Petite Maman. I've been learning French for years now (quick daily Duolingo lessons, mind you), so watching French filmshas become key in further learning. Of all the French movies I've seen, this is the one I understood the most! Now to mildly dampen my celebration. Most of the dialogue is between two seven-year-old girls. But hey, that means I can understand at a First-Grade level. Ha!

All the funny aside, this is just a way of showing how important it is to watch foreign language films and read the subtitles. I'm a native Spanish speaker who learned English as a kid...with the help of subtitles. We have a world of films that we can be entertained and educated by. Yes, even learning a new language with the aid of first graders.

https://film-grab.com/