Evie's Journal

  The Lighthouse: A dazzling film noir for the modern age.   The concept of A24’s recent production seems bleak: two lighthouse keepers stranded in a turret with nothing to entertain themselves but each other, drinking a revolting concoction of turpentine and honey and the atmospheric tumult which surrounds them. Yet director Robert Egger’s stylistic flair and Pattison’s and Dafoe’s stellar performances make this the most captivating film noir of this century. Set in the late 19th century on a remote island off the shores of  New England, Robert Pattinson, who plays the character ‘Winslow’ is employed on a temporary basis to help complete various arduous tasks at the lighthouse such as hauling heavy containers around, abseiling the walls of the lighthouse to paint it and emptying chamber pots. Understandably, Winslow begins to find the workload increasingly strenuous and with only the abrasive and demanding Thomas Wake, played by Willem Dafoe, for company, we watch W...

  The morning after the lockdown announcement, I got a phone call from my boss:       “Hi, I'm guessing you’ve heard the news. Truth is, I’m not sure what’s going to happen with your position. I know you can’t work at home, but we can’t risk you coming in during a pandemic. We’ll keep you updated. Take it easy.”        My partner Isaac still worked his long shifts at work which were deemed essential so I was left alone most days.    At first, I didn’t mind being alone too much. I spent my extra time catching up on tv shows and reading books I wasn’t able to finish before lockdown but very quickly the novelty of it all faded. My mind started to dissect everything I did: the tv just became moving pixels on a screen, books just became words on a page. The house began to morph into a realm of hostility: the cold floor boards, the black mould adorning the bathroom walls, the rusty taps that made an awful shriek when you turned them on. I was ...

The murder of George Floyd has sent shockwaves across the US and the globe. The thought that a police officer- in a position of such trust and authority- could abuse their position and harm a civilian is deeply alarming. However, while the UK are outraged and abhorred by the countless victims of police brutality in America, we cannot ignore the problems in our own country. As residents in a secluded rural town, we are often unaware of the racism that occurs daily. I know that I, myself, am in a position of privilege. I never have to worry about the colour of my skin and how that will disproportionately affect me amongst others, yet this is sadly the reality for many. No empathy I feel can ever amount to the fear and upset black people must feel right now. When many people ask “why are they protesting here when George Floyd was killed in America?” We need to recognise our failures regarding systematic racism in Britain. The UK historically is at the epicentre of racial exploitation an...

The empty shelves almost resemble A hollowed carcass They swarm like antibodies around a wound The time spent searching Searching for something to quench their thirst Something their dirty talons can grab Greed within fear Fear within greed Suddenly they're empty again Time is thick, putrid, stagnant The weight of the present on uncertain shoulders Waiting eagerly to be filled again Is this how it begins? Is this how it ends?

It’s a miserable Monday morning in September. As your PE teacher stands in front of you and your peers wearing a thick, fleece lined jacket, she tells your class to brave up and brace the cold. Shivering in your short sleeve t shirt and Lycra leggings, you anxiously await her instructions. She picks out two students, well known amongst the class to be athletically talented and popular amongst the rest of the year and tells them that they can choose from rest of your class on who gets to be on their team. They pick, one by one. Staring at your feet as your face flushes with embarrassment, your classmate says your name. You lift your head only to see you are the last one standing. As you walk towards your fellow students, you are met with eye rolls and belligerent glares. You are picked last. It’s a common tale every unwilling participant of PE knows well. The memories of sheer humiliation and embarrassment experienced by the anxious teenage mind during PE was soul crushing. Despit...

Recent study suggests if you don’t know what Kylie Jenner has had for breakfast there’s a 99.9% chance you will forget how to breathe. Your phones, your tablets, your iPads, your mp3 players, your smart watches, your fancy fridges from John Lewis: they all are united by one holy binding force, they all have Wi-Fi.   A spiritual messenger that guides you with heavenly power through every half second of the day.   Her knowledge is as infinite and as boundless as the universe. Don’t know whether goldfish can survive in milk or not? Is Africa a country? Need to urgently know whether your Aunt Meredith who you haven’t seen for 7 years got a refund on her hairdryer she got from amazon last week?   The internet has you covered. As our solar system orbits around the sun, we orbit around our love of telling the interwoven virtual sphere about   the precise length of toilet paper we prefer to use down to the nearest millimetre   and if we scrunch that said toi...

I am standing on the steep clifftop - feet dangerously close to the edge - completely captivated by Antalya’s Koprulu Canyon. Below me stands the sandy, jagged cliff face, the jade green shrubs which adorn it and the vivid, celestial rapids of the Kopru river which twist and wind into the horizon.  Soon enough I will be fully submerged in this tortuous, tumultuous river and embarking on a thrilling raft journey through the dramatic landscape. After crawling over strewn rocks and boulders, the adventure finally begins. It’s an incredibly bumpy ride back down to the rafting station. The rusty jeep gawkily charges across the rubble, passing locals who are having picnics in the middle of the dirt tracks in the scorching heat. Just as we think we have reached our destination the jeep thunders through a shallow dip in the river. This almighty splash is the first of many to come. Situated ninety-six kilometres north east of Antalya, we are deep in the rural Turkish mountai...