top of page
LIFE'S
HARD

FEATURED ARTICLES
SEX • MENTAL HEALTH • LOSS • IDENTITY • FAMILY • GROWTH
EXPLORE OUR STORIES:


Rebecca Radillo
Aug 21, 20247 min read
Festival Roundup | IFF Boston 2024
Rebecca Radillo breaks down the five films she saw at IFF Boston 2024.
99


Rebecca Radillo
Dec 1, 20239 min read
Isolation, Obsession, and Frankenstein: Why I’m a Frankensnob
Rebecca Radillo examines her love for Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein' and the spectrum of its many film adaptations.
402


Alejandra Velazquez
Nov 10, 20236 min read
How Horror Movies Changed My Relationship With Grief
Alejandra Velazquez examines her relationship to horror movies like The Conjuring, and how it changed her understanding of grief.
108

blossom mag
Nov 1, 20231 min read
Editors' Note - November 2023
Blossom Magazine editors, Lola Estok and Maddy Sutka, pen their thoughts about November's theme "pain."
44

Rebecca Radillo
Oct 27, 20238 min read
A Love Letter to The Conjuring: Finding Representation in the Strangest Places
Rebecca Radillo examines the unconventional faith-based representation in the Conjuring franchise.
78

Lyvie Scott
Oct 13, 202311 min read
Bliss on the Big Screen
Iris editor Lyvie Scott talks to friends and fellow critics about the films that first defined pleasure for them.
316

blossom mag
Oct 1, 20232 min read
Editors’ Note - October 2023
Blossom Magazine editors, Maddy Sutka and Lola Estok, pen their thoughts about October's theme "pleasure."
51

Rebecca Radillo
Jun 30, 202311 min read
You Create Intricate Rituals: The Homoerotic Action Movie
Rebecca unpacks themes of homoeroticism in action films, from the more obvious classics to unsuspecting gems.
659

Maggie Boccella
Apr 14, 20238 min read
Smart People on Ice: A Case for Setting Coming-of-Age Films in College
Maggie unpacks her favorite college-set coming-of-age films.
227

blossom mag
Apr 1, 20232 min read
Editors' Note - April 2023
This month, editors Lola Estok and Maddy Sutka talk about growth and all the messy and complicated feelings that come with it.
42

Rebecca Radillo
Mar 24, 20239 min read
What Maketh a Shakespearean Film Adaptation of Great Distinction
Rebecca Radillo lists the best film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, both the well-known and obscure.
409

Lyvie Scott
Mar 10, 202316 min read
Writers on Writers: Lyvie Scott & Rebecca Radillo
Lyvie Scott and Rebecca Radillo sit down to discuss their careers as writers, finding tragedy in action, and the future of film criticism.
93

blossom mag
Mar 1, 20232 min read
Editors' Note - March 2023
Hi Blossom! We're back with an all new theme this month - Second Chances. Pretty fitting, right?
43

Lyvie Scott
Dec 26, 20226 min read
Glass Onion Review: A Sparkly, Shallow Skewering of a New Class of Rich
Lyvie Scott peels back the layers of Rian Johnson's new mystery, Glass Onion, from the SCAD Savannah Film Festival.
75

Rebecca Radillo
Dec 23, 20225 min read
Growing Up With The Nightmare Before Christmas
Rebecca looks back on Tim Burton and Henry Selick's The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the profound message she's taken from the film.
465


Rebecca Radillo
Nov 26, 202213 min read
Don’t Try to Understand it. Feel it: Love, the Void, and Christopher Nolan
Rebecca Radillo explores the work of Christopher Nolan, and the statements that Interstellar, Inception and Tenet all make about love.
472

Lyvie Scott
Nov 14, 20224 min read
Bones and All Review: The Delicate and Grotesque Collide in Luca Guadagnino's Latest
Lyvie Scott reviews Luca Guadagnino's cannibal road-trip romance Bones and All at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival.
71


Rebecca Radillo
Oct 7, 20226 min read
A Brief Investigation of My Favorite Comfort Movies
Rebecca Radillo explores the similarities and differences between the films that have given her the most comfort over the years.
289

Rebecca Radillo
Aug 19, 20229 min read
Criminal Bodies: Life With Disabilities is the Crime of the Future
Rebecca Radillo explores the parallels between David Cronenberg's world in "Crimes of the Future" and our own.
269

Lauryn Jackson
Aug 19, 20225 min read
Our Bodies On-Screen: The Criminalization of Choice
Lauryn Jackson analyzes two recent films, both of which paint an incredibly timely picture about our right to choose.
169

bottom of page