Debbie Holloway
Tomatometer-approved critic
Debbie lives in Brooklyn, New York, and works closely with Narrative Muse, a fast-growing source for movies, TV, and books created by and about women and gender diverse folks. She has a soft spot for well-made children's movies, directorial debuts, and flicks with wicked stunts. You can find her championing and prioritizing the work of creators who have been historically marginalized in the industry, with an eye both critical and generous. In addition to movies, she loves creativity, kindness, liberation, excellent takeout, yoga, GIFs, getting rush tickets for Broadway shows, reading on the subway, and working in her community garden.
Brooklyn, NY
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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The Matrix (1999) |
Good news, my dudes. The Matrix might be better now than it was in 1999! - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 08, 2020
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Miss Juneteenth (2020) |
Miss Juneteenth is a treatise on how hopes and dreams are generational and communal, spilling down from mother, to daughter, to granddaughter - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 08, 2020
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The Half of It (2020) |
Whether you were the jock, the nerd, or the popular kid, there's something in this movie that just might make you feel pretty darn seen. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 08, 2020
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Little Women (2019) |
Gerwig's adaptation makes sure to let the women watching know that their narratives, no matter how domestic or ordinary they may seem, are important. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Mar 27, 2020
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Queen of Paradis (2020) |
Watch it not just for a behind-the-scenes peek into stunning photo shoots, but for an inspiring and encouraging glimpse into the world of a young and vibrant creator. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Mar 23, 2020
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CRSHD (2019) |
CRSHD is the shallow-but-fun, sex-misadventure comedy we've all been waiting for, this time (FINALLY!) made by young women and starring young women! - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 28, 2019
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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) |
Furiosa and the women are the heart and soul of Fury Road, championing female life and autonomy into something that could have easily been a popcorn flick for bros. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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He Named Me Malala (2015) |
Malala is a unique, surprising individual, who's part of a larger history of standing up to oppression. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Brooklyn (2015) |
Full disclosure: I did not expect to cry so much during Brooklyn - the journey of one woman learning to navigate her place in the world. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Still Alice (2014) |
What would I do if tomorrow a terrifying diagnosis dropped out of nowhere? How would I navigate the waters of disappointment and broken expectations? - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Gayby Baby (2015) |
Being a kid is hard; being a parent is hard -whether you're straight or gay- all the time, no matter what. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Room (2015) |
Room isn't all heartbreak and despair. It's also a testament to how we make each other stronger, how we aren't meant to go at it alone. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Money Monster (2016) |
The temptation to steal, hide, and lie becomes stronger when it means simply moving numbers instead of banknotes, or tucking away data behind passwords and code. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Eye in the Sky (2015) |
It's a take on the impossible moral quandaries which arise in wartime - the things we take for granted and situations we hope to never face. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Weiner (2016) |
Weiner is a brisk, laugh-out-loud, fascinating peek into the campaign offices and living rooms of the people ensnared in Anthony Weiner's bizarre political saga. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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The Fits (2015) |
The Fits is dark and cavernous, mysterious and pulsating, with a surreal take on adolescence and what it means to grow up. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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The Little Prince (2015) |
The Little Prince is a beautiful blend of a classic story and a new, compelling one...stars hang from threads, and you can almost hear them laughing. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Spy (2015) |
It's the secret agent action movie flipped on its head. Mr. Perfect Agent has a secret weapon in his ear: Melissa McCarthy. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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Selma (2014) |
...[I]n zooming in on one moment, director DuVernay and writer Paul Webb really force us to live in the trial by fire that was the American South in 1965. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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After Parkland (2018) |
In the wake of this school shooting, something began to change in U.S. dialogue and activism. This documentary holds a magnifying glass up to this pivotal event. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 21, 2019
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The BFG (2016) |
There are treasures to be unearthed in the loving and poignant last cinematic words of Mathison's adaptation. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 11, 2019
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A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015) |
I recommend the film not because it's a classic or it's my new favorite movie. But...It's worth disappearing into an old, old language and confronting difficult truths about life. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 11, 2019
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Queen of Katwe (2016) |
There's a distinct burden to telling a true story well - and this cast and crew shouldered the task bravely. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Oct 11, 2019
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Miss Representation (2011) |
If the media is so derogatory toward the most powerful women in the US, "then what does it say about [the] media's ability to take any woman in America seriously?" - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) |
It rises above expectations, and brings back the warmth and quirk so memorable in the original novel. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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I Will Follow (2010) |
Before 13TH and Selma, Ava DuVernay was making her big-screen directorial debut in I Will Follow - and it doesn't disappoint. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Suffragette (2015) |
It's hard to believe that dropping our opinions into a ballot box, something we do so casually, took so much ink, blood, and screaming to accomplish. But it did. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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13TH (2016) |
Systems of oppression tend to reinvent themselves, according to 13TH. Is there a way to move past them? - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) |
I want to be up front with Harry Potter fans - this movie is not Potter caliber. But I still found it to be absolutely lovely and enchanting, with much to admire. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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The Edge of Seventeen (2016) |
The world is full of beautiful, complex humans. Sometimes it just takes a bit of growing up to notice them. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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20th Century Women (2016) |
What did it mean to be born, to grow up in, to die in, the 20th century? Well, it meant a lot of different things. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Beauty and the Beast (2017) |
This movie brings major nostalgia for the 90's kid and fairy-tale lover and fills in some of those glaring plot holes from the original. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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My Cousin Rachel (2017) |
This film uses an engrossing love story to pierce the heart of the literary femme fatale archetype to its very core. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) |
Antonina Zabinski was a woman of privilege and resources, and her family's true story of heroism and generosity is almost too beautiful to be believed. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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A Woman's Life (2016) |
A Woman's Life is a beautiful, bittersweet reminder of the most euphoric and most heartwrenching parts of life. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story (2014) |
U.S. Navy SEAL Kristin Beck voices her newly embraced transgender identity, her transition, and shares the struggles she knows still lie ahead. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Lady Macbeth (2016) |
I expected a dark period drama - but the film went way past that. This is no Jane Austen piece. Get ready for a truly psychological thriller. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Patti Cake$ (2017) |
The cast is solid, the direction is colorful and bold, and our hero Patricia (AKA Killa P) is the talented version of ourselves we all aspire to be. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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The Incredible Jessica James (2017) |
Jessica James is kind of obnoxious, mean to her dates, and she's definitely her own biggest fan. But she's 25 and she's trying really hard. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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The Florida Project (2017) |
This drama provides so many emotional sucker punches. Like Moonlight, it shows, rather than tells, the beautiful, real, and raw story of everyday Americans. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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I, Tonya (2017) |
It easily earns high scores across categories: the music is infectious, the direction is like a Coen-brothers romp, and the cast is all-star caliber. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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A Wrinkle in Time (2018) |
It's a year be proud of the fade of girl-characters in movies who look to male companions and ask, wide eyed "What do we do now?" Not Meg. Not in Ava's movies. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Loving Vincent (2017) |
Loving Vincent is a bit like "Starry Night." It's simple, it's soothing, yet somehow it's unlike anything you've ever seen before. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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The Prince of Egypt (1998) |
This story reminds me that in a world run by men and kings, there is wonder and strength in the woman, in the child, and in the slave, to change the course of history. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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A Fantastic Woman (2017) |
This isn't a story about discovering identity. This is a story of relationships, of grief, and of how social networks break down for the most vulnerable. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Duck Butter (2018) |
The movie is almost entirely conceptual. It's not one for the history books. Still, it left such a warm spot of admiration in my heart after it was all said and done. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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High Life (2018) |
High Life is richly layered, atmospheric, and as creepy as poison ivy winding its way around your leg. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Dead Women Walking (2018) |
Haunting and tender, this exploration of nine incarcerated women deals with the most chilling verdict any justice system has to offer: the death penalty. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Too Late to Die Young (2018) |
Watching Too Late to Die Young felt like being carried by a gentle stream. It has a dreamlike, even-keeled quality one doesn't find in many Hollywood movies. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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Shoplifters (2018) |
Despite the hiding, the brokenness, and the stealing, this family in Shoplifters is a small snapshot of joy, and one that shines a sorely needed light. - Narrative Muse
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| Posted Sep 11, 2019
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