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Marya E. Gates

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Marya E. Gates is a freelance film and culture writer based in Los Angeles and Chicago. She studied Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, and also has an overpriced and underused MFA in Film Production. Before pivoting to writing full time, she worked in social media marketing for Warner Archive Collection, Rotten Tomatoes, Turner Classic Movies, FilmStruck, and Netflix.

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Late Shift (2025) 96% EDIT “ Volpe’s film deftly examines one of the many cracks in the modern healthcare system: the overworked and underpaid frontline care workers who are just trying to keep it together while keeping their patients alive.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 27, 2026 Full Review Esta Isla (2025) EDIT “While the film follows certain genre tropes, it also cleverly subverts them as a way to critique the damage done to the island and its people under the thumb of American imperialism. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 27, 2026 Full Review She Dances (2025) 86% 3/4 EDIT “It’s an intricate web of relationships, and the film’s script is at its sharpest when it traces the reverberations of death and their many aftershocks.” – RogerEbert.com Mar 27, 2026 Full Review The Serpent's Skin (2025) 100% EDIT “Another evocative and stylish trans twist on genre from Mackay.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 27, 2026 Full Review Forbidden Fruits (2026) 76% EDIT “A delicious piece of post-girl boss feminism satire. . .this one is for the Dark Betty fans. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 27, 2026 Full Review Alpha (2025) 56% EDIT “ As someone who was sick as a teenager and nearly died, the film tapped into some specific emotions that I’ve hidden pretty deep and am always shocked when they resurface.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 27, 2026 Full Review Tow (2025) 78% EDIT “At times feels a bit rote, but it’s heart is in the right place, and it’s the rare film to really examine the entire economic and social system that continues to keep people down.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 22, 2026 Full Review Dead Lover (2025) 85% EDIT “Part low-budget DIY theatre, part "Frankenstein," part Kenneth Anger, and yet wholly its own creation. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 22, 2026 Full Review Slanted (2025) 69% EDIT “While Wang’s satire is sharp, especially the visual skewering of rancid American culture via advertisements, business names, and even a white supremacy karaoke video, the film’s the characterizations are weak.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 14, 2026 Full Review THE BRIDE! (2026) 58% EDIT “I’m sure it will be a clarion call for a certain kind of straight white woman. For me, though, the results are muddled, whether by studio interference or Gyllenhaal’s own lack of scope within her own feminism.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 6, 2026 Full Review EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2025) 97% EDIT “A wonderful peek into the process behind and work that went into these live shows. I’m all shook up. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Yellow Letters (2026) 82% EDIT “Pointedly about the rise of fascism in Germany, but could be about the rise of fascism everywhere at the moment and the pressure artists face to choose working/paying their bills over their ethics” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review The Blood Countess (2026) 82% EDIT “The result is a wonderful film that has comedy, maximalism, fashion, style, eroticism, queerness, and a climax at Prater to boot! Needless to say, Ottinger still has IT, and we should once again all feel blessed.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Mouse (2026) 100% EDIT “These filmmakers are on another level when it comes to making grounded, emotionally complex dramas about grief. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Say Amen, Somebody (1982) 92% EDIT “The cinematography, partially shot by the great Ed Lachman, is sone of the most gorgeous I have ever seen in a documentary. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review All to Play For (2023) 86% EDIT “You might think you know where this film is headed, but it absolutely had an ending that I was no expecting at all. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Undercard (2025) 47% EDIT “Sykes adds humor and an unexpected layer of pathos to the whole thing, while DP Ana M. Amortegui captures the vibrancy of Liberty City’s lively neighborhoods with a loving touch, giving the movie a lived-in touch that elevates it above its rote trappings.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review André Is an Idiot (2025) 96% 4/4 EDIT “With this project, André creates space, through his frank humor and endless curiosity, to really talk about death with a rare and candid honesty. ” – RogerEbert.com Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Somersault (2004) 85% EDIT “A visceral exploration of neglect, connection, identity, shame, isolation, sexuality, and love in all its many forms. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 20, 2026 Full Review The Dreadful (2026) 37% 2/4 EDIT “I just wish it were a medieval tapestry that worked as a whole, rather than just in fits and starts.” – RogerEbert.com Feb 20, 2026 Full Review Wuthering Heights (2026) 57% EDIT “Like her previous films, Fennell has proven herself to be a lover of maximalism, of artificiality, of feelings first filmmaking.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Alhelm: Martin Luther King in Palestine (2012) EDIT “The film can feel a bit dated at times, especially given everything that has happened in the last few years, but its got a lot of heart and truly show the power that art has to both heal wounds, bring people together, and also change minds. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA (2016) EDIT “Although this film is very lo-fi, it is a rich text that explores the film movement known as the L.A. Rebellion” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Marjoe (1972) EDIT “A marvel of a film.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Jimpa (2025) 53% EDIT “ The aim here is clearly to look at intergenerational conflicts and connections, but the results is largely a jumble that could have used a sharper focus” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review
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