Make Films Stoic Again: Why Cinema Needs Its Spine Back

Every year, without fail, I watch The Grey. Bit of an odd New Year's Eve tradition, I know. It's not a classic. It didn’t win awards. Critics didn’t love it. But there’s something in that film I come back to every time. Stoicism.

Liam Neeson's character opens the film ready to take his own life. But when death stares him down, something changes. He fights. He protects. He endures. Not for applause, not for glory. He does it because deep down, he still believes life is worth fighting for. That’s what hits me.

What Happened to Heroes?

I grew up in the eighties and nineties. I had heroes. Real ones. They weren’t flawless, and they didn’t need superpowers. They just had purpose.

Ripley in Alien. Denzel in The Book of Eli. Marty McFly, RoboCop, Andy Dufresne. Characters with something to protect. Something bigger than themselves. They struggled. They changed. They stood for something. And that’s what made them powerful.

Today, that kind of character has nearly vanished. Too often we get characters with a message, but no journey. No pain. No growth. Just slogans dressed up as storytelling. The audience feels it. That emptiness. That lack of substance.

The Stories I Want to Tell

I’m not here to make trendy cinema. I’m here to tell the truth. I want to make stories about struggle, about endurance, about becoming better. Films about personal growth, strength through suffering, and characters who don't give up just because it's hard.

If you’re the kind of filmmaker who still believes in this, then I want to work with you. If you’re writing something with heart and grit, something that says something worth saying, reach out.

Let’s bring back stories with weight. Let’s bring back characters with purpose. Let’s make films stoic again.