Drop (2025)

Drop is the old fashioned style thriller that I can really get into. Is it a bit over the top in how it constructs its trap? Sure. But is it fun and edge-or-your-seat enough for me to look past that? Does the ending jump the shark? Maybe slightly. Do I care? Not really. 

Drop sets up a dilemma for our heroine, constructs it elaborately, and once the pieces are in place sets it all in motion for our entertainment. Who is the "bad guy"? It could be anyone and that's half the fun. How is she going to get out of it? That too is the fun of this sort of story. 

Fahy and Skelnar have good chemistry and the cast features some standouts like the delightful Self. Basically Drop is the kind of movie that is just damn fun to watch. I also want to give it points for its premise setting an abuse survivor as the heroine, allowing her to turn the tables and perhaps be a bit of a revenge fantasy without being insulting to viewers who may have similar backgrounds. 

Yet despite that piece, Drop remains a light-ish and satisfying thriller that is a good time to watch. You might have to suspend your disbelief slightly but not enough to take you out of the fun. 

Drop

Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Jeffrey Self, Reed Dimond, Violett Beane, Ed Weeks, Gabrielle Ryan Spring 

Director: Christopher Landon

Writers: Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach

The Amateur (2025)

Flashy yet formulaic, The Amateur is a rather by the numbers spy thriller. It offers pretty much what you would expect without any surprises but does it in a way that is generally satisfying and watchable. It's the sort of film where the hero/underdog overcomes all odds to make sure the bad guys get theirs, the sort of narrative that generally western audiences want. 

This is a brains over brawn fantasy and Malek is perfectly cast cause we know he likely could pull this off while looking awkward and nervous the whole time. There are a number of roles that feel a bit superfluous like Bernthal's character who basically shows up for two scenes without much purpose. Then there is Fishburne in the role of sage veteran passing along his knowledge but in the end doesn't do much of anything. He gets one action sequence in the middle that feels a little tacked on and goes away when the plot doesn't need him anymore. 

The main problem arises from how the plot is entirely worked around the "fridging" of Brosnahan's character, (not a spoiler - it's in the trailer) and then the film goes on to fridge another character. There may be a but of cognitive dissonance going on as the film's main moral lesson appears to be the immorality of covering up "black op" activities of the government so our hero goes on his own black-op? 

But best not to think about much of any of that and just enjoy what is otherwise a fairly slick if shallow action film with some cool revenge set pieces. That pool collapsing is very cool!

The Amateur

Starring: Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson

Director: James Hawes

Writers: Ken Nolan, Gary Spinelli

Sacramento (2025)

Sacramento didn't work for me. Writer/director/star Michael Angarano' awkward and stilted story often just feels off. None of his characters feel fully rounded, appearing to me a series of inconsistent neuroses. Nothing felt authentic, like it was trying too hard to be a cutesy oddball travelogue. 

Stewart is wasted but the brightest spot here is Erskine who is just not in the film enough. The film most comes to life when Angarano and Erskine (real life spouses) connect. Honestly I had a hard time sitting through Cera's scenes and his chemistry with Angarano was so grating it was almost painful. But once he was paired with Erskine, things began to click. Honestly if this movie had been the first scene leading right into him finding her, it would have been 10x more watchable. 

Angarano's script is rarely funny and offers little life inspiration despite what it thinks it is accomplishing. I could see a good movie in this story's periphery but it kept focusing on the parts that felt the least interesting. 

Sacramento

Starring: Michael Angarano, Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart, Maya Erskine 

Director: Michael Angarano

Writers: Chris Smith, Michael Angarano

Warfare (2025)

Warfare is a simple yet powerfully effective film. Shot in real time we follow a Navy Seal team as they find themselves surrounded and make efforts to get out. Based on real events that happened to writer/director Mendoza, the film doesn't comment on anything and instead just sets us in a moment of life and death without "good guys" or "bad guys" and just forces us to confront what modern warfare is like. 

The film is diligently accurate to the events experienced by the film maker and his compatriots. I understand many of them were on hand for the filming to share the real world events with the actors portraying them. You can feel the authenticity, even as the film remains rather succinct and brief. We are dropped into the moment and follow it through. The film ends in a moment that is so robustly full of a feeling of futility and waste. 

The cast is made up of some of the most exciting young actors coming up today. This is a true ensemble piece without anyone standing out. Mendoza could have made himself the star, especially with the amazing Woon-A-Tai playing him. But he doesn't. Instead this is a team effort.

Partnering with his friend Garland, Mendoza makes an impressive debut using film to capture very intense emotion very effectively. Garland insists he stepped back and let Mendoza tell this story. The collab feels very successful in centring a story obviously very important to the film makers. 

Warfare

Starring: D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Michael Gandolfini, Noah Centineo, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton

Writers/Directors: Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland

G20 (2025)

Davis is the pro of all pros. Even when she's in something light and, let's be honest, rather rote, she shows up and gives it her all. She makes it all just look easy whether it is delivering a powerful monologue like it is a Shakespeare soliloquy or a being an action hero like she's Tom Cruise, she pulls it off. I'd watch her read a phone book at this point. 

G20 is on the slighter side. When compared to something like Widows, another action film featuring Davis, which elevates the action genre in almost every way possible, G20 looks like a school project. Its perspective on geo-politics is rather 101. And even just as a film, it is made in a paint by numbers sort of way. But the action is engaging and its plot is enough to carry us through. 

And it has Davis giving a kick ass (in all ways) performance that makes it watchable. 

Could a movie like this have commented on global affairs in a more insightful and interesting way? Sure it could have. Does it remain entertaining anyway? Sure does. As a run of the mill action film it works. It also shows Davis can do anything. Which we likely already knew. 

G20

Starring: Viola Davis, Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, Ramón Rodríguez, Antony Starr, Douglas Hodge, Elizabeth Marvel, Sabrina Impacciatore, Clark Gregg 

Director: Patricia Riggin

Writers: Caitlin Parrish, Erica Weiss, Logan Miller, Noah Miller

On Swift Horses (2025)

On Swift Horses is luxuriously filmed, often very much like a dream. The characters don't talk or act like they exist in the real world, but are more symbolic of people. This both works and doesn't work, but fortunately more of the former. Sometimes I was pulled out of the film but other times I was intoxicated by it. It is a confection of bittersweet passion without much grounding. But it sure is pretty. 

The plot relies on a significant number of coincidences and moments that feel more staged than real. But when the connections do happen that's where the magic is. The cast has real chemistry with each other and much of the moments of obsession and tenderness feel real. Often in an awkward and honest way. So when a character is randomly waiting and the other just shows up it doesn't feel likely but it is welcome. 

The characters are more archetypes than human as well. This is about a pre-Stonewall world of signalling and hiding in plain sight, about like recognizing like, and the intersections of the coded lives. So perhaps some of the role play that is going on is due to the characters living a life that can't be open or described. And perhaps some of the sparks of recognition are brilliant yet fleeting, and more fantastic than concrete. 

On Swift Horses is filmed with a mid-century modern aesthetic that is just lovely and warm so when danger does come it almost feels more unexpected. I'm not sure it ever convinces us of these specific people's lives, but instead suggests more of an amalgamation of drifting folks searching for their place. The ending, featuring Elordi riding a horse in pursuit of love, feels like fantasy, as if we are searching for a an unattainable happy ending that will come no matter what. 

 

On Swift Horses

Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, Sasha Calle 

Director: Daniel Minahan

Writer: Bryce Kass