Universal Monsters - Frankenstein (1931)

In my opinion of all the Universal Monsters movies, only one film outshines Frankenstein, and that's its sequel, The Bride (which I will talk about in another post). Frankenstein itself is a cinematic masterpiece that is the high point of the series of films and of its genre. Director Whale is in a league of his own, making films which transcend their genre and stand the test of time. 

Frankenstein is shot beautifully creating one of the most cinematic films in the series (with only Dracula rivalling it for visual splendour). His audacious opening sequence, daring the audience to leave or buckle in for an unprecedented experience, is delightful. This is a story that is chilling, because of what has now become a cliche, but at the time (and at the time of the film's classic source material) was rather revolutionary, that it is us who are the monsters. Dracula is about true evil terrorizing people, while The Wolfman is about a sympathetic, misunderstood "monster". But Frankenstein is about how monstrous we are.

It's hard not to watch the film today without seeing things through the Creature's eyes and reading the ending as tragic and forbidding. There are queer readings of the film and its messaging that I'll discuss more in my discussion of its sequel, but suffice it to say the conclusion pointing to a wedding and future grandchild is not portrayed as a "happy ending." The film is evocative and emotional. Little Maria's death has a clumsy comical feel at the time but when we get to the scene where her father is carrying her body through the town streets, the film reaches an emotional crescendo. Whale is interested in making his audience think about what they are witnessing, not just react. It remains an extremely watchable film. 

Frankenstein is followed by 3 direct sequels and then the creature appeared in numerous crossovers such as House of Frankenstein and he even met Abbott and Costello. As I said I'll discuss The Bride of Frankenstein on its own as it deserves such attention. 

The second sequel, The Son of Frankenstein, is a strong film as well despite having to exist in the shadow of its masterpiece predecessors. While it doesn't live up to their legacy it remains a good film and stars Sherlock Holmes himself, Basil Rathbone, in the title role. About community paranoia and legacy, the film is most notable for introducing Igor although this character barely resembles the caricature that name has come to embody (which is more along the lines of Fritz in the original film). It also is the last time Boris Karloff played the monster on screen before Universal recast its famous character.  

Following Son was the final stand alone sequel, The Ghost of Frankenstein, another entertaining film despite starting to feel the diminishing returns of sequelitis. This is Igor's story continued on from the previous film, exploring his search for eternal life. the film can be read numerous ways by today's audience including seeing his schemings as push back against a world that unfairly rejected him, the deviousness of a heartless man, or somewhere in between/both. 

There have been a plethora of reimaginings of the film and other interpretations of Mary Shelley's novel including the legendary Hammer film Curse of Frankenstein starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, with its own mixed reception and legacy. It launched that studio's high era and leaned into the violence of the story in a way that was shocking for its time. 

One of the most famous is the criminally underrated Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by Kenneth Branagh, a film I adore for its bold, operatic style and visual lushness. It remains the most loyal to the plot of the novel (despite some small divergences) and is truly emotionally satisfying in my opinion. I love how Branagh gets Shelley’s critique of the male ego and the attempt to dominate nature/God. To highlight the gendered aspects of the story, he centres Elizabeth in ways she isn’t centred in other takes and I’m not talking about just the end. She is presented as a possible real partner to Victor and it’s when he pushes her away that he is on the wrong path. She refuses to be a prize for men to compete over. The moral of the story is tied to male ideas of ambition and self-destruction.

There was also a surprisingly boring 2015 adaptation named Victor Frankenstein which throws all but the most basic resemblance out for a rather new take which generally disappoints despite featuring a cast including James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe, and even Andrew Scott. Guillermo Del Toro's 2025 adaptation has caused a sensation while being divisive as well. If there is one thing the adaptations appear to have in common is they divide audiences. 

But the character and/or the monster have transcended mere adaptations. In everything from The Munsters to Young Frankenstein, to the Monster Squad, to Frankenweine, the concept and character have become one of the most iconic in pop culture. No doubt there will be many more appearances of the character and adaptations of the story in the future and it is due both the power of the original novel and Whale's beautiful classic film. 

Frankenstein

Starring: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Boris Karloff, Dwight Frye 

Director: James Whale

Writers: Garrett Fort, Francis Edward Faragoh

Twinless (2025)

Twinless is the sort of film that is best to go with as little information as possible and that makes it a rather difficult movie to discuss with anyone that hasn't seen it. I will say that it's hard to think of a movie that shook me and touched me as much as Twinless in a very long time. Sweeney's intricate, provocative, and rather fearless screenplay and direction take us to places I did not expect. Twinless is the sort of film that will haunt you afterward. Without understanding the context, that makes it seem like a different film than it is. But once you have seen it, Twinless is the sort of film that burrows into your mind in both recognizable and uncomfortable ways, and forces you to sit with it. 

I'll start with O'Brien, who I believe has always shown a strong talent as an actor that is often belied by his handsomeness. Here he truly shines, as a pair of twins. He embodies both beautifully, in complicated ways. He makes neither a stereotype and he gets deep into each (the one perhaps a bit less as the film spends less time on him). 

I will say his performance was one of the most haunting qualities of the film. He is at once both the cliched straight man crush trope that is infused in so much gay culture, and something more deconstructed. O'Brien doesn't allow himself simply to be the desired but unattainable friend that is so problematic in both gay art and in gay culture. He is also seeking something from his relationship with his gay friend that is problematic but relatable. Twinless doesn't allow him to be tokenized or objectified and a big part of that is O'Brien's rich, understated performance that values all parts of Roman, including the less respectable parts. 

But it is the central character of Dennis, played so remarkably by writer/director/actor Sweeney, who truly pushes Twinless into the stratosphere. This is one of the most complicated and challenging and problematic characters I have come across in a film recently. I hated him, loved him, resented him, wanted to hold him and tell him everything was going to be okay. I was deeply uncomfortable with anything I saw in him that reminded me of, well... me. 

He is queer coded in ways that echo the villainous queer coding of Hollywood's golden era, while simultaneously being profoundly honest about real life gay men and the struggles with socialization, relationships, and existing as a queer man in the 21st century. He finds the complicated places of truth in the ways we hate ourselves, the ways our culture hates us, and takes that into places where we might be able to love ourselves, see value in ourselves. I had quite an emotional rollercoaster with Dennis and there were times I didn't want to be on that ride. I found Rocky also interesting to engage with, as there were a lot of convoluted feelings buried in his character too. Sweeney's boldness in his creation and execution of these characters is striking and just emotionally draining. 

Twinless is one of the queerest films I've seen in a while and it reached in, found something raw, and really went with it. I found it cathartic. I wasn't sure it was going to be able to stick the landing as so many films with challenging premises struggle to "wrap up" their stories in satisfying ways, in ways that are intellectually and emotionally honest. With Twinless Sweeney manages to do that in a quietly beautiful way. 

I wanted to immediately watch it again upon its conclusion knowing it would be may be even more moving the second time through. 

Twinless

Starring: Dylan O'Brien, James Sweeney, Lauren Graham, Aisling Franciosi, Chris Perfetti

Writer/Director: James Sweeney 

Eden (2025)

Eden is based on a real life Lord of the Flies like event which occurred early in the 20th century. When differing groups of Europeans, with very different reasons for doing so, attempted to settle on an uninhabited Galapagos Island, this did not go well despite all their high and low ideals. The story is a rather pessimistic examination of our humanity that brings its characters to their knees. I'm just not sure the film does the story enough justice. 

Perhaps director Howard wasn't the right choice for this story. He goes to some dark places I don't remember seeing in his work before, but it always feels like the safety is on, that the story should feel even more unsettling than it does. Eden is about isolation and the inhumanity of desperation. It explores how the rejection of collectivism reduces our humanity and how competition leads to degradation and violence. But Howard always holds back a little. Eden should have been a darker story than it ends up being. 

But what does work is how wonderful the cast is. Armas has some amazing moments and Kirby, Law and Brühl are remarkable. So much of what makes Eden so watchable is the way the cast creates their characters and navigate their relationships together. It ends up being incredibly watchable while touching on discomfort. There is a great scene near the end between Law and Kirby where he ends up pulling her tooth, which is riveting. 

The one weakness in the chain is Sweeney who does a capable job but never feels like she is up to the rest of the ensemble. There were times this pulled me from the story. She doesn't ruin the film but also does not help overcome some of the film's insecurities. 

Overall Eden is a mixed bag. I would not say it is not worth watching. But I couldn't help but think of what a better movie there is to be made out of this story. 

Eden

Starring: Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, Richard Roxburgh 

Director: Ron Howard

Writer: Noah Pink

A House of Dynamite (2025)

A House of Dynamite is an ambitious telling of the events which would happen on a day when a nuclear missile is detected on its way to Chicago. We watch as different players in the chain of command (all the way up to the President) come to the reality of the situation and deal with what is truly impossible. The film's story is constructed in a manner that is extremely disconcerting and disorienting. It is hard not to be shaken by the events and director Bigalow's expert handling of the narrative. 

Bigalow very deftly structures her story so we get different pieces of the story separately, which works well to capture how each of the characters are only working with pieces of the whole picture. Instead of giving the audience the omnipotence of seeing it all play out linearly, she puts us in the position of the different actors trying their best to deal with the most horrifying situation imaginable. And it is only through experiencing the different points of view that we are able to get as much of the picture as possible. 

I loved how she worked into her story little moments of clarity that help to truly centre the story and the stakes. There is a moment when the president asks the Lieutenant Commander next to him if he has a family, he looks out as they drive past soldiers blocking traffic for his motorcade and we realize they all have families. In the moment we are confronted with the humanity of, well everyone, those characters in the background. 

I said the film was ambitious because it takes a big swing. It has an extremely large cast, some of whom have only moments on the screen, but Bigalow finds ways to make this all work and have impact. Sometimes it feels the film could have spent a little more time fleshing out certain moments. Perhaps there is a desire to pump up the urgency of the story so we always feel like the clock is running out. I get that but I felt it might have been a bit richer with some moments explored in more depth. Still it does put you on the edge of your seat and keeps you questioning everything. 

The film takes a bold swing at the end. It's the sort of ending that will make you scream "whaaat??" but after thinking about it I felt it was perhaps the only ending that could have worked here. I was worried they would try to find an easy way out of this mess. I appreciate how they committed to the story. 

A House of Dynamite is the sort of film you have to pay attention to. It's not for "second screen" scrolling. So when you watch it, make time for it, sit with it. And really let it make you ask questions. 

A House of Dynamite

Starring: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Kaitlyn Dever, Kyle Allen

Director: Katheryn Bigalow

Writer: Noah Oppenheim

Shelby Oaks (2025)

A mix of Blair Witch Project, Ghost Hunters, and Rosemary's Baby, Shelby Oaks is mostly successful debut from a new writer/director. It stumbles occasionally and doesn't always balance its stylistic choices, but it certainly unnerves and gets under our skin. A test for a horror movie is whether or not its scary and Oaks manages to scare. It gets under the audience's skin and manages to be authentically creepy even if narratively there are some bumps along the way. It makes me excited to see what Stuckmann will do next. 

The film does manage to fall into some cliches occasionally and borrows a lot from what has come before. But it also manages to take those things and work them into a fun spooky story, even if it is rather close to ones we have heard before. 

Stuckmann shows a lot of potential here. He structures the story well, builds in the characters and underlying threads, pulling it all together into a satisfying if somewhat foreseen conclusion. But it does all come together and in the end has an unnerving quality that a film like this needs.

Shelby Oaks

Starring: Camille Sullivan, Sarah Durn, Brendan Sexton III, Michael Beach, Keith David

Writer/Director: Chris Stuckmann

Good Fortune (2025)

Generally I was impressed with Good Fortune’s recognition of the systemic nature of poverty and the way capitalism is designed to benefit some at the expense of most others. The film expressly recognizes this a number of times in both subtle and obvious ways. It is a funny movie filled with funny people and it makes it point. But as I continued to watch it I wondered how it was going to resolve its problem. It needed to either go very dark with its ending or compromise on its message and it chooses the latter. I didn’t feel this ruined the movie but it was a bit of a disappointment after the film does such a good job of highlighting something that most of us understand but don’t want to admit. 

Still Good Fortune is quite funny. Both Reeves and Ansari have an awkwardness to their screen presence which can be off putting at times. Fortunately Rogan and Palmer are both more natural and much of the catharsis and pathos of the movie falls on them. Good Fortune sometimes feels a bit clunky but for its faults it still remains entertaining which is remarkable with how dark its subject truly is. 

Still I wish they had been a bit braver with their ending and didn’t try to find the resolution that “solves” anything. 

Good Fortune

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogan, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, Aziz Ansari, Stephen McKinley Henderson

Writer/Director: Aziz Ansari

 

Tron: Ares (2025)

If we're being honest, none of the Tron movies are really very good. The plots are often non-sensical and overly simplistic, even bordering on dull, with rather paper thin characters who experience only the most rote development. What makes the Tron films work at all is they are visually incredible, each for their time, and speak to our anxieties and fascinations about the digital world. It is often the video games inspired by the films which are the bigger hits and create the nostalgia. There is a reason why this franchise has never quite taken off and only pops up every decade or so hoping to finally crack the blockbuster code never quite achieving that. 

Tron: Ares is unlikely to change the trajectory for these films but I'm going out on a limb to say I found it more engaging than the earlier films. It doesn't always make much sense either but the plot (while still rote) wasn't quite as (dare I say it) boring. Yes it was still about as predictable as anything Hollywood puts out, and yes the characters remained 2D while the effects around them stole the show. I just wasn't as bored as I have been watching the previous films. 

I know people love to hate on Leto and Ares likely won't change that but for different reasons. The title character is the opposite of a normal Leto role. He is drab and dull and lifeless. You aren't going to care for him or what happens to him at all. Everyone around him is far more interesting (Lee, Turner-Smith, Castro). Peters and Anderson are just there to chew scenery and they prove the understood the assignment. The more I talk about Ares the more I'm talking myself out of liking it. 

But I did sort of enjoy it. Visually it is remarkably gorgeous. I felt Legacy always felt a bit hollow in its beauty but Ares nails it. Rønning structures his set pieces incredibly and captures a kinetic energy that is palpable. I saw this film in Imax 3D and perhaps that influenced by experience because this took advantage of those gimmicks wonderfully. Maybe it wouldn't work as well watching it on a plane on a tablet. Perhaps, like with the other films, the spectacle remains the thing. 

But there was something else. The film got me thinking. This last part requires some mild *spoilers* so stop reading if you are adverse to that. The film ends with Ares, an AI character, escaping into the physical world and making his life there. He quite offhandly references Quorra (Olivia Wilde's character from Legacy) and it got me thinking about how we are so used to having AI presented as a threat in film. The AI gets so intelligent it tries to attack us as it sees us as the threat (the premise of Terminator). Here the opposite is presented. The AI is told to follow its programming (which will hurt people) and it rebels from that directive. There are interesting ideas here. Are they presented in the most engaging manner? Likely not. But there is something to chew on. 

So I didn't hate Tron: Ares (a film which does not feature the character Tron) but rec
ommend it mostly if you can see it on a big screen, in 3D. 

Tron: Ares

Starring: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Bridges 

Director: Joachim Rønning

Writer: Jesse Wigutow

The Woman in Cabin 10 (2025)

I am not familiar with the novel The Woman in Cabin 10 is based on but if the film adaptation is any indication it would be the sort of light, somewhat schlocky book you'd buy at the airport and finish on your flight home, that is if the absurdities of it don't force you to give up. The plot is cliched, the "mystery" is filled with over the top dramatics, and the ending feels too pat and unlikely. If it wasn't for the strong cast the film might be entirely unwatchable. 

Knightly leads a strong team of actors here who hold together the cheesiest of plots. I find her quite engaging, even when struggling with such a weak script. She manages to make it through to the end relatively unscathed but it makes me wish I was watching her in something stronger. 

I with the film had even a small sense of camp. Perhaps that would have saved it and made it a more thrilling watch. But it isn't even able to bring up any self-awareness to its own weaknesses. The Woman in Cabin 10 is an easy one to skip.

The Woman in Cabin 10

Starring: Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce, David Ajala, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Hannah Waddingham, Daniel Ings, Lisa Loven Kongsli

Director: Simon Stone

Writers: Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse, Simon Stone 

Roofman (2025)

Roofman is the sort of Hollywood true story where all the rough edges are rounded off and hits all the emotional beats (comedy, romance, a little bit a crime, some tears). It is elevated by the fact that it has a stacked cast of great actors (look at this troupe!) who really give it there all. It gives Tatum a chance to really shine and show off all his talents (he's great at the comedy, also shows some real acting chops, and he runs around naked a bit). In the end it's a good watch. 

This is the sort of "true story" that if it didn't actually happen it likely would have been too outlandish to believe. The film never quite wrestles with all the implications of its protagonists' actions but it doesn't give him an entire pass either. It sits in a bit of a safe middle ground, showing him empathy and endowing him with a large amount of likability while also confirming he is being held accountable. The script clearly is attempting to make a very watchable and enjoyable film and it does that. 

I do believe most what makes Roofman work is its cast. Besides Tatum in a show-stopping role, everyone from Dunst and Dinkladge to the smaller roles is doing bang up work here and it is truly enjoyable to watch them. It's hard not to get sucked into this story for a couple of hours. 

Roofman

Starring: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, Uzu Aduba, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Peter Dinklage, Jimmy O. Yang, Lilly Collias, Tony Revolori, Emory Cohen

Director: Derek Cianfrance

Writers: Kirt Gunn, Derek Cianfrance

Good Boy (2025)

It is great when a horror movie can be genuinely unnerving and creepy (so few are) and there is a tone to Good Boy that achieves this. Perhaps it is the film's central conceit that pulls it off. We see the story through the dog's point of view and in doing so we're missing large pieces of information and experiencing events more viscerally. Therefore it becomes less of a gimmick and more of a successful means of telling what turns out to be a rather tragic story. 

Shot over years using the film maker's actual dog in little bits and pieces, Good Boy is a simple yet powerful story that hits home. It is a story of loss with a lot of what-goes-bump-in-the-night style old fashioned scary story. It all works so well. 

At the centre of this is the film's star Indy, who has such wonderful screen presence and is a delight to see carry his own movie. Good Boy manages to give us the chills while also touching our heart strings. It is a good example of how horror can truly speak to the human condition, and perhaps the canine as well. 

Good Boy

Starring: Indy

Director: Ben Leonberg

Writers: Alex Cannon, Ben Leonberg 

Eleanor the Great (2025)

First I'll start out by saying I hope Squibb lives forever so she can keep starring in movies cause I don't care what movie it is, she is always delightful and powerful as a presence on screen. Having said that, she is by far the best thing about Eleanor the Great, a movie with some flaws that remains wonderful to watch, mostly because of Squibb and the rest of the cast. 

Let's get my criticisms out of the way first. The script's ideas are interesting but their execution is often rather heavy handed. There are two big "reveal" moments in the plot that feel forced and rather unrealistic. I think the general story and its messages, around what does truth really mean and what are our responsibilities to it, could have been handled more deftly. But Squibb opposite Kellyman give such great performances that it still works despite these flaws. 

Johansson's first time directing feels rather paint-by-numbers. She doesn't do anything wrong, just doesn't really find much of a voice. Yet it all still comes together for a good watch, even if perhaps not that rewatchable due to its pedantic nature. But there remain powerful moments, including one featuring Ejiofor in an otherwise underused role, and Squibb truly delivering another in a strong of wonderful performances. 

Eleanor the Great

Starring: June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Jessica Hecht, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Director: Scarlett Johansson

Writer: Tory Kamen

The Lost Bus (2025)

The Lost Bus is fairly cliche riddled and never overcomes the based-on-a-true-story movie-of-the-week tropes infused throughout. It isn't terrible but, yes, it goes pretty much exactly as you would expect and has as much to say about the human condition as a fortune cookie. McConaughey and Ferrera do what they can with the material but there just isn't that much there there. 

The film's special effects often distract from the story its telling. They often feel a bit too obvious and this takes away from the stakes somewhat. The stakes were already pretty low as you never truly worry for our protagonists. There is a sense that everything is going to work out fine. That's one of the problems with movies like this. They predicate certain expectations. McConaughey's character is very much a stereotype (Ferrera's even more so) and we know what arc his character is to go through. The film is just hitting all the beats. 

There is a bit of the film trying to be Speed in the middle which does ramp up the excitement quotient a bit. But it still comes down to the fact that we never doubt they will make it out alive. Greengrass knows how to make thrilling action films so I don't know how he misses so much here. 

The Lost Bus just is trying to hard to be inspiration porn to tell an actually compelling story. It ends up therefore being rather forgettable and not really having much of anything to say about wildfires or heroics. 

The Lost Bus

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, America Ferrera

Director: Paul Greengrass

Writers: Brad Ingelsby, Paul Greengrass 

Steve (2025)

The novella the film Steve is based on (also written by screenwriter Porter) is focused on Lycurgo's character, Shy, and his interiority. Shy is a student at a school for boys with behavioural problems who reaches a crisis point. Readers are immersed into his thinking through non-traditional narrative forms such as poetry. The film shifts this focus to the title character, played by Murphy, the headmaster of the school and takes a completely different approach. It focuses on a day when a documentary crew is filming at the school as things spiral out of control. Both work together to bring different means of exploring the challenges those discarded by society, the performative aspects of our systems, and the helplessness so many involved feel. 

Mielants' approach to set this as a pseudo-documentary works to give the film a raw and honest feeling even if it doesn't always make sense in terms of in-world logic (would that scene really have been filmed by an on site doc crew?). But he begins to move away from this style and move into something more surreal as the film progresses. It isn't always clear when this is continuing and when it isn't. This approach does highlight that performative aspect I discussed, giving lots of opportunity for the film to question how we generally approach the "difficult" people the film forces us to confront. It also allows us to tap into some of that interiority of the characters that the book reaches.

Amongst a strong cast over all Murphy and Lycurgo both stand out giving great depth to their characters. Steve struggles to resolve itself in a way that doesn't fall into the all too typically tragic ways these stories but despite this I believe it finds some insights and truths through the work of its cast and crew. 

Steve

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo, Simbi Ajikawo, Emily Watson 

Director: Tim Mielants

Writer: Max Porter

Play Dirty (2025)

Play Dirty doesn't start off well. The opening sequence, set up like an adrenaline fuelled cold open, is rather dumb. Not only does it not make sense from a narrative point of view, it downplays the emotional stakes. The film tells us not to take it seriously. Black is credited at shaping the buddy/comedy subgenre and he's here to do what he does well. He just isn't trying that hard. 

And that's okay. Cause what follows is light, if rather forgettable, fun. It's campy but not in a clever way. It's funny, but rarely to the point you laugh that hard. It's an interesting enough story, without being that involved. It is the sort of film you can look at your phone throughout without missing much. 

The cast is having a good time mostly. I adore Stanfeld and he is clearly enjoying himself here making what he can with the part. Key and Shalhoub do their things to strong effect. Some of the newer cast stand out. I really enjoyed Hansen and Wolff. Only Wahlberg feels like he thinks this is something serious, but the rest of the group is having fun. 

Black pulls from a lot of influences here from the film's Bond inspired credit sequence to setting his story at Christmas time. But perhaps the biggest influence is how much this takes from his own film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Play Dirty is very slight but watchable enough. Could it be the start of a series of films based on the Parker book series on which this is based? There is likely a better movie to be maid so why not? 

Play Dirty

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Lakeith Stanfeld, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff, Thomas Jane, Tony Shalhoub, Gretchen Mol, Peta Wilson, Chai Hansen

Diretor: Shane Black

Writers: Charles Mondry, Anthony Bagarozzi, Shane Black