Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026)

When a movie can keep me guessing, doesn't do what I think it's going to, and manages to completely entertain me, I can be all in. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is its own beast and will take you on an adventure that you aren't expecting, even up to the ending (is it an ending?). This is just a thoroughly good time, despite having some extremely profound themes and some dark twists, the film manages to remain optimistic in spite of...*gestures everywhere* It is a bleak film about how horrible humanity and the world is that is extremely funny and down right hopeful. Verbinski has pulled off a little miracle with this film. 

If I had to compare it to anything, I'd say it has Everything Everywhere All At Once Vibes, but it's a completely different experience. What it shares with that film is a high concept, mind bending plot devices, and an unpredictability that makes watching it a joy (I mean for those of us who don't want to feel safe watching a story pretty much knowing what is going to happen next). But the ideas its explores, its tone, and its point of view are completely different. It's the sort of film I would normally say "just go see it knowing as little as possible about it." Then after you see it you'll want to see it again to make more sense of it... or less. 

This cast rocks. Rockwell is always a joy in pretty much every movie he's in and Temple plays against type in surprisingly rewarding ways. I could go through everyone cause they each earn their keep but for it was Richardson, who I think truly shines here. Many are saying that this is a return to form for director Verbinbski but my hot take is that this film maker has shown a lot of potential but never really made a film I felt lived up to that potential... until now! This is pretty much the best thing he's ever done and he manages it with both style and restraint. The film, despite its wild swings, is grounded in a reality that gives it more pathos that you might expect. 

But the real star is writer Robinson who has dreamt up this nightmare and we are all lucky to get to go along for the ride. His ideas just keep tumbling out in the least predictable ways. Despite him foreshadowing so much, he always keeps us on our toes and rarely do we understand something before he needs us to. 

It isn't very often a film comes along that catches me off guard as much as this one does and I love it when it does!

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Juno Temple, Tom Taylor, Riccardo Drayton, Dino Fetscher, Anna Acton 

Director: Gore Verbinski

Writer: Matthew Robinson

Crime 101 (2026)

Documentary director Layton makes his narrative debut with this tight and rather intelligent caper drama. The cast is strong and Layton impresses with his film making style. He finds wonderful little flourishes which remain on the subtle side but add to the power of his story telling. Sometimes the script has a few weak moments but all together this is an impressive debut that makes me hope he'll do more fiction films in the future. 

The cast all do well even if they are all playing exactly to type. Hemsworth is the loveable anti-hero, Keoghan is reigned in psychopath, Berry is the career woman being passed over for her gender and age, and Ruffalo is the beaten down cop with integrity. They all do what they can with the roles but the main weakness of the film is how archetypal each are. Still the cast brings a power to their scenes together. Barbaro is a scene stealer, proving that her Oscar nomination wasn't a fluke.  

What impressed me most was Layton's ability to toggle between his well filmed and gripping action sequences and the emotional punch of his dramatic scenes. His set pieces are well thought through, and they keep you on the edge of your seat while also grounding you in the moment and the impact the incidents are having on the characters. And when he transitions into the personal moments you feel like it is cohesive so we don't feel the adrenaline is a distraction. 

Layton paints LA as rather dystopian, never pushing this idea into our faces too hard but making it clear there is something rotten in paradise. He is commenting on the American dream and its failures without wearing these ideas on his sleeve. So while the story may not have completely held together Crime 101 is a very watchable and moving film and the promise of a film maker with something to say and a beautiful way to say it. 

PS. perhaps if you are going to cast Jennifer Jason Leigh and Nick Nolte you should them more to do. 

Crime 101

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, Tate Donovan, Devon Bostick, Payman Maadi

Writer/Director: Bart Layton

"Wuthering Heights" (2026)

I often really appreciate adaptations that take big swings. I love Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, Cuaron's Great Expectations, Branagh's Hamlet, so "Wuthering Heights", a film so liberally adapted for the screen it has quotations around the title, is right up my ally, especially from a film maker as bold and self-assured as Fennell. Admittedly she has taken the bare bones of Bronte's novel (taking out many characters) to focus on the doomed and rather toxic love between Heathcliff and Cathy.

Often a modern adaptation of a period novel must take liberties for the story to have the emotional impact the original would have had in its time. What would have been laced with scandal for an 1850s audience might seem quaint to today's crowd. Fennell understands this and injects her story with modern indelicacies designed to resonate in the way Bronte's dark tale might have then. Fennell makes it romantic in that dark and twisted way Bronte's novel reads with a historic lens. Her Cathy and Heathcliff are damaged, emotionally stunted individuals whose flailings at love and sexuality do more harm than good. Her Isabella is looking to be dominated. Her Edgar is less bothered by his cuckolding than protecting his line. These aren't Bronte's versions of these characters, they are Fennell's and she is mixing a smutty fanfic vibe with a class analysis in a similar naughty and subversive style to her film Saltburn. 

There are interesting ideas going on here. In her (at this time) rather short filmography, Fennell shows she is rather deft at subverting our expectations and in so critiquing her subjects effectively. The film starts with a black screen and what we assume are the sounds of sex, only to have it revealed it is the sound of a public hanging and how the crowd enters an almost ecstatic state upon the condemned's death. She is telling us that she is using this story to explore western culture's intersections between cruelty, sex, death, love, and oppression. This isn't a heartwarming love story.  

Much has been made about the casting of Elordi who doesn't fit the "Lascar" description in the book. Maybe this is a mistake. Perhaps this has to do with the film focusing more on the class constructions than the racial ones... at least in the Healthcliff/Cathy relationship. She instead focuses her lens on racism on the character of Nelly, played with wonderful subtlety by Hong Chau. In another change from the book, Nelly's class isn't the issue but her birth as both a "bastard" and a racial minority which sets her in the role of servant to the rest. Her actions are deliciously ambiguous in terms of her motivations and she appears both sympathetic and rightfully resentful of Cathy as well as the Earnshaws and Lintons in general. Often read as a villain from the novel, Chau and Fennell don't allow Nelly to be that simple as she is often one of the most relatable characters in the film. She is quite often portrayed as reading, again a subtle signal to the audience. 

Fennell takes quite a few liberties with the story and characters and narrows the focus of what is a dense and complicated novel. For me she was quite successful in telling the story she wanted to tell about self destructive people (and honestly people with a somewhat repressed desire to destroy others) who were never taught how to love trying to love. It is bold and vivacious filled with innuendo and sexuality, humour and operatic tragedy. "Wuthering Heights" is gorgeous, decorated with incredible art direction and costumes so that the whole film feels light a heightened (pun intended) historical reality, like a dream or a nightmare. It is audacious in its visuals, sexuality, and dialogue, but layered with suggestion and nuance with its more critical themes. While this may not be to many's tastes, it worked for me and I couldn't look away. 

Audiences who wanted to see the novel adapted more religiously may be disappointed as this film goes off on the side quests it wants to, leaving much of the novel behind. But if you can wrap your expectations around a dirty little love tragedy featuring terrible/beautiful people you just want to shelter from their own wretchedness while screaming at them to grow up, then Fennell's adaptation is something truly rich to enjoy. 

"Wuthering Heights"

Starring: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Owen Cooper, Charlotte Mellington, Chazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, Ewan Mitchell

Writer/Director: Emerald Fennell

 

Eternity (2025)

Did a movie's ending ever piss you off so much it ruins the movie for you generally? That's kinda what happened for me with Eternity a movie I was generally enjoying up to the last 20 minutes. 

The premise, in the afterlife you get to pick an eternity, but only one, that you get to spend... well, eternity in. When a woman dies she finds that both her first husband (who died in a war long ago) and her second husband, who she lived with for decades until both their deaths, are in the afterlife both waiting to spend eternity with her. 

The movie does a really great job of setting up its central problem; that she has to pick which of them to spend eternity with. It sets out very well that her love for both of them is very real and that each is different but both fully love. The film's plot even gets the husbands, who begin the story seeing each other as competitors for some sort of prize, to the point where they understand what the other meant to her and begin to feel grateful to the other for the role they played in the life of the woman they loved. 

So far so good. In addition the script is rather funny and clever, Early and Randolph are more than delightful, and the three leads bring just the right mix of humour and pathos to their roles. There was an awkward pedophilia joke in there that should ended up on the cutting room floor but mostly the script is tight. I really appreciated how well the script makes the complications of this set up feel so real and nuanced. Untill...

*Spoilers*

Eternity, up until it's third act seems to be making the case that the problem is the having to choose, but the final act switches this kinda out of no where. After spending most of its runtime showing us exactly why both her relationships were meaningful and had worth, at the end she very quickly decides that the one (her first husband) just didn't cut the mustard and that she has to choose the second husband. There is no build up to this. Nothing in the character development does anything to imply that her first love wasn't as rich and meaningful as the second. Yet the film just feels fine throwing all that away so that there can be a "winner" and a "loser" or at least a resolution that is comfortable. The final moments play out like a prototypical rom-com with the whole running against time to catch the leaving lover before it's too late shtick instead of the clever quirky film it had been attempting to be up til then. 

Maybe I had hoped too much from a Hollywood comedy. I had hoped the film would present that she, as a fully realized human being, could have a complicated set of emotions and, since it is effin eternity, the time to pursue and explore all the love that she has with the men she loves. But no. I had aimed too high for this sort of thing. 

So yeah, what was originally a fun film with an interesting idea and a great cast that I would recommend to people for a smart and funny watch, ended up being enough of a disappointment I would likely tell people to skip it altogether. 

Eternity

Starring: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, John Early, Olga Merediz, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Betty Buckley, Barry Primus

Director: David Freyne

Writer: Pat Cunnane, David Freyne 

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (2025)

For me animation is a way to tell stories in ways that can't be told through live action. In the west we think of these films a being for children but so often they are so much more than that. Little Amelie is a wonderful example of how a film can be so much more because it is animated. It is a wonderfully original and deeply personal exploration of connection, likely through nerodivergency, and simply a gorgeous movie to watch. 

Little Amelie is a movie that would be accessible for children, although it is the sort of movie the is rich in meaning and emotion for people of all ages. It is told through the perspective a a 3 year old, but we experience her world so fully and see perhaps even beyond what she understands. Her story is unique and yet so utterly relatable. 

The visuals are gorgeous. I am so glad hand drawn animation is having such a resurgence in international film making. The world of this child couldn't be captured in live action. Not like this. The film connects the girl to the rain emotionally and etymologically as her French name contains the Japanese word for rain. 

I loved the way the film handled the spaces between cultures (Belgium and Japan, the west and the east) the way it dealt with war, loss, family, and being on the outside of what is considered normal. There is so much beauty to be experienced in this film and I highly recommend you find it and meet Little Amelie on her terms. 

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Directors: Liane-Cho Han, Maïlys Vallade

Writers: Liane-Cho Han, Aude Py, Maïlys Vallade, Eddine Noël 

The Smashing Machine (2025)

Sports movies, especially those based on real life stories, aren't usually my bag. They follow a formula I find tiresome and they glorify the subject who is usually involved in the making of the film. The Smashing Machine does somewhat fall into these traps a bit but manages to avoid most of the pitfalls by sticking to its story rather tightly and employing a rather straightforward narrative that cuts down on the glory. 

Johnson is really solid in this film and shows us he can handle a dramatic role as well as he does the action comedy. He's a showman for sure but he does restrained work here keeping up with co-star Blunt (who is always strong). 

The Safdies may have gone their separate ways but Bennie's work here, restrained and quietly powerful, is thoughtful, allowing his stars to play out their roles effectively and just tell the damn story. While I will never understand the passion for this sport (watching people fight is not my bag) I could understand where these damaged people were coming from and appreciated seeing them reach some level of personal success in their lives, outside of the sport.

The Smashing Machine

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt 

Writer/Director: Bennie Safdie

Dracula: a Love Tale (2026)

Luc Besson takes a little bit from here and a little bit from there to make his rather sympathetic to the monster adaptation of the legendary novel. By now we've had a million adaptation of Bram Stoker's story so it always takes... something... to breathe new life into the tale but Besson's vision feels like a mishmash of other takes on Dracula and little that is fresh. Much of this film felt like I had seen it before. 

Besson uses the skeleton of the Stoker novel. He moves the action from London to Paris (despite having everyone speak English) and exorcises most of the characters from the plot and reduces many of those that remain to mere shadows of characters. For example Jonathan Harker is really just there to move the plot along and the Lucy stand-in is barely more than that. 

However there are some interesting threads here for the three main central characters that remain. Mina is a woman in a (practically) loveless engagement seeking something more. The Van Helsing stand-in played by Waltz, isn't so much a vampire hunter as a vampire saviour, focusing on saving the souls of the undead. And Dracula himself is one of the most sympathetic versions of the character I have seen (perhaps Luke Evans in Dracula Untold has him beat on that front). If there is something new here it is in how the film treats the vampiric curse as a distance from God out of pain and suffering. Sadly the film just doesn't do enough with that to make it feel very interesting. It is presented as a surface idea only. 

The film aesthetically and plotwise borrows heavily from Coppola's film version. The whole reincarnation/lost love story line and much of the art direction/make-up/costumes feel ripped right from that film. It is a testament to Bram Stoker's Dracula how much of that film's cannon has integrated into our cultural understanding of the legend (a literary Mandela effect). This version keeps getting weighed down in its imitation of that film

Even the usually deranged Caleb Landry Jones feels restrained here in a way that takes away from the film. Both him and Waltz are often scene stealers but the film doesn't give either a chance to truly shine. The film has break out moments of creepy exuberance (eg. a rather disturbing scene in a nunnery) but then always gets back into a more predictable tract. Perhaps the Besson/Jones/Waltz combo made me feel I was going to be in for something more radical set me up for disappointment. While not a bad adaptation, I just never felt it gave me any reason to watch this version over one of the many others. 

Dracula: a Love Tale

Starring: Caleb Landry Jones, Christoph Waltz, Zoë Bleu

Writer/Director: Luc Besson

Pillion (2026)

I think what struck me about Pillion, in the context of queer cinema, was how it is reminiscent of the sort of gay films popularized in the 80s in how it explores something the audience and the broader world within the story may be uncomfortable with. But in this case, where in the older films it would have been the same sex relationship itself, here that is not the element that is subversive, it isn't the shock value. In this case its the dom/sub relationship, how those around Colin react to it and are uncomfortable. It isn't a man on man kiss that is transgressive, but the scenes of  domination which make the write ups about the film titillating. 

In Pillion Colin's gayness is supported in a very wholesome way by his family and community. Audiences are used to seeing men be affectionate on film together and no one blinks an eye. It is the commands, the power dynamics, which illicit giggles and squirming. Pillion's strength is in how it brings this to the fore and presents it so that you can feel understand the relationship between Ray and Colin. The film throws a few shock value sex scenes in to push boundaries (not as strongly as I thought they might) but it remains all simulated. Pillion is a solid R not an NC-17. 

By the end it is the scenes of gentle connection which becomes shocking and bring on the real reaction.  In this way it circles back to the queer cinema of the last century. A cuddle in the bed brings gasps, hand holding becomes transgressive, a kiss at the film's climax is monumental. And like so much of the 2SLGBTQ+ cannon there is loss. Colin's journey points towards him finding his way but this isn't the happily ever after story. Pillion feels like it is part of some grand tradition but in ways one wouldn't expect. 

I love it when a new film maker debuts with an exciting feature. Pillion is an example of that, the kind of film that makes you sit up and take notice. Lighton has made something impressive and shows a lot of potential. I'm going to be watching what he does next.

Pillion

Starring: Harry Melling, Alexander Skarsgård, Jake Shears

Writer/Director: Harry Lighton

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2026)

How does one begin to describe Nirvanna the Band, the Show, the Movie, an absurdist adaptation of an absurdist TV series inspired by an absurdist web series? From the twisted brilliance of Johnson and McCarrol who reached super success with their film BlackBerry, they return to their roots in this passion project bringing bigger ideas and a bigger budget to the loveable fictional versions of the themselves. While it's hard to represent what this movie experience is like (other than saying it is a damn good time) I will say that this is a good example of how you do take a TV project and bring it to the big screen. 

They have taken what works from their seed of a TV show, a couple of lovable losers in their endless quest to get a gig at the Rivoli, and brought it to new heights... literally! In this case the CN Tower. Throw in some time travel, sky diving, and a lot of Back to the Future love and you have what may be the silliest but the most fun movie you'll see in a long time. 

I don't want to say more except just see it. It's nonsense and it isn't logical but it's got heart and a lot of laughs. 

Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie

Written by, Directed by, and Starring: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol

Arco (2025)

I wish Hollywood made more hand drawn animation. Thank goodness it's still prevalent in other parts of the world. The gorgeous French film Arco is an example of why the push towards GCI in mainstream western animation is such a loss. Arco is a true thing of beauty, capturing a visual story telling style that CGI just cannot touch. 

It may call to mind Studio Ghibli films or even the Iron Giant. Arco is the story of being lost through time and finding connection. The story is bittersweet and will literally make you cry. It is a reminder of the power of fantastic story telling and all it can accomplish. 

But I can't get over just how beautiful it is to watch and how much I want more of this sort of animation. Arco is best seen on a big screen but can be fully appreciated at home as well. It is the sort of story that is accessible for almost all ages offering something rich to whomever approaches it.

Arco

Starring: Romy Fay, Juliano Krue Valdi, Mark Ruffalo, Natalie Portman, Will Farrell, Andy Samberg, America Ferrera, Flea

Director: Ugo Bienvenu

Writers: Félix de Givry, Ugo Bienvenu

The Voice of Hind Rijab (2025)

Director Kaouther Ben Hania has taken the audio from a real distress call to the Red Crescent, as well as some social media video of the responders taking the call, and crafted a film dramatization of the event. It is harrowing and powerful because of its literalness. What we are watching is actors playing real responders in a moment of real crisis. We even sometimes hear their voices. The one voice we really do hear is that of a little girl named Hind Rijab. 

Film has been a medium to very effectively bring to light the horrors of war and The Voice of Hind Rajab joins a long legacy of powerful indictments of political violence. This is the story of just one family killed at the alter of armed conflict and yet it in many ways is the story of all. 

It is also the story of those trying to save lives. What we watch in this film is the experience of those attempting to intervene to rescue those caught in the middle. They are heroes and they often fail. The Voice of Hind Rajab is not only a testament to the dead but to those who attempt to keep as many people alive as possible.  

The Voice of Hind Rajab is heartbreaking yet in its way inspiring, as it brings into focus those real heroes of war. The helpers.

The Voice of Hind Rijab

Writer/Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Send Help (2026)

Raimi has made a bonkers survivalist/revenge comedy and it is a lot of fun. Sometimes it pulls back from the edge a little too much for my tastes. The film pushes some boundaries visually but plays it somewhat safe psychologically. I kinda wished he had gone all in. 

But McAdams and O'Brien are both incredible bringing deranged performances to real life. McAdams especially handles things well, bringing a grounding to her bizarro character as she makes the tonal shifts mostly work. O'Brien creates a very realistic douchiness so that his Bradley is truly reprehensible while also being human. The characters could have been far more one note than they are but the two of them together nail it. 

My only disappintment is the film doesn't quite go as transgressive and I would have liked. It pulls its punches. But even in doing so it's funny and gripping with just a slight bit of unease thrown in for good measure. It is a fun watch.

Send Help

Starring: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O'Brien, Denis Haysbert, Edyll Ismail, Bruce Campbell

Director: Sam Raimi

Writers: Damian Shannon, Mark Swift

The Wrecking Crew (2026)

Soto knows how to make really fun films. The Wrecking Crew is another that is far more fun than it should be. The action is on point, the script is smart enough to support its story, and the chemistry between its stars is off the charts. It all comes together to make a really watchable film. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Bautista is the best actor to come from the world of wrestling and even when he is in something like this, less dramatic and more action comedy, he gives a strong performance. And Momoa has proven he can light up screen with his charm and is a good enough actor to deliver on the more dramatic moments. What really makes it work is how well they work together. They play off each other wonderfully.

I'm not saying The Wrecking Crew is anything more than it tries to be. It is a fun action comedy with some compelling leads. I do think it shows more films should be shot in Honolulu, a great city with far more story telling potential than has been exploited. 

The Wrecking Crew

Starring: Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Claes Bang, Temuera Morrison, Jacob Batalon, Frankie Adams, Miyavi, Stephen Root, Morena Baccarin 

Director: Ángel Manuel Soto

Writer: Jonathan Tropper

Back to the Future (1985) TOP 100

Few movies are perfect but this might be one of them. I saw this film as a kid in a cinema one afternoon and loved it so much I convinced my family to all go see it again that evening! It's the only time I have watched a movie twice in the cinema on the same day. I have no regrets. 

The script is such a masterful piece of keeping all the balls in the air. Like the mechanics of a ticking clock all working in synch, the way each little piece, even down to small details in the background, all work together to tell this story... and what a story... it is one of the most intricate pieces of film making I have witnessed and knowing more about how this film was made makes that even more remarkable. The fact almost half the film was reshot after the main character was recast, that it was filmed mostly at night since Fox was shooting his day job TV series at the same time. There are many stories of masterpieces being cobbled together as they went along (Casablanca) and Back to the Future is one of those masterpieces. It's a bit of a miracle this film exists. 

The film remains, after all these years, genuinely funny and satisfying. Marty is a charming everyman who both learns to be a better person through seeing his parents as people, and inspires them to be the best of themselves. I've come to see this is about growing up and entering into that adult to adult relationship we reach with our parents and our children as we/they come of age. It is letting go of seeing them in their roles and seeing them for the humans beings, the individuals, they are and love them. It is about how things change and how things stay the same. It is also about having agency and becoming who we want to be.

Each time I watch the film I am still on the edge of my seat during the remarkably filmed set pieces. Marty's making it back to 1985 is filmed so perfectly you can't help but hold your breath, even when you know how it all turns out. The jokes still make me laugh. And the film is just filled with great big heart overflowing from the characters and story. It is one of those films that is just so damn hard not to love. And love it I do time after time.

Back to the Future

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, Claudia Wells, Marc McClure, Wendie Jo Sperber, George DiCenzo, Frances Lee McCain, Jason Hervey, Billy Zane, Harry Waters Jr., James Tolkan, Huey Lewis 

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writers: Bob Gale, Roberts Zemeckis

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (2025)

I was surprised when Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere didn't take off with audiences. Biopics of legendary musicians tend to do well, the Nebraska album (the recording of which this film focuses on) is considered a masterpiece, and White is a bit of a phenom (albeit a small one) as the film was released. But when I finally got around to watching it I started to see that it just didn't come together in a way that made it feel urgent or even that relevant. 

This film is about depression. Springsteen hasn't been shy about talking about his struggles and the film takes a single period in his life, just as his career is taking off and he decides to make a stripped down album without singles or tour promotions. He is unable to hold a relationship together and he is haunted by memories of an abusive father. Deliver Me From Nowhere's arc is about a man who has everything producing iconic art but unable to live happily in his life. 

Yet the film never quite finds it footing. Cooper doesn't find a way to make it flow or feel real. He brings an almost too subtle, quiet approach which never makes the story feel lived and so when the ending comes, a rather triumphant moment of a successful album, a cathartic moment with his parents, and the upcoming smash success of one of the biggest albums in rock history (Born in the USA) the pathos just don't feel earned. 

I appreciated White's performance. He plays it cool without big "acty" scenes, instead just quietly playing Bruce as a real human. While he finds the Boss' mannerisms and way of being quite well he doesn't feel like his doing an impression of the rock star. The film never quiet gives him the opportunity to tell this journey effectively. The film isn't badly put together it just isn't overly successful in making the story resonate. He does sing the songs well, sounding surprisingly true to the source. 

The challenge here is that Bruce's story isn't overly dramatic. His struggle with depression is quite average (weird to say when speaking of such a super star) and doesn't have the "rock bottom" style messiness that stories like these thrive on. His high functioning mental health struggles don't make for the sort of Oscar-baity cinema that people like to lap up. This isn't fatal. Perhaps a better film could have found the way to make this sort of more intimate, and frankly realistic, story leap off the screen, but this doesn't quite get there. And that's too bad because there is a good story here and one that might have been able to touch a lot of hearts. 

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, Marc Maron, David Krumholtz

Writer/Director: Scott Cooper 

Mercy (2026)

I had hoped against hope a little with Mercy. It was directed by Bekmambetov (who has made some wonderful films), stars the insanely watchable Rebecca Ferguson, and is premise, about an AI justice system was poised to raise some fairly fascinating questions that I thought were ripe for a sci fi exploration. Sadly, Bekmambetov and Ferguson as pretty much phoning it in and the film abandons any real deconstruction of what an AI justice system could mean (beyond the most surface examination) early on. In the end it almost feels like its endorsing the idea. Im sure Sarah Connor is rolling over in her grave. 

But if you throw all that aside, Mercy ends up having a rather decent mystery and its wrapped up in a generally fun package. Mekmambetov may have moved into a rather director-for-hire stance but he still knows how to tell a story. Mercy shares more in common with his screenlife films (Searching, Missing, etc.) than the Nightwatch/Daywatch movies that broke him into western audiences' consciousness. It's realtime gimmick and fairly competent mystery keep you entertaining for the films relatively short runtime. And I guess there is nothing wrong with that.

I just kinda wish it had been what it promised to be and really dug into the complexities of integrating AI in to the decision making of a system whose role is to reduce crime/and or hold people accountable for their actions. But don't go into this thinking you'll get any of that. 

Mercy

Starring: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers 

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Writers: Marco van Belle

The Ugly Stepsister/Den Stygge Stesøsteren (2025)

The Ugly Stepsister might be a bit "on the nose" (pun intended) with its beauty-standards critique wrapped up in a retelling of Cinderella, but it remains rather darkly fun and sharply disturbing in its campy, lush style. The film would have been too much if it had leaned more serious instead of erring on the side of satire. The mutilation of a young woman to fit into an idea of what is attractive is a horrendously upsetting, although far too realistic situation, so presented here as (very adult) fairy tale makes it a film we can experience and a point we can take. 

The film sticks to its Cinderella roots quite closely, plot point to plot point, reframing the fairy tale to be from the step-sister's point of view. It is remarkable how little the film needs to change the story to make its point. Cinderella herself doesn't have to become a villain, and the Step-Mother remains nefarious, and we can see how the pitting of women against each other destroys them. The film manages to comment so much on our real world societal structures while managing to retell the myth rather closely to its roots. 

Still, The Ugly Stepsister remains an unpleasant watch. Those desensitized by films like The Substance or Titane won't see anything they haven't already, but the film does't cut corners (again pun intended IYKYK) on the gore and gruesomeness. The fantasy element of this helps make it a bit more palatable, and the camp lets us laugh a bit. This is a bold film that will challenge its audience while entertaining us.  

The Ugly Stepsister/Den Stygge Stesøsteren

Starring: Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp 

Writer/Director: Emilie Blichfeldt

The Rip (2026)

The Rip is one of those movies that really should have a been a lot better than it is. The Rip is pretty much exactly what one would expect from start to finish, never once surprising or impressing, delivering exactly the formula that it offers. That's perfectly okay. If you want to be able to scroll on your phone while you watch a film featuring A-listers doing what they always do, then The Rip is your film. If you want to watching something interesting that will give you something to think about, move along. '

I guess I really wanted to see Damon and Affleck reunite in something that was interesting to watch. Beyond them the cast here is stacked but everyone is just phoning it in. Again there is nothing wrong with formula films that give you exactly what you ordered but it's just not my jam. It isn't what I look for in a movie. 

I could see each "twist" coming and who was good and who was bad were never really much of a surprise. I say The Rip should have been better because the idea is one that is ripe for a lot of actually interesting twists, social commentary, and character development but the film doesn't really try on any of that, instead giving us the most elementary takes on all of it And the cast is good and could have been up for something more complex. Still if you're a fan of any of these actors and just want mindless escapism for a couple hours you could do worse. "Mindless" isn't a fair word to describe it but it doesn't take much brainpower to keep your eye on this ball. 

The Rip

Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Scott Adkins, Kyle Chandler, Néstor Carbonell, Lina Esco 

Writer/Director: Joe Carnahan

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

I think one of the challenges for many with the film 28 Years Later (this film's predecessor) was that it was marketed as a stand alone movie but was really a "chapter one" in a longer saga. Audiences in the 2020s have struggled with films like this. Despite its popularity Spider-man Across the Spiderverse elicited negative reactions to its "to be continued" end scene, Wicked for Good changed it's name away from Part Two to avoid some of this (and likely suffered in popularity for it), a cliff-hanger in Fast X has pretty much killed that franchise. Perhaps in an era when streaming full series in weekend binges has become de rigueur, not being able to see the next moment right away is something audiences can't handle. How many times do you hear people say they are waiting for the "whole series to drop" so they can binge it all at once? Even the once behemoth Marvel has struggled to keep people invested in their interconnected universe. Only the Dune films have seemed to be able to avoid this being a problem for them in recent years. 

What has become clear with The Bone Temple is that Garland and Boyle (along with DaCosta) have one longer story with multiple threads intended, a story bigger than just one film. They have parsed them into quite separate chapters, each with beginnings and endings of their own, but with one overarching story that crosses 3 films. I really appreciated 28 Years Later, even if it did introduce Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal with his dramatic backstory without giving us his story yet. But for many the film's ending, a tease for this portion of the saga, was too much of an a taunt and they needed the satisfaction NOW! But for those of us who perhaps enjoy the slower, richer forms of story telling, enjoyed the months of anticipation and conjecture that these sorts of stylistic choices make. 

This paragraph will be only very slightly spoilery so skip to the next if you don't want any spoilers. It is clear now this trilogy is the story of Spike and his coming of age. It's going to connect to Jim from 28 Weeks Later and will bring the franchise full circle. Along the way we're getting some fascinating side quests like the stories of Doctor Kelson, the Jimmys, and Samson, further growing the world of the rage virus. And we're reminded this isn't about zombies it's about the horrors of humanity. Perhaps with chapter 2 now logged with Bone Temple it makes more sense and the story can be even more satisfying. I know I found Bone Temple to be a gut-wrenching, emotionally powerful film and I am eager to get to the third instalment. But I am also satisfied to wait as Bone Temple works very much as its own film. Even without Spike's introductory story (nothing about the baby, his mother, the island, is mentioned here), Jimmy's childhood scenes, or the first meeting of Spike and Kelson, the film works completely on its own. You could even have no knowledge of Jim (and no speculation of the identity of the young woman with him) and the final moments work. Bone Temple is very much its own film with an introduction that gives you all you need to get into it and a fully developed story that wraps up its ending wonderfully.

DaCosta has been on my radar for years. She's made the best Candyman film and now she has made one of the best "28 ___ Later" films. Her film just before this, Hedda, is a remarkable movie that more people need to see. What she's done with this chapter two, besides making it fit visually and tonally with 28 Years Later, is make a truly terrifying (in the existential sense mostly but often in the cover-your-eyes way too) horror film that is rich with texture and complicated emotions. She's also set up Boyle who is supposed to return for the third film and now has to live up to this legacy. Chapter twos are often strong. There is something about not being the beginning of the story and having to set things up, and not being the end where things have to be "finished", that allows you just to focus on telling a good story. DaCosta has done that. 

Bone Temple is a bit of a tour de force for Fiennes whose Doctor Kelson is just an incredible character who gets to do a lot of wonderful stuff. By the end I found him just so friggin' compelling. Fiennes finds the right balance to make Kelson jump off the screen without ever feeling like too much. O'Connell is great as Jimmy as well. Pulling off characters that are this level of insane evil can be challenging. It's so easy for them to be caricatures, but O'Connell, like he did in Sinners, makes Jimmy both horrible and horrifying, with perhaps only a slight bit of tragedy thrown in for good measure. 

I think the film makers have made something uniquely strong here, a very good addition to the elevated horror cannon, but are also building something very satisfying with this entire trilogy. I'm sad we live in a time when audiences can't enjoy the deliciousness of waiting and speculating that serialized story telling offers (imagine the Before Trilogy being released today). I am very eager to see what comes next but also very satisfied to sit with this and imagine all the possibilities. 

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Chi Lewis-Parry, Emma Laird, Cillian Murphy

Director: Nia DaCosta

Writer: Alex Garland

Dead Man's Wire (2026)

After not directing a film since 2018, Van Sant comes back with a vengeance with this solid and unflinching Dead Man's Wire. This "based on real events" film tells a long forgotten story about a man who felt he was pushed over the edge and takes a mortgage company's CEO's son hostage to get what he's entitled to. Of coarse it doesn't go well, and much of Dead Man's Wire's point is to show just how little changes and how little consequences there are people who exploit the system, but the strength of the film is in the way it humanizes those involved, from those we may sympathize with or those we may not. 

Skarsgård has been making a career out of oddball rolls despite fitting a far more heartthrob type and this may be my favourite big swing of his. He does not play Kiritsis as a well man but he also doesn't play him stereotypically "crazy". He crafts a very relatable irrational personal in a way that walks a very thin line. Montgomery is strong opposite him, showing us his very human side while never quite vindicating him and his choices. While Pacino is always always great, especially as scumbags, my favourite "stunt" casting is Domingo as a radio personality who is all personality. 

But it is Van Sant's skilled direction which pulls it all together energizing this story in a way that makes it so compelling without sensationalizing it. In the end it is a sad tale with no happy endings but without a big American drama. It is the subtle things he does such as mixing in "news footage" and this brilliant moment when the news is about to interrupt regular TV programming which is footage of John Wayne receiving an award with clip after clip of him shooting people in movies. Sometimes legendary directors have these little gems in their oeuvre and sometimes it reminds us just how they became legends in the first place. 

Dead Man's Wire

Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Cary Elwes, Myha'la, Colman Domingo, Al Pacino, Kelly Lynch 

Director: Gus Van Sant

Writer: Austin Kolodney

Is This Thing On? (2025)

Will Arnet impresses with a rare dramatic role. His IN here is that he's playing a comedian but the film doesn't lean into that as his stand up tends to be more focused on life stories with humorous tones than full on jokes, and the stand up isn't a huge part of the film. The main focus of Is This Thing On? is the marriage between him and Laura Dern as they negotiate a separation... or not. Perhaps that's what the title is referring to. 

So much is refreshing here. This is a romance (rom-com??) between two people who have been together for 20+ years and who are in their 50s (the film implies they are in their 40s for some reason despite the actors being 10 years older than that). It's the sort of romantic relationship our media doesn't tend to focus on and it generally tackles it well, getting into the complications of long terms relationships, especially when they are focused on other pressures (career, children, etc.). In fact the film makes us of Under Pressure to highlight this. 

If anything Is This Thing On? is just too slight in the end with the depth of its analysis being fairly low key. That's common in rom-coms but the reason I hesitate to use that term to describe this is that it doesn't lead into the funny, or the typical structure of the genre. Still, Cooper has a real directing talent and this is a strong entry in his filmography even if the script itself is on the lessor side. 

Is This Thing On?
Starring: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper 

Director: Bradley Cooper, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds, Scott Icenogle 

Writers: Will Arnett, Chappell, Bradley Cooper

Rosemead (2025)

There has been a lot of talk about Lucy Liu, her radically against type performance, and how she knocks it out of the park in the tragic drama Rosemead and it's all warranted. Liu is transformational here and truly remarkable in a difficult role. The fact that she has remained out of the "awards" talk is an additional tragedy as this is a stunning performance in a compelling film. 

The film is quietly powerful. The approach of the story is to stick pretty close to the plot and just let the story unfold. Liu and Shou build credible characters and tell a story that is so terribly sad. The story centres on Liu's character's physical health and Shou's character's mental health yet it is remarkable that the film never implies that anything failed him or his family. It just sits with how difficult their health issues are so challenging and unsolvable that this story has to play out. I think that made it even more challenging a reality to exist in. 

Together the two actors do a wonderful job and the film keeps its pacing strong so it all feels very real and engaging. By the time it reaches its conclusion it again takes a very quiet and thoughtful approach to let its audience sit with the immense sadness it is presenting. I hope this leads to Liu getting even more diverse roles as she clearly can stand out. 

Rosemead

Starring: Lucy Liu, Lawrence Shou

Director: Eric Lin

Writer: Marilyn Fu

The Plague (2025)

The Plague gives us both the exciting film making debut of Polinger and confirmation that Blunck may be one of the best actors of Gen Alpha. Following up on his incredible role in Griffin in Summer, Blunck goes in a completely different direction here with equally impressive results. And Polinger  manages to find a unique visual language to tell his powerful, if not revolutionary, story of bullying in a way that makes it feel viscerally raw. 

The Plague is a movie that will upset you. It offers no resolution and no solution. It presents us with a very real world situation of destructive male behavior and gives us no example of hope. Our central character is a complicit victim. The perpetrator faces no consequence that promises any sort of change (we even see him very slightly face his own source of bullying). The adult establishment is perpetually inert and ineffective in responding. Another victim is unable to respond in any manner. And the bystanders are all happy to go along with and support the system which continues the abuse. The Plague is almost nihilistic in its portrait of toxic masculinity. 

In contrast to this it is a beautifully shot film. From the opening sequence on Polinger shows us he knows what he is doing. He focuses on underwater views which are both beautiful and unnerving. It creates an uncanny sort of feeling which sets everything off just so. His thesis is quite a condemnation and he crafts it so lovingly. It is such a powerful juxtaposition that culminates in a moment that can be read equally as surrender and escape. Is our protagonist Ben collapsing in on himself in sheer desperation or liberating himself from the curse he's been under. So much remains rightfully unanswered. His physical manifestations of "the plague" are never explained. How much of it is in his head, how much is psychosomatic, how much is a narrative representation of his self-hatred?

To call The Plague an "impressive" debut is reductive. This is a declaration of a film maker arriving. And Blunck is an actor just getting started. 

The Plague

Starring: Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen, Joel Edgerton 

Writer/Director: Charlie Polinger

We Bury the Dead (2026)

I am honestly always surprised when someone make a new zombie movie that feels fresh and is entertaining. There are so many zombie films that you'd think all the plots have been done and there were no more new stories to tell. The Zombie genre is a real zombie-genre... a genre that won't die, and writer/director Hilditch's new one shows that once again there are still narratives worth telling. 

While I didn't think We Bury the Dead is the second coming, or anything, I still felt it had a compelling story that didn't feel exactly like something we had seen before. The idea of a woman seeking closure after her husband dies in a catastrophic event, and she hopes that he will come back to undead life was quite interesting and emotionally powerful. The film explores some dark places with Smith's subplot which brings the film to a rather satisfying conclusion (no spoilers). This ends up being a rather worthwhile entry into this film category.

Anchoring this is Ridley who continues to show what a good actor she is especially in genre films. I found her performance was subtle yet moving and lent itself to the challenges of this particular story. Supported by Smith with a quietly demented performance and Thwaites as the himbo who manages to be three dimensional, the film works because its cast pulls it off. 

While We Bury the Dead may not be one of the essentials of zombie film making, it is a worthwhile addition. I do wonder if it is the sort of film that might have thrived more on streaming than in cinemas, as it might be the sort of film more people would be willing to sit down to watch than to go out to see. Perhaps there is where it will find life. 

We Bury the Dead

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Mark Coles Smith, Brenton Thwaites 

Writer/Director: Zak Hilditch

Endless Cookie (2025)

The unique visual style makes Endless Cookie catch your attention but what makes it really stick with you is the natural nature of how the stories are told. This is a film about story telling and Endless Cookie is such a compelling way to take these stories in. The Scriver's pairing of film making with story telling comes together so beautifully that you can't help but get pulling into their stories. 

There is a juxtaposition between how odd the visuals are, from the characters to the animation, and how much it feels like someone you know telling you about their lives. The stories are sometimes hilarious, and sometimes quite moving. Sometimes they are involved and sometimes they get cut off and are left without resolution. However they play out it's impossible not to get pulled in.

I find often animation can achieve a greater approximation of real life than "live action" can. Endless Cookie, with its naturalistic ways of bringing the Scriver's family stories to the world, is a wonderful example of this. 

Endless Cookie

Writers/Directors: Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver 

Or Something (2025)

Or Something should have been right up my alley. I love movies where two strangers meet and spend the next few hours walking around, having discussions, and learning about each other. Before We Go, Weekend, Rye Lane, Paris 05:59, the f@#kin Before Trilogy. These are my jam. I as excited to watch this one. But Or Something is missing the main component. It's about boring people. It's about normies. People who talk about very typical things with very unoriginal perspectives. 

Written by its stars, they just don't offer anything interesting for the 80 minutes they spend getting to know each other. I kept waiting for there to be something interesting discussed but instead they always talked like they were uttering an AI's version of what they think two people might talk about. 

I appreciated the film's tour of NYC's average neighbourhoods. It felt authentic in its New Yorkness. The characters felt quite real. That's not my critique. They felt like very real...  boring average people. And that just doesn't float my boat. So while I like the form, this content just didn't spark anything for me. 

Or Something

Staring: Mary Neely, Kareem Rahma

Director: Jeffrey Scotti Schroeder

Writers: Mary Neely, Kareen Rahma