MOVIE REVIEW: THE TASTERS

 

Seven women are forced to taste Hitler's food to check for poison. As they spend time together, their relationships evolve between loyalty and betrayal.

Director: Silvio Soldini

Cast: Elisa Schlott, Max Riemelt, Alma Hasun, Emma Falck, Olga von Luckwald, Thea Rasche, Berit Vander

Release Date: UK & Irish Cinemas March 13, 2026

Genre: Drama, History

Rated15 United Kingdom /15A Ireland for moderate to explicit sex/nudity, moderate violence/gore, and mild profanity/substance use

Runtime: 2h 3m

Review:

The Tasters is a slow burn of a WWII drama that takes a methodical approach to the story with Elisa Schlott’s Rosa Sauer carrying the lion’s share of the dramatic load with impressive ease.  Inspired by the 2018 novel of the same name the story recounts an unverified tale of a group of women forced to serve as Hitler's food tasters.  The story, regardless of its veracity, makes for a fascinating set up in the latter days of the war as paranoia and trepidation take hold as the German war effort slowly starts to fall apart.  The film is grounded throughout, taking a similar approach to 2023’s The Zone of Interest by exploring the mundane, forced normalcy the women try to maintain even as the situation gets increasingly dire.  The pacing is decidedly measured which won’t be for everyone as very little happens for large stretches of time, focusing instead and on the mentality of these women who have been separated from their husbands by separation or death in some cases.  Some of the younger members of the group yearn for love that they’ve never experienced even as they play a daily ritual of Russian Roulette.  Elisa Schlott’s character, Rosa Sauer, serves as the audience’s entry point into the story as we follow the events through her point of view for the majority of the time.  Schlottt brings a sense of naturalism to her performance, rarely feeling forced which makes the character easy to relate to.  Her affair with Max Riemelt’s Nazi officer, played by Albert Ziegler, feels a bit contrived and undercooked with the plotline given little more than shared glances before ramping up into a full-blown physical relationship is handled in a rather clumsy manner.  The relationship with Alma Hasun’s Elfriede is given more time to germinate organically with pay dividends in the film’s final act.   The rest of the ensemble get small moments to shine with Emma Falck’s Leni making the most of her limited screentime as the wistfully naïve member of the group who dreams of starting a relationship and family someday.  You are left wishing the film had given the supporting characters a bit more time to flesh out their characters a bit more to make them more three dimensional as there’s plenty of thematic ground left untilled when it’s all said and done.  That being said, The Tasters functions well as a rather fascinating side story that would play wonderfully with 2004’s Downfall from Oliver Hirschbiegel. 

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: SCREAM 7

 

When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, she must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.

Director: Kevin Williamson

Cast: Neve Campbell, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Anna Camp, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O'Connor, Sam Rechner, Mark Consuelos, Tim Simons, Joel McHale

Release Date: February 27, 2026

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, and language.

Runtime: 1h 54m

Review:

Scream 7 boast the return of franchise star Neve Campbell and the original writer, Kevin Williamson, behind the camera but this entry lacks any scares or tension while providing plenty of unintentional laughs.  There’s plenty of nostalgia and Easter Eggs thrown onscreen right off the bat which leads you to believe that Williamson intimate knowledge of the franchise and character would lead to something interesting and engaging.  Instead, we get a fairly straightforward take of Sidney as an overprotective mother who has a daughter that’s starting to resent her.  It is interesting enough, initially, thanks to a committed turn from Neve Campbell who jumps back in with relative ease but Williamson doesn’t take full advantage of it by breezing through their relationship before the entrails start gushing.  It’s a shame because Isabel May and Neve Campbell work well together onscreen but the hackneyed, non sensical script fumbles it all away.  Clocking in at nearly two hours, you expect a bit more time would be spent developing a least one or two of the new characters thrown onscreen instead of the paper-thin characterizations we get.  As a result, they barely register onscreen and having Isabel May play an insecure type who ends up in a dog costume in the school play while she looks like a super model is more than a little bit of a stretch.  Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding, returning from the previous entry, fare far better by bringing some life to the screen when they pop up with Courteney Cox about halfway through the film.  Their natural charisma and energy shines through so much that you wish Williamson would have taken better advantage of them.  Cox can play this role in her sleep by this point but she’s seemingly begging for something more interesting and impactful to do which is hinted at but never explored.  All of this would be easier to shallow is the film was actually scary which it isn’t as all the kills are and set pieces come off as goofier than tense, eliciting more laughs than anything else especially when the final revel occurs.  Scream 7 probably isn’t the last entry in the franchise but it’ll need some serious course corrections if it doesn’t want to slip further into a parody of itself.

C-

MOVIE REVIEW: MIDWINTER BREAK

 

Longtime retired couple Stella and Gerry realize that their relationship has reached a crossroads while on holiday in Amsterdam. After so much time and so many memories, long-held promises and deeply concealed wounds threaten to come to light and force them to confront their future.

Director: Polly Findlay

Cast: Lesley Manville, Ciarán Hinds, Julie Lamberton, Ed Sayer

Release Date: February 20, 2026

Genre: 

Drama

Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving alcoholism, some strong language, bloody images and suggestive material.

Runtime: 1h 30m

Review:

Midwinter Break is a quiet, deconstruction of a marriage that’s tender but devesting at the same time carried by a pair of stalwart performances from Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds.  Polly Findlay’s directorial debut leans heavily on her background in the theater by staging scenes in very deliberate and intimate manner which gives her two central performers plenty of room to display their immense talent.  It’s a meditative approach that works well for the delicate character study at play as she makes great use of the gloomy, European setting.  This is definitely not the kind of film that’s in a rush to get anywhere fast as it puts the spotlight squarely on the performances.  Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds are more than up to the task as they provide so much depth and texture without saying a word.  They are both able to convey such a massive amount of emotional information with simple looks that you just have to appreciate their talent.  They bring a level of lived in authenticity to the character’s love but deep seeded resentment that’s built over decades after a tragic moment that led them on divergent emotional journeys.   Hinds gives his character a pragmatism that he uses to cope along with a fair amount of alcohol while Manville exudes a quiet desperation as she searches for something meaningful in her life.  Their diametrically opposed world views are firmly entrenched and while she struggles to find a new path there’s nary doubt that when it’s all said and done, they would never leave each other making Midwinter Break a tragic tale of a compromised love. 

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE

 

Claiming to be from the future, a man takes hostages at a Los Angeles diner to recruit unlikely heroes to help him save the world.

Director: Gore Verbinski

Cast: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Tom Taylor, Juno Temple

Release Date: February 13, 2026

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Rated R for pervasive language, violence, some grisly images and brief sexual content.

Runtime: 2h 14m

Review:

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die plays like an off the wall hybrid of Terminator and Shaun of the Dead that embraces the insanity of the general concept which boasts a fully committed turns from its cast led by Sam Rockwell.  Gore Verbinski ends his nine-year hiatus with a lively return to the big screen which has him untethered for any restraints which makes for an aggressively busy and random film that works more often than not.  At its core, there’s a cautionary satire that serves as the beating heart of the story that’s surprisingly thoughtful even as the onscreen events get increasingly outlandish.  It does make for a chaotic experience which is sure to keep the majority of the audience off balance even though there are plenty of familiar elements at play.  Verbinski’s film rarely takes a breath as it seemingly throws everything at the wall which makes it easier to overlook the concepts that don’t work as well as others.  He’s blessed with a game cast who displays an impressive level of trust in the director’s vision, embracing it at every turn.  Sam Rockwell is perfectly cast as the soldier from the future tasked with saving humanity from their impending doom.  His manic energy works well for the character since he’s gone through a seemingly endless cycle of trial and error trying to find the correct combination of people to allow him to complete his mission.  He is still able to bring an understated nuance to his performance which gives the character more depth than it originally lets on.  The supporting cast is made up of a series of recognizable faces who all get their moments to shine.  Haley Lu Richardson and Juno Temple get the larger portion of the supporting screen time with both delivering solid work even though their character’s feel strangely under developed.  Each character is given intriguing backstories but there’s not much else offered up outside of the most basic character traits.  Faring even worse are Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz and Asim Chaudhry who are all fun but given equally one-dimensional characters that feel like they should be more impactful than they are.  The film has some dead spots which would have been better utilized to flesh out the characters to make the most of the two hours plus runtime.  It keeps Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die from being truly special but there’s still plenty to appreciate about this gonzo tale on well-worn tropes that makes it all feel timely and fresh.  

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: WUTHERING HEIGHTS

 

Tragedy strikes when Heathcliff falls in love with Catherine Earnshaw, a woman from a wealthy family in 18th-century England.

Director: Emerald Fennell

Cast: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, Ewan Mitchell

Release Date: February 13, 2026

Genre: Drama, Romance

Rated R for sexual content, some violent content and language.

Runtime: 2h 16m

Review:

Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights offers up an abbreviated, Cliff’s Notes version of the novel which echoes Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet with its garish visuals powered by strong turns from its leads.  Fennell’s film plays like a fever dream for the majority of its runtime which works in its favor, particularly early on, before it ultimately runs out of steam.  The stark visuals and simplified story telling makes it easy for anyone to jump into the story of obsession and emotional warfare at the center of the novel.  Any sort of subtly or nuance is thrown by the wayside in favor of a far hornier take on the story that features enough heaving bosoms, chiseled sweaty bodies and flushed cheeks to make romance novels seem quaint.  It borders on Skinamax territory at points before refocusing on the core “love” story at heart.  Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi both use their natural screen magnetism to make you forget the fact that both characters are fairly terrible human beings.  Robbie and Elordi share the sort of onscreen chemistry that makes it easy to overlook or at least forget some of the character’s moral failings.  Robbie fluctuates between entitled to lovelorn fairly effortlessly throughout matched by Elordi’s imposing frame and simmering intensity helped by a dulling of Heathcliff’s cruelty.  The focus is centered more on their unrequited love which is presented in a heavily romanticized, stylized form that visually enthralling but shallow at the same time.  Fennell moves her film at such a rapid pace that she never lets any moment truly settle in before rushing to the next scene.  As a result, despite their best efforts of Robbie and Elordi, Catherine and Heathcliff’s deep connection never match the level of the visuals splashed onscreen.  Wuthering Heights finds Emerald Fennell on a path where her focus on visual seem to come at the cost of the story and character development both of which made her debut, Promising Young Woman, so potent.  

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: DRACULA

 

When a 15th-century prince denounces God after the devastating loss of his wife, he inherits an eternal curse and becomes Dracula. Condemned to wander the centuries, he defies fate and death, guided by the hope to be reunited with his lost love.

Director: Luc Besson

Cast: Caleb Landry Jones, Christoph Waltz,  Zoë Bleu, Matilda De Angelis, Ewens Abid

Release Date: February 6, 2026

Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Romance

Rated R for violence, some gore and sexuality

Runtime: 2h 9m

Review:

Luc Besson’s Dracula is a visually impressive production that leans heavier into the gothic romance aspect of the story, ala Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker's Dracula, powered by a solid turn from Caleb Landry Jones in the titular role and Christoph Waltz as a Van Helsing inspired priest.   Besson’s direction displays a sense of confidence behind the camera which gives his film a palatable sense of energy that instantly pops off the screen even if it all feels terribly familiar.  His visuals pop as usual which keeps the film from lagging more than you’d expect from a well-worn tale like this.  The basics of the story should be familiar to everyone by this point with minor superficial changes having little bearing in the overall story such as changing the locale from London to Paris and characters names adjustments.  Purists are sure to be annoyed by some of the more glaring omissions such as the Demeter being excised entirely or Dracula’s personal servant being an army of living gargoyles who also serve as his personal guardians.  There’s also a rather odd choice to remove his telepathy and replace it with a perfume elixir to control women’s minds which does have a rather fascinating musical montage that covers the centuries of Dracula’s search for his reincarnated love and a wonderfully choregraphed sequence in a nunnery.  It’s a perfect example of the film’s particular tone which makes it one of the funnier adaptations of Dracula in recent memory which may be disorienting for those looking for more vampiric horror.  It’s all incredibly garish but rarely boring thanks to everyone being fully onboard with Besson’s vision.  Caleb Landry Jones isn’t the most obvious choice as Dracula but he does bring a different sort of energy to the role which makes his turn incredibly watchable.  Jones has always had a very specific sort of energy, and it works in his favor here as there’s a sense of ferocity and longing in his performance but missing the ominous, malevolence that the character is usually ingrained in the role.  It makes the character less menacing by a few degrees although he’s given a few scenes to display his prowess as a ferocious warrior when push comes to shove.  Christoph Waltz gets the other meaty role as a priest investigating the vampire phenomenon who plays more like a 19th century Columbo than the standard iteration of Van Helsing.  Waltz is clearly having fun with the character whose quick wit is just as sharp as his metal stakes.  Waltz and Jones only share one scene together, but they make the most of their time together with both working well off each other.  Matilda de Angelis and Zoë Bleu are both solid in supporting roles with the latter leaning into a manic energy for Mina’s best friend and vampire, Maria.  Blue makes for a strong Mina however she’s given precious little time to establish the character before falling hopeless for her long-lost love.  This version of Dracula is an interesting curiosity of an adaptation since it’s familiar for large stretches of time while taking some interesting chances at the same time.   

B-