MOVIE REVIEW:THE SOCIAL RECKONING

 

Facebook engineer Frances Haugen and The Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz blow the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets.

Director: Aaron Sorkin

Cast: Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen

Release Date: October 9, 2026

 

Genre: Biography, Drama, Thriller

Rated R for language.

Runtime: 1h 52m

Review:

Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning was always going to have a large hill to overcome with the inevitable comparisons to The Social Network, also written by Sorkin, which it can never overcome since this film never captures the immediacy and importance of that film by painting with the broadest of strokes on every level.  Sorkin’s film has a solid story to tell and a collection of talented actors to tell it which makes his surprisingly undeveloped script peppered with clichéd characters all the more confounding.  His direction is rather bland for the lion’s share of the film’s runtime with a few uninteresting visual flourishes thrown in for good measure.  The script makes intriguing figures like Frances Haugen, Jeff Horowitz and Mark Zuckerberg come off as one-dimensional types we’ve seen before in other better films like All The President’s Men, The Post or Spotlight.  The general facts are covered with a sort of matter-of-fact approach that never makes the story as engaging as it should be even as it cycles between different time periods for effect.  The cast is, to their credit, all do their best to bring out of every bit of nuance out of their underwritten roles.  Mikey Madison does an admirable job of making her character more interesting than what’s written on the page.  Sorkin decides to make Frances Haugen a quirky, wallflower intellectual who can dissect data with ease but lacks any sort of actual social skills.  It’s a tired trope especially since the actual woman is nothing like that characterization with her being a willing whistleblower who drove the process much more than the film version of her does.  Jeremy Allen White is stuck in a similar situation with the film’s version of Jeff Horowitz who portrayed as a principled investigative reporter but there’s little else to him with the character kept at arm’s length from the audience.  As such, he’s a bit of an enigma since there’s little depth or background provided outside of passing mentions of previous journalistic accolades.  Jeremy Strong gets the showiest role with this fully formed version of Mark Zuckerberg who’s a robotic, possessing a nearly inhumanly cold demeanor that makes him almost cartoonish.  Strong gives it his all as he clearly relishes emulating Zuckerberg’s quirky mannerism and speech pattern that gives him a distinct feel to Jesse Eisenberg younger version from The Social Network.  The script mostly keeps him locked up in a single space prepping for congressional testimony with an underutilized Wunmi Mosaku.  Bill Burr provides some energy to these sequences as a former Facebook investor and legal counsel who is more than willing to challenge Zuckerberg without fear.  The film needed more heated exchanges like that to really drive those moments home since the film noticeably perks up during those moments.  Once the film wraps up its story, culminating in Haugen’s congressional testimony post insurrection, there’s a noticeable sense that the story remains unfinished as we are still living in the wake of the aftereffects of the events portrayed onscreen.  It makes The Social Reckoning feel like an unfinished product as we are still living through this moment in time and in the shadow of tech billionaires, such as Zuckerberg, acquiescing to the far right   

C

MOVIE REVIEW: OTHER MOMMY

 

Bela, an eight-year-old girl living in a home with marital problems, confronts a sinister entity that comes out of her closet. The presence, whom she calls "Other Mommy," becomes increasingly threatening to her and her family.

Director: Rob Savage

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jay Duplass, Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed, Karen Allen

Release Date: October 9, 2026

 

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rated R for some bloody violence, and language.

Runtime: 1h 34m

Review:

Other Mommy is a derivative, messy horror film that still manages to be entertaining thanks to some showy visuals and a deliciously committed turn from Jessica Chastain.  The film waste little time getting right into the meat of the story with the film’s buzzy trailer serving as the opening salvo.  Rob Savage keeps the film efficiently paced which works in its favor since the script offers up haphazard bits of lore that don’t make much sense the more you think about it.  Savage makes it easier to overlook these shortfalls by delivering a series of set ups and jump scares that are visually impactful especially as they get more hallucinatory and abstract.  Savage uses slivers of his 2023’s film, The Boogeyman, along with bits of The Nightmare on Elm Street series and the late 90’s Ju-On (The Grudge) to craft his story with some elements working better than others.  The story tries to weave in a deeper thread about family discord but it’s handled in such a clunky manner that it fails to land in spite of the cast’s best efforts.  Leading the way is Jessica Chastain who is clearly having a blast playing the Other Mommy role.  She clearly relishes the opportunity to play in this sandbox as she creates a rather disturbing presence by using a series of unblinking facial expressions and unsettling vocal intonations.  She’s much more muted in her non demonic role of Ursula with the performance echoing her turn in the television miniseries, Scenes from a Marriage, but with much more running and screaming.  Chastain keeps the whole thing afloat by sheer will as the script gets more and more nonsensical as it moves along.  Her screen family played by Jay Duplass and Arabella Olivia Clark bring an earnest, natural energy to their roles even if they are both woefully underwritten.  Familiar faces such as Karen Allen and Dichen Lachman pop up in a rushed exorcism scene that feels like it would have been more memorable if the characters had been set up and fleshed out a tad more.  Once its all said and done, Other Mommy maybe an imperfect vessel but there’s still enough entertaining thrills paired with a memorable turn from Jessica Chastain to make it a fun bit mindless genre fun.  

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: VERITY

 

Hired to be a ghostwriter for renowned author Verity Crawford, Lowen Ashleigh's assignment takes a dark turn when she discovers chilling autobiographical notes. As she wrestles with disturbing and twisted confessions about Verity's husband, she soon finds it hard to separate fiction from reality, manipulation from attraction, and opportunity from obsession.

Director: Michael Showalter

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Brady Wagner

Release Date: October 2, 2026 

 

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Rated R for sexual content, some nudity, language, violence and bloody images.

Runtime: 1h 54m

Review:

Verity is a glossy psycho thriller that does just enough to elevate the material above Lifetime quality, thanks mainly to a vamping Hathaway, with the story’s series of twists playing out predictably.  Michael Showalter brings a steady hand behind the camera, delivering a visually slick film that takes full advantage of its locale and good-looking cast.  It’s almost too sleek of a film since there’s an artificial air to everything thrown onscreen which gives the entire thing utterly detached from reality.  It’s hard to blame Showalter much since the script is peppered with stiff, unnatural lines of dialogue that feel most like old school Cinemax than anything else.  If the story had just gone all in with its tawdry subject matter and fully embraced it, silliness and all, the film would have worked better as a guilty pleasure.  As is, Anne Hathaway is the only one of the cast who understood the assignment by leaning into the cartoonish nature of the character.   Hathaway chews up every bit of non-comatose screentime she gets and it leaves you wishing the film gave her more time to brood as a mother who hates every aspect of it.  Sadly, those moments come and go far too quickly with Dakota Johnson being asked to carry the lion’s share of the load.  Johnson can deliver some decent performances with good material, but this script offers up a painfully one dimensional and bland character which sets her back to her default setting of the human embodiment of “meh.”  There are a few bits of background thrown around at the beginning of the film but after that her character isn’t given any sort of tangible depth or texture to make you care about her which makes her the least interesting person onscreen.  Josh Hartnett fares slightly better since he’s given a tad more to work with but there are reveals which are telegraphed from a mile away.  The climax plays out in a similar fashion as everything you expect to happen, but instead of eliciting gasp they provide unintentional laughter.  The ending is supposed to be shocking, but it delivered in such a blasé manner that it leaves you with more of a collective shrug than a visceral thrill that leaves you begging for another entry, which is set up at the end.  Verity ends up being a barely passable erotic thriller that thinks it’s far more clever than it actually is.

C-

MOVIE REVIEW: DIGGER

 

The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove that he's humanity's saviour.

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Cast: Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons

Release Date: October 2, 2026 

 

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Rated R for pervasive language

Runtime: 2h 9m

Review:

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger is a big on every level imaginable, from the scope and scale of the story to the performances led by a particularly fascinating turn from Tom Cruise.  Iñárritu’s film starts off an over-the-top satire in the vein of Dr. Strangelove with oversized cartoonish characters and a world ending crisis at the center of it all.  There’s a major reveal, roughly about a half hour, into the film which changes everything you’ve seen before and going forward, serving as a clear line of delineation.  The story, performances and overall look of the film is reshaped from that point as we are watching something different and far more intriguing than what you are originally led to believe.  It’s a bold choice which is sure to divide audiences but ultimately, it opens up multiple thematic story threads that will linger in your mind well after the film ends.  There’s plenty to dissect afterwards with the film tackling everything from climate change to how art deals with catastrophes and portrayals of those involved.  Some parts work far better than others but even the parts that don’t work have an audacious energy that’s hard to deny especially since the cast is fully on board with Iñárritu’s vison.  Tom Cruise leads the way by bring the kind of over-the-top energy he brought in his Tropic Thunder cameo with the heavy makeup and prosthetics freeing him to go for the gusto throughout.  Cruise delivers each line with an impressive level of commitment highlighted by a nearly 10-minute speech by Digger taking responsibility for the calamity and flipping it back on the raucous international crowd along with the audience.  Nearly every bit of Digger’s dialogue, along with the majority of the supporting cast, is delivered at max decibel levels, which makes more sense in the context of the film.  Intermixed between are smaller moments where Cruise offers up an impressive level of nuance and depth to the character even if the daughter subplot feels slightly under served.  It’s the kind of performance that’s sure to garner Cruise some awards consideration regardless of how critics feel about the movie as a whole.   The talented supporting cast are given plenty of time to shine with John Goodman, Riz Ahmed and Robert John Burke leaving lasting impressions whenever they pop up onscreen.  Sadly, Sandra Hüller and Jesse Plemons feel underutilized with both seemingly begging for more to do.  Digger might not for everybody, almost by design, but those who can appreciate what Alejandro González Iñárritu delivers will find a multi layered story and a stellar level of artistry on both sides of the camera.        

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: THE INFLUENCER PROJECT

 

An influencer travels to Copenhagen for a documentary about her online fame. However, when an obsessive stalker tracks her every move, she must confront her terror to reclaim power.

Director: Mike Nybroe

Cast: Chiara King, Luca Storm, Mike Nybroe, Jazmine Summer, Alexandre Willaume

Release Date: October 2, 2026 US/ October 16, 2026 UK

 

Genre: Horror

Rated R for strong bloody violence, suicide, and language throughout.

Runtime: 1h 35m

Review:

The Influencer Project throws a handful of interesting ideas about the dangers of the influencer lifestyle in the form of a horror mockumentary that works best when it’s grounded closer to reality in its first half before losing its way by turning into a generic slasher in the back half of the film.  Documentary filmmaker, Mike Nybroe, shows off some real talent in his directorial debut by delivering a sleek looking film, taking advantage of his background to create a believable mockumentary.  It helps that he cast real life influencer, Chiara King, as his star especially early on as we get a glimpse behind the scenes of content creation and what is driving the process.  King, to her credit, is perfectly comfortable in the lead role by delivering a natural turn that feels authentic, which is helped by the film’s early focus.  There are plenty of moments where you can tell she’s pulling on her personal experiences which makes her character feel more fully formed than what’s on the actual page.  She possesses a likeable screen presence which makes the film far more watchable than it would be if her character came off as more inherently vapid.  The film starts to struggle once the more outright horror moments start taking hold, relying on an overabundance of jump scares which never lets a tangible sense of tension take hold.  It doesn’t help matters that the situations and character’s actions start to get progressively more nonsensical as the film heads into its final act.  The slasher storyline feels undercooked since it’s never allowed to truly germinate before the film moves into full on horror mode.  It’s a shame because there are some cynically, satirically funny elements thrown about like the steady stream of all too real comments that come through as the King is running for her life.  A post credit stinger also offers up something far more interesting than the standard issue slasher which would have made The Influencer Project much more memorable.  

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: RESIDENT EVIL

 

A medical courier finds himself in a desperate fight for survival against bloodthirsty, mutated creatures.

Director: Zach Cregger

Cast: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Johnno Wilson, Paul Walter Hauser

Release Date: September 18, 2026

 

Genre: Action, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

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

Runtime: 1h 37m

Review:

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is a lean, mean machine of wonderfully constructed scares and gross outs, taking heavy inspiration from John Carpenter’s The Thing, that’s a thrillingly fun ride from start to finish.  Cregger’s decision to avoid the pitfalls of trying to adapt any of the game specific storylines or characters pays in spades as we follow Austin Abrams’s hapless courier thrown into the world of the video game.  Cregger’s love of the game shines through as he drops plenty of Easter Eggs along with tongue in cheek references to the seemingly endless number of padlocks should make gamer fans smile.  The way shots are constructed and set up really delivers the look and feel of early games along with an increasingly grotesque collection of creatures our protagonist encounters.  There are a handful of masterfully set up jump scares that’s sure to get even the most seasoned horror fans to shudder in their seats.  The visuals are consistently impressive from the opening snow covered farmhouse that dominates the opening act to the urban hellscape of Racoon City, highlighted by a speed run down a street as zombified citizens launch themselves off buildings.  Woven into all the carnage thrown onscreen is a rather sinister sense of humor that works incredibly well for the film thanks in large part to Austin Abrams’s performance.  Abrams’s character has a strange Jessie Pinkman, from Breaking Bad, Michael Cera hybrid energy as he is thrust into the nightmarish situation, he finds himself in.  He’s tasked with carrying the film since there aren’t many supporting characters populating the film with recognizable faces such as Paul Walter Hauser, Kali Reis and Zach Cherry popping up and disappearing in steady succession.  This is Abrams’s film and he delivers excellent work, making this iteration of Resident Evil one of the best adaptations of the video game and one of the most fun horror films in recent memory.  

A

MOVIE REVIEW: HOPE

 

A police chief, a policewoman and a group of hunters try to track down and kill a mysterious creature that's laying waste to a Korean village.

Director: Na Hong-jin

Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender

Release Date: September 9, 2026

 

Genre: Action, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violent content and language throughout.

Runtime: 2h 36m

Review:

Hope, the latest South Korean sci-fi import, boasts a fun tone along with a series of impressively staged action sequences which propels the majority of the film before the story takes a turn that’s bound to be divisive.  Writer/Director, Na Hong-Jin, displays real confidence and talent behind the camera as he sets up the characters and mystery with impressive restraint as he builds tension before revealing the monsters, almost forty minutes into the film.  There are bits of 90’s Michael Bay smattered throughout as Hong-Jin uses a kinetic pace to establish the setting in town and in the forest that makes for a visually engaging experience that sets with the collections of characters.  The only thing keeping the action sequences from really hitting is some incredibly shoddy early 2000’s level CGI that’s rather distracting throughout.  The script doesn’t offer up a ton of backstory on the motley crew collection of locals, but it does give the whole thing a fun, almost goofy tone amidst all the carnage that recalls other genre bending movies like Shaun of the Dead or Return of the Living Dead.  There are some truly hilarious moments spread throughout the film with the cast showing off some strong comedic timing, a story from a survivor recounting his bathroom trip in the woods is a gut buster.  Hwang Jung-min bumbling police chief serves as the main character for the film, with him delivering solid work as he tries to be brave in the face of the horror unleashed on his unsuspecting town.  He brings a perfect, everyman quality to the character that serves the film well with him being believably frazzled from start to finish.  Zo In-sung brings more self-assured energy as his second cousin, Ko Sung-ki, who investigates the local woods with a group of his friends.   Jung Ho-Yeon brings a rather chaotic, unhinged energy as a rookie cop, Im Sung-ae, as soon as she appears onscreen about halfway through the film.  The rest of the characters are mostly a collection of types rather than fully realized people which is easier to forgive since the majority of them are little more than cannon fodder.  Issues start to pop up in the back half of the film as the story starts going in some unexpected directions with more than a handful of story threads left unanswered which makes the whole thing feel like set up for a sequel which may or may not come although Na Hong-Jin has stated the script for that sequel is complete.  As a standalone film, it leaves Hope slightly unsatisfying which is a shame since so much of the film works so incredibly well. 

B- 

MOVIE REVIEW: ONSLAUGHT

 

An Army sniper unleashes her lethal skills to protect her young daughter from a rogue squad of genetically engineered soldiers.

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Alex Pereira, Drew Starkey, Rebecca Hall

Release Date: September 4, 2026

 

Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence, some gore, sexual material/nudity, and language.

Runtime: 1h 32m

Review:

Adam Wingard’s Onslaught is an efficient homage to 70’s/80’s B-movies with is barebone, bloody story offering up a set up to unleash a series of set of survival set pieces for Adria Arjona’s PTD riddled vet to survive as she protects her daughter.  Wingard is clearly in his wheelhouse as he delivers a slick looking pulp film that echoes 80’s John Carpenter at various points during its runtime along with a healthy dose of old school grindhouse film.  The action set pieces are all well-constructed and shot with a keen eye to make sure they leave a lasting impression especially when the murderous death squad appears.  The film is populated by over-the-top characterization with the villains being appropriately sleezy and kinky, which leaves you wishing the script had given them a bit more to do.  Michael Biehn, Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens are both more than game to play in this sandbox, but the film never takes advantage of their substantial talents with their roles being little more than extended cameos.   Drew Starkey has a bit more time to work with his special operative character, Cyrus, who is deployed to contain the death squad.  Adria Arjona carries the lion’s share of the load here as she tries to squeeze out every bit of pathos out of her character.  Arjona is solid throughout, delivering a focused turn that’s engaging enough to make you care about her and her daughter’s survival.  The back half of the film turns from the bloody action of the first half into something that’s much closer to slasher horror.  The death squad turns into tactical gear adorned versions of Michael Myers, Jason and Leatherface as they stalk through the trailer park delivering more than a handful of effective jump scares along the way.  The series of fights that occur are brutally bloody bits of orchestrated mayhem with only the final face feeling a tad underwhelming.  Onslaught is the kind of movie that falls apart if you think about it too much and it has the presence of mind to move everything along at a steady pace and not overstay its welcome. 

B

MOVIE REVIEW: BUDDY

 

Dressed as a unicorn, a beloved children's TV host reveals his true self as a dark and violent force of nature.

Director: Casper Kelly

Cast: Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Patton Oswalt, Michael Shannon, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key

Release Date: August 28, 2026

 

Genre: Horror 

Rated R for bloody violence, some drug content and language – all involving children.

Runtime: 1h 35m

Review:

Buddy is a hilarious campy horror oddity that delivers as much gory fun as it does scares in a nightmarish multicolored kid’s show.  Casper Kelly carefully creates Buddy’s world with such attention to detail that the show itself could probably pass for the real deal.  There plenty of inspiration pulled from Barney along with bits and pieces of other children’s shows over the years.  It’s disarmingly familiar from the moment the film opens but there’s always a sense that there is something off kilter about the whole thing.  Kelly doesn’t take long to unfurl the insanity of the world these kids are trapped in with Keegan-Michael Key’s psychotic Buddy.  Keegan-Michael Key’s voices the character with impressive glee as he switches seamlessly between saccharine sweet and menacing.  He carries the lion’s share of the load as the lynch pin of the whole thing aided by some solid supporting turns from people like Patton Oswalt and Michael Shannon as other anthropomorphic characters.  Oswalt is lots of fun as Strappy, a talking backpack, who faces a full-on existential crisis as his world reveals itself to be incredibly murderous and fraught.  The child actors are just as strong, led by Delaney Quinn, who plays Cristin Milioti’s missing daughter.  Quinn plays up the children’s show actor initially before she finds out the level of danger, she finds herself in.  Milioti’s Grace does the most she can with her limited screentime, especially early on as she tries to remember a missing child nobody else seems to remember.  Once she’s sucked into Buddy’s realm she easily transitions into the adult players on show before coming to her senses and doing everything possible to save her daughter.  The story gets progressively darker as it goes along and there are a handful of juicy details tossed about that makes everything feel like some sort of twisted Monsters Inc which makes Buddy something distinctive in the horror genre.  

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: THE DOG STARS

 

Survivors of a deadly pandemic traverse a post-apocalyptic landscape to find the origin of a mysterious radio transmission.

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley,  Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong, Daisy Kakkar

Release Date: August 28, 2026

 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated R for strong violence, and language.

Runtime:  1h 58m

Review:

The Dog Stars boast a top line director and cast but it struggles to find something new or interesting to say in a genre that’s been run ragged by this point.  Ridley Scott’s film is more of a meditation on grief and the ability to find hope after extreme loss with the occasional action set pieces replete with post-apocalyptic marauders.   Scott takes full advantage of the Italian landscape subbing in for the Rockies by delivering plenty of sweeping shots of the terrain as we follow Jacob Elordi’s Hig fly from spot to spot in his old Cessna.  The aforementioned action set pieces are all well-constructed jolts of energy when they take place however those expecting more of those moments will be left wanting for more.  The overall pacing of the film is strangely disjointed as we’re given large stretches of quiet character moments before those set pieces pop up.  There’s not much time spent on who or why these marauders have gone full Mad Max with only Allison Janney’s Grand Junction getting the slightest bit of backstory but her character comes and goes so quickly it barely leaves an impression.  There are some strange similarities with Neil Marshall’s underrated 2008 film, Doomsday, which is also populated with strange and dangerous survivors, but this film is so incredibly self-serious that it barely gives itself a moment to breathe.   The main cast keeps the whole thing from being a total disaster with Jacob Elordi delivering a solid, soulful turn as Hig who can’t let go of the memory of his wife.  He and Josh Brolin have great chemistry together onscreen, but the story separates them for large portions of time unfortunately.  It’s a shame because you can tell Brolin is having a ball playing Bangley, a gruff former Marine survivalist, who has been surviving on an abandoned airfield with Hig for an undetermined amount of time.  Margaret Qualley and Guy Pearce make up the rest of the main supporting characters with Pearce playing a different sort of gruff survivor although he’s more concerned with the safety of his daughter.  Qualley and Elordi work well together to make their relationship entertaining enough even though there’s nary a question the two will ultimately end up together by the time it’s all said and done.  It’s something that The Dog Stars suffers from in general, for all its thoughtful reflections on grief there’s very little that happens that’s surprising or revelatory which makes it all feel like a missed opportunity.   

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: COLONY

 

Trapped inside a sealed building during a deadly bioterrorist attack, a desperate group of survivors must navigate growing panic and betrayal as they fight to stay alive.

Director: Na Hong-jin

Cast:Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Shin-rok, Shin Hyun-been, Go Soo

Release Date: September 9, 2026

 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated R for bloody violent content and some language.

Runtime: 2h 3m

Review:

Yeon Sang-ho’s latest zombie horror film, Colony, is a kinetic action-packed zombie fest that packs together a handful of tropes into a bloody, mucus filled goodtime.  Sang-ho film waste little time taking off as his script is decidedly lean on characterization, focusing instead on sleek pulse pounding action set pieces.  Those action sequences are impressive across the board as infected people fling themselves at survivors in a steady succession of increasingly complicated contortions.  It all plays out like the slimiest Cirque du Soleil performance ever to occur in a mall.   The setting will illicit memories of Dawn of the Dead, the original and remake, but there are more than a few whiffs of the 28 Days Later franchise and The Last of Us series thrown in for good measure.  The central concept of an evolving zombie hivemind horde gives the action a dash of freshness as the survivors have to constantly keep on their toes with the infected learning their tactics.  None of the concepts, including the hive mind, is terribly groundbreaking but it’s a testament to Sang-ho’s talent as a director that it’s all so thoroughly entertaining especially if you’re looking for a fun zombie thrill ride.  While there’s plenty of splatter fun to enjoy during the film’s frenetic two-hour runtime, the characters are all little more than thinly scripted types with none of them getting enough time to get properly fleshed out.   Jun Ji-hyun’s biotechnology professor, Kwon Se-jeong, serves as the film’s defacto lead with her bringing strong, confident screen presence to the role.  She exudes self-determination and intelligence throughout which leaves you wishing the script had given the character a tad more depth to fully take advantage of her performance.  Koo Kyo-hwan’s bio terrorist, Seo Young-cheol, who caused the outbreak takes center stage in the second half of the film and is played with enough nefarious glee that you just can’t wait for him to get his comeuppance.  The rest of the supporting cast does its best with their limited screentime with only the brother sister duo, played by Ji Chang-wook and Kim Shin-rok, leaving a noticeable impact.  Once its all said and done, Colony, may not reach the heights of Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan but its still a bloody fun zombie film.  

B

MOVIE REVIEW: HOT SPOT

 

In a near-future society ruled by sentient AI, a private eye who's investigating a murder case encounters a rebel group that's capable of undermining the digital overlord.

Director: Agnieszka Smoczynska

Cast: Andrzej Konopka, Noomi Rapace, Reika Kirishima 

Release Date: August 21, 2026

 

Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated R for strong violent content, gore, graphic nudity, sexual content and brief language.

Runtime: 1h 41m

Review:

Agnieszka Smoczynska’s Hot Spot starts off like a solid cyberpunk amalgam of The Matrix and Mad Max paired with striking visuals but whatever energy it starts with quickly fizzles as reveals a meandering, muddled plot that borders on absurdity at various points during its runtime.  Konopka’s garish visual style gives the film a psychedelic energy that should make the entire thing much more entertaining than it is.  Plot points are dictated at various points during the film which makes for more than a few moments of clunky exposition that doesn’t come close to explaining what’s going on outside of the most basic aspect of the AI totalitarian dystopia on display.  All other bits of oddity thrown on screen like Andrzej Konopka’s detective, Jan 623, generally bizarre wardrobe and look, man eating pet worm, or his partner randomly having elf ears aren’t given even a passing line of explanation.  Konopka seems dead set to make things odd just for the sake of being odd with these choices, amounting to nothing in the grand scheme of the story.  The script has plenty of ideas bouncing around but it doesn’t have any conception of how to form these assorted themes and concepts into a cohesive whole.  While the film has a decidedly advent garde looks and feel there barely enough to make any of it engaging enough for you to care about what’s going on, making the whole thing an increasingly difficult slog as the film drags on with very little actually happening.  The primary cast of Andrzej Konopka, Noomi Rapace and Reika Kirishima have all clearly bought into the director’s vision and seem primed and ready to do anything and everything she asks of them.  It’s shame that they’re given virtually nothing to work with outside of the most abstract bits of a concept, none of which is fully realized.  The cast generally seems desperate to be given something substantial or meaningful to work with.  It all makes Hot Spot feel like a hollow, wasted attempt at a film that’s so incoherent and incomplete that it leaves you wondering how it all went so wrong during the creation of the project.  

D-

MOVIE REVIEW: TONY

 

Nineteen-year-old Anthony Bourdain stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that shapes the course of his life.

Director: Matthew Johnson

Cast: Dominic Sessa, Emilia Jones, Dagmara Domińczyk, Rich Sommer, Stavros Halkias, Leo Woodall, Antonio Banderas

Release Date: August 7, 2026

Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Rated R for pervasive language, drug use, and sexual content/nudity.

Runtime: 1h 46m

Review:

Tony doesn’t require you to know much about the man at the center of the film which makes it an impressively accessible coming of age tale that never lionize which makes the character onscreen feel all the more real and human.  Matthew Johnson’s film lives and breathes as a portrait of a young man desperately searching for meaning and direction in his life that gives everything an air of authenticity.  He isn’t afraid to show his main character in an unflattering light for large portions of time as he’s shown to be a self-aggrandizing liar who’s most concerned with people being impressed with him.  He fails regularly and makes some horrible decisions along the way that should feel relatable to large portion of people.  Dominic Sessa captures that energy effortlessly as he gives the audience a sense of the character’s unearned superiority which masks an undercurrent of his failures.  His lanky figure and hunched over posture give the audience a sense of his awkwardness and insecurity along with a general willingness to follow anyone who’s willing to give him the time of day.   He becomes fast friends with Leo Woodall misfit restaurant worker, Sal, who possesses a chaotic charisma that Tony is initially entranced with until things go off the rails with their mentor played by Antonio Banderas.  Banderas has rarely been better as he delivers an award worthy turn as 'Chef' José Vatel who owns the small restaurant Tony ends up working and living with during that formative summer.  Banderas plays the character with impressive nuance and depth as he depicts the character as a tough taskmaster but underneath it there’s an understated soulfulness that enchanting once it reveals itself.  Their stellar work makes the emotional turns hit like a gut punch as this motley crew of a family fractures and nearly falls apart.  The restaurant relationships are so well done that it leaves Emilia Jones’ love interest story line feel more perfunctory than engaging even though his pursuit of her gets the plot rolling.  Those looking for a more expansive exploration of Bourdain will probably be better off sticking with his famous memoir, Kitchen Confidential, since Tony is concerned with a very specific point in time in his life.  That laser focus allows Tony to be a complicated but thoughtful tribute that displays the kind of honest humanism Bourdain would have likely appreciated.  

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER

 

Gemma is a young mother who discovers she can travel into the Further, a purgatorial realm of lost souls. When something evil comes after her, she realizes she can bring what lives there back to the real world. Once the demons realize her power, our world becomes their playground.

Director: Jacob Chase

Cast: Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Lin Shaye

Release Date: August 21, 2026

Genre: Horror, Mystery,Thriller

Rated PG-13 for strong violent content, bloody images, terror and some strong language.

Runtime: 1h 46m

Review:

Insidious: Out of the Further offers up an expansion of the franchise by opening up the world and bringing in more creepy monsters and delivers a consistent series of haunted house jump scares that’s predictable, occasionally goofy but still mildly entertaining.  Jacob Chase capably directs the film with an efficient hand, wasting little time getting into the film’s central plot and laying down the ground rules which should be familiar to fans of the franchise.  He set up a series of set pieces that rely heavily on old school tension and jump scares highlighted by a trek in the world’s strongest sofa pillow fort.  There are plenty of spooky and gross imagery thrown onscreen, definitely gives you a better appreciation for dental hygienist, to keep the action rolling along at a steady pace.  A large part of the plot feels fairly predictable with large swaths of the story reveals being telegraphed a mile away.  The central villain in this entry does offer up some interesting ideas by bringing in death cults and the afterlife that gives him a different angle although the script doesn’t explore it in a meaningful way.  There are plenty of unanswered questions about how him and his acolytes gained the kind of power they display throughout but it does make for a series of amusing moments such as Brandon Perea’s policeman questioning the aforementioned acolytes.  Amelia Eve, who looks like she could be Charlize Theron’s sister that nobody talks about, is perfectly capable in the central role even if her character is thinly written.  Eve and Island Austin, who plays her daughter Maya, have some solid onscreen energy with Austin bringing some real presence as a child actress which makes you wonder why the film didn’t spend a little more time with their relationship before things get supernaturally nutty.  They still manage to make their characters likable enough that you have enough vested interest in their survival to keep you engaged in the story.  Franchise stalwart, Lin Shaye, returns and is given a bit more to do here than previous entries while still serving as the connective tissue for the series.  The rest of the supporting players played by Brandon Perea and Maisie Richardson-Sellers are given the most basic character traits and a willingness to go along with whatever Amelia Eve’s Gemma layouts for them with little to no push back or questions.  Insidious: Out of the Further is a solid if forgettable entry in the series with enough slivers of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond scattered throughout to make it easier to overlook some of the more generic elements.

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA

 

A queer director making a slasher franchise sequel becomes obsessed with casting the original film's "final girl," leading both women into psychological and sexual chaos.

Director: Jane Schoenbrun

Cast: Hannah Einbinder, Gillian Anderson, Jack Haven, Patrick Fischler, Zach Cherry, Dylan Baker

Release Date: August 7, 2026

Genre: Drama, Horror, Romance, Thriller

Rated R for bloody violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and some language.

Runtime: 1h 52m

Review:

Jane Schoenbrun’s third feature film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, explores how formative genre film, slashers in particular, shape people’s journey to self-discovery in a loving, occasionally hilarious tribute/dissection.  Those expecting a straightforward slasher from Schoenbrun will be disappointed here with her focus centered on the effect of the classic slasher genre, warts and all, on a generation that grew up watching them.  The story feels incredibly personal and semi-autobiographic with Hannah Einbinder’s indie director tasked with rebooting the long dead Miasma franchise.  She offers plenty to unpack thematically which be dissected in a variety of ways but if there’s something that shines through is the genuine love of the genre even with some of its more problematic elements.  It’s clearly something that was foundational to her development and while this story feels very personal to her but it’s easy to see parallels to anyone who grew up with these violent films that had more than a healthy amount of sex in them.  Her use of a film within a film device is a clever approach to flip the perspective back and forth with the in-film sections carried by a striking Amanda Fix who naturally exudes youthful sadness and confusion paired with some of more over the top first person kills around.  The dreamlike atmosphere that’s pervaded Schoenbrun’s previous films are ever present but this film is far more playful which allows for some truly funny sequences such as a zoom pitch meeting that goes off the rails in an uber meta way or the final bloodbath that’s more slapstick than horrific.  Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson carry the film with their chemistry together serving as the beating heart of the film with both delivering eclectic but endearing turns.  Einbinder, fresh off of a different kind of May/December relationship in HBO’s Hacks, is appropriately awkward and unsure of herself as this meeting with Anderson’s reclusive star takes an unexpected course.  Anderson, sporting a Dolly Parton accent, is strangely soulful even as she serves up KFC like meal from a Michelin star restaurant, dressed like some long-forgotten heiress in a cabin.  They make for an oddly matched pair but can tell both actresses are fully committed to the roles and what Schoenbrun is trying to accomplish.  She aims to bring together so many concepts and themes it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are some choppy moments especially as shift into more meta commentary heavy in the final act.  Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma isn’t going to be for everyone, almost by design, but that doesn’t keep it from being a fascinating multifaceted film that’s got plenty to offer for those will to go on the journey.  

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: THE END OF OAK STREET

 

A mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports a neighborhood to someplace unknown. The Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery

Release Date: August 14, 2026

Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated PG-13 for some strong violent content, bloody images, some strong language and suggestive material.

Runtime: 1h 40m

Review:

The End of Oak Street is a throwback on multiple levels with it taking cues from Steven Spielberg, Steven King and Ray Bradbury to deliver a family adventure that’s as fun as it is bloody.  David Robert Michell paints the prototypical 80’s suburb with its neighborhood cookouts, bullies and marital discord simmering underneath it all.  He avoids the usual pitfalls of going for the super garish 80’s styles and goes for a more typical look and feels that should feel familiar to anyone who lived through the decade, which is refreshing.  Michell spends little time before thrusting this generic suburban neighborhood into prehistory carnage which become increasingly bloody and brutal.  He slowly reveals the reality of the situation of the confused community and then stages some thrilling set pieces as the carnivorous start attacking before even larger predators show up.  It’s briskly paced for the most part, with small character moments thrown here and there for the family with Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor doing the majority of the heavy lifting.  Hathaway and McGregor carry the film by delivering thoroughly committed performances as they add so much nuance and texture to their relationship.  There’s nothing groundbreaking about their fractured marriage as a storyline but they both give their characters enough nuance and shades of grey which would be missing in hands of lesser performances.  They give you a solid sense of their frustrations but underlying love that keeps them together, especially as they try to deal with the insanity of the situation they are in.  It’s a testament to the talent of both performers because they pull everything they can out of the script to make you care about them, especially once the film takes a surprising turn.  Unfortunately, the rest of the supporting cast don’t fair as well with the script offering up fairly one-dimensional cookie cutter types.  Their kids, played by Maisy Stella and Christian Convery, get the most screentime and there are tidbits dropped here and there about their personalities, but they’re never really explored.  The rest of the neighbors serve as little more than cannon fodder for the marauding monsters running about.  Still, the script’s shortcoming doesn’t keep The End of Oak Street from being a fun ride that feels like a theatrical episode pulled from the 80’s series Amazing Stories created by Steven Spielberg.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: ONE NIGHT ONLY

 

Two New Yorkers search for love on the one night of the year when sex is legal.

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Michelle Hurd

Release Date: August 7, 2026

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Rated R for sexual material, language and brief nudity.

Runtime: 1h 42m

Review:

One Night Only could have been a fun, mindless rom com propped up by its two stars screen magnetism but framing the whole story in a dystopic, prudish near future makes the whole thing more perplexing than anything.  Will Gluck is familiar with this space, scoring a hit with 2023’s Anyone but You which share quite a few similarities with this film.  His films typically have an easy to watch flow that leans heavily on its stars charisma with Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner bringing plenty of it to this film.   The script offers up plenty of jokes and moments with some landing better than others but overall, it’s a breezy film that offers up a series of misadventures for our central couple to go through before they eventually end up together.  That part is never in question as the film plays out fairly predictably as these lovelorn individuals keep running into other before getting more and more interested in other the course of the night.  Barbaro and Turner are both solid throughout with both bringing a level of weirdness to their generally hot appearances.  They share some solid chemistry together even though the film keeps them apart for large swaths of time which is an odd choice since it makes their “deep” connection feel much less organic than it should by the time it’s all said and done.  It all makes for a fairly standard bit of rom-com silliness that’s entertaining until you think about the concept too much.  The concept offers up a myriad of questions that the film never really seems all that interested in engaging with.  It even wades into some strange acceptance of the whole concept as being romantic and even dropping the line, “Maybe the fascists were right about this one.”  It’s a weird message to end the film on that, for all its sexual romp trappings, seems to land on the government forced chastity side of the argument.  Will Gluck made his name with the Emma Stone vehicle, Easy A, which also dealt with morality, but that film was far more thoughtful in its approach while still working as a comedy, something One Night Only struggles to do. 

C