MOVIE REVIEW: HAMNET

 

William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, celebrate the birth of their son, Hamnet. However, when tragedy strikes and Hamnet dies at a young age, it inspires Shakespeare to write his timeless masterpiece "Hamlet."

Director: Chloé Zhao

Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, Jacobi Jupe, David Wilmot, Olivia Lynes

Release Date: November 26, 2025 

Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Romance

Rated PG-13 for thematic content, some strong sexuality, and partial nudity.

Runtime: 2h 5m

Review:

Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet is a historical drama that takes you on an enveloping emotional journey that’s as uplifting as it is devastating thanks in large part to a mesmerizing turn from Jessie Buckley.  Zhao’s film is a study in subtly from the start as she holds images and frames the characters in a way that makes them look like they could be renaissance paintings.  She uses her ability to create a naturalistic look and feel to great effect here as there are countless quiet moments shared between characters and their environment to communicate a venerable treasure trove of emotional information.  Her direction gives the film a primal but utterly humanistic aura which creates an engrossing world for the characters to inhabit.  The central duo of Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley are both clearly in their element with each instantly inhabiting the skin of each character and living it with an impressive level of authenticity.  Mescal’s turn is a study in measured, understatement as we follow his character go from unrealized “useless” scholar to a successful playwright.  Through it all, he brings a sense of undying love for his wife and children although there’s a sense of restraint especially after tragedy strikes.  It’s not the beefiest role in the film but he delivers excellent work in every time he’s onscreen.  Jessie Buckley though is the lifeblood of the film with a truly astonishing turn that runs through an obstacle course of emotions.  Buckley always brings an intelligence and intensity to her roles which is perfectly suited to this role.  She brings something otherworldly to the character that’s enchanting from the moment she appears onscreen.  The opening sequences of infatuation and love ring just as true as the heartbreaking moment of loss.  She’s captivating throughout with the final act serving as a showcase for her talents with character’s catharsis is laid bared onscreen.  It’s the kind of the singular performance that’s sure to garner many well-earned awards accolades when the time comes as she makes Hamnet a powerful experience that’s sure to leave a lasting impression.

A

MOVIE REVIEW: FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2

 

One year has passed since the supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Former security guard Mike has kept the truth from his 11-year-old sister, Abby, concerning the fate of her animatronic friends. When Abby sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, she sets into motion a terrifying series of events that reveal dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy's.

Director: Scott Cawthon

Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, Wayne Knight, Mckenna Grace, Teo Briones

Release Date: December 5, 2025 

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

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

Runtime: 1h 44m

Review:

Five Night at Freddy's 2 is a mess of a horror sequel that improves on the original merely because it’s so bad and incoherent that it’s funnier as it goes along.  Emma Tammi returns behind the camera and does a capable job of directing the action and delivering a handful of well-timed jump scares throughout.  She moves the action along at a steady pace in spite of the increasingly incoherent mythology being thrown onscreen.  Those who have played the games might get more of out all of this but as a straightforward film the number of illogical concepts and ideas thrown out onscreen are bound to confuse the uninitiated.  The main story cherry picks story elements from A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th padded with a pack of clichéd childhood trauma which makes everything feel very generic and terribly unoriginal.  There are plenty of nonsensical horror movies out there which still manage to be engaging or fun, but this one just leaves you scratching your head or asking more questions as the story gets sillier.  There are a variety of just goofy things like 80’s era animatronics having tracking mechanisms and location locks, returning characters being entirely unaware of other locations of the restaurant that are in the general area or an all-night science fair just to name a few.  The cast does what it can with the material with both Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail desperately searching for a better film to no avail.    They both are solid across the board even though their characters are thrown into a variety of exceedingly preposterous situations which is exemplified by Hutcherson’s character questioning the lack of a door in haunted pizza joint before using an animatronic face to confuse the possessed animatronic robots.  Piper Rubio returns from the original as Abby, it’s passable but hampered by an unfortunate haircut that might remind a few people of Lord Farquaad from the original Shrek.   Matthew Lillard returns for a quick hallucinatory sequence with Elizabeth Lail that’s far more inventive and interesting than everything else in the film.  Skeet Ulrich, Wayne Knight and Mckenna Grace have small supporting bits which really don’t add all that much to the overall film outside of throwing familiar faces at the screen.  Five Night at Freddy's 2 is at, the very least, funny even if unintentionally but the set up for a third part is real headscratcher because who exactly is asking for that.

D+

MOVIE REVIEW: WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

 

Detective Benoit Blanc sifts through a series of suspects when a monsignor turns up dead.

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church.

Release Date: November 26, 2025

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

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

Runtime: 2h 24m

Review:

The third entry in the Knives Out series, Wake Up Dead Man, is a slightly darker mystery that has some headier concepts on its mind than the first two films still sporting its wry scripting and big characters led by Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig.  Rian Johnson borrows plenty of inspiration from classic Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie locked room mystery among others as his launching pad.  He takes a slightly different approach in the first half by using Josh O'Connor’s Rev. Jud Duplenticy as his primary point of view before bringing Craig’s Benoit Blanc into the fold.  It’s a bold move to keep the main character of the series offscreen for nearly an hour in order to let O’Connor establish the character and introduce the cast of characters at play.  Thankfully, O’Connor is thoroughly engaging as the pragmatic, well-meaning boxer turned priest who serves as the linchpin of the story.  His emotional baggage that led him to the priesthood adds layers of complexity to his role which makes the character’s story arch all the more interesting by the time it’s all said and done.  The supporting players led by Glenn Close, Josh Brolin and Jeremy Renner are all clearly having a blast with the outsized characters they are playing.  Close and Brolin both chew up every bit of scenery they get with impressive enthusiasm with the latter looking like a cult leader version of Kris Kristofferson on more than a few occasions.  Renner plays against type here as a nebbish loser, drinking his life away after his wife left him, becoming more and more bitter as the days go along.  Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny and Daryl McCormack round out the primary cast, but their characters are noticeably underwritten as caricatures more than three-dimensional people.  They serve more as types of people that fall under the spell of Brolin’s charismatic extremist Monsignor Wicks.  Those relationships offer up a variety of tantalizing tidbits of thematic morsels that you’ll be left chewing on long after the film’s runtime comes to end.  The concepts of faith, storytelling and fanaticism are thrown about as the central mystery unfurls onscreen with Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc getting a hell of an introductory monologue once he appears onscreen.  Craig is given more to work with here as Blanc isn’t as self-confident and sure of himself as we’ve seen in previous entries.  It allows Johnson and Craig plenty of fertile ground to explore with Blanc and what makes his tick.  Wake Up Dead Man is a thoroughly fascinating direction to take the character although there are more than a few spots where some trimming down would have made for a fluid, effective experience.  

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: ETERNITY

 

In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with, and her first love, who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive.

Director: David Freyne

Cast: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, John Early, Olga Merediz, Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Release Date: November 26, 2025

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and some strong language.

Runtime: 1h 54m

Review:

Eternity is an old school throwback to golden age romantic comedies with its fizzy, optimistic approach paired with a game cast lead by a luminous Elizabeth Olsen.  Writer/Director David Freyne delivers a fun Twilight Zone set up on the afterlife that's heavy on style albeit light on details on how any of it works.  It’s a fun bit of world building that works well in the film's favor with Freyne giving everything a decidedly 60's aesthetic which adds to the retro feel.  He maintains a steady flow to the action that keeps the film moving at a steady pace throughout with only a few lulls in the action popping up.  The script is filled with sly jokes about death and happiness that are wryly funny but thoughtful at the same time.  The central trio of Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner lean into the material to great effect with each delivering strong work.  Teller carries the early scenes as the newly deceased curmudgeon serving as the audience’s entry point to the story.  He manages to carry the weight of age and experience behind his younger facade he's given once he arrives in the afterlife.  He's a likable everyman who's got a good heart behind his cranky exterior.  Callum Turner plays a solid foil as the perfect romanticized lost love who's been pining and waiting for the love of his life.  They serve as fascinating yin and yang versions of love with one being more grounded and real and the other being far more idealized.  At center of it all is Elizabeth Olsen's Joan who's left with an impossible decision of choosing which one to spend eternity with.  Olsen is simply fantastic throughout as her character navigates a fun run of emotions as she works through her decision.  She's able to give her character an old soul much like Teller with their interactions carrying an air of lived in authenticity.  Its subtle but their moments together do feel like the pair have lived together for nearly 70 years.  On the other end, when Olsen and Turner are together there's more of a tinge of the early embers of passionate love that comes through.  She's excellent across the board as she moves from playful, confused and frustrated with natural ease which lays her talents on full display.  Da'Vine Joy Randolph and John Early round on the cast as afterlife coordinators tasked with helping them choose their eternal destinations.  They are both excellent in supporting turns adding a nice amount of comedy and texture to the story with Randolph stealing every scene she's in.  It all makes for one of the more enjoyable, uplifting rom-coms in recent memory which is sure to make Eternity a cult classic down the road.  

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: ZOOTOPIA 2

 

Detectives Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde find themselves on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile who turns the mammal metropolis of Zootopia upside down. Testing their growing partnership like never before, they go under cover in new parts of town to crack the case.

Director: Jared Bush, Byron Howard

Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Shakira, Idris Elba, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Patrick Warburton, Quinta Brunson, Danny Trejo

Release Date: November 26, 2025

Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Family, Mystery

Rated PG for action/violence and rude humor.

Runtime: 1h 48m

Review:

Zootopia 2 returns with an endless amount of animal puns, a fun crime mystery paired with a buddy/romantic comedy brought to life in a lushly animated kid’s movie which is powered by the chemistry of Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman.  Jared Bush and Byron Howard take over behind the camera with Bush also writing the script for this sequel which has an infectious energy from the start as we reintroduced into  the Zootopia world.  Each action set piece is packed with an impressive level of detail and depth splashed onscreen that gives the film a palatable vibrancy throughout.  There is plenty to see as we follow our central duo try to solve another large-scale mystery that has them on the run from the police and a wealthy family who’s desperate to hide family secrets.  The plot is far more layered and thoughtful than most family films with it switching gears fairly seamlessly between its central mystery and the duo opposites attract partnership dynamic.  The mystery does offer up some heady allusions to the history being erased along with smatterings of societal and racial inequalities.  Younger kids are sure to miss most of these story threads but you have to appreciate the thoughtful approach which make the story feel a bit more meaningful than just something more mindless.  It all works because of Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman natural chemistry together as mismatched partners who try to find a way to appreciate their differences in order to become a better pair.  Goodwin easily jumps back into Judy Hopps overachieving, optimistic bunny fur which still feels like a riff on Leslie Knopp from Parks and Recreation.  Jason Bateman has perfected his deadpan delivery now which is perfectly suited for his reformed con artist red fox.  Their back and forth are playful but heartfelt thanks to a sharp script with gives them plenty of emotional depth as they come to terms to the depth of their connection.  They do an excellent job of making it all feel organic and natural even amongst the zaniness going on around them.  Ke Huy Quan and Fortune Feimster join the fray here as Gary De'Snake a pit viper trying to help his family and a beaver conspiracy theorist who joins Hopps and Wilde solve the mystery.  They both make the most of their screen time with Quan bringing his usual earnestness to the role with Feimster providing a sort of manic energy that’s hilarious.  The cast and story make Zootopia 2 a fun journey but it does start to lag a bit in the final act with some plot devices coming off a retread which could have been less noticeable with the help of with a few edits here and there to make it a more efficient experience overall.    

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: WICKED: FOR GOOD

 

Now demonized as the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba lives in exile in the Ozian forest, while Glinda resides at the palace in Emerald City, reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, she'll need to reunite with Glinda to transform herself, and all of Oz, for good.

Director: Jon M. Chu

Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum

Release Date: November 21, 2025

Genre: Family, Fantasy, Musical, Romance

Rated PG for action/violence, some suggestive material and thematic material.

Runtime: 2h 17m

Review:

Wicked: For Good concludes the story started in last year's Wicked with a return to the vibrant world of Oz with a more pensive, thoughtful and darker story carried by another pair of stellar performances from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.  Jon M. Chu displays confidence behind the camera as he delivers a series of visually engaging set pieces that provide the same kind of spectacle from the first film even though this entry lacks the number of memorable songs from that film.  "Wonderful" and "No Good Deed" leave the biggest impression once it’s all said and done with Erivo bringing the house down during the latter's performance.  The rest of the songs are all well staged and performed but there's nothing as catchy as "Wonderful" or "No Good Deed" and definitely nothing coming close to the songs in the first film.  It’s mainly due to the subject matter getting more contemplative with plenty of introspection from our central characters about their decisions and repercussions.  While this entry might not be as bubbly and fun as the first half it does offer a lot more emotional "meat" for Erivo and Grande to work with.   Cynthia Erivo continues her strong work from the first film as she continues her battle against Jeff Goldblum's Wizard after being made the villain by Michelle Yeoh's Madame Morrible who is now his propaganda chief.  Erivo brings a sense of self-determination to the role that just shines offscreen even when her character faces doubt about her mission.  The character's story arc is peppered with subtext that adds to the overall resonance of the film especially if you choose to read it allegorically as a mirror to the real world.  Through it all she's effortlessly engaging in the role although this entry gives Ariana Grande's character more depth and pathos.  Grande proves to be more than up to the task by giving a more nuanced, layered performance than her first go around. She's able to convey so much emotional turmoil as she struggles with her personal battle with imposter syndrome and being a figurehead puppet against her best friend.  Her and Erivo scenes together, especially in the final act, carry so much emotional weight thanks to their natural chemistry together which serves as the lifeblood of this entry.  This entry is much more laser focused on them with the supporting cast mostly relegated to smaller roles with Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum doing the most with their limited screen.  There's plenty to appreciate about Wicked: For Good but it does lag in spots which leaves you with the feeling that with some judicious edits on both films this whole story could have been fit into a single film especially since original stage production was a little under 3 hours long to begin with.  

A-