Category: Movie Reviews

Sorry, Baby (2025) | REVIEW

Eva Victor in SORRY, BABY — PHOTO: A24 (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Eva Victor — Screenplay by Eva Victor.

Earlier this week, I sat down to finally watch one of the most discussed and praised directorial debuts of 2025. Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby has already been celebrated by the National Board of Review as the best directorial debut of last year, and it was recognized with nominations at both the Indie Spirit Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, the DGA Awards, and the Golden Globes. As such, it is one of the most high-profile independent films of last year, which comes with some pretty high expectations. So, I was naturally very intrigued by it, and, as the film came to a close, I was also very impressed by the narrative and the incredible multi-hyphenate at the center of it.

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Send Help (2026) | REVIEW

Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle in 20th Century Studios’ SEND HELP — PHOTO: 20th Century Studios (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Sam Raimi — Screenplay by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon.

As I like to remind my readers, my dad had an open mind when it came to what movies my sister and I were ready to watch at a young age. So, as it turned out, when I was a kid, one of my favorite movie characters was Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films (I even dressed up as Ash for Halloween recently). Of those Evil Dead films, Army of Darkness, especially, holds a special place in my heart. As Sam Raimi then transitioned from indie horror to superhero spectacle (with several studio films in between) with his Spider-Man films, which were released as I was growing up, Sam Raimi quickly became one of my favorite filmmakers. Therefore, I was especially excited when I found out that Raimi was going to have an R-Rated original horror-comedy come out in early 2026. Send Help, in which Rachel McAdams re-teams with her Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director, is that film, and it is so exciting to be able to say that Raimi’s film not only works but is a strong reminder of what made so many of us fall for his brand of cinema in the first place.

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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) | REVIEW

Ralph Fiennes (foreground) and Jack O’Connell (background) in Nia DaCosta’s 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE — PHOTO: Sony Pictures Releasing (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman) — Screenplay by Alex Garland (Annihilation; Civil War).

Just seven months after the release of Danny Boyle’s long-awaited 28 Years Later, we already have a direct sequel. This second part in a proposed three-part follow-up to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later is, notably, not directed by Danny Boyle, despite Alex Garland still having penned the screenplay. Instead, the director of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is Nia DaCosta, the Candyman (2021) and The Marvels director, who now must try to recapture the spirit of one of the most iconic zombie, or zombie-adjacent, film series ever made. Having been shot back-to-back, but by different filmmakers, it is only natural that some would be concerned about whether or not they could pull it off successfully. But, thankfully, Nia DaCosta has turned in what is easily her best franchise film. Despite its January release date (a release window most known for being filled with less-than-pleasing films), 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is not only a worthy follow-up to Boyle’s sequel, but it is also the first great film of the year.

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The Rip (2026) | REVIEW

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in THE RIP — PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Joe Carnahan — Screenplay by Joe Carnahan.

We’re only a few weeks into the new year, and we already have a freshly made and relatively high-profile action thriller to feast on. That high-profile feature is Netflix’s The Rip, which brings together famous friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in a film built around drug money, dirty cops, and snitches. The Rip, from The Grey-filmmaker Joe Carnahan (who, in recent years, has been making plenty of B-movie action films), is the first 2026 film that I am reviewing, and it also happens to be the first 2026 film that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s not high art, but it is exactly the kind of straight-to-streaming action thriller star-vehicle that you would want to chew on in January. 

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Bugonia (2025) | REVIEW

Emma Stone in Yorgos Lanthimos’ BUGONIA — PHOTO: Focus Features (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things; Kinds of Kindness) — Screenplay by Will Tracy (The Menu).

Bugonia marks the 4th collaboration between multiple Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone and the most famous filmmaker of the so-called ‘Greek Weird Wave’ (and in a row, no less). Their latest film together is an English-language remake of Jang Joon-hwan’s black comedy titled Save the Green Planet!, a South Korean film released in 2003. Though initially conceived as an opportunity for Jang, the original filmmaker, to direct the English-language remake of his own film for an international audience (not unlike what Ole Bornedal did with his English-language Nightwatch remake in the 1990s), it is now, instead, a fascinating instance in which a European auteur is adapting an Asian original story though in a North American setting. In a way, that almost intercontinental approach is fitting for a film about people who may or may not come from different worlds in more ways than one. It’s also, frankly, a really effective film.

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Kinds of Kindness (2024) | REVIEW

Margaret Qualley, Jesse Plemons, and Willem Dafoe in KINDS OF KINDNESS — PHOTO: Searchlight Pictures.

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos — Screenplay by Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthimis Filippou.

I consistently find Yorgos Lanthimos, the Greek filmmaker behind works such as The Lobster and Poor Things, to be one of the most fascinating rising auteurs of European cinema. I often think about the Lars Von Trier quote: “a film should be like a stone in your shoe,” and, when it comes to European artists breaking through to the Hollywood gravitational center, Lanthimos is perhaps the one auteur that best manages to adhere to that specific Trier-esque modus operandi or end goal, as his films constantly test boundaries, provoke, or work against conventionality. Despite the odd and boundary pushing premise of Poor Things, it can feel as if, as Lanthimos has been embraced more and more by American audiences, he may have gotten further away from his auteurist roots, but Kinds of Kindness, his 2024 anthology triptych film, does, at times, feel like the American output of his that shares the most DNA with his most famous Greek film, Dogtooth. The closest English-language comparison of his is probably The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Kinds of Kindness is a fascinating work that many will find challenging, as it sometimes explores depravity, features tonal shifts, and is quite lengthy at two hours and forty-four minutes.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) | REVIEW

Varang (played by Oona Chaplin), leader of the Mangkwan tribe, in 20th Century Studios’ AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH.

Directed by James Cameron — Screenplay by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver.

It’s time to return to Pandora. Avatar, James Cameron’s original otherworldly sci-fi epic franchise, is often criticized for lacking a significant cultural impact when compared to franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, DC, or The Lord of the Rings. And yet, here we are again, and audiences are already flocking to the theaters around the world to travel back to a world populated by tall blue-skinned aliens with braids that can connect with other life forms. One of the highest-grossing (and most expensive, notably) franchises remains a spectacular cinematic event with state-of-the-art visual effects and performance capture technology. The latest film in the franchise, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is equally breathtaking visually, but there are key narrative and dialogic issues, as well as a general sense of repetitiveness, that hold it back from matching the level of the previous films.

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‘A Minecraft Movie,’ ‘The Phoenician Scheme,’ ‘After the Hunt,’ ‘F1,’ and ‘Jay Kelly’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

Top Row (L-R): A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros. Pictures); The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features / Universal); After the Hunt (Amazon MGM / Sony Pictures Releasing).
Bottom Row (L-R): F1 (Warner Bros. Pictures / Apple TV+); Jay Kelly (Netflix).

Oh my, we’re back again! In this edition of additional bite-sized reviews – my recurring blog post series highlighting films that I want to share my thoughts on, but that I, crucially, don’t have time enough to cover in a more lengthy full review — I’ll tell you what I think about 1) one of the biggest theater hits of the year, 2) Wes Anderson’s latest flick, 3) Guadagnino’s most recent feature film, 4) Brad Pitt’s racing movie, and 5) Noah Baumbach’s big George Clooney-vehicle. As is often the case, most, if not all, of these bite-sized reviews may have been seen early on my Letterboxd account, so do note that you can get a sneak peek at my future reviews over there. Let’s get to it!

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‘TÁR,’ ‘The Last Showgirl,’ ‘The Bikeriders,’ ‘Queer,’ and ‘Sonic 2’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

Top Row (L-R): TÁR (Focus Features/Universal); The Last Showgirl (Roadside Attractions); The Bikeriders (Focus Features/Universal).
Bottom Row (L-R): Queer (A24); Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Paramount Pictures).

We’re getting towards the end of the year, and so now seems like a good time to assemble some of my thoughts on some films that didn’t ultimately get a full solo review dedicated to them, even though I had something to say. So, here we are, today I’ll share my thoughts on 1) one of the most celebrated films of the decade thus far, 2) Gia Coppola’s Pamela Anderson-vehicle, 3) Jeff Nichols’ film about biker culture, 4) Daniel Craig’s first performance in a Luca Guadagnino film, and 5) a sequel to one of the most popular video game adaptations. Do note that if you are so kind that you also follow me on Letterboxd, then you may have seen some of these bite-sized reviews over there already. Let’s get to it!

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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) | REVIEW

Daniel Craig and Josh O’Connor in Rian Johnson’s WAKE UP DEAD MAN — PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Rian Johnson — Screenplay by Rian Johnson.

Rian Johnson, the renowned writer-director behind films like Looper and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, has successfully made himself synonymous with the whodunnit mystery genre in recent years with his Knives Out films centered around Benoit Blanc, the heavily accented detective character, which has helped Daniel Craig reinvent his career following his James Bond exit. These are films that have become highly celebrated for their distinctive detective, their star-studded casts, and the way they merge comedy, modern inventiveness, and a genre affinity to form films that are always a highlight of the year in which they are released. This was the case with both Knives Out and Glass Onion, and it is certainly also the case with Wake Up Dead Man, which, arguably, features the best protagonist performance that we’ve seen in any of these films.

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