Category: Movie Reviews

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) | REVIEW

Tony Todd in FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein — Screenplay by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor.

It was only a matter of time before the recent trend of legacy sequels, including in horror, would make its way to the Final Destination franchise, which burst onto the scene with James Wong’s iconic 2000 entry but stalled after Steven Quale’s Final Destination 5 in 2011. Now the horror movie franchise, which is built around a Rube Goldberg machine-esque chain reaction focus on Death’s design as a direct result of someone having cheated death, has been resurrected a quarter of a century after the release of the original film. I’ll admit that I was concerned that the inevitable legacy sequel would just be a quick cash grab, but I’m happy to report that it’s, in actuality, one of the sharpest films in the entire series. It’s clear from the first scene to the last that this was made by filmmakers who have a lot of love for these films and who understood fully what makes these films tick.

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A Complete Unknown (2024) | REVIEW

Edward Norton and Timothée Chalamet in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Photo by Macall Polay, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

Directed by James Mangold (LOGAN; Ford v Ferrari) — Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks.

Set in the early-to-mid 1960s, James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown follows a young musician named Bob Dylan (played by Timothée Chalamet) who, in a New Jersey hospital, meets his music idol, Woody Guthrie (played by Scoot McNairy), who is suffering from Huntington’s disease. Dylan impresses Woody and fellow musician Pete Seeger (played by Edward Norton) with a song dedicated to Guthrie, and, as a result, Seeger invites Dylan to stay in his home. As the two become fast friends, Seeger starts to introduce Dylan to the folk music scene, and soon, he becomes the target of the industry. Although Dylan makes a name for himself with folk music and protest songs, he gradually starts to struggle with being considered solely as a folk musician.

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Nonnas (2025) | REVIEW

Trailer title card — PHOTO: Netflix.

Directed by Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) — Screenplay by Liz Maccie.

Stephen Chbosky’s Nonnas is a biographical dramedy that follows Joe Scaravella (played by Vince Vaughn), an Italian-American man, who is grieving the loss of his mother. Hoping to honor her and his grandmother’s memory, Joe, against the wishes of his closest friend Bruno (played by Joe Manganiello), uses his mother’s life insurance money to open a restaurant in her name wherein Italian grandmothers — ‘nonnas’ — will cook the dishes they know best. But that is easier said than done, as the grandmothers have a lot of opinions about how things are done in the kitchen and, notably, because Joe has no idea how much it’ll take to open a restaurant. Meanwhile, Joe hopes to rekindle an old romance with his high school sweetheart named Olivia (played by Linda Cardellini).

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Another Simple Favor (2025) | REVIEW

Anna Kendrick in ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR — PHOTO: Amazon Studios (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Paul Feig (Ghostbusters) — Screenplay by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis.

Set several years after the events of the first film, Paul Feig’s Another Simple Favor still follows content creator Stephanie Smothers (played by Anna Kendrick), who is now also known as an amateur sleuth and a true crime novelist. One day, at a book signing event, Emily (played by Blake Lively), also known as Hope, shows up to meet with Stephanie, after Emily had recently been released from prison. But, according to Emily, this isn’t really a confrontation as much as it is a very public invitation to Emily’s upcoming wedding. Emily is marrying into an Italian crime family, and she would like Stephanie to tag along and serve as her maid of honor. Hoping to evade a potential lawsuit and, at the same time, increase her book sales, Stephanie agrees to Emily’s proposal and goes with her to Italy. However, when people from the wedding party start to drop dead, Stephanie suddenly finds herself as the main suspect.

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Thunderbolts* (2025) | REVIEW

(L-R) David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, and Wyatt Russell in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS* — PHOTO: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Marvel.

Directed by Jake Schreier (Beef) — Screenplay by Eric Pearson (Black Widow) and Joanna Calo (The Bear).


When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Marvel Studios and fans alike like to think of the series of films in distinct phases, with the first three being known as the Infinity Saga, which culminated in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Avengers: Endgame in the summer of 2019. Since then, the MCU has operated within the so-called Multiverse Saga, which, however, has largely struggled to recapture the spirit, enthusiasm, and success of the first three phases. Phases four and five have had incredible highs (e.g. Spider-Man: No Way Home) but also messy lows (e.g. Captain America: Brave New World), and with Marvel Studios’ latest release, Thunderbolts*, they’re hoping to end phase five on a high and right the ship before the sixth phase of the MCU, which is set to include major event films such as The Fantastic Four: The First Steps and two Avengers films. Whether or not Marvel Studios can recapture the prominent pop culture spot they once held is still very much up in the air, but Thunderbolts* (the asterisk is there for a reason) is definitely a step in the right direction.

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Until Dawn (2025) | REVIEW

(L-R) Ji-young Yoo, Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’zion, and Belmont Cameli in UNTIL DAWN — PHOTO: Sony Pictures Releasing (Still image from trailers).

Directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) — Screenplay by Gary Dauberman (‘Salem’s Lot) and Blair Butler (The Invitation).

After years and years of middling-to-poor video game adaptations, it seems we’re finally at a moment in time when Hollywood is confidently turning video games into beloved and/or successful films or series. We’ve got The Last of Us, Fallout, Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, just to name a few. Now, of course, there are still some duds out there, such as Eli Roth’s Borderlands adaptation, which was largely regarded as one of the worst movies of last year. The latest attempt at turning a popular video game into a successful movie is David F. Sandberg’s Until Dawn from Sony Pictures, with which the studio is hoping to find low-budget horror movie success, like certain studios have become quite known for on a regular basis, but with a video game adaptation. In a lot of ways, Until Dawn makes a lot of sense for that model, and, heck, it should be a success given the horror movie veterans — like Gary Dauberman and David F. Sandberg — they’ve hired to get the job done. But does Until Dawn succeed as a video game adaptation? Frankly, I think it’ll divide opinion.

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Sinners (2025) | REVIEW

Michael B. Jordan and Miles Caton in Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Ryan Coogler — Screenplay by Ryan Coogler.

Ryan Googler should be a household name. He burst onto the scene with his incredible feature debut Fruitvale Station, revitalized the modern American sports drama (and an iconic franchise) with Creed, broke box office records with the iconic superhero film Black Panther, and took on the daunting task of making a sequel to his superhero epic, even though it would be without its leading man with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, following Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing. Coogler has proven himself to be a commercially viable filmmaker with something on his mind and the skill with which to pull off his ideas breathtakingly. But now he’s finally made something unique and original, despite the genre tropes his film willingly embraces, following years upon years of working with true stories, established characters, or within the Marvel machine. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is an original vampire period film of which he insisted on having full creative control and future ownership, with a deal that resembles what Quentin Tarantino, among others, have done before him. That was a deal worth fighting for, because Sinners is the kind of instant classic original genre film that will blow people away.

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Holland (2025) | REVIEW

NICOLE KIDMAN stars in HOLLAND — PHOTO: JACLYN MARTINEZ / PRIME.

Directed by Mimi Cave — Screenplay by Andrew Sodorski

In 2022, Mimi Cave’s debut feature FRESH, a thriller about dating with a wicked twist, was one of the, ahem, freshest surprises of the year. Naturally, this always makes you curious about the director’s next step. For her sophomore effort, Mimi Cave dropped her first film’s very modern narrative and feel in favor of an early 2000s narrative set in a quirky Michigan suburbia. Cave’s Holland is a psychological drama with thriller elements that is set in Holland, Michigan (hence the title), which is a town settled by Dutch-Americans and which prominently displays its Dutch cultural identity with tulip fields and windmills. The film follows Nancy Vandergroot (played by Nicole Kidman), a teacher who is starting to suspect that her husband, Fred (played by Matthew Macfadyen, is living a double life on his many work trips. To figure out what is going on, she teams up with a colleague, shop teacher Dave Delgado (played by Gael García Bernal), to spy on her husband and investigate his optometrist office. However, in that process, Nancy may have bitten off more than she can chew, as her husband’s secrets aren’t exactly what she expected, while, at the same time, she starts having an affair with Dave.

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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023/2024) | REVIEW

Benedict Cumberbatch and Dev Patel in ‘Poison’ from THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR AND THREE MORE — PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Wes Anderson — Screenplay by Wes Anderson.

In 2023, Wes Anderson teamed up with Netflix to release four short films, all of which were based on the works of Roald Dahl, in September of that year. Eventually, one of these features — The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — was the effort that finally earned Wes Anderson his first Oscar, though in the short film category, which I don’t think many would’ve seen coming just a few years ago. Then, in 2024, following the Oscar win, Netflix released an anthology film consisting of Wes Anderson’s four short films. All four shorts feature heavy but quirky narration and the heavy stylization that we’ve come to know and love Wes Anderson for, though with slight tweaks from short to short. In this review, I’ll share my initial reaction to each of the four shorts, as well as give a final score out of ten for the repackaged anthology feature.

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Novocaine (2025) | REVIEW

Jack Quaid mid-action in NOVOCAINE — PHOTO: Paramount Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen — Screenplay by Lars Jacobson.

Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s Novocaine follows Nathan Caine (played by Jack Quaid), an introverted assistant bank manager, who has the condition known as ‘congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis’ meaning that he doesn’t feel pain and temperature. This diagnosis means that he lives a life defined by his own attempts at protecting himself, by, among other things, avoiding solid foods as he could conceivably bite off his own tongue due to his issues with the sense of feeling. However, one day he runs into someone who could change his life. That person is Sherry (played by Amber Midthunder), an extroverted co-worker, who he is immediately smitten by. They eventually establish a connection, but, right as he is finally starting to discover happiness in his life, she is kidnapped and taken as hostage during a bank robbery. Desperate to save her, he follows in pursuit and is willing to put his body through hell to get her back.

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