FILM: The Mandalorian And Grogu a.k.a. Star Wars - The Mandalorian And Grogu (dir: Jon Favreau, 2026)

REVIEW No. 1,900!

"I try to avoid violence..."

Seven years on from Star Wars IX in cinemas, and with Andor wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion, the second of the more successful Star Wars-universe TV series makes the jump to the big screen with this completely stand-alone/side-mission tale that sees Din Djarin and his sidekick/ward working for the New Republic to find an Imperial warlord via Jabba The Hutt's twin siblings. with Jabba's son held prisoner by the bad guys and Mando also tasked with retrieving him.  With Favreau as director/co-writer, it cleaves closely and authentically to its TV roots and looks great, with sufficient expansion to justify its cinematic format here. It flits briskly from planet to planet as action set-pieces are delivered efficiently, (mostly) effectively and feel over quite quickly.  There are plenty of nice fan-service details and moments to please the die-hards right from the start, but sometimes over-familiar tropes (another Hutt pit, another arena battle royale, another high-speed chase through a Blade Runner-esque city) lack invention although executed well.  Ludwig Goransson's score is terrific, mixing classical-style Williams nods with signature modern/ethnic themes and stylings from the TV show.  Its two titular stars are inevitably the big draw here, with Pedro Pascal delivering more of what makes his characterisation so successful, Grogu - as always - an utter delight, notably when he gets more extended screen time in the second half of the film, and Sigourney Weaver fits well as Mando's Republic boss.  It is also interesting to see a younger and more active Hutt in action, with the great Jeremy Allen White making Rotta (in voice acting) a sympathetic Hutt.   Not quite 'classic' Star Wars, all of the ingredients are here, but oddly you spend a lot of the movie waiting for a big 'moment' that never quite happens which suggests a slight lack of storytelling ambition, and there is never any real sense of jeopardy which neuters the narrative to a degree.  Overall The Mandalrian And Grogu is a very good, solid and entertaining enough outing for the much-loved duo that sticks to its TV origins whilst making just enough development for a cinema showing.

 

VOD: Remarkably Bright Creatures (dir: Olivia Newman, 2026)

"Sowell Bay is a fish tank!"

Starting off with a voiceover from a smart old octopus called Marcellus, who is trapped in a public aquarium, the film then introduces the aquarium's night cleaner Tova (Sally Field) facing an old-age life change and drifter Cameron (Lewis Pullman), whose camper van breaks  down in the sleepy waterside town of Sowell Bay, and the story brings together the unlikely trio as they learn life lessons and how to face the future in this gentle, whimsical and contemplative drama.  It is, of course, all one big metaphor for looking beyond that which limits you and escaping your confines, as well as dealing with family and reconciling with the past.  The writing is excellent, as Tora and Cameron gradually find common ground and learn from each other as their cross-generational friendship develops.  Sally Field is - as expected - simply wonderful, Lewis Pullman is very strong as a foil to her straight-talking ways whilst establishing his character and arc very well in his own right as the directionless Cameron, and Colm Meaney does another of his effortlessly watchable character performances as the local store owner.  The conclusion is perhaps expectedly mawkish (if have not by that point pieced together all the clues), but overall Remarkably Bright Creatures is a simple tale that is delivered impeccably.
 

VOD: Song Sung Blue (dir: Craig Brewer, 2026)

"He's singing the songs people love to hear - the songs that people need."

Based on real events and set in the extraordinary world of low-rent music tribute acts, Mike (Hugh Jackman), part-time singer and recovering alcoholic, meets single-mother Claire (Kate Hudson), and they develop a Neil Diamond 'experience' alongside their personal relationship, with a shock mid-point tragedy that moves the film into darker territory and explores their personal struggles and triumphs.  The film smartly reflects the strange duality of the tribute act, simultaneously knowingly artificial but striving to providing an authentic experience of the artist.  With Neil Diamond's music providing the core of the film, one banger after another reminds us of the power and joy of his back catalogue which is deployed beautifully here.  Both Hudson and Jackman are utterly charming, heartbreaking and likeable here in a film which certainly gives them range to convey, using their easy-going chemistry to good effect and both leaning into their now-more-mature star personae for their characters that works very well.  Song Sung Blue is a sweet musical romantic drama that blends its darker moments and heartwarming comedy in a way that is ultimately entertaining and uplifting
 

VOD: Send Help (dir: Sam Raimi, 2026)

"No, that went well!"

Send Help is a quintessential Sam Raimi horror-comedy that blends the genres effortlessly as has characterised much of the director's early output in particular.  Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien - two dependable and likeable actors - play antagonistic business colleagues, the dowdy, overlooked and downtrodden Linda and the cocky, unpleasant new young President of the company, Bradley.  When they survive a storm-hit aeroplane on a business trip (a brief but very effectively-staged sequence) that leaves the pair stranded on a remote tropical island, their battle to survive becomes increasingly antagonistic, with Linda's reality-TV-survival shows fixation playing against Bradley's ruthlessness as they battle to survive.  The film has a lovely Danny Elfman score, the humorous moments are genuinely funny, the twists work well and Raimi's signature visceral/bodily-fluids moments are suitably gross.  The two leads inhabit their roles utterly and make a great pairing on-screen.  The talky mid-section lull - although well-played by the lead duo - builds well towards the final act when the gloves really come off.  Overall, the odl-fashioned goofy screwball comedy feel mixed with the full-on thrills makes for a very entertaining ride.

 

VOD: A Nice Indian Boy (dir: Roshan Sethi, 2024)

"I think it's because we're all a little embarrassed."
"Um... embarrassed?"
"By the bigness of love."

Based on a play, this well-received rom-com tells the story of Naveen (Karan Soni), a quiet, closed-off gentle doctor from a traditional Indian family, who tentatively falls for photographer Jay (Jonathan Groff), and the film follows the development of their relationship culminating in their wedding.  The film has a genuinely touching and funny contemporary script, and a beautifully quiet restraint, with Soni and Groff playing off each other superbly, and Naveen's family (Sunita Mani as his snippy sister, the great Harish Patel as his conflicted father and the barnstorming Zarna Gard as his non-nonsense mother) consistently stealing scenes and creating touching moments.  Scene after scene knocks it out of the park, the accidental proposal and the first meeting as a couple with Naveen's parents are two of the most delightful scenes you will see all year.  Even familiar cinematic and thematic touchstones such as arranged marriage, changing times and attitudes and even Bollywood are considered and deployed thoughtfully and with good humour.  Gentle, warm, funny and utterly charming, A Nice Indian Boy is smart, sensitive and a joyful delight from start to finish.

VOD: Altered (dir: Timo Vuorensola, 2026)

"You think we're all equal here, freak?"

In this standard sci-fi potboiler, Earth has rebuilt itself after nuclear strikes into a shiny new genetically-enhanced Apple-store future, with a struggling and rebellious underclass ('Specials') trying to get by in a grimy low-tech-augmented existence, focussing on a wheelchair-bound hustler Leon (Tom Felton) and his sassy 12-year-old sassy sidekick ward Chloe (Elizaveta Bugulova) and other rebels set to target an imminent unification concert.  There is a reasonable if limited attempt at world-building to differentiate between the simplistic social divide, but it is hampered by lacklustre performances across the board and the story limps along listlessly.  Low-budget international co-productions with eclectic casts rarely work well, and Altered is no exception that leaves little impression.

 

VOD: How To Train Your Dragon (2025) (dir: Dean DeBlois, 2025)

"You are many things, son, but a dragon-killer is not one of them!"

This live-action remake of the first film of the successful animated film trilogy is one of the more successful examples of the recent trend, feeling faithfully authentic to its cinematic predecessor in both look and spirit to an extraordinary degree.  Two key elements for this version to get right were the central relationship between Hiccup and Toothless, which it does really well right from their first tentative encounter, and the action sequences which are delivered energetically.  The dragons, especially Toothless, retain the cartoonish style that is recognisable and accessible to younger viewers, integrated into the live action elements very well.   The occasionally mock-operatic score feels at times unnecessarily overblown as it thunders along in the background, but design and world-building are both consistently engaging and effective, clearly having been giving the resources to make this film work.  Mason Thames does a really good job of humanising Hiccup, and other key characters - from his gruffly humorous father to his eclectic band of buddies - are realised extremely well in this format.  This 2025 version is an efficient, well-made and entertaining version in its own right, perhaps unnecessary but certainly strong enough to stand on its own merits.

 

VOD: Alien Rubicon (dir: Adrian Avila, 2024)

"Wait til you hear what we found!"

This surprisingly ambitious sci-fi mockbuster from The Asylum once again takes its cue from Independence Day as single father scientist Jeff (Preston Greer) discovers an alien sphere approaching Earth, its destructive properties and intentions unleashed as a precursor to a full-on invasion.  The first two acts have all the limitations of microbudget movies - small sets, slow talky scenes, low-impact acting - but the larger-scale finale picks up the pace a little, raises the stakes and tries hard to deliver.  It benefits from a lean running time and from storytelling shortcuts that keep the story moving along, although the often limp dialogue tends to be delivered somewhat carefully.  Veteran Michael Pare plays P.O.T.U.S - but he is no Bill Pullman - and remarkable Asylum veteran Paul Logan is as stoically tightly wound as ever, with the scientist's teen children delivering well.  The film is decently shot, with crisp visuals and shiny VFX work, and on its own terms (and within its obvious limitations, this is one of the more effective examples of The Asylum's output.
 

VOD: Night Stage a.k.a. Ato Noturno (dirs: Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, 2026)

"The world has changed."

The Hard Paint duo bring this tale of Matias, a handsome young actor/dancer in a troupe two weeks from opening a new show, who hooks up with Rafael, a property developer and budding mayoral candidate, and they develop a relationship that thrives on increasingly risky public sexual encounters just as both of their career profiles rise.  Almodovar is a clear inspiration here as recognisable territory is explored, from celebrating the arts - providing a narrative and metaphorical backbone - to objectifying male beauty, the tension between personal life and public image, and ambition and fame.  For its contemporary setting and issues, the film feels surprisingly a little old-fashioned and restrained, rather than gaudy and melodramatic.  For what might have once seemed edgy,  Night Stage sits comfortably in the age of more adult streaming drama output. The story holds no real surprises, but the film is performed and presented well in all respects. 
 

VOD: Je m'appelle Agneta (dir: Johanna Runevad, 2026)

"Well, this I can do."

Middle-aged, fed-up and taken for granted, Francophile Agneta leaves her husband and her dull life in Sweden behind for a big new life adventure as an au pair in picturesque rural Provence in this lovely Swedish Netflix comedy-drama that is charming, thoughtful and good-humoured throughout.  When the job turns out to be not quite what she expects, the film becomes a wistful but also uplifting journey of self-discovery flecked with moments of simple everyday pleasures, utter joy and positive life-affirmation.  Eva Melander is an utter delight on-screen from start to finish in a quartet of accomplished lead performances of colourful characters.  This is not the typical light, sunny fish-out-of-water rom-com but a mature, reflective rear-view-mirror ode to life, love and experience that is both warm and tinged with some sadness.  The gorgeous soundtrack is cleverly entwined with the storytelling, at times narrating Agneta's experiences and discoveries, and even smartly reframing ABBA's The Winner Takes It All to make the female protagonist the victor.  The film is a timely reminder that all lives are worth celebrating and living to the full, and it does so quite beautifully.

 

VOD: Anaconda (dir: Tom Gormican, 2025)

"We came out here to make Anaconda... and now we're in it!"

Jack Black and Paul Rudd's silly meta-comedy/horror sees a group of childhood friends reunite years later and hatch a plan to make a reboot of the 'cult classic' in three weeks on the fly in the Brazilian rainforest, but their attempt at making the movie is derailed by the appearance of a real monster snake on the rampage.  The film echoes Tropic Thunder in its approach (though far less entertainingly), but it veers haphazardly between styles and levels of success.  It does have its tongue firmly in its cheek and a self-awareness of its own limitations and the campy nonsense of the original movie, but it is nevertheless not as funny as it perhaps thinks it is, and not all of the (improvised) material lands, especially in the more obviously drawn-out scenes.  Oddly, there are some moments that suggest a serious, straight take on the material could work, but this 2025 version is a clear example of falling between two stools.

 

VOD: The Conjuring 4 - Last Rites (dir: Michael Chaves, 2025)

"You do know that our family is not like other families?"

New Line's last go-round for the surprisingly successful Ed and Lorraine Warren-inspired paranormal franchise/universe gets off to a suitably creepy start with its 1964-set prologue that resonates down the years as the story picks up in 1986 with a blast of The Cure and the reappearance of a possessed artefact that slowly wreaks havoc on an ordinary Pennsylvanian family and proves to be the Warrens' final case that brings everything full circle to their own family as well.  The Poltergeist, Paranormal Activity and The Exorcist films loom large over the action, although this entry feels a little more restrained than many recent examples of its type.  It could be argued that the domestic scenes make the film a tad flabby, but they only serve to highlight the strength and importance of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in the series, with the ever-reliable Brit Ben Hardy (playing American) a useful addition here as their daughter's fiance.  Offering some nicely-delivered set-ups and a couple of decent jump-scares and a typically messy peer-through-the-darkness finale, Last Rites leaves the door slightly ajar for a Next Generation continuation if the studio wishes to exploit the franchise further, but this film is a routine if acceptable conclusion to the Warrens' story.

 

VOD: Wuthering Heights (dir: Emerald Fennell, 2026)

"Am I living in another world?"
 

Emerald Fennell's somewhat singular vision for this version of the classic novel - and it is certainly 'inspired by' rather than a straightforward adaptation - is frequently tiresome, from its irritating and wayward music score (including its whiny sub-Enya Charli XCX interludes) to the over-obvious modern use of camera and editing flourishes. Sex and violence/death are awkwardly and inextricably linked from the very start, and the film flits between grim realism and jarringly heightened artificiality.  Margot Robbie plays the rather self-serving Cathy wringing everything she can from every single line, and Jacob Elordi's more thoughtful take on Heathcliff sometimes works well, although neither seems a particularly good fit here, but Hong Chau does nice work as Cathy's constant companion Nelly.  The film works best when Robbie and Elordi interact in the quieter moments, but these are juxtaposed with scenes delivered as screeching hysteria or painful melodrama.  Overall, this is a potentially interesting but overwrought and inconsistent film that drags and is ultimately disappointing.

VOD: Pillion (dir: Harry Lighton, 2025)

"Isn't love the whole point?"
"Of what?"
"Everything."

In this 2025 festival favourite, mild-mannered and awkward Colin (Harry Melling) meets the striking and taciturn biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgard) at his pub over the festive season and falls into a committed sub-dom relationship that takes him into new territory and an unexpected journey of self-discovery.  Both lead actors give truly grounded, nuanced and engaging performances -  Harry Melling is a revelation here - with charmingly sweet support from Lesley Sharp and Douglas Hodge as Colin's very ordinary suburban parents.  It is also a confident feature directorial debut for Harry Lighton, creating an almost kitchen-sink-style drama with tenderness, quirky humour and a physical and emotional frankness that makes the film both edgy and oddly sensitive, with a bitter-sweet third act to round off this very well-executed exploration of a particular relationship.

 

VOD: Apex (dir: Baltasar Kormakur, 2026)

"You can fight your way through a lot of s**t, but you can't beat your wiring."

After losing her partner in an opening well-staged mountaineering accident in Norway,  five months later the still-grieving adventurer Sasha (Charlize Theron) goes kayaking in the remote wilds of Australia, only to find herself targeted by intimidating locals and a odd hunter Ben (Taron Egerton) in this gritty survival thriller.  The first act is all fairly standard setting up, the second act is mostly an interesting two-hander between two of today's strongest and most engaging actors in Theron and Egerton as the scenario unravels and gives way to the extended and very physical cat-and-mouse menace of the third.  Boasting truly spectacular and beautifully-shot scenery, the film plays well with the utter isolation of the settings and the demands it makes on the characters' survival skills.  Egerton offers a gently-spoken relentless threat that is well-played, and Theron throws herself into the physicality of her role and delivers the emotional beats with aplomb.  Apex is a very simple but effective thriller, aided by a tight running time and the strength of its two lead actors.
 

VOD: Greenland 2 - Migration a.k.a. Greenland Migration (dir: Ric Roman Waugh, 2026)

"Please, let's... let's stick to reality."

This sequel to the streaming disaster/survival hit finds Earth decimated by meteor fragments, violent storms and radiation, the Greenland shelter from the end of the film film wrecked by earthquakes and the plucky but ailing Gerard Butler, his family and other survivors having to eke out an existence in the hostile environment on the surface as they are hit by one cinematic and human-made disaster after another  in their quest to find a rumoured 'cradle of life' where the original meteor struck in a dangerous region of France.  This film essentially moves on from the original's conventional disaster movie tropes to conventional post-disaster ones, grinding along efficiently if chaotically and offering few surprises along the way, although it is again perhaps more sombre and gritty than many of its glossier counterparts.  It gives rise to some interesting visuals, from flood-ravaged Liverpool to what was formerly The English Channel, but the film's main driving force is is its dour examination of the family bond and human behaviour.  Once again, the gruff Gerard Butler and the excellent Morena Baccarin are stoic and focussed leads as they (presumably) bring this slightly different - and at times surprisingly sensitive and ultimately optimistic - take on a well-worn genre to a reflective conclusion.

 

VOD: Roofman (dir: Derek Cianfrance, 2025)

"He's a very smart individual.  Super-intelligent, probably.  But he's also an absolute idiot."

In this quirky and surprisingly gentle drama/comedy, based on real events, Channing Tatum plays Jeffrey Manchester, a nice-guy low-level criminal who escapes jail and lives surreptitiously in a Toys'R'Us store while laying low from the police, as he tries to win back his estranged family and unexpectedly falls for one of the store's employees.  The oft-underrated Channing Tatum here invests Jeffrey with a clumsy likeability that is impressive, Kirsten Dunst plays the church-going recently-divorced love interest with a delightfully understated dignity and openness and Peter Dinklage plays the spiky store manager precisely in a strong supporting role.  The film's gentle whimsical tone - largely driven by Tatum and Dunst pushing charm to the max together with a wonderful musical score by Christopher Bear - makes the film very appealing, and Roofman is a winning, warm and easy-going but very engaging watch.  Real-life photos and interviews play out as the end credits roll.
 

VOD: Thrash (dir: Tommy Wirkola, 2026)

"Does this mean we have to get new foster parents?"

Norwegian director/writer Tommy Wirkola brings his off-beat dark humour and violence of the hugely fun Dead Snow movies and The Trip to the American shark-attack genre, as a small coastal town is flooded by a huge hurricane, and the few remaining trapped residents find themselves having to contend with the ever-rising water level and a few hungry sharks in this Netflix high-concept survival thriller.  Telling its story with a well-realised mix of CG/practical effects real-life footage - the storm's landfall sequence is particularly effective - the film is designed to torture its usual eclectic mix of characters to the max, with echoes of Jaws and 2019's Crawl in particular.  With a game cast (led by Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak and Djimon Hounsou), Wirkola's penchant for silly comedy moments deflates stoic disaster movie tropes and may not play well with all viewers, but nevertheless Thrash is a disposable but fairly entertaining if daft romp.
 

VOD: Five Nights At Freddy's 2 (dir: Emma Tammi, 2025)

"People are obsessed with that old pizzeria..."

The somewhat moribund Five Nights At Freddy's movie clearly drummed up enough business to spawn this unnecessary early-2000s-set sequel one year on from the events of the first film which - somewhat inevitably - sees Mike (Josh Hutcherson), troubled Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) and young Abby (Piper Rubio) drawn to the original abandoned fast-food joint for Round 2, along with an expendable reality-TV crew and a suspiciously creepy security guard, and this time unleashing the animatronic killers on the local community.  With an unwarrantedly long running time, the film crawls along, mostly in darkness, with general dullness nullifying the occasional attempt at generating shock or suspense.  Apart from Josh Hutcherson outclassing the material once again, it all feels rather forced and half-hearted - even Sembello's Maniac appears in the 1982-set opening flashback one year before it was released, and the returning Matthew Lillard joined by a Skeet Ulrich cameo (though not appearing together) feels like simple genre stunt-casting.  Perhaps the mixing of a largely children-led story with more adult horror is awkward and neuters the scenario of potential scares, and as a gateway horror it may employ some classic Scooby-Doo period genre tropes and has a fair throwback music score, but overall this sequel offers little of interest and has a mid-credits scene that threatens a trilogy-closer.  

 

VOD: Wicked For Good (dir: Jon M. Chu, 2025)

"Your very own vehicular spherical globule!"
"So, like, a bubble?"
 

Picking up soon after the closing moments of the first film, the sequel kicks off with the construction of the yellow brick road, Elphaba out to expose The Wizard and Glinda and Fiyero newly-engaged, and the general opinion that the second half of the original stage show does not quite live up to the first half more-or-less applies to this filmic version as well.  Many of the elements  that made the first film work are still present, from its killer lead cast to the huge-scale world-building/staging and the powerhouse performances of Erivo, Grande, Yeoh and Bailey (the latter two perhaps rather underserved this time round).  Elements of The Wizard Of Oz - partly blunted by copyright - are used sparingly and integrated smartly in order to service this story.  The songs this time are rather non-descript with more big-Broadway yelling but they are generally pleasant enough and well-orchestrated.  It treads a very fine line between expansion and padding out, the big set-piece musical numbers occasionally feeling stretched and attempts at more down-to-earth moments not quite hitting the mark.  With some dark character arcs and grim reveals, Wicked For Good is a solid but hardly fun wrapping up of this remarkable project.

VOD: B.O.Y.-Bruises Of Yesterday (dir: Soren Green, 2025)

"Why don't you say anything?"

In this much-lauded Danish coming-of-age drama, teen Tobias is sent to the countryside for the Summer to stay with his grandparents, where his desperation for connection and affection leads him down some dangerous paths.  Very big teenage issues are all thrown into the mix - parental separation, mental health, mortality, bereavement, body image, sexuality and self-harm - but for most of the film they are handled without histrionics and with a gentleness that is effective and considered throughout.  The film - and indeed the story- is shot with a quiet and simple clarity as shots linger beautifully, doing an excellent job of showing the young man struggling to connect with the world in which he finds himself.  It has three clear acts, the first act melancholy but with moments of optimism, the second  dealing with profound family tragedy and worrying red flags popping up in Tobias's behaviour, and the third showing the realities and consequences of his choices that is both harsh and brutal compared with what has come before.  The film is carried by a wonderfully sensitive performance by Noa Risbro Hjerrild as Tobias, with a notable supporting turn by Jens Jorn Spottag as his caring grandfather.  This is a gentle and fragile movie that plays well with its sad restraint until it moves into the frank, gritty cautionary territory of the final act.
 

VOD: Mercy (dir: Timur Bekmambetov, 2026)

"Mercy does not make mistakes."

In this high-concept near-future crime thriller, an L.A. crime epidemic and civil unrest leads to offenders being speedily tried and - if necessary - executed by AI, and the film follows Chris Pratt as Chris Raven, a robbery/homicide cop accused of murdering his wife versus Rebecca Ferguson as his advanced AI courtroom judge.  Told through a patchwork of digital/camera/internet sources, to which the accused is given access to mount his defence, the reliable Pratt and the usually-excellent Ferguson (plus a largely weak but negligible supporting cast) do as much as they can with the limitations imposed upon them as the film turns into what is essentially a hi-tech game of electronic Clue(do).  Bekmambetov has long been a good and creative director, but here the film's flashy gimmicks - a ninety-minutes real-time trial, relentless CG visual overload, rapid-fire editing - do not distract from its odd mix of painful melodrama and dull court procedural that proves ultimately unsatisfying.  With the bulk of the drama having Pratt sitting in a chair and Ferguson framed in immovable Medium/Close-Up Shots, it is not quite Ice Cube in a cupboard in War Of The Worlds, but there is some good-looking and purposeful aerial/drone footage used and it takes a rather bizarre U-turn into action movie territory for the finale.

 

VOD: I Swear (dir: Kirk Jones, 2025)

"They could deliver it to my house."
"John, it's an M.B.E., not a pizza!"
 

This delightful biopic of Tourette's Syndrome campaigner John Davidson is both educational as well as a profoundly moving personal study, from 1983 and his childhood years in Galashiels as a likeable typical lad (paper round, fishing, football) starting secondary school, developing uncontrollable tics and behaviours that were undiagnosed and recognised at the time which had a profound effect on his family, then jumping forward over a decade to life as a young adult, when he meets two adults who have a profound impact on his life that ultimately leads to him reaching out and helping others with the condition.  As the adult John, Robert Aramayo does a remarkable job, matched by a wonderfully sensitive performance by Scott Ellis Watson as his teenage counterpart, and Maxine Peake (as John's best friend's understanding mother who takes him in) and Peter Mullan (as the caretaker who takes John under his wing) are simply delightful to watch.  The film succeeds not only in showing people's/society's responses and attitudes to Tourette's but also the impact it has on a person having to deal with it personally, mining the real difficulties with warmth and humour but also an unflinching look at the real-life difficulties created by the condition.  Extremely well-crafted, utterly heartwarming and heartbreaking, I Swear is a great addition the canon of exceptional small-scale homegrown British true-life-story movies.

VOD: Sisu - Road To Revenge a.k.a. Sisu 2 (dir: Jalmari Helander, 2025)

"No need to say anything."

This sequel to 2022's unexpected and entertaining Sisu is a solid continuation of Aatami's story (Jorma Tommila), offering more of the same but with a slightly lighter tone that weighs more into the outrageousness of this one-man killing machine as he tries to rebuild after the war ends, going into occupied territory to transport his family home back to Finland, but the release of Dragunov (Stephen Lang in full nemesis mode) - the man who killed Aatami's family - sees Aatami on a revenge vendetta and Druganov tasked with finishing off this unstoppable force of nature.  It does not take long for the familiar mash-up of Western/MacGuyver/Terminator mayhem  kicks in, and the devastating personal and national after-effects of war weigh heavily, with short comic-book-style 'chapters' following Aatami as he tries to get back to Finland through Russian-occupied territory and driving the narrative purposefully.  The lack of dialogue cleverly intensifies the depth of Aatami's feelings, and there is plenty of squelch, explosions and dark humour that would keep Tommy Wirkola and Takashi Miike very happy indeed.  It all leads to an outrageous final face-off and a charmingly moving final pay-off that makes Road To Revenge an effective mix of offering more of the familiar whilst moving forward.

 

VOD: Zootropolis 2 a.k.a. Zootopia 2 (dirs: Jared Bush and Byron Howard, 2025)

"Is there a reason why you don't take anything seriously?"
"Jokes are a classic defence mechanism for someone with a traumatic childhood."
"Would you like a traumatic adulthood?"
"I would not."

Disney's sequel to its massive 2016 animated hit sees Judy (the rabbit) and Nick (the fox) as mismatched rookie cops on the trail of supposed criminal mastermind Gary De'Snake, but they fall foul of corrupt Zootropolis bosses (the lynxes) and find themselves on the run, trying to expose the bad guys and restoring the status of the outcasts.  The film delivers more of the same that made the first film so successful (right down to a final rousing speech and concluding musical number), with a busy and frenetic scattershot energy that mostly lands - the Ratatouille and The Shining gags are particularly fun.  The strong and often recognisable voice cast delivers well, its gorgeously vibrant colours, madcap cartoon energy and appealingly anthropomorphised cute animal characters will appeal hugely to its young target audience, and the insane level of CG-animated detail is impressive.  It may lack the witty freshness of the original, it is a tad overlong and the pacing is a little uneven, but Zootropolis 2 has enough visual and comic inventiveness to stand up as an acceptable first sequel.  A brief post-end-credits scene alludes to an (inevitable) third entry.

 

VOD: War Machine (dir: Patrick Hughes, 2026)

"Who's the full-fledged moron responsible for this clusterf**k?"
"Who's the meathead calling me a moron?"

The elevator pitch for this in-your-face Netflix sci-fi actioner was probably 'It's Predator...but with an extra-terrestrial killing machine!', as a band of trainee elite army rangers at a remote Colorado training camp, led by '81' (the formidable Alan Ritchson), are on a final recon-and-rescue test mission where they unexpectedly find themselves up against a relentless alien murder-bot (think love-child of an AT-AT and ED-209).  With a thunderous soundtrack, training montages and a haunted veteran hero, the first act offers all the military genre conventions it can muster, before turning into a straightforward cat-and-mouse survival thriller.  The scenery/location settings looks spectacular (shot beautifully and used well), the violence is unflinching with well-executed stunt work, and the excellent sparingly-used effects work is integrated into the action well.  Ritchson's committed presence sells the fast-moving story, with the rest of the thinly-drawn troupe likeable if disposable.  War Machine is a familiar and straightforward but slick, well-executed and entertaining enough ride.
 

VOD: Baby (dir: Marcelo Caetano, 2025)

"Have you ever been in love?"
"I think so..."

This acclaimed moody Brazilian drama sees Wellington (Joao Pedro Mariano), a young man newly released from a youth detention centre, abandoned by his parents and trying to carve out an existence on the Sao Paolo streets under the mentorship of a caring older hustler Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro) with whom he forms a turbulent relationship.  Another film looking at the underbelly of the big city, the film has a cool percussion-driven soundtrack, and the use of camera to follow or find Wellington on-screen throughout creates an intimate journey together with the semi-documentary style employed.  Set against the usual harsh elements of street life is a surprisingly tender central relationship, played out with two solid central performances that make Baby a watchable story.
 

VOD: Dead Of Winter (dir: Brian Kirk, 2025)

"You had to pick the middle of nowhere..."

Although filmed in Finland, snowy Minnesota is the setting for this moderate action-adventure, in which stoic Barb (a game Emma Thompson) embarks on a solo fishing trip out in the wilderness, where she manages to stumble across the kidnap of a young woman held in an isolated cabin, attempts to rescue her and puts herself in danger in the process.  The beautifully bleak and stark Finnish winter backdrop and drained colour palette give the film an icy chill, contrasting with happier sunnier flashbacks of good times past which highlight Barb's current and increasingly dangerous predicament.  Emma Thompson invests heavily in her character performance both physically and emotionally which pays off well, ably supported by Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca as the desperate kidnappers with a sinister agenda.  It is a very contained and slow-burn story which is quite straightforward and limited, and Volker Bertelmann's suitably ominous score does of lot of tension heavy lifting alongside occasional moments of violence and Idiot Plot, but Dead Of Winter overall does a reasonable job of engaging the viewer as it twists a tired genre with added emotional depth and a more senior female lead.
 

FILM: Scream 7 (dir: Kevin Williamson, 2026)

"You did theatre?"

"Not since college..."

Following a well-publicised rocky road with production and personnel, Scream 7 arrives as a reasonably slick and entertaining product.  Following the re-energising and subsequent big city relocation of the franchise for Radio Silence's enjoyable V and VI, the return of the very first film's scripter Kevin Williamson doubles down on the nostalgia front and the franchise's female leads.  After a slightly drawn-out signature pre-title sequence, the first act establishes Sidney's quiet life in a small town (rather like Woodsboro) with her sheriff  husband and children (including her fractious relationship with older teen daughter, Tatum) that is soon upended by the appearance of her old nemesis Ghostface, seemingly the deceased Stu from the original movie, and a familiar string of kills and personal threat follows.  The first act is somewhat talky and determined to reference all the the previous movies as much as possible, but it then does not take long for the fast, furious and somewhat mean-spirited murders to decimate Sidney and her daughter's immediate circle, reducing the possible suspects dramatically (with an outcome that is not dissimilar to one of the Friday The 13th films).  As has become typical of recent long-running horror franchises, the focus is on the empowered female leads, and indeed Courtney Cox and the returning Neve Campbell are undoubtedly excellent in these roles, with Isabel May a strong addition as teen daughter Tatum, and the males largely expendable (although Joe McHale gives solid support as a good husband for Sidney, and Asa Germann is good fun as the neighbour's star-struck son).  If there is an issue - and it is for the franchise as a whole rather than singling out this particular film - it is that it again follows the exact same narrative template as its predecessors, so it becomes a case of doing it well (which Scream 7 does by and large, notably in the pacier action moments) rather than creating  something genuinely innovative - one can only imagine what Christopher Landon's take on the material might have been.   There is a lot of fan-pleasing here, from unexpected cameos to almost throwaway references (which will bemuse viewers without much knowledge of the previous films), and Williamson still knows how to deliver some wry grim humour, although there is an annoying over-reliance on isolating characters by responding to unlikely off-scream noises.  There is obviously value in seeing Sidney re-positioned as a middle-aged mother here, and Scream 7 is a solid entry in the franchise, but its over-familiarity and desperate clinging to the past is a tad concerning going forward.  Note: the mid-credits sequence is nothing more than a trio of seemingly inessential improvised outtakes.
 

VOD: Black Phone 2 (dir: Scott Derrickson, 2025)

"Maybe I like weird."

The sequel to Blumhouse's big horror/thriller hit moves the story on to a wintry 1982, with both an older troubled Finn and psychic Gwen clearly still affected by the events of the first film that relocates the action to a winter Christian camp as trainee counsellors where their mother worked, and providing a grim backstory that neatly links the present to past events in 1957, with The Grabber back to avenge his own death.  There is a clear choice made to move the story away from its gritty urban milieu and exploration of the community impact of the first film to more generic horror-fantasy tropes, full of stylised 'dream' imagery and increasingly repetitive and drawn-out scenes which become infused with elements of Elm Street and numerous possession films.  Mason Thames proves to be strong young actor even though here he is not given enough to work with in what is a largely haphazard and lacklustre follow-up that stretches a thin idea to its limits.
 

VOD: Him (dir: Justin Tipping, 2025)

"Sports - theatre with real consequences."

In what is possibly an attempt to create a new cross-genre - the psychological sports horror - the film shows rising star American footballer Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers) attacked brutally the night before being scouted, resulting in a possibly career-ending brain injury that leads him to an increasingly extreme and unhinged boot camp run by his idol (Marlon Wayans).  It is a flabby, messy, melodramatic and overlong movie but provides a reasonably entertaining genre ride, boosted by another engaging and committed lead performance by Withers and a solid Wayans.  Seemingly a critique of the ruthlessness of the professional game, the film tries hard and does not hold back on violent images but is not sharp enough and too meandering as satire and ultimately falls short. 
 

VOD: Together (dir: Michael Shanks, 2025)

"I don't want to be the dumb city folk who went against nature and lost."

This atmospheric supernatural/body-horror mash-up follows a young couple (Dave Franco and Alison Brie) moving out the the country with some underlying uncertainties in their relationship in tow, where an accidental fall into a strange underground cavern leads them to being brought closer in ways they could never have imagined.  The natural environment is shot vibrantly, and the film boasts an excellently eerie ominous music score/soundscape.  Brie and especially Franco are both underappreciated actors who are very strong here, with Brie's Millie a playful but spiky counterpoint to Franco's Tim, who is more fragile but troubled, their real-life partnership imbuing the on-screen relationship with a painful credibility.  This is a potent mix of camp-fire story and David Cronenberg that is fascinating to watch from both the emotional and physical standpoints, especially in the later more extreme moments, even if the storytelling veers into clunkiness occasionally (including the clumsiest use of Chekhov's Gun quite early on).

 

VOD: Predator Badlands (dir: Dan Trachtenberg, 2025)

"Do you have any other weapons?"

On desolate Yautja Prime, a gloomily-lit fight between two Predator brothers ends in tragedy and sees the younger brother, Dek, set on a rite-of-passage challenge, choosing the planet Genna ("the death planet") and the 'unkillable' monster The Kalisk, fending off its many dangerous indigenous creatures and teaming up with a talkative but damaged Wayland-Yutani exploration synthetic Thia as a comedy sidekick along the way.  It is full of fan-pleasing iconography, details and moments, and it has a solid story and structure.  There is plenty of talk about family, culture-clashes, grief and growing up to add some heft, but this entry in the Predator franchise does a solid job of balancing the lighter elements (odd-couple banter, wry humour) with the signature fantasy violence and the ruthless corporation hovering in the background.    Elle Fanning is terrific in her dual role, and in Dek the film provides the most expressive and nuanced Predator seen so far.  Badlands is a lively and well-shot sci-fi adventure romp, with shiny and generally well-realised effects work and takes its genre - but not necessarily itself - too seriously to entertaining effect, with a second half that takes an interesting and more muscular turn.

 

VOD: K-Pop Demon Hunters (dirs: Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang, 2025)

"The internet loves this, and the internet is never wrong!"

This global hit animated musical movie presents a trio of young female K-Pop superstars who are also Hunters, protectors of the world, having to defeat a demon boy-band whose aim is to wipe out the women's popularity and achieve global domination, leading to a grand face-off at the International Idol awards.  Spawned from this age of manufactured stars, social media and hyper-realism, the editing propels the movie along at a frightening pace, with a vibrant colour palette heavy on neon purple and bubblegum pink and a lightweight collection of ridiculously catchy generic K-Pop bangers.  Slick and polished to within an inch of its life, the film is designed to take hold of its young female audience and not let go from start to finish, but older viewers will find it quite bewildering and it all blurs into one after the first half-hour.  The strong representation of the young female protagonists grappling with friendship, fame and personal identity is curiously undercut by their swooning devotion to the feminised pretty-boys' physical appearance.  Propelled by the songs and its energetic style of presentation, it undoubtedly delivers for its target audience even if it is rather shallow overall.  The mid-end-credits features the actual human artists making the music recordings.

 

VOD: Springsteen - Deliver Me From Nothing (dir: Scott Cooper, 2025)

"I do know who you are."
"Well, that makes one of us."

Far from the typical Hollywood musical biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere homes in on Bruce Springsteen's life and career in the early 1980s, when his first taste of commercial success sees him dealing with the pressures of burgeoning stardom, a lifestyle at odds with his small-town roots and his desire to make his next album a seemingly-uncommercial back-to-basics introspective work.  This is a very sensitive, pensive and honest film that deals with the spectre of Springsteen's alcoholic father (played with focused nuance by the wonderful Stephen Graham), record company pressure and a relationship to which he could not commit fully. all of which led to a crippling mental health crisis,  Jeremy Allen White gives yet another knockout performance in the lead role that truly inhabits and conveys this iteration of Springsteen of that time and is magnetic as an on-screen presence, with some great supporting performances from Jeremy Strong as his famed manager and friend Jon Landau, and Odessa Young as the single-mother with whom Springsteen cautiously forms a genuine relationship.  The film gives a reasonable and interesting insight into the tortuous process that shaped and created the stripped-back Nebraska album and forms a beautiful and personal companion to it.  Springsteen's involvement and approval adds veracity to the material in this sombre, quietly reflective yet powerful film that almost becomes emotional overload in the final twenty minutes and is thrown into perspective knowing that global megastardom lay just around the corner.

 

VOD: One Battle After Another (dir: Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025)

"You're a bad hombre, Bob!"

This topical awards-baiting action-thriller opens with a group pf activists freeing detainees at the US/Mexico border and attacking unethical/immoral corporate targets, focused on explosives expert, Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), and his fiery partner, Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), which creates a nemesis in the unwavering Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn) that has considerable consequences for all concerned.  After a whirlwind trip through their turbulent lives in a compact first act, a sixteen-year time jump finds a now-dissolute Bob bringing up his teenage daughter as off-grid as possible, but the past soon - and determinedly - catches up with him.  The film has a freewheeling and engagingly chaotic spirit from the outset, mirrored in its unpredictable use of music and jazz-styled score and its often wild use of camera.  A big pleasure here is watching DiCaprio deploy his forensic characterisation skills (notably in close ups) very successfully, with terrific support from Teyana Taylor as his frighteningly energetic partner-in-crime/lover, alongside a laser-focused Sean Penn and their repressed and unhealthily-obsessed military archenemy.  This is Paul Thomas Anderson through and through, with nods to Tarantino and a great Hitchcockian road-chase sequence towards the end.   The energy of the film is largely maintained throughout - although the second and third acts perhaps get a little wearing with the generous running time - and the clash of (extreme) left and right wing values creates an ever-present tension, making One Battle After Another a bold and striking film.

 

VOD: On Swift Horses (dir: Daniel Minahan, 2025)

"Everybody makes mistakes."

This classy 1950s-set drama finds a young woman Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) living a quiet country life with her devoted soon-to-be-husband Lee (Will Poulter), but the return of Lee's carefree brother Julius (Jacob Elordi) leads her into a world of gambling, lies and secrets in their pursuit of The American Dream as they relocate to California.  The lush period  recreation is excellent and filmed beautifully.  It makes telling points about gender roles and sexuality at the time as an intrinsic part of the characters and the storytelling, and the very strong young lead trio of players bring their characters and relationships to the screen with detail, focus and an easy credibility.  This is a slow-burn affair with a storyline that can at times feel like a bit of a blunt instrument, but it is consistently engaging, largely owing to the high quality of the performances on offer.
 

VOD: Downton Abbey - The Grand Finale (dir: Simon Curtis, 2025)

"Sometimes I feel like the past is a more agreeable place than the future."

This movie-trilogy capper spawned from the globally successful period drama TV show sees most of the main players return as the story moves on to 1930 and a changing societal landscape that threatens the cosy monied upper-class way of life enjoyed by the Grantham dynasty.  Indeed, amidst a rather threadbare plot, the theme of change weighs heavily throughout - older staff members moving on, the ongoing financial impact of the Great Crash, the tension between tradition/old-fashioned values and newer attitudes (focused by Lady Mary's scandalous divorce) - playing alongside the characters' own and frequent wistful nostalgia and the growing acceptance pf the end of an era.  Inevitably, the Julian Fellowes writing machine delivers some touching moments and a surprising number of genuinely funny quips, barbs and reactions, as the notably ageing older core cast gets its moderate last hurrah in  a light but well-crafted script.  Once again every effort is made to make The Grand Finale look sumptuous and cinematic, with this instalment set in the lush height of English Summer.  As a 'grand finale' it may a little restrained, but it amply delivers the cosy and comfortable viewing experience that viewers of the original TV show lapped up, delivered by an experienced and reliable cast whose characters are wrapped up to good effect, all capped off with a delightful final cameo appearance.
 

VOD: The Rip (dir: Joe Carnahan, 2026)

"How's it going, man?"
"Trying to find a f**k to give."

In this glossy Netflix police thriller, the Miami Tactical Narcotics Team - that includes a weary but level-headed Dane (Matt Damon) and scenery-chewing J.D. (Ben Affleck) is facing investigation when their own Captain is murdered, but a raid on a drugs stash house uncovers a massive load of cash that soon turns the film into a bottle/siege as the team become trapped and under fire, alliances and trust shifts as the lure of the money exerts its influence, and a rescue that opens up the finale to the well-shot city at night is not all that it seems.  The film presents a beleaguered police force rife with corruption, filled with internal suspicion and pushed to the limit by under-resourcing, setting up what seems to be the film's basic message, that money is the root of all evil.  The script is somewhat knuckle-headed in its need to explain everything very obviously and is bursting with the f-word, but it handles the story's twists and turns effectively.  The experienced lead team (director/writer Joe Carnahan and the reunited Damon/Affleck duo) can sell this kind of material in their sleep, making The Rip a slick, efficient but rather generic movie that is entertaining enough but perhaps highlights the difference in expectations and delivery of a Netflix product as opposed to a Hollywood cinema movie.  
 

VOD: The Strangers Chapter 2 (dir: Renny Harlin, 2025)

"Does there have to be a 'why'?"

Following the underwhelming opening instalment of this new (and unnecessary) spinoff trilogy, Chapter 2 takes the Halloween II/Halloween Kills route for the first act, picking up from the end of the previous instalment and relocating surviving female character Maya (Madelaine Petsch) to the nearby hospital where the murderous trio soon appear - cue shadowy corridors that are slowly wandered down, beeping monitors and sinister cubicle curtains as no sub-genre cliché goes unmissed - for little more than a contained and unsurprising cat-and-mouse chase (although sedate plod is mostly more accurate), which is then repeated in other locations (including a farm, forest, car, scrapyard, a circular return to the previous film's cabin and a finale setting) as Maya barely escapes her pursuers every time.   Indeed, Maya's injuries from the first film have inconsistent impact, as she administers self-stitching only to then fend off an improbable attacking CG boar, with the resulting leg trauma being dispensed with conveniently for the third act.  It is all written with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and limited dialogue, and the limited number of local characters means the finale reveal is hardly surprising.  This is a hollow and dreary film that offers a bland backstory told in perfunctory flashbacks and unexciting run-of-the-mill masked-killer set pieces, and it is hard to fathom why this very thin material has been stretched over three movies.  There is mid-credits preview of the trilogy-capping Chapter 3.

 

FILM: 28 Years Later - The Bone Temple (dir: Nia DaCosta, 2026)

"This is interesting."

If the term 'elevated horror' is still relevant, then it is alive and bloodily kicking in this middle entry of the new 28 Years... trilogy.  It is very thoughtful and economically-written by series stalwart Alex Garland - even Samson the Alpha gets an unexpected and interesting arc.  The film follows only two major narrative threads continuing from the first film - Dr Ian Kelson's developing relationship with the infected Alpha, and young Spike's journey with the murderous Jimmy clan - both of which are told with an impressively simple clarity and calm precision, with their ultimate collision (and its consequences) paying off very satisfyingly indeed.  The film's two excellent lead actors - Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell - dominate the screen and both deliver superb character performances that are utterly absorbing to watch.  The sound mix is notably effective and interesting, although musically the first half may test your patience with an 80s band's back catalogue.  Mercifully, Nia DaCosta manages to deliver and sustain a big commercial movie here, creating a surprisingly steady and contemplative tone punctuated by moments of unapologetically gory violence, giving the nightmarish scenarios and almost cruelly poetic feel.  The perhaps-inevitable fan-pleasing coda seemingly leaves little narrative scope for the threequel, which may allow for another interesting reinvention and exploration.  Arguably better than the first 28 Years..., The Bone Temple is an extremely successful and engaging sequel that will hopefully enable the production of the third fil in Danny Boyle's proposed trilogy.

 

FILM: Hamnet (dir: Chloe Zhao, 2026)

"I'll be brave."

Released in the second week of January 2026 in the UK, Hamnet stakes a very early claim to being the best film of the year, this biographical drama tells the story of the relationship of William Shakespeare and Agnes and the impact of the death of their son from the plague.  Some of director/co-writer Zhao's signature screen stylings - nature, landscapes, quietness and compositions that create great space around characters - are used so well here, indeed making deliberate close ups very impactful.  Even the use of particular high angle shots, at first giving the odd feel of observing a stage from the gallery, is later explained smartly within the narrative.  It is a delicate, almost fragile, film, and Max Richter's exquisite score is vital but unobtrusive, used sparingly but purposefully.  It is one of those films that held its audience still and in silence throughout, apart from two key points at which some people audibly sobbed.  Jessie Buckley's powerhouse performance shows genuine depth and veracity, a genuine expression of love and grief, but it is matched equally by a tremendously thoughtful and sympathetic turn from the increasingly excellent Paul Mescal.  Also of note is the remarkably nuanced presence of young Jacobi Jupe as the ill-fated Hamnet.  The timeline may occasionally puzzle, but then this is not a documentary.  Hamnet is profound, deeply moving, consummately performed and beautifully constructed in every respect.

 

VOD: Bring Her Back (dirs: Danny and Michael Philippou, 2025)

"Are you in there?"

A24 presents another full-on sinister Australian horror, in which partially-sighted Piper and her put-upon older teen stepbrother Andy are fostered following the death of their father, but the increasingly off-kilter behaviour of their new foster-mother and her young mute charge, Oliver, hides some very dark secrets indeed that put the siblings in very real and serious danger.  The film's eerie calm, deliberate pacing and slow reveals make it a very intimate experience, giving its occasional disturbing and visceral moments notable impact, all supported by a gorgeously unsettling soundscape and leading to a truly unhinged finale.  At its heart, the film benefits enormously from a disturbingly wayward performance from Sally Hawkins as the foster-mother and a sensitively haunted turn from Billy Barratt as the grieving and protective Andy.  Bring Her Back is not as showy or popcorn-crowd-friendly as Talk to Me, instead offering a creepy psychological horror-thriller that is very unsettling, extremely accomplished and takes the viewer on an interesting journey.
 

VOD: Goodbye June (dir: Kate Winslet, 2025)

"If someone asked us what this felt like, I don't think I'd be able to describe it."
"No?"
"Waiting for someone to die."

Set in the fortnight leading up to Christmas Day, this low-key, intimate British drama follows a fragmented family brought together by the final days of their terminally-ill mother.  The eclectic bunch of siblings, played by an exceptional cast of Kate Winslet, Johnny Flynn, Toni Collette  and Andrea Riseborough, all perform their own uncomfortable rivalries, personal inadequacies and differing domestic dramas with sensitivity and honesty, alongside gloriously touching performances from Helen Mirren and Timothy Spall as their elderly parents and a really beautifully-judged turn by Fisayo Akinade as the gentle ward nurse.  With an impressive first screenplay from Winslet's son Joe Anders, and quiet, controlled direction from Winslet herself, Goodbye June is often painful and very emotional to watch but it delivers very well indeed.

 

VOD: The Life Of Chuck (dir: Mike Flanagan, 2025)

"I think it's just a prank.  Performance art."

Mike Flanagan's latest delve into the world of Stephen King is an odd mix of schmaltzy sentimentality and grand-themes philosophising, proving to be as divisive as the treacly manipulative Forrest Gump.  Structured in reverse, the opening Act Three threatens a typical Stephen King apocalyptic supernatural mystery, the central Act Two offers old-fashioned small-town quirk, and the concluding Act One is a most familiar King coming-of-age nostalgia-fest shot through with tragedy.  The talented lead cast - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Matthew Lillard, a warmly charming Tom Hiddleston and more - talk and talk and talk against a soporific sub-Vangelis-styled score with musings on the planet, the environment, the universe and the human condition.  It may all be a grand poetic exploration of the life and death of an everyman that urges us to live life to the full, but it treads a very fine line between being sweetly life-affirming and drearily twee in its rather long-winded journey.

 

VOD: Scurry (dir: Luke Sparke, 2025)

"That was brave."

This budget-limited attempt at a creature-feature-without-the creature sees America under siege  from giant genetically-modified killer spiders.  After a very brief but slightly promising opening scene, the film then spends its running time following a pair of dull, barely-developed and uninteresting citizens (with mismatched performances) who are trapped underground and crawl through endless dark tunnels.  Dialogue and performances are barely functional, off-screen spider noises are used to limit on-screen action, and the bottle situation is dragged out to the extreme as not a lot happens; forty minutes in, the pair find a torch on the floor, and when proceedings threaten to liven up around the one-hour mark, it is quickly replaced by more tunnel-crawling.  Your patience - if it lasts - is rewarded by a short scene with a full-sized spider later on in the movie and a very final frustrating shot of the film that we wanted to see all along.