VOD: Hellboy The Crooked Man (dir: Brian Taylor, 2025)

"You getting the heebie-jeebies, friend?"
"I AM the heebee-jeebies!"

Yet another crack at bringing Hellboy to the big screen throws us into 1959, with Hellboy and two government agents transporting a demonic spider by train which does not end well, stranding him and Agent Song in the Appalachian forests where they encounter an isolated community beset by witches and a local legend of The Crooked Man.  The backwoods setting and feel is created well on-screen, and with the emphasis on dry humour and folklore, there are some interesting moments created amongst the rather slow-moving story, although the element of backstory with Hellboy's mother thrown in is not wholly successful.  Jack Kesy plays a rather weary and laid-back version of Hellboy here, with Adeline Rudolph a good foil as his special agent sidekick. The film so wants to be Sam Raimi but does not get there, and the third act in particular goes nowhere and is rather underwhelming.  Playing like an extended talky lesser episode of Supernatural or The X-Files, this is a rather low-key entry in the series that tries something a little different in tone with limited success.
 

VOD: The Twister - Caught In The Storm (dir: Alexandra Lacey, 2025)

"There was a sense in the air that something big was happening..."

This feature-length Netflix documentary recounts the extraordinarily sudden and hugely destructive 2011 Missouri tornado that ripped apart the town of Joplin on its annual graduation day through eyewitness accounts of largely then-teenagers and a remarkable mix of footage from the actual event itself.  Without any preamble, it gets straight to business, setting up the town of Joplin and the students of its high school whose graduation was taking place that fateful afternoon plus other residents in this combination of a Bible Belt and Tornado Alley community.  The combination of very direct personal accounts and raw POV phone and CCTV footage is engrossing and at times makes you forget to breathe when the massive tornado hits.  The occasional CGI/slo-mo recreation shots are a little jarring, but this does not undermine the powerful immediacy of the real-life footage.  This is not showing the glossy, distanced tornadoes of the movies, as it relates the very (terrifying) personal and human impact of the event both at the time and subsequently.  The last hour is perhaps the toughest to watch emotionally, with its mixture of great sadness and powerful hope for the future in this generally well-constructed documentary.

 

VOD: Wicked (dir: Jon M. Chu, 2024)

REVIEW No. 1,750!

"...let me tell you the whole story..."

The hugely successful stage version of Wicked could not be more of a traditional Broadway-style musical if it tried, and this epic reworking for cinema - the first part of two - retains its character and goes (very) big with expansive CGI worldbuilding, nuance of character and extraordinary attention to detail.  Cynthia Erivo is dazzlingly assured as Elphaba, Ariana Grande is surprisingly good and a very nice fit for G(a)linda (if a little shrill at times). with Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum adding veteran class and Jonathan Bailey making a mark with energetic swagger as the self-assured Prince Fiyero.  All aspects of design are exemplary, retaining essential cinematic iconography and also displaying some fun creative touches.  The film may be rather long - heading towards three hours - but it does not feel like it as it is slick, easy to watch and surprisingly funny whilst nailing the big dramatic moments with aplomb.  By the time Defying Gravity blows your socks off and the To Be Continued title card comes up, the set up for the darker sequel is promising indeed. 
 

VOD: Nightbitch (dir: Marielle Heller, 2025)

I'm the worst mother in the world!"

Amy Adams stars as an artist who goes back to full-time domestic life to look after her young son, trying to reconcile her joy of motherhood with her growing angry sense of futile boredom, her relationship with her oft-absent husband and her disturbing belief that she is turning into an actual dog.  Amy Adams is, of course, an absolutely mesmerising treat to watch, from her delightful scenes with her on-screen son to her excellent dramatic character work, with very strong supporting performances from Scoot McNairy as Husband and Jessica Harper as an intriguing librarian.  The script is whip-smart and very enjoyable from start to finish, and the themes of motherhood, (loss of female) identity and societal demands are developed in a clever way, with references to pop psychology and mythology woven into the mix.  Overall, not everything quite hangs together in terms of its central metaphor, but Nightbitch is nevertheless a bold, interesting and satisfying film.

 

VOD: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (dir: Tim Burton, 2024)

"Pain and suffering are always inevitable."

This long-threatened sequel to the minor 80s cult favourite finally emerges as both an affectionate throwback and a more contemporary self-aware comedy-thriller.  With Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) now a grown-up TV 'psychic mediator' with her show Ghost House and her similarly-sulky straight-talking teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) at boarding school, the dysfunctional family is brought together by the death of Astrid's grandfather, with SoulSucker (Monica Bellucci) on a revenge trip to find her ex-husband, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton, reliably slipping back into character), and inevitably the living/dead reunion awaits.   The film re-establishes the weird Beetlejuice concept swiftly early on, before the film becomes largely a touchstones box-ticking exercise that crucially sidelines the entire revenge story in favour of underworld quirkiness.  The cheap-and-cheerful aesthetic recalls the original, the Fall/Halloween setting looks good and is used well, and the eventual reveal of teen Astrid's emerging ability with a good twist is effective.  Feeling rather thin overall, like the original this film comes across as more of a hit-and-miss procession of ideas that is never as funny as it thinks it is (the extended MacArthur Park sequence feels interminable), rendering it a somewhat unnecessary commercial nostalgia-grab at this point. 
 

VOD: Moana 2 (dirs: Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller and David G. Derrick Jr., 2024)

"I don't do singalongs."
"We'll see about that!"

Moana 2 belongs to the 'bigger, busier, noisier' school of sequel-making, and whilst it offers little development from the first film, it still retains the colourful vibrancy and easy-going energy and charm of the original to a large extent.  Still grounded in the islanders' mythology, Moana (engagingly voiced by Auli'i Cravalho) and her motley crew go on a sea-faring quest to find other people beyond her home. with annoying comedy relief Maui the demi-god (Dwayne Johnson) pitted against evil god Nalo, who previously cursed their island destination.  The voice cast is strong throughout, the songs are relatively brief and effectively feel-good, the set pieces are lively and quite inventive - the coconut 'pirates' are fun - and the film trips along in a gently amusing manner.  Not so much constructed in acts but in episodes, this sequel offers little more than the original film, but as a 'further adventures of' episode, Moana 2 delivers pleasingly and effectively, with an ending that paves the way for the next chapter.
 

VOD: The Electric State (dirs: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, 2025)

"You can't be heartless to things with no heart."
 

Based on a graphic novel, this enormo-budget Netflix sci-fi adventure from the Russo brothers offers an alt-history in which a robot uprising led to war with humans with a tech-fused victory for mankind.  Millie Bobby Brown is set on a cross-country quest to find her long-believed-dead brother with a kooky comic-strip sidekick robot and black-marketeer-with-a-heart Chris Pratt in tow.  Stanley Tucci does effective work as an understated villain here, Brown is her dependable self and Pratt delivers more of his roguish wisecracking.  The integration of the extensive and high-end CGI work is stunningly seamless in its worldbuilding and robot characters, again demonstrating what can be achieved on-screen with the big bucks, and the 1994-set tech influences works well.  The actual story, however, is very anaemic and stretched quite thinly over two hours plus.  It is visually rich and there is no doubting some of the imaginative/creative ideas on display, but the film itself is very scattershot in terms of both genre (thriller, comedy, sci-fi, speculative fiction, Western, coming-of-age) and audience targeting and - perhaps unforgivably for a film of this magnitude - it is also rather dull at times.  

VOD: Delicious (dir: Nele Mueller-Stofen, 2025)

"This is exactly why you shouldn't drink and drive, John."

Funny Games meets Parasite in this classy but nonsensical German Netflix thriller.  A well-off German family on holiday in rural France accidentally 'run over' a young woman while driving back from a restaurant one night and take her on as a housekeeper for the Summer to buy her silence, but as Teodora and her dead-eyed friends gradually insert themselves into the family's lives, events take a very dark turn.  There is an element of quietly brooding tension that builds from the start, with an eminently ominous soundtrack and a nice compositional stillness on screen, and the cast is solid.  Its class/elitism metaphor is clumsy, Idiot Plot abounds (especially in the actions and responses of the family), and a major clue to the 'shocking' twist is laid out very bluntly earlier in the film.  There are positives to be found in this film, but tightening up the screenplay would have been an advantage.
 

VOD: Venom - The Last Dance (dir: Kelly Marcel, 2024)

 

"I promise not to eat it!"

As we wave goodbye to the DCEU, a murky prologue sets up the vengeful villain of this piece, and what follows proves to be the most ambitious, daft and perhaps enjoyable entry of the trilogy, with a throw-everything-at-it attitude and an actual effective story that sees Eddie/Venom on the run from the authorities and an ancient alien threat.  This Venom movie offers a genuinely edgier tone as a counterpoint to the still-funny comedy antics, and the backstory creates an effective spine to the narrative.  Tom Hardy - the saving grace of these films - is so enjoyably invested and committed in the character that once again he carries the movie, with strong back-up from Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Graham and a nicely-controlled turn from Juno Temple as the lead scientist on the symbiote programme.  The series' odd and unconvincing mix of hyper-real and cartoon styles is still evident, but the mad plethora of ideas at play gives this entry an undeniable energy.  Overall, The Last Dance falls just above a mid-level Transformers movie, but this is perhaps a much better and more positive send-off  to the Venom trilogy than the previous two films might have suggested.  Presumably the mid-credits and end-of-credits scenes are now redundant.  (Note to music supervisors: this film just about gets away with another play of an ABBA classic by the sheer silliness of the scene, but a particular Queen song is now way beyond overused in soundtracks).

VOD: Super/Man - The Christopher Reeve Story (dirs: Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui, 2024)

"...and then, in an instant, everything changed."
 

This hugely warm and uplifting BAFTA-winning documentary on the life of (Superman) actor Christopher Reeve before and after his horrifying horseriding accident that left him almost completely paralysed is an exceptional account of human courage, hope, love and determination.  The extensive contributions by his family members, notably his wife, ex-wife and children, are open and emotional, made even more impactful by Reeves's own words and family footage.  In addition, Hollywood actors such as his great friend Robin Williams bridge his film-star life and that of the committed family man to good effect here.  The film flows beautifully, weaving together the two main parts of Reeves's life effortlessly.  Both heartbreaking and heartwarming and just the right side of oversentimentality, this superior documentary tells its powerful story very well indeed.

VOD: Werewolves (dir: Steven C. Miller, 2025)

 "We are all soldiers now."

Universal's ambitious Dark Universe may have failed, but the low-key lower-budget resurgence of classic monsters continues with this slick and lively action/horror.  People exposed to a global super-Moon event become werewolves for one night; one year later, it happens again, but this time the rest of the population are ready to fight back, with a focus on gruff ex-military man Wesley (the utterly reliable Frank Grillo), his brother's family and his crack team out to trial a cure.  It is all countdowns, flashing lights and more lens-flare than J.J. Abrams could ever dream of, with the transformations and creatures a solid mix of CGI and practical effects.  The tone and intent feels very much like The Purge franchise with a bit of John Carpenter under-siege mentality thrown in, as curfew looms, the people lock themselves down and the voracious attackers appear.  The actual plot does not bear much scrutiny, especially what might have happened in the intervening year, but Werewolves offers simple, straightforward, undemanding and well-staged no-frills mayhem, and on those terms it works very well.

VOD: Intermedium (dir: Erik Bloomquist, 2025)

"I believe the PC term is 'living adjacent'!"

In this low-budget comedy-drama developed from the director's earlier short film. a teen drama-loving girl with OCD, Bee, moves in with her father and his new partner, only to discover a hunky ghost in her en-suite shower who cannot pass over fully and only she can see, and as the story unfolds their bond grows. 

Emily Keefe is efficiently distancing in the lead role, and Beau Minniear gives a nicely-rounded performance as the troubled spirit.   A full-blown musical flashback sequence might be a step too far for most viewers, and the kooky rom-com elements sit a little uncomfortably alongside themes of suicide, cancer and abuse.  As ever, the high-schoolers look a lot older than they should, and in many ways this is a standard teen movie that indulges its supernatural romance and high-school theatre group tropes but with the occasional very sincere moment punching through.

VOD: Love To Love You, Donna Summer (dirs: Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano, 2024)

"How many roles do I play in my own life?"

HBO's 'documentary film' is not exactly a standard trot through the hits and career highlights, as the film tries to explore the woman that Donna Summer was, her different professional and personal personas, and the familial, societal and commercial forces that shaped her career - a tall order indeed.  Always difficult to pin down, this remarkably talented artist who trailblazed across the charts and formats of music in the late 70s/early 80s in particular is shown here through remarkable archive and personal family footage, notably through seemingly open personal reflections of her close family members.  It is quite effective in its consideration of Summer's significance in terms of music, gender and race, but it does feel a little too scattershot and selective to give a wholly coherent overview, as if there are two documentaries (the music and the personal life) vying for attention and screen time throughout; her significant exploitative (male) relationships and the fallout with Casablanca Records are mentioned but hardly developed, and her late 80s European PWL comeback and the MTV Encore triumph not mentioned at all.  The film makes a good effort to cover as many bases as it can within its lean running time, and the conflict between career, faith. motherhood and her public/private lives are placed at the heart of this well-intentioned and interesting documentary.
 

FILM: Bridget Jones - Mad About The Boy (dir: Michael Morris, 2025)

"You're still in pretty good nick."

Getting on for a decade after the last film, the fourth film of the Bridget Jones series is perhaps unexpectedly very good indeed, doing so by not being a typical rom-com but a rather poignant study of grief, acceptance, relationships and parenthood, following the slight shift away from its ditsy comedy roots that was emerging in the previous entry.  With the extended prologue capably revealing what has happened in Bridget's life in the intervening years, the passage of time finds the main characters mostly approaching middle age, giving the movie a more mature, reflective and thoughtful outlook, ditching the broader silly comedy elements but with some flashes and call-backs to signature funny moments that work well and some killer responses and one-liners along the way.  Zellweger naturally owns the movie, making Bridget still chaotic but with a wonderfully measured depth here, but both of her love interests - the younger Leo Woodall and her son's science teacher Chiwetel Ejiofor - have genuine character arcs of their own and give excellent performances.  Hugh Grant has become the secret weapon for any movie recently, here including an hilariously-delivered early scene with Bridget's children and a heartbreaking later one that he nails perfectly, and the many returning characters give the film a familiar warmth.  Along the way, there are genuine moments of unadulterated joy and pure melancholy that make this a slick, professional, well-made and yet surprising and very heartfelt entertaining movie.

 

VOD: La Dolce Villa (dir: Mark Waters, 2025)

"Anything worth loving is worth fighting for."
 

An American father travels to Italy - not his favourite place after a bad student experience - to find his estranged independent young daughter, who has bought a one-euro wreck of a villa in a picturesque rural town in this gentle, sunny and pleasantly entertaining Netflix rom-(with a little bit of)com.  Of course, it is not just the house that gets renovated, with the father-daughter relationship slowly being repaired and the widowed father tentatively falling for the town's also-conveniently-widowed lady mayor.  The location is the real star here, as the film takes every opportunity to show off the gorgeous countryside and the dream-escape-perfect town, complete with its three comedy nonnas who sit at the town square fountain.  The film benefits from its focus on the older characters, and there is some polite awareness-raising of outsiders destroying rural communities, but whilst the film treads some similar ground to the 2020 Neeson-and-son vehicle Made In Italy, La Dolce Villa delivers a rom-com triple-threat of pretty scenery, Italian cooking and a good-looking cast.  The film flies past with abundant and easy charm in this somewhat more mature, relaxed and less silly take on the genre that is pleasant to watch.

VOD: Joker - Folie A Deux (dir: Todd Phillips, 2024)

"You got a joke for me today?"
 

This much-maligned sequel finds a broken Arthur Fleck/Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) incarcerated and signed up for a music therapy group where he meets Lee (Lady Gaga), the proto-Harley Quinn, and goes to trial, all in the form of a bizarre mix of psychological drama and jukebox musical.  In this classic case of the audience not being given what it thought it wanted, most of the vitriol has been aimed at the choice of quasi-musical format, which does indeed deviate a step too far from the much-lauded grounded take on the mythology used in the first film, but it does fit the classic central love story and Arthur's dissociation from reality.  The trial is compelling enough, and Phoenix and Gaga are of course very strong indeed, with a nicely-judged performance from Catherine Keener as Arthur's world-weary lawyer, but the film never escapes the feeling that the lead characters could have been developed more and that it might have worked better as a straightforward drama, of which there are frustrating flashes of potential throughout.

VOD: Smile 2 (dir: Parker Finn, 2024)

"It just stares at me...smiling..."

Parker Finn delivers a lot more of the same in his sequel to his original film, as after a full-on opening sequence that grabs attention, the focus shifts to the glamorous world of recovering singing superstar Skye (Naomi Scott), into whose life the cursed cycle of smile-inducing passed-on self-inflicted violence enters.  The film does a fair job of portraying a young woman dealing with the downsides of fame and addiction, struggling with both her inner demons and the supernatural curse - both seemingly beyond her control - but little is actually done to develop from the original movie here.  The brutally-distorted soundscape and unpredictable use of camera at times are unsettlingly effective alongside the usual jump-scare hallucinatory visions.  With a running time of over two hours, this sequel is often way too languorous for its own good, not helped by the unnecessary diversions into music performances that the lead character entails, making Smile 2 an adequate continuation of the original film if somewhat testing of patience. 
 

VOD: The New Boy (dir: Warwick Thornton, 2024)

"Where's that new boy gone?"
"There he is. Hugging a tree."

This fascinating and contemplative Australian movie sees the imperious Cate Blanchett as Sister Eileen, a nun taking charge of an isolated outback orphanage at a time when the Australian Government undertook enforced separation of indigenous children from their parents, and we follow his progress from a bewildered, uncommunicative and feral new arrival to trying to make sense of his new situation and religion.   Blanchett is a joy to watch as the devout, tough, sincere and strong mother-figure, with a delightful performance by young Aswan Reid as the titular new boy.  The vast landscape is shot exquisitely, used effectively as a backdrop to religious iconography and the exploration of faith and spirituality through the contrasting eyes of Sister Eileen and the indigenous young newcomer, while at the same time telling a very human story of separation, cultural identity and belief in this simple, powerful and evocative film.  

 

VOD: Elevation (dir: George Nolfi, 2024)

"You swear a lot."
"F**k you, Katie!"

'From the producers of A Quiet Place' comes this unashamedly similar high concept movie win which invading murderous subterranean creatures (Reapers) pick off most of the world's population (by detecting carbon dioxide?), with the remnants of humankind only able to survive above 8,000 feet.  Jumping forward three years, a sickly boy forces his father (Anthony Mackie) to descend into the danger zone for medical supplies, accompanied by an embittered scientist (Morena Baccarin) and a feisty world-curious young woman (Maddie Hasson).  Mackie and Baccarin give committed and watchable performances as expected, but they are given little with which to work.  It is all rather simple, small-scale and low-key, although the set pieces are quite effective and creature design is good, but Elevation offers very little that you would not expect from the post-apocalyptic creature-feature genres.   
 

VOD: Queer (dir: Luca Guadagnino, 2024)

"It's hot on the outside, and cold inside."
 

Split conveniently into three chapters and an epilogue and based on another notoriously-difficult to-adapt William S. Burroughs novel, Daniel Craig plays William Lee, a dissolute older gay writer living in 1950s Mexico, who pursues his younger enigmatic object of desire (Drew Starkey's Eugene) as they navigate their fragile relationship that ultimately takes them on an ayahuasca-fuelled voyage of discovery in the jungles of Ecuador.  As ever, Guadagnino creates a film that is richly atmospheric, intimate and in its own way romantic, maintaining Burroughs's psychedelic signature whilst at times feeling like a tribute to Visconti and Fassbinder.  Justin Kuritzkes's screenplay is interesting, full of awkward conversation and blunt openness.  Daniel Craig delivers a terrific character performance here, full of detail and idiosyncrasy, with Drew Starkey providing a good counter-balance in a more controlled and slightly unknowable role.  The contemporary-styled soundtrack by Atticus/Ross adds good flavour to the richly-realised settings.  The divisive trippy finale certainly brings some interesting imagery to the screen but adds little and veers the film a little too close to silliness, leading to an odd quasi-2001-style ending, but for the most part this is another boldy-realised and interesting Guadagnino film.

FILM: Captain America Brave New World 3D (dir: Julius Onah, 2025)

"...and yet, here we are..."

If ever a movie screamed 'course correction', it is this one.  Post-Endgame - and possibly derailed by the pandemic, some underwhelming TV shows, losing its next overarching major villain plus the Hollywood strikes - the MCU's Phases Four and Five have felt lacking in connective tissue and momentum, with new characters left dangling and some of the films perhaps unfairly maligned.  Following the smash success of Deadpool & Wolverine, the Marvel machine appears to be swinging back into full throttle with its release slate, and much more so than recent movies Brave New World throws in many references to the franchise past and yet to come.  The film itself is a rather mixed bag, but with some strong positives.  A thrilling aerial America-Japan battle at Celestial Island (from The Eternals, nicely included as a key plot point here) and the Red Hulk reveal moment and subsequent smackdown both deliver very effectively, but as the story leans into the political conspiracy genre for the most part, the first two acts are often talky, choppy and a bit dull - this is certainly not Captain America The Winter Soldier - and the script is not that smartly written. In his first leading solo film in the role, Anthony Mackie's more grounded take on Captain America works with ease, the introduction of Danny Ramirez as Falcon protégé Joaquin Torres is very promising indeed, and Harrison Ford (replacing the late William Hurt) as now-President Ross is apt casting for the needs of the role in this film.  With Phase Five almost concluded, and Captain America charged with 'assembling The Avengers' and an end-credits threat, it will be interesting to see if Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four First Steps can round out what could be Marvel's revival year.

 

VOD: You're Cordially Invited (dir: Nicholas Stoller, 2025)

"Well, I've got this situation under control!"
"Doesn't seem like it..."

In this mature family comedy that plays in a universe that only exists in the movies, single parent Will Ferrell books an exclusive island for his daughter's wedding, but an unexpected (fatal) error means that Reese Witherspoon double-books the venue with her younger sister's nuptials and comedy chaos ensues.  As well as the escalating wedding complications, the culture clash of the uptight/raucous families plus various generational clashes all generate plenty of material as the film dutifully grinds through all the expected wedding-comedy structural gears, including a duet that will be familiar to fans of Gavin and Stacey.  The script is snappy and surprisingly sweary (including a magnificent c-bomb late in the day), with Ferrell and Witherspoon trading barbed insults and rapid-fire showdowns with glee.  Indeed, Witherspoon delivers her usual very effective and polished professional performance well, and in spite of occasionally straying into his usual improv tics, Ferrell creates a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of the father of the bride, with a significantly strong supporting cast overall.  The result is a pleasant if familiar comedy that breezes by quite entertainingly, and it is certainly one of the more bearable examples of the genre.
 

VOD: Star Trek Section 31 (dir: Olatunde Osunsanmi, 2025)

"Why are you laughing?"
"Because I can't imagine things getting much worse."

Having gone through various story and format permutations - originally conceived as a standard TV series - this character spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery lands as a 'television event movie', in which Emperor Georgiou is tracked down to join The Federation's clandestine operations unit to infiltrate a universe-scale terrorist threat from beyond Federation space.  After a strong and promising flashback opening that reveals Georgiou's early days, the film quickly sets itself up as a noisy, talky, bog-standard Mission: Impossible-styled sci-fi runaround that tries to do something different from the veteran franchise but is quite dull in spite of some whizzy VFX sequences, as the team chases the MacGuffin (here, a Terran biotech weapon) from one location to the next.  Michelle Yeoh, the driving force behind this enterprise, is clearly having fun and plays her familiar character with relish, which the rest of the anonymous Section 31 team makes very little impression, apart from Brit Rob Kazinsky as a gobby cyber-Hicks who does not get enough screen time.  The Star Trek universe has always relied on the interactions and relationships between its characters built up over time, making a one-off such as this difficult with which to fully engage.
 

VOD: Trap (dir: M. Night Shyamalan, 2024)

"Monsters aren't real!"
"Oh, yes, they are."

Shyamalan's latest twisty indie thriller sees caring father/serial killer Cooper (Josh Hartnett) take his teen daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to an arena gig by her music idol, Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan), only to find himself trapped as the FBI close in on the killer.  The situation and writing are of the simple join-the-dots variety and transparently uncomplicated, although the Shyamalans nail the current trend of barely-talented narcissistic young female singers who reel in impressionable young fans with tales of vapid self-confession.  In spite of a fairly spoilerific trailer, Shyamalan delivers the mechanism of the big reveal and subsequent story well, as the film switches smartly from one bottle situation to another halfway through.  Josh Hartnett carries the film extremely well together with Ariel Donoghue as his convincing teen-fan daughter, there is a notable supporting performance from Alison Pill as his wife in the third act, and veteran Hayley Mills is cast oddly as the lead FBI profiler.  Overall, this is a solid if fairly inessential thriller that is delivered slickly - do stay watching for the fun early credits scene. 

 

VOD: Emilia Perez (dir: Jacques Audiard, 2024)

"I have a proposition for you."

This divisive awards-season favourite tells the story of a powerful Mexican drugs boss (Karla Sofia Gascon) who fakes death, transitions and works back into the lives of her family by posing as a long-lost aunt, and a young female lawyer (Zoe Saldana) hired to see through the whole process.  The film's biggest challenge to the viewer is fusing big dramatic themes (Mexican stereotyping, transitioning, 'the disappeared', family) with the musical format, which is successful to a large extent.  While much of the attention has focused on Karla Sofia Gascon, who gives a solid performance here, it is Zoe Saldana who excels right from her difficult opening number, with good back-up from Selena Gomez as the younger wife.  As a musical film, it is very contemporary in style, with effectively-integrated sung moments rather than big Broadway-style blockbuster numbers.  The film sometimes awkwardly lurches between heavy genuine emotion and pure telenovela melodrama at the drop of a hat, especially in the contrived finale.  The film might have benefitted from establishing more of the pre-transition character at the start - this is not a film that delves into the physical and emotional journey, with the actual transitioning being disregarded with an almighty ellipsis - but the arcs of its three lead female characters makes for an unusual if full-on drama to watch.

VOD: Blink Twice (dir: Zoe Kravitz, 2024)

"Success is the best revenge."

This popular glossy psychological thriller sees a tech billionaire (Channing Tatum) invite waitress Frida (Naomi Ackles) and her friend to his private island for a vacation with his friends, where a series of very dark secrets slowly start to be revealed.  The set-up follows the get out pattern, as an alien but seemingly idyllic situation starts dropping clues that all is definitely not as it appears with slowly-unfolding mysteries and smart revelations.  The film plays into current trends of toxic masculinity, privilege, power, wealth and societal obsession with the superficial alongside an effectively structured story.  Naomi Ackles is an engaging protagonist, Channing Tatum gives a strong and thoughtful performance, and there is good supporting character work from Genna Davis, Hayley Joel Osment and Christian Slater.  The final act - when everything falls apart and the true horror is revealed  - is a tough watch thematically, but it is executed well as is the film overall.
 

VOD: Sunflower (dir: Gabriel Carrubba, 2024)

"It gets better, you know."

This somewhat dour Australia coming-of-age drama follows suburban Melbourne teen Leo as he grapples with school, friendships, bullies and sexuality.  It is told in a rather lethargic and moribund manner with no genre cliché left unturned (even an illuminated Ferris Wheel at night makes an appearance).  Performances are solid enough, and after seventy minutes of very restrained and earnest drama, this slight but sincere film ends on a thankfully positive note.
 

VOD: Starve Acre (dir: Daniel Kokotajlo, 2024)

"I don't know why you'd want to come here."

Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark star in this bleak, creepy slow-burn British folk-horror tale as a young couple living in his father's remote house on the moors, kicking off with the young son inexplicably blinding a pony at the village fair, followed by an even bigger tragic event that brings ancient primal forces into their home and their lives, all tied to the land.  Full of desolate landscapes and ominous soundscapes, past and present collide and the couple's life unravels fatefully.  Smith and Clark both give very nicely subdued and controlled performances that makes the couple watchably down-to-earth as they struggle with grief and the supernatural.  The tension between everyday reality and superstition hums uneasily in the background to good effect, and themes of parenthood, loss and belief are explored well.  Starve Acre is a quiet, understated and interesting film, even if it feels as if it never quite edelivers fully. 
 

VOD: Back In Action (dir: Seth Gordon, 2025)

"I think I might be airsick."
"OK - not in the air yet, though..."

Back In Action sees the welcome return of Cameron Diaz after a long break, partnered with Jamie Foxx in another slick cookie-cutter Netflix action-comedy as former CIA couple, now living in suburbia with a couple of teenage kids and forced on the run when their cover is unexpectedly blown and their previous final mission comes back to haunt them.  As is standard for this type of enterprise, the film looks very glossy, has a couple of huge expensive-looking set pieces and some good physical/stunt work, with the rather obvious comedy being mostly based around generation-gap and culture-clash differences (and Jamie Demetriou as an incredibly irritating MI6-wanabee).  The material is elevated considerably by Diaz and Foxx's easy professionalism and energy in both the action and family/comedy elements.  The first half is the more interesting, as the film grinds to a halt halfway through and then limps along to the end with a lot of running around and a reasonable concluding chase along London's South Bank/River Thames (with some attractive night shooting) and a sequel-baiting ending.  The formula may be over-familiar, but Back In Action is pleasant enough if forgettable entertainment. 
 

VOD: The Substance (dir: Coralie Fargeat, 2024)

"This is network TV, not a f**king charity!"

Coralie Fargeat's intriguing and stylish body-horror update of the Dorian Gray story follows the diminishing fortunes of Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), an ageing actress/TV fitness guru in an age-conscious industry who seeks rejuvenation through a secretive treatment with very disturbing consequences.  Clearly pitched somewhere between David Lynch and 80s David Cronenberg with a bit of Kubrick thrown in for good measure, its shiny sterile design provides an effective backdrop to the unpleasant transformative body-horror that the unwitting protagonist suffers, amplified by unnerving dramatic extreme close ups and an unflinching camera.  Demi Moore truly shines in the lead role with a very open and fearless performance that mines the character's vulnerability and sadness to good effect, Dennis Quaid brings to life the unsavoury sleazy TV executive well and Margaret Qualley handles the character arc of Elisabeth's younger incarnation with great energy.  At its heart the film has a somewhat simple idea, but the film makes salient points effectively regarding the ephemeral nature of the entertainment industry, gender inequality and the fetishistic superficial values of the modern world, provocative in both its exposure of issues and its treatment of the human body. but it also delivers on the squelchy body-horror front as well with a bloody large-scale Grand Guignol finale that would make Brian Yuzna proud, all of which makes The Substance a bold and interesting movie to watch.   
 

VOD: Perfect Days (dir: Wim Wenders, 2024)

"Why can't things just stay the same?"

Originally considered as a documentary, this much-admired Oscar-nominated film is a gentle and perfectly-formed treat that follows the simple and ordered daily life of Hirayama (played superbly Koji Yakusho), a custodian of public toilets in Tokyo, and the things he enjoys - nature, reading, music - with small but significant reveals about his wider life along the way through people he encounters.  Veteran Wim Wenders (who also co-wrote) paints a masterful portrait of an ordinary man who finds fulfilment in a busy and complicated world.  It is beautifully shot, with wonderful use of composition and and eye for finding beauty in the everyday.  The film makes a clear point about living an analogue life - print books, cassette tapes, camera film, but Hirayama does have a mobile phone as a utility) - and like its protagonist, it is a quiet, precise and gentle movie that finds its pleasures in the little details and simple moments in life that everyone can feel.  The restrained and beautiful ending packs a real and unexpected emotional punch to a most positive and life-affirming film.    
 

VOD: Speak No Evil (dir: James Watkins, 2024)

"Our normal isn't their normal.  They're just a bit more - I don't know - unvarnished."

This swift remake of the 2022 Danish thriller relocates the action to England and sees two families strike up a holiday friendship that leads to the London couple being invited to the other couple's isolated rural retreat, where the clashing values and cultures increasingly revealing themselves to unnerving effect and leading to an ultimately devastating situation in this very grim but generally satisfying pulpy movie.  Reminiscent of the stylish 80s/90s psychological thrillers from the likes of Sluizer, Haneke and Osterdahl, the performers are very committed, the claustrophobic situation is delivered effectively and there is a gloriously-handled moment of realisation over the rural son's actual situation. James McAvoy's excellent, unbridled and very physical alpha-male performance dominates the movie, nicely contrasted by Scott McNairy's finely-judged everyman, with Mackenzie Davies and Aisling Franciosi working well with their slowly-developing character arcs as their respective wives.  The final act in particular may feel very familiar, but overall this is a solid take on the genre.

 

VOD: Longlegs (dir: Osgood Perkins, 2024)

"Is it scary being a lady FBI agent?"
"Yeah."

The familiar premise of an hyper-intuitive young female FBI agent tracking a long-standing serial killer with occult overtones and a link to her past is given a reasonably creepy outing in this unexpected box-office hit.  With its eerie hallucinatory soundscape and bleak and gloomy visual style, the film relies on its simplicity for its effectiveness in creating jump-scares and general atmosphere.  Maika Monroe gives an intense, chilly and precisely-controlled performance as Agent Lee Harker, with Blair Underwood contrasting nicely as her more seasoned family-man lead on the case, and Nicolas Cage uses his unsettlingly unpredictable skills to good effect in the titular antagonist role.  The film plays like an extended grim early episode of The X-Files and is perhaps a case of more hype over substance, and the actual plot mechanism becomes increasingly unlikely, the third act still pays off nicely.

 

VOD: Cocaine Bear (dir: Elizabeth Banks, 2023)

"It's demented or something!"

In this cult comedy hit, a large bear in a National Park finds and ingests a large stash of cocaine and picks off the locals.  It is clearly designed as a throwback to 80s creature-features, the surprise (and perhaps inexplicable) starring of Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich and Ray Liotta with Elizabeth Banks directing makes it hard to determine if the film is a genuine affectionate parody or just a weakly-scripted and rather slow retro-styled cheapie.  Some low-rent hillbilly stereotype characters (complete with jarringly swearing children) and laboured comedic moments are just about outweighed by some effective FX work and well-delivered thriller sequences, so it really depends whether or not you are in the mood to embrace the daft premise and go along for the ride.  There are also two end-credits sequences.

 

VOD: Caligula - The Ultimate Cut (dir: Tinto Brass, 1979/2024)

"I had to take my destiny into my own hands."

Running at nearly three hors, this new and extensively restored, re-edited and reconstructed cut purports to be the closest yet to the director's original vision of this notoriously troubled 1979 movie, through painstaking restoration of previously unused footage, new music, some effects work and the removal of the Guccioni-sanctioned hardcore, er, inserts.  This new version does achieve its aim of restoring focus on character, the dramatic story and its stars' performances to some extent, but the basic story remains and it does still look like a grandiose folly with its painfully slow pace, expensive cheap-looking sets and mannered theatrical-style performances, with occasional flashes of the excesses of sex and violence remaining.
 

VOD: IF (dir: John Krasinski, 2024)

"Sometimes life doesn't have to always be fun."

In this curiously muted children's fantasy movie, twelve-year-old Bea develops the ability to see everyone's Imaginary Friends (IFs), joining a mission to reunite lost and forgotten IFs with their human children before they disappear.  The central conceit of seeing the Imaginary Friends in everyday real-life scenarios is quite sweet and realised on-screen effectively, but the film feels underpowered and lethargic to watch overall.  In spite of an UP!-style heartstring-pulling opening, very little happens in the first forty-five minutes, with a brief mid-point sojourn into a wonderful FX sequence that then leaves the rest of the film to grind away to its conclusion that was blindingly obvious way back earlier - even Ryan Reynolds is subdued here.  The film does benefit from a gorgeous Michael Giacchino score, and Krasinski's direction is once again confident and precise.  Apart from a couple of nods to the power of memory and imagination, the story oddly offers very little with which to really engage, until - unexpectedly - the reunions montage at the very end.
 

VOD: Robot Dreams (dir: Pablo Berger, 2024)

"Happy / I'm so happy..."

A bored and lonely dog (here, all humans are replaced by animals) buys a robot to be his friend in this glorious animated film, and they go on small adventures both together and separately and discover the joy in the little things in everyday life, until they become unfortunately separated and life moves on.  Dialogue-free, this silent-movie-style cartoon has the engagingly endearing feel of Chaplin/Tati meets Aardman, with its colourful and simply-drawn animation style, quirky observations and ideas and its attention to detail.  Its core message about modern day isolation and the power of reaching out and change may be familiar, but the way it is told here is utterly sweet and endearing in a very entertaining manner.
 

VOD: Maybe Baby 2 a.k.a. Bytte Bytte Barn 2 (dir: Barbara Topsoe-Rothenberg, 2024)

"Don't worry,  Everything is fine!"

In this sequel to the successful Danish baby-swap comedy, two years later the mis-matched couples are now raising their now-toddlers in their own idyllic lives and have become grudging friends.  With an increasing suspicion that the bright-as-a-button girl and the 'firecracker' boy seem ill-suited to their respective parents, a routine blood test leads to the discovery that the babies were not actually mixed up at the fertility clinic after all, thus creating the conundrum of whether the children should be swapped back to their biological parents, but a remarkable solution to the situation comes into play and gives the movie new territory to explore.  Carrying on very much in the same vein as the original film, the dramatic core issues (nature versus nurture, gender attitudes in the workplace) are solid, and whilst true to the tone of the first film, it feels that the issues and characters have a more mature heft this time round.  Once again, the wonderful Mille Dinesen strides through every scene to magnetic effect, and indeed the whole returning cast (plus a couple of new additions) exude a comedic and dramatic confidence that works extremely well - and the little kids are of course unfeasibly cute - making Maybe Baby 2 a pleasing, warm-hearted and entertaining extension of the original.
 

VOD: My Old Ass (dir: Megan Park, 2024)

"The only thing you can't get back is time."
 

On a camping trip with her two best friends to celebrate her eighteenth birthday, Elliott tries magic mushrooms and trips out to an encounter with her future thirty-nine-years-old self, but it does not end there, as the older self continues to help the younger to shape her life and relationships for the better.  My Old Ass is a warm, funny indie-inflected coming-of-age comedy, but it also reflects deeply on the choices that shape our lives and the journey we take.  Maisy Stella is a wonderful bundle of youthful energy as Elliott, and as her older incarnation Aubrey Plaza's timing and note-perfect performance skills work exceptionally well with this situation and material, but it is noted that the film is beautifully performed by the entire cast.  With its terrific blend of quirkiness and sincerity, the film is gentle, thoughtful and absolutely charming to the very end.

VOD: Midas Man (dir: Joe Stephenson, 2024)

"Music isn't just what we listen to, it's who we are, who we love, where we belong."

Covering 1959-67, Midas Man follows the story of Brian Epstein from his record store days to discovering and managing The Beatles and guiding them to their phenomenal success.  Lots of key moments deliver well (such as the 'firing' of Pete Best and Epstein's reaction to their first Number One single), as do the recreations and reflections on the times, including the primitive early Liverpool music scene and Epstein's furtive homosexuality.  A tightly-written script and occasional fourth-wall-breaking give the film a friendly accessible feel, as the refined and committed Epstein navigates the leap from a home-spun local music industry to navigating the band's ever-escalating  global fame.  Jacob Fortune-Lloyd gives a consistently excellent and engaging performance in the lead role, the four young actors playing The Beatles portray an amiable wise-cracking bunch of lads infectiously, with notable work from Charley Palmer Rothwell as George Martin and Milo Parker as Epstein's right-hand man.  Epstein's ultimate physical and emotional breakdown comes rather suddenly in this film, which makes the final events perhaps all the more shocking and sad.  Midas Man is a fairly standard biopic overall, but both the take on the material and its delivery are top-notch.

 

VOD: Borderlands (dir: Eli Roth, 2024)

"You're with me!"
"Wish I wasn't..."

How much of embattled Eli Roth's original vision remains is unclear, but the troubled videogame adaptation Borderlands was finally released to a critical and box-office mauling, and it is not difficult to see why.  On paper, the movie has a lot going for it: a name director, an eclectic starry cast (including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gina Gershon and more) and a fair budget.  What emerged is basically a very shouty pseudo-videogame runaround that follows a mis-matched team trying to rescue a girl who is prophesied to be a planet's saviour, playing like a violent and hysterical version of Guardians Of the Galaxy without the charm, wit and heart.  Blanchett inevitably eats up the screen, and there are lots of strong sci-fi ideas and visuals in play. and while there is an effort made to capture the freewheeling wackiness of its source, the film feels rather messy, wayward and a tad indulgent.
 

VOD: Brothers (dir: Max Barbakow, 2024)

"You ever think about trying to unf**k your life?"

In what is one of the most unlikely sibling pairings since Schwarzenegger and Devito, a reformed career criminal (Josh Brolin) gets pulled back into one more job by his unrepentantly felonious twin brother (Peter Dinklage) in order to track down long-lost jewels stolen by their estranged mother in Amazon's goofy Thanksgiving-set comedy.   Brolin and Dinklage - both excellent actors who are clearly cutting loose - have the expected easy-going on-screen chemistry to handle the dialogue-dense banter enjoyably, the film has many ridiculous chucklesome moments, and there is entertaining character work from a starry supporting cast, notably Brendan Fraser, M. Emmet Walsh, an uncredited Marisa Tomei and Glenn Close. Ultimately, Brothers is a lean and snappy movie, that is a daft, fun, disposable and fairly enjoyable adult comedy.