Clarisse Loughrey

The review finds Jeremy Allen White convincing as Bruce Springsteen but argues that Scott Cooper’s biopic reduces the making of Nebraska to familiar childhood-trauma psychology. It praises the tender relationship between Springsteen and manager Jon Landau, while criticizing the film’s simplified treatment of abuse, emotional relationships and the surrounding musical context. The result is described as an untethered, formulaic portrait that fails to capture the historical, class and artistic significance of Springsteen’s work.

Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind is presented as an unconventional anti-heist film set in 1970s Massachusetts. Josh O’Connor plays James Blaine Mooney, an immature, self-interested art thief whose successful but chaotic theft of Arthur Dove paintings leaves him unprepared for the consequences. The film combines dry humor, social observation and a jazzy score while surrounding James’s flight with the political tensions of the Vietnam War era. O’Connor’s performance and Reichardt’s warm, sparse direction are praised, with the film’s eventual reckoning described as an especially smart and wry punchline.

The sequel is criticized as a visually dull, aimless continuation with little narrative or emotional momentum after Elphaba’s rebellion is established in the first film. The review praises Cynthia Erivo’s vocal and emotional performance, while finding Ariana Grande’s dramatic material less effective. It argues that the film weakens Wicked’s allegory about reform and resistance by laboriously explaining the origins of The Wizard of Oz’s elements, leaving little room for mystery or magic.

Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, adapted from Jang Joon Hwan’s Save the Green Planet!, follows conspiracy theorist Teddy, played by Jesse Plemons, as he kidnaps pharmaceutical CEO Michelle Fuller, played by Emma Stone, believing she is an alien responsible for social and environmental harms. The film’s violent absurdity reflects contemporary anxieties about internet radicalisation, loneliness and AI-related psychosis, while its satire targets corporate performative ethics and patriarchal violence. Stone brings flashes of humanity to a morally ambiguous character, Plemons conveys Teddy’s frightening self-righteousness, and autistic actor Aidan Delbis gives a nuanced performance as Teddy’s vulnerable cousin Don. Despite its bleak worldview, the film retains a fragile sense of empathy and hope.

Anemone marks Daniel Day-Lewis’s return to acting in his son Ronan Day-Lewis’s directorial debut, but the film is judged to be confused and disjointed. It presents isolated images of violence, regret and desolation around Ray Stoker, a former British soldier living in the wilderness after a troubling incident in Ireland. Although Day-Lewis, Sean Bean and Samantha Morton deliver strong performances, the film relies on lengthy monologues and atmospheric misery rather than developing its characters’ psychological depth. Its treatment of Ray’s alleged war crime is especially criticized for evading Irish history and the characters’ possible complicity in colonial oppression.

Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning thriller follows mechanic Vahid, a former detainee who believes he has identified the man who tortured him and kidnaps him, only to question whether he has the right target. The film explores trauma, vengeance, uncertainty and the enduring effects of political violence, balancing claustrophobic emotional intensity with dark physical comedy. Its themes are closely tied to Panahi’s own imprisonment, travel restrictions and recent conviction for alleged propaganda activities, while the review also connects its concerns about censorship to threats faced by artists such as Kneecap and Sally Rooney.

James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg dramatizes the trial of Hermann Göring through the relationship between the imprisoned Nazi leader and psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, who hopes to understand evil and profit from his findings. Russell Crowe and Rami Malek are praised for their performances, but the film’s glossy, sensationalized style is seen as ill-suited to its subject. Its use of real concentration-camp liberation footage provides a stark and powerful confrontation with Nazi crimes, yet the film quickly returns to safer Hollywood conventions and leaves its central moral questions insufficiently explored.

Zootropolis 2 is presented as a witty, visually inventive sequel that improves on the original while retaining its central partnership between Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. The film revisits themes of prejudice by shifting attention from predators to reptiles, using the arrival of the kindly snake Gary De’Snake to explore how societies construct narratives about supposedly dangerous groups. Its self-aware jokes about sequels and Disney’s shortage of original material do not undermine the film, which benefits from new settings, recurring characters and a steady supply of visual gags. Although its ending points toward another repetition of the franchise’s narrative cycle, the sequel is considered strong enough to make a third film appealing.

Kate Winslet’s directorial debut features a prestigious ensemble—including Helen Mirren, Andrea Riseborough, Toni Collette and Johnny Flynn—but the review finds the film’s emotional sincerity undermined by jarring visual choices, poorly defined spaces and a paper-thin screenplay by Winslet’s son Joe Anders. The story follows four estranged siblings gathering around their terminally ill mother, yet the review argues that the film underdevelops two siblings, resolves conflicts too quickly and hides much of the family’s emotional complexity off screen.

The review argues that Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Stephen King’s dystopian novel contains all the ingredients for a timely critique of class oppression, manipulated reality television and political repression but strips away the source material’s urgency and satire. Wright’s slick direction and comic touches are said to blunt the story’s anger, while Glen Powell is criticized for an unconvincing, Tom Cruise-like performance. The film is also faulted for sidelining women in its revolutionary movement and for failing to deliver a meaningful political or comedic payoff.

Rian Johnson’s third Benoit Blanc mystery is a more sober, Gothic and soulful entry than Glass Onion, though its solution is less clever and its pacing somewhat baggier than the earlier films. Daniel Craig remains effective as Blanc, while Josh O’Connor is singled out for an excellent performance as Reverend Jud Duplenticy, a priest confronting a violent past and the authoritarian influence of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks. The mystery uses its church setting to explore faith, moral responsibility and the tension between religious conviction and Blanc’s atheistic rationalism. Despite its minor structural shortcomings, the film is judged to maintain the series’ inventive formula without stumbling.

Paul Feig’s adaptation of Freida McFadden’s bestseller is judged narratively flimsy but successfully camp, using extravagant performances and Hitchcockian visual touches to turn a domestic psychological thriller into an entertaining examination of hypocrisy surrounding women’s mental health. Sydney Sweeney suits the defensive protagonist, while Amanda Seyfried is singled out for deftly shifting between villainy, vulnerability and parody.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is an ambitious action epic about failed revolutionaries, white supremacy, immigration and intergenerational resistance. The review praises its scale, pace, humour, 70mm presentation and politically charged depiction of unequal power, while highlighting Teyana Taylor’s commanding performance, Leonardo DiCaprio’s comic vulnerability, Sean Penn’s sinister antagonist and Benicio del Toro’s underground rescuer. Although the critic is not convinced it surpasses The Master, the film is regarded as Anderson’s most definitive and timely artistic statement, ultimately offering hope that continued resistance can make past struggles worthwhile.

Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? follows financier Alex Novak, played by Will Arnett, as he turns to stand-up comedy amid the dissolution of his marriage to Tess, played by Laura Dern. Inspired loosely by John Bishop’s early career circumstances, the film avoids portraying Alex as a comic prodigy and instead examines how creative expression can help people navigate loneliness, identity and separation. The review praises Arnett and Dern’s understated chemistry, Cooper’s restrained comic performance and the film’s attention to ordinary relationship dysfunction, while criticizing its forced close-ups and sentimental use of Queen’s “Under Pressure.”

Sam Raimi’s Send Help is praised as a gleefully disgusting horror film that combines splatter, dark comedy and an “eat the rich” story about a CEO and the employee he denied a promotion. Rachel McAdams gives Linda Liddle a forceful, human performance as she gains the advantage over Dylan O’Brien’s Bradley Preston on a remote Thai island, while the review credits O’Brien with enough depth to complicate the audience’s sympathies. The film’s digital gore is considered inferior to Raimi’s practical-effects work in The Evil Dead, but its energetic direction, sharp verbal conflict and critique of wealth and patriarchal power make it an effective and satisfying return to horror.

Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is criticized for stripping away the novel’s racial, colonial and social tensions, as well as Heathcliff’s abusive history and vengeful brutality. The review argues that the film reduces the story to a conventional romance in which Heathcliff becomes a marketable dreamboat and Cathy a wealthy-manufactured romantic heroine. Its costumes, sets and cinematography are judged garish and tonally mismatched with Brontë’s Gothic intensity, while the supposedly provocative sexual imagery is seen as tame and class fetishistic. Charli xcx and Anthony Willis’s music are identified as the principal exception, providing the dread missing from the rest of the film.

Mary Bronstein’s psychologically intense film follows Linda, played by Rose Byrne, as she struggles to care for her chronically ill daughter while dealing with an absent husband, demanding therapy patients and a disastrous move to a motel. The review praises Byrne’s visceral, Oscar-nominated performance and Bronstein’s claustrophobic, overstimulated direction, while acknowledging that the film’s relentless distress can make it difficult to recommend. Beneath the noise and maternal breakdown, it finds a tender core in Linda’s continuing love for her daughter and determination to keep trying.

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! gives Frankenstein’s famously voiceless bride a furious, destructive identity, with Jessie Buckley delivering an intensely physical performance as a woman rebelling against repression and male control. The film relocates the story to 1930s Chicago and combines feminist themes with gangster-film energy, elaborate costumes, steampunk production design and a distinctive score. However, its detective subplot, scattered ideas and indulgent cinematic references prevent the film from developing a coherent argument about female rage. The review also criticizes its treatment of Mary Shelley and argues that the original Frankenstein had already articulated the horror of resurrecting a woman without her consent more effectively.

Simon Farnaby’s adaptation of Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree books is praised for retaining their childlike wonder while discarding regressive ideas and simplifying assumptions. Ben Gregor’s film combines surreal wordplay, imaginative production design and an energetic cast led by Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy. A storyline about parents concerned by their children’s dependence on digital screens, including Polly’s protest against privacy-invasive smart technology, gives the fantasy a contemporary relevance without undermining its playful spirit.

The Drama stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as an affluent Boston couple whose casual confession game takes a disturbing turn when Emma reveals a shocking secret before their wedding. The review argues that the film’s real force lies less in its twist than in the hypocritical and narcissistic reactions it provokes, raising difficult questions about empathy, trauma, race, intent, personal responsibility and public perception. Kristoffer Borgli’s tightly controlled tone, dark humor and the leads’ intense performances make the film deliberately uncomfortable, morally ambiguous and unusually open to debate.

John Patton Ford’s How to Make a Killing is criticized as an overly conventional remake of Kind Hearts and Coronets that lacks the original’s frosty charm and moral ruthlessness. Glen Powell’s Becket Redfellow, who murders wealthy relatives to inherit their fortune, is judged too bland and morally ambiguous, while the film’s attempt to frame its killings within an “eat the rich” perspective feels timid. Margaret Qualley is singled out as the most compelling performer, but the film ultimately becomes a toothless sentimental family comedy despite its high body count.

Project Hail Mary is praised as an effervescent, accessible science-fiction adventure that combines a buddy comedy between Ryan Gosling’s astronaut and an alien with an optimistic story about scientific collaboration. The review highlights its practical sets, visual effects, cinematography and carefully crafted nostalgia for late-1960s and 1970s science fiction, while questioning whether its retro analogue aesthetic reinforces the idea that such filmmaking belongs to the past. Despite those reservations, the film is presented as hopeful escapist entertainment that may remind audiences why they fell in love with cinema.

The review argues that The Mandalorian and Grogu is an uninspired feature-length continuation of the television series rather than a bold cinematic return for Star Wars. It criticizes the thin characterization of Din Djarin and Grogu, the absence of meaningful development for Bo-Katan and other established characters, the flat world-building, recycled concepts, awkward CGI integration and lack of cinematic scale or momentum. Pedro Pascal’s charisma and Grogu’s inherent cuteness provide limited appeal, but the film is ultimately judged to be dull, inconsequential and evidence that the franchise has lost its sense of wonder.

Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada is praised as an unsettling, highly original 16mm film rooted in the textures and sounds of the Cornish coast. The quasi-ghost story follows Nick and Liam, played by Callum Turner and George MacKay, after they join the crew of a fishing boat that mysteriously returns three decades after disappearing. Transported to 1993 and mistaken for the dead fishermen, the men confront questions of identity, family, history and their obligations to a struggling community. Although Jenkin uses a more conventional narrative than in his earlier films, the work remains dreamlike and ambiguous, combining time-travel themes with striking imagery and an entirely post-produced soundscape.

Kane Parsons’s A24-backed feature adaptation of the internet-born Backrooms myth is praised for turning Gen Z’s fascination with liminal spaces, VHS-era imagery and video-game environments into a distinctive horror experience. The film follows a divorced architect, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who discovers an endless space behind his furniture showroom. Although screenwriter Will Soodik’s conventional narrative slightly dilutes Parsons’s surrealist found-footage origins and the film is not especially frightening, its unusual visual language, strong performances and generational cultural resonance suggest it could influence a new wave of filmmakers.

The sequel is judged to be unexpectedly effective, combining glamorous, indulgent fashion entertainment with a sharp portrait of journalism’s precarious future. Andy Sachs returns to Runway after being made redundant and is drawn into a crisis involving a sweatshop brand, declining readership, budget cuts and the threat of AI-driven media. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci remain well matched to their roles, while the film’s style and performances provide considerable pleasure. Its corporate tie-ins, formulaic plotting and heavy product placement temper the praise, but the film’s defence of human achievement and journalism gives it surprising substance.

The review condemns Michael as an estate-approved, fan-service biopic that reproduces Jackson’s most famous performances while avoiding meaningful engagement with his personality, identity, Black cultural context and sexual-abuse allegations. Although Jaafar Jackson closely resembles and imitates his uncle, the film is criticized for distant musical staging, shallow characterization and a tendency to turn childhood trauma into comedy. Its omissions—including the sidelining of Quincy Jones and Diana Ross—and its favorable treatment of estate figures lead the reviewer to conclude that the film converts a complex human being into a marketable product.

The film follows a flock of sheep investigating the murder of their shepherd, George Hardy, with Lily, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, leading the case while confronting questions about death, memory and morality. The review finds the premise charming and the famous voice cast effective, but considers the film’s insistence on philosophical weight excessive and its depiction of British rural life distinctly American. Despite uneven accents and broad tonal influences, it succeeds as a light, melodramatic murder mystery.

Toy Story 5 revisits Woody, Jessie and the other toys after the apparent endings of Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4. The film explores technology’s impact on children’s imaginative play through Bonnie’s Lilypad tablet and introduces a storyline about Jessie confronting her past abandonment. Despite topical ideas, comic moments and Pixar’s continuing visual imagination, the review finds the emotional closure contrived, Bo Peep sidelined again and the narrative increasingly repetitive, concluding that the 30-year-old franchise has begun to show its age.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is praised as the strongest Spider-Man film since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 and the best Marvel Cinematic Universe interpretation of the character. The film resets Peter Parker after Doctor Strange’s memory-altering spell, portraying him as a more mature, isolated street-level hero dealing with Aunt May’s death, the loss of MJ and Ned, and a dangerous body-hopping threat. Tom Holland is commended for fully capturing Peter’s strengths and vulnerabilities, while Destin Daniel Cretton’s direction, New York-inspired setting, production design and inventive action sequences are singled out for revitalizing the franchise. The review also praises the comedic dynamic between Peter and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and considers the film’s crossovers, including Bruce Banner’s Hulk, purposeful rather than distracting.

Matt Johnson’s Tony follows Anthony Bourdain’s younger years, especially his time washing dishes in Provincetown and discovering the transformative power of food. Dominic Sessa gives a compelling, layered performance, while Antonio Banderas brings warmth to the kitchen setting. The review finds the film charming and emotionally perceptive, but argues that its explicit foreshadowing of Bourdain’s suicide and attempts to frame his personality through metaphors of darkness are clumsy and unnecessary.

Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey is praised as an enormous yet unusually intimate film that distills his recurring concerns with fate, time, destruction and compromised heroes. The review highlights the unprecedented IMAX 70mm scale, carefully considered production design, modernized language, genre-inflected treatment of mythology and strong ensemble performances, particularly from the female cast. Nolan connects the Trojan horse and the violation of ancient hospitality to modern imperial violence, suggesting that societies built on broken rules of decency may face collapse.

The live-action remake is criticized as an unnecessary replica of the 2016 animated film, offering almost no meaningful changes in script, performances, visual design or music. The review argues that the adaptation weakens the original’s emotional treatment of Polynesian culture and ancestry, while its casting, costumes, effects and depiction of hair and cultural detail fail to create a distinctive identity. Dwayne Johnson and Catherine Laga'aia are viewed as particularly constrained by the film’s effort to reproduce earlier performances.

Supergirl is criticized as a visually drab, tonally confused imitation of James Gunn’s style that fails to give its central character a distinctive world or voice. Milly Alcock’s performance as Kara Zor-El is praised for balancing aggression, vulnerability and underlying goodness, while the limited scenes with David Corenswet’s Superman are singled out as especially effective. The review finds the film’s treatment of trauma, revenge and humor poorly balanced, with Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Momoa underused, and concludes that DC must build a more individual setting around Alcock if it wants the character to succeed.

Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day is presented as an entertaining, funny and unabashedly sentimental return to alien cinema, with Emily Blunt delivering the standout performance and a striking action sequence. The film imagines alien life as long concealed by corporations rather than governments, using its whistleblower plot to examine surveillance, privatized information, faith and humanity’s difficulty accepting uncertainty. Its visual invention and thematic ambition are praised, although the story is considered unwieldy, overly crowded and narrowly focused on the United States rather than as streamlined as Spielberg’s earlier classics.

Curry Barker’s Obsession is praised as a remarkably creepy horror debut that brings the brutal, internet-influenced sensibility of YouTube filmmaking to the big screen. The film follows Bear, a timid music-store employee who uses a wish-granting novelty toy to make his co-worker Nikki love him, only to create a disturbing and increasingly violent relationship. The review highlights Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette’s performances, Barker’s balance of humour and gore, and the film’s focus on consent, entitlement and accountability. Obsession ultimately turns both characters into monsters while forcing Bear to confront the consequences of violating Nikki’s autonomy.

Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers stars Ian McKellen as Julian Sklar, an egotistical and isolated artist whose children hire art restorer and forger Lori Butler, played by Michaela Coel, to complete his celebrated portrait series. The review praises McKellen’s volatile yet vulnerable performance, Coel’s controlled presence and Solomon’s carefully structured screenplay. Rather than focusing primarily on cancel culture or parasocial relationships, the film explores whether art reveals an artist’s true character and whether the two can ever be reconciled.

Netflix’s adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s bestseller follows Tova, an aquarium cleaner played by Sally Field, and Marcellus, an intelligent octopus voiced by Alfred Molina. The review finds the film overly quaint, sentimental and predictable, arguing that its promising octopus narrator is sidelined while the human characters’ emotional stories take over. Sally Field and Lewis Pullman are described as earnestly committed, but the film’s conventional revelations and limited use of Marcellus undermine its central premise.

Jimpa follows Australian filmmaker Hannah, played by Olivia Colman, as she makes an autobiographical film about her gay father Jim and her non-binary child Frances. Although the premise explores queer identity, family tension and intergenerational differences, the review argues that director Sophie Hyde repeatedly avoids conflict and softens uncomfortable moments. Colman’s restrained performance and a late monologue provide emotional force, while John Lithgow brings exuberant energy, but the film ultimately reduces its characters to representatives of their identities and generations rather than allowing them sufficient complexity.

Max Walker-Silverman’s Rebuilding follows Dusty, a Colorado rancher who loses his home, cattle and sense of identity in a wildfire, then gradually bonds with fellow survivors while living in temporary accommodation. The film sensitively portrays grief, community resilience and the climate-driven uncertainty of rebuilding, but its quiet, restrained approach leaves the reviewer wanting greater anger and emotional complexity. Josh O’Connor’s committed performance is judged less compelling than his work in earlier films, making Rebuilding feel like a beautiful but incomplete story about retreat rather than renewal.

James McAvoy’s directorial debut follows Dundee rappers Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd, who pose as an American duo to overcome class prejudice in the UK music industry and secure a record deal. The review praises the film’s energetic performances, period detail and Scottish cultural specificity, while noting that it examines the costs of erasing one’s identity and the music business’s exploitation of Black artistry. Séamus McLean Ross and Samuel Bottomley are commended for portraying protagonists whose ambition complicates their likeability, making the film more thoughtful than a conventional underdog story.

You, Me & Tuscany is praised as a deliberately old-fashioned romantic comedy centered on Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page. The predictable story follows Anna, an aspiring chef who travels to Tuscany after a one-night stand and is mistaken for her partner’s fiancée by his family. The film relies on Italian scenery, family-comedy conventions and the chemistry of its two Black leads, while adding modest emotional depth through themes of bereavement, romantic disappointment and a brief reference to Mussolini’s dictatorship. Despite some questionable behavior and light stereotyping, the review finds the movie charming, optimistic and a welcome antidote to more cynical contemporary dating stories.

The review condemns The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as a bland, joke-free sequel with barely any plot, underdeveloped characters and a parade of loosely connected explosions. It argues that the film substitutes exhaustive references to Nintendo games for imagination or meaningful tribute, while briefly introducing potentially interesting ideas about family, redemption and new characters before abandoning them. The result is portrayed as a nostalgia-driven adaptation offering little to viewers who are not already deeply familiar with Mario.

Splitsville follows Carey after his wife asks for a divorce and he becomes involved with the wife of his childhood friend, whose supposedly successful open marriage collapses into a destructive brawl. The review praises Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin’s sharp writing, slapstick set pieces and exploration of the conflict between people’s stated beliefs and their desires. Dakota Johnson is singled out as the film’s standout performer, using a controlled, deadpan presence to anchor the male characters’ absurdity and make the open-marriage comedy succeed.

They Will Kill You is praised for Zazie Beetz’s energetic performance as Asia Reaves, an ex-con fighting through an elite New York hotel to rescue her sister. The review argues that director and co-writer Kirill Sokolov relies too heavily on stylish camerawork, practical gore and “eat the rich” imagery, while the villains, setting and protagonist remain underdeveloped. The film’s immortality premise also creates repetitive action, weakening its horror and social commentary.

Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire dramatizes Tony Kiritsis’s 1977 hostage-taking of mortgage broker Richard Hall using a wire-and-shotgun contraption. Bill Skarsgård gives Kiritsis an intense performance, while Al Pacino, Colman Domingo and Myha’la provide memorable supporting turns. The film evokes 1970s media culture, economic resentment and the era’s belief in journalism’s public influence, but its claustrophobic focus and limited perspective prevent it from developing those ideas into a satisfying biopic.

Grace is immediately forced into another deadly hide-and-seek game after destroying the Le Domas family in the first film. The sequel adds her estranged sister Faith and a new group of wealthy, satanic antagonists competing for power, framing the violence around familial loyalty and survival rather than revenge against the elite. The film is praised for its energetic gore, comic excess, inventive set pieces and performances—particularly Sarah Michelle Gellar, Samara Weaving and Elijah Wood—but criticized for repetitively recycling the original’s imagery and premise. Despite its lack of originality, Grace remains a compelling central survivor, making the sequel an entertaining continuation of the same game.

The film review finds Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man entertaining and visually stylish, driven especially by Cillian Murphy’s compelling final performance as Tommy Shelby and Barry Keoghan’s strong introduction as Duke Shelby. However, the sequel is criticized for contributing little beyond extending the franchise’s mythology, with thin characterization, a contrived plot involving fascism and forged money, and careless treatment of Romany culture. Its familiar slow-motion imagery, bombastic music and established style still provide substantial pleasures, but the film does not justify its existence as a narrative continuation.

Pixar’s Hoppers follows 19-year-old environmentalist Mabel, whose consciousness is transferred into a robotic beaver so she can organize local wildlife against a mayor’s highway project. The review praises the film’s expressive animation, emotional warmth and ability to address despair, solidarity and environmental activism for both children and adults. It acknowledges the Avatar-like premise and argues that the film is ultimately naive about changing a committed capitalist’s views, but considers its idealism worthwhile for younger audiences and preferable to another Toy Story sequel.

Óliver Laxe’s Sirāt follows Luis, his son Estebán and their dog as they join a group of ravers travelling through the Moroccan desert in search of Luis’s missing daughter. The film builds suspense through EDM-inspired pacing, dangerous cliffside roads and the looming presence of military conflict, while exploring the ravers’ detachment from a wider world seemingly nearing collapse. The review praises the film’s atmosphere, real-life rave performers and inclusive casting, but argues that its climactic shock feels deliberately engineered rather than emotionally or thematically inevitable, leaving the film’s overall impact underwhelming.

Mona Fastvold’s musical biopic portrays Ann Lee, the 18th-century founder and prophet of the Shaker movement, as a woman who claimed to be the second coming of Christ and preached celibacy after profound personal loss. Amanda Seyfried’s performance anchors an intentionally ambiguous exploration of trauma, sexuality, belief and the comfort of communal conviction. The film combines historical imagination with painted backdrops, 35mm cinematography, experimental music and contemporary choreography, while highlighting the Shakers’ abolitionism, gender equality and pacifism. Lee’s persecution and migration from England to America become the basis for a radical, hopeful portrait of a marginalised religious leader.

Gore Verbinski’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is reviewed as a messy but unusually personal AI satire. Sam Rockwell plays a time traveller who tries to stop humanity’s addiction to social media, while a group of characters confront increasingly bleak dystopian scenarios involving technology, violence and corporate exploitation. The film is criticized for its disjointed structure, shallow treatment of the causes of social-media dependence and debt to earlier science fiction, but praised for its venom, imaginative weirdness and willingness to be genuinely provocative.

Wasteman follows Taylor, a recovering Subutex addict serving a 13-year sentence who becomes eligible for parole and hopes to reconnect with his estranged son. His prospects are threatened when volatile new cellmate Dee arrives to deal contraband, provoking conflict with prison power brokers Gaz and Paul. The review praises David Jonsson’s emotionally nuanced performance, Tom Blyth’s more layered portrayal of Dee, and Lorenzo Levrini’s haunting blue cinematography and immersive fight sequences. Although the screenplay is considered more gripping than illuminating about the prison system, the film is presented as a compelling and brutal debut.

Bart Layton’s Crime 101 is presented as a sleek, modern Los Angeles crime thriller influenced by Michael Mann’s Heat but shaped by contemporary nihilism. Chris Hemsworth plays a methodical jewel thief who avoids violence, while Mark Ruffalo’s decent but worn-down detective pursues him, Halle Berry portrays an insurance salesperson troubled by the exploitative corporate world she serves, and Barry Keoghan plays a chaotic rival thief. The review praises the film’s ensemble cast, fluid visual style and intertwined plotting, while noting that some characters function more as moral types than fully developed people. Its central concern is how far people will compromise themselves in pursuit of financial security.

Park Chan Wook’s South Korean black comedy No Other Choice follows Yoo Man Su, a paper-company employee made redundant after an American conglomerate acquires his employer. As his severance pay runs out and pressure from his family mounts, Man Su plots to murder a rival and eliminate other competitors for the same job. The review praises the film’s brutal slapstick, inventive visual style and Lee Byung Hun’s anxious comic performance, while highlighting its critique of the job market, loss of identity and the looming threat of artificial intelligence.

Josh Safdie’s fictional portrait of midcentury table-tennis champion Marty Mauser follows a cash-strapped, Jewish working-class New Yorker chasing international glory in London and Tokyo. Timothée Chalamet delivers a volatile but ultimately vulnerable performance as an ambitious antihero whose schemes entangle everyone around him. The review praises Safdie’s tense direction, Darius Khondji’s warm 35mm cinematography, Daniel Lopatin’s anachronistic electronic score and the film’s distinctive supporting cast, while highlighting its critique of capitalism and its conclusion that restores Marty’s humanity.

Philippa Lowthorpe’s adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s memoir follows Helen, played by Claire Foy, as she responds to her father’s death by retreating into an intense relationship with a goshawk named Mabel. The film presents falconry both as a confrontation with nature and as a potentially self-destructive form of grief, emphasizing Helen’s emotional stasis rather than a straightforward healing journey. Claire Foy’s performance, Brendan Gleeson’s portrayal of Helen’s father and the film’s cinematography receive particularly strong praise.

Mercy imagines a Los Angeles crime court where an AI judge uses unrestricted access to personal data to determine guilt and execute defendants within 90 minutes. The film follows police officer Chris Raven, played by Chris Pratt, as he tries to prove his innocence after being accused of murdering his wife. The review criticizes the film for failing to meaningfully examine privacy, artificial intelligence, justice, police brutality or capital punishment, and argues that its dystopian society is ultimately presented as acceptable with only minor improvements.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon star in The Rip, a Netflix thriller directed by Joe Carnahan about Miami police officers who discover more than $20 million during a narcotics operation. The review criticizes the film for thin character development, simplistic dialogue designed for distracted viewers and a lack of consequences for police misconduct, while arguing that its strong supporting cast is underused.

Netflix’s The Rip reunites Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as Miami narcotics officers whose seizure of more than $20 million triggers mistrust and possible betrayal. The review argues that the film wastes its premise and an accomplished supporting cast through thin characterization, on-the-nose dialogue and a lack of meaningful suspense. Affleck and Damon provide some rough-edged humanity, but the film fails to generate the Heat-style conflict it seeks, sidelines its female characters, and appears overly sympathetic to police power and impunity.

Rental Family follows Phillip Vanderploeg, an American actor in Tokyo who joins a company that hires strangers to fill emotional and social roles, including a father for a school interview and a companion for an aging actor. The film approaches loneliness with warmth and compassion, aided by Brendan Fraser’s highly emotive performance, but reviewer finds that director Hikari and co-writer Stephen Blahut avoid deeper questions about deception, exploitation, mental-health stigma and the consequences of manufactured relationships. Its polished, postcard-like depiction of Tokyo and sentimental ending further limit its impact.

Nia DaCosta’s sequel to Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later is praised for pushing the franchise into more daring thematic territory while retaining Alex Garland’s narrative continuity. The horror explores what separates humans from the infected through Dr Ian Kelson’s fascination with an alpha infected and his bone temple, while Jack O’Connell’s corrupt cult leader brings a disturbing critique of corrupted language, symbolism and charitable performance. Ralph Fiennes, O’Connell and Alfie Williams receive particular praise, and the film’s eventual collision between Kelson and Lord Jimmy is described as spectacular. Boyle is expected to return for the third instalment, with Cillian Murphy reprising Jim.

Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s speculative account of Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway’s loss of their son Hamnet, presenting Hamlet as an act of collective catharsis. The review acknowledges that the film sometimes overreaches emotionally, particularly through the use of familiar music and an explicit “to be or not to be” scene, but argues that these choices are unnecessary rather than fundamentally manipulative. Its candlelit visuals, contemplative pacing and deeply felt performances—especially Jessie Buckley as Agnes and Paul Mescal as Shakespeare—give the film considerable emotional and artistic force.

Song Sung Blue follows Wisconsin tribute singers Mike and Claire Sardina, played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, whose romance and musical partnership are tested by trauma, disability and illness. The review praises the leads' casting and vocal performances but argues that Craig Brewer's adaptation of Greg Kohs's documentary reduces the couple's complex inner lives to triumph and tragedy. It particularly criticises the film's sentimental treatment of Claire's disability and recovery, calling the result overly romanticised, emotionally manipulative and designed as Oscar bait.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is praised for its dynamic camerawork, advanced motion capture and striking visual world, but criticized for its 197-minute runtime, repetitive action, emotional stasis and muddled character conflicts. Oona Chaplin’s Varang is identified as the standout performance, while the film’s treatment of faith, family and colonialism is weakened by underwritten roles and recycled plot developments. The review concludes that the film may enter the cinematic canon but does not escape its substantial flaws.

Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value follows celebrated filmmaker Gustav Borg, played by Stellan Skarsgård, as he returns to his estranged daughters after their mother’s death and proposes a film to Nora, a stage actor played by Renate Reinsve. The film examines parental absence, artistic identity and inherited trauma, with Elle Fanning portraying the American actor ultimately cast in Gustav’s project. Although the review finds the drama more emotionally direct and less messy than Trier’s earlier work, it praises the cast—especially Skarsgård and Reinsve—and argues that art can provide a rare avenue for honest expression even when it cannot heal every wound.

A personal ranking of the 15 best films of 2025 celebrates cinema as a source of compassion and hope amid corporate consolidation, mass layoffs, advancing AI and political violence. The selections range from mainstream and genre films such as Mickey 17, Nosferatu and Frankenstein to politically urgent works including From Ground Zero: Stories from Gaza, It Was Just an Accident and Nickel Boys. The critic especially values films that confront trauma, oppression, grief, sexuality, memory and the failures of capitalism while using formal innovation and emotional empathy to imagine a more humane future.

Harry Lighton’s debut film Pillion follows Colin, a submissive parking attendant played by Harry Melling, as he enters a BDSM relationship with Ray, a commanding biker portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård. The review praises the film for treating kink with tenderness, humor and authenticity, emphasizing community, consent and emotional compatibility rather than ridicule or scandal. Melling and Skarsgård are credited with bringing finely nuanced performances to a relationship that becomes harmonious before the characters must confront their differing desires and boundaries.

Rushmore marked a crucial transition in Wes Anderson’s career, establishing the stylistic traits and long-term collaborative relationships that would define his filmmaking. Jason Schwartzman was discovered shortly before production and became the ideal performer for the ambitious, awkward Max Fischer, while Bill Murray accepted a substantially reduced fee after responding to Anderson and Owen Wilson’s highly specific script. Murray initially intimidated both Anderson and Schwartzman, but his apparent hostility during rehearsals proved partly intentional, helping Schwartzman relax. The production ultimately forged a lasting partnership, with Murray even personally funding a proposed helicopter shot after Disney refused to pay for it.

Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love follows Grace, played by Jennifer Lawrence, as she descends into severe mental distress after relocating with her husband and newborn son. The film suggests postpartum depression and possible psychosis without offering explicit diagnoses or explanations, instead immersing viewers in Grace’s increasingly distorted perspective. Lawrence’s performance is praised as career-best, while Robert Pattinson provides a compelling counterbalance. The film’s claustrophobic visuals, abrasive sound design and unsettling imagery convey Grace’s isolation and desperate search for release, ultimately producing a powerful but bleak experience.

Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited Netflix adaptation of Frankenstein draws heavily on Mary Shelley’s novel while reshaping Victor Frankenstein’s childhood and psychology. Del Toro, Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi describe Victor and the Creature as mirrors of one another, with the Creature representing Victor’s rejected inner child and the director’s own experiences. The film explores abusive parent-child relationships, empathy, repression, guilt and the need for forgiveness, while adding Christoph Waltz’s arms manufacturer character as a modern metaphor for studios and compromised creative patronage. Its visually rich Gothic style and emphasis on acceptance culminate in an existential, neither wholly happy nor unhappy ending.

Roofman turns the true story of Jeffrey Manchester, a prison escapee who robbed 45 McDonald’s restaurants and hid in a Toys R Us, into an offbeat crime comedy with a darker emotional core. Channing Tatum’s charm and vulnerability make Manchester easy to sympathize with, while Kirsten Dunst gives a grounded performance as Leigh, the woman he falls for under a false identity. Derek Cianfrance’s melancholy visual style gradually shifts the film away from quirky escapades and toward a moving portrait of a man seeking normality and reconnection with his children.