A group of high school students takes refuge in their school during a zombie apocalypse, forcing them to deal with their personal issues alongside the undead threat.
This Is Not A Test is directed by Adam MacDonald director of Backcountry (2014), Pyewacket (2017) and Out Come the Wolves (2023).
There really is not a whole lot to say here, This Is Not A Test is basically if you took any random zombie movie and put it in the young adult book adaption genre. There is definitely some positives here but a majority of the movie is bit too dull and does not really leave an impact on the viewer.
The cast is not too bad here however the stand out by a mile is Olivia Holt, she is given the most to work with and actually does have some genuine character moments especially during the movie’s opening. The dialogue definitely has young adult adaption DNA here, there are hints of emotional moments that admittedly do have promise. But none of it builds into anything particularly memorable.
The movie’s biggest problem here is it plays incredibly safe and does not really do anything to help it stand out from a very crowded genre, not every single movie needs to stand out but there just is not any sort of identity here. It’s nice that we get a ton of dialogue between the characters but when said dialogue is dull and not particularly interesting that becomes an issue.
You could do a lot worse than This Is Not A Test but you can easily do so much better.
This Is Not A Test is available on all VOD platforms.
Three storylines, spanning thousands of years, intersect and reflect on hope, connection and the circle of life.
In The Blink Of An Eye is directed by Andrew Stanton director of Finding Nemo (2003), WALL-E (2008), John Carter (2012) and Finding Dory (2016).
I appreciate Andrew Stanton for attempting to try live action again, however In The Blink Of An Eye is a complete and total mess. There are really good ideas here exploring three stories that take place across history of the world is a fascinating idea that has potential. But sadly the writing, character writing and execution is just not there at all, making the experience incredibly empty and forgettable.
The best thing you can really say about In The Blink Of An Eye is that the acting isn’t bad and that’s mainly due to a lot of talent involved. Kate McKinnon, Daveed Diggs and Rashida Jones all give decent enough performances, unfortunately for them the character writing just isn’t there outside of a few moments towards the end that somewhat attempt to try and save the movie.
The writing tackles the very typical “meaning of life and everything and everyone that surrounds us” sort of idea which can bring the viewer into the experience when done right. However this is not one of those movies that does this well at all, it’s a very surface level exploration of the idea that pretends it’s saying something incredibly profound. A majority of the time you are waiting for the big moments to come which never end up arriving, it feels like the mindset going on here is just because the movie mentions a theme that is quite deep that will keep the whole movie afloat. You have to execute that theme well in order to make it work.
What seals this movie’s fate is that none of the three periods of time immerse the viewer, all three stories are generic, flat and very uninspired. The cinematography editing or even music although not terrible, does not help the experience grow or stand out, all three stories feel identical to one another except they have a few tweaks here and there. This ultimately destroys the whole idea of the movie and makes the whole experience feel like nothing.
Overall In The Blink Of An Eye is a movie with great ideas with very lackluster execution that fails to immerse the viewer. The technical elements and acting are passable, but everything else especially the writing completely breaks the movie.
Maya returns for a final, brutal showdown with the masked killers, seeking revenge and a way out of the cycle of violence.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 is directed by Renny Harlin director of A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Devil’s Pass (2013), The Legend Of Hercules (2014), The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024), The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) and many others. The film serves as the fifth installment of The Strangers series and the final installment of the new Strangers trilogy.
In my review for The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) I said it made a huge accomplishment which was being worse than its predecessor. Well The Strangers: Chapter 3 repeats that trend by being somehow worse than Chapter 2. A lot of the issues with the last movie can be applied with this one, however there are a few differences worth mentioning here.
The acting is about the same as it was in the other two movies, Madelaine Petsch is the only one who gives a somewhat decent performance. While everyone else is just not great here at all, they all try their best with the script but none of it is effective. What remains the same is the shallow character writing, there are moments where the movie is desperately trying get you to feel something towards the characters which is incredibly strange considering how lacking of character writing this whole trilogy had.
The movie once again brings in the flashbacks that explain more about the strangers themselves, I already said this in my review for the last movie but I’ll say it again here. The flashbacks completely defeat the purpose of the whole concept, the original idea of The Strangers is that you do not know who they are. They are random people who don’t have a motive they just attack people randomly. Random attacks are a very real thing which is why the 2008 film was so effective for a lot of people. It was ridiculous to bring the flashbacks in the last movie and it’s somehow made even worse here, due to telling a story that is quite frankly dull and incredibly predictable.
What makes Chapter 3 worse than Chapter 2 simply comes down to the writing, the revelations this movie tries to present as shocking are incredibly predictable that almost anyone could have guessed. You are telling me that two characters who acted creepy are actually very creepy? No way! Another thing the movie tries to do is it hints towards Maya (played Madelaine Petsch) displaying signs of becoming a serial killer like the strangers. It’s a ridiculous idea that comes out of nowhere and does not have the character writing to back it up, Maya as a character throughout this whole trilogy was very thinly written and that does not change here.
Overall there really isn’t much more to be said about The Strangers: Chapter 3, as I said before a lot of the flaws from Chapter 2 can be applied here. This one just so happens to be a lot more dialogue heavy whereas the previous movie was more action, either way this trilogy fails in every single way possible.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 is available on all VOD platforms.
We are one quarter of the way through of 2026! April is usually served as some sort of a ground for films that did not quite make the summer movie season. However this year April is quite packed with a ton of great looking releases!
A bailiff, Orsolya, becomes consumed by guilt after a man she evicts from a cellar commits suicide, leading her to question her place in a rapidly changing society
Kontinental ‘25 is directed by Radu Jude director of Scarred Hearts (2016), Uppercase Print (2020), Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (2023), Dracula (2025) and a few others.
Radu Jude is one of those directors I always look forward to seeing what they do next, his bizarre style and the many different worlds he takes the viewer in are always worth the experience even if you might not fully understand what exactly is going on. Kontinental ‘25 is definitely a bit more steady than the rest of his films but it still has absurdist moments that blend incredibly well with the many different themes.
The acting and characters in particular are incredibly strong here. Without saying too much (because much Dracula going into this one knowing as little as possible is key to get the full experience) there is one particular scene with Eszter Tompa’s character Orsolya has some very investing conversations with Fred (played by Adonis Tanța) and Priest Șerban (played by Șerban Pavlu). These scenes are some of the very best of the film and are such a nice touch for Orsolya’s character arc, the performances are incredibly well done. I really loved Tanța’s performance in Dracula (2025) and that’s the same case here, the performances also have this nice balance of absurd and rawness a nice balance that you truly feel through the characters as the film goes on.
What surprises me the most is the fact that the film is shot entirely on an IPhone 15, which does make the social critique angle a lot more effective. The scale of the film is both small and wide, there are moments where you can feel the amateurish film style that’s effective while also feeling the professional style with bigger and powerful moments. It’s such a unique balance that brings the viewer into the film due to how brilliantly done the atmosphere really is.
The themes of the film are all done incredibly well, from Romania’s housing crisis to nationalism it’s all captured incredibly well. Orsolya’s moral ambiguity is reflected and explored both in this absurdist and very real style that keeps the viewer along for the ride. We see this explored through Orsolya as a character and the ways Jude goes about discussing Orsolya as a character and what her thoughts are is truly fascinating.
Overall Kontinental ‘25 is a fascinating film that quickly brings the viewer into its world. This is one I highly recommend going in as blind as possible!
After a car crash kills her boyfriend, piano student Laura is taken in by Betty, who witnessed the accident. Living with Betty’s family brings comfort, but Laura starts questioning their intentions as time passes.
Miroirs No. 3 is directed by Christian Petzold director of Barbara (2012), Phoenix (2014), Transit (2018), Undine (2020) and many others.
Miroirs No. 3 is a very interesting one that brings you right into the film, we see personal loss for Laura (played by Paula Beer) which leads to the rest of the film being about grief, memory, connection and these hazy boundaries between strangers.
Right off the bat the acting is quite fantastic, Paula Beer does such a fantastic job in the leading role and really tells the story through Laura’s pain and exploration. She portrays a ton of vulnerability which in turn makes Laura’s emotional drift during certain scenes feel all the more authentic. Paula Beer has worked with director Christian Petzold three times before (Transit (2018), Undine (2020) and (Afire (2023) and her performance here shows that they are truly a match made in heaven.
The supporting cast such as Barbara Auer are all fantastic as well and bring this extra warmth to the film as well showing that her character Betty is going through her own issues. Much like with Paula Beer’s performance, Barbara Auer does a fantastic job of bringing an authentic portrayal of someone going through grief, distress and such, it helps create this empathetic portrayal that is truly beautiful.
While the writing might not be as powerful as some of Petzold’s previous work, there is still a lot of beautiful moments here. What Miroirs No. 3 does have is authenticity and such a beautiful portrayal of care, grief and pain. The natural dialogue really brings you into the film’s world, the domestic pain of the film feels relatable. There are moments where the film definitely could have went all out rather than holding back, but the rawness really keeps this one moving forward.
The cinematography and music really blend well together, cinematographer Hans Fromm does a fantastic job with showing the amount of detail of the backgrounds, while the music does a beautiful job of creating this caring atmosphere that you just want to visit almost immediately.
Overall Miroirs No. 3 has strong performances as well as beautiful atmosphere and theming. It’s a touching film that has this air of mystery that if it does sound like your thing I highly recommend giving this one a look.
James Sunderland receives a letter from his lost love, Mary, and returns to the town of Silent Hill, where he must face terrifying creatures and his own sanity.
Return to Silent Hill is directed by Christophe Gans director of Crying Freeman (1995), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Silent Hill (2006) and Beauty and the Beast (2014). Return to Silent Hill is the third Silent Hill film and a reboot, this one is loosely based on the 2001 video game Silent Hill 2.
I really do not have a whole lot to say here, my only knowledge of Silent Hill as a franchise was the two previous films and Silent Hill 2 which I played years ago. With that being said it is a bit baffling to see Gans who directed the first movie and did a decent job with it come back for this one and do the complete opposite.
The acting is not horrendous but it most certainly is not great either, I think the main problem here is how lacking the writing is. There is only so much the actors can really work with, Evie Templeton definitely gets the bigger end of the stick. There’s some genuine atmosphere with Laura (played by Templeton) and captures the spirit of the character quite well, she is by far the highlight of the movie it’s just such a shame that the shoddy script prevented huge moments for her.
The script is all over the place, it’s trying to present new ideas with a mix of old ones a lot of it just does not stick here at all. Outside of a few moments towards the end that are genuinely decent along with Templeton’s dialogue there is just truly not a whole lot going on here unfortunately.
I will say that the technical aspects are great, the cinematography from cinematographer Pablo Rosso has the mysterious atmosphere of the franchise and the production design does the same as well. The two make some scenes a lot better but can’t salvage every single moment.
For me this is just a very forgettable horror film, had I been more of a fan of the franchise maybe I would have found this more horrible. But as it stands Return to Silent Hill is one of those movies that immediately leaves your mind a couple hours after watching it.
Return to Silent Hill is available on all VOD platforms.
A detective is on trial for his wife’s murder and must convince an AI judge of his innocence before time runs out.
Mercy is directed by Timur Bekmambetov director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), Ben-Hur (2016), Profile (2018) and many others.
Mercy is one of those movies where just looking at the poster you already know it’s going to be terrible, yet somehow it gets even worse when you actually sit down and watch it. It’s a poorly constructed mess that basically has Chris Pratt sit in a chair for 90 minutes along with some very laughable dialogue that tries to present itself as being clever when in reality its incredibly basic and not saying anything.
The acting is terrible, Chris Pratt is overacting throughout and Rebecca Ferguson is incredibly bland. Which I got to say that is one hell of an achievement, I’m not entirely sure how on earth you make Ferguson bland but somehow this movie accomplished that. The acting alone makes Mercy incredibly hard to sit through. It does not help that Christopher Raven (played by Pratt) and Judge Maddox (played by Ferguson) are poorly written characters who have very little going for them. Judge Maddox at one point basically shows the viewer a bunch of footage of Raven’s past just so we know his backstory, a lot of it is completely pointless and very unrelated to the case that the movie is supposedly focusing on.
The writing is baffling, first and foremost as I said before the character writing is just not there at all. Second the screenlife elements aren’t used to their full potential, which confuses me a bit since Bekmambetov directed Profile (2018) a film that used its screenlife elements quite well. So it’s a bit surprising to see him do a complete 180 here, the dialogue leans into laughable territory. There are some genuinely embarrassing moments that truly amaze you in just the idea of “who came up with this?” the confused message at the end as well leaves the viewer with a terrible taste in their mouth. This whole “Ai makes mistakes like humans can” is truly egregious, a man is being put on trial for something he did not do this isn’t some sort of “oopsie!” type of mistake.
Overall Mercy lacks any sort of depth and fails to fully invest the viewer, it’s a slog to get through, it’s poorly acted, written and one of the worst movies of the year so far.
A newly certified mortician, Rebecca Owens, takes a night job embalming bodies and uncovers a demonic conspiracy, forcing her to confront her own past to survive the night.
The Mortuary Assistant is directed by Jeremiah Kipp director of Slapface (2021), Love & Everything in Between (2017), The Sadist (2015) and a few others.
The Mortuary Assistant is one of the worst kind of terrible movies, it does not land in the “so bad it’s hilarious” territory and it isn’t fun either. Instead what you get here is a completely botched movie that is apparently based on the 2022 video game of the same name. From what I’ve seen with fan’s reactions it does a terrible job of telling the story and fails to capture the atmosphere of the source material. I haven’t even played the game and I absolutely agree that the atmosphere is completely missing along with many other things.
What immediately kills this movie is the acting, this is the sort of terrible acting that leaves the viewer flabbergasted to the point where you ask yourself “did they even try?” Willa Holland who I typically like just does not shine here, it does not help that her character Rebecca is given no strong character writing. Paul Sparks feels like he’s half asleep with his performance, it’s a very phoned in performance that leans into the terrible territory and keeps going further down.
The script is poorly written and at times very baffling. While premise is an interesting idea, the execution ends up being incredibly dull and wasted. It’s filled to the brim with terribly done horror elements that are handled with the amount of care of a bull in a china shop, the atmosphere is completely missing and does not offer the viewer any sort of time to really get into the environment. It’s also completely sloppily put together, it has the feel of a science fair project that is two seconds away from coming apart.
The technical elements are horrible as well, the music is bland, the cinematography, lighting, shadows and such are all lifeless and completely fail to capture this sense of suspense or dread. None of it comes together in the end and truly feels like this was all done in less than 5 hours.
Overall there really is not much more to say about The Mortuary Assistant it’s by far the worst movie I’ve seen so far this year. The only good thing I can say about it is that it very forgettable, mainly due to just how bland the experience really is.
High college students face an unexpectedly epic journey when they must navigate two flights of stairs to retrieve their pizza delivery, turning a simple task into a surreal adventure.
Pizza Movie is directed by Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher which is their directorial debut.
Pizza Movie starts off simple enough but quickly goes on to be a bizarre ride that is truly fun and quite hilarious. The film has a lot of Harold & Kumar and Scott Pilgrim DNA mixed with classic stoner comedy elements all of this combined makes for a movie that is truly an entertaining ride.
The performances are a blast of fun, you can very easily tell the cast was having the time of their lives while on set and it makes their performances all the more better. Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone work incredibly well together, the comedic timing of the two is on point and the dialogue the two share with one another is truly hilarious. Lulu Wilson is also a quite fun addition to the two and brings this fun dynamic along for the ride.
The writing is quite humorous and is not afraid to get bizarre, while the movie does admittedly lose steam towards the end which is simply due to the pacing feeling a bit uneven at times. It’s still quite enjoyable the whole way through, the writing has this feel where you have no idea what is going to happen next due to the film’s bizarre atmosphere. It has that going for it and luckily it mostly delivers on that, the writing has its clever moments that did surprise me.
The main criticism mainly comes from some of the earlier jokes and the character writing. Some of the early jokes in the movie aren’t anywhere near as good as the rest of the movie, granted they aren’t dreadful which is mainly due to Matarazzo’s and Giambrone’s delivery. The character writing particularly with Lizzy is a bit underwhelming and does feel a little last minute, with that being said Lulu Wilson is still able to pull out a good performance from it and as I said earlier is a fun addition.
Pizza Movie is definitely one of those movies where you should go in knowing as little as possible, I was a bit vague throughout this review because it very much is a case of telling what exactly happens or even hinting at it really ruins the surprise. I do recommend giving this one a look once it releases!
Jerome Reviews... 