Two aimless young women inadvertently gain telepathic abilities after ingesting an experimental drug, pitting them against dangerous rivals pursuing the same powerful substance
The Wrong Girls is directed by Dylan Meyer which is her directorial debut.
Not a whole lot to report on here, if you love stoner comedies that you absolutely dig this one. What mainly helps The Wrong Girls is Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat going all out with their performances.
The two are genuinely hilarious and have really strong comedic timing that can actually surprise the viewer at times, Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani voicing the two cats are also quite fantastic as well and add to the film’s humor quite well.
I think the best part here is the friendship between Frankie (played by Stewart) and Molly (played by Shawkat) and how natural it feels, this is the type of friendship that feels incredibly real and has this quite charming atmosphere attached to it. It brings the viewer along for the ride from beginning to end and truly never lets you go at all.
Some of the jokes can be a hit or miss and admittedly the plot does get a bit too bizarre for its own good, however it is still an incredibly fun time that is well worth the watch.
The Wrong Girls is available on all VOD platforms.
When the mysterious behemoth known only as Bane frees Batman’s entire rogue’s gallery from Arkham Asylum, the Caped Crusader is pushed to his mental and physical breaking point.
Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall is directed by Jeff Wamester director of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy (2024), Justice League: Warworld (2023), Legion of Super-Heroes (2023) and a few others.
Not a whole lot to say here, but I am quite shocked to see that one of these DC animated films turned out to be decent. Because as of late the quality has definitely dipped. What’s mainly helping Knightfall is the character writing, it’s not anything mind blowing and you could probably figure out where the ending goes. But between the characterization of Bruce, Bane, Azrael and many others there is quite a lot to enjoy here.
Bane is very menacing and is portrayed in both a brutal and calculated way, the sheer brutality and intellect to his character is present here and displays why the character is so interesting in the first place. The film also explores his origin story and upbringing in prison, what drove him to be the way he is and seeing this path of his being created in prison.
Bruce Wayne is well written here, we explore the trauma, tragedy and abandonment of his life that takes a heavy toll on him when it comes to his stability and his interactions with others who want to help. This is not anything particularly new when it comes to Bruce and Batman, but it is still quite interesting and brings a lot more to the table than a lot of other animated Batman films that strictly go all in on the action.
Azrael is the classic case of a character who’s dealing with his past and cannot quite control his powers, throughout the film we explore him as a character and at times almost feel like we are entering his mind. There’s actually a surprising amount of groundedness especially towards the film’s final act.
The animation is quite well done, it compliments Gotham City as a whole and captures the brutal and dark atmosphere that the film seems to be going for. The voice acting from Anson Mount, Michael Mando and Pablo Schreiber are quite strong and really go all in with the film’s world. They capture the many different sides of their characters and keep the viewer invested the whole way through.
Overall Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall is quite solid and a strong start to the trilogy, it does have some pacing issues here and there. But the film mainly stays on track from beginning to end which gives the viewer a quite dark and mature look at Gotham.
Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall is available on all VOD platforms.
We are officially at the home stretch of 2026! August was a surprisingly strong month for Film. September has plenty of highly anticipated releases, Primetime and Resident Evil immediately come to mind. This month I will also be attending the New York Film Festival, so stay tuned for reviews of all the films I see.
September 2nd
Fall 2 – Theaters
September 4th
Onslaught – Theaters
September 9th
Hope – Theaters
September 11th
The Uprising – Theaters
If I Go Will They Miss Me – Limited Theaters
September 18th
Resident Evil – Theaters
If I Go Will They Miss Me – Expand Theaters
Shaun The Sheep: The Beast Of Mossy Bottom – Theaters
A woman comes to realize she has a child no one remembers, including herself, whose disappearance is related to a forgotten 1990s-style children’s television show.
Buddy is directed by Casper Kelly director of Adult Swim Yule Log and its sequel (2022-2024). Kelly has also made the horror short Too Many Cooks (2014) (I bring this up because this is going to be relevant to the review.)
We have seen several takes on the “kids show that is evil” premise before, however Buddy perhaps is the best take on this and that simply comes down to the execution and the film knows it exactly what it wants to be. There are a few hiccups here and there, however for a majority of the film it’s an incredibly bizarre ride from beginning to end that works tremendously.
First and foremost the performances are shockingly really great. Keegan-Michael Key as Buddy is both disturbingly funny and thrilling, what I especially love about Keegan-Michael Key’s performance is you can quite easily tell when Buddy is upset or happy without seeing Key’s facial expressions. How he is able to go from being all happy and child friendly to a sadistic killer is both hilarious and quite intimidating. Buddy himself is a parody of those old kid show mascots such as Barney The Dinosaur, and the film does such a great job of capturing that energy especially during the first 20 minutes or so (which I’ll get to when I talk about the writing.)
The child actor performances really capture the sort of acting you would see on Sesame Street or Barney The Dinosaur, it’s actually quite impressive how identical the sort of acting really is. Delaney Quinn and Caleb Williams are definitely the standouts which is mainly due to them being more plot involved, but the rest of the child actors are excellent as well.
Finally there is Cristin Milioti which while I do wish we got a lot more of her character and went a little further with the dramatic moments involving her. Milioti still lands a quite strong performance, her eyes are incredibly expressive and do a lot of the talking when she isn’t speaking. Milioti’s character Grace’s long pauses when trying to discuss what’s wrong with her or trying to explain her case to Ben (played by Topher Grace) is truly heartbreaking and you genuinely feel for her. So although her character is not explored all that well, it’s still just enough to care for her character.
The writing is quite hilarious and actually ends up being quite thrilling, as I mentioned earlier, the first 20 minutes or so brings you in with the familiar kids show elements and the film does such a fantastic job of bringing them all together. You have the child acting as mentioned previously, Buddy as well as other character mascots like Betty Bunny, Mr. Mailbox, Strappy and so on, you also have the look of it all. It’s this analog type of horror combined with the natural look of a kids show you would have seen when you were a kid.
As the film goes on it moves towards the more bizarre nature of the atmosphere but still retains the kids show type of atmosphere it established early on. This is something a lot of these types of films seem to mess up on, they go all in on the horror but are missing the earlier established kids show atmosphere, so it is quite refreshing to see the tone of the film be consistent and not completely ditch what made it so interesting.
The practical effects, the film’s world and the direction are all fantastic. The practical effects with the gore is a lot of fun and really brings in the bizarreness of the film. The film’s world is truly fascinating, not every piece of lore is explored, however what we got is quite interesting. Director Casper Kelly really does such a great job of really bringing the viewer into it all, the film’s world feels a lot like something you would see on Adult Swim which makes a lot of sense given how Too Many Cooks (2014) was on Adult Swim. If you have seen that one and liked that then you are going to adore Buddy. Casper Kelly’s attention to detail with the film is truly creative and makes your eyes want to search the entire screen for details you may have missed.
Finally there is the cinematography from cinematographer Zach Kuperstein, who does such a beautiful job. There are some genuinely gorgeous shots here that took me aback simply because I did not expect them at all, the cinematography also adds to the film’s world quite wonderfully and makes the color really pop out.
Overall, Buddy is a disturbingly funny and thrilling film that is a lot of fun, it’s a fun film to explore and really captures the atmosphere it’s going for in such a well done way. This is one I highly recommend giving a go!
A father fights fiercely against ruthless kidnappers to save his abducted daughter.
The Furious is directed by Kenji Tanigaki director of Legend of Seven Monks (2006) and Enter the Fat Dragon (2020).
There is an argument to be made that The Furious is one of the best action films of the 2020s and that mainly comes down to just how effective it really is plus constantly upping the ante as the film continues on. Sure the plot might be straightforward, but just about everything else in this film pushes towards greatness and this huge sense of “how on earth did they do that?” sort of feel.
The cast are quite excellent, Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Brian Le, Joe Iwanaga and Yayan Ruhian all do such a great job and each bring something to the film. There’s one scene in particular towards the ending of the film where all five of them work flawlessly together.
Xie Miao plays Wang Wei a mute man who’s daughter gets kidnapped which in turn makes him go on a quest for revenge, the film does such a fantastic job of building his character and making the viewer really care for him as well. It’s a very natural feeling performance that hits all the right notes that it needs to.
Joe Taslim plays Navin a journalist who is looking for his wife, he eventually tags along with Wang Wei. Much like Miao, Taslim gives a very natural feeling performance. Some of the film’s best moments are of the two just planning out what to do next and how to approach certain situations, should they flat out attack or should they take a more stealthy approach? It’s really neat to see and by the end of the film, Navin became my favorite character of the film.
Joey Iwanaga as Paklung, Brian Le as Ho and Yayan Ruhian as Tak are the main villains here and they all do such a wonderful job of really capturing the thrilling atmosphere the film requires, Iwanaga plays the leader who may not seem like much at first but quickly becomes a formidable foe and knows how to fight quite well. Brian Le starts out as just regular henchman who may seem like he really won’t contribute to anything, but during the film’s final act his character Ho is confused (due to events of the film I won’t spoil here) and decides to just fight everyone. It makes for some satisfying scenes that are quite effective to the story being told. Finally there’s Yayan Ruhian as Tak who is this sadistic bow-wielder and is actually quite disturbing as well, sure he might not have a lot of character to him. But the many taunts he hurls out, the aggressive way he attacks and so on really speak for themselves.
The main part that everyone is going to walk out of this film loving is the action scenes which are undeniably impressive. The fight choreography is truly astonishing, there are moments where you just think to yourself “how on earth did they do that?” It also helps that the fight choreography matches the atmosphere incredibly well, there is this brutal nature that is blended in here which matches with the film’s gore. These are the sort of moments where you feel the blow to the characters, when you see Wang or Navin get hurt you as the viewer feel that.
Which leads into the final act which is incredibly explosive, I’m not going to spoil what the action scene in particular is. However I will say that it is truly impressive and not something that can be easily pulled off, it’s made more entertaining due to the camerawork from cinematographer Meteor Cheung. It’s truly one of the most memorable moments from a film I’ve seen so far this year.
Overall, The Furious is a fantastic film that is not only a spectacle in terms of action scenes but it’s also just a flat out fantastic film that really flows together incredibly well. If you are an action movie fan this is something I truly recommend giving a go.
The Platt family bands together to navigate their new surroundings after a cosmic event transports their suburban neighborhood to someplace unknown.
The End Of Oak Street is directed by David Robert Mitchell director of The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010), It Follows (2014) and Under The Silver Lake (2018).
The End Of Oak Street is one of those blockbusters that does not take itself incredibly seriously, while yes there are dramatic moments these ones in between of the film’s fun nature blend together quite nicely. Plus we finally have a dinosaur blockbuster that isn’t Jurassic Park (even that series is currently struggling to put something great out) that is genuinely great.
The performances are quite great, while I do think Ewan McGregor and Christian Convery give solid performances. I do think Anne Hathaway and Maisy Stella are the ones that leave an impression, Stella’s character Audrey might not get the most development however I do think certain scenes really get to show off Stella’s acting talent quite well. Anne Hathaway has been on a roll this year with Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey (I promise the review is coming soon) and now this film, Hathaway is very much the film’s heart and she really does give this confident and fun performance where you quickly grow invested into her character.
The film’s writing is truly a lot of fun, it’s the perfect balance of chaos and the family drama which work well due to the chemistry of the family. As the viewer you want the entire family to make it out alive and are actively rooting for them. While yes there are some definitely over the top moments with the family drama, for the most part it’s shockingly kept quite real and leaves a lasting impact on the viewer. There is also one moment in particular involving two dinosaurs that was truly unexpected and I still don’t exactly know what to make of it, it’s most certainly a hilarious moment that strangely captures the film’s playful atmosphere quite well.
The dinosaurs themselves are quite neat and a whole lot of fun, the visual effects combined with the cinematography from cinematographer Michael Gioulakis make them pop out more and give them this personality that the viewer can easily recognize. We even get to see a Titanoboa that actually leads to one of the film’s best and most thrilling moments.
Lastly the film has this Spielberg feel going on here, from the atmosphere to the scale it’s all there. The film manages to make its own identity in the end, it definitely feels like an 80s epic blockbuster in a lot of ways. Outside of a few moments where I do think the film leans a bit too much into it, the film largely stays on its path and lands quite beautifully.
Overall The End Of Oak Street is quite a lot of fun, while there are some writing issues. That is not nearly enough to stop the film from being a whole lot of fun and being a genuinely strong film.
A young woman joins a charming con man on the run, leaving a trail of crime and passion as they hustle through the Southeast in search of her estranged mother.
Carolina Caroline is directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier director of The Bunny Game (2011), Jonas (2013), Dinner in America (2020) and Snack Shack (2024).
Carolina Caroline is very much a Bonny & Clyde sort of deal, we have seen these types of films before and know what to expect. However I do think Carolina Caroline goes about it in far more interesting and even better ways than a lot of other films. Due to this, we get a quite thrilling and surprisingly charming ride from beginning to end.
What makes this film excellent simply comes down to Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner, right from the very moment they meet the chemistry between the two flies around the screen, every single second of this film you can feel it everywhere. This leads to a lot of quite beautiful moments of charm and character development that is truly striking, it helps that Gallner and Weaving are both incredibly talented actors and you can especially tell that’s the case here. Samara Weaving does phenomenal accent work here that really shows her range, Gallner continues to turn in incredibly exciting performances here that ooze with charm.
The film has this 70s Americana feel that meshes beautifully with the film’s strong soundtrack, the cinematography from cinematographer Jean-Philippe Bernier really puts the viewer in the film’s world almost immediately, the filming all across Kentucky and the many towns such as Louisville, Frankfort, New Haven and a few others is truly fascinating and truly fits the film’s atmosphere especially early on in the film.
The direction from Adam Carter Rehmeier continues to show that he is quickly becoming one of the most exciting filmmakers working today, his last two films Dinner in America (2020) and Snack Shack (2024) had this focus on American stories and the focus on these certain characters. That’s the case here with Carolina Caroline and it really does such a fascinating job of bringing together this story that is charming, chaotic and thrilling. The dialogue is well written and brings this realness to the characters as well.
Overall Carolina Caroline is fantastic and one of the best films of the year, it all adds up to a quite well done experience that you truly never want to end.
Carolina Caroline is available on all VOD platforms.
Two sisters embark on an epic quest for revenge: confronting a charged family history that will push them to extraordinary lengths.
Is God Is is directed by Aleshea Harris which is her directorial debut. The film is based on Harris’s 2018 play of the same name.
2026 has had a lot of cases so far of films where I knew next to nothing about them going in and they end up being some of my favorites of the year. That is especially the case with Is God Is, a film that almost immediately hits you with this thrilling atmosphere with a lot of character development. When you combine the performances, the storytelling and the overall experience you truly get something quite jaw dropping.
The performances are all quite fantastic, Kara Young and Mallori Johnson play a pair of twins who have burn marks, the two’s delivery of their lines feels incredible natural. The two simply discussing on what their next move is and sharing their memories of their childhood is truly investing and quickly grabs the viewer’s attention, you truly do feel like they have known each other for their entire lives. There’s no forced or goofy delivery, there’s only these hard hitting raw moments that hit the viewer almost immediately. Racine’s (played by Kara Young) progression in particular is quite excellent, we see her slowly get stronger throughout the film and the final result quite phenomenal.
The other performance that really does wonders for this film is Sterling K. Brown who simply plays a character called “The Man”, throughout the film we are told about him but we never really see him up until the final act where he finally enters the film. This is some of the best buildup to a character I’ve seen so far this year, Sterling K. Brown as “The Man” is incredibly intimidating, from the way he speaks, to the way he manipulates the rest of the characters and his long period of silence he truly hits it out of the park. Even though he is not in the film for that long, you still feel his presence throughout the experience. You know that he’s coming and when he does the wait was absolutely worth it.
The writing is quite fantastic, this is definitely one of the much stronger revenge stories that have come out in recent years. A problem with a lot of revenge stories is you never feel the revenge and that’s mainly because it’s done in a very over the top way that potentially takes you out of the film. With Is God Is however you feel the full impact, there is much power and rawness that really does make the whole experience work, sure there is some humor but it’s mainly dark humor that feels more connected to the characters rather than just saying funny lines to get a laugh.
Lastly there is the direction, cinematography and the score, director Alesha Harris, cinematographer Alexander Dynan and composers Joesph Shirley and Moses Sumney do such a fantastic job of bringing this film to life. Harris brings in this rawness to the film that really is striking, the disturbing yet powerful look at morality as well as family dysfunction is truly fascinating. The beautiful cinematography gives this film a very western look and the score beautifully compliments the film’s mood switching.
Overall Is God Is is a phenomenal film that I highly recommend giving a look, it’s one of those films where within the first 10 minutes you are already invested and it only gets better from there.
Amziah King, beekeeper, musician, and anchor of his community, reunites with former foster daughter Kateri after many years apart, and fends off threats to his honey business.
The Rivals Of Amziah King is directed by Andrew Patterson director of The Vast Of Night (2019).
The Rivals Of Amziah King is two films in one, the first part is this fast paced, music filled film that gets you into the film’s world. While the second part plays out like a revenge thriller with some pretty unique and energizing music. It’s a very different experience that comes together quite beautifully.
First and foremost the performances are all quite fantastic, Matthew McConaughey gives not only one of the best performances of the year but also his entire career. From the speech pattern, to the body language and how he interacts with the rest of the cart, it’s truly fascinating to see McConaughey at his absolute best here. He’s incredibly charismatic, genuinely funny at times and the most surprising part of it all he’s quite an excellent singer, he sings a song called “Quill” which is one of the film’s very best moments and truly shows the viewer the magic of this film. If there is one thing you are going to walk out of this film remembering it will almost surely be McConaughey’s performance.
Angelina LookingGlass is a newcomer who gives a phenomenal performance and much like McConaughey, one of the best performances of the year. From the moment she enters the film you can feel the charisma from her, LookingGlass gives a very captivating breakthrough performance that easily connects to the film’s world and atmosphere. Her interactions with McConaughey are truly remarkable, it’s a prime example of two incredible performers going back and forth and not holding back at the slightest. The second part of the film where LookingGlass is put in the spotlight is when her already fantastic performance becomes truly remarkable, she’s able to quickly adapt to the atmosphere change and bring this quiet and focused performance that truly is well executed.
The writing is nothing short of incredible, as mentioned earlier the film’s two parts have very different feels. The first part is a fast paced and moving story that really gets you into the film’s world and characters. The simple moments of Amziah King (played by Matthew McConaughey) talking to his band mates and friends is truly entertaining and quite beautiful, the raw performances here really do all of the talking and help connect the viewer much more easily.
The second part of the film is much more of a heist revenge thriller but almost in this playful way. The music (from Erick Alexander, Jared Blumer and Ben Hardesty) as mentioned earlier, is quite unique in the case where it’s energetic but it strangely captures the tone that the atmosphere is asking for quite masterfully. Cinematographer Miguel I. Littin-Menz and editor Patrick J. Smith are partly thanks to this due to how beautiful they are at their craft. When you get some glorious shots of Alabama combined with the fast and neat editing you truly get some jaw dropping results. The second part of the film may come off as a very typical heist and revenge story, but the way it’s executed completely elevates the material.
Overall, The Rivals Of Amziah King is one of the best films of the year and truly gives the viewer a very different experience. This is one that you should absolutely seek out!
The Rivals Of Amziah King releases tomorrow in theaters.
Sophie Birenbaum is ready for the spotlight as the lead in her high school musical — until suddenly she’s living with even more drama at home than on the stage.
Don’t Say Good Luck is directed by Julia Hart director of Miss Stevens (2016), Fast Color (2018), Stargirl (2020), I’m Your Woman (2020) and Hollywood Stargirl (2022).
Earlier in this year in April we had Roommates which starred Sadie Sandler, Don’t Say Good Luck stars the other Sandler sister Sunny who does quite an incredible job. Don’t Say Good Luck does not really do anything brand new, but the execution is undeniably beautiful and filled to the brim with heart that you cannot simply ignore. It’s quite a huge surprise that really adds up into a delightful experience.
The performances are all quite great, Sunny Sandler and Melanie Lynskey are the clear as day standouts here. Lynskey delivers a raw and believable performance of someone going through illness, she has the moments of pain but also the moments of joy with her family. She wants to just have normal days with her family and that is truly beautiful and really gives the film this extra charm.
Sunny Sandler delivers such a fantastic performance, while there are moments in the script that aren’t as polished. Sandler is able to really dig into the film’s heart and bring out the beautiful light of the film, her singing voice particularly with the song “She Used to Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles is truly beautiful, I’m not exactly sure how someone can sing like this at just 16 years old (the time this was filmed) but it’s truly astonishing and brings you to tears. It’s genuinely one of the most beautiful moments I’ve seen from a film so far this year, Sunny Sandler throughout the film gives the film this warmth and rawness the atmosphere requires.
The writing is beautifully done, the mother and daughter dynamic between Sophie (played by Sunny Sandler) and Elizabeth (played by Melanie Lynskey) is truly beautiful and leads to the film’s touching ending. The writing can lean on familiar tropes, but due to the film’s much more grounded approach to the subject matter it works a lot better. That’s mainly because the film slowly but surely explores the bond between mother and daughter plus it looks at the daily lives of the people around them, there is not any massive jumps of character or time making this feel a lot more focus.
Overall Don’t Say Good Luck is not breaking any new ground, but you can very easily tell this was made with heart and it truly goes all the way. Between great singing vocals, performances and some raw moments in the writing. This is a film I recommend giving a go!
Jerome Reviews... 