Resident Evil (2026) Film Review

A hapless courier is tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital. He soon finds himself caught in the middle of an outbreak and must fight through hordes of mutated creatures to survive.

Resident Evil is directed by Zach Cregger director of Barbarian (2022), Weapons (2025) and a few others. Resident Evil is the eighth live action film based on the video game series.

Resident Evil is no stranger to film adaptions, there was the 6 films that that Paul W.S. Anderson directed which ranged from being just okay to quite terrible. Then there was Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2022) a movie that promised to be more faithful to the video games and well while it was faithful as did adapt the first and second games, it was quite terrible and almost immediately forgotten about.

Zach Cregger takes the approach of creating a new story and does not use any of the characters from the video games but spiritually captures the franchise incredibly well. This leads to Cregger’s film being hands down the best live action film especially combined with the loneliness, performances and the atmosphere.

The main performance here is Austin Butler as Bryan a medical courier who is given the simple task of delivering a last minute package to Raccoon City. Butler gives such an excellent performance that captures the atmosphere almost immediately, the sense of loneliness is really present here since he is the only one we see for long periods of time. Sure a few other characters pop up once in a while but they either only show up very briefly or are quickly killed off, which is quite effective. You see moments of Bryan relaxing a little bit when he sees other people only for said people to be quickly killed off which brings back the sense of dread. Butler does such a fascinating job throughout the film and always keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat or incredibly entertained (there are some genuinely funny moments here.)

The atmosphere is top notch, right from the beginning you can feel the film’s atmosphere oozing off of the screen and into the viewer’s mind. It really does capture the spirit of the video game franchise, being all alone and exploring areas whether they are big or small where anything can pop out and chase you. There are three moments in particular that perfectly capture this, an early scene in a small house, the sewer and finally the film’s final destination the laboratory. All of these scenes perfectly capture the film’s thrilling atmosphere as well as the video games, the jump scares are genuinely effective and really get you into the film quite quickly.

The ending can be a miss for some people, however I actually quite liked it. Sure it kind of ends on a cliffhanger, but I see it more as a tragedy for Bryan as a character. Between knowing he is not going to make it and leaves a tearful farewell message to his girlfriend Michelle (Abrams gives such an emotional performance here) and pleading for the cure as he slowly loses himself to the affection. It’s truly a huge sad moment that really paints this tragic picture.

Overall, Resident Evil is quite a fantastic ride from beginning to end. Thematically there is not a whole lot going on here, but there really does not need to be. It’s an incredibly strong film on its own with Austin Abrams, the atmosphere and the film’s world complimenting it beautiful.

Resident Evil releases on VOD platforms November 3rd!

10/10 A+

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) Film Review

A forgotten Peter Parker lives alone as a full-time Spider-Man until mounting pressure triggers a dangerous change and a powerful new enemy emerges.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton director of I Am Not a Hipster (2012), Short Term 12 (2013), The Glass Castle (2017), Just Mercy (2019) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). The film serves as the 38th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the fourth film in the MCU Spider-Man series.

Spider-Man as a series at this point is its own event, it does not need to be attached to the MCU to be this huge event. Even when some of the Spider-Man films are not exactly great there is always this air of mystery of which villains are going to be in it? Which other heroes are going to appear? It’s a whole lot of fun and that especially applies here. Brand New Day is the best of the Tom Holland films mainly due to the exploration of the character, this huge New York feel and the acting.

Tom Holland is at his best here, this is more than likely the result of him over the years diving more and more into the character. Which this film proudly shows the result of it, the emotional moments he nails down incredibly well. It’s truly beautiful to see just how much he has improved over the years, there are moments here where he captures moments of the first two Sam Rami Spider-Man films. His interactions with the rest of the cast such as Sadie Sink are especially quite fantastic.

The rest of the cast are just as great here and go all out. Zendaya is once again really strong and once again brings so much heart into these movies. Jon Bernthal actually gives a half decent performance (what a night day difference from his performance in The Odyssey) there are some genuinely funny moments between The Punisher and Spider-Man that add to the film’s charm. Florence Pugh gets a quick but very fun scene that shows why Yelena as a character is so well loved.

Sadie Sink as Jean Grey is one of the film’s strongest parts, Sink has always been such a great actress (I would say she is the best of the child actors from Stranger Things.) So seeing her nail the part of Jean Grey here is incredibly satisfying, she gives this devastating and emotional performance that really sticks to the viewer. It’s a beautiful performance that really gives this film the emotional core it needs to bring everything together. Jean Grey’s backstory is very well done and captures this sense of loneliness that I truly did not expect, it’s a quite interesting comparison to the rest of the film’s spirit of community.

Speaking of which, part of what makes this film in particular stand out from the rest of the Tom Holland films is the sense of community here. It’s much more of a New York film than some of the other films and really brings this classic feel of community front and center, you truly feel like that Spider-Man is incredibly important to the people around him, the mixture of isolation that Peter feels early on in the film slowly but surely over the course of the film turns into community which is genuinely beautiful to see. It has this feel of Spidey needs New York and New York needs Spidey.

The action scenes and web swinging are quite excellent, the web swinging feels quite interactive and gives this feel that you are swinging across New York City with Spider-Man while the action scenes are quite fun and have this edge to them that really gives them this highlight that you constantly think about long after they appeared.

Overall, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is quite excellent and has this large in scale feel that gives the character and New York City so much life. It’s by far the most emotional film of the Tom Holland films and as I said earlier, the best!

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

Evil Dead Burn (2026) Film Review

After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws. As one by one they transform into deadites, she comes to discover that the vows she took in life – survive even in death.

Evil Dead Burn is directed by Sébastien Vaniček director of Infested (2023). Evil Dead Burn serves as a sequel to Evil Dead Rise (2023) and is the sixth installment in the Evil Dead franchise.

The Evil Dead franchise is one of the most consistently great horror movie franchises (some would argue that it’s the last one) each of the films bring something interesting to the table and have their own personalities. Evil Dead Burn is one nasty film that does not hold back at all, what really makes this one stand out is the brutality of it all combined with its excellent performances.

The performances are quite excellent here, everyone is given a moment to contribute to the story or the film’s incredibly dark nature. Souheila Yacoub is the film’s lead and she is quite great here, her trying to survive in a house of her in-laws slowly turning into Deadites is truly thrilling and terrifying, her depiction of a grieving woman fighting through this full on chaos is quite raw plus she is the emotional anchor of the film that really draws so much power to the film.

Tandi Wright and Hunter Doohan are both really great here, Wright’s earlier scenes before things fall into chaos are her standout moments. She builds enough tension into the narrative which ultimately does make the chaos feel that much more impactful. Doohan essentially plays the survivalist of the group, while not exactly that integral to the film’s story, seeing Doohan give a really solid performance one scene in particular involving Erroll Shand is truly excellent. The look of fear on his face is enough to make him stand with the rest of the cast.

Luciane Buchanan and Erroll Shand are the two who truly go all out here, I would argue that they give some of the best performances of the franchise and of the year even. The best way to describe Shand’s performance is intimidating, his character Edgar Price feels like he is a Resident Evil character who walked into an Evil Dead film, he is terrifying the minute he is introduced. He does not hold back at all, his physical presence is enough to terrify the viewer. But then his actions come in and really make the viewer question, which is more terrifying, his presence or actions?

If there is one thing you are going to remember from this film it’s Buchanan’s terrifying transformation into a Deadite, the way she is able to completely flip from warm and compassionate to absolutely unhinged is truly horrifying. Her taunts, the body movements and her speech all mixed together truly make her performance something special. The subtle eye and muscle movements without speaking is enough to give you a full picture of what she is plotting, there is even some unpredictable moments from her that truly are quite striking.

The film’s brutal tone is most definitely inspired from French extremity (films like Martyrs, Inside, Frontiers and so on), there is a lot of gore and kills that heavily lean into this brutality that only amplifies the darkness of this film. There is a lot of creativity here with the atmosphere that draws from the franchise and the character’s actions to paint a very dark filled layer that the viewer explores.

The film’s setting which is mainly set inside of the earlier mentioned secluded house mixed with the brutal atmosphere leads to excellent results. It gives this sense of only having a limited amount of space to run and hide, when you combine this with the film’s cinematography from cinematographer Phillip Lozano (who is clearly having so much fun behind the camera as he does pull off some really neat shots and camera tricks) you truly get the horrifying painting that this film has been painting since the beginning.

Not only is the film brutal when it comes to atmosphere, gore and kills, but it’s also brutal in it’s theming, between dysfunctional family dynamics and abusive relationships which in turn does give Alice (played by Souheila Yacoub) a very impactful arc that is devastating yet incredibly well done. The film also does have some very dark comedy thrown into the mix which actually does surprisingly work!

Overall, Evil Dead Burn is fantastic. Between the characters, acting, filming, atmosphere and brutality there is so much to unpack as well as explore with this film in the best way possible. It’s a chaotic ride from beginning to end that truly ends up being a worthy installment to an excellent franchise.

Evil Dead Burn is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

Breeder (2026) Film Review

An eccentric poodle breeder lures a broke college student to her remote ranch with a promise of research funding. But, as he soon learns, there’s a catch.

Breeder is directed by Alex Goyette director of Expelled (2014).

Perhaps the most disappointing movie of 2026 so far, Breeder is a case where the idea of the movie is more interesting or disturbing (in this case) than the movie itself. The setup is incredibly solid but unfortunately what follows quickly falls into a very average cat and mouse like thriller type of deal.

I will say that the performances are strong here, Daniel Doheny does a great job of playing Russell who is rightfully confused and freaked out by what Patti (played by Dot-Marie Jones) is demanding him to do. Doheny does a great job of giving this awkward performance that does add to the movie’s atmosphere early on.

Dot-Marie Jones as Patti however is who steals the show, the moment her and Russell meet you can very easily tell something is off. Her ability to go from being calm to absolutely unhinged in a split second is truly excellent and is the main core of the movie’s atmosphere, she captures this sinister feel of the household while adding a bit of humor into the mix. Dot-Marie Jones does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to building this suspense during the movie’s more stealthy moments, you can feel her approaching even if you can’t see her and that reflects with Russell’s reactions.

As mentioned before the setup is quite great, it’s not anything unique but it does make you wonder where exactly the movie is going. Unfortunately when the movie does get to that point things feel very oddly tame. For a movie that is about a poodle breeder who runs a human breeding program this feels incredibly watered down, it never goes far enough and plays incredibly safe with the cat and mouse thriller approach. There are some very effective and thrilling scenes, but the movie never goes far enough with its own ideas and opts to go for this very safe line.

The last 20 or so minutes (especially the ending) are very cobbled together and leave the viewer with confusion (and not in a good or interesting way), the last bit of the movie mainly focuses on Russell being trapped which could have been somewhat interesting if the dialogue and character writing were far more effective. I do appreciate the movie’s mostly one location setting as it does help build this feeling that you are trapped inside this horrifying house (effective work from cinematographer Jaryl Lim.)

Overall, I would not say Breeder is a bad movie. It’s a movie that has a lot of intriguing ideas but never really fully explores them. The performances, atmosphere and filming are there just the main ingredient (the writing) is just not present.

Breeder releases tomorrow in theaters.

5/10 C

Quick Review: Crawlers (2026)

Tenants at Paradiso Palms apartments fight a deadly spider invasion while the cunning building manager might be their only hope for survival.

Crawlers is directed by Ángel Gómez Hernández director of Don’t Listen (2020) and The Boogeyman: The Origin Of The Myth (2023).

I’m going to keep this incredibly short, Crawlers is almost the exact same movie as Sting (2024) another bad spider movie. In fact they both take place in an apartment building with a bunch of characters trying to survive. The main difference here is that Crawlers ends up being far worse. Sting at the very least had some sort of 50s and 80s B horror feel going on, Crawlers does not have that at all here.

The only few positives I can give Crawlers is Matilda Lutz who is not fantastic here but she is the only one that is really trying to make the most of the terrible script. Then there are the kills which are admittedly decent, if you have arachnophobia this will definitely enough to scare you for sure.

With that being said the rest of the movie is quite terrible, the performances outside of Lutz are awful and do very little to bring the viewer into the movie’s atmosphere. There is one scene of Lutz in BDSM gear fighting a bunch of spiders which is the closest this movie ever gets to being fun (it’s a shame that’s not until the way end of the movie though.)

Finally the movie tries to play both sides, it wants to be taken seriously and then throws in the earlier mentioned BDSM versus spider scene which is clearly supposed to be campy. It all combines together into a mess of a movie that has very little engagement, terribly written characters and an 81 minute runtime that has some of the slowest pacing you will see from a movie this year.

Crawlers is currently in theaters

2/10 F

Wicker (2026) Film Review

An ostracized fisherwoman commissions the local basketmaker to weave her a husband, but when her wicker creation proves unexpectedly extraordinary, his presence ignites jealousy and upheaval that threatens their quiet village.

Wicker is directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson directors of Save Yourselves (2020).

Very Yorgos Lanthimos like which is a very good thing in my book, Wicker is an incredible strange yet charming and hilarious film about love and acceptance. It’s a film that really does feel like it is in this fairytale world that you are just hearing about and want to explore the world inside of it all.

The performances across the board are fantastic, Olivia Colman delivers yet another excellent performance that showcases her brilliant comedic timing. Her character who simply goes by “Fisherwoman” brings so many hilarious conversations when engaging with the rest of the characters in the village. We see this sense of loneliness from her early on and want to feel loved, it’s something we have all felt and it’s quite effectively shown here.

Alexander Skarsgård as Wicker Husband is incredibly charming as soon as he enters the film, the chemistry between him and Colman is hilarious and brings out the film’s fairytale elements that really capture this bizarre atmosphere that you can’t help but fall into. The dialogue exchanges between Wicker Husband and the rest of the villagers is hilarious and quite effective at capturing this sense of wanting to be accepted.

Peter Dinklage disappears for half the film, but his few scenes are quite entertaining. He delivers two very Shakespeare-esque monologues that are very well performed and really make it feel like we are watching a fairytale stage play.

The film excels at embracing its weirdness, it’s a film about a woman who wants a husband so she goes to a Basket Weaver to make her a husband after all. Yet underneath the film’s absurdity there is this sense of beautiful charm, it truly does make you care for these characters and the world around them. This theme of acceptance and exploration of a world from Wicker Husband is truly fascinating, it’s a wonderful story that keeps upping its charm as we the viewers explore more of the film.

The fairytale like feel is even more effective with the practical effects and custom prosthetics from Weta Workshop who bring so much attention to detail here and truly do make Wicker Husband come to life. We get some close up shots of the character and you can really tell how much passion and love was put into these effects. The cinematography from Lol Crawley is sharp and does a brilliant job of capturing the film’s fairytale like world.

Overall, Wicker is a fascinating film that brings so much charm, humor and absurdity into the experience. It’s one of those film’s where you just want to explore its world for hours.

Wicker is playing in theaters!

9/10 A

Clayface (2026) Film Review

Rising Hollywood star Matt Hagen descends into a horrifying revenge-filled monster when scientific ambition strips him of his identity and humanity.

Clayface is directed by James Watkins director of Eden Lake (2008), The Woman In Black (2012), Bastille Day (2016) and Speak No Evil (2024). Clayface is the third film in the new DC Universe.

Clayface in a lot of ways was a surprise for me, usually when a comic book film advertises that it’s going to “lean heavily on horror” nine times out of ten the final result is vastly different from what was previously described. Clayface surprises for sticking with what was said and does go all out with the body horror elements, this film is basically if you took one of those Sony Spider-Man villain spinoff movies such as Morbius (2022) and actually executed them right.

The performances from Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie are quite fantastic here, Harries plays Matt Hagen/Clayface who we slowly but surely see lose himself in his own revenge, greed and ego. Prior to this movie, I was unfamiliar with Harries and I must say he is quite excellent. His scenes with Ackie are definitely some of the best as we slowly see himself become more and more unhinged and desperate, the dialogue can feel a bit clunky at times but Harries is able to really bring it home with a ton of effective moments. Naomi Ackie sort of serves as the audiences eyes, like we are seeing drastically different parts of Matt Hagen each time he visits Dr. Caitlyn Corr. Ackie’s, the two have great chemistry with one another and help keep the movie afloat.

Th body horror elements are a ton of fun here, as I said earlier, I was very surprised with how much this movie went in with the body horror. There is one scene in particular where I actually physically cringed, cinematographer Rob Hardy and editor Jon Harris really deserve props here because this was hands down one of if not the best use of body horror in the movie. There is also the final act that is quite a lot of fun, between the body horror, kills and excellent use of the club environment it’s a blast of fun to watch and see what unfolds.

As far as themes go, I do think what the movie explores is quite interesting even if it does not go all in. Psychological factors of suppressed anger vs repressed anger is explored here but only as this plot device to keep the movie going and to build this revenge thriller type of story, although I did find the revenge elements to be quite satisfying.

The villains are admittedly not great, I do think this is a special case where the henchmen are actually more interesting as characters than the main villain. Markos Szabo is a very run of the mill mobster that we have seen in plenty of other movies before, he is if you took a mobster from any crime movie and put him in Clayface. David Dencik is definitely trying to bring some sort of evilness to the character, but it ultimately does not work due to Szabo at the end of the day being a very generic mobster.

Overall, Clayface is quite great. It is definitely one of those cases where as the movie goes on it gets better, but it is very much worth it in the end.

Clayface is playing in theaters

7/10 B

New York Film Festival Review: The Man I Love (2026)

In 1980s NYC, an artist experiences a precious window between sickness and mortality – a time when beauty and love remain within reach

The Man I Love is directed by Ira Sachs director of The Delta (1996), Little Men (2016), Frankie (2019), Passages (2023), Peter Hujar’s Day (2025) and a few others.

The Man I Love was the last film I watched at the New York Film Festival (there are still 4 films left that I have not reviewed yet) and it was pretty strong one to end on. This is a film that celebrates art and the lives lost during the AIDs crisis in the 80s, what makes the film are its performances and sense of community that are strongly present throughout the film.

As someone who is not typically a fan of Rami Malek, I must say he really surprised me here. Malek plays Jimmy George a man who despite knowing he only has a certain amount of time left due to his AIDS complications, he works on a new project with his theater group. This is quite honestly a career best worthy performance for Malek, there is one scene in which Rami Malek at a family gathering sings a heart-wrenching cover of Melanie’s 1970 song “Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma” it’s easily my favorite moment of the film due to how you can just feel the pain and sadness in Malek’s voice. He’s trying incredibly hard to push through everything and wants to bring love and joy to the people around him. It’s a phenomenal performance that will leave you in tears.

Tom Sturridge gets a difficult role here but nails it with balancing this tenderness as well as anger when it’s required. Newcomer Luthor Ford is excellent here and goes on this journey, he plays this selfish character who by the end of the film does realize his mistakes and regrets. A lot of great character moments here that truly add up to a ton of investing scenes.

The sense of community is really what makes this film, the closeness that Jimmy George and his theater group have and the art of theater that they celebrate and make together is truly excellent and beautiful. When the moments of devastation happens with Jimmy, they feel very impactful due to how much we know that Jimmy loves his community, the theme of doing what you love most during your final days of life is established very early on in the film and it’s quite beautifully executed.

The Man I Love is a film full of love and life but the cloud of sadness hangs over it, the film has this love and life vs sadness like element going on here that truly reflects in the atmosphere. There is so much heart poured into the whole experience that it only makes it all the more heartbreaking when arrive to the moments of sadness and struggle.

Overall, The Man I Love is an excellent film that really captures this sense of community, love and sadness. Rami Malek’s performance is top notch and the film itself is an experience that is absolutely looking into.

The Man I Love currently has no distribution or release date.

9/10 A

Quick Review: Tony (2026)

A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

Tony is directed by Matt Johnson director of The Dirties (2013), Operation Avalanche (2016), Blackberry (2023) and Nirvana the band the show the movie (2026).

Having two films directed by the same director come out in the same year is not very rare, however two excellent films by the same director coming out in the same year is actually quite rare (that was a mouthful.)

The approach Matt Johnson took here with an Anthony Bourdain biopic is quite fascinating, it’s not one of those biopics that likes to hyper focus on going down the checklist of cliches or the basic retelling of a Wikipedia page. There is so much heart going on in this film and wanting to really sink in this love for cooking.

The performances are what make this such an excellent experience, Dominic Sessa once again delivers such a fantastic performance and captures this coming of age aspect as well as Bourdain in his younger years. There is one particular moment in the film where you feel his love for cooking taking form and it’s quite honestly such a beautiful moment. No talking, the score is absent just love for this kitchen that not only Bourdain feels but you as the viewer do as well. Sessa is fascinating throughout the film and that never changes at all.

The supporting cast are just as great, Antonio Banderas serves as this mentor figure who we slowly get to learn about as the film goes on, he is by far the heart of the film that cuts through Tony’s ego and points him in a direction that is incredibly beneficial. Leo Woodall has some scene stealers that are genuinely surprising. Leo Woodall disappears for a good portion of the second act of the film, but he leaves a lasting impression that is quite strong. The scenes of him and Sessa slowly bonding and talking with one another are some of his most strongest. Even if Emilia Jones’s character is a bit bare bones, she still delivers a strong performance.

I do like the coming of age story elements being used here, we slowly but surely see a 19 year old Anthony Bourdain mature over the course of the film, this is written quite naturally and really helps reflect Tony’s journey. There is truly something remarkable here with how Johnson directs the film, he wants this sense of rawness of maturing and realizing that your ego can be your own worst enemy. This is not earthshaking information, but the way it’s executed and presented is so well done.

Overall, Tony is a fascinating film that is not your usual biopic. Between the performances, direction and the script there is so much to really love here.

Tony is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

New York Film Festival Review: Bucking Fastard (2026)

Jean and Joan Holbrooke are two sisters who are so close they speak in unison, love the same man, and have the same dreams. In search of an imaginary land – where true love is possible – they start digging through an entire mountain range.

Bucking Fastard is directed by Werner Herzog director of Signs Of Life (1968), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Invincible (2001), Rescue Dawn (2006), Queen Of The Desert (2015) and many others.

Bucking Fastard is an incredibly weird one, which is not exactly a surprise when it comes to Werner Herzog. Part of what makes Herzog such a fascinating filmmaker is you never really know what you are getting into with his films, he likes to keep this air of mystery. That’s very present with Bucking Fastard a film that ends up being not only bizarre but very strangely charming.

The whole main idea here is that Kate Mara and Rooney Mara play sisters who talk in sync throughout the film, it’s truly a quite unique type of performance that they both nail masterfully. They are charming, hilarious and bring the bizarre atmosphere that the film requires, when the two aren’t in sync (that only happens a few times throughout the film) they are still quite fantastic. Kate and Mara are both already fantastic actresses, when combined together they deliver this fun and quite investing performance that makes you stay in this film’s bizarre world. It’s undeniably an impressive type of performance to pull off so wonderfully, some of my favorite work the Mara sisters have ever done.

Narratively the film might be a little bit on the thin side, but there is so much going on with the setting and atmosphere that it truly makes up for it. The setting has this “let’s discover the beauty of the world” type of feel going on, cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger does such a fantastic job of capturing these huge open fields, these wonderfully detailed caves and the beautiful mountains. There is this sense of wonder and exploration that the viewer feels while looking around these environments and it all adds up to this beautiful experience that you still want to explore after the film ends.

The atmosphere is both bizarre and incredibly charming, there is this sense of charm from Jean (played by Kate Mara) and Joan (played by Rooney Mara) especially with their humor and how they see and explore the world around them. It’s this bizarre ode to earnestness that really wins the viewer over by the end of the film and closes out the film with a sweet ending that felt like this strange but beautiful journey we went on with the sisters.

Overall, Bucking Fastard is quite a strong film and embraces its weirdness right from the start and then goes into the charming territory. As I said narratively there is not a whole lot going on here, but just about everything else about this film makes the experience worth it.

Bucking Fastard currently has no distributor

8/10 B+