A conflict between Cesar, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare.
Megalopolis is directed by Francis Ford Coppola (I really don’t think I need to name the films he’s directed).
Every once in a while you get a movie that is so baffling you can’t make sense of how it exists…Megalopolis is one of those movies, while I don’t flat out dislike it and I respect the ambition here but at the same time this is the very definition of a “what the hell was that?” moment. This is a very bizarre movie and not really in a good way.
The main positive here is the visuals and camerawork, if we were solely talking about visuals Megalopolis would be a 10/10 it’s undeniably beautiful and really does a good job of complementing the alternate 21st century New York City, it has this take on Roman history, the Catilinarian conspiracy of 63 BC and the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. Topics I’ve always been fascinated by and there were moments during the movie where the themes actually land, not in the best way mind you but it’s something. The visuals mostly do a lot of the talking when it comes to these moments as they speak to the viewer due to how grand and massive they are.
Unfortunately the rest of the movie is a complete and total mess in just about every single way. Adam Driver is fun at least delivering some unintentionally hilarious lines that I have to say made me burst out laughing, everyone else is either flat out terrible or very dull to the point where you almost forget they are in the movie. Which I don’t think is entirely their fault due to just how baffling the script really is, it’s a weird mishmash of being so bad it’s hilarious and just flat out being terrible writing.
The narrative is unfortunately very dull, it says so much yet says so little. It heavily relies on the viewer to just kind of accept the bizarre acting with a plot that is very thinly put together, the visuals can only do so much sure they can tell the story during certain moments but when you need good acting to really drive home the pain that’s just not present here at all.
Overall Megalopolis is baffling, there were promises of a good movie in certain areas of the movie but unfortunately it’s just a huge mess. The biggest sin that the movie commits is that it’s not even a largely hilarious bad movie, it’s one of those long and drawn out uninteresting terrible movies.
A group of friends gather for a pre-wedding party that descends into an existential nightmare when an estranged friend arrives with a mysterious game that awakens long-hidden secrets, desires, and grudges.
It’s What’s Inside is directed by Greg Jardin which is directorial debut!
I honestly can’t remember the last time a film absolutely confused me in a good way, It’s What’s Inside starts out simple enough before evolving into this mind game that’s one hell of an experience. It takes a lot of swings that connect quite well throughout the film.
The performances are quite great and what help the premise work as well as it did, Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Alycia Debnam-Carey and David W. Thompson are definitely the standouts as they play their characters incredibly well and combined with the surprisingly natural writing (despite the film being very out there) they all work together very well. What helps here is each of the characters have their flaws and throughout the film we learn a bit more about them, even details that could make the viewer change their view on certain characters, it’s cleverly done on the writers part to spread these details out over the course of the film so we aren’t bombarded with information at the beginning.
The atmosphere is also a key element that makes this whole movie work, right when the bizarre mind bending stuff occurs the atmosphere is set. It’s the type of atmosphere that makes it seem like you are in a completely different universe, where you have no idea how the rules work but you are along for the ride just to see what unfolds. The setting compliments this as well, the mansion like setting is the perfect place to pull off this bizarre idea of switching bodies and then unfolding into madness. It fits with the characters and their actions throughout the film, plus we get close up shots that really drag us in.
The idea of the film works especially due to the twists, they all are not shoved at the end. They are strategically placed and each and every time they are satisfying and shocking, they have the perfect amount of buildup, suspense and development to really work into the story being told. Many characters play this body swapping game which is where the confusion comes in, however that’s what makes the film so great it grabs your attention where you are constantly watching.
I won’t say much more about It’s What’s Inside as this is definitely a film that you should go watch with knowing as little as possible! I hope we get to see more of director Greg Jardin because this was excellent and so much fun!
Six bloodcurdling tapes unleash horror in a sci-fi inspired hellscape, pushing the boundaries of fear and suspense.
V/H/S/Beyond is the seventh installment and ninth overall (if you count the spin offs SiREN (2016) and Kids vs. Aliens (2023) of the V/H/S franchise.
The V/H/S franchise is a series I always look forward to, even if last year’s installment V/H/S/85 didn’t quite do it for me I was still very excited for Beyond and it definitely delivered, as much as I really liked 94 and 99 this film is the best of the franchise since V/H/S/2. The theme this time around is aliens and other sci-fi elements and while that may seem like it could get redundant at first, each of the segments manage to do something quite different.
As per usual when it comes to anthology films, I’ll be talking a little about each segment and then at the end give my final thoughts. There’s definitely going to be some overlap with positives so keep that in mind, anyway let’s start with…
Abduction/Adduction which is directed by Jay Cheel director of Beauty Day (2011) and How To Build a Time Machine (2016).
This is the frame narrative of the film and well it exists, look I’m just going to blast right through this one. While this film does have some of my favorite segments of the franchise, it also has one of the most dull frame narratives. It’s a bunch of interviews, conspiracy theories and basically tying aliens to a lot of events, at the very least the segment doesn’t last very long at all after each of the main segments. Not much else to really say here…let’s move on to the first main segment which is…
Stork which is directed by Jordan Downey director of Thankskilling (2008), Thankskilling 3 (2012) and The Head Hunter (2018).
I never expected Downey the director of Thankskilling (2008) to create a short that has a lot of Resident Evil type of vibes, Stork is an excellent opener of the main segments. It follows a a police unit called W.A.R.D.E.N. as they go through a building after many disappearances of babies. This segment has everything zombies, blood and a zombified stork that has some excellent creature design. That’s a common theme with these segments the creature designs are top notch as well as the gore being a lot of fun, the atmosphere is excellent and combined with the point A to point B plot line that works in the segment’s favor it’s incredibly successful. It’s simple yet a huge amount of fun that will have you at the edge of your seat!
Dream Girl is directed by Virat Pal director of Recapture (2016).
Dream Girl follows Arnab and Sonu paparazzi who try to get footage of the latest Bollywood sensation Tara. This is definitely an interesting one, despite a few rough couple minutes the segment quickly builds steam and suspense. We get clues about everything doesn’t seem to be right with Tara, which ultimately builds into a very chaotic finale to the segment. While yes it might be a bit predictable it’s still an incredible amount of fun, once again with excellent gore and makeup effects that really do help build this segment. There’s some very nasty kills here which is amplified by the build up from the segment, this is another really good one!
Live and Let Die is directed by Justin Martinez director of a segment from V/H/S 10/31/98 and a segments from Southbound The Way In and The Way Out.
This segment is perhaps the weakest of the main segments but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. The segment follows Zach who is celebrating his 30th birthday with his wife Jess, best friend Logan and many other people via skydiving which ultimately goes horribly wrong after they see a UFO and crash on to an island where they fight for survival. The first half of the segment is on the plane and the other half is the characters fighting for survival, the build up is definitely worth it in the end and once again more excellent creature design and great kills. It just takes a bit to get to the fun stuff, but ultimately does a great job.
There really isn’t a whole lot more to say about this one as it is very straightforward.
Fur Babies is directed by Christian Long and Justin Long both of which directed Lady of the Manor (2021).
This segment follows a bunch of animal rights activists investigating a doggy daycare center and its owner Becky that keeps taxidermies of her past dogs. The group ultimately discovers the dark truth about the daycare. This is my favorite of the segments, not only is it absolutely bizarre but it goes in a direction you do not expect. It’s actually quite disturbing with some very cursed looking makeup and designs that are truly horrifying, the suspense is absolutely well done and delivers the satirical feel incredibly well.
This is very much in the same vein as Tusk (2014) only much more effective and doesn’t overstay its welcome at all, excellent short that I won’t say much more about as it’s more effect the less you know about it.
Stowaway is directed by Katie Siegel which is actually the very first project she’s directed!
Stowaway follows Halley a woman who documents her findings in the Mojave desert which she believes are possible extraterrestrial findings. This is excellent closing segment, it’s suspenseful and uses the found footage style in a very old school way that heavily reminds me of The Blair Witch Project (1999). It’s a segment that takes its sweet sweet time building suspense and makes sure the viewer explores the desert with Halley. Combined with Siegel’s direction and the script written by Mike Flanagan the segment ends up being one of the very best!
Overall V/H/S/Beyond is a fantastic installment to the franchise, it’s suspenseful, atmospheric and has excellent creature designs, makeup and gore. The segments are creative and bring something unique to the film and to the franchise as a whole. I’m very excited to see where they go with this franchise next!
A thrilling physical journey that allows an approach to the darkness, where it is scary to look. It appeals to the viewer’s civil responsibility and forces them to face the limits of their own solidarity.
The Platform 2 is directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia director of The Platform (2019). The Platform 2 serves as a prequel to The Platform (2019).
The Platform was one of those movies that blew up during the COVID-19 lockdown, basically this was a case of coming out at the right place at the right time. The film was a fun thriller with a neat idea that may have not been executed perfectly, but it was done well enough to leave the viewer satisfied. Another movie was talked about for a few years until we finally got it this year and well to say it doesn’t even come close to the first movie both quality and creativity wise would be an understatement.
Outside of the performances, filming and the atmosphere which are all passable. The Platform 2 really seems like nobody had any idea of what to really do here. What we have here is an incredibly dull retread of the previous movie which lacks any of the elements of what made the first movie interesting.
Repeating the exact same thing while slightly shifting a few things around is about as lazy as you can go, it doesn’t help that the final moments of the movie are incredibly stupid and don’t make a lick of sense narratively. It’s something that can easily break the movie for most people (not that the rest of the movie is that much better), what really kills this movie is its pretentiousness this is a word that I tend to not use in my reviews as I do feel like people really overuse it.
However it applies to The Platform 2 due to the movie trying to claim that it’s doing something meaningful with its ending and throughout the movie. When in reality all it’s doing is being a bad retread of the first movie, recycles the same sort of message as the first movie only slightly changing a bit of context and attaching a terrible ending.
That’s basically The Platform 2 in a nutshell, a dull prequel that has some positives but not nearly enough to have its own identity and doesn’t hold a candle to the first movie.
In order to escape police after a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low in a farmhouse that hides them away in a different time. There they reckon with a mysterious force that pushes their familial bonds to unnatural breaking points.
Things Will Be Different is directed by Michael Felker which is his directorial debut.
Things Will Be Different on the surface seems like a simple premise but slowly becomes something much more complex. The time travel elements are much more expensive, there’s a whole lot of sci-fi elements that get introduced and the movie requires the viewers full attention or else you could get potentially lost.
The performances are solid enough, there isn’t anything groundbreaking going on here but Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy are both solid and play characters who do get some interesting development. When you mix this with tensions between the two and the atmosphere you do get some fascinating results that helps the film move at a decent pace.
Things Will Be Different heavily reminds me of a film I reviewed Omni Loop another low budget sci-fi film that isn’t doing anything groundbreaking but is well done, acted and it’s written kind of beautifully. Things Will Be Different definitely follows that same sort of path, it’s a film that has emotional stakes and genre thrills that really work well in the context of the movie.
Even if the characters don’t immediately grab you at the beginning the emotional moments during the movie will slowly but surely draw you in, the location of the movie is also a nice blend to the atmosphere!
Overall Things Will Be Different is solid, it might not be doing anything new. But it’s a fun one to watch!
Things Will Be Different is available tomorrow on all VOD platforms.
A quantum physicist finds herself stuck in a time loop with a black hole growing in her chest and only a week to live. When she meets a gifted student they team up to save her life and unlock the mysteries of time travel.
Omni Loop is directed by Bernardo Britto director of Jacqueline Argentine (2016).
Omni Loop in some ways is yet another Groundhog Day type of movie but I do think there’s a few things here the movie explores to just make itself a bit different and stand out a bit better.
For starters Mary-Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri are both really solid here, they both bring this emotional touch to the movie that works in the movie’s favor. It’s definitely the central part of the movie and why it works so well, for a movie about a woman who has a black hole growing inside of her chest and has one week to live it oddly feels quite grounded at times. The interactions between Zoya Lowe (played by Mary-Louise Parker) and Paula (played by Ayo Edebiri) are genuinely touching and at times sad which is something i definitely wasn’t expecting.
Granted the middle portion of the movie is a bit on the rough side, the movie is 107 minutes long and due to the slow pacing it does feel a lot longer than it really is. There could have easily been a bit of trimming to help the movie keep its balance, however I don’t think that’s enough to completely take away from the movie as it is quite interesting and fun to watch the interactions between the characters.
As far as Groundhog Day like movies go Omni Loop is able to stand out mainly due to looking at the emotional side of things and how the characters feel, director, writer and editor Bernardo Britto does a solid job of giving these characters a more grounded feel, combine that with the performances from Parker and Edebiri and you have yourself a decent ride!
An astronaut struggles to maintain his grip on reality during a possibly fatally compromised mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan.
Slingshot is directed by Mikael Häfström director of 1408 (2007), The Rite (2011), Escape Plan (2013), Outside The Wire (2021) and a few others.
Slingshot is what happens when you throw random ideas for an ending at all without thinking, you get something completely nonsensical that does not match at all with what was shown previously.
The performances are fine enough here, Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne are solid and do well enough during the first two acts of the movie. The first two acts aren’t anything to write home about, in fact they are quite forgettable but nothing I would say is necessarily terrible. Just not written in a way that’s going to grab the viewer’s attention, the movie does attempt to explore John’s (played by Casey Affleck) past but has a hard time of making a distinction when it’s the past or present which ultimately leads to a bit of a mess.
When the twist and the third act happens that’s when things go from being on the bland side of things to being a complete and total mess. Suddenly nothing makes sense, everything you just saw from the rest of the movie becomes incredibly pointless and meaningless. There’s only so far someone can suspend their disbelief, this is incredibly pushing it. It might have been one thing if what ends up happening were interesting but it doesn’t even achieve at being that.
The best I can say about Slingshot is it’s decently made and has decent acting, but ultimately ends up being incredibly forgettable and ridiculous in a very bad way.
In a futuristic dystopia with enforced beauty standards, a teen awaiting mandatory cosmetic surgery embarks on a journey to find her missing friend.
Uglies is directed by McG director of Charlie’s Angels (2000), Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), The Babysitter (2017), Rim Of The World (2019), The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020), Family Switch (2023) and a few others.
Uglies is a movie that missed the the young adult dystopian film adaptation train that was going on in the early 2010s and you can tell right from the beginning. This movie was announced in 2006 where it was supposedly in development, the movie re-entered development in September 2020. I guess they had to release this movie at some point but at what cost? The movie itself absolutely terrible and fails in every single level.
The performances here are atrocious, Laverne Cox as the villain is by far the best but even she can’t turn her lines into something half decent. Joey King gives yet another terrible performance, her character Tally Youngblood has potential to be somewhat interesting but the movie’s script doesn’t allow for any character moments, development or investing exchanges between characters. It’s cliche after cliche taking aspects of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and Tris Prior from Divergent (who wasn’t even that interesting in the films) and somehow making them worse. Brianne Tju and Chase Stokes don’t fair much better and are basically just forgettable side characters who really don’t lead into anything very interesting.
The premise itself is icky to say the least, I doubt this would have sat well with audiences back in the late 2000s, early 2010s or whenever this was supposed to release. It’s a concept that could probably (and I am using probably very loosely here) work if you had filmmakers and writers who wanted to actually say something and do something with the message maybe change it up a bit to feel a lot less icky. Unfortunately that’s not what happened here, the movie is completely soulless and devoid of any meaning or isn’t trying to say anything.
McG really seems like he got bored almost immediately when starting the film and decided to throw every single young adult dystopian film adaption cliche at the wall to see what sticks with none of it sticking at all. What kills this premise immediately is the movie wants you to believe that Joey King, Chase Stokes and Brianne Tju three conventionally attractive Hollywood actors are ugly, the attempts to make these three unappealing is both baffling and ridiculous at the same time.
I’m not exactly sure what the goal here, the young adult dystopian film genre is pretty much dead at this point outside of The Hunger Games that found success last year but that’s part of a franchise that’s already been established. Uglies is dated movie that might have had somewhat of an audience if it was released 10 years ago, but as it stands it’s one of the worst of the year and definitely the most soulless movie I’ve seen this year.
Space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life-form in the universe while scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station.
Alien Romulus is directed by Fede Álvarez who previously directed Evil Dead (2013), Don’t Breathe (2016) and The Girl in the Spider’s Web (2018). Alien Romulus is the ninth film of the Alien franchise (if you count the Alien Vs Predator movies) or the seventh film of the franchise (if you don’t count the Alien Vs Predator movies). The film takes place between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986).
The Alien franchise is always a fun one, not every single film in the series is a winner but the first two films are some of my favorite films and I quite like Prometheus (2012) and Alien Covenant (2017). I was very excited to see Fede Álvarez take on the franchise since he did an incredible job with the Evil Dead series and sure enough he does one hell of a job here.
The performances are a lot of fun, Cailee Spaeny is definitely the standout who gives yet another fantastic performance from this year (first one being Civil War). She makes for a great lead and really matches the incredibly thrilling atmosphere that the film goes for. Her best moments are when she’s connecting with the rest of the cast, particularly with David Jonsson who is also quite fantastic here as well. The two have strong chemistry and really make their characters Rain (played by Cailee Spaeny) and Andy (played by David Jonsson) sibling dynamics more interesting, it’s not some deep dive into their bond but it’s just a enough to make the viewer truly care for them. Isabela Merced is also quite great here, her character doesn’t get a lot of development but she makes up for it with her performance plus her character being quite likable.
Alien Romulus leans heavily into the franchise’s horror origins which combined with what ends up happening much later in this film completely works in its favor. The aliens themselves are scary, you never know when they are going to attack it’s some very classic usage of suspense that works effectively. The kills are brutal and gory, some of the most brutal of the franchise, there’s one scene in particular that’s quite shocking that will most certainly will get under people’s skin. In terms of kills, gore and the aliens themselves Álvarez really went all out plus the use of practical effects and animatronics were excellent.
Having that said the use of digitally adding the late Ian Holm for the character of Rook was a very unnecessary move, I get the film wanted to do a call back and apparently Holm’s estate did give permission. However it still doesn’t make a good choice, the CGI is very noticeable and is incredibly distracting from an otherwise beautifully shot and well made film. It’s not enough to completely break the movie (far from it) but the fact it was used at all is very questionable.
The writing is definitely messy at times particularly when it comes to a lot of the plot stuff, but at the very least the film itself is fun to watch. The film is clearly not interested in expanding a lot of the lore of the franchise it’s more interested in bringing fear to the viewer and keep the characters in their own story. Sure there are callbacks but that’s really about it the movie is mostly self contained and serves as sort of a bridge between Alien (1979) and Prometheus (2012).
Overall Alien Romulus works incredibly well and is a pretty solid addition to the series, it’s not anything mind blowing or even new to the series. But it’s a very fun film that knows what it wants to be.
When his wife becomes sick, a struggling father buys a lifelike AI android named Alice to help with the housework. Things seem fine until Alice suddenly becomes self-aware and wants everything its new family has to offer, including the affection of its owner
Subservience is directed by S.K. Dale director of Till Death (2021)
I actually quite liked S.K. Dale’s previous film Till Death (2021), sure it was very similar to Gerald’s Game but it was a lot of fun and Megan Fox did quite a solid job. So while Subservience did seem quite similar to M3GAN (2022) I was hoping that it would at least be entertaining and at some points it is! Just the overall package doesn’t deliver.
Megan Fox is pretty decent here, it’s definitely not one of those performances that I’ll ever come back to. But in the context of the movie it works, she plays Alice quite well and is actually kind of creepy at times. Michele Morrone is alright here, there’s definitely bumps in the road with his performance but I do think for the most part Morrone and Fox do a decent enough job to get through the movie.
As far as the rest of the movie goes it’s an incredible below average M3GAN (2022) clone, this is basically if you took M3GAN (2022) and added a darker side to it. Which while at some points the dark edge to this movie works, it ultimately starts to feel like something we have seen countless times before. Resulting in another “dangerous of Ai” or “the impact Ai will have on humans” story that’s been done so many times at this point and will probably continue long after this movie releases.
What made M3GAN work well was the tongue in cheek approach, Subservience on the other hand is trying to go for this erotic thriller type of tone that ultimately never really leads to anything of note. There’s definitely hints at it, but unfortunately the movie doesn’t commit to the tone and goes with a very traditional Ai story.
Overall there really isn’t much else to be said about Subservience it’s a fine enough watch but it’s definitely not something you would ever revisit again, unlike M3GAN (2022) I can’t see this movie going to be some sort of cult classic.
Subservience releases on all VOD Platforms September 13th!
Jerome Reviews... 