The Old Guard 2 (2025) Film Review

Andy leads immortal warriors against a powerful enemy threatening their group. They grapple with the resurfacing of a long-lost immortal, complicating their mission to safeguard humanity.

The Old Guard 2 is directed by Victoria Mahoney director of Yelling to the Sky (2011). The film serves as a sequel to The Old Guard (2020).

The Old Guard 2 is one of the most disappointing films of 2025 so far and there’s definitely an argument to be made that it’s THE most disappointing. The Old Guard (2020) was a really great film that was fun and quite engaging, it came out at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and was one of the films that still gets talked about often (I feel like a lot of the films that went to streaming or were going to be released on streaming anyway during that period of time are often forgotten.) that’s mainly thanks to the great cast, fun action and the excellent direction from Gina Prince-Bythewood. A sequel was greenlit in January 2021 which given how great the first film was I was interested to see what they would do next.

Half a decade later The Old Guard 2 releases….and it’s quite a trainwreck, everything that the first film did so well at is just not present here. Instead it’s replaced with terrible dialogue that is actually quite baffling, unfocused direction (Bythewood did not return) and the feel of a straight to DVD sequel is brought in rather than this strong and fun feel from the first movie.

Charlize Theron is the one thing the movie has going for it and even then she can only do so much. When the rest of the cast either gets very little to do or are flat out not great there is not much a single actor can work with. How this movie does not go far enough with a face off between Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman is quite unbelievable and one of the several questions that the viewer is bound to ask after watching. What’s frustrating is the great supporting cast from the first film are wasted here particularly Chiwetel Ejiofor, with very little to work with due to such a shoddy script.

There are some decent hand to hand combat moments, but the action is still heavily downgraded from the first film. It’s nowhere near as thrilling, exciting or has the cinematic feel of the first. It feels very cheap and way too many quick cuts that make it hard to make out what exactly is going on.

The mythology from the first film now feels convoluted and confusing throwing in a bunch of immortality transfers and even more immortals quickly makes the viewer wonder “what exactly am I watching?” The movie never bothers with any sort of explanation or even deep dive as to why there is so much going on it’s all just sloppily put together. It doesn’t help that the movie bounces from subplot to subplot which again is thanks to poor editing and writing.

Within the first 10 minutes you can feel Gina Prince-Bythewood’s direction is missing, it’s a shame because she really brought this focused and thrilling direction that helped the first film find an identity. The Old Guard 2 never finds an identity in fact it does not come close to finding one, Mahoney’s direction settles for a very cringe (I hate using that term but when you hear some of the lines from this movie you will be saying the same thing) inducing script that tries to playoff like it’s trying to be something cool when in reality it’s embarrassing.

The cherry on top in all this mess is the movie ends on a cliffhanger that will absolutely piss off even casual viewers, I really hope that the potential third film was shot back to back with this one because otherwise it’s such a baffling decision when it took five years just to get this one out the door.

Overall The Old Guard 2 is a disaster, it’s the equivalent of those terrible straight to DVD sequels that are quickly forgotten about. This movie will face the same fate while its predecessor will still be looked at in an even more positive light.

The Old Guard 2 is available on Netflix.

1/10 F

Push (2025) Film Review

When a violent attack at her open house sends her into premature labor, a pregnant realtor must find a way to escape before she gives birth.

Push is directed by David Charbonier and Justin Douglas Powell directors of The Boy Next Door (2020) and The Djinn (2021).

It’s not hard to be reminded of Inside (2007) a brutal and quite disturbing film that was part of the New wave of French horror while you watch Push. The main difference here is Push is nowhere near as brutal, the film might also not be as good as Inside (2007) was but there is still quite a lot to really appreciate here.

What does help this movie stay on its feet is the committed performance from Alicia Sanz, her being front and center gives her the opportunity to go all out with this performance. Between the range of survival instincts and the constant running, hiding and fighting she really delivers each and every scene. She also does a fantastic job of matching the atmosphere the film provides, she really does feel like someone who’s desperately trying to survive which in the end does make the viewer care for her.

Raúl Castillo is also quite great here, he plays this mostly silent antagonist who is genuinely intimidating. While the effect does wear off towards the end as we get a lack of character writing as well as a motivation, in the earlier parts of the film he remains threatening and quite unpredictable which does have some quite raw moments thrown in for good measure.

The filming combined with the interior of the home is strong as well, there’s moments of urgency when it comes to finding where to hide. There’s only so much in the home to hide before you are found, the cinematography from Daniel Katz captures this incredibly well and in this raw like style that helps the film become more grounded. The sharp corners along with some of the long hallways make for some anxiety filled moments that will sure get under the viewer’s skin.

The biggest flaw is the character writing, outside of Natalie’s (played by Alicia Sanz) current circumstances we really don’t get a whole lot about her. Sure there are mentions of her past but that isn’t explored all that much, luckily this isn’t quite enough to make the viewer not care for her as a character but it is still admittedly very frustrating because there were opportunities to dive deeper with her character.

As far as solid home invasion horror film goes, Push mostly gets it right. The atmosphere is there, a likable protagonist and some great camerawork help this one stand tall and cross the finish line. It’s not anything mind blowing or saying anything of note, but it is a thrilling little movie that I recommend giving a watch if you are a fan of the genre.

Push releases tomorrow on Shudder.

6/10 C+

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story (2025) Film Review

Max and Rudy Van Helsing confront the terrifying legacy of their father’s history with Dracula.

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story is directed by Natasha Kermani director of Shattered (2017), Imitation Girl (2017) and Lucky (2020).

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story has such an interesting setup and really great ideas that I’m sure any fan of vampires could get behind. A story tells the later years of Abraham Van Helsing himself and his two sons where he moves to the U.S. to escape his past. An intriguing idea that has the misfortune of being surrounded by a very dull and boring (I hate using that word in my reviews but there is genuinely no other way to describe it) movie that completely fumbles the ball with its execution.

The performances are at the very least decent, Titus Welliver gives an intimidating performance as Van Helsing and is by far one of the films better parts. His performance alone is able to give the scene some sense of solid thrilling atmosphere, Brady Hepner and Judah Mackey are also not bad here as well. They aren’t as strong as Welliver mainly due to the very basic script, but they make the most of what they have and leave a somewhat solid impression. Unfortunately there’s just not a whole lot going on with their characters.

The cinematography is quite well done, with this old-school visual style that does at least for a brief moment bring you into the movie’s world. The score is also quite chilling at times, there’s tons of quiet moments that help the score sink into the viewer as each scene plays out, when it comes to technical aspects the movie is a success. The atmosphere is there, the cinematography is genuinely beautiful in this haunting type of way and the score is chilling.

The movie struggles when it comes to the script, unfortunately the movie quickly abandons its neat ideas and instead trades them in for a collection of scenes where very little is going on. This isn’t a slow burn horror film where the setup and wait might payoff, this is the type of slow burn horror movie where you can really feel it drag out. Which is a bit of shame because there are moments in between that are genuinely effective. There’s one particular moment that resulted in the same sort of atmosphere as Night Of The Living Dead (1968) where you are wondering what’s going on in the outside world of the movie. Those moments are almost immediately followed up with scenes where very little happens or is learned (mainly due to there not being any mystery since we already know who Abraham is.)

If you are going into this movie expecting to see vampires you are going to be very disappointed, because weirdly enough there’s a huge lack of them. Instead it plays as this picture of a family trying to deal with their traumatic pasts. Which makes sense in the context of the movie but it’s not done in an investing way for the viewer to care for these characters. How they took such an interesting premise that includes Van Helsing and made it completely dull and even quite forgettable is the real mystery.

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story releases in theaters Friday.

4/10 D+

Daniela Forever (2025) Film Review

After his girlfriend dies in an accident, a grieving man joins a sleep trial that allows him to rebuild his life with her through the use of lucid dreams.

Daniela Forever is directed by Nacho Vigalondo director of Timecrimes (2007), Extraterrestrial (2011), Open Windows (2014) and Colossal (2016).

Daniela Forever suffers from having some really great ideas but just not executing them all that well, which is quite unfortunate because I do think the movie has some bright spots towards the end.

The acting is a mixed bag, Henry Golding gives a solid performance…during the last 20 minutes before that however is a bit painful to watch. There’s absolutely no subtlety with his performance or how his character Nicholas is feeling, that’s partly due to how messy the script really is. As I said Golding eventually recovers during the last 20 minutes but by then it’s too little and the viewer has more than likely checked out due to how chaotic and sloppy the movie really is. Beatrice Granno’s performance is serviceable but unfortunately the lack of chemistry with Golding is not doing the movie any favors.

There are some admittedly neat shots with some decent use of visual effects, it matches the sci-fi romance feel the movie is going for. The visuals actually do a better job at moving the story along than the writing in this case (which isn’t saying much given that the visuals are just fine.)

The writing has a lot of genuinely interesting ideas, there’s a somewhat intriguing middle portion but that’s really where it ends. The movie focuses way too much on explanations rather than letting a scene sit with the viewer, there’s even more explanations about obvious rules about dreams in general. This takes away a lot of the intrigue the movie might have had previously and instead leaves the viewer more confused as to why this needed to be explained.

The chemistry between Golding and Granno is just not there at all, the dialogue has very little going for it as well. Outside of a few moments that are genuinely sweet, it feels very bare bones with nothing for the viewer to chew on about these characters.

Overall there really is not much else to say about Daniela Forever, but the execution is incredibly lacking and leaves the viewer wanting more.

Daniela Forever releases in theaters Friday and on all VOD platforms July 22nd

4/10 D+

The Ritual (2025) Film Review

Two priests — one questioning his faith and one reckoning with a troubled past — must put aside their differences to perform a difficult and dangerous exorcism on a possessed woman.

The Ritual is directed by David Midell director of Nightlights (2014) and The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (2019).

Do you remember The Pope’s Exorcist (2023) and The Exorcism (2024)? If so imagine those two movies only take out Russell Crowe and put in Al Pacino and Dan Stevens, then proceed to make a movie that is truly baffling in every sense of the word (and in the worst way possible.) The end result is The Ritual a complete and total mess of a movie that has very little going for it and offers nothing new to the exorcism sub-genre.

The only positive here is the acting and even then there are tons of questionable moments, Al Pacino and Dan Stevens are trying their best to make the movie somewhat interesting but the lack of chemistry between the cast really keeps this movie down and prevents any real character moments. It does not help at all that the character’s are dull and the movie barely gives any compelling information about them, leaving the viewer to care very little about them.

Visually this movie is incredibly bland and just baffling, the movie is shot like an episode of The Office (2005) and almost immediately it becomes noticeable. Sadly that’s probably the most memorable thing about this movie, because the rest of it is nothing but horror movie cliche after horror movie cliche. The Pope’s Exorcist (2023) and The Exorcism (2024) were not visual masterpieces but at the very least they looked presentable and the filming matched what they were going for. With The Ritual you get tons of shaky camera moments, terrible editing and an almost parody like style. This type of style does not work for a movie that wants to take itself seriously, the reason it works for The Office (2005) is because the show is comedic and does not take itself incredibly serious, this movie however does.

Everything else about this movie is bland, the direction from Midell has no real identity. Midell spends a majority of the time on the camerawork and a bunch of arguments between the characters, it’s a shame because the movie is based on a true story. But it’s presented in such a sloppy and very amateurish way that the viewer almost immediately checks out right from the beginning.

Overall The Ritual is yet another terrible exorcism movie, when some people say that the exorcism sub-genre is becoming the shark movie sub-genre The Ritual is a prime example of what they are referring to.

The Ritual is available on all VOD platforms.

1/10 F

Most Anticipated Films Of July 2025!

Well June lasted for five minutes now didn’t it? Jokes aside I have to say June was a pretty excellent month for film, it was quite consistent with some really strong releases! Let’s see if July can be just as good!

14. Ziam – July 9th (Netflix)

13. Push – July 11th (Shudder)

12. Finally Dawn – July 18th (Theaters)

11. Daniela Forever – July 11th (Theaters) and July 22nd (VOD)

10. Ick – July 24th (Theaters)

9. The Old Guard 2 – Out Now (Netflix)

8. Oh, Hi – July 25th (Theaters)

7. I Know What You Did Last Summer – July 18th (Theaters)

6. Fantastic Four: First Steps – July 25th (Theaters)

5. Cloud – July 18th and July 25th (limited theaters) August 1st (expands theaters)

4. Superman – July 11th (Theaters)

3. Sorry Baby – July 18th (Expand Theaters)

2. Eddington – July 18th (Theaters)

1. Together – July 30th (Theaters)

40 Acres (2025) Film Review

Surviving on an isolated farm after a series of plagues and wars, a former soldier and her family make one last stand against a vicious militia that wants to take their land.

40 Acres is directed by R.T. Thorne which is his directorial debut!

All I knew going into 40 Acres was that Danielle Deadwyler was in the cast which was a sign that I needed to check this one out. Deadwyler has quickly become one of my favorite actresses working today, a major part is due to how consistently she delivers fantastic performances and here is no exception. I also have to say for a directorial debut it’s a very interesting swing this film took, including some cannibalistic militia, family bonding and some pretty brutal action. All of this combined together makes for quite an interesting little movie.

As I said before Danielle Deadwyler is a fantastic actress so there is no surprise that she ends up being the best part of the film, there’s something about her tone of voice that is truly effective and that’s really present here. Her interactions with the rest of the cast are raw and lead to some quite effective family dynamic bits that make you care for these characters. Deadwyler does such a great job of keeping each scene interesting, she leads this film to success the whole way through. A mother character wanting to protect their family isn’t anything new but the way Deadwyler portrays Hailey Freeman is effective, raw and absolutely fun to watch.

The rest of the cast are great, Kataem O’Connor, Michael Greyeyes and Leenah Robinson get time to shine in certain scenes. The main focus is very much on Deadwyler, but the rest of the cast do get to be involved and are quite great at moving the plot along at this solid and focused pace. There just isn’t any heavy character writing going on with them.

When it comes to world building 40 Acres does a pretty solid job of giving the viewer the basic rundown, Thorne keeps things grounded by telling us background details of what led to a lack of resources. He tells us this through the grounded script that he and Glenn Taylor wrote, it’s a post apocalyptic story that has much more realism to it than a lot of others one do, yes it does have some traditional genre beats but that does not stop the film from being genuinely powerful with its family dynamics at times.

The cinematography combined with the location is beautiful and fits the film incredibly well, right from the beginning you can feel the thrilling atmosphere in the air. It does take some time to get going again but once the action kicks back in the film keeps building up from there. The cinematography from Jeremy Benning is detailed, and with the help of Thorne’s knowledge of music video directing he’s able to combine the cinematography and music together to make so very well done scenes. There’s one scene in particular that may feel a bit out of place, which there is definitely an argument to be made that it is. However I think Thorne combined with Benning’s cinematography makes it work in the long run.

Finally there’s the action which does actually get brutal towards the end, the film very much focuses on the family dynamics however the action is still incredibly effective when it pops up. There’s this sense of thrills that makes you want to root for the family to make it out of this situation.

Overall 40 Acres is a solid thriller that has this big in scale feel that is quite striking, Danielle Deadwyler’s performance alone warrants a watch but if you are also looking for a thrilling ride with some strong action and family dynamics I recommend giving this one a go.

40 Acres releases July 2nd in theaters.

7/10 B

Bring Her Back (2025) Film Review

A brother and sister witness a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.

Bring Her Back is directed by Danny and Michael Philippou directors of Talk To Me (2022).

The main reason why it took me so long to review Bring Her Back is because there is so much to think over, I saw this a month ago and it really has not left my mind since then. I liked Talk To Me (2022) quite a lot but I was curious to see if the Philippous could go even further and deliver something even better…that was absolutely the case here. Bring Her Back is a quite disturbing ride from beginning to end, this is if you took the mean spirited nature that Talk To Me (2022) was leaning towards and made it into a huge part of the film. Combine that with some absolutely incredible performances, some quite heartbreaking and horrifying writing as well cinematography plus gore and you have yourself one of the best films of the year.

Starting with the performances everyone here does a fantastic job across the board, but the one who makes this film horrifying is Sally Hawkins. Her performance is what makes the experience feel so real, the flip like a switch like performance where she presents herself as a kind grieving mother to an insane and disturbed person who has no problem doing a lot of psychological manipulation that damages Andy (played by Billy Barratt) and his sister Piper’s (played by Sora Wong) relationship. As the film goes on you grow to hate Laura (played by Sally Hawkins) more and more that is until the ending, where the film has this interesting direction you still hate her but at the same time can’t help but feel some sort of sympathy towards her. The way this is executed is masterfully done, the score combined with the cinematography and of course Hawkins’s acting makes the ending perfect. Sally Hawkins is unbelievable, her performance alone is an experience along with bringing this disturbing nature to the film that gets under your skin.

Billy Barratt, Sora Wong and Jonah Wren Phillips are all fantastic here as well. Barratt plays this realistic brother type of role that shows he clearly cares about his sister Piper. Andy is guilt-ridden due to his father’s death and it haunts him throughout the film, the way this is portrayed and executed is simple yet very effective. He constantly blames himself for something he had no control over, these moments where he hears his father’s voice are just some of the film’s most chilling moments.

Sora Wong plays a realistic sister type of role, Piper slowly gets manipulated by Laura into turning on her brother over the course of the film. Which is heartbreaking and horrifying to watch, also Sora Wong was actually born with coloboma and microphthalmia which left her with limited sight much like her character Piper. This representation helps make her character all the more grounded and even more devastating. Finally there’s Jonah Wren Phillips who plays Oliver, we learn more about his character as the film goes on I won’t say too much about him since it does lead into spoiler territory. But I will say that he does bring some quite neat body horror moments as well as gore that is quite disturbing. His performance is also quite chilling.

The writing is filled to the brim with this dark atmosphere, the two compliment each other incredibly well. What makes the film all the more disturbing is just how well written the characters really are, the dynamics between the characters is so well done with a lot of tension and dedication from the cast fully fleshes out the character writing and moves the story along at this very focused pace.

The disturbing parts come in both a psychological or theme wise and as well as gore. The gore is incredibly gnarly and you get a little bit of everything, including body horror, simple slashes, splatters and so much more. It all adds up to be this incredibly uncomfortable watch that you can’t look away from, then you have the themes of grieving and manipulation which are incredibly effective here. A lot of films have the film of grief but the mean spirited nature of the film along with this surprisingly beautiful ending is more than enough to disturb the viewer.

Overall Bring Her Back is one of the best films of the year, it’s incredibly well acted, written, directed and will leave you disturbed. Definitely one to watch if you haven’t already.

Bring Her Back releases tomorrow on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

Friendship (2025) Film Review

Suburban dad Craig falls hard for his charismatic new neighbour, but his attempts to make an adult male friend soon threatens to ruin both of their lives.

Friendship is directed by Andrew DeYoung which is his directorial debut!

The comedy genre is often one of the hardest genres to nail, you have to take a long of different notes into account such as “are my jokes funny enough?, will anyone get the humor I’m going for? What can I do to make my sense of humor or jokes standout from a crowded genre” and many others. Luckily Friendship goes for this very different approach, instead of a traditional comedy it goes for this fever dream like feel that works incredibly well. Sure other comedies have done that before but this film decides to do things differently.

Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd are absolutely hilarious together, the two’s personalities mesh well together and when the film needs them to their personalities clashing against one another opens the door to so many humorous moments. I’m not all that familiar with Robinson’s work, I’ve seen all of his film roles (which is not that many) and only seen very limited of his TV work, so I might be missing some context here when it comes to this is what Robinson’s career has been building up to. With that being said it’s a fantastic performance, he captures someone with a lot of social anxiety and really who really wants to make friends to the point where a normal desire for acceptance ends up being blurred. Robinson gives a chaotic, well acted and humorous performance that truly shows how with a flip of a switch his character Craig Waterman can go from being calm to yearning for acceptance in unhealthy ways.

Paul Rudd is also fantastic, he plays Austin Carmichael a man who slowly distances himself from Craig Waterman which kick starts the film’s main focus. Rudd and Robinson’s chemistry is so much fun. There’s plenty of laughs, dramatic moments and we get some character bits from the two. Carmichael slowly but surely becomes a man with mismatched intentions, there might not be incredibly strong character writing for Carmichael as there is for Waterman. But due to Rudd’s performance it works.

The writing is genuinely hilarious while also tackling some pretty interesting themes. There’s the desire of acceptance and how much of it is too much, there’s social anxiety and how it can be hard to make friends. Plus the film has this main theme of the connections we make as humans and showing that they can be incredibly messy, we have all had a messy experience with someone whether it ranges from an argument or something far more serious. The film highlights these in humorous and actually quite relatable ways, the awkward interactions including some pauses were genuinely funny and quite raw as well.

The direction from Andrew DeYoung has this raw feel that you quickly get attached to once the film begins, there’s moments where the film does take some liberties but the film is very consistently grounded. The fever dream style of humor really helps here especially with the actions of the characters, while not every character is incredibly well written. It’s the humor and facial expressions that really make them work as well as they do.

Overall Friendship is a very solid film that I do think is going to go on to be a classic in the comedy genre, not every single joke lands but that hardly matters when you execute the many themes of the film incredibly well.

Friendship is available on all VOD Platforms.

8/10 B+

Ponyboi (2025) Film Review

Unfolding over the course of Valentine’s Day in New Jersey, a young intersex sex worker must run from the mob after a drug deal goes sideways, forcing him to confront his past.

Ponyboi is directed by Esteban Arango director of Blast Beat (2020).

Ponyboi is one that surprised me with how much I ended up really liking it, while the crime thriller elements are not exactly anything new and are by far the weakest part of the film. The film is backed by a pretty excellent cast who does a fantastic job of moving this story, a very strong atmosphere, some beautiful shots and a soundtrack that makes great use of certain songs.

The performances as I said before are quite excellent, River Gallo gives such a beautiful leading performance that ends up being the heart of the film, it helps that they also wrote the script so Gallo can easily connect with the material and can push an already great performance into something quite special. Gallo’s character Ponyboi is exploring their identity in this quite raw and very focused way that quickly connects with the viewer. The cinematography from Ed Wu really compliments Ponyboi as a character as it focuses on them and in a lot of ways does some character development, Gallo’s body language, speech and interactions with the rest of the cast is truly fantastic here. You get the feeling constantly throughout the film that Gallo wants you to feel connected and that shows right during the first scene to the very end.

Dylan O’Brien is very unhinged in the best way possible, he’s genuinely terrifying at times and really sells the character quite well. Victoria Pedretti’s character may not have the most character writing but she still gives a solid performance that captures the film’s atmosphere. Lastly you have Murray Bartlett who gives his third great performance this year (the other two being Opus and O’Dessa), Bartlett only has a handful of scenes but he makes great use of those moments and delivers a honest performance, he also has pretty strong chemistry with River Gallo. Indya Moore isn’t in the film all that much but there is one particular scene that is incredibly powerful and meaningful that the viewer is going to remember for the rest of the film.

The script from River Gallo is quite excellent, Gallo is intersex (which fun fact this is the first feature film an openly intersex actor plays an intersex person) which makes the film feel much more personal since Ponyboi is intersex. Ponyboi’s experiences don’t just feel like you are being told about them, it feels like you are seeing them for yourself or you are being invited to this story by a friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time. I already said how the cinematography from Ed Wu compliments Ponyboi as a character, but not only does it do that but it has this atmospheric feel that captures the world around Ponyboi. It’s truly breathtaking and has so much going on that you want to explore.

The film’s first 15-20 minutes is pretty chaotic, there’s a lot going on and you really can’t help but love it. It definitely has this feel of Sean Baker’s work but manages to be its own thing as well. The soundtrack and the use of songs such as “My Heart Can Feel No Pain” by the Tonettes is quite well done and really fits the atmosphere the film is going for. The score from Cristobal Tapia de Veer is beautiful, tense and striking all at the same time.

Overall Ponyboi is one of the best films of the year. It’s an incredibly well acted, directed and written film that immediately brings the viewer’s interest to the screen right from the beginning. I can’t wait to see what Arango and Gallo do next.

Ponyboi is currently in theaters.

9/10 A