Fountain Of Youth (2025) Film Review

Two estranged siblings partner on a global heist to find the mythological Fountain of Youth. They must use their knowledge of history to follow clues on an adventure that will change their lives and possibly lead to immortality.

Fountain Of Youth is directed by Guy Richie director of Snatch (2000), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (2011), Aladdin (2019), Wrath Of Man (2021), The Covenant (2023), The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) and a few others.

Fountain Of Youth is basically if you took National Treasure and Indiana Jones but made them both incredibly dull. This movie is a straight to streaming film and it’s one of those cases where you can really feel that, sure the movie might look big and scale and the filming is actually quite decent at times. But it really does end up being a shrunken down version of better films.

The performances are fine enough, nobody here really does anything noteworthy which is a bit of a disappointment because you have John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eiza González and Stanley Tucci (who is very underused) all in the same movie yet all their performances are either forgettable or are not impressive. It does not help that Krasinski and Portman have zero chemistry, sure there’s a few decent moments of dialogue but the chemistry feels like dead air right from the start.

The action scenes I will say provided some surprisingly entertaining moments, they are not anything mind blowing but they are at the very least fun enough. Christopher Benstead’s score is also pretty solid as well, it definitely gives off the feel of an adventure and manages to capture this adventurous atmosphere that actually does a lot of the heavy lifting in the atmosphere department.

The writing is what kills this movie, there’s just not a whole lot going on here narratively, it’s all very predictable and goes on for way too long. The “twist” the movie tries to say is a surprise reveal is incredibly predictable and narratively is incredibly ridiculous, it’s odd because the first half of the movie is not that bad. It’s when the movie becomes an unimaginative version of National Treasure and Indiana Jones it really falls off a cliff and never recovers.

There is not much more to say about Fountain Of Youth, outside of some decent actions, a solid score and fine enough acting you are not going to get much else out of this one.

Fountain Of Youth is available on Apple TV+

4/10 D+

The Surrender (2025) Film Review

When the family patriarch dies, a grieving mother and daughter risk their lives to perform a brutal resurrection ritual and bring him back from the dead.

The Surrender is directed by Julia Max which is her directorial debut.

The Surrender is one of those films where it takes it’s sweet time to get going, right from the beginning the film establishes a quite thrilling and haunting atmosphere that helps establish the characters, setting and overall themes of the film.

Without the performances from Colby Minifie and Kate Burton the film would not have worked nearly as well as it did, the two bring these natural performances that really match the film’s dark atmosphere and really bring the viewer front and center into what is exactly going on here. Although some of the character choices can be questionable and some of the writing does have a few hiccups, the performances from Minifie and Burton feel natural and quite relatable enough to keep the film on its feet. The mother and daughter bond between Burton and Minifie feels raw and does a really solid job of establishing their relationship early on, Minifie is definitely the emotional core of the film where there are some quite devastating scenes that heavily make the second half of the film all the more worth it.

The script from Julia Max is quite strong, the first half of the film is more of a family drama with a haunting atmosphere. The film takes a bit to set the stage for what’s to come during the second half which is where the horror kicks in, Max does a really solid job of balancing family drama and horror. When she needs to, she combines the two together incredibly well to create something quite haunting and surprisingly quite sad.

There’s this theme of trying to make sense that loved one is gone as well as going through grief. Which although the theme of grief has been done quite a lot, The Surrender manages to make things a bit more interesting. It brings this desperation to the table and question of “what if you can bring a loved one back from the day?” the catch is you have to destroy the personal possessions of said person which is where things get really hard for Megan (played by Colby Minifie) and Barbara (played by Kate Burton) It’s hard to let go even when you are supposedly promised your loved one will return and you can feel the pain through the characters.

Overall The Surrender is a well directed and well written film that has two fantastic performances from Minifie and Burton. Julia Max takes the themes of grief, letting go and relationships of mothers and daughters and really explores them in this devastating and haunting way that is sure going to stick with the viewer as the credits roll.

The Surrender releases tomorrow on Shudder!

8/10 B+

The Ballad Of Wallis Island (2025) Film Review

Old tensions resurface when former bandmates who were former lovers reunite for a private show at the island home of an eccentric millionaire.

The Ballad Of Wallis Island is directed by James Griffiths who previously directed Cuban Fury (2014). The film is based on the 2007 short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island.

The Ballad Of Wallis Island is a pretty straightforward story about the relationships with art we both make and admire, the film does have its hiccups particularly in the character writing department but there is so much passion felt here especially through the acting and flow of the film.

The acting all around is quite great, Tim Key, Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan all give beautiful performances that are genuinely meaningful especially as the film goes on. While the character writing is a bit lacking as we don’t really get some critical answers to some of these characters and are kind of left in this unknown area, what makes them work is the acting. It’s raw, beautiful and striking which is more than enough to bring the viewer along for the ride.

The direction from James Griffiths is earnest and gives this beautiful look at Charles (played by Tim Key) looking up to Herb McGwyer (played by Tom Basden) and Nell Mortimer (played by Carey Mulligan) and inspiration for music, it’s genuinely touching and displays tons of beautifully done moments that you can really feel their bond growing through the screen.

The cinematography combined with the music is beautiful as well, the mountain town and folk music aesthetics really add a lot of flavor to the film and build the atmosphere it needs to really deliver. The cinematography from G. Magni Ágústsson really brings the whole beauty of the film together in the end with tons of shots that stay with you until the credits.

Overall The Ballad Of Wallis Island is a beautifully acted and done film that really inspires you especially when it comes to its theming.

The Ballad Of Wallis Island is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

Nonnas (2025) Film Review

After losing his beloved mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with actual nonnas — grandmothers, as the chefs.

Nonnas is directed by Stephen Chbosky director of The Four Corners Of Nowhere (1995), The Perks Of Being a Wallflower (2012), Wonder (2017) and Dear Evan Hansen (2021). Nonnas is based on the life of Joe Scaravella the owner of Staten Island restaurant Enoteca Maria who risks everything to honor his late mother by opening a restaurant with grandmothers as chefs.

Nonnas is exactly what you expect it to be, a heartwarming film that really touches your heart incredibly quickly. The cast is incredibly likable and even at times manages to elevate the material into delivering some great performances, there’s even some themes of love, grief and healing going on here (even if they aren’t executed in a very deep way.)

The performances are the best part of the movie, Vince Vaughn actually gives one of his better performances here. It’s not anything groundbreaking but this is one of the rare occasions where you can feel the passion is there, it helps that the script from Liz Maccie while not anything incredible still gives Vaughn something to work with. In the end he comes off as incredibly charming and really does a solid job with bouncing off of the rest of the cast.

Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Branco, Talia Shire and Brenda Vaccaro are all just fantastic, each of them brings this certain level of charm to the movie that really brings the viewer along for the ride. The disagreements and remarks they throw at each other gives the movie some decent laughs and the performances from all of them in general is really solid. It helps that they all are fully committed to their performances, which is mainly what keeps the movie afloat.

The rest of the movie is decent, the true story is told in this straightforward way that does not harm or really benefit the movie. The writing is filled to the brim with charm, there’s some moments of tackling grief with Joe Scaravella (played by Vince Vaughn) trying to move on from his recently deceased mother, even if these moments are not anything incredibly deep it’s nice that they are here in the first place.

Overall Nonnas is a movie that’s pretty straightforward and is incredibly charming, there might not be a whole lot going on here theme or writing wise. But it is undeniably a cute and heartwarming story that the cast manages to make work.

Nonnas is available on Netflix.

6/10 C+

A Minecraft Movie (2025) Film Review

A mysterious portal pulls four misfits into the Overworld, a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master the terrain while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected crafter named Steve.

Minecraft is directed by Jared Hess director of Napoleon Dynamite (2004), Nacho Libre (2006), Gentlemen Broncos (2009), Don Verdean (2015), Masterminds (2016) and Thelma The Unicorn (2024). Minecraft is based on the 2011 video game of the same name.

Minecraft is the type of move that truly has to be seen to be believed, it’s a terrible movie yes but there are points where I have to give some credit to Jack Black and Jason Momoa for absolutely not caring and deciding to act completely insane. It reaches “so bad it’s hilarious” territory which did get a few laughs out of me. Having that said this is still a mess of a movie that mostly falls flat on its face.

As I said earlier, Jack Black and Jason Momoa give completely insane performances that really makes you wonder “what on earth are they doing?” I’m not even sure if they know either to be quite honest. It’s going to vary from person to person whether these performances are annoying or they are so bad they are hilarious. Jack Black explaining the basics about Minecraft and announcing it like he made a new discovery is completely unserious it’s almost baffling. Unfortunately everyone else is given very little to do, Emma Myers and Danielle Brooks who don’t actually give terrible performances are given so little to do they may as well have not been in the movie at all. Sebastian Hansen fairs a bit better in the relevant to the script department but his character also does not leave a lasting impression. Jennifer Coolidge is in this for some reason and is mostly regulated to a gag where she likes a Minecraft villager…the less I say about that the better.

The writing is not only terrible but chaotic and not in a good fun way, rather than exploring some creative points of the Minecraft world or trying to explore what makes this world so interesting. We instead get a lot of shouting from Steve (played by Jack Black) explaining very basic rules of the world with none of it being interesting. One moment that has quickly become a meme online is when he says “Chicken Jockey” and you know what? That moment in particular really sums up this whole movie, it’s loud, obnoxious and has no sense of thought. I hate using the term but this is the prime example of brainrot at it’s worse. It’s nothing but easter eggs constantly thrown at the viewer, which might be fine enough for some fans. But for others who are looking for an actual story you are straight out of luck.

The CGI is also unappealing to look at, it takes so much away from what made Minecraft so interesting. It’s supposed to be a world where you feel creative as well as being…well you know fun? Here it all feels very corporate like this was a bunch of business executives idea of what Minecraft looks like, the world looks inconsistent and none of it gives off this creative atmosphere. It’s a complete and total mess that does not result in anything visually appealing, this does not want to make the viewer explore this world at all.

The closest thing we get about creativity in this movie is how creativity defeating evil, it’s a half-hearted message that ultimately does not really mean anything especially when you take a look at the rest of the movie and how lifeless it truly is.

Overall Minecraft is a terrible movie, it might please some younger fans but for everyone else this is an endurance test to sit through.

Minecraft is available on all VOD platforms.

2/10 F

Clown In A Cornfield (2025) Film Review

Looking for a fresh start, Quinn and her father move to the quiet town of Kettle Springs. They soon learn the fractured community has fallen on hard times after losing a treasured factory to a fire. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning clown emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time.

Clown In A Cornfield is directed by Eli Craig director of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) and Little Evil (2017)

Clown In A Cornfield is a slasher film that starts out how you would expect the traditional slasher to but then the film takes a turn that makes it standout quite well. Combine that with some fun kills, solid acting and some darkly comedic writing and you have yourself a very fun film.

The performances are all around solid, Katie Douglas is definitely the standout of the main cast. She nails the part of this new girl in a new town, she’s charming and connects well with the rest of the cast. Some of the character development of Quinn (played by Katie Douglas) comes off as genuine and the interactions she has with her father Dr. Glenn Maybrook do end up being meaningful. Kevin Durand is also quite great here, he plays his part well even if he’s not in the film all that much.

The writing is darkly comedic which I was honestly not expecting. There were moments here where I bursted out laughing, I do like that the film did not heavily rely on being meta to be funny. Often times being way too meta can easily backfire, but here it was a nice mix of meta humor and other types of humor to keep things interesting.

The film has this dark yet comedic atmosphere that almost feels like the classic horror comedy feel, there is also some Goosebumps DNA and I mean that in a good way. The film is able to play off a ton of silly moments in this dramatic way which in turn makes said moments even more hilarious, it’s not exactly reinventing the wheel by doing this as other films have done this and admittedly better. However Clown In A Cornfield has the charm to back it up which gives the film the energy it needs to execute its comedic tone well.

As I said before the first bit of the film is a very traditional slasher film which the film does a great job at. The rest of the film turns the story on its head and goes for some pretty neat ideas that are actually executed quite well. There definitely could have been room for a bit more development in some areas however with how the film pushes the story at a nice pace and does not overstay its welcome it mostly works wonderfully.

Overall the charm of Clown In A Cornfield is what pushes it to the finish line, the film is not going reinvent the slasher genre even with its third act. Having that said it’s an incredibly fun film that any fan of the slasher genre will love.

Clown In A Cornfield is currently in theaters.

8/10 B+

A Breed Apart (2025) Film Review

Violet accepts an invitation to a private island with some of the world’s most famous social media influencers. However, she soon becomes part of her own horrific reality show when the guests find themselves in a fight for their lives against the island’s legendary man-eating dogs.

A Breed Apart is directed by Griff Furst and Nathan Furst both of which directed Nightmare Shark (2018) while Griff Furst also directed Lake Placid 3 (2010), Starve (2014), Cold Moon (2016) and a bunch of made for TV Shark movies. A Breed Apart serves as a remake of The Breed (2006)

A Breed Apart is one of those movies where you sit and ask yourself “why? Why does this exist?” A remake of a film that was already not very good and somehow made even worse due to a lack of originality and horrendous execution that wishes it could be a fun movie.

The performances from the cast are terrible but they are about what you expect, so there isn’t exactly a huge surprise. Hayden Panettiere is unfortunately regulated to more of a cameo which is a shame because she’s the one who gives the best performance. The idea of making her into a in universe action actress named Hayden Hurst is goofy yet had potential but unfortunately this movie’s humor is unfunny and comes off more like a dog version of Sharknado (2013)

The writing is about as terrible as you would expect, it very much feels like they are trying to recreate Sharknado (2013) in all of it’s goofiness and capture the “it’s so bad it’s funny” type of feel. Unfortunately for this movie it fails to even do that, the writing is painfully unfunny with some memes thrown in, horribly written characters and painfully uninteresting dialogue that the viewer will check out of within 5 minutes. A lot of the dialogue is if you took poorly voice acted lines from early PlayStation games and put them into a movie.

The CGI dogs are more funny than they are scary, combined that with clear as day fake looking forests and barking soundboards you have yourself at least some entertainment to laugh at. But sitting through a poor attempt of trying to tackle influencer satire and a bare bones Jurassic Park (1993) creature feature copy is just not worth it at all.

Overall A Breed Apart is horrendous and at times feels like an elaborate bit, but instead of a punchline you are left with a terrible movie that has very little going on. Outside of a few moments that are decently funny the rest of the movie is a chore to get through, which in turn makes this movie one to skip.

A Breed Apart releases Friday in theaters and on all VOD platforms.

1/10 F

Snow White (2025)

Fleeing from the Evil Queen, Snow White finds refuge with Dopey, Bashful, Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy, Doc and Sleepy. When the palace guards embark on a mission to bring her back, a commoner and his group of woodland bandits band together to protect her.

Snow White is directed by Marc Webb director of (500) Days Of Summer (2009), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Gifted (2017) and The Only Living Boy in New York (2017). Snow White is a live action remake of the 1937 animated film of the same name.

For a movie that has had so many “controversies” this felt like a huge nothing burger, it’s no secret that most of the live action Disney movies are terrible and Snow White is no exception. Everything terrible that a lot of these live action remakes are guilty of Snow White multiples that by ten.

The one thing I can give this movie is Rachel Zegler, she’s undeniably a great singer and she really works with what she can here. Due to the script she’s unfortunately not able to utilize her full talent, but there are a few moments during the songs where I was actually impressed. She’s the only one here that walks out of it who leaves a great impression, everyone else is either forgettable or flat out terrible. Zegler absolutely deserved a far better script and movie in general.

Gal Gadot is terrible there’s just no other way to describe her performance, look the Evil Queen was not exactly a deep character but Gadot is still horribly miscast, her singing pales in comparison to Zegler’s and she does not add anything to the character. There’s even times where it almost feels like she’s acting like she’s in a completely different movie, it’s a completely bizarre performance that truly feels empty.

The movie itself is just not appealing to look at either, between the bland CGI and the horrifying CG dwarfs that are nightmare fuel (not in a good or fun way) it’s an absolute pain to watch due to how lifeless it all looks. The sense of wonder and magic of the original film is not present here at all, it’s replaced with a bland and terrible style that completely defeats the purpose of the whimsical feel of the story.

The writing is terrible, the dwarfs who in the original film were charming and fun crack unfunny jokes here and have very little going for them. Andrew Burnap who plays a new character named Jonathan (partially based on the Prince in the original film) is about as bland as you can get when it comes to love interests, he doesn’t give a terrible performance but it’s most certainly one that does not leave a lasting impression. Even Snow White as a character really does not get a whole lot of interesting developments, as I said earlier Rachel Zegler tries her hardest to make it work but in the end very little comes together.

Overall there really is not a whole lot to Snow White it’s a terrible version of the 1937 original, it’s truly one of the laziest of the live action Disney films. It fails to do anything interesting with the story and instead focuses on terrible decisions that ultimately cost the movie.

Snow White is available on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

The Luckiest Man In America (2025) Film Review

An ice-cream truck driver discovers a secret way to win as a contestant on the game show “Press Your Luck.”

The Luckiest Man In America is directed by Samir Oliveros who previously directed Bad Lucky Goat (2017). The Luckiest Man In America is based on the true story of Michael Larson an ice cream truck driver who won a record-breaking amount of money on the game show “Press Your Luck” in 1984.

I actually never heard of the true story when going into The Luckiest Man In America and after watching the film and then doing a bit of research it’s most definitely a very interesting one. The film does a pretty solid job of telling the story even if we don’t get a whole lot of information about Michael Larson himself, but the film does make up for that in several other categories.

The acting is overall quite great, Paul Walter Hauser is by far the standout here, he brings this exciting performance where he knows he’s playing a liar and a cheat but in this incredibly strange way you find yourself wanting to root for him just so he can show how flawed the system really is. The information we do get on Larson about his life and the issues he’s dealing with also contributes to the viewer rooting for him, by the end he definitely won me over with these moments. Granted there are not that many of these moments and I do wish the movie spent a bit more time putting some of these sort of moments in the film. However with what we got it was more than enough for Hauser to take advantage of and really deliver them in this powerful and fun way. Which is not surprising given how great of an actor he truly is.

The script is quite fun as well, the dialogue can be hilarious at times with the staff trying to figure out how Larson keeps amassing money and playing beyond the point any reasonable contestant would stop out of fear of losing it all. We get some great bits from the supporting cast like David Stratharin who is very solid and gets into his role quite well. The writing also does have some heart at times, particularly when Larson mentions his family. As I said before these are genuinely sweet moments that while I do wish the film expanded on a bit more, they are still super sweet and help move the movie forward.

The vintage style the film goes for is quite neat, combined with the costume design which is simple yet matches the classic game show feel it’s going for. Really helps build this wonderful atmosphere that captures the feel of watching the film on a old tv, although some of the filming looks nothing like a vintage style it’s the feel of it and what is exactly happening on screen that brings the vintage feel to the viewer.

Overall The Luckiest Man In America does a great job of telling this story, it’s a fun watch that I recommend giving a look.

The Luckiest Man In America is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

The Friend (2025) Film Review

New York City writer Iris finds her comfortable, solitary life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor bequeaths her a Great Dane named Apollo. The huge dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with Apollo, she begins to come to terms with her past, and her own creative inner life.

The Friend is directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel directors of Suture (1994), The Deep End (2001), Bee Season (2005), Uncertainty (2008), What Maisie Knew (2012) and Montana Story (2021)

All that I knew about The Friend going in was the dog Bing and well it just so happens that Bing is the best part of this film and I don’t really mean that in a bad way. The way the film goes about tackling grief and companionship in times of loss is genuinely touching and what really brings this together is Apollo the dog (played by Bing.)

The performances are solid, Naomi Watts is really great here without her most of the film would not have worked nearly as well as it did. Her connection with the rest of the cast is genuinely touching, the conversations she has is where you can really feel her pain and frustration. It quickly gets to you and really brings out her incredible talent as an actress, it’s just a bit of a shame that the writing does not go far enough and does not really do anything that really stands out.

Bing is one of the best dog actors I’ve seen in a while, he works incredibly well with Naomi Watts and the rest of the cast and there’s tons of genuine moments where you can really feel that Bing is connecting with the story. Which I know is silly to say since Bing is a dog but that is truly felt here, it helps that he perfectly fits the story being told here and captures this daily life atmosphere the movie goes for. By the end of the movie you will see how much Bing connects with the story.

The script has some elements that are a bit too thin, particularly the supporting characters who we barely learn about, they get introduced, have a few scenes and then never get expanded upon. That seems to be the problem with a lot of the character interactions in this movie, while there are some bright spots a lot of the time there’s just so much missing that really holds this movie back from greatness.

The movie also goes on for far too long, this is an example of a movie that did not need to be 2 hours long. It feels like the movie ends five different times but keeps going for the sake of it, which is incredibly frustrating because there were so many moments that could have been a very nice ending.

Overall The Friend is not a bad movie, it has the right ideas and works for the most part. It’s just the script that completely holds it back from being anything other than “passable” which is a shame.

The Friend is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+