Last Breath (2025) Film Review

The true story of seasoned deep-sea divers who battle the raging elements to rescue a crewmate who’s trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface.

Last Breath is directed by Alex Parkinson which is his feature film debut. This film is also a feature film remake of the 2019 documentary of the same name (which was also directed by Parkinson.)

Last Breath is based on an unbelievable true story of diver Chris Lemons who in 2012 became trapped 330 feet underwater with limited oxygen after his umbilical cable was severed during a North Sea diving operation. This is something that you would think ends with Lemons unfortunately losing his life, but by some unknown reason that scientists even to this day don’t know Chris Lemons survived. It’s a story that if you told someone who had no prior knowledge they would probably question if you were making this up or not.

Last Breath is familiar in structure yet it does a really good job of telling this story in a decently powerful way. That’s mainly thanks to Parkinson already being knowledgeable about the subject given that he directed the documentary that came out in 2019. Due to this he’s able to give this unbelievable story strength and even some thrills to really capture the spirit of the story.

The performances are all around quite great, Finn Cole plays Chris Lemons and does a really great job at doing so. He’s an incredibly likable and someone who the viewer really wants to be okay and see his family again, he captures the thrilling atmosphere that Parkinson sets up which includes the feeling of desperation and wanting to survive.

Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu are both very solid here as well, the latter of which I’m not a huge fan of when it comes to his acting. But I think Liu does a really good job here and manages to capture competency and professionalism. Woody Harrelson captures the same sort of competency and professionalism within the film and matches the race against time atmosphere that’s going on, this isn’t exactly breaking any new ground for Harrelson but he still does very well.

The underwater scenes is where a lot of the thrills happen, combine that with some really solid underwater photography and you have some very unsettling scenes that if someone went into this film not knowing what ended up happening this story it would be all the more terrifying. The feel of survival and desperation is felt throughout the film and it’s portrayed incredibly well here, when the film feels the need to bring in some emotional moments they work well with the atmosphere.

There aren’t that many character beats here but there really does not need to be, it’s a very straightforward film about a man fighting for survival yet. The direction from Parkinson has meat to it which again is thanks to him directing the documentary so we get some extras details and nuances that the movie did not have to include but I’m glad it did. There’s also classic moviemaking appeal here, certain scenes hanging on to small victories in a huge situation. Whether that being more time to survive or just finding different solutions.

Of course the movie does have some tropes that at times can take away the seriousness of the movie, the song at the end being incredibly cheesy. But that’s not enough to really stop this movie from being a decently thrilling ride. Some people may not see the point of this story being turned into a feature length film given that it already had a documentary 6 years ago. But I do think the film justifies in its existence, it shares a story that is truly fascinating and even if you have heard it already it doesn’t help but to listen to it again!

Last Breath is available on all VOD Platforms.

7/10 B

Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League (2025) Film Review

Batman and his allies battle to save Gotham from the Yakuza League, a group of superpowered individuals resembling the Justice League.

Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League is directed by Junpei Mizusaki and Shinji Takagi. Mizusaki previously directed Batman Ninja (2018) and Takagi previously directed Steamboy (2004). The film serves as a sequel to Batman Ninja (2018).

Batman Ninja (2018) I always found to be one of the better DC animated films to come out in recent years, so I was pretty interested (kind of surprised as well) that a sequel was actually coming out. While it’s not as good as the first movie simply because the idea was more fresh with the first movie. I do think Yakuza League is a pretty solid sequel that continues to use the bizarre idea in an interesting way!

Much like the first film the voice acting and the animation style is pretty great. The anime references thrown in this time around are charming and add to the style, it never becomes way too much instead it adds details to the characters which have some quite interesting designs such as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Aquaman with their Yakuza counterparts.

The story is just as fun as it was with the first film only I would argue this one is a bit more self aware, which does lead to some decently fun sequences and styles. Some editing styles reminiscent of Shonen anime and Japanese TV shows of the 70s and 80s, that does take away from some character arcs especially towards Batman’s family. But it’s a fair trade off considering that the rest of the film is quite decent with how the idea is executed.

The action scenes are fun, creative and pop out incredibly well, the dialogue holds the viewer’s interest throughout the film. There isn’t anything mind blowing going on here, some of the characters like Joker and Harley Quinn feel a bit shoehorned in (Joker really isn’t as interesting as a character as he was in the first film.) the movie does admittedly start to lose a bit of steam towards the end, but at the very least the movie does not overstay its welcome with a runtime of 89 minutes it’s enough to get to the point and wrap things up at a nice pace.

Overall Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League is a bit weaker than its predecessor but still manages to keep the qualities of what made the first one great. If you liked the first film you will probably like this one as well.

Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

The Monkey (2025) Film Review

When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree, forcing the estranged siblings to confront the cursed toy.

The Monkey is directed by Osgood Perkins director of The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016), Gretel & Hansel (2020) and Longlegs (2024).

Osgood Perkins hits it out of the park yet again, after delivering the terrifying and incredibly well done Longlegs (2024) I was already very excited for The Monkey and it did not disappoint. It’s a film that is drastically different than a lot of Perkins’s previous films, it’s far more comedic with tons of dark humor that at first had me a bit worried if the film may overdo it. Luckily the film doesn’t take itself seriously and goes all out on the humor which ends up making the humor have a character of its own.

The performances here are a lot of fun, there’s some nice cameos Adam Scott, OsGood Perkins, Elijah Wood and a few others. Theo James is definitely doing standout performance, I’ve always rooted for Theo James so I am so glad to see him in a film that takes advantage of his potential as an actor, his duel performance here is brilliant it’s able to create two characters with very different personalities Hal and Bill who are fun characters. The interactions between his two characters are some of the film’s highlights and filled to the brim with laughs. There isn’t anything special being said with his characters but there really doesn’t need to be it’s all good fun and the film compliments that with the script.

Christian Convery also has a duel performance he both young Hal and Bill incredibly well and makes so many of the earlier parts of the film that much more entertaining. Tatiana Maslany is fun as well even if she isn’t given that much to do.

The humor of the film is ultimately what makes it work, I have to say it was a very risky move especially when coming out of Longlegs (2024) but the execution is so well done here. Perkins is able to create a dark atmosphere about a toy monkey that kills people whenever it plays and make it a hilarious time, plus when you combine that with the gore and kills you have yourself such a fun package. The gore on its own is used for comedic effect, it’s over the top and ridiculous a much more comedic take on splatter films.

Finally there’s the direction that Perkins does such a great job of remaining consistent throughout the film, while a majority of the film is filled with dark humor there are the serious moments that are just as well done. The film embraces its silliness which it does well, especially when you have the Stephen King feel to it (the film is based on a short story.)

Overall The Monkey is just an incredibly solid and fun film, it’s not trying to be something it’s not and embraces the humorous energy it gives off from beginning to end. Check this one out!

The Monkey is currently in theaters

8/10 B+

Jazzy (2025) Film Review

When Jazzy finds out her best friend Syriah is moving, she is confronted with the pains of growing up and the realities of the adult world.

Jazzy is directed by Morrisa Maltz director of The Unknown Country (2022). Jazzy serves as a spinoff to The Unknown Country (2022).

Jazzy is a really solid coming of age story, it shares quite a lot of what made The Unknown Country (2022) so great which in turn helps this film as well. Particularly the acting and the documentary like filming style.

The performances are all quite great here, Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux as Jazzy and Syriah Foohead Means as Syriah are both wonderful and give such heartfelt and beautiful performances. The two deliver these natural performances that really capture the viewer’s heart incredibly quickly, Maltz tackling the theme of childhood and how glimpses of adulthood can appear is what really drives these two’s performances. You see the worry on Jazzy’s face when her best friend Syriah announces she’s moving and you notice the many thoughts floating in her head. At Jazzy’s age this is a huge deal and really feel that weight as you are watching it and that’s due to how tremendous the performances are from Shangreaux and Means.

The writing is beautifully done, there’s this sense of documentary style to it and really brings the viewer up close to what is going on here. The same can be said with the cinematography, its shot in this beautiful documentary type of feel that tackles the whole theme of the days of childhood and slowly but surely growing up. The beautiful landscapes combined with the angles and close ups give the film so much personality.

The addition of Lily Gladstone’s character from The Unknown Country (2022) is also an incredibly nice touch, even if she isn’t here for a lot of time her moment is very important to the story being told. Having both Jazzy and Tana’s paths cross to what the film is building up to is truly touching and quite beautiful as well. It really hits home the message of the film and ultimately delivers.

In a lot of ways Jazzy really does feel nostalgic, I’m sure there was that one person in the neighborhood who you became best friends with as a kid and one day they said they were going to move. Plus the outdoor adventures during the film and meeting new people as a kid just really captures that feel you had as a kid when in a neighborhood filled with other kids your age.

Overall Jazzy is a beautifully done film especially in the acting and writing department. It might not be as powerful as The Unknown Country (2022) was but it was still very solid film that really makes me excited to see what Morrisa Maltz does next.

Jazzy is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

The Electric State (2025)

An orphaned teen hits the road with a mysterious robot to find her long-lost brother, teaming up with a smuggler and his wisecracking sidekick.

The Electric State is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Cherry (2021), The Gray Man (2022) and a few others.

The Electric State is the type of streaming movie where I like to play a game of “where did the money go?” movies like Heart Of Stone (2023), The Gray Man (2022) and Red Notice (2023) are the worst offenders of this. Even from the trailer you can just tell that the budget of $320 million (which is one of the highest budgets of a movie) doesn’t reflect of what’s being shown.

The performances here are just dreadful, Chris Pratt is incredibly one note here and has next to nothing to work with character wise. His character John D. Keats is about as unfunny as you can get and just doesn’t work well with the rest of the cast, it doesn’t help that he’s playing the exact type of role he’s been playing for years now. Only where as in other movies it was at the very least tolerable, but here it that’s not so much the case mainly due to how terrible the writing really is.

Millie Bobby Brown is in the same boat, only that I would argue she has a bit more to her than Pratt does in this case. She still gives a completely bland performance that does nothing for the story being told and really doesn’t push her as an actress. Michelle Greene is just another standard teenager character that is somehow even less developed than a lot of Brown’s other past performances. Stanley Tuuci, Ke Huy Quan and Colman Domingo (the latter two showing up for 5 seconds) are fun here but none of the moments they are given are enough to really save this sinking ship.

At times the world building is not terrible, there’s moments where the movie seems like it’s going to discuss its world and go into detail about it. Unfortunately none of that ever ends up happening and what we are left with is ideas that had the potential to be executed incredibly well but the movie decides to cut a lot of corners. It doesn’t help that the movie itself just does not care about its characters or themes, sure we are told briefly about Michelle and John’s backstory but there isn’t anything compelling. It’s a ton of tired cliches that at this point the viewer has seen in far better films.

As far as themes go the movie tackles the theme of technology about as deep as a kiddie pool, this is yet another robots vs humans type of deal. From what I’ve heard and seen online from fans of the source material the movie does a very poor job of retelling the story and I’m willing to believe them because the way the story is told here is a complete and total mess. It’s long, drawn out and never sparks any interest from the viewer, the direction from the Russo brothers is some of the most dull and lifeless direction I’ve seen so far this year. It very much feels like mechanical noise (no pun intended) that’s only job is to get views and have articles published about how it’s “one of Netflix’s most watched films”

I originally had a lot more to say about The Electric State but the more I thought about it the more I realized how very little there is here. Sure the budget is high and you have a stacked cast, but when you do absolutely nothing with the source material and most of the cast either don’t have a whole lot to their characters or only appear for about 5 seconds. Is there really anything going on here? This is just yet another terrible Netflix original movie only that it appears bigger than it really is.

The Electric State is available on Netflix.

1/10 F

Borderline (2025) Film Review

A helplessly romantic sociopath escapes from a mental institution and invades the home of a ’90s pop superstar. He just wants to be loved; she just wants to survive.

Borderline is directed by Jimmy Warden which is his directorial debut.

Samara Weaving in another incredibly fun horror film? That’s news I love to hear and Borderline gets the job done for the most part. This is one of I’ve been waiting to release for a while now and while there are some hiccups in the road for the most part this is a fun and surprisingly quite humorous ride.

The cast are doing a lot of the heavily lifting here, much like in her other horror film appearances Samara Weaving is great here. There’s one particular moment here that caught me off guard that is probably going to end up being a fan favorite moment from Weaving, as always she matches the atmosphere that’s needed and is quite humorous here as well. She’s able to balance the horror moments with the comedic ones, her character Sofia is fun and while we do not really get a whole lot about her as a character. It’s Weaving’s magic to really bring the viewer into the character that helps in the long run.

Ray Nicholson the son of Jack Nicholson is excellent here, one of the film’s strongest assets and really gives off some of the acting power his father has. He’s both creepy and humorous, a character that quickly gets under the viewer’s skin. His mindset going from crazy to even more insane and it just keeps building from there, his back and forth with Samara Weaving is investing to watch as well as quite thrilling. The atmosphere is there to back it up and the end result unfolds into a hilarious and chaotic third act.

Jimmie Fails and Eric Dane are both great as well, not a whole lot to their characters but the two much like everyone else in the film are hilarious and match the tone of the film. Dane has a really strong moment at the beginning of the film that he shares with Nicholson where we see early on how deranged Nicholson really is. Fails shines towards the end of the film, a moment that is both bizarre yet fun and really matches this film’s incredibly strange atmosphere.

The writing and direction from Jimmy Warden are both great, admittedly after the opening scene the film does take a bit a time to get going. Some of the writing is just okay with nothing really special going on. But once the film starts to reach the second act the film’s vision is a lot more clear and the ideas the film is going for start to develop and fully fleshed out. We get some great moments between the character as well, Weaving and Fails have some nice moments together and have some nice chemistry together.

The film’s humor as well as the atmosphere is very Ready Or Not (2019) like, the film does not quite reach the highs that the film did but it does manage to take the approach that Ready Or Not (2019) did and spin it in its own way. Not every single joke lands but at the very least the film backs those up with some thrilling atmosphere and some great gore.

Overall Borderline is not going to reinvent the genre, but due to the cast’s commitment and Warden’s thrilling and humorous writing and direction the film manages to be a lot of fun and is something I would recommend you check out.

Borderline releases tomorrow on all VOD Platforms

7/10 B

The Parenting (2025) Film Review

Boyfriends Josh and Rohan plan a weekend getaway to introduce their parents, only to discover that their rental is home to a 400-year-old poltergeist.

The Parenting is directed by Craig Johnson director of True Adolescents (2009), The Skeleton Twins (2014), Wilson (2017) and Alex Strangelove (2018).

The Parenting is what happens when you take The Evil Dead (1981) and comedies where the parents of each party dating each other meet. Nothing exactly we haven’t seen before, but I got to say this surprised me. There’s some genuinely good bits here that did get some laughs out of me, that’s probably due to the cast having a blast (also a surprisingly packed cast as well?)

Speaking of which the acting while not exactly anything excellent is still quite a lot of fun. Brandon Flynn and Parker Posey in particular do a great job here, Brian Cox has some hilarious parts as well and Nik Dodani worked well with Brandon Flynn. Both have great chemistry and the comedic timing for the two is actually quite solid as well.

Admittedly there really isn’t a whole lot going on here, the plot is about what you expect but I do have to give credit for the sort of chaotic energy the movie goes for. It’s very reminiscent of Scary Movie (2000) where the parody movie genre was at least entertaining, there’s some moments like that here that do actually work in this movie’s favor.

As I said before it’s mostly the cast that makes this work, each character is at the very least given something to do which in turn gives everyone a few moments to shine. Even if Cliff (played by Dean Norris) is really not given so much to work with, the moments we do have are genuinely fun and he actually does end up being likable. Directing wise this was alright, Craig Johnson has showed better direction before with some of his previous films mainly The Skeleton Twins (2014) but I do think he did a decent job with the comedy here and some of the horror (even if that took a backseat for most of the film.)

Overall The Parenting isn’t too bad, it’s absolutely not going to be for everyone and I don’t think this is something I’m ever going to watch again. But I will say this was a fun time and if it sounds like your thing I say check it out.

The Parenting is available on HBO Max or Max

6/10 C+

Control Freak (2025) Film Review

A motivational speaker is tormented by an unrelenting itch on the back of her head.

Control Freak is directed by Shal Ngo director of The Park (2023).

Control Freak sure is a Hulu original horror movie that exists, quite honestly there is really not a whole lot to be said here and that’s very unfortunate. I like the whole idea of the movie, the short film Control which is what the film was based on was simple yet effective. But Control Freak is just a prime example of when people say “not every short film needs to be turned into feature length film.”

Kelly Marie Tran is by far the best part of this movie, her performance here is actually quite impressive and really makes me want to see her lead in more horror films. She delivers a powerhouse performance that both feels in line with the atmosphere as well as bringing in some raw moments where her character Val is clearly in pain due to the scratching on her head. It’s some decently smart mix of body horror and as well as bringing the viewers anxiety into the mix. Without Kelly Marie Tran this movie would not have had some of the best moments of the movie and would have been forgotten almost immediately.

The use of sound is quite great, the scratching is grating and unbearable in the best way possible to really get under your skin. The movie uses this to explore the theme of losing control, something in your mind just keeps hitting you and you want to silence it, even if it’s not perfectly done there’s still a good amount for the viewer to chew on. Unfortunately a lot of this movie is left unexplored, ambiguity is fine of course but the movie goes a bit too far with it and really fails to bring the viewer into the more what are supposed to be emotional moments.

What really kills this movie is the pacing and it meanders for way too long, the body horror stuff is great but a lot of the bunk that’s stuck in the middle of it really takes away the viewer’s attention. It starts to become a slow burn horror film that really does not need to be one, the emotional moments don’t have the power they need to really amount to anything. Miles Robbins turns in a decent performance as Robbie but he’s an incredibly one note character that just tells Val “you are crazy”

Overall Control Freak had promise but with every genuinely great scene there was another that dragged on for far too long. With so many missed opportunities, this is one of those movies that really leaves the viewer thinking “what could have been”

Control Freak is available on Hulu

5/10 C

Love Me (2025) Film Review

A buoy and a satellite meet online long after humanity’s extinction. As they learn what life was like on Earth, they discover themselves and what it means to be alive and in love.

Love Me is directed by Sam and Andy Zuchero which is their directorial debut.

Love Me is the most disappointing film of 2025 so far and it really stings, the movie has all the right Ingredients to make something truly special. There’s themes of love, what it means to be a human and connection in a post-apocalyptic world. Unfortunately the movie has a ton of tonal shift problems when the movie switches styles and unfortunately does not really explore this world in any impactful way.

Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun both give fantastic performances here, we start the movie off with a Buoy (voiced by Kristen Stewart) and a Satellite (voiced by Steven Yeun) the Buoy seeks connection while the Satellite carries knowledge of humanity. We get a lot of this interesting bits about humans and wanting to connect with one another, this part does admittedly go on for a bit too long and the similarities to WALL-E (2008) are hard to ignore but I do think the movie makes the idea its own.

We eventually get to see Stewart and Yeun as actual people but unfortunately it’s not for very long, for the most part we see them as digital avatars (that’s definitely some of the weaker parts) which results in a lack of real emotional connection for the viewer. I get what they were going for here and there are times it’s interesting but a lot of the time it really feels like a huge waste of two brilliant actors and not utilizing their full talent. The digital avatar elements have their place but they ultimately don’t result into anything impactful, it feels much more like a showcase of what could potentially be a good idea and forgets to use the substance.

Love Me would have absolutely worked better as a short film, I admire the swings the movie was willing to throw but ultimately a lot of the themes are incredibly one note. The movie wants to explore the nature of love and what it means to feel but unfortunately you don’t really get that here at all, the writing is incredibly shallow and the constant tonal shifts completely distract the movie from throwing anything hard hitting or meaningful that could have been said

Overall despite my criticism I don’t think Love Me is a terrible movie, it’s one that has the right ideas just very lacking execution. I am very interested to see what Sam and Andy Zuchero will do next though.

Love Me is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C

Plankton: The Movie (2025) Film Review

Plankton’s tangled love story with his sentient computer wife goes sideways when she takes a stand and decides to destroy the world without him.

Plankton: The Movie is directed by Dave Needham director of The Loud House Movie (2021).

After the disaster that was last year’s Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024) I went into this one expecting the same sort of disaster..luckily that was not the case here. That doesn’t mean to say that it’s necessarily a good movie but talk about an improvement.

The voice cast does a really solid job here, there isn’t necessarily any standouts it’s very much what you expect from anything SpongeBob related but unlike the Sandy Cheeks Movie there was actual charm here. The relationship between Plankton and Karen is actually explored decently well, again nothing mind blowing but the fact they even bothered at all considering how lacking in writing the last movie was deserves some credit.

The animation styles used are decent, some of the 3D animation does feel a bit empty at times. It’s moments like those that you kind of wish the movie was the typical SpongeBob 2D animation style, but at the very least some of those moments are made up with some song sequences. The music numbers are a mixed bag for me in terms of the songs themselves, but I do think what’s going on the background and the different styles being used are quite great as well as creative at times. The songs themselves are never going to reach the quality and fun feel of the songs from the show, but they are at least tolerable and don’t overstay their welcome (you will more than likely forget about them as soon as the movie is over anyway.)

Finally it’s nice to see that there’s still some charm from the show here, for one thing the voice acting was much more lively especially from Tom Kenny who sounds much more awake than he was in the Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024) leading to this movie just having more entertaining moments. Plus there are some moments that are genuinely funny, nothing that’s going to knock your socks off but entertaining at the very least.

Not much else to say here, Plankton: The Movie is probably the most 5/10 movie ever made but given just how dreadful the last movie was. That should be taken as a compliment.

Plankton: The Movie is available on Netflix!

5/10 C