Paddington in Peru (2025) Film Review

When Paddington discovers his beloved aunt has gone missing from the Home for Retired Bears, he and the Brown family head to the jungles of Peru to find her. Determined to solve the mystery, they soon stumble across a legendary treasure as they make their way through the rainforests of the Amazon.

Paddington in Peru is directed by Dougal Wilson which is his directorial debut. The film serves as the third installment in the Paddington film series. 

Paddington in Peru had big shoes to fill, the first two films were widely loved and have become somewhat of modern classics for some people. That’s thanks to Paul King’s beautiful and quite magical direction that translated a classic children’s book character incredibly well to live action. Paul King unfortunately did not come back to direct this one as well as Sally Hawkins not returning as Mary Brown (Emily Mortimer was cast.) With that being said I do think Paddington in Peru still manages to capture a lot of what made the first two films so great, it’s by far the weakest of the films but the charm and humor is still intact. 

The performances are quite great here, as I said before Emily Mortimer replaces Sally Hawkins as Mary Brown and while she does a great job plus she had a ton of funny moments. The absence of Sally is incredible noticeable and really sticks out like a sore thumb especially since the rest of the Brown family remain the same, with that being said Mortimer does great here and interacts with the rest of the family incredibly well. They all do phenomenal in their respective roles and each get moments to shine, Olivia Colman is a ton of fun here and is the best performance of the film. Even if she is not utilized to her character’s full potential she still gets a decent amount of screen time and hits it out of the park with every scene she’s in. 

The script is definitely weaker than the previous two films…at least for the first half where it’s trying to find its footing, which admittedly has this very traditional family movie feel. That’s not necessarily a bad thing considering at the end of the day the Paddington films are family movies, it just does not standout as much as the other two films. However once the second half kicks in the film finds itself and brings the warmth and charm of the previous two films, the writing really brings your heart into the film at this point and the several charming moments are here in full force. Imelda Staunton voicing Aunt Lucy does such a fantastic job of really bringing the heart of the film, her scenes are easily some of the best of the film and really tie its themes together in a nice bow. 

As far as the humor and direction goes they are both quite solid, the direction from Paul King is very noticeably absent as I said before. However Dougal Wilson really does a great job of capturing the magic of the previous films, he isn’t trying to go for the bare minimum he’s giving it his all. While not every single moment works as some of the humor isn’t as fun as the previous films, there is still this feel of warmth, adventure and wonder. It’s not on the grand scale as the other movies but it’s absolutely there and that’s what really matters the most. 

Overall Paddington in Peru is a solid film, it’s not going to break any new sort of ground for the series or the family movie genre itself. But it’s an incredibly charming little ride from start to finish! 

Paddington in Peru is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

Novocaine (2025) Film Review

When the girl of his dreams gets kidnapped, a man turns his inability to feel pain into an unexpected advantage as he fights a bunch of thugs to get her back.

Novocaine is directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen both of which directed Body (2015), Stake Land II (2016), Villains (2019) and Significant Other (2022)

Novocaine is an odd one and I’m not saying that when it comes to story, it’s more in terms of how the film almost feels like it’s restricting its own premise and not going all out with it. When the film does focus on its premise it is a whole lot of fun and leads to some quite gory moments, at the very least the film has the charm of the cast and the action scenes to back it up especially since the plot is so simple.

The performances are what really make this one work, Jack Quaid is incredibly likable and filled to the brim with charm. This goes for most of his performances but it’s especially noticeable here, he just has strong screen presence that gets to viewer almost immediately which in turn helps bring the viewer into the film. His chemistry with Amber Midthunder is incredibly cute even if we don’t get to see them together for most of the movie, introducing the chemistry between the two early on is a smart move so we the audience can root for Nathan (played by Jack Quaid) to rescue Sherry (played by Amber Midthunder.) Quaid is not exactly doing anything new with his performance, however as I said sheer likability does a lot of heavy lifting and helps keep the viewer engaged. 

Amber Midthunder and Ray Nicholson are both solid here as well, Midthunder is unfortunately restricted to being kidnapped for most of the film. But as always she does a really great job with what she’s given and like I said before her early scenes with Quaid are incredibly cute and is the heart of the film. Ray Nicholson gives yet another great performance, although his character is kind of just a generic bank robber who really does not have a whole lot going on character wise. It’s his performance that makes the character work and admittedly does deliver some great lines as well as action scenes with Quaid. 

The gore and action scenes are a whole lot of fun, there are some pretty gory moments that actually do capture the movie’s premise well. There definitely could have been more of these moments and even go into a bit more detail about them, but from what’s presented they get the job done. The action scenes are a lot of fun as well, they are very energetic and the fight choreography is fun to watch. Nothing exactly groundbreaking going on here but at the very least it keeps the viewer entertained, the film knows its job when it comes to the action scenes and it accomplishes it just fine. 

The writing is where the film suffers the most, while it’s not anything terrible. For a movie that is about a man who cannot feel any pain it is shockingly simple, which there is nothing wrong with being simple let me be clear. But it almost feels like at times the movie is restricting itself like it does not want to go further on its own premise, the gore is great and fun here but there’s nothing absolutely crazy that you would expect. A lot of the writing also suffers from very predictable beats that we have seen in some of these action movies and the humor isn’t exactly all that great, I know Jacob Batalon is trying his best to be the comedic friend but a lot of the humor especially from him is very standard and something so many action movies have done already. 

Overall Novocaine is a fine enough action film that is pretty fun despite its flaws, as I said constantly charm and likability is what is keeping the film afloat especially from Jack Quaid. Without Quaid or the rest of the cast this would have absolutely been a very forgettable film that would have not worked as well as it did. Don’t go into this one expecting something that takes advantage of its premise you won’t get that here, but if you want a fun ride and have 110 minutes to kill I say give this one a look. 

Novocaine is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+

Seven Veils (2025) Film Review

An earnest theatre director is given the task of producing her former mentor’s most famous work, the opera “Salome,” but disturbing memories from her past colour her present.

Seven Veils is directed by Atom Egoyan director of Calendar (1993), Where The Truth Lies (2005), Chloe (2009), Devil’s Knot (2013), Remember (2015), Guest Of Honor (2019) and a few others. 

Seven Veils is one of those films where I like it but I wish I liked it a lot more, for the most part the movie sticks the landing with the character building and Amanda Seyfried’s performance (which honestly the film feels like a Seyfried vehicle not that it’s a bad thing.) 

As mentioned before Amanda Seyfried is great here, she’s already a talented actress but there’s certain scenes here that really bring out her talent. She’s able to capture the movies atmosphere quite well and the character work surrounding her character Jeanine imposing her own trauma and abuse is incredibly fascinating. Not every single moment completely works, there’s a few voiceovers that are a bit questionable. But for the most part Seyfried is able to really dig into the movie’s themes and bring out a very solid performance along with it. 

Seven Veils is interesting due to incorporating footage and staging from Egoyan’s own 2023 Canadian Opera Company Production of Salome into the narrative of the film, it’s a swing that I really admire Egoyan for taking even if not everything works you can still feel the passion and creativity throughout the film. The use of opera performers from his stage production as the performers in the film not only makes a lot of sense, but adds to Egoyan making the film a bit more identical of how opera shows work. The rehearsal and performance scenes feel much more grounded, we can even hear the performances happening during dialogue heavy moments. All of this helps Seven Veils standout a bit more than other films in the genre. 

The writing does have its bumps in the road, as I said the voiceovers could have been executed a lot better (one in particular is quite questionable.) plus the conclusions the movie ends with are a bit of a hit or miss, it is less organized in the tradional sense which I do think just puts above the line of working due to what we have come to expect from Egoyan as a director at this point. But this can very easily not work for some people and understandably so. 

Overall Seven Veils is flawed but an ambitious film that I’m glad Egoyan shared with audiences, the writing might be lacking in the character department (outside of Amanda Seyfried of course.) But this was at least a very interesting ride from beginning to end that I do recommend giving a look. 

Seven Veils is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+

The Actor (2025) Film Review

Actor Paul Cole suffers memory loss after an assault in Ohio. Stranded in an unfamiliar town, he strives to return home and recover his past.

The Actor is directed by Duke Johnson who co-directed Anomalisa (2015)

The Actor is an ambitious film that I respect what it was trying to go for, but ultimately ends up being a misfire mainly due to the narrative just not being that interesting. Despite only being 98 minutes the movie’s pacing is incredibly slow and quickly takes the viewer out of the world that is heavily relied on throughout the movie. Having that said it’s not a terrible movie as the performances, cinematography and the dreamlike world are able to save it from not being a complete chore to sit through. 

The performances are quite great here André Holland in particular does a fascinating job of capturing the dreamlike atmosphere, the atmosphere also goes for this noir thriller feel and Holland’s performance just oozes with style and power he’s able to really bring. What would otherwise be scenes that look beautiful but don’t have the power, he’s able to make them standout and give the film its personality. While he can’t save every single scene due to the narrative failing to leave a lasting impression, he’s able to really turn the ship around in dire moments. 

Gemma Chan and the rest of the cast are solid here but don’t have a lot going on character wise, it’s mainly Holland’s show which is understandable given that he’s the lead. But it’s frustrating because the chemistry between Holland and Chan had potential but it’s incredibly uninteresting due to the lacking character work which in turn makes the audience not care about their chemistry, others like Toby Jones and May Calamawy are given almost nothing to do which is a disappointment. 

The dreamlike cinematography is undoubtedly beautiful, it gives the movie’s world a bit more of a personality and even captures some The Truman Show (1998) vibes. But that’s where the similarities end because where as The Truman Show (1998) has an incredibly interesting narrative that brings the viewer into the film and never lets go, The Actor has a narrative that never takes advantage of its dreamlike state nor is it interesting, scenes are often concluded abruptly without any sort of rhyme or reason which ends up contributing to the incredibly flawed storytelling approach. Which I guess you could look at it in a somewhat positive way since one of the movie’s themes is memory and while it does help in some cases, this ends up backfiring in the long run when it comes to actually telling a full narrative. 

Overall there really isn’t much else to say about The Actor it’s unfortunate because there is a good movie here it’s just surrounded by a lot of flaws that stop it from being good. 

The Actor is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C

In The Lost Lands (2025) Film Review

A witch travels to the Lost Lands in search of a magical power that allows a person to transform into a werewolf.

In The Lost Lands is directed by Paul W.S. Anderson director of the Resident Evil film franchise (2002-2016), Event Horizon (1997), Mortal Kombat (1995), Alien Vs. Predator (2004), Pompeii (2014), Monster Hunter (2020) and a few others.

Paul W.S. Anderson is back and with his same old shtick, a terrible post-apocalyptic movie starring his wife Milla Jovovich. He’s done this multiple times with the Resident Evil films and Monster Hunter (2020) in particular. In The Lost Lands somehow ends up being far worse than any of the movies mentioned, mainly due to the movie having no personality behind it at all and being a complete and total mess. 

The performances here are mostly terrible, occasionally Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista will have moments that attempt to elevate the material. But unfortunately those moments are far and few between to even really matter in the end, the acting results in some incredibly awful dialogue that have the energy of NPCs from an early 2000s video game. The writing is incredibly poor, we don’t learn anything of note about the characters at all outside of cliched elements that you have come to expect. The movie’s world is about as bland as you can get from these post-apocalyptic movies, there’s very little atmosphere that drives the viewer into the movie. It’s all incredibly stale and lacking in personality, it feels a lot like any of Anderson’s previous movies just somehow worse. 

The movie itself right from the start is a jumbled mess, within the first few minutes it feels like the movie is throwing you in the middle of the second act. The viewer feels like they are missing a lot of context or wondering if there were supposed to be extra scenes here but were cut for some reason (I had these same thoughts as well.) This is exactly the sort of mess you would expect from one of these poorly rated action films that came out in the 2000s, you know the ones with barely a coherent plot, choppy editing and laughably bad filmmaking wise? Whereas those movies at least have some charm and could be laughed at, In The Lost Lands does not have any of the charm at all and only has a few moments of unintentional humor It’s a dull and uninteresting mess that does not have any sort of fun with itself at all. 

The movie itself is also incredibly ugly to look at, I get what they were going for here but none of it works. The desaturated colors are not appealing here at all and feel more like they are trying to replicate Sucker Punch (2011) only that while the movie itself wasn’t exactly great at least stylistically it made sense as to why it looked like that (and had story reasons as well.) In The Lost Lands just feels like it saw what Zack Snyder did and then tried to replicate without thinking as to why it for the most part worked for Snyder. 

There really is not much more to be said here, In The Lost Lands is yet another terrible movie from Anderson. As I said before it’s almost identical to his other films, even if you are someone who enjoyed his Resident Evil films you will not get anything out of this one. 

In The Lost Lands is available on all VOD platforms.

1/10 F

825 Forest Road (2025) Film Review

Chuck Wilson hopes to start a new life after a family tragedy when he moves to the town of Ashland Falls with his wife Maria and little sister Elizabeth, but he quickly discovers that the town has a dark secret.

825 Forest Road is directed by Stephen Cognetti director of all the Hell House LLC movies!

I admire when a director steps out of their comfort zone which in this case Cognetti moves away from the found footage horror genre and takes on a more traditional horror film. Unfortunately it’s not a good one and leaves the viewer with the feeling of “what did I just watch?” and not in a good way. 

The acting is flat out terrible, you can tell the cast is trying their best with the script and the movie’s confused and messy layout but at most you get the occasional unintentional hilarious bit with the acting. The writing does not fare any better, it’s a jumbled mess with lots of confused plot lines that are poorly put together and is actually hard to follow at times due to how much this movie bounces around. 

The big problem here is the direction, as I said before I admire Cognetti for trying something different you can’t always stick with the exact same thing. But unfortunately 825 Forest Road shows the viewer that Cognetti struggles to adapt to the different style he went for here, the characters are just not well written (Cognetti also wrote the film) and the atmosphere that Cognetti usually does a pretty solid job at with the Hell House LLC movies is just not present here at all. 

The chaptered structure serves no real purpose here and feels more like it is placed here for a stylistic choice rather than any real reason, the paranormal ghost elements presented have been done far better in multiple other films and the movie heavily relies on predictable jumpscares that you don’t even need to be a fan of the horror genre to see coming.

Overall 825 Forest Road is a terrible horror movie that is admittedly very disappointing, it’s a movie you want to root for given that Cognetti directed the incredibly fun Hell House LLC franchise. But unfortunately this movie has so many problems that stick out like a sore thumb. 

825 Forest Road is available on Shudder 

1/10 F

Freaky Tales (2025) Film Review

An NBA star, a corrupt cop, a female rap duo, teenage punks, neo-Nazis and a debt collector embark on a collision course in 1987 Oakland, Calif.

Freaky Tales is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck both of which directed Sugar (2008), It’s Kind Of A Funny Story (2010), Mississippi Grind (2015) and Captain Marvel (2018) while Fleck also directed Half Nelson (2006). 

I knew very little about Freaky Tales going in, the only thing I knew was the incredibly large cast in the film which is only one of the main reasons why Freaky Tales works as well as it does. It’s anthology movie that is not afraid to be as bizarre as possible, a lot of what makes a great anthology film is present here. There’s a heavy Creepshow (1982) and Tales From The Hood (1995) feel here that completely works in the film’s favor. 

As always with these anthology films I’ll talk a bit about each segment and then give my final thoughts of the overall film at the end so let’s start with the first segment. 

The first segment is straight to the point, it’s punk rockers vs neo-Nazis. Subtlety is thrown out the window but in this case in a good way, the filming style is wild and the writing is loud, exciting and a blast of fun. Ji-young Yoo gives a strong performance here that really compliments the atmosphere being shown. The exaggerated violence, callbacks to grindhouse cinema and the score all blend together to create something truly exciting. The rebellious tone captures the theme of the segment incredibly well, some might argue that the segment lacks in depth and while that is true. All you really need here is the energy and atmosphere to really do the talking and it does that very well. Not anything mind blowing but a whole lot of fun that is a huge adrenaline rush.

The second segment dials things back a bit, we follow ice cream workers and aspiring rap artists Barbie (played by Dominique Thorne) and Entice (played by Normani), the main reason this segment works so well is due to the performances from Thorne and Normani. They both have such excellent chemistry and charm that they bring to the film, Normani should strongly consider doing more acting because she really stands out being one of the film’s best assets. The climatic rap battle scene is also one of the film’s best moments, not only is the battle itself so much fun and well written when it comes to songwriting. But there’s this theme of triumph and even some gender barriers in the industry, the segment might not break any new ground but it does capture the atmosphere the film is asking for which ends up letting this one reach the finish line! 

The third segment is an acting showcase for Pedro Pascal who does such an incredible job here, what we get here is this interesting noir type of short. A hitman named Clint (played by Pedro Pascal) is looking to exit the business after a tragedy at home. Where is the atmosphere for the first two segments were more exciting (different levels of it) this one is much more quiet, we get to see the mind of Clint and how guilt and grief are taking over him. Pascal shows this with his facial acting particularly with his eyes that look incredibly haunted from the events throughout the segment. The late Angus Cloud also gives a strong performance here (this was his final performance) even if it is not that long, he still leaves an impact and his conversations with Pascal help further segment in its theming. There’s this theme of what does it take to walk way from violence when it’s been apart of you for so long? It’s an incredibly haunting theme that really works with Pascal’s acting and the atmosphere, combined together it makes for an excellent segment. 

Lastly we have fourth segment, which has Sleepy Floyd (played by Jay Ellis) who is a NBA legend that turns into a sword-wielding vigilante after a huge loss. This is by far the most bizarre of the segments, delivering fight choreography that is very exaggerated and oozing with stylization. It’s a revenge fantasy that we do not get a whole lot of depth outside of why it’s happening, it very much feels like a bizarre Adult Swim show and for what the film is going for I would say it works. I will say it definitely is the weakest out of the four segments but that’s not entirely a bad thing when each of the segments all pass the “good” line. 

Freaky Tales is truly a blast of fun, I absolutely admire the decision of going for very different feels and styles. This is something a lot of anthology films mess up on most of their segments feel almost identical which makes a lot of them fail to standout by the time the movie ends.Freaky Tales avoids this and keeps each segment incredibly interesting with different goals, style choices and the atmosphere they want to capture. It leads to a lasting impression on the viewer and can form discussion on which story you liked the most. When you combine that with some fantastic acting and writing you have yourself such a fun film that really goes all out. 

Freaky Tales releases tomorrow in theaters. 

9/10 A

Wake Up (2025) Film Review

A group of young activists set out to make an environmental statement by vandalising a home superstore as it closes. However, their plan goes terribly wrong when they become trapped inside and must face a deranged security guard with a gruesome passion for primitive hunting. As the night fills with violence and terror, the teenagers find themselves in a desperate fight for their lives.

Wake Up is directed by Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell both of which previously directed Turbo Kid (2015), Summer Of 84 (2018) and We Are Zombies (2023). 

Wake Up on paper has a really neat idea, a slasher film that takes place in a IKEA like store. I’m actually quite surprised this has not happened up until this point and I will say that the movie does at least get some of that right. However it’s the rest of the movie that really drag this one down, especially with its attempt with trying to say something politically.

The acting is definitely not great, but it’s not the worst either. Everyone gives about as well of a performance as you would expect from a low budget slasher movie. There is admittedly some pretty entertaining moments of “so bad it’s hilarious” acting but there really is not much more to it. The writing really does not do the movie any favors, the introduction to the characters is quick and does not last for long. Which is good in the case that you just want to get straight to the slasher elements. 

The movie exchanges character moments with some pretty gory kills that are by far the best part of the movie, there’s a few thrilling sequences here that are a lot of fun as well. The atmosphere in the IKEA like store is thrilling and is almost able to make the entire movie stand on its legs. It’s somewhat visually interesting with limited amount of space to run, so turning every corner is a thrill ride and basically a coin flip of survival. This makes for some genuinely eerie moments that actually gets you on the edge of your seat.

Unfortunately the movie’s exploration of political topics is what brings this one down, the movie has this view on activism and how it’s meaningless plus how both sides are wrong. Yes the movie is incredibly centrist in its messaging and the way the movie goes about expressing how much on the middle ground it is becomes incredibly annoying. Which is mainly because it has absolutely nothing to say at all, Wake Up is the movie version of a person who barges into the middle of an argument and says that both sides are bad without knowing what the argument is even about. Because of this the movie lacks in political exploration and gives surface level information that the viewer is more than likely already well aware of.

Overall Wake Up is not the worst slasher movie out there, if you took away the movie’s terrible political exploration and wrote more about the characters. I think this would have been a half decent slasher movie that might have gained some sort of following. But unfortunately this is one of those slasher films where the kills are nice and the location is great, but everything else is severely lacking. 

Wake Up releases tomorrow in theaters

4/10 D+

Most Anticipated Films Of April 2025!

With March over that ends Q1 of 2025. While not absolutely incredible in terms of films, there were still some really strong films that I quite loved. April is when we start picking things up, this month seems incredibly promising with tons of releases and films that could be contenders for early favorites of the year.

Rather than make the list a ranking as I usually do, I’m going to try something a bit different and list the films alphabetically. I think it makes the list a bit more organized and makes a little more sense as well.

Drop – April 11th (Theaters)

Freaky Tales – April 4th (Theaters)

Frewaka – April 25th (Shudder)

Havoc – April 25th (Netflix)

Hell Of A Summer – April 4th (Theaters)

Neighborhood Watch – April 25th (VOD)

On Swift Horses – April 25th (Theaters)

Sacramento – April 11th (Theaters)

Sinners – April 18th (Theaters)

The Accountant 2 – April 25th (Theaters)

The Amateur – April 11th (Theaters)

The Ballad Of Wallis Island – April 18th (Theaters)

The Legend Of Ochi – April 25th (Theaters)

The Luckiest Man In America – April 4th (Theaters)

The Shrouds – April 18th (Limited Theaters) and April 25th (Expands Theaters)

The Ugly Stepsister – April 18th (Theaters)

The Wedding Banquet – April 18th (Theaters)

Warfare – April 11th (Theaters)

Death Of A Unicorn (2025) Film Review

When a man and his daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn with their car, his boss tries to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties — with horrific results.

Death Of A Unicorn is directed by Alex Scharfman which is his directorial debut! 

Death Of A Unicorn is an incredibly unserious film and I can’t help but love the film for it, I’m not going to pretend that there are not any flaws. I do wish some of the cast had a bit more to do, having that said the film does make up for it by having a lot of chaotic energy and just being an overall good time. 

Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd are the heart of the film, the father and daughter bond are genuine and the interactions between the two capture this strained yet affectionate relationship. These moments provide the emotional core of the film, while the rest of the film is much more bizarre it’s a nice balance and we get just the right amount of moments to really enjoy Ridley and Elliot as characters. Ortega has a few scenes in the final moments of the film that she gets to show her incredible talent as an actress (my minor nitpick is I do wish we got to see more of those, but in the end this is a film about a killer unicorn so I understand why there are not as many moments like that.)

Will Poulter is incredibly funny here, he absolutely delivers when it comes to providing comedy and to transition the serious (I’m not sure if that’s the right word) moments to the much more comedic ones, of the supporting cast he absolutely devours each scene with Anthony Carrigan being a close second who may not be given a whole lot to do but still delivers some laughs. Richard E. Grant and Téa Leoni are both fun but I do wish we got a bit more from there characters. 

The film itself has the feel of the classic B monster movie, it’s incredibly unserious and isn’t afraid to let the viewer know that at all. The pacing can be a bit slow as it does take a bit to get going, however I think the parody feel of the film during the first bit of the film combined with the monster movie feel and cosmic elements just blend together quite nicely which really ends up being such a fun ride. There’s also some Jurassic Park (1993) spirit that the film captures quite well, the film is able to capture it an a much more silly light that is genuinely entertaining.

The unicorn designs combined with the kills are fun as well, it might not be as gory as some other monster movies and admittedly the lore of the unicorns is a bit on the basic side of things. However that does not take away from the fun aspect of the unicorns and how they act, there’s a lot of fun thrills here that make for some great magic moments. 

Overall Death Of A Unicorn is a lot of fun, it’s absolutely not going to reinvent the wheel when it comes to monster movies. Some parts are left vague which is frustrating but it doesn’t take away from the film being a blast and genuinely charming. If this sounds like your type of film I recommend giving this one a go! 

Death Of A Unicorn is currently in theaters. 

8/10 B+