We are one quarter of the way through of 2026! April is usually served as some sort of a ground for films that did not quite make the summer movie season. However this year April is quite packed with a ton of great looking releases!
A bailiff, Orsolya, becomes consumed by guilt after a man she evicts from a cellar commits suicide, leading her to question her place in a rapidly changing society
Kontinental ‘25 is directed by Radu Jude director of Scarred Hearts (2016), Uppercase Print (2020), Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (2023), Dracula (2025) and a few others.
Radu Jude is one of those directors I always look forward to seeing what they do next, his bizarre style and the many different worlds he takes the viewer in are always worth the experience even if you might not fully understand what exactly is going on. Kontinental ‘25 is definitely a bit more steady than the rest of his films but it still has absurdist moments that blend incredibly well with the many different themes.
The acting and characters in particular are incredibly strong here. Without saying too much (because much Dracula going into this one knowing as little as possible is key to get the full experience) there is one particular scene with Eszter Tompa’s character Orsolya has some very investing conversations with Fred (played by Adonis Tanța) and Priest Șerban (played by Șerban Pavlu). These scenes are some of the very best of the film and are such a nice touch for Orsolya’s character arc, the performances are incredibly well done. I really loved Tanța’s performance in Dracula (2025) and that’s the same case here, the performances also have this nice balance of absurd and rawness a nice balance that you truly feel through the characters as the film goes on.
What surprises me the most is the fact that the film is shot entirely on an IPhone 15, which does make the social critique angle a lot more effective. The scale of the film is both small and wide, there are moments where you can feel the amateurish film style that’s effective while also feeling the professional style with bigger and powerful moments. It’s such a unique balance that brings the viewer into the film due to how brilliantly done the atmosphere really is.
The themes of the film are all done incredibly well, from Romania’s housing crisis to nationalism it’s all captured incredibly well. Orsolya’s moral ambiguity is reflected and explored both in this absurdist and very real style that keeps the viewer along for the ride. We see this explored through Orsolya as a character and the ways Jude goes about discussing Orsolya as a character and what her thoughts are is truly fascinating.
Overall Kontinental ‘25 is a fascinating film that quickly brings the viewer into its world. This is one I highly recommend going in as blind as possible!
After a car crash kills her boyfriend, piano student Laura is taken in by Betty, who witnessed the accident. Living with Betty’s family brings comfort, but Laura starts questioning their intentions as time passes.
Miroirs No. 3 is directed by Christian Petzold director of Barbara (2012), Phoenix (2014), Transit (2018), Undine (2020) and many others.
Miroirs No. 3 is a very interesting one that brings you right into the film, we see personal loss for Laura (played by Paula Beer) which leads to the rest of the film being about grief, memory, connection and these hazy boundaries between strangers.
Right off the bat the acting is quite fantastic, Paula Beer does such a fantastic job in the leading role and really tells the story through Laura’s pain and exploration. She portrays a ton of vulnerability which in turn makes Laura’s emotional drift during certain scenes feel all the more authentic. Paula Beer has worked with director Christian Petzold three times before (Transit (2018), Undine (2020) and (Afire (2023) and her performance here shows that they are truly a match made in heaven.
The supporting cast such as Barbara Auer are all fantastic as well and bring this extra warmth to the film as well showing that her character Betty is going through her own issues. Much like with Paula Beer’s performance, Barbara Auer does a fantastic job of bringing an authentic portrayal of someone going through grief, distress and such, it helps create this empathetic portrayal that is truly beautiful.
While the writing might not be as powerful as some of Petzold’s previous work, there is still a lot of beautiful moments here. What Miroirs No. 3 does have is authenticity and such a beautiful portrayal of care, grief and pain. The natural dialogue really brings you into the film’s world, the domestic pain of the film feels relatable. There are moments where the film definitely could have went all out rather than holding back, but the rawness really keeps this one moving forward.
The cinematography and music really blend well together, cinematographer Hans Fromm does a fantastic job with showing the amount of detail of the backgrounds, while the music does a beautiful job of creating this caring atmosphere that you just want to visit almost immediately.
Overall Miroirs No. 3 has strong performances as well as beautiful atmosphere and theming. It’s a touching film that has this air of mystery that if it does sound like your thing I highly recommend giving this one a look.
James Sunderland receives a letter from his lost love, Mary, and returns to the town of Silent Hill, where he must face terrifying creatures and his own sanity.
Return to Silent Hill is directed by Christophe Gans director of Crying Freeman (1995), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Silent Hill (2006) and Beauty and the Beast (2014). Return to Silent Hill is the third Silent Hill film and a reboot, this one is loosely based on the 2001 video game Silent Hill 2.
I really do not have a whole lot to say here, my only knowledge of Silent Hill as a franchise was the two previous films and Silent Hill 2 which I played years ago. With that being said it is a bit baffling to see Gans who directed the first movie and did a decent job with it come back for this one and do the complete opposite.
The acting is not horrendous but it most certainly is not great either, I think the main problem here is how lacking the writing is. There is only so much the actors can really work with, Evie Templeton definitely gets the bigger end of the stick. There’s some genuine atmosphere with Laura (played by Templeton) and captures the spirit of the character quite well, she is by far the highlight of the movie it’s just such a shame that the shoddy script prevented huge moments for her.
The script is all over the place, it’s trying to present new ideas with a mix of old ones a lot of it just does not stick here at all. Outside of a few moments towards the end that are genuinely decent along with Templeton’s dialogue there is just truly not a whole lot going on here unfortunately.
I will say that the technical aspects are great, the cinematography from cinematographer Pablo Rosso has the mysterious atmosphere of the franchise and the production design does the same as well. The two make some scenes a lot better but can’t salvage every single moment.
For me this is just a very forgettable horror film, had I been more of a fan of the franchise maybe I would have found this more horrible. But as it stands Return to Silent Hill is one of those movies that immediately leaves your mind a couple hours after watching it.
Return to Silent Hill is available on all VOD platforms.
A detective is on trial for his wife’s murder and must convince an AI judge of his innocence before time runs out.
Mercy is directed by Timur Bekmambetov director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), Ben-Hur (2016), Profile (2018) and many others.
Mercy is one of those movies where just looking at the poster you already know it’s going to be terrible, yet somehow it gets even worse when you actually sit down and watch it. It’s a poorly constructed mess that basically has Chris Pratt sit in a chair for 90 minutes along with some very laughable dialogue that tries to present itself as being clever when in reality its incredibly basic and not saying anything.
The acting is terrible, Chris Pratt is overacting throughout and Rebecca Ferguson is incredibly bland. Which I got to say that is one hell of an achievement, I’m not entirely sure how on earth you make Ferguson bland but somehow this movie accomplished that. The acting alone makes Mercy incredibly hard to sit through. It does not help that Christopher Raven (played by Pratt) and Judge Maddox (played by Ferguson) are poorly written characters who have very little going for them. Judge Maddox at one point basically shows the viewer a bunch of footage of Raven’s past just so we know his backstory, a lot of it is completely pointless and very unrelated to the case that the movie is supposedly focusing on.
The writing is baffling, first and foremost as I said before the character writing is just not there at all. Second the screenlife elements aren’t used to their full potential, which confuses me a bit since Bekmambetov directed Profile (2018) a film that used its screenlife elements quite well. So it’s a bit surprising to see him do a complete 180 here, the dialogue leans into laughable territory. There are some genuinely embarrassing moments that truly amaze you in just the idea of “who came up with this?” the confused message at the end as well leaves the viewer with a terrible taste in their mouth. This whole “Ai makes mistakes like humans can” is truly egregious, a man is being put on trial for something he did not do this isn’t some sort of “oopsie!” type of mistake.
Overall Mercy lacks any sort of depth and fails to fully invest the viewer, it’s a slog to get through, it’s poorly acted, written and one of the worst movies of the year so far.
A newly certified mortician, Rebecca Owens, takes a night job embalming bodies and uncovers a demonic conspiracy, forcing her to confront her own past to survive the night.
The Mortuary Assistant is directed by Jeremiah Kipp director of Slapface (2021), Love & Everything in Between (2017), The Sadist (2015) and a few others.
The Mortuary Assistant is one of the worst kind of terrible movies, it does not land in the “so bad it’s hilarious” territory and it isn’t fun either. Instead what you get here is a completely botched movie that is apparently based on the 2022 video game of the same name. From what I’ve seen with fan’s reactions it does a terrible job of telling the story and fails to capture the atmosphere of the source material. I haven’t even played the game and I absolutely agree that the atmosphere is completely missing along with many other things.
What immediately kills this movie is the acting, this is the sort of terrible acting that leaves the viewer flabbergasted to the point where you ask yourself “did they even try?” Willa Holland who I typically like just does not shine here, it does not help that her character Rebecca is given no strong character writing. Paul Sparks feels like he’s half asleep with his performance, it’s a very phoned in performance that leans into the terrible territory and keeps going further down.
The script is poorly written and at times very baffling. While premise is an interesting idea, the execution ends up being incredibly dull and wasted. It’s filled to the brim with terribly done horror elements that are handled with the amount of care of a bull in a china shop, the atmosphere is completely missing and does not offer the viewer any sort of time to really get into the environment. It’s also completely sloppily put together, it has the feel of a science fair project that is two seconds away from coming apart.
The technical elements are horrible as well, the music is bland, the cinematography, lighting, shadows and such are all lifeless and completely fail to capture this sense of suspense or dread. None of it comes together in the end and truly feels like this was all done in less than 5 hours.
Overall there really is not much more to say about The Mortuary Assistant it’s by far the worst movie I’ve seen so far this year. The only good thing I can say about it is that it very forgettable, mainly due to just how bland the experience really is.
High college students face an unexpectedly epic journey when they must navigate two flights of stairs to retrieve their pizza delivery, turning a simple task into a surreal adventure.
Pizza Movie is directed by Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher which is their directorial debut.
Pizza Movie starts off simple enough but quickly goes on to be a bizarre ride that is truly fun and quite hilarious. The film has a lot of Harold & Kumar and Scott Pilgrim DNA mixed with classic stoner comedy elements all of this combined makes for a movie that is truly an entertaining ride.
The performances are a blast of fun, you can very easily tell the cast was having the time of their lives while on set and it makes their performances all the more better. Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone work incredibly well together, the comedic timing of the two is on point and the dialogue the two share with one another is truly hilarious. Lulu Wilson is also a quite fun addition to the two and brings this fun dynamic along for the ride.
The writing is quite humorous and is not afraid to get bizarre, while the movie does admittedly lose steam towards the end which is simply due to the pacing feeling a bit uneven at times. It’s still quite enjoyable the whole way through, the writing has this feel where you have no idea what is going to happen next due to the film’s bizarre atmosphere. It has that going for it and luckily it mostly delivers on that, the writing has its clever moments that did surprise me.
The main criticism mainly comes from some of the earlier jokes and the character writing. Some of the early jokes in the movie aren’t anywhere near as good as the rest of the movie, granted they aren’t dreadful which is mainly due to Matarazzo’s and Giambrone’s delivery. The character writing particularly with Lizzy is a bit underwhelming and does feel a little last minute, with that being said Lulu Wilson is still able to pull out a good performance from it and as I said earlier is a fun addition.
Pizza Movie is definitely one of those movies where you should go in knowing as little as possible, I was a bit vague throughout this review because it very much is a case of telling what exactly happens or even hinting at it really ruins the surprise. I do recommend giving this one a look once it releases!
A Nevada reservoir rumored to be a time portal keeps life interesting for the Crop, aimless teenage best friends in Sparks-until Cleo arrives determined to reach 1960s Paris.
Sparks is directed by Fergus Campbell which is his directorial debut.
Sparks is an interesting, almost immediately the whole premise immediately grabs your attention. A group of teens believe that a reservoir might be a portal through time, along the way there is this discussion about adolescence that gives the film and its characters more depth. While there are some writing issues here and there, Sparks ends up being a very charming little film that you really can’t help but appreciate the passion that went into it from the cast and crew.
The performances are incredibly fun here, it’s great to see Elsie Fisher again as she is quite a phenomenal actress and she continues to showcase that with this film. Madison Hu is also quite great and has such fun chemistry with the rest of the cast. The rest of the cast are just as great, everyone gives humorous and heartfelt performances that really add to the film’s fun spirit that’s present throughout the experience. Hearing the characters simply talk about their love for old cinema, their dreams and passions in life is truly fascinating and brings this beautiful raw into the mix.
The writing is humorous yet clever, the time travel aspect of it is fresh and works well with the context of the story. It’s not overly confusing and does not try to tangle itself into knots with trying to explain how it works. But the idea that is explored here as I said earlier is adolescences and captures this idea of wanting to be in a bigger place than you are currently in, there are some scenes of the teens just shouting ideas off the top of their heads which does a great job of depicting boredom but also having fun as well. It very much feels like a friend group that you might know of or even have one that you might have/currently are a part of.
The cinematography from Keldon Duane-McGlashan is absolutely gorgeous, it displays the beauty of the Nevada desert and adds its on bit of character as well. The direction from Fergus Campbell is sharp, careful and has this breezy atmospheric feel that makes these characters come to life.
Overall Sparks is a fun one, there is a lot of love for filmmaking here that really stands out. It might take some time to figure out what is exactly going on. But even then it’s a fun film that is a very quick 1 hour and 18 minutes.
After witnessing a sexual assault in Golden Gate Park, 8-year-old Josephine acts out violently as her parents struggle to help her process the trauma, causing her to seek control and justice in her own way.
Josephine is directed by Beth de Araújo director of Soft & Quiet (2022).
To say I was incredibly interested to see what Araújo would do next after the highly disturbing and shocking Soft & Quiet (2022) would be the understatement of the decade. While Soft & Quiet was disturbing in a louder and more in your face sense, Josephine is disturbing in a more quiet and calculated way that ultimately leads to a very grounded film that is truly powerful.
All three of the main performances are phenomenal, starting with Mason Reeves who gives one of the best child actor performances in recent memory and right from when she witnesses a horrific crime taking place you can automatically feel the brightness taken away from her. Reeves’s character Josephine who is an 8-year-girl completely shuts down and her behavior changes as well, it’s truly devastating to watch and the loss of innocence is fully on display here. Mason Reeves’s body language and long silent pauses are crushing and incredibly authentic. The film truly does a fascinating job of displaying how this sort of trauma can really affect someone especially a child who isn’t fully able to comprehend what they just saw.
Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan both give phenomenal performances here. Tatum gives a career best performance that really sticks with the viewer due to the amount of power and emotional depth that goes into his performance as Damien (Josephine’s father). Gemma Chan is the weakest of the three, however that does not mean for a second that she’s bad. She just doesn’t get as many huge moments of power, she does make up for it with more quiet ones that have this more distant feel, it’s this interesting yin and yang going on here. Tatum gives the more louder and striking moments whereas Chan gives this more distant yet incredibly effective performance. Chan’s character Claire (Mason’s mother) has all the worries of a mother and she really tries with all her might. Chan and Tatum work incredibly well together and really display the reactions of parents who are horrified effectively.
The film’s opening brings you right into the experience in the most disturbing way possible. It is a very disturbing moment that is what ultimately leads to the events of the film and how it traumatizes Josephine. We see over the course of the film with how much it’s really affecting Josephine and with trauma like this it does not simply go away. A child seeing an act of sexual violence and having so much weight on her shoulders because of being a witness is soul crushing.
I don’t want to say too much more as Josephine is the sort of experience that you should absolutely go into knowing as little as possible. It’s a film that is certainly not going to be for everyone due to disturbing nature. With that being said this film broke me and really made me cry, it’s a disturbing yet important film that I do recommend taking a look once it releases.
Follows Cody Parsons as he navigates a drug court program, while his foster brother Jack also deals with heroin addiction, and their sister tries to stay clean.
Union County is directed by Adam Meeks which is his directorial debut.
We have seen plenty of road to recovery films before, some good, some bad and some incredibly forgettable. Rarely we get to see one of these films that prioritizes authenticity in this case though Union County is one of those films. The story itself is a very traditional road to recovery film, but it’s the details that only add up to this film which helps it reach the finish line in the end.
First and foremost a large majority of the supporting cast (including Annette Deao who is a huge stand out of the film and I’ll get into in a moment) are not actors. They worked at the drug court program itself and some were even participants of the program as well. This brings this blend of documentary and narrative film elements into the mix which Adam Meeks does such a fantastic job of presenting. It’s a beautifully told story that feels authentic the whole way through the experience.
The performances are all fantastic across the board, Will Poulter once again shows he is a terrific actor. He gives this grounded and convincing performance as Cody a man who is struggling with addiction, there’s subtle moments that show internal pain. His portrayal of addiction and recovery is deeply humane, there are so many striking moments presented here each of which really build Poulter’s performance. Poulter’s ability to show immense regret through this more muted direction feels incredibly real and is presented incredibly well. This is undoubtedly a career best worthy performance from Will Poulter.
Noah Centineo shows that he has really evolved as an actor, he plays Jack (Cody’s brother) who is a very complex and grounded character that is also struggling with addiction. Although his screen time is limited, he completely transforms into his role which leaves a lasting impact on the viewer. Finally there is Annette Deao and the rest of the supporting cast who as I mentioned before either work at the program or are participants of the program. Deao is the stand out among them as she gives a phenomenal performance where she is basically playing herself, the conversations between her and the rest of the cast are nothing short of brilliant. These arguably some of the film’s most raw moments and they all really deliver in this striking detail. Deao is a real life counselor at the program making her scenes all the more powerful.
As mentioned before the film blends documentary and narrative film elements together, Meeks does an excellent job at doing so especially when it comes to details. The writing has this raw feel that while can have the very traditional road to recovery film elements, still manages to be striking in its execution. Authenticity is what is holding this film together and luckily the whole way through there isn’t a single moment that takes you out of the film.
Overall Union County is an authentic experience that tells such a powerful story of recovery. The cast do such a phenomenal job of telling this story and truly bring so much strength, emotion and care into the experience.
Jerome Reviews... 