The Starling Girl is a powerful film about religious trauma.

17-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community. But everything changes when her magnetic youth pastor Owen returns to their church.

The Starling Girl is a phenomenal film that takes the coming of age genre and challenges it with several themes such as religious trauma, power dynamics, lust and so much more. 

Eliza Scanlen is absolutely brilliant in the leading role and gives one of the best performances of the year, she plays a 17 year old named Jem Starling who really struggles throughout the film and is depicted in such a powerful way that instantly connects the viewer to the character. Her performance has so many powerful moments that it would be impossible to name them all, through her character and the film we see how people use religion as a distraction and sometimes a justification for moral failings. 

The film does such a brilliant job of balancing it’s themes, it’s a bit of risk to really depict a teenager as realistic as possible when it comes to this sort of plot but Eliza Scanlen’s performance and director Laurel Parmet do that incredibly well here. The direction and script from Parmet is truly fascinating, multilayered and downright powerful with every sense of the word, it’s the sensitive and focused direction that really makes this one standout from a lot of other coming of age films. 

Eliza Scanlen truly captures this earnest curiosity and religious shame with Jem’s character it’s truly incredible and can actually be quite relatable for people who have been through religious trauma before. The Starling Girl is such an effective piece on the subject and completely invests the viewer from beginning to end. 

The Starling Girl is available on all VOD platforms. 

9/10 A

War Pony is an authentic look at a community.

The interlocking stories of two young Oglala Lakota men grappling with a world built against them as they navigate their unique paths to manhood.

War Pony is what happens when you put being authentic first before anything else and I mean that in the best way possible.

First time directors Riley Keough and Gina Gammell both tell an authentic story about Oglala Lakota men and their struggles on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the film itself is really feels like journalistic photography in the case where Keough and Gammell are showing the viewers these special moments of these men. The film is kept as raw as possible, it’s a very interesting approach that directors such as Chloe Zhao and Andrea Arnold have taken in their films. Keough and Gammell do just as good here with a lot of beautiful moments between the men and their loved ones, we get to see a lot of genuine interaction that really comes off as authentic. 

The film also shows some more darker moments that tackle economic devastation, loss of innocence and drug crimes in the community and all these topics are handled with so much care and show the harsh reality as well. The main performances are phenomenal LaDainian Crazy Thunder and Jojo Bapteise Whiting both give some of the best performances so far this year and truly steal the show with their performances. 

The movie does take a bit to get going and I’m still not entirely sure if the ending quite landed, however that does not take away from everything else, War Pony is an extremely well crafted film that is such a spectacular directorial debut for Riley Keough and Gina Gammell 

War Pony is available on all VOD platforms. 

8/10 B+

You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah is a cute coming of age film!

It follows Stacey Friedman as she prepares for her Bat Mitzvah, but her plans comedically unravel and threaten to ruin the event.

You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah is a cute little film that is basically a Sandler family project and that’s definitely not a bad thing. 

Adam Sandler’s daughters Sunny and Sadie Sandler are both incredibly charming, plus Adam Sandler’s wife Jackie Sandler is here as well (although Idina Menzel plays his wife in the film)  Together the four really bring such a charming and quite passionate movie that is truly heartwarming, the performances are all around quite great especially from Sunny Sandler who definitely has a bright future career that is truly going to be interesting to watch. 

There’s tons of beautiful moments that really show these characters connect to one another, the movie’s raw depictions of these characters is truly beautiful to see and is a very down to earth coming of age story. There’s truly a lot here that is genuinely touching and has much heart poured into it.

The film might struggle a bit when it comes to it’s comedic moments, a lot of the jokes simply don’t land all that well. However the movie does stick the landing when comes to the more dramatic moments and the coming of age elements, there are some genuinely touching family bonding moments that really bring the viewer closer to these characters. 

Overall You Are Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah might not have anything really new to say when it comes to coming of age stories, but this is definitely one of the more authentic feeling ones to come out of Netflix in recent years. 

You Are Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah is available on Netflix. 

7/10 B

Meg 2: The Trench is almost identical to it’s predecessor.

A research team encounters multiple threats while exploring the depths of the ocean, including a malevolent mining operation.

Meg 2: The Trench is a sequel to The Meg which came out In 2018, The Meg is a fun enough shark movie that when it first came out I absolutely hated it. Over the few years it did grow on me but it’s still not something I would consider good, Meg 2: The Trench sort of follows that exact same path. Honestly what caught my attention about this one was Ben Wheatley being in the director’s chair who’s previous work consists of Kill List (2011), High-Rise (2015), Free Fire (2016), In The Earth (2021) and many others! Some really great movies here and drastically different from The Meg. 

While I do respect Ben Wheatley for tackling something different Meg 2: The Trench is more or less the exact same thing as the first movie, Jason Statham of course does his thing and is very entertaining there’s absolutely no denying that. He works with what he’s given script wise and actually does manage to have a few funny movements. 

The movie can mostly be broken down into two sections the first hour of the movie is a lot of uninteresting corporate conversations and not very good build-up, although there are a few moments here and there in the first hour that are decent. The second half is when the movie goes completely over the top and lands into hilarious territory. The Meg and other sea creatures attack which leads to chaos ensuing, there’s a ton of fun moments to be had and a lot of ridiculous moments that make the movie all the more hilarious. 

Having that said much like the first movie it’s a huge mixed bag that never quite pins down the premise to it’s full potential, if you took away a lot of the bad exposition from the first hour of the movie and went as campy and wacky as possible there definitely could have been something here. 

Meg 2: The Trench is available on all VOD Platforms. 

5/10 C

Heart Of Stone is yet another terrible expensive Netflix action movie.

An intelligence operative for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon.

Heart Of Stone falls in the exact same category as Red Notice and The Gray Man, over expensive and uninspired Netflix original action movies. Sadly this is a trend that I don’t see dying anytime soon, honestly what could I say that’s really thought provoking about Heart Of Stone? 

Gal Gadot isn’t good here, the acting all around falls completely flat and the writing gives very little information about any of these characters. Outside of a few action scenes that are decently done, this is a movie that is really trying it’s hardest to be Mission Impossible. Except where as Mission Impossible is entertaining, has a story to follow and even if the characters aren’t the most developed they are still fun to watch. In Heart Of Stone the characters are the most generic spy movie characters you could come up with, they lack any personality outside of being plot devices or exposition. 

The running time is a whole other problem as well, it’s 2 hours and 2 minutes and the pacing is about as dreadful as you would expect, there’s nothing investing, nothing that could give the viewer some sort of interest and nothing really to say at all. It’s not helped by bland direction that has no style to it at all, making this another terrible Netflix action movie that lands in the sea of them. 

Heart Of Stone is available on Netflix. 

2/10 F

The YouTube Effect is a surface level documentary about the popular platform.

In this eye-opening documentary, Alex Winter presents a thoughtful, troubling look at YouTube, a site with humble origins that has gone on to change how we experience the world.

Anyone who has at least heard of YouTube’s history is going to know everything that’s in this documentary. The YouTube Effect basically covers the brief history of the platform, it’s influence and impact, plus it briefly talks about the alt-right pipeline that was especially kicking around during Gamergate and 2016. 

The first bit is definitely the strongest you have some popular Youtubers such as Anthony Padilla (one of the faces of Smosh), the parents of Ryan from Ryan’s Toy Reviews, Natalie Wynn (Contrapoints) and a few others. It’s nice to see their perspective of how the site has changed since then and their reactions to their careers being as big as they are now. 

The first chunk of The Youtube Effect is the basic history of the site, a few of the controversies such as the whole Google+ YouTube comment situation and a few others. But then the documentary switches to talking about GamerGate, 2016, the alt-right and BLM, which there is nothing wrong discussing these topics it’s that the documentary feels like it doesn’t really care for these topics. 

They are brought up, talked about for a few minutes and then quickly discarded. Plus the information the documentary leaves the viewer about these subjects is very surface level and something that the average person will already know, there’s tons of videos on YouTube already about these topics that go in great detail about their origins, goals and what they are/were about. 

As far as filmmaking goes this is fine enough, there isn’t anything too crazy or to write home about but it’s competently made and decent enough to look at, overall if you at least know what YouTube is you are not going to get much out of this one. It’s not a bad documentary just a very forgettable one that really doesn’t have a whole lot to it. 

The YouTube Effect is available on all VOD platforms. 

5/10 C

Quick Review: Vacation Friends 2 (2023)

Marcus lands an all-expenses-paid trip to a Caribbean resort, and he and his wife, Emily, invite their uninhibited besties, Ron and Kyla. But when Kyla’s incarcerated father is released from San Quentin and shows up, things get out of control.

Vacation Friends 2 is the sequel to Vacation Friends which came out in 2021 and I’m over here scratching my head on why they decided to make a sequel. While the first movie wasn’t anything horrible it was certainly not anything to write home about either, Vacation Friends 2 is the very definition of an unnecessary sequel. 

The cast really tries here to make it work but there are very few laughs that land, in particular Lil Rel Howery and John Cena really try here but it’s not nearly enough to save this movie. Steve Buscemi (who plays John Cena’s father-in-law) is added to the cast and he plays the very generic father-in-law character who does not get along with John Cena’s character, antics ensue and there’s suddenly a drug/crime plot in the movie.

Steve Buscemi really doesn’t add anything great here, his performance is very flat and really doesn’t do anything to help the movie really stand, as far as the crime plot is concerned it’s about what you expect. Very predictable and does not have any funny moments going on that make it worth it in the end. 

Overall there really isn’t a whole lot else to say about Vacation Friends 2, it’s a terrible sequel to an already forgettable movie. 

Vacation Friends 2 is available on Hulu.

3/10 D-

Talk To Me is a haunting ride with a beautifully haunting final shot.

When a group of friends discovers how to conjure spirits by using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill — until one of them unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

While I don’t think Talk To Me is the best horror film of the year as a lot of other people have said (that still goes to Infinity Pool for me.) I do think it’s yet another very strong film to come out of the genre from this year. 

The performances are all quite fantastic here especially from Sophie Wilde who gives such a fantastic performance that really captures the film’s atmosphere and it’s themes effectively, Alexandra Jensen is also quite fantastic here as well and plays her part incredibly well. Something that can really be said about the cast is how they easily connect, it gives a much more grounded experience of how teenagers act despite the movie going in a much different later on. 

Sophie Wilde’s character Mia has going through losing her mother and it’s a main theme throughout the film that’s done quite well and ultimately leads into the final moments of the film, between Wilde’s acting and the raw nature of her performance it really does bring the viewer’s attention along the ride. 

Something that is quite neat about Talk To Me is it has this ritual creepypasta (basically horror stories on the internet) vibe to it that I actually quite like, it’s effective and gets more and more creepy with it’s atmosphere as the film goes on. Having that said I’m not entirely sure if everything during the second half of Talk To Me really works. It does start to fall into being more of a traditional horror film, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but when your first half has tons of raw moments with a lot of interesting ideas it does look as good in comparison. 

However that doesn’t stop Talk To Me from having a mean spirited ending that leads to a very haunting final shot that completely shocks you, the final moments of the film despite a rocky road of a final act is some of the best moments of the film. The sense of darkness, loneliness and being downright intimidating is absolutely worth it in the end. 

Talk To Me is an incredibly strong horror film that despite slipping up a bit during the final lands on it’s feet with a beautifully haunting final shot that will be remembered for quite awhile. 

Talk To Me is playing in theaters. 

8/10 B+

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter is a fun Dracula feature.

The crew of the merchant ship Demeter sets sail from Carpathia to London to deliver a cargo of 50 unmarked wooden crates. However, they soon discover they’re not alone as Dracula’s unholy presence turns the trip into a nightmarish fight for survival.

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter is an adaptation based of “The Captain’s Log” a chapter that is from the 1897 novel Dracula. The movie is directed by André Øverdal who at this point in his career has directed some quite interesting films such as Autopsy Of Jane Doe, Scary Stories To Tell in The Dark, Troll Hunter (2010) and a few others. While I don’t think The Last Voyage Of The Demeter is one of his best films, there is still a whole lot to really like about this one. 

The performances are all around quite great, nobody turns in a bad performance and sticks with the period gothic style that Øverdal is going for. The standouts are definitely Corey Hawkins who plays a strong leading man and really helps put this movie to the finish line, Aisling Franciosi is fun here and has decent enough chemistry with Hawkins. Finally there’s Liam Cunningham who plays Captain Elliot and narrates the story which is quite well done and does fit with what the movie is going for. 

Dracula’s design is quite interesting and takes on an appearance more like Nosferatu which is always welcomed, some people might have issues with the design looking a bit too generic but it fits with the whole “monster attacking a ship” type of story which the movie is in the most classic way possible. 

Øverdal’s atmosphere like in some of his other movies is very effective here, there’s actually one or two emotional moments that are genuinely sort of sad and you really start to feel towards these characters, it really fits with the period piece gothic atmosphere and look the movie is going for which it really does succeed. 

The main flaws come in with the huge lack of character development and not a whole lot to the story, a lot of the characters on the ship really just serve to be killed off, there definitely are character moments for Clemens (Corey Hawkins), Anna (Aisling Franciosi) and Captain Elliot (Liam Cunningham) and I said before there are a few emotional moments that are quite great. But in a lot of areas it’s still incredibly lacking, as far as story goes it’s a very simple story of a monster attacking a ship picking apart it’s crew one by one. There really isn’t a whole lot here, it does take a bit to get going and the story starts to run at a very slow pace but the final act is admittedly very fun. 

Overall despite it’s flaws The Last Voyage Of The Demeter is a fun time, it takes awhile to get going and writing wise there really is not a whole lot here, but the acting, atmosphere and the fun final act push this one to the finish line. 

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter is playing in theaters. 

6/10 C+

Bad Things is an empty Shining imitation.

A group of friends go to a hotel for a weekend getaway and soon discover that women do bad things here.

Bad Things is a movie I was decently excited for, hearing about the premise and cast got me quite interested and quickly put it on my radar. Unfortunately the movie itself is all over the place and completely misses it’s mark. 

If you have read in reviews online about Bad Things you are probably aware the many comparisons to The Shining, it’s definitely more than being inspired it acts more of a unofficial reimagining of Kubrick’s film yet took nothing of what made The Shining so fantastic. Everything from the ghosts, to the hotel, to the main character Ruthie Nodd (played by Gayle Rankin) clearly trying to be Jack Torrance. She starts to see ghosts and as the movie progresses her mental state slips, the problem here is the character doesn’t have any layers. 

The main difference here is Jack Torrance was a complex character who had a ton of character development, Ruthie Nodd despite Rankin’s fine enough performance is a character that quickly loses the viewer’s interest due to how blandly written she really is and her interactions with her friends really don’t help her either. 

The main positive here is Hari Nef she is supposed to be the part of Shelly Duvall and she actually does that decently, she was definitely the main reason why I watched this one and when it comes to her performance I wasn’t disappointed. 

The rest of the movie is a complete mess, Hari Nef’s character is clearly the heart of the movie and the movie decides for some reason to just be very cruel to her something that once again The Shining did far better with. The Shining could be seen as a film about a mother and son trying to get out of an abusive situation. Here it’s just played off for a very goofy kill at the end and desperate attempt of being campy.

I definitely think the idea of a LGBTQ Shining was an interesting one, it had great representation and there’s some decent looking shots here. But the rest of the movie is a very empty imitation of a classic film. 

Bad Things is available on Shudder 

3/10 D-