Sundance Review: Rock Springs (2026)

Centers on a grieving family who move to a new town after a tragedy, only to find sinister secrets lurking in the woods behind their house.

Rock Springs is directed by Vera Miao which is her directorial debut.

Rock Springs is a very admirable film, while not every single element works entirely the film is clearly made with a lot of knowledge and care about certain topics. Those being racism and trauma, more so about generational ties to trauma. The film mixes this incredibly with horrors of a massacre that actually did happen (based on the 1885 Wyoming incident where white miners murdered at least 28 Chinese miners.) all of this together creates a horrifying image that brings the viewer into the film.

The performances all around are great especially Kelly Marie Tran and Benedict Wong, Tran does a fantastic job of playing a grieving mother. It’s a stunning performance that really sticks with the viewer the whole way through, Wong absolutely nails his performance during the film’s more historical parts. The amount of power and striking atmosphere that goes into his performance is astounding.

The film bounces a bit with the past and present, but it’s done in this way where the film cleverly brings it to you, like we are discovering the dark history of Rock Springs itself. It feels like we as the viewers actually discovered something and now we are told to apply that information into the present day. Not every single part of the translation to past and present works entirely, however there are some genuinely atmospheric moments that do capture the dark history of Rock Springs.

The film’s themes of racism and trauma are well done here, the racism comes from the real event and the generational trauma comes from how the past and present are connected that trauma never really goes away. The script from Vera Miao has some powerful moments that clearly have this sense of knowledge behind them, these moments might not be anything incredibly groundbreaking. However I do think the careful nature of the script more than makes up for it.

I do think some of the editing does end up hurting the connection between the past and present, it makes a few scenes drag out for a bit longer than they should. It’s worth noting that the film does take a bit to get going, however the supernatural elements and the historical elements keep it afloat and really bring you into the experience.

Overall Rock Springs is a solid film, it’s admirable film that executes its ideas decently well. There is a few bumps in the road, however that’s not enough to stop the film from being incredibly intriguing.

Rock Springs currently has no release date.

7/10 B

Greenland 2: Migration (2026) Film Review

The surviving Garrity family must leave the safety of the Greenland bunker and embark on a perilous journey across the decimated frozen wasteland of Europe to find a new home.

Greenland 2: Migration is directed by Ric Roman Waugh director of Snitch (2013), Shot Caller (2017), Angel Has Fallen (2019), Greenland (2020), Kandahar (2023) and a few others.

Greenland (2020) was a surprise for a lot of people myself included, it took the disaster movie genre and brought a ton of emotional moments for its characters. Was it groundbreaking? Absolutely not, it was a flawed yet satisfying movie and a breath of fresh air from the genre. Unfortunately Greenland 2: Migration does the direct opposite and ends up being another case of someone asking the question “was this sequel really needed?”

The acting for the most part is fine enough, Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin are by far the best of the pack. Each of them are able to give a few decent moments and the charm of Butler and Baccarin from the first movie is mostly still intact. The rest of the performances unfortunately are a mix of bad and below average, that’s mainly due to the writing just not doing anyone any favors at all.

Speaking of which the writing this time around throws out a ton of the emotional moments from the first movie and opts for lazy conveniences as well as a very dull journey. It’s quite clear that Greenland (2020) was not made with a sequel in mind so this movie has the feel of making something up as it goes along. The character writing does not fill the screen at all, I guess the final moments of the movie do somewhat of a decent job closing John Garrity’s story, but admittedly it’s something you could see coming during the movie’s final moments.

Overall there is just not a whole lot to comment on when it comes to Greenland 2: Migration, it’s a sequel that surely does exist and will be quickly forgotten about due to how dull the whole movie is. It’s not anything offensively bad, however it lacks so much of what made the first movie interesting that it ultimately does not matter.

Greenland 2: Migration is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Sleepwalker (2026) Film Review

Haunted by terrifying visions, Sarah’s sleepwalking episodes begin to intensify, accelerating her descent into darkness.

Sleepwalker is directed by Brandon Auman which is his directorial debut.

Sleepwalker is the very definition of a January released horror movie. It’s terrible, forgettable and makes little to no sense due to its botched filmmaking. Occasionally there’s a moment or two of good acting from Hayden Panettiere but that is nowhere near enough to save this movie from falling on its face.

As mentioned before, Hayden Panettiere occasionally has some decent moments where she’s able to work with the movie’s awful script and turn it into something somewhat salvageable. However those moments are very far and few in between, we get long periods of the actors trying desperately to make the script work but due to the empty and laughably bad script it all falls down quickly. Beverly D’Angelo’s character Gloria had potential here and attempts to tell some jokes but it ends up being more lame than anything else. Justin Chatwin as an abusive husband who ends up in a coma is quite terrible, his delivery during the more intense scenes is just not there at all and really lacks the tension and acting power needed.

The movie’s attempts at grief and abusive relationships while admirable, just does not work well at all. The grief attempts to combine it with sleepwalking which is admittedly a very solid idea, the execution however is a mess and not well done. Way too many jumpscares and a lack of a thrilling atmosphere make the movie fall flat immediately, as for the abusive relationships part while the set up is interesting that’s about as far as it goes. The dialogue does not do this movie any favors at all, it’s a shame because there is a few genuine good moments here that somewhat work. But all of that goes away when the rest of the movie carries on with its foolishness.

Lastly there’s how badly the movie is crafted. A lot of it is incredibly repetitive story wise, the ending is very abrupt and leaves the viewer with a lot more questions than answers (not in a good way.) The twist (if you even want to call it that) is very predictable and fails to land in any meaningful way.

Overall Sleepwalker has a decent idea here, but the execution goes horribly wrong in just about every way possible. Outside of the occasional decent moments, you are not going to get a whole lot from the movie as it fails to bring the viewer in.

Sleepwalker is available on all VOD platforms.

1/10 F

Sundance Film Review: Zi (2026)

In Hong Kong, a young woman haunted by visions of her future self meets a stranger who changes the course of her night-and possibly her life.

Zi is directed by Kogonada director of Columbus (2017), After Yang (2021) and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025).

Zi is a return to form for Kogonada, after last year’s disappointing A Big Bold Beautiful Journey it is nice to see Kogonada return to what he’s best at. Although Zi is heavily flawed and is still not as great as Kogonada’s first two films, there is still a lot to like here and there’s some genuinely great moments that make Zi shine.

The performances from Michelle Mao and Haley Lu Richardson are both quite strong here, the two have great chemistry that over the course of the film builds into something beautiful. There are some silly moments in between it all, Richardson’s character El immediately starts crying for Zi (played by Michelle Mao) after only meeting her for 10 minutes. However that actually does work here as the film is going for a much more experimental direction and I do think what ends up getting revealed later on justifies this. Mao and Richardson play their characters well and have some very real moments, there is some great facial acting and quiet moments that help build their bond. Jin Ha who plays Min gets the short end of the stick, his character is underdeveloped and just not all that interesting, he does however show off his great singing voice (he’s been on Broadway).

The writing is the film’s weakest point, the story is a very thinly written narrative. The premise here is Zi gets visions of the future and sees an older version of El, the two meet and from there very little happens. There’s just not a whole lot to chew on here writing wise, with that being said there’s beautiful moments that do happen and I do think the ending wraps it up nicely.

It’s a much more experimental film compared to A Big Bold Beautiful Journey it’s an incredibly small budget of these characters walking around in the city. Admittedly the city element does bring some excellent atmosphere that does create this beautiful tone to the film. The score is beautiful as always when it comes to Kogonada’s films, it fits the atmosphere that is required and brings this level of beauty and warmth that helps elevate the film.

Overall Zi is definitely an improvement over A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025), it’s a nice return of what Kogonada is best at. If you can get past the thin story you should be able to enjoy this one for what it is.

Zi currently has no release date.

6/10 C+

Sundance Film Review: Chasing Summer (2026)

Following a breakup with her boyfriend and loss of her job, a woman heads to her hometown, where she reunites with friends and former flings, which turns her life upside down.

Chasing Summer is directed by Josephine Decker director of Madeline’s Madeline (2018), Shirley (2020), The Sky Is Everywhere (2022) and a few others.

Chasing Summer is a cute little 91 minute comedy that doesn’t overstay its welcome, there isn’t a whole lot to talk about with this one. It’s a midlife crisis film about a woman who loses her job and man, she moves back to her parent’s place and we see wacky shenanigans follow. What you see is what you get from this one, luckily the performances and Josephine Decker’s strong direction make this entertaining enough.

Iliza Shlesinger (who also wrote the film’s script) is by and large what keeps this film going. There’s some genuinely funny moments due to her performance, the interactions she has with some of the other characters are genuinely great and at times feels all too real. Lola Tung is great here as well although she is very underutilized and only gets so much to really do. She does get one interaction with Shlesinger that is quite solid however.

Shlesinger’s script is decent enough, there are some genuinely funny moments and there’s a nice balance of drama and comedy. The twist the film goes for however can be seen coming a mile away and unfortunately the third act is not as strong as the rest of the film. It’s so much slower (not in a good way) and at times feels a bit redundant. I do think Decker’s direction does salvage this a bit by making this feel a bit more personal and has the feel of somebody telling us this story rather than this being unexpectedly dumped on us all at once.

I do appreciate Josephine Decker going for something a bit different from her previous films, even if Chasing Summer is not as good as her previous work. There is a lot of heart here that does help the film cross the finish line, there is this wave of nostalgia to the film. Seeing people you thought you wouldn’t see again, or finding out people from your town you grew up in are still there. There’s this sweet and real feel that Decker captures that gives the film more room to breathe.

Overall Chasing Summer is a decent little comedy, it has its flaws but it does have enough charm and fun to be worth a watch.

Chasing Summer currently has no release date.

6/10 C+

Most Anticipated Films Of February 2026!

January flew by and now we are suddenly February! There’s a lot to look forward to this month as well with tons of new releases! I do have 6 2025 films left to review which I’m aiming for those reviews to be done by the end of the month. Sundance reviews will also be coming this month! Anyway here is the list

February 6th

The Moment (Wide Theater Release)

Twisted (VOD)

February 13th

Wuthering Heights (Theaters)

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (Theaters)

Nirvana The Band The Show (Theaters)

The Mortuary Assistant (Theaters)

Honey Bunch (Shudder)

February 20th

Psycho Killer (Theaters)

How To Make A Killing (Theaters)

Pillion (Theaters)

This is Not A Test (Theaters)

February 27th

K-Pops! (Theaters)

In The Blink Of An Eye (Hulu)

Crazy Old Lady (Shudder)

Grizzly Night (2026) Film Review

On 12 August 1967, in Montana’s Glacier National Park, the unthinkable happened: On the same night, nine miles apart, there were not one, but two fatal grizzly bear attacks.

Grizzly Night is directed by Burke Doeren which is his directorial debut. The film is based on the true story of the 1967 Grizzly Bear attacks in Glacier National Park.

It’s only January and we have already gotten three killer animal movies. Primate, Killer Whale and now Grizzly Night. If you are going into Grizzly Night expecting the usual killer animal movie you are going to be incredibly disappointed. This one focuses less on the attacks and more so on the rescue efforts, which while admirable and is important to highlight is ultimately not very investing. Which leads to the movie becoming a bit too forgettable for its own good.

The acting is fine enough, nobody here really gives a standout performance but I do think Lauren Call who plays Ranger Joan Devereaux gets better as the movie goes on and actually does have a few emotional moments. Oded Fehr as Dr. John Lindberg is a close second who provides this calm and empathetic atmosphere whenever he’s on screen. Unfortunately the rest of the cast gets the short end of the stick, the acting from the rest ranges from bad to middle of the road. It doesn’t help that the writing gives them very little to work with.

The writing is this movie’s biggest problem, it’s a shame to because the true story itself is incredibly interesting. To this day nobody knows exactly what made the two Grizzly Bears attack so there’s this air of mystery that’s genuinely fascinating. The writing unfortunately does not capture that feel at all, instead it opts to try and set the bear attacks up as something bigger but ultimately changes its mind and focuses mainly on the rescue efforts. Which as I said earlier is incredibly admirable, but the dialogue is just not there to support it. A lot of the characters are very thinly written and don’t offer all that much outside of support.

The big parts Grizzly Night has going for it is the filming and the nature atmosphere, cinematographers Brian Mitchell and Ian Start do a very good job of capturing the outdoors which leads to some decently shot scenes. While director Burke Doeren is able to capture the feel of the outdoors with the atmosphere, there is definitely something here that the rest of the movie failed to lean into especially with the final act that feels very rushed.

Overall Grizzly Night has its moments, but those moments are outnumbered by the amount of flaws that are present here. It’s a very bland telling of an interesting true story.

Grizzly Night releases Friday on all VOD platforms in the USA and on Digital and DVD February 2nd in the UK!

4/10 D+

Bugonia (2025) Film Review

Two conspiracy-obsessed men kidnap the CEO of a major company when they become convinced that she’s an alien who wants to destroy Earth.

Bugonia is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos director of Dogtooth (2009), The Lobster (2015), The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017), The Favourite (2018), Poor Things (2023), Kinds Of Kindness (2024) and a few others.

Part of what makes Yorgos Lanthimos such a fascinating director is his ability to take the viewer into a much different world in each of his films. Even if you don’t fully like a certain film of his you always have to give him credit where credit is due, he makes the world of said film unique. That’s certainly the case here with Bugonia and it just might be one of his very best films, every single corner there is something going on whether it be the character’s movements, a score that is almost mocking the characters with this triumphant opera even though what’s shown is the exact opposite. Plus a lot of unexpected twist and turns make this film a very bizarre ride. Although Bugonia is a remake of South Korea film Save the Green Planet! The film manages to be its own thing!

Emma Stone as usual delivers in every single way possible. Her approach to such a bizarre script feels natural, her interactions with Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis alone make the film worth watching. She captures the bizarre atmosphere and balances the humor and the film’s darker moments masterfully. The chaos between her character Michelle Fuller and Teddy Gatz (played by Jesse Plemons) only shows how incredible her performance really is.

Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis are both fantastic here as well. Teddy Gatz is a character whose trauma, abuse and anger leads him down a path that isn’t reality. The way Plemons portrays this is incredibly effective and only shows the unhinged nature that Teddy has piled in him. One moment he can seem somewhat in reality and the next moment he can be spouting the most nonsensical things you ever heard of, these are the moments in particular that really shows how incredible Plemons’s performance really is. In between all of this Aidan Delbis delivers some humanity, while his performance isn’t as grand or large in scale as Stone or Plemons. He delivers a more quiet yet impactful performance that sticks to the viewer in the end.

The writing is fantastic, there’s a lot going on here thematically. Such as conspiracies caused by corporate pain, the loss of truth, corporations reducing their employees and such much more. Each of these themes is tackled masterfully, with a lot of exploration of the characters and just overall fascinating character and world writing that gives such bizarre picture. Seeing how and what pushed Teddy over the edge was some of the film’s most important moments, it does not necessarily sympathize with him it just hands you these scenes and asks you “what do you make of this?”

The cinematography from cinematographer Robbie Ryan and the score from Jerskin Fendrix combined together create something truly fascinating. The cinematography gives this film a small scale look yet feels much bigger, that’s mainly because a majority of the film we are in this one house. Yet when the film does switch to the outdoors in some scenes it feels massive, it’s a nice balance that keeps it very natural and strangely grounded. The score as I said at the beginning almost has this humor to it, there’s this triumphant opera that points a finger at the character and laughs at them when something doesn’t go according to plan. It’s hilarious and quite effective something you don’t see a whole lot of films attempt to do mainly because it’s hard to nail down.

Finally there’s the last bit of the film and the bizarreness of the film in general. Despite being bizarre this strangely feels like one of Lanthimos’s most grounded films, rabbit holes like this do exist and people’s trauma and abuse can lead them down a dark path. The final act has one of the best song uses of 2025, I won’t say what it is here because it truly is effective and creates this haunting yet calming picture. The bizarre nature of the film is both comedic yet atmospheric, there’s a lot going on here that only adds up as the film goes on.

Overall Bugonia is one of the best films of 2025, a fascinating film that has so much to explore with excellent performances.

Bugonia is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

Mother Of Flies (2026) Film Review

When a young woman faces a deadly diagnosis, she seeks dark magic from a witch in the woods; but every cure has its cost.

Mother Of Flies is directed by John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser directors of The Deeper You Dig (2019), Hellbender (2021), Where the Devil Roams (2023), Halfway to Zen (2016), Hell Hole (2024) and a few others.

The Adams family are back with a really solid and atmospheric experience with Mother Of Flies. A film that unlike their last film Hell Hole (2024), manages to keep the eerie atmosphere and deliver tons of chilling scenes that capture the feel of abandonment with its setting. The film does take a bit to get going and there are some rough moments with the acting, but in the end the film delivers on its premise and leaves the viewer satisfied.

The performances are about the same as they have always been in any of the Adams family’s films. In other words it can range from being decent to rough territory, however the charm of them being a family and doing these films together seriously helps out in the long run. Despite some of the rough acting, you can feel the passion that John, Zelda and Toby spread on screen. It definitely works a lot better in this case since the film feels a lot more intimate which does give the viewer some touching father and daughter moments between Jake (played by John Adams) and Mickey (played by Zelda Adams). Toby Poser as Solveig is a pretty formidable witch, she has this calm yet intimidating energy to her that the viewer feels right when she’s introduced. The film’s slow burn feel heavily relies on Poser’s performance which ends up working to the film’s benefit.

The atmosphere is dark and has the feel of abandonment, it’s the same type of feel that Hell Hole (2024) tried to capture but unfortunately fizzled out as the movie went on. Luckily that’s not the case here with Mother Of Flies, whether it because Toby Poser’s calm yet threatening performance that ultimately tries to get Mickey by herself, or the cinematography from cinematographer Fabian Gamper is just visually more interesting and tackles the feel of abandonment much more sharply.

The film does admittedly take a bit to get going, it’s a film that takes its time to build the world around it and I would say the wait is worth it. The film’s script definitely has it’s weak points particularly with the second act of the film where there does seem to be some repetitive moments going on here. However as the film’s mystery becomes slowly realized by Jake and Mickey things get much more investing and brings the viewer into it all.

Overall Mother Of Flies is a solid film from the Adams family, it’s a huge improvement over Hell Hole (2024) and brings the atmosphere front and center.

Mother Of Flies is available on Shudder.

7/10 B

Primate (2026) Film Review

Lucy’s tropical island homecoming turns deadly when her family’s clever chimpanzee, Ben, becomes rabid. With her father away and no help coming, paradise becomes a prison as Lucy and her friends fight for survival against a pet they once trusted.

Primate is directed by Johannes Roberts director of The Other Side Of The Door (2016), 47 Meters Down (2017), The Strangers: Prey At Night (2018), 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019), Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City (2021) and a few others.

Primate is a very solid start to 2026 when it comes to theatrical released films, it’s a very simple killer animal film with a very mean edge to it that helps it stand out. Combine that with a fantastic synth score that is very John Carpenter like and some gnarly kills with decent acting and you have yourself a quite fun experience.

The performances are solid, not everyone here sticks the landing but Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander and Troy Kotsur do great here. Even with the limited screentime Kotsur has he is still able to leave this connection to the viewer which makes you care about his care. Sequoyah and Alexander are fun here as well, there is not a whole lot going on here in the character writing department. But the film does make up for it by stacking up what follows.

Primate’s secret weapon is its gnarly kills and its beautiful 80s like synth score. Starting with the kills they are quite brutal from the opening scene all the way to end, have this extra sense of darkness added to them due to Ben the chimpanzee being unpredictable. Much like in real life chimpanzees are very unpredictable, making this all the more haunting and shrouded in this air of mystery of what’s going to happen or what is he going to do? Of course if you have seen any killer animal film you probably do know what’s going to happen, but even then, it still works in the film’s favor simply due to how much the kills show the brutality of it all.

The score is what makes this film so effective, it’s a synth 80s score that feels very John Carpenter like and it compliments the film’s atmosphere wonderfully. The score is from Adrian Johnston who funnily enough also did the score for one of director Johannes Roberts previous films The Strangers: Prey At Night (2018). Which also had a wonderful score that fit the atmosphere, Johnston does that again here with Primate. It has that feel of 80s B movies you would catch on a random tv channel, when you combine the score with the film’s atmosphere and suspenseful moments you get some truly fascinating results that end up being a ton of fun.

The film does admittedly take a bit to get going, there are definitely some scenes here that the film could have easily went without using. However that does not take away from the film’s buildup and atmosphere that never takes you out of the film, you can almost overlook the film taking a bit to get going simply due to it’s atmosphere feeling dark and rich.

Overall Primate is a fun time, it’s got the kills, score and acting to back it up. Plus Ben the chimpanzee is fun here as well.

Primate is currently in theaters.

7/10 B