One Battle After Another (2025) Film Review

When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own.

One Battle After Another is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson director of Hard Eight (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2007), There Will Be Blood (2007), The Master (2012), Inherent Vice (2014), Phantom Thread (2017) and Licorice Pizza (2021).

Paul Thomas Anderson continues to show why he is a master at his craft with One Battle After Another, a film that right out the gate immediately hooks the viewer into the film with its suspenseful and rich atmosphere, its sneaky score that creeps on you and its characters who truly make the film’s world feel complete. The beginning moments of the film start off with such a high note that the film keeps that note high as we get deeper and deeper into the film, which ultimately leads to a truly thrilling and powerful experience.

The performances are all fantastic here, each of the cast are able to bring something to the table that makes the film shine incredibly brightly. Especially when it comes to how perfectly the cast bounces off of each other when it comes to the dialogue. We get louder moments, we get humorous moments and we get a ton of quiet moments that are filled to the brim with tension.

Leonardo DiCaprio turns in a phenomenal performance, he plays Pat Calhoun/Bob Ferguson a member of the French 75. DiCaprio does a phenomenal job of playing this washed-up former member of this revolutionary group while also trying to be the best father he can be for Willa Ferguson (played by Chase Infinti), there are tons of wonderful moments between the two that are truly powerful. DiCaprio already being a phenomenal actor especially helps, because a role like Bob Ferguson is a bit demanding. There is this balance of humorous and suspense that needs to be captured in order to fully work and luckily that is the case for DiCaprio, underneath more humorous moments there’s a bit of pain that Bob displays and it’s noticeable to the viewer throughout the film. This is a very different performance from DiCaprio’s last couple of roles and he absolutely nails it.

Although Teyana Taylor sort of disappears from the film during the second half, her presence and what her character Perfidia does to help set up the film is felt throughout the experience. Teyana Taylor gives a powerhouse performance that instantly brings the viewer into the film’s world. The body language and her dialogue during the film’s intimidating moments with Steven J. Lockjaw (played by Sean Penn) shows another example of how much of a fantastic actress Taylor really is. The way she captures fear, determination and such really brings together on just how raw her performance really is.

Sean Penn is terrifying there is no other way to describe his performance, sure there are moments where the film is clearly making fun of him and a far right group known as “The Christmas Adventure Club” but make no mistake Steven J. Lockjaw is terrifying and truly evil, when he says lines that are meant to be comedic you feel this strong case of ire and hatred in his voice that never leaves your mind. The way Lockjaw escalates situations and how they can go from bad to worse just by Lockjaw entering the frame is truly haunting. Sean Penn is really great here and especially delivers scene in particular with Chase Infiniti.

Benicio del Toro and Regina Hall are both excellent here as well, Benicio del Toro gives a very likable and quite entertaining performance as Sergio St. Carlos, he gets one of the film’s most memorable scenes that feels like a large in scale thrilling atmosphere nuke that hits the film and makes it even more fascinating. Benicio del Toro also works incredibly well with Leonardo DiCaprio, the whole scene with the hidden passage that Sergio helps Bob to try and escape Lockjaw’s men is absolutely thrilling and filled to the brim with this scale that Benicio brings perfectly. Regina Hall only has a handful of scenes but does have one particularly strong moment that is incredibly memorable and very well acted, it can be argued that we did not get enough about her character Deandra but from what we got she contributed to the film’s story and world in this subtle and beautiful fashion.

Lastly there is Chase Infiniti who gives a star making performance, Infiniti plays Willa Ferguson who the film really puts us in the eyes of. Yes Bob is the main character of the film and we follow him the most out of everyone, however this very much feels like Willa’s story. It’s a story of where this ruined world is like hereditary being passed down until it reaches Willa’s generation and Infiniti does such a fascinating job of showing the pain and body language of someone who was caught up in the middle of everything. Willa’s bond with Bob evolves over the course of the film and sticks the landing due to how raw Infiniti’s acting really is, there is so much power put into her performance. One particular scene with Sean Penn is truly fantastic and captures this sense of survival in her eyes that is truly mesmerizing. We are going to be seeing a whole lot more of Chase Infiniti because this performance was truly something special.

The writing is fantastic, the film takes a horrifying world and scenario that has plenty of genuinely terrifying moments. Yet is able to add humor and hopeful moments is truly beautiful at the same time, the character writing in particular is so well done here. Each of the characters as I’ve described earlier are given something to contribute to make the film feel complete and they all succeed, there’s also this depth we get from each of them that is truly meaningful. Even if we physically don’t see Perfidia or Deandra for a number of scenes their presence is still felt and on its own gives them this character development. It’s a truly fascinating technique that not many filmmakers, writers and such can master but in the case of One Battle After Another mastery is all over the place.

Finally there is the technical parts of the film, the cinematography from Michael Bauman brings the film’s most memorable scene which some simply call it “The Hill scene” it’s a thrilling and a quiet yet explosive scene that captures the film’s atmosphere in a matter of seconds. The score from Jonny Greenwood is wonderfully done and truly paints the thrilling picture in a number of these scenes, some tracks start quietly and eventually keep growing in this subtle and careful way that creeps on the viewer. The large in scale nature of the film combined with the atmosphere works effortlessly, there’s so many moments where you are just looking around in the background of the film, there’s so much to explore in this giant painting that only adds more and more.

Overall One Battle After Another is a fantastic film and one of the year’s best, it’s an incredible experience that brings the viewer in almost immediately and never lets you go.

One Battle After Another is available on all VOD platforms

10/10 A+

Superman (2025) Film Review

Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice and the human way he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.

Superman is directed by James Gunn director of Slither (2006), Super (2010), The Guardians Of The Galaxy Trilogy and The Suicide Squad (2021). Superman serves as the first film in the new DC Universe and as a reboot of the Superman franchise

I’ve said before in the past (at least I think I did) that I was never personally a Superman fan, outside of the first two Christopher Reeves films and the Superman animated series that came out in the 90s (which you should absolutely watch if you haven’t it’s such a fun series.) I was never that invested into Superman…with that being said I am absolutely amazed by Superman (2025).

It’s absolutely no surprise that Superman is high in quality given that this is yet again James Gunn showing he knows his talent for directing incredibly well done comic book films, much like he did with The Guardians Of The Galaxy movies (2014-2023) and The Suicide Squad (2021) not only does he put excellent action in the film but he captures so many important themes of Superman that has been missing from a lot of these other films for quite a while now.

The major part of what makes Superman so excellent is the cast, whether they play a major role or a small role they all feel like a natural fit into the film’s world. For starters David Corenswet embodies the role of Superman, whether he’s fighting the villains of the film or in more quiet scenes with the many characters of the film. There’s always this kind, empathetic and vulnerable person we see when we look at Superman or Clark Kent, this debunks the idea of Superman being this perfect and unstoppable person. There’s so much heart that Corenswet gives to his portrayal to the character that it even captures a lot of what made Christopher Reeves’s Superman so iconic, his chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan (who plays Lois Lane) is some of the best moments of the film, the conversations they have with another feel surprisingly grounded and we see Clark Kent open up about how he feels about being Superman, what it takes and how much it affects him. Corenswet masterfully captures all of these moments so well and so earnestly that this ends up being one of the best performances in a comic book film in recent memory.

Rachel Brosnahan is also quite fantastic here, when it comes to portrayals of Lois Lane there’s an argument to be made that she’s the absolute best. I’ve said before that the chemistry between her and Corenswet is absolutely beautiful, but her interactions with the rest of the characters are a lot of fun as well. The film starts with Clark Kent and Lois Lane already dating, for some that might be rushing into things but I think that works here. Mainly due to how it’s talked about and acted during one of the film’s first scenes. We can almost immediately gather that the two really care for each other and the chemistry is just oozing out of the screen. Her portrayal of Lois Lane determined to find the truth is also fantastic and leads to some of her best moments throughout the film.

Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor is quite possibly the best portrayal of the character, he captures the incredibly unhinged parts of what makes Lex Luthor such a fantastic villain. He’s both comically evil and genuinely terrifying mainly because he believes every single word he’s saying and believes every action he is taking is justified, we especially see this towards the end where his determination to destroy Superman goes from already being an obsession to downright psychotic. Hoult captures all of this so wonderfully in this incredible performance that ends up being one of the best takes on a comic book villain in recent memory. His interactions with Superman are filled to the brim with destruction and desire that we see how much more corrupted he really gets.

The rest of the performances are fantastic, The Justice Gang which consists of Michael Holt/Mister Terrific (played by Edi Gathegi), Guy Gardner/Green Lantern played by Nathan Fillion) this is one of the many versions of the Green Lantern this universe is going to have) and finally Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (played by Isabela Merced) are all a lot of fun here. Merced does not get a whole lot of scenes but it’s a nice introduction to Hawkgirl as a character and Merced still delivers. Nathan Fillion gets some great moments as well and his interactions with the rest of the group and even Superman have some genuinely funny moments, there’s a moment towards the end while short does a great job of capturing his character. Edi Gathegi gives such a neat performance as Mister Terrific, he’s given the most to do in the group and especially gets one particular moment that is one of the film’s best. It’s very much like some scenes from The Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy but still manages to be incredibly fun especially combined with the song choice, camerawork and the attention to detail with the action.

Speaking of which the action is quite exciting, it really captures the whole Superman vibe especially with the cinematography from Henry Braham, while there might be a few silly shots they actually do fit with the film’s world and they most certainly do not take away from the world building of the cinematography. While Metropolis is not given straightforward world building development it is through the cinematography and it’s citizens, as the viewer when you look around you realize that the film is large in scale and that’s reflected through the action scenes and cinematography. It’s not closed off or limited the film wants you to explore, it’s incredibly fascinating and even quite beautiful at times.

Finally there’s the writing and the themes of the film that are genuinely beautiful, the character development that goes on with Clark Kent, Lois Lane and many of the other characters really feels natural. There’s a few particular moments here that really highlight this, one of them being the conversation Clark has with his parents Pa Kent (played by Pruitt Taylor Vince) and Ma Kent (played by Neva Howell) it’s such a touching scene that really does capture a lot of the heart of the film and even Superman as a character, it helps that the acting in this particular moment is especially fantastic. Ma and Pa Kent are down to earth, humble and care for their son Clark, they are proud of Clark yet are still worried about him. Even if Clark might be one of the planet’s strongest they see that he still needs to understand that he is loved, this is a very real take on parenthood even if it’s only for this scene it’s still incredibly impactful.

The themes of what makes being a hero and the people believing in Superman even when things are dire is captured so beautifully here. There’s one particular scene where Raising The Flag (one of the film’s many great tracks) is played, it’s the song from the first trailer and it perfectly fits here. From the people chanting Superman, to the booming and quiet moments of the song. It’s a beautiful and powerful representation of who Superman is and why so many people love him both in the film’s world and our world, it’s the theme of a hero determined to help the people because it’s the right thing to do. He does not expect anything in return he just does it because it’s bravery and his actions saves lives.

Overall Superman is one of the best films of the year, this is quite a fantastic way to start off the new DC universe. If this is the quality that a lot of these upcoming projects will showcase then I am very excited to see what happens next.

Superman is currently in theaters.

10/10 A+

Predator: Killer Of Killers (2025) Film Review

A Viking raider, a ninja in feudal Japan, and a World War II pilot encounter a fierce intergalactic hunter.

Predator: Killer Of Killers is directed by Dan Trachtenberg director of 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and Prey (2022). Predator: Killer Of Killers is the sixth film and the eighth installment of the Predator franchise.

After Prey (2022) was released with large amounts of praise, there was no doubt that there would be another Predator film, first they announced Predator: Badlands which releases later this year in November. Predator Killer Of Killers was a secret film that Trachtenberg was working on and the film further shows that Trachtenberg is doing truly creative and exciting things with the Predator franchise.

The first thing you will notice is how beautifully animated the film really is, I could go on for hours of how wonderfully done each and every scene really is. The amount of attention to detail helps build each and every scene, the characters are expressive and finally we have action scenes which in a lot of ways do have this Saturday morning cartoon feel but not in a bad way. The action scenes do such a great job of moving this film along at such a nice pace that compliments the atmosphere which manage to be dark, fun and tense at the same time.

The characters are simple yet effective, there is not any groundbreaking character writing here. But that ultimately does not hurt the film since the characters work just fine on their own. Ursa, Kenji and John J. Torres all get their own segment which ultimately leads up the final segment of the film. Their stories are admittedly a bit of the same in terms of what exactly happens (which is why I chose not to talk about each segment individually), with that being said it is simply very neat to see the predator travel through different periods of time and combine that with some really strong action scenes. Plus there are some genuine moments here where you do want to see the main three character’s loved ones survive.

The final segment is especially really strong, a giant colosseum battle that is so pleasing to watch. The buildup the film has been setting up pays off incredibly well and goes all out, it helps that we also got some pretty effective world building that I do hope we get to see in future films. There is a lot going on during this giant battle that is filled to the brim with fun character moments, the predators speaking in their native language and of course more beautifully done scenes thanks to the animation.

Overall Predator: Killer Of Killers is a lot of fun and one of the best installments of the franchise, it is filled to the brim with creativity even when some segments result in the same outcome that ultimately does not hurt the film as the film is beautifully made, written and executed.

Predator: Killer Of Killers is available on Hulu!

9/10 A

Tribeca Film Review: In Cold Light (2025)

Ava attempts to go straight after prison, but her twin is murdered and being a witness to the shooting, she is forced to run for her life.

Tribeca Review

In Cold Light is directed by Maxime Giroux director of Tomorrow (2008), Jo for Jonathan (2010), Felix and Meira (2014), The Great Darkened Days (2018), Norbourg (2022) and Plan B (2023).

I wish there was a lot to comment on and discuss here but unfortunately that isn’t the case with In Cold Light. It’s by no means a bad movie as the positives do help the movie stand on its legs, but a lot of the films elements just didn’t quite mesh well together in the end which ultimately stops it from being better than it could have.

The performances are the main reason to give this one a shot, Maika Monroe gives such a raw performance that quickly grabs your attention. I know that Monroe is often praised for horror performances and has become a scream queen, but in this film she shows that she can tackle dramatic roles just as well, the atmosphere compliments this well as often times the film feels like Ava’s (played by Maika Monroe) nightmare. It’s genuinely eerie at times and Monroe’s acting really displays this front and center, there’s some powerful moments that Monroe is able to nail down just because of how great of an actress she really is.

Troy Kotsur is also quite excellent, a drastic genre switch from his last performance which was CODA (2021) he delivers once again, much like Monroe he gives a raw performance. The father and daughter bond is quite grounded and very touching, there’s one particular moment here that makes clever use with the camera and the background. That scene alone really builds Kotsur’s character Will in this clever and quiet way. It’s a shame Kotsur takes a backseat towards the end of the film, because whenever Kotsur and Monroe are on screen together those end up being some of the films best moments.

The cinematography from Sarah Mishara is stylized and works pretty well especially with the nightmarish atmosphere the film is going for, although the nightmarish feel does not last throughout the whole movie. It’s just enough to give the film a somewhat unique feel, the score from Philippe Brault is electrifying and gets the viewer invested. It’s a bit of a surprise at first since it can feel a bit out of place, however once you figure out the type of atmosphere the film is going for it starts to make more sense.

What stops In Cold Light from being great comes down to is mainly the whole drug empire sections. While not bad, as I said before the movie really does not do anything differently than other films with the same sort of plot. The family aspect is what holds the film together mostly which is why it’s a bit of a shame that it’s put in the backseat towards the end. Although I will say the final five minutes are actually quite powerful and does leave an impression on you.

Overall In Cold Light mainly works do to the performances from Monroe and Kotsur, there’s some nice thrills to have here and the film itself is quite well made. There’s just a lot missing when it comes to the script and the film’s focus.

In Cold Light currently has no release date.

6/10 C+

Best Wishes To All (2025) Film Review

A college student visits her grandparents in the countryside. She is happy to see them but begins to feel a sense of discomfort as she uncovers dark secrets. It seems that there is something in the house.

Best Wishes To All is directed by Yûta Shimotsu which is his directorial debut.

Best Wishes To All is a strange one, there’s a lot that happens with seemingly very little explanation (in both a good and bad way.) I admire that the themes the film attempts tackle such as economical and society implications as well as happiness being limited at the expense of others. The way the film goes about exploring these themes while interesting does not always mesh together.

The performances are solid, Kotone Furukawa is definitely the standout, she brings this captivating performance to the table that the viewer immediately connects with as we travel this strange town the film takes place in. Everyone else does a really good job here, especially when it comes to the more humorous moments. All the actors are able to quickly switch in tone when the atmosphere and story demands it.

Speaking of which the atmosphere is effectively done, it’s able to capture the darkly humorous and the serious tone both at the same time, there are some moments of this genuine dread and then certain moments where you find yourself laughing. It’s this strange blend that surprisingly works in the film’s favor.

The themes it tackles while admirable, don’t fully come together for one particular reason. It’s mainly due to the film becoming weird for the sake of being weird, I get what they were trying to go for by executing themes of happiness at others expense or capitalism in a much more unique way. But when you have your character’s bizarre behavior feel less and less organic as the movie goes on it does start to take you out of the film, these weird moments make for some great moments by themselves but not when they are trying to add commentary.

Despite its issues I do think Best Wishes To All is a decent time, if you are looking for a strange movie that has solid acting and atmosphere I recommend giving this one a shot!

Best Wishes To All is available on Shudder!

6/10 C+

Bob Trevino Likes It (2025) Film Review

Lily Trevino unexpectedly befriends an online stranger, sharing her self-centered father’s name. This new Bob Trevino’s support could transform her life.

Bob Trevino Likes It is directed by Tracie Laymon which is her directorial debut!

Bob Trevino Likes It is one of those films where you can really tell that right from the beginning there was heart poured into it, considering the film’s themes and that it is actually based off of a true story that might not be exactly shocking to hear (especially if you read the true story) but it’s still quite impressive and beautiful how well this film connects with the viewer.

The performances are absolutely beautiful, Barbie Ferreira is absolutely incredible here and really shows her power as an actress. The quiet moments involving her in this film broke me at times, her character Lily Trevino is someone who just wants to belong after her biological father Robert Trevino (played by French Stewart) shows how irredeemable and evil he really is. The theme of belonging is played so well especially with Ferreira’s performance she really captures this sense of wanting to belong and trying to make sense of it all, Ferreira’s facial expressions and body language really do a lot of the talking and completely give her this powerhouse performance.

John Leguizamo gives such a beautiful performance here as well, his connection with Barbie Ferreira is genuinely beautiful and at times a real tearjerker. Over the course of the film we see two get closer and it’s something that the viewer constantly roots for, Leguizamo also fits like a glove as this father figure his performance as Bob Trevino shows a lot of personality, confusion at first but willing to help and strikes this beautiful cord earnestness. There’s so many beautiful moments here that the viewer can relate to and it’s all due to the bond between Ferreira and Leguizamo that hit all the emotional beats needed.

The script from Tracie Laymon does a spectacular job of really telling this incredible story, as I mentioned earlier there is this theme of wanting to belong but there is also a theme of healing through unexpected places or connections. We see that through the bond of Lily and Bob as the film progresses, we also get to see Lily go on this journey of healing from trauma and abandonment. The theme of small acts of kindness is also present here, Bob displaying these what would be considered by some people to be just small acts of kindness could mean so much more to someone else. In this case these small acts of kindness means so much to Lily and impacts her healing journey. The film really shows how simple acts of kindness can really help someone especially if they are not use to receive those acts.

Something that I have purposely left out up until now is what really helps Bob Trevino Likes It is Tracie Laymon is basing it off the life of herself and how she made a friendship she strikes up while looking for her father. So we get to have this personal feel to the film like Laymon invited us over to tell us her story and it’s beautifully told in this way that it feels like a friend is telling you a story. It has this charm that is incredibly raw especially with the performances and how striking they really are. It’s such a beautiful way of telling this story that it brings the viewer to tears (i definitely cried at times.)

Overall Bob Trevino Likes It is one of the best films of the year, I’m very excited to see what’s in store for Tracie Laymon as a director because this was quite impressive. It’s a powerful story about healing, belonging and acts of kindness that really delivers in every single way possible.

Bob Trevino Likes It is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

Fear Street: Prom Queen (2025) Film Review

Shadyside High’s 1988 prom queen election becomes deadly for underdog Lori as candidates are targeted.

Fear Street: Prom Queen is directed by Matt Palmer who previously directed Calibre (2018). This film serves as the fourth installment in the Fear Street film series!

The first three Fear Street films were quite fun for what they were, I really liked the different styles each of the films went for tackling different eras of the genre. It all combined together in this neat little package that ended up working in each of the films favor, so I was pretty excited to see another film being in the works. Even when it was announced Leigh Janiak would not be returning and Matt Palmer would be taking over I still had hope, Calibre (2018) was a really solid thriller (definitely one of the better Netflix thrillers that’s for sure) and I was hoping Matt Palmer would hit it out of the park with this one….that is sadly not the case.

Fear Street: Prom Queen is a complete and total mess and shares a lot of the worst aspects of a terrible slasher film, outside of a few good performances and some decent kills this very much feels like Matt Palmer (who directed and wrote this movie) and Donald McLeary (who also wrote this movie) had next to no idea what they were doing, the movie completely misses the charm and fun of the trilogy and struggles heavily in the character development.

The performances are mostly questionable, aside from Ariana Greenblatt who’s barely in the film and Suzanna Son who is really trying her hardest to get something out of the script. Everyone else is either not given anything to work with or are just terrible, India Fowler makes for a very forgettable lead and her character Lori Granger has very little to keep the viewer interested. Fowler definitely tries to bring something to the table during the movie’s second half with the more quiet moments, but even then just getting a somewhat decent line of dialogue is like pulling teeth.

The kills are decent enough, but they are not enough to really save this movie at all. Especially when you as the viewer end up not caring about a single one of these characters. Which leads me to what completely breaks the movie…the writing, look I was not expecting a slasher movie to have masterclass character writing let alone writing in general. But when you compare this to the previous Fear Street films you can see the difference almost immediately, while the previous three films did have some hiccups writing wise. At the very least the character writing was genuinely interesting and we got to know those characters, it helps that the films ooze with charm.

Fear Street: Prom Queen gives below the bare minimum character writing with nothing the viewer can chew on, the reveal at the end is laughably bad and feels like they were on a time crunch so they thought of the most ridiculous idea possible. The writing itself is also filled to the brim with terrible horror cliches that any horror fan will roll their eyes at, it’s predictable is a huge step down from the previous three movies as mentioned before.

I think if Fear Street: Prom Queen was its own thing and did not have the Fear Street name this could have easily just been written off as a terrible yet harmless slasher film. But going by the intention and what it’s presented as, this is a terrible addition to the series and easily the worst of the series. Prom Queen fails to capture the fun character moments, atmosphere, or interest of the rest of the series.

Fear Street: Prom Queen is available on Netflix.

1/10 F

Fountain Of Youth (2025) Film Review

Two estranged siblings partner on a global heist to find the mythological Fountain of Youth. They must use their knowledge of history to follow clues on an adventure that will change their lives and possibly lead to immortality.

Fountain Of Youth is directed by Guy Richie director of Snatch (2000), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (2011), Aladdin (2019), Wrath Of Man (2021), The Covenant (2023), The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) and a few others.

Fountain Of Youth is basically if you took National Treasure and Indiana Jones but made them both incredibly dull. This movie is a straight to streaming film and it’s one of those cases where you can really feel that, sure the movie might look big and scale and the filming is actually quite decent at times. But it really does end up being a shrunken down version of better films.

The performances are fine enough, nobody here really does anything noteworthy which is a bit of a disappointment because you have John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eiza González and Stanley Tucci (who is very underused) all in the same movie yet all their performances are either forgettable or are not impressive. It does not help that Krasinski and Portman have zero chemistry, sure there’s a few decent moments of dialogue but the chemistry feels like dead air right from the start.

The action scenes I will say provided some surprisingly entertaining moments, they are not anything mind blowing but they are at the very least fun enough. Christopher Benstead’s score is also pretty solid as well, it definitely gives off the feel of an adventure and manages to capture this adventurous atmosphere that actually does a lot of the heavy lifting in the atmosphere department.

The writing is what kills this movie, there’s just not a whole lot going on here narratively, it’s all very predictable and goes on for way too long. The “twist” the movie tries to say is a surprise reveal is incredibly predictable and narratively is incredibly ridiculous, it’s odd because the first half of the movie is not that bad. It’s when the movie becomes an unimaginative version of National Treasure and Indiana Jones it really falls off a cliff and never recovers.

There is not much more to say about Fountain Of Youth, outside of some decent actions, a solid score and fine enough acting you are not going to get much else out of this one.

Fountain Of Youth is available on Apple TV+

4/10 D+

Holland (2025) Film Review

Teacher and homemaker Nancy Vandergroot’s picture-perfect life with her husband and son in Holland tumbles into a twisted tale. Nancy and her colleague become suspicious of a secret, only to discover nothing in their lives is what it seems.

Holland is directed by Mimi Cave director of Fresh (2022).

Holland is one of those movies where you just have to ask yourself “what on earth happened here?” I loved Mimi Cave’s directorial debut Fresh (2022) it was disturbing, had some strong dark humor and the acting was top notch as well. So I was excited to see what Cave would do next, I had a lot of hope for this one due to Cave in the director’s chair as well as the cast. Unfortunately this movie is a major step down from Fresh (2022) and is just a complete and total mess in every way possible.

The best part of this is the acting, while none of these performances are anything groundbreaking. Nicole Kidman, Jude Hill and Gael García Bernal turn in decent enough performances that at least make some parts of the movie tolerable. Kidman does a lot of heavy lifting with a lot of scenes, it’s a shame the script is such a mess because Kidman fits in a movie like this and would deliver such a better performance had the script actually been coherent. It’s worth noting that Rachel Sennott appears for 2 minutes of the movie at the beginning of this mess and is never seen again.

Everything else about this movie is as I said before a complete and total mess and that mainly comes from the writing, the story is jumbled together like a Frankenstein’s monster type of mess. The twist is something you could predict within the first 15 minutes, the story leads to a thoroughly dull investigation that has absolutely no sense of tension or thrills. It’s the most bland route this movie could have gone and it unfortunately turned to that route.

The movie attempts to explore this theme of revealing darkness hiding beneath the exterior of a suburban paradise, which is a fun concept but it’s been done so much better before there’s absolutely nothing different here that’s done with the idea. Some of the shots of the film and music try to create some sort of atmosphere to complement the darkness, but it just does not work at all due to the movie’s pacing being a slog which in turn takes away the viewer’s focus as well as the supposed darkness.

It’s unfortunate because Holland could have been a really great film, but unfortunately the writing severely holds this one back from greatness and gives these talented actors very little to work with. This is by far the most disappointing movie of 2025 so far.

Holland is available on Amazon Prime Video.

3/10 D-

Revelations (2025) Film Review

A pastor and a detective, driven by their beliefs, pursue a missing person case, with the pastor seeking retribution after a divine revelation identifies the culprit who abducted his son.

Revelations is directed by Yeon Sang-ho director of The King Of Pigs (2011), The Fake (2013), Train To Busan (2016), Seoul Station (2016), Psychokinesis (2018), Peninsula (2020) and Jung_E (2023).

Revelations feels like it’s saying a lot but yet so little at the same time, there’s a mix of narratives going on here with a lot of them failing to stick in any meaningful way. Sang-ho is a great director but a lot of what makes him so great is just not present here at all.

The performances are at least solid, Ryu Jun-yeol slowly turns more and more insane as the movie goes on and that’s captured decently well from his performance that is at times pretty intimidating. Shin Hyun-been is the standout, he completely takes crushes it whether he’s alone or sharing the screen with someone else in the cast. We get so much power from his performance which leads to some quite solid scenes!

The first hour of the movie is definitely the most successful, we slowly get to know the characters and what their story is. Theres some genuinely interesting dialogue with some striking imagery that will absolutely standout to the viewer, especially when combined with solid cinematography, beautiful lighting and strong production design. This all paints a very mysterious picture that the viewer is intrigued to explore.

Unfortunately after the first hour of the movie it starts to slowly collapse, the writing is nowhere near as strong as it was. With the genuinely interesting exploration of religion starting to go the more cliche route and the characters just not having anymore striking moments they need to further their development. Despite the second half not being as good, the final moments of the movie at least give the viewer something to think about, there’s some nice wrap around with the theme of religion that has some sort of power but at the point it’s a bit too late.

Overall Revelations just does not have a whole lot going on here, it’s not a bad movie in fact I still do recommend checking it out as I do think this is something people would like. This one just did not work for me.

Revelations is available on Netflix.

5/10 C