The Rivals Of Amziah King (2026) Film Review

Amziah King, beekeeper, musician, and anchor of his community, reunites with former foster daughter Kateri after many years apart, and fends off threats to his honey business.

The Rivals Of Amziah King is directed by Andrew Patterson director of The Vast Of Night (2019).

The Rivals Of Amziah King is two films in one, the first part is this fast paced, music filled film that gets you into the film’s world. While the second part plays out like a revenge thriller with some pretty unique and energizing music. It’s a very different experience that comes together quite beautifully.

First and foremost the performances are all quite fantastic, Matthew McConaughey gives not only one of the best performances of the year but also his entire career. From the speech pattern, to the body language and how he interacts with the rest of the cart, it’s truly fascinating to see McConaughey at his absolute best here. He’s incredibly charismatic, genuinely funny at times and the most surprising part of it all he’s quite an excellent singer, he sings a song called “Quill” which is one of the film’s very best moments and truly shows the viewer the magic of this film. If there is one thing you are going to walk out of this film remembering it will almost surely be McConaughey’s performance.

Angelina LookingGlass is a newcomer who gives a phenomenal performance and much like McConaughey, one of the best performances of the year. From the moment she enters the film you can feel the charisma from her, LookingGlass gives a very captivating breakthrough performance that easily connects to the film’s world and atmosphere. Her interactions with McConaughey are truly remarkable, it’s a prime example of two incredible performers going back and forth and not holding back at the slightest. The second part of the film where LookingGlass is put in the spotlight is when her already fantastic performance becomes truly remarkable, she’s able to quickly adapt to the atmosphere change and bring this quiet and focused performance that truly is well executed.

The writing is nothing short of incredible, as mentioned earlier the film’s two parts have very different feels. The first part is a fast paced and moving story that really gets you into the film’s world and characters. The simple moments of Amziah King (played by Matthew McConaughey) talking to his band mates and friends is truly entertaining and quite beautiful, the raw performances here really do all of the talking and help connect the viewer much more easily.

The second part of the film is much more of a heist revenge thriller but almost in this playful way. The music (from Erick Alexander, Jared Blumer and Ben Hardesty) as mentioned earlier, is quite unique in the case where it’s energetic but it strangely captures the tone that the atmosphere is asking for quite masterfully. Cinematographer Miguel I. Littin-Menz and editor Patrick J. Smith are partly thanks to this due to how beautiful they are at their craft. When you get some glorious shots of Alabama combined with the fast and neat editing you truly get some jaw dropping results. The second part of the film may come off as a very typical heist and revenge story, but the way it’s executed completely elevates the material.

Overall, The Rivals Of Amziah King is one of the best films of the year and truly gives the viewer a very different experience. This is one that you should absolutely seek out!

The Rivals Of Amziah King releases tomorrow in theaters.

10/10 A+

Quick Reviews: Soulm8te and The Devil’s Mouth (2026)

A man acquires an Artificially Intelligent android to cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. In an attempt to create a truly sentient partner, he inadvertently turns a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate.

Soulm8te is directed by Kate Dolan director of You Are Not My Mother (2021). The movie serves as a spin-off to M3GAN (2022) and is the third installment in the M3GAN series.

After M3GAN 2.0 (2025) did poorly in theaters both critically and financially (although I found it to be a messy but fun movie), I guess Universal decided this series that they had wasn’t going to go anywhere so they pulled the planned theatrical release for SoulM8te and went with a VOD release.

After watching Soulm8te I can understand why they decided to pull it, this movie is basically every single AI bot movie we have gotten the last few years. A huge comparison being Subservience (2024) which I actually do think this movie is a touch better than but that’s really not saying all that much. There really is not a whole lot to say here so I’ll keep this short.

Lily Sullivan does a great job as Sara, she’s genuinely terrifying at times and captures the thrilling atmosphere the rest of the movie desperately needed to. Some moments during the movie’s final act in particular are some standouts, the unpredictable mannerisms combined with the artificial behavior make Sullivan’s performance far and away the best part of this movie.

The rest of the performances are fine enough, David Rysdahl’s character David is just not that interesting. There’s this whole theme of him trying to cope with the death of his wife which is touching but we only ever get pieces of this sprinkled throughout the movie. It’s not quite enough to really dive into him as a character, Claudia Doumit does fine enough here but is sadly just not given anything really interesting to work with.

As for the rest of the movie it’s basically what you have come to expect from a lot of these AI companion horror movies. Everything you think is going to happen does in this movie, I’ll give the final 20 minutes some credit for being somewhat fun. But for a majority of the movie you are sitting there fully expecting everything to fall into place (which it does), M3GAN 2.0 (2025) for all its faults remained consistently fun throughout the running time, Soulm8te just does not have the energy or strength to really bring anything together in the end.

Overall Soulm8te is a very bland addition to this whole AI companion movie sub-genre, Lily Sullivan shines but that’s really about where it ends. You could easily do so much worse, but it’s incredibly easy to see why Universal pulled the plug on the theater release.

Soulm8te is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C

A group of college friends’ Thailand adventure turns deadly when they become trapped in submerged caves with a dangerous predator. As oxygen runs low, past conflicts emerge in their desperate fight for survival.

Quick Review

The Devil’s Mouth is directed by Jeff Wadlow director of Cry Wolf (2005), Never Back Down (2008), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), True Memoirs Of an International Assassin (2016), Truth Or Dare (2018), Fantasy Island (2020), The Curse Of Bridge Hollow (2022) and Imaginary (2024).

I believe The Devil’s Mouth is the third or fourth Shark/killer Orca movie I’ve seen this year and much like the others this is terrible. A dead giveaway for this being bad should have been that it’s directed by Jeff Wadlow a director who for his 5 movies has popped up every 2 years so I guess we were due for another.

There is just not a whole lot to say here about The Devil’s Mouth, the only reason why I watched this one was because of Kathryn Newton who is by far the best part of the movie. The rest of the cast try to make the best with what they have but the writing is horrendous mixed with insufferable characters (outside of Sara played by Newton) that you almost immediately do not care for at all.

Due to the movie being PG-13 the gore is noticeably absent making the whole shark attacks feel incredibly empty, how you are able to make B grade shark movie this dreadful to sit through is quite the accomplishment. The CGI is terrible and the movie itself is not well crafted at all, there’s no personality going on here with the cinematography. Occasionally you get one or two shots that set up for something mildly interesting before the movie brings it back down again.

The Devil’s Mouth is the very definition of a terrible streaming movie that is talked about for about a week before immediately being forgotten about.

The Devil’s Mouth is available on Amazon Prime Video.

1/10 F

Most Anticipated Films Of August 2026!

Although July was a bit smaller release wise, there was still plenty of fantastic films such as The Odyssey, Spider-Man, Her Private Hell, Evil Dead Burn and a few others. August for whatever reason this year is quite packed and there’s a whole lot to look forward to.

August 7th

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (Theaters Limited)

Tony (Theaters Limited)

Late Fame (Theaters)

One Night Only (Theaters)

August 14th

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (Theaters Wide)

The End Of Oak Street (Theaters)

The Wrong Girls (Theaters)

The Rivals Of Amziah Kings (Theaters Limited)

Nimrods (Theaters)

August 21st

Tony (Theaters Wide)

The Rivals Of Amziah Kings (Theaters Wide)

It Ends (Theaters)

Hot Spot (Theaters)

August 28th

Coyote vs. Acme (Theaters)

The Sun Never Sets (Theaters Limited)

Finding Emily (Theaters)

The Dog Stars (Theaters)

Buddy (Theaters)

Colony (Theaters)

Idiots (Theaters)

Night Nurse (2026) Film Review

As a series of perverse scam calls unsettles an idyllic retirement community, a starry-eyed nurse becomes entangled with her mysterious patient

Night Nurse is directed by Georgia Bernstein which is her directorial debut.

Night Nurse is an incredibly odd one that is almost certainly not going to be for everyone. However it’s a quite effective erotic thriller that takes its time to build an atmosphere that quickly gets under your skin, which leads to some terrifying results.

The performances are quite fantastic here as they all capture the film’s unpredictable atmosphere. Cemre Paksoy gives a hypnotic performance that has a ton of screen presence and is quite unpredictable, at first her character Eleni Sadik might just seem like your average night nurse. However once the film slowly starts to peel the layers that’s when the character becomes something a whole lot more, Paksoy’s performance here is fantastic and very easily fits the atmosphere the film is going for.

Bruce McKenzie is quite terrifying, he plays this incredibly creepy old man named Douglas in such a scarily raw way that immediately gets under your skin as he slithers around in the film. His tone, body language and the strikingly creepy atmosphere around him is truly effective, the interactions between Douglas and Eleni alone make the film’s atmosphere that much more thrilling and terrifying.

The film’s atmosphere as mentioned before is terrifying when you combine that with the cinematography from cinematographer Lidia Nikonova who does a brilliant job of capturing the creepy sexual nature of the atmosphere, the way the camera moves up and down plus slowly reveals shocking moments makes the film all the more memorable. The music from Steven Jackson and Sam Clapp is also quite effective and brings this sense of dread into the mix.

The film is an erotic exploration of compulsive scamming and caregiving gone horribly wrong that is set in a nursing home, it has this very David Cronenberg like approach in some areas with a little bit of David Lynch thrown in for good measure. But the film does manage to stand on its own quite effectively, the character writing can feel a bit missing at times. But I do think in this case the body language from Paksoy and McKenzie gives the viewer a general idea of how they regularly behave and who they are as people.

If you plan on watching Night Nurse go into it knowing as little as possible, it’s an experience that is truly fascinating that really makes use of thrilling atmosphere and characters. I am very curious to see what Georgia Bernstein does next.

Night Nurse is currently in theaters.

9/10 A

Tuner (2026) Film Review

A talented piano tuner who suffers from hyperacusis discovers an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down

Tuner is directed by Daniel Roher which is his first narrative film.

When it comes to bringing in all sorts of different type of styles, Tuner really delivers on that front. What may seem like a very typical crime thriller on the surface actually ends up being a whole lot more investing, captivating and is able to differentiate itself from a crowded genre.

Leo Woodall really impresses here, not only is he able to capture the film’s thrilling atmosphere but he’s also able to completely adapt to the film’s more light hearted atmosphere when we get some romance between Leo Woodall and Havana Rose Liu. In a lot of cases film’s like this would not be able to juggle two very different atmospheres however the film is able to do this simply because it’s well paced and fits everything in like a glove. Which gives Woodall the opening to deliver the performance required, he’s able to show a level of skill here that is not only fun but investing.

Havana Rose Liu is also quite fantastic here as well, she gives this proud and spirited performance plus her chemistry with Woodall is honestly the film’s best moments. There is this natural like feeling that connects Niki White (played by Leo Woodall) and Ruthie Waymon (played by Havana Rose Liu) one of the film’s best moments is when they are simply talking about life goals, it’s a quite beautiful moment that really brings the film together and really shows the talent of Woodall and Liu incredibly well.

The writing is quite strong here, there’s a lot of character moments that work and just have this natural feel that the viewer can connect with. There are a few hiccups plot wise during the film’s third act however that is truly not enough to stop it from being quite investing. The story also might not be anything new, but it’s how the film goes about executing it is what makes this one stand tall.

The technical aspects are truly fantastic, the sound design is effective and turns several scenes into giant paintings that the viewer explores with their eyes and ears. The editing is snappy and quickly brings the viewer into the experience, it helps keep the pacing in line and as a result feels like a quick watch (in this case that’s a very good.)

Overall Tuner is a quite effective crime thriller that takes a plot that would be otherwise a bit forgettable and manages to turn into something investing and thrilling. The film does cross some familiar territory but the execution is effective enough to bring this one to the finish line.

Tuner is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+

The Death Of Robin Hood (2026) Film Review

Grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder, Robin Hood finds himself gravely injured after a battle he thought would be his last. In the hands of a mysterious woman, he is offered a chance at salvation.

The Death Of Robin Hood is directed by Michael Sarnoski director of Pig (2021) and A Quiet Place: Day One (2024).

The Death Of Robin Hood goes for a much darker yet balanced approach to the story of Robin Hood, Sarnoski does a quite fascinating job of commenting on the light and dark of a figure and the toll it takes on them. The character writing might not be at its full potential, but I do think with what is presented and how well Sarnoski paints this world makes the film all the more worth experiencing.

Right off the bat Hugh Jackman gives yet another strong performance, there are some similar traits to Logan in Logan (2017) a figure who is at their last moments and thinking about everything they have come across in life plus how it affected them. Jackman’s version of Robin Hood is luckily not just him doing a repeat with Logan, we get this picture of a man who carries the scars of violence with him. Jackman does a tremendous job of showcasing this with tons of quiet moments as well as painful ones that reflect in his mind. This isn’t so much as a hero’s journey and more so a path of facing the violence you caused during your last moments of life.

Jodi Comer as Sister Brigid is quite strong here as well, we don’t get that much character writing for her sadly. But what we do get is a grounded and restrained performance that works well with Jackman. Her performance here definitely elevates the material in some areas where the film definitely needed it most.

Murray Bartlett as The Leper is quite an intriguing performance, The Leper is covered in bandages yet from the little we see of his face he instantly draws you in. He compliments the atmosphere incredibly well just by his presence alone, he’s one of those characters where even if we do get basic information about him. We still wonder what his complete story is, Bartlett does a fascinating job with his dialogue and interactions with the rest of the cast as well.

The first 40 or so minutes of the film is quite brutal, it’s clear that for this portion of the film it wants to focus on painting this raw, dirty and quite dangerous world. The violence here is shown in this quite unsettling way, we can also see this from the cinematography from cinematographer Pat Scola who pays extra attention to the detail and makes sure to highlight well. When you combine this with the performances of the film plus its dark atmosphere you do get some quite haunting results.

The film’s greatest weakness is it’s character writing, which is a bit shocking to me since Sarnoski did such an excellent job with his previous two films Pig (2021) and A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) especially in the character writing department. But here a lot is either not really elaborated on or just forgotten, Sister Brigid seems like she was supposed to be far more important but is restricted to rather surface level character writing. I understand that the focus is Robin Hood, but there is a ton of moments here where you wish you were seeing more meat on the character writing from the other characters.

Despite the character writing however, I do think The Death Of Robin Hood sticks the landing. It really comes down to Sarnoski’s more raw and brutal approach along with Hugh Jackman’s excellent performance as Robin Hood. It does a solid job of painting this road of guilt and reflection of violence you caused. Very strong film that I recommend giving a go!

The Death Of Robin Hood is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+

Motor City (2026) Film Review

In 1970s Detroit, John Miller falls for a local gangster’s girl. In retaliation, the gangster enacts a frame job to send the innocent man to prison. Life ruined, Miller plots a revenge campaign against the man who took his girl away.

Motor City is directed by Potsy Ponciroli director of Old Henry (2021) and Greedy People (2024).

Motor City is an interesting one when it comes to its style, the whole idea here is it’s a very 70s pulp style revenge thriller but with very little dialogue. While it might not be anything mind blowing, it does take what normally would be an average action thriller and turns into something decently interesting and a fun time.

Alan Ritchson gives a great performance here, due to having barely any dialogue, Ritchson in most scenes has to use his body language to tell the story and he does that quite well. He’s in his element and his familiarity with the action thriller genre absolutely comes into play here, I have not seen that much of Ritchson’s work but this was genuinely a great showing from him. Ben Fosters plays the slimy antagonist Reynolds who is quite effective, Shailene Woodley is pretty solid here as well although definitely lacking in the character department.

The film heavily relies on its visual language and needle drops to tell the story and while the latter can be a bit to on the nose, I do think combined together they both do a great job of telling the story. Especially when you combine this with cinematographer John Matysiak’s camerawork, there is one scene in particular that is not only well choreographed but it’s shot incredibly well.

The atmosphere of the film is thrilling, brutal and has this very 70s feel that you can’t help but be transported into, the music does such a great job of complimenting everything around it especially the atmosphere and the brutality of the film. While the story is admittedly pretty predictable, everything else really brings the viewer along for the ride and completely makes up for it.

Overall Motor City might not be anything exactly new plot wise, but it’s still a fun time that is elevated by the film’s technical aspects and the performances!

Motor City releases tomorrow in theaters.

7/10 B

Mortal Kombat II (2026) Film Review

The fan favorite champions — now joined by Johnny Cage himself — are pitted against one another in the ultimate battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.

Mortal Kombat II is directed by Simon McQuoid director of Mortal Kombat (2021). The film serves as a sequel to Mortal Kombat (2021) and is the fourth installment in the Mortal Kombat film series.

Mortal Kombat (2021) is one of those movies where I really liked it at the time it was released, but slowly it got worse and worse for me. I can definitely still say that I enjoy it, but there were definitely glaring issues that could easily be fixed. Luckily Mortal Kombat II gives some answers to those issues, while it is not perfect and definitely has room for improvement. I do think Mortal Kombat II sets out to capture a lot of the spirit of the video game franchise and does quite a great job at doing so, which leads to a pretty fun time that any fan will be satisfied with.

For starters a main criticism with the previous movie was the very odd choice to make the focus on Cole Young, a character who was made entirely from the movie. Well this movie fixes that by not having him as the focus (he’s still in the movie but now as a side character), the focus now is Johnny Cage played by Karl Urban who really knocks it out of the park. The moment Urban appears on screen you can just feel how much he captures Johnny Cage as a character, his reactions to the ridiculous nonsense that is going on actually got a few laughs out of me. Plus I think making Cage the focus was a very clever move, he’s basically an audience surrogate which means we basically go on this journey with him. It adds a little bit more of a connection between the viewer and the film, I know that might sound a bit silly to say about a Mortal Kombat movie but it strangely works.

The rest of the characters are quite great here as well, Kitana, Sonya Blade, Kano, Liu Kang, Jax, Jade, Shang Tsung, Lord Raiden and many others appear. Josh Lawson who was arguably the best part of the previous film returns as Kano and is just as effective and hilarious. Adeline Rudolph as Kitana and Tati Gabrielle as Jade are newcomers who do a great job in their respective roles. I do like the film also focusing on Kitana as well even if the character writing is not absolutely perfect, there is at least understanding of what makes these characters such as Kitana interesting to the viewer. The cast overall does a really solid job here and easily made this such an entertaining ride.

The nonstop action scenes are also quite fantastic, this time around the film is very self aware as it does make little references to modern action films and the things that fans expect mainly the whole John Wick type of action (stabbing so many people brutally with a pencil.) Which the film actually delivers on these references and manages to make them funny. The film is luckily not so self aware to the point where it becomes obnoxious and where it refuses to have fun with itself, it’s just the right amount to really draw in the viewer due to the thought of “where is it going with this?”

As far as story goes, this is very standard Mortal Kombat and that’s no where near a bad thing. If anything the film benefits from this, the film knows exactly what it wants to be and does not pretend it’s something else. It’s a film that wants to entertain the viewer throughout the experience and it mostly succeeds in the end due to just how fast paced it really is along with the cast and atmosphere.

Overall Mortal Kombat II is a much needed improvement from the previous film, there was definitely a lot more determination to really capture the spirit of the video game franchise and the end result is quite a fun time!

Mortal Kombat II is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

Pressure (2026) Film Review

In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice–launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.

Pressure is directed by Anthony Maras director of Hotel Mumbai (2018).

Pressure on the surface may seem like a textbook telling of D-Day, however the film goes for a different approach. It talks about the weather and how to plan the Normandy landings during World War II. Somehow and someway they made this actually quite thrilling which leads to plenty of excellent moments over the course of the film.

Andrew Scott as James Stagg gives a very investing performance, he is the center of the film and luckily Scott is very versatile as an actor. He can go from more quieter moments to more louder ones in an instant, Chris Messina as Irving P. Krick is also just as great here especially during the disagreements between Kirk and Stagg. You have these moments where they are arguing over the weather and it actually becomes quite thrilling, which is mainly due to how committed Scott and Kirk were to their performances.

Brendan Fraser as Dwight D. Eisenhower was quite great, there are definitely criticisms to be made about how Fraser and Eisenhower look quite drastically different. Despite this however, Fraser really nails his performance as he lands tons of explosive moments along with more quiet ones. There’s a few moments in particular towards the end where his performance goes from being great to actually pretty excellent.

What mainly helps Pressure here is the different perspective, we don’t see much of the battle and instead we are placed in meetings regarding the best course of action with the weather. Which is actually quite thrilling due to the film’s strong atmosphere that is thanks to director Anthony Maras’s experience with his previous film Hotel Mumbai (2018). Stagg’s weather forecasts were essential to green light the go ahead for the D-Day Invasion and the film does a great job of capturing these actions incredibly well, at times it can feel like reading out of a textbook. But I think for the most part the film accomplishes what it’s sent out to do and mainly sticks to offering a much different perspective from the usual war movie.

Overall Pressure is a quite solid war movie that offers a different perspective, a lot of what you see is what you get here so there really is not that much to it. Despite that however it’s still a very solid film that I recommend giving a go.

Pressure is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

Quick Reviews: Find Your Friends and Saccharine (2026)

Amber and her friends visit Joshua Tree for a fun girls’ trip but face hostility from locals. As tensions escalate and Amber’s dark past surfaces, their rebellion ignites – turning their desert getaway into a jaw-dropping game of revenge.

Find Your Friends is directed by Izabel Pakzad which is her directorial debut.

Find Your Friends is a movie that explores a quite heavy subject which is the dark side of party culture and how truly dangerous it can be under all of the lights, energy and music. The major problem here is the movie opts for a ton of terrible writing decisions that completely take the viewer out of the movie, it ends up being a very confused mess of what it is exactly trying to lay down to the viewer.

Helena Howard tries her best to hold the movie together, but the rest of the performances are just not great here at all. Bella Thorne, Zión Moreno, Chloe Cherry and Sophia Ali have little to work with for their characters. There’s times where it’s just a screaming match or who can say the most edgiest thing in the room, the character building just does not happen here at all.

While watching Find Your Friends, I could not help but think of a far better film that tackled the exact same subject matter and that’s Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex (2023). A film that takes its time building its characters and goes for a much more grounded approach with exploring the unpleasant side of party culture, it’s a film that was confidently directed and went into detail on the topic.

Find Your Friends makes the mistake of going for a much more unnatural direction when we are introduced to the movie’s antagonists who are incredibly one dimensionally evil. I get there are some people out there that are evil for the sake of it, but the way this is executed combined with the terrible script does not do the movie any sort of favors.

It’s frustrating because there is a good movie here, it’s just piled on by so much bad writing, mediocre acting and a direction that feels very confused.

Find Your Friends is available on Shudder.

3/10 D-

Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.

Saccharine is directed by Natalie Erika James director of Relic (2020) and Apartment 7A (2024).

Unfortunately not a whole lot to comment on here, while Saccharine is a step up from Natalie Erika James’s last movie Apartment 7A (2024), it still does not come close to Relic (2020).

The movie starts out strong enough, we see that the movie is attempting to explore diet culture and extremes women go through to be fit as well as a lot of expectations. Midori Francis gives a solid performance that does help convey the struggles of her character Hana.

Unfortunately around the ending of the second act is when this movie’s message gets lost and a lot of different ideas are just lazily thrown at a wall. Supernatural horror elements are thrown in, the script from Natalie Erika James seems to not know where to exactly take itself and the movie’s 113 minute runtime especially kills it due to the slow pacing.

There are definitely some nasty and gross body horror elements that are decently effective, but it unfortunately is not quite enough to save the movie. It’s clear that Saccharine wanted to tackle many different topics regarding diet culture, but it fails to execute these ideas in any meaningful or interesting way that gets the viewer’s attention.

Saccharine is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C