The Dreadful follows Anne and her mother-in-law Morwen who live a solitary, harsh life on the outskirts of society – but when a man from their past returns, he will set off a sequence of events that become a turning point for Anne.
The Dreadful is directed by Natasha Kermani director of Shattered (2017), Imitation Girl (2017), Lucky (2020) and Abraham’s Boys (2025).
The Dreadful is one of those movies where soon as the movie ends you almost immediately forget what you watched. Outside of the atmosphere and the actually quite beautiful cinematography, there is just not a whole lot going on here making the whole experience feel empty and dreadful (I had to throw in at least one joke here) to sit through.
Kit Harington and Sophie Turner are not horrible here, but they aren’t exactly great either. Their performances just aren’t strong enough to overcome the movie’s terrible script that feels like a slog to get through. Their characters Jago (Harington) and Anne (Turner) are not interesting enough to make the viewer care for the story. What adds fuel to the fire is the two just don’t have very good chemistry, individually the performances aren’t horrible but together there is a ton of awkwardness that starts to rub onto the viewer and never goes away.
The atmosphere tries to do some heavy lifting and bring some scenes to life, which at times it does feel like I’m in this movie’s world especially when you combine it with the cinematography from cinematographer Julia Swain. Swain really tries to make everything work, she brings some beauty to certain scenes with the gorgeous cinematography that is quite detailed. Unfortunately the rest of the movie fails to compliment or take advantage of this, it’s frustrating because the ideas that the camera presents is far more interesting than the ones written in the script.
The pacing is painful, despite the movie only being 94 minutes long. It feels more like a 2 hour long movie that is purposely going as slow as possible, nothing invests the viewer throughout the movie. It’s a very dull and forgettable experience that the viewer will almost certainly check themselves out of by the time the movie is over.
Overall The Dreadful is terrible and there is just not a whole lot to comment on here. At the very least it’s forgettable so it won’t stick with you for that long when it’s over.
Michael Mason is a recluse on a remote Scottish island who rescues a girl from the sea, unleashing a perilous sequence of events that culminate in an attack on his home, compelling him to face his turbulent history.
Shelter is directed by Ric Roman Waugh director of Snitch (2013), Angel Has Fallen (2019), Greenland (2020), Kandahar (2023), Greenland 2: Migration (2026) and a few others.
There is only so much you can say about these Jason Statham action thriller movies at this point, some of them such as The Beekeeper (2024) have a lot more going on than others. If you go into Shelter wanting more you are going to be disappointed, with that being said the movie is ultimately very forgettable.
Jason Statham does a decent job once again, there is a classic saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and that absolutely applies to Statham and his performances. He’s good at what he does and he undeniably has the charisma to back it up, although I will say that finding out Michael Mason (played by Statham) was a former government assassin could be seen coming from a mile way especially if you have seen other Statham films. Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Jessie is great here as well, there’s times where it almost feels way too good of a performance for this movie, luckily the movie does take advantage of this and ends up making Jessie somewhat of an interesting character.
The action is pretty standard, there isn’t anything truly exciting going on here. However when you combine it with some of the set pieces (the club scene in particular) you do get something pretty neat every now and then. The cinematography from cinematographer Martin Ahlgren is solid and he manages to capture the movie’s atmosphere and suspense that it’s going for, even said suspense does not always land.
Overall Shelter isn’t terrible, it’s ultimately just another Jason Statham movie that is forgettable but does have a handful of good elements about it.
After a video of his music goes viral, he starts selling drugs to earn money for his music, leading him into a world of danger and conflict.
Clika is directed by Michael Greene director of Live (2018).
There is not a whole lot to comment on here with Clika it’s a movie that means well, but ultimately ends up becoming such a huge mess when it blends so many genres together and isn’t able to nail any of them down.
The acting in particular is incredibly rough, it’s hard to really blame the actors as they are given such a shoddy script to work with. However a major problem comes in when singing is involved, the problem being that Jay-Dee can’t sing all that well. You could do far worse, but it is all over the place and does take the viewer out of the movie almost immediately. Eric Roberts has his few moments but even then it feels like he just came on set to collect a paycheck and book it out of there.
The over reliance on voice overs that are delivered poorly certainly hurt the movie, however what really breaks this movie is the constant jumping between genres. You have a music biopic, drama and a thriller none of which are done particularly well. The music biopic part is filled to the brim with cliches that it’s almost impressive how many they squeezed in. The dramatic moments aren’t enough to really bring the viewer’s attention, the only thing that’s really keeping the viewer is the lower budget filmmaking having some sort of charm (but even then that can only work for so long.) Finally there is the thriller portion which ends up being a crime plot that does end up being the movie’s strongest part but unfortunately still lacks a ton of development.
I get Clika was loosely based on the true life story of Jay Dee (Jesus Diego), but the way this movie goes about telling this story in this poorly constructed mess is very baffling. It’s frustrating because stories like this deserve to be told properly, it’s ultimately one of those bad movies that are harmless but really makes you leave the movie feeling like there was a missed opportunity here.
A father trains his daughter to survive monsters from an alternate dimension that have invaded Earth, but they are eventually found, forcing them to fight for survival.
Worldbreaker is directed by Brad Anderson director of Session 9 (2001), The Machinist (2004), TransSiberian (2008), The Call (2013), Fractured (2019) and many others.
Not a whole lot to discuss here which is why this one is not getting a full review. The main notes I took during this movie were.
It’s an incredibly formulaic post apocalyptic movie, at times there is decent world building but not nearly enough to save this movie or make it interesting.
Luke Evans gave a solid performance, most of the movie it’s him training a teenage girl how to swing a sword. Yet he somehow squeezes a good performance out of it (whatever it takes to get a good performance I guess.) It might be because Evans is just naturally a great actor but there are some parts of his dialogue that are interesting enough.
Mila Jovovich is barely in this movie, if you are going into this movie as a Jovovich fan you are going to leave incredibly disappointed. Despite the poster making it seem like she’s a huge part of the movie she barely shows up, it’s kind of hilarious but at the same time it’s an incredibly odd choice.
My final note was simply “how did they get Brad Anderson to direct this movie?” Not every single one of Anderson’s films have been great, but Worldbreaker in particular feels very phoned in. At least with some of Anderson’s weaker films you can tell there was some sort of attempt to bring some charm, you simply don’t get that with Worldbreaker. The ending in particular is especially laughably bad, it really does feel like we watched a prologue scene from a bad video game and as soon as you get into the actual game it just ends.
A woman’s hope for a miracle cure turns into a nightmare when she confronts the vengeful spirit of a cursed witch, determined to claim her as a vessel for her evil power.
Diabolic is directed by Daniel J. Phillips director of Awoken (2019).
What you see is what you get with Diabolic, it is about what you expect from a religion based horror movie. The idea here is interesting enough and actually did have some potential to be great, but unfortunately the film’s very undercooked writing really stops it in its tracks.
The characters are very underwritten which leads to no depth and no connection for the audience. It’s a shame because the performances here are quite honestly not bad, Elizabeth Cullen gives a decent performance as the leading role, there is a few moments here where she really blends in well with the film’s atmosphere which does lead into a few standout moments of the whole film.
The writing has a nice setup but falls short in execution mainly due to how predictable it all is and goes into several sub-genre cliches. There is definitely some Evil Dead (1981) DNA here, but the film never takes advantage of it and instead goes on a very dull route that the viewer immediately forgets about after viewing.
It’s frustrating because a lot of the technical elements are there, the atmosphere is genuinely creepy at times and the camera does have some well done shots that capture the film’s creepy atmosphere. The makeup is actually quite solid as well and shows some great detail on the witches. There’s just not a whole lot going on here writing wise which ultimately really sets this movie back.
There is just not a whole lot to comment on here, Diabolic fails to standout in a very crowded sub-genre. The filmmakers clearly know how to create a haunting atmosphere but unfortunately the writing fails to compliment it.
February flew by and we are already in March. Plenty of excellent looking releases this month, I have a lot of reviews coming this month so be ready for that! Let’s get into the list.
After losing their son Hamnet to plague, Agnes and William Shakespeare grapple with grief in 16th-century England. A healer, Agnes must find strength to care for her surviving children while processing her devastating loss.
Hamnet is a powerhouse of a film. it’s a journey of heartbreaking, healing and eventually trying to move on from a devastating loss in this case it’s William Shakespeare (played by Paul Mescal) and his wife Anne Hathaway (played by Jessie Buckley) who lost their 11-year-old son Hamnet. We mainly follow Hathaway’s journey of healing but we also do get to see powerful moments of Shakespeare trying to move on.
Jessie Buckley delivers one of the best performances of the decade so far, she completely captures the pain of loss and trying so hard to move on. Finding that path where you can finally tell yourself that “it’s okay to move on and feel at peace” it’s a road that I’m sure everyone has gone through at some point in their lives. We see from the very start to the end of how masterfully Buckley portrays this, it’s done in this beautiful yet devastating way that brings the viewer to tears during certain moments of the film.
Paul Mescal is wonderful as Shakespeare and connects well with Jessie Buckley. Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet is a heartbreaking performance that shows an incredible amount of talent from Jupe who I’m sure is going to go on to have an incredible career. Noah Jupe (Jacobi Jupe’a brother) is only briefly in the film but the scene he’s given in the film’s climax is incredibly powerful and breathtaking.
The film’s ending is one of the best of 2025, while yes On The Nature Of Daylight by Max Richter can be overused in film, it is effectively used here and really captures the film’s theme of loss, healing and moving on. The final scene itself is also just one of the most beautiful portrayals of someone healing and getting the okay from themself to finally move on. It’s a scene that will not doubt make you cry.
Chloe Zhao once brings such a raw experience to the viewer that leaves you mesmerized and will keep you thinking about Hamnet for a very long time.
Hamnet is available on all VOD platforms.
10/10 A+
Die My Love
Grace, a writer and young mother, is suffering from post partum depression and slowly spiralling into madness. Moving into an old house with her husband, Jackson, her mind begins to unravel as she becomes increasingly agitated and erratic
As I said before, Die My Love and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You can absolutely be considered sister films. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You had the more clear vision inside someone’s head, Die My Love is if you took that same person’s mind and continued to bury with darkness or this void like feel. Which works masterfully with the atmosphere attached to the film.
Jennifer Lawrence’s performance as Grace is exactly why a lot of people consider Lawrence to be one of the best of her generation. Every single moment it feels like you are inside the mind of someone going through major depression and so many different thoughts at once. It eventually starts to affect Grace’s life which gives the viewer several moments of breakdowns and a lot of mood switching. The film also tackles the topic of motherhood along with the intensity and wanting an escape, it’s all portrayed brilliantly by Jennifer Lawrence who gives a next level performance. A performance that is going to be talked about heavily as the years go on.
Robert Pattinson is also quite fantastic here, his chemistry with Jennifer Lawrence works wonderfully and shares so many powerful moments, his character Jackson adds depth to the film along with feeling complex. The relationship between Grace and Jackson feel all too real as we get to see the two’s completely different personalities and actions throughout the film.
Die My Love also has this void like atmosphere. Whether it be from scale of the film, the cinematography from cinematographer Seamus McGarvey or from Lynne Ramsey’s flawless direction. It’s truly a hauntingly beautiful film that is incredibly striking to the eyes.
Die My Love is one of the films here that I absolutely plan on talking more about at great length, so for now go into this one knowing as little as possible.
Die My Love is available on all VOD platforms.
10/10 A+
Sentimental Value
After their mother’s death, sisters Nora and Agnes reconnect with their estranged father, Gustav, a once-famous director. He offers Nora the lead in his comeback film, but she refuses, only to find he’s cast a young Hollywood star instead, complicating their family dynamics.
Sentimental Value is my favorite film of 2025, it’s an incredible film with so much going on here that much like Die My Love I plan on talking about this one at greater length. But for now I’ll talking about the basics as to what makes this one so phenomenal.
It should come to no surprise that the cast is what really makes this one as beautiful as it is. Whereas a lot of film try incredibly hard and fail to get each of the cast to contribute in a meaningful way. Sentimental Value manages to do that quite easily due to Joachim’s direction, his script along with Eskil Vogt and the brilliant performances from Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning.
Renate Reinsve plays Nora one of the daughters of Gustav Borg (played by Stellan Skarsgard) a celebrated film director who wants to give Nora the leading role. The film’s main theme comes in with a path to healing and trying to restart a fractured bond. Reinsve continues to show she’s one of the best actresses currently working, she gives a powerful and emotional performance that she displays perfectly. Her quiet moments with Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Stellan Skarsgard especially show how much chemistry and human connection, she has this beautiful ability to navigate vulnerability, humor and pain. When a certain scene demands one of the three she is able to quickly bring it to the table. A beautiful performance that truly is a transcendent role.
Stellan Skarsgard as Gustv is a career best worthy performance, he brings nuance and vulnerability to a character who we see is very complex. Whether at times he can feel difficult or he finally tries to understand where Nora is coming from. It’s a beautiful way of showing the father and daughter bond and its ups and downs, plus what’s needed to repair it. Skarsgard is already a phenomenal actor, so he naturally does a fantastic job here. His scenes with Elle Fanning in particular shine and show the thoughts and powerful yet quiet moments of his character.
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas plays Nora’s sister Agnes, I was unfamiliar with who Lilleaas was but after seeing her performance I truly can’t wait to see what she does next. Lilleaas gets one particularly powerful scene of Agnes and Nora both comforting each other, the two’s eye contact, speech and body language are all top notch and truly deliver one of the film’s most beautiful moments. Lilleaas commands the screen whenever she’s present and truly delivers a lot of heart and care into her performance.
Finally there is Elle Fanning who plays Rachel Kemp a famous American actress who is hired to play the lead in Gustav’s film. Elle Fanning is given the hardest role here, which is to play an actor that wasn’t right for the part. It’s a challenging role that can easily end up coming off as more so playing yourself. That is not the case here for Elle Fanning, the way Fanning goes about playing Rachel is such a beautiful portrayal of an actress who although wasn’t right for Gustav’s film still shows sincerity and tenderness throughout the film. It comes to a breaking point where she tells Gustav that she isn’t right for the part, the buildup to that moment is truly fascinating and with how Elle Fanning delivers that moment is truly remarkable. Rachel Kemp is a character that Elle Fanning truly brings to life and really does feel like the type of powerhouse performance that Fanning’s career has been leading up to. This performance right here perfectly shows why she is one of the best of her generation a true performer that has so much talent and passion.
Sentimental Value is a beautiful film that has the classic human feel around it, how we explore our bonds and what it takes to repair them. It’s a beautiful story that I truly recommend checking out if you haven’t already.
Sentimental Value is available on all VOD platforms.
Hello again! So you might be wondering what is this? Well I have 6 films from 2025 I just never got around to fully reviewing. So I decided to do something interesting, instead of flat out just not reviewing them I decided to do a wrap up post talking a little bit about each film and moving on to the next one. I’m splitting it into two parts just to keep things a bit more organized, In the future I do plan on talking about some of these films in greater length. But for now I at least want to share my love for these films in brief detail. So let’s start with..
28 Years Later
Set decades after the Rage Virus outbreak, it follows a new group of survivors on an island who venture onto the mainland, discovering mutated infected and new threats.
28 Years Later is quite honestly one of the most hauntingly beautiful horror films of the 2020s. There is a whole lot to be said here about the theme of death and how the film goes about exploring it. Jodie Comer gives a phenomenal performance that has this human connection feel that is constant throughout the film, Alfie Williams is just as fantastic and connects instantly with the people he meets along the way.
Ralph Fiennes as Dr Ian Kelson gives us one of the best written characters of the 2020s, throughout the film we are made to believe that he is this crazy lunatic yet what we get is this calm and balanced man that has this beautiful understanding of life and death. It really brings tears to your eyes due to just how beautiful the dialogue really is here.
Combine that with a beautiful score by Young Fathers (especially their song Remember), stunning cinematography and brutal kills. You have yourself such a wonderful film that you will never forget.
28 Years Later is available on all VOD platforms.
10/10 A+
Marty Supreme
Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.
Marty Supreme is one of those films that continues to get better and better as it goes on, what starts out as a simple enough film turns into a chaotic film that ups the ante and never falls to the floor.
Timothee Chalamet is not holding back here at all and delivers one of his greatest performances (arguably his best), he fully embodies Marty Mauser (which the film is loosely based on. He balances this likable and unlikable aspect that hits this sweet spot that in turns makes him such a fascinating character.
Odessa A’zion gives such a heartbreaking performance during the second half of the film, it’s a soul crushing yet beautiful performance that sticks with you throughout the experience. Her chemistry with Chalamet is wonderful and even when she isn’t on screen you do feel her presence.
What makes Marty Supreme so fantastic is it has this group of characters who balance this realness and weirdness. They all fit so well together in this perfectly bizarre atmosphere the film has going on here, every single moment there is some perfectly normal interactions going on along with some bizarre ones.
Marty Supreme is a wild ride from beginning to end that truly captures every single moment it throws at the viewer.
Marty Supreme is available on all VOD platforms.
10/10 A+
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
While trying to manage her own life and career, a woman on the verge of a breakdown must cope with her daughter’s illness, an absent husband, a missing person, and an unusual relationship with her therapist.
2025 Wrap Up Review
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is like entering someone else’s head, seeing the struggles, thoughts and memories that constantly go on inside their head. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Die My Love can definitely be considered sister films mainly due to how similar they are thematically however they go about this in much different ways.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You goes about this in a less deep in a void feel, it’s more clear and we can get a better idea of what is going on inside Linda’s (played by Rose Byrne) head. With that being said it’s still a very navigating experience (in a good way). It’s one of those experiences that ultimately feels very rewarding to go on and once you reach the end it’s genuinely stunning to watch.
So much has been said about how fantastic Rose Byrne’s performance is and the praise is absolutely earned. Rose Byrne gives a career best performance that feels next level, a performance that captures the constant thoughts of motherhood and how crushing it can be. Byrne perfectly matches the surreal atmosphere that demands this spiral and break free type of feel that truly leaves the viewer stunned. It’s an unforgettable performance that I still think about constantly.
I highly recommend going into If I Had Legs I’d Kick You knowing as little as possible, it’s such a powerful film about the stress of motherhood and what constantly goes inside the mind during that period of time.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is available on all VOD platforms.
An L.A. cop discovers a local task force is hiding a secret that puts the residents of his childhood neighborhood in danger.
Night Patrol is directed by Ryan Prows director of Lowlife (2017).
Night Patrol is if you took Sinners (2025) and threw in some cops as vampires. Okay that’s a bit harsh, Night Patrol is at the very least trying to do its own thing. It has an important message underneath it all which I do find admirable, with that being said the movie is a mess which unfortunately really drags this one down with the ending result being a very confused mess.
The performances are fine enough of here, Justin Long is here and does a decent enough job. Jermaine Fowler, CM Punk, Flying Lotus, Freddie Gibbs, RJ Cyler, YG and many others are here which is undeniably pretty neat. To their credit they all do decent enough and try to make the script work as well as it can, there is this fun factor of just seeing all of these names together. But that only goes so far with their characters just not getting the writing they need.
The kills are effective, one of the film’s themes is racial injustice so seeing some of these brutal actions take place on screen is effective and gets the viewer uncomfortable. I would argue that these scenes are by far the film’s best assets. The opening scene in particular is incredibly effective and does give the film a strong start, unfortunately what follows pales in comparison.
What hurts the film the most is the writing, we bounce between dramatic and comedic moments that do not blend well together at all. Plus we have so much going on story-wise that it starts to overwhelm the viewer due to how much of a mess it really is, the third act is especially guilty of this as it throws just about every single element from the film at the wall to see what sticks with none of it sticking.
While I respect the film for mixing racial injustice with vampires it just does not have enough writing and firepower to really land, the dialogue bounces between being serious and comedic without trying to build a bridge for the two. There is this classic exploitation movie feel that you can see glimpses of but it never ends up fully coming together.
Overall Night Patrol is a mess, the fine enough performances and the kills are just not enough to salvage the script or its bizarre editing.
Follows two millennials who flip NY apartments they don’t own to new buyers who don’t know they are being scammed. The con works brilliantly until they run into an apartment owner with a dark secret who flips the game on them.
Twisted is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman director of Saw II–IV (2005-2007), Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), Mother’s Day (2010), 11-11-11 (2011), Spiral: From The Book Of Saw (2021), The Cello (2023) and a few others.
Twisted is an odd one, it definitely feels like it’s trying to recapture the grimy, dark and gory atmosphere of what some horror movies were doing back in the 2000s. Yet this feels like a very watered down version of that, there are a few scenes here that are nasty but those can only push the atmosphere so far. This leads to a pretty underwhelming experience despite the movie’s name telling you that it will be a sick one.
Undeniably the best parts here are Lauren LaVera and Djimon Hounsou, Hounsou has this calm voice that can easily intimidate you and his character Dr. Kezian’s whole motive is genuinely interesting. Even if his backstory needed more stronger writing, Hounsou is able to salvage it by just giving a genuinely intimating performance.
Lauren LaVera gives another great performance here, by now she’s pretty much established herself as a modern day scream queen and here is no exception. She nails both the thrilling and dramatic moments, her chemistry with Mia Healey feels natural and is the heart of the film. These moments are not huge, but they are what mainly helps this movie not feel like a chore to sit through.
The main problem with Twisted is the writing, especially story and dialogue wise which is a bit of a mess, the dialogue does not have a whole lot going on here and is mostly saved due to the performances being surprisingly decent. The story is interesting and had promise, but the movie never takes full advantage of it. Outside of a few gross brain surgery scenes towards the end, the movie never fully commits to its ideas and instead settles on being strangely tame which does ultimately hurt the movie.
Overall Twisted is forgettable, there is just not a whole lot going on here. There is a bit of this giallo feel with some of the blood splatters and with the camera being set up in certain ways, but much like almost everything else in this movie it’s very watered down to the point where you just shrug your shoulders and move on. There’s definitely worse straight to VOD options out there but you can’t help but feel disappointed with this one.
Jerome Reviews... 