An elusive jewel thief’s final score puts him in conflict with a determined detective and an insurance broker, blurring the lines between hunter and hunted.
Crime 101 is directed by Bart Layton director of The Imposter (2012) and American Animals (2018).
Crime 101 is essentially Michael Mann lite, but it still is quite great in its own ways, even if the film may not be doing anything new. But it is still a quite fun time all around.
The performances are what really make the movie work. Chris Hemsworth gives a strong performance and brings nuance to his character, Hemsworth captures the film’s atmosphere almost immediately and only adds on to it as the plot starts to reveal itself. Mark Ruffalo is reliably intense and Halle Berry serves as the emotional weight of the film, she works incredibly well with the rest of the cast and has a ton of great moments with Hemsworth. Barry Keoghan much like Hemsworth (all be it in a much more louder way) fits the atmosphere and goes all out when required.
The visuals are quite strong with cinematographer Erik Wilson really bringing the film’s world to life, the classic L.A. crime setting pops out wonderfully and the attention to detail with the lighting is genuinely gorgeous. The tension during the film’s man car chase scenes are filled to the brim with atmosphere and thrills that are enough to keep the viewer invested, they never go over the top and try to remain as focused as possible.
Where Crime 101 suffers is the running time and a bit of a very thinly written story. The film goes on for a bit too long especially with scenes with Maya (played by Monica Barbaro) who is Mike/James Davis’s (played by Chris Hemsworth) love interest that just really do not add to the plot. The story isn’t exactly anything new, if you have seen any sort of crime thriller before you are going to recognize a lot of different elements almost immediately.
With that being said, Crime 101 is still a lot of fun. It’s not going to break any new ground, however it’s well directed, acted and made. If you are a fan of the genre you should give this one a go.
When a superfan learns that her rock-star idol is spiraling into addiction, she makes it her mission to save him, whether he wants her help or not. However, when her desperate plan spins out of control, she kidnaps him in a delusional attempt to fix him. What started as compassion soon turns into captivity as she locks him away in the name of love.
Sweetness is directed by Emma Higgins which is her directorial debut
Sweetness is basically Gen-Z Misery (1990), the main difference here is this movie released at a time where Stan culture is at its most insufferable. This one mainly focuses on the teenage celebrity obsession which the movie surprisingly executes quite well.
It helps that the Rylee (played by Kate Hallett) and her friend Syd (played by Aya Furukawa) actually do look like teenagers, it makes the movie a bit more on the grounded side and helps execute its themes a lot better. Hallett and Furukawa also give great performances as well and lead to some interesting dialogue exchanges. Hallett sells the transition from an awkward and lovestruck teenager to somebody who is very unhinged in this quite disturbing and realistic way. Without Hallett I don’t think Sweetness would have worked nearly as well as it did.
When it comes to tone and pacing , Emma Higgins nails it. She slowly builds this atmosphere around Rylee, she starts out friendly and being lovestruck then slowly but surely turns unhinged. It’s carefully done and does not feel rushed at all, there might not be as many powerful and striking moments as there were in Misery (1990) but it’s still quite impressive to see how well crafted and paced Sweetness really is with its tone.
There are definitely moments in the writing where you need to suspend your disbelief, but even then those moments make for an interesting satirical edge that grabs the viewer’s attention. The character writing for Rylee is actually quite solid, we get a quite tragic backstory as to why she became the way she did and it’s all told decently well.
Overall Sweetness is a decent little thriller, it’s definitely not going to reinvent the whole Misery (1990) premise but I do think the way the story is told and the performances make this one worth a watch.
Maya returns for a final, brutal showdown with the masked killers, seeking revenge and a way out of the cycle of violence.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 is directed by Renny Harlin director of A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Devil’s Pass (2013), The Legend Of Hercules (2014), The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024), The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) and many others. The film serves as the fifth installment of The Strangers series and the final installment of the new Strangers trilogy.
In my review for The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) I said it made a huge accomplishment which was being worse than its predecessor. Well The Strangers: Chapter 3 repeats that trend by being somehow worse than Chapter 2. A lot of the issues with the last movie can be applied with this one, however there are a few differences worth mentioning here.
The acting is about the same as it was in the other two movies, Madelaine Petsch is the only one who gives a somewhat decent performance. While everyone else is just not great here at all, they all try their best with the script but none of it is effective. What remains the same is the shallow character writing, there are moments where the movie is desperately trying get you to feel something towards the characters which is incredibly strange considering how lacking of character writing this whole trilogy had.
The movie once again brings in the flashbacks that explain more about the strangers themselves, I already said this in my review for the last movie but I’ll say it again here. The flashbacks completely defeat the purpose of the whole concept, the original idea of The Strangers is that you do not know who they are. They are random people who don’t have a motive they just attack people randomly. Random attacks are a very real thing which is why the 2008 film was so effective for a lot of people. It was ridiculous to bring the flashbacks in the last movie and it’s somehow made even worse here, due to telling a story that is quite frankly dull and incredibly predictable.
What makes Chapter 3 worse than Chapter 2 simply comes down to the writing, the revelations this movie tries to present as shocking are incredibly predictable that almost anyone could have guessed. You are telling me that two characters who acted creepy are actually very creepy? No way! Another thing the movie tries to do is it hints towards Maya (played Madelaine Petsch) displaying signs of becoming a serial killer like the strangers. It’s a ridiculous idea that comes out of nowhere and does not have the character writing to back it up, Maya as a character throughout this whole trilogy was very thinly written and that does not change here.
Overall there really isn’t much more to be said about The Strangers: Chapter 3, as I said before a lot of the flaws from Chapter 2 can be applied here. This one just so happens to be a lot more dialogue heavy whereas the previous movie was more action, either way this trilogy fails in every single way possible.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 is available on all VOD platforms.
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.
Jerome Reviews... 