A Nevada reservoir rumored to be a time portal keeps life interesting for the Crop, aimless teenage best friends in Sparks-until Cleo arrives determined to reach 1960s Paris.
Sparks is directed by Fergus Campbell which is his directorial debut.
Sparks is an interesting, almost immediately the whole premise immediately grabs your attention. A group of teens believe that a reservoir might be a portal through time, along the way there is this discussion about adolescence that gives the film and its characters more depth. While there are some writing issues here and there, Sparks ends up being a very charming little film that you really can’t help but appreciate the passion that went into it from the cast and crew.
The performances are incredibly fun here, it’s great to see Elsie Fisher again as she is quite a phenomenal actress and she continues to showcase that with this film. Madison Hu is also quite great and has such fun chemistry with the rest of the cast. The rest of the cast are just as great, everyone gives humorous and heartfelt performances that really add to the film’s fun spirit that’s present throughout the experience. Hearing the characters simply talk about their love for old cinema, their dreams and passions in life is truly fascinating and brings this beautiful raw into the mix.
The writing is humorous yet clever, the time travel aspect of it is fresh and works well with the context of the story. It’s not overly confusing and does not try to tangle itself into knots with trying to explain how it works. But the idea that is explored here as I said earlier is adolescences and captures this idea of wanting to be in a bigger place than you are currently in, there are some scenes of the teens just shouting ideas off the top of their heads which does a great job of depicting boredom but also having fun as well. It very much feels like a friend group that you might know of or even have one that you might have/currently are a part of.
The cinematography from Keldon Duane-McGlashan is absolutely gorgeous, it displays the beauty of the Nevada desert and adds its on bit of character as well. The direction from Fergus Campbell is sharp, careful and has this breezy atmospheric feel that makes these characters come to life.
Overall Sparks is a fun one, there is a lot of love for filmmaking here that really stands out. It might take some time to figure out what is exactly going on. But even then it’s a fun film that is a very quick 1 hour and 18 minutes.
On 12 August 1967, in Montana’s Glacier National Park, the unthinkable happened: On the same night, nine miles apart, there were not one, but two fatal grizzly bear attacks.
Grizzly Night is directed by Burke Doeren which is his directorial debut. The film is based on the true story of the 1967 Grizzly Bear attacks in Glacier National Park.
It’s only January and we have already gotten three killer animal movies. Primate, Killer Whale and now Grizzly Night. If you are going into Grizzly Night expecting the usual killer animal movie you are going to be incredibly disappointed. This one focuses less on the attacks and more so on the rescue efforts, which while admirable and is important to highlight is ultimately not very investing. Which leads to the movie becoming a bit too forgettable for its own good.
The acting is fine enough, nobody here really gives a standout performance but I do think Lauren Call who plays Ranger Joan Devereaux gets better as the movie goes on and actually does have a few emotional moments. Oded Fehr as Dr. John Lindberg is a close second who provides this calm and empathetic atmosphere whenever he’s on screen. Unfortunately the rest of the cast gets the short end of the stick, the acting from the rest ranges from bad to middle of the road. It doesn’t help that the writing gives them very little to work with.
The writing is this movie’s biggest problem, it’s a shame to because the true story itself is incredibly interesting. To this day nobody knows exactly what made the two Grizzly Bears attack so there’s this air of mystery that’s genuinely fascinating. The writing unfortunately does not capture that feel at all, instead it opts to try and set the bear attacks up as something bigger but ultimately changes its mind and focuses mainly on the rescue efforts. Which as I said earlier is incredibly admirable, but the dialogue is just not there to support it. A lot of the characters are very thinly written and don’t offer all that much outside of support.
The big parts Grizzly Night has going for it is the filming and the nature atmosphere, cinematographers Brian Mitchell and Ian Start do a very good job of capturing the outdoors which leads to some decently shot scenes. While director Burke Doeren is able to capture the feel of the outdoors with the atmosphere, there is definitely something here that the rest of the movie failed to lean into especially with the final act that feels very rushed.
Overall Grizzly Night has its moments, but those moments are outnumbered by the amount of flaws that are present here. It’s a very bland telling of an interesting true story.
Grizzly Night releases Friday on all VOD platforms in the USA and on Digital and DVD February 2nd in the UK!
When his punk-rock neighbour asks him to take care of his cat for a few days, New York City bartender Hank Thompson suddenly finds himself caught in the middle of a motley crew of threatening gangsters who all want a piece of him.
Caught Stealing is directed by Darren Aronofsky director of Pi (1998), Requiem For A Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), The Wrestler (2008), Black Swan (2010), Noah (2014), Mother! (2017) and The Whale (2022).
Darren Aronofsky has always been one of my favorite filmmakers, his ability to bring out transformative or flat out incredible performances from a lot of actors is just fascinating. While I’m always going to prefer Aronofsky’s more dramatic work, It’s always nice to see Aronofsky have a lot of fun and go for something completely different here.
Austin Butler is oozing with charisma and almost immediately captures the atmosphere that the world of the film demands. Every single moment you feel this gravitational pull towards his character Henry “Hank” Thompson and the world around him. Butler’s performance only gets more and more electrifying as the film goes on especially with the film’s tone that quickly becomes more brutal and darker. Butler gives one of the best performances of the year, this is the type of performance of what makes an actor so interesting especially sensing the confidence within the performance.
The supporting performances are just as fantastic, Zoë Kravitz’s chemistry with Butler is captivating and even if her part is not as massive, the time she does have she uses well and brings this passionate bond the film shows through Butler and Kravitz’s chemistry. Matt Smith and Regina King are both fantastic here as well, both capture the energy and atmosphere of their respective roles. Smith being more chaotic and King bringing her strength and pedigree. Tonic the cat is also a fun addition to the film who does a fantastic job with the film’s more comedic moments.
The writing is atmospheric, thrilling and genuinely funny at times. It’s a nice balance between the three, none of which completely overwhelm one another. The writing has moments of brutality which is where the depth for these characters comes from, we explore a bit about them. Even if at times there is a bit of surface level information, what we do learn is admittedly fascinating which keeps the viewer in for the ride. The comedic elements are on the black comedy side of things, but are effectively used sparingly and do not take away from the more dramatic ones.
Aronofsky does a fascinating job of capturing this 1990s New York landscape, he invests a ton of energy in creating this beautiful feel that you can’t help but look around. This is definitely one of Aronofsky’s bigger in scale films, perhaps his biggest since Noah (2014). But unlike Noah (2014) where it felt very overwhelming and a giant mess in general, Caught Stealing is a lot more focused and has a lot more interesting elements happening on screen. You have the chaotic nature of the cast and their characters, the brutality of the film, the film’s black comedy and the strong cinematography from Matthew Libatique.
Overall Caught Stealing is such a chaotic and fun ride from beginning to end, that Aronofsky does such a fascinating job of capturing the crazed experience.
Caught Stealing is available on all VOD platforms.
A retail employee infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom. As he gets closer to the budding music star, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
Lurker is directed by Alex Russell which is his directorial debut.
Lurker is a very impressive directorial debut that goes for this realistic and quite uncomfortable look at fan culture and the effects of obsession and celebrity worship. The performances, atmosphere and Russell’s direction truly make the whole package work.
Théodore Pellrin and Archie Madekwe give some of the best performances of the year, Pellrin plays Matthew someone who is obsessed with wanting to belong and eventually does push that way too far, it’s done in this very subtle and realistic way. Some people might write this off as a “stalker film like performance” but what Lurker goes for here is quite different, Matthew gets into Oliver’s (played by Archie Madekwe) life easily by acting useful and harmless. It’s a natural way that just about anyone would fall for, how Pellrin portrays these actions and mindsets is truly fascinating to the point where it’s almost scary.
Archie Madekwe does a fantastic job as Oliver, not only does he do a fantastic job of illustrating the casual control that a celebrity wields. But he also does an excellent job when it comes to having this balance of charisma and detachment, we see this more and more as the film goes on with Oliver realizing that Matthew really needs to be cut off from him, which he does about as well as he really can considering the situation he is in.
The dynamic between the two is what keeps the film moving along, we see they start off as great friends with Matthew becoming more and more obsessive with Oliver. We can see the quick change in their friendship with it slowly but surely going downhill and getting more and more uncomfortable, all of this is captured quite rawly through the performances of Pellrin and Madekwe. It’s uncomfortable yet a fascinating look at how being parasocial can really start to affect your real life bonds a behavior outside the internet.
The supporting cast are great here as well, particularly Havana Rose Liu who may not get the most amount of screen time. But she does have memorable scenes that are quite great and captures the atmosphere of the film decently well. Her and Zack Fox both effectively reflect the audience’s reactions to Matthew’s obsessive behavior.
The writing is fantastic, as mentioned before the film is done in this quite realistic style and the writing really reflects that. Whether it be some of the more explosive moments that the film builds up to, or some of the more quiet and subtle moments that remain thrilling throughout the film. There is always something here to bring in the viewer slowly but surely, the manipulative language that Matthew displays is scary and captures a lot of what makes this sort of behavior so scary in the first place.
The direction from Alex Russell is incredibly confident and paints this picture of a deeply uncomfortable dive into modern day obsession, while some plot points do go where you expect them to. It’s not enough to take away from Lurker as a film, this sense of belonging is captured so well yet ultimately transformers into something much much darker and unhinged. How Russell is able to accomplish this in a much quieter way is truly fascinating.
Overall Lurker is an excellent film that explores parasocial relationships and celebrity worship in this honest and uncomfortable way. It’s incredibly well acted, written and directed, one of the most underrated films of the year.
A rebellious South Dakotan rancher makes hard decisions related to her fractured family, financial uncertainty and unresolved grief, all while providing refuge for a group of wayward neighbourhood teens.
East Of Wall is directed by Kate Beecroft which is her directorial debut.
Authentic would be the best word to describe East Of Wall, not only does it take on a very documentary like approach. But the film based on the lead actress Tabatha Zimiga’s real life, it’s a docufiction film done at its absolutely best.
The performances feel incredibly raw, Tabatha Zimiga gives her debut performance and does such a beautiful job. Almost immediately you connect with her story simply due to how well the film establishes her and her story very early on, Porshia Zimga similarly plays herself and does just as an incredible job. With a cast that is filled with mostly nonprofessionals we really get to see and feel the impact of Zimiga’s story and the performances here feel that much more authentic. While yes Scoot McNairy and Jennifer Ehle are here (who also do a great job) that does not take away from the authenticity of the film. They mix well with the rest of the cast and fit into the story being told.
Almost immediately you get Chloe Zhao’s The Rider (2018) vibes from the film and in a good way. Much like that film, we get to see the daily lives of Tabatha and her daughter Porshia in this authentic way that shows them living their lives on screen. It’s like we are just watching them for a distance and seeing what unfolds, we get some beautiful cinematography from Austin Shelton who captures the beauty of South Dakota particularly the Badlands a forgotten beauty (that we do not see much in film.)
The writing is phenomenal, Kate Beecroft also wrote the script and apparently lived 3 years with Tabatha and her family. That definitely shows throughout the film, you can feel this personal power that is poured into the script as the film goes on, the emotional moments hit one hundred times harder than they normally would. The quiet moments feel more connective, scenes of Tabatha and her family just talking and bonding are beautiful. There is much beautiful character work here as well as acting talent.
Overall East Of Wall is straightforward yet is the very definition of authentic, it’s a beautifully told story that might take a bit to get going. But it is absolutely worth experiencing.
When his past and his debts start to catch up with him, a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation.
Ballad Of A Small Player is directed by Edward Berger director of Jack (2014), All My Loving (2019), All Quiet On The Western Front (2022) and Conclave (2024).
Ballad Of A Small Player is the perfect example of a movie that looks stunning and is acted quite beautifully but is lacking an incredible amount of substance that unfortunately does not get it over the finish line.
Colin Farrell gives a strong performance here, he especially feels striking when combined with the movie’s gorgeous cinematography from cinematographer James Friend. Even if Farrell’s character is lacking in the writing department, he still does manage to create this sort of thrilling atmosphere for his character and luckily due to his acting talent he makes it work for the most part.
Volker Bertlemann’s score at first may not seem like it’s very fitting, the world of Ballad Of A Small Player feels a lot smaller in scale than some of Edward Berger’s previous work. Yet despite that the booming nature of the score still works, especially during a handful of intriguing sequences that end up meshing the movie together into some wondrous moments.
The movie is also a massive departure from Berger’s other films, which is exciting to see him tackle something completely different. Unfortunately the writing is just not there to really back it up, the story itself is a bit of mess with very little direction. The characters are distant which leads to the emotional beats the movie relies on to fail.
Overall Ballad Of A Small Player is a bold move but unfortunately one that leaves a lot more to be desired, there’s just not enough detailed exploration here to really give the viewer anything to chew on.
When a new test matching soulmates together comes between two best friends, they spend the next twelve years trying to resist the urge to disrupt the paths their lives have taken despite the undeniable feeling they belong together.
All Of You is directed by William Bridges which is his directorial debut.
Not a whole lot to report on here, All Of You is a romance movie that starts out promising enough but then quickly runs into a lot of the exact same problems that a lot of modern romance movies do. The main one being that the chemistry between the leads is about the only part going for it.
Brett Goldstein is incredibly charming and Imogen Poots is gives a pretty touching performance that has a lot of beautiful moments. Unfortunately the side characters only serve the story and have very little going on which takes away a lot of the power this movie was building up. The side characters ultimately feel disposable which in turn hurts the movie quite a bit.
The dialogue starts out decent enough but quickly gets tangled in its own web, the idea of time wasted is such a heartbreaking premise that it’s genuinely surprising the movie wastes a lot of time doing way too many time jumps. The sci-fi elements feel incredibly wasted and were begging for a much better script.
Diego and Sage’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate gets upended when they’re forced to share a mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. Their dream getaway soon spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies and manipulation as terrifying secrets come to light, triggering a bloody battle for survival.
Bone Lake is directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan director of Fixation (2022) and Spoonful of Sugar (2022).
Bone Lake has some great ideas at play here, but unfortunately does not quite have the firepower to last very long especially when it comes to its script.
The performances are decent here but there really isn’t any particular moment that stands out. Maddie Hasson definitely gets the bigger end of the stick when it comes to the rest of the cast, but even her performance is left with more of a need to explore.
The movie attempts to touch on modern relationship dynamics and expectations which is all well and good, but the major issue here is the characters lack any sort of development to turn these themes into something investing for the viewer. The characters are very much what you would expect from this type of horror movie and just have very little going on in the development department.
Lastly there’s the writing which plays it very safe, even under the erotica genre this is not as crazy or explicit as much as the movie tries to make itself out to be. There are suggestions and glimpses of more hardcore elements but never anything shocking or daring, there are moments of fun to be had but those are very far and few in between.
Overall Bone Lake is very forgettable, outside of a few decent scenes and some okay performances this is one you will almost immediately forget about after watching.
In 1977, Marcelo, a technology teacher, moves from São Paulo to Recife during Carnival to escape his violent past and start over. He finds the city full of chaos, and his neighbors begin to spy on him.
New York Film Festival Review
The Secret Agent is directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho director of Neighboring Sounds (2012), Aquarius (2016) and Barcurau (2019).
Much like last year’s I’m Still Here (2024), The Secret Agent also takes place during the Brazilian military dictatorship. The main difference here however are I’m Still Here (2024) took place early on during the dictatorship and it’s based on a true story, The Secret Agent takes place during the final years of the dictatorship and it’s not based on a true story. Just like I’m Still Here (2024), The Secret Agent is an incredibly powerful film that has much love, human feel, importance and even celebration of the Brazilian people poured into it. Which gives us some absolutely beautiful final results.
The performances are all fantastic, every single cast member of the film gives this honest and beautiful performance that truly never leaves your mind. There’s so much attention to detail with the body language of each of the cast and their natural conversations that it almost feels like you are right there sitting with them. Tânia Maria as Dona Sebastiana is perhaps my favorite of the supporting cast simply because of her entrance to the film, confident performance and the moments towards the end of the film where we hear about her experiences.
Wagner Moura being the best example of this, he plays Armando/Marcelo Alves, a former teacher who is caught in political turmoil. To say Moura knocks it out of the park would be the understatement of the year, his performance captures everything that’s needed to make a performance like this work. He captures the atmosphere the film is going for masterfully, he gives this subtle and powerful performance that leads to some gut punching raw moments that can only be described as masterful. Even before Armando/Marcelo’s backstory is fully revealed we can already see moments where he conveys this deep sense of pain and mystery, once we do get the full backstory we see how clever and brilliantly written the buildup really was. Moura is also just incredibly captivating to watch, effortlessly commands the screen and completely captures the many different type of moods the film’s atmosphere goes for, all of this combined together gives us one of the very best performances of the year.
The writing is absolutely outstanding, Filho does such an incredible job of giving all of these characters unique personalities and show how all of these characters connect. There is this theme of oppression constantly chasing them, it chases Armando/Marcelo constantly throughout the film. Even in the film’s happier moments that are supposed to be for celebration you can feel the characters still on edge because at any given moment their lives (which have already been put into a difficult situation) could get even worse.
The technical aspects of the film are jaw dropping. The absolutely gorgeous cinematography from cinematographer Evgenia Alexandrova captures this raw and almost 70s and 80s style of neo noir that is incredibly appealing to the eye. The score from Tomaz Alves Souza and Mateus Alves combined with the editing from editors Eduardo Serrano and Matheus Farias give us one of the film’s very best scenes. It’s a tense scene that constantly goes back and forth between the characters involved, the editing is fast and sharp, the score is this quiet yet striking piece that builds the tension as it goes on and the atmosphere is top notch. There’s a lot of striking shots throughout the film that leave you in a sense of surprise and thought, there’s so much attention to detail here that really makes you engage with the film and its story.
Finally there’s the many other themes, I’ve already said before that there’s the theme of oppression but there’s also one of celebration of the Brazilian people. A celebration of how all of these people who were going through some of the most evil and disturbing actions stood by each other and celebrated the tiny moments, there’s this sense of togetherness and support that is genuinely beautiful. Lastly there’s the theme of how Brazil has changed over the years, the film at times goes back and forth from the past and the present day where two students are researching the events of the film. We do see the changes over the years but we also see how the oppression impacted the later generations. The film does have this hopeful end note, which brings this beauty yet sadness to the film that ends up making The Secret Agent one of the most important films of 2025.
Overall The Secret Agent is a powerhouse film that is truly one of the year’s best. It’s an incredibly impactful film that explores oppression, celebration and memories.
The Secret Agent releases November 26th in theaters.
A social media moderator is tasked with purging the most offensive content from the internet. When she sees a video that appears to show a crime, she’s lured into a dangerous world as she obsessively looks to hold someone accountable.
American Sweatshop is directed by Uta Briesewitz which is her directorial debut.
American Sweatshop is a film that should have been a home run but instead ends up being foul ball. To the movie’s credit it’s not all bad, Lili Reinhart gives a fascinating performance, the atmosphere is haunting and there’s moments of strong and suspenseful interactions between the characters. But for the most part the movie misses the mark.
As I said earlier Lili Reinhart as Daisy (a content moderator) is fantastic here, she’s far and away the best asset of the film and gives such a vulnerable performance that we see slowly change over the course of the film. Part of the movie explores Daisy’s transformation into a full-fledged vigilante which does make sense in the context of seeing multiple videos of evilness and doing very little to stop it due to not being allowed to get involved. Even if the movie starts to lose itself during the final act, Lili Reinhart is able to make her character work due to just how great of a performance she gives as well as keeping it grounded (for the most part.)
The writing unfortunately holds itself back, with a topic as heavy as violent crimes like this. It’s good that these are being discussed to begin with, however it’s disappointing that the way it’s told is very watered down. Red Rooms (2024) handled this subject matter masterfully, the film used so many different techniques to explore these subjects and ended up being incredibly disturbing without being incredibly graphic. American Sweatshop nails the claustrophobic and haunting atmosphere when you stare at this type content, but unfortunately that’s as far as the movie is willing to go. Everything else plays a bit too safe and drifts off during the last act of the film.
The unresolved parts of the film admittedly match up with reality as they showcase the impact of social media in our lives today. With that being said there are other parts that simply felt almost ignored by the movie and with playing way too safe it ultimately defeats the purpose of the movie’s intended message.
Overall American Sweatshop is not a bad movie, it’s just a very disappointing one that had so much potential. Lili Reinhart’s performance is what keeps this movie afloat so I do recommend giving it a go if that interests you. I’m sure this will be easy to digest for some audiences, but if you want to dig much deeper on this topic I would recommend giving Red Rooms (2024) a go.
American Sweatshop is available on all VOD platforms.
Jerome Reviews... 