“Taken purely as a cheap thrills style horror movie, ‘Unfriended’ is hugely effective. But as an unflinching denouncement of peer pressure and cyberbullying, it’s downright terrifying.”
“‘Companion’ is fiercely, unabashedly feminist.”
“‘Get Away’ takes a significant amount of time to set up a payoff that isn’t given the requisite space to breathe once the big moment arrives.”
“‘Booger’ is a surprisingly poignant and sensitive meditation on grief that utilizes a truly wild metaphor.”
“With ‘The Becomers,’ Clark frequently barrels all the way to the edge of the line but rarely puts anything more than a toe across it.”
“‘Frankie Freako’ is deliriously silly and wholesomely entertaining, and so genuine in its profound lack of depth or meaning — it’s a refreshing antidote to all the dreaded “elevated horror” offerings.”
“‘Oddity’ is the scariest movie of the year.”
“Perhaps Plante wasn’t sure how to end ‘Red Rooms’ without veering into sensationalism, which is commendable, but it doesn’t solve the problem of crafting an intriguing reason for why Kelly-Anne is so driven.”
“Fiala and Franz, who also co-wrote ‘The Devil’s Bath,’ aren’t interested in making viewers feel comfortable. What they’ve crafted, even more so than their breakout hit, is a tough, distressing watch by design.”
“The package may be pretty, but there’s nothing of note inside, and what is there has been done better elsewhere.”
“There’s more to love than hate in ‘Abigail’ — from the insanely over-the-top violence to the fresh take on vampire mythology — and most of the dangling threads pay off in a pacy, satisfying manner.”
‘Pratfall’ Interview: Joey Keogh discusses the 2023 movie with actor Joshua Burge.
“‘Femme’ is lean, mean, nasty, challenging, knotty, uncomfortable and disorientating — often all at once.”
“The main issue with a film as defiantly arthouse as ‘She Is Conann’ is that if the story isn’t engaging in its own right, everything else that’s wrong becomes increasingly more obvious.”
“‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ is watchable but slight. And considering how popular Hallmark Christmas movies continue to be, maybe that’s all horror fans will really expect.”
“‘Failure!’ is a failed experiment that grates more than it excites.”
“‘Astrakan’ is most intriguing when not trying to explain everything away.”
“The fun of ‘Medusa Deluxe’ is less about figuring out who the murderer is and more to do with watching everybody lose their minds over their little bubble being penetrated by an outside influence they can’t control.”
“‘North Circular’ feels slightly unfocused at times, but this is likely intentional given how tough it is to nail down one definitive take on what it means to be from this area.”
“Falcon Lake’s funereal tone may be a bit too emo for some, but for those willing to get swept up in its dark splendor, Le Bon’s film is a remarkably shrewd debut.”