Category: Film Review

Posted in Film Review

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Sony Pictures Releasing, Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios and Pascal Pictures

Spider-Man: Brand New Day– Film Review

Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink, Tramell Tillman, Mark Ruffalo, Liza Colón-Zayas

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Synopsis: After everyone in his life has forgotten him, an isolated Peter Parker continues to fight crime and protect the people of New York as Spider-Man until a mysterious, powerful new threat emerges…

Review: A superhero’s life can be exciting as they are granted extraordinary superhuman abilities and strength that most of us could only dream of. However, beyond attracting dangerous enemies, it can be an unforgiving existence where the hero must protect their secret identity and sometimes make the hardest choices, even at tremendous personal cost. Never has this been truer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s iteration of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, who made the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the multiverse from being torn apart at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he made Doctor Strange cast a spell to make everyone forget him and erase him from their lives. A decision which saw him lose the love of his life and his best friend, a perfect encapsulation of the words every Spider-Man fan will know off by heart: “With great power, there must come great responsibility”. After bringing his MCU origin story to its conclusion, one might have wondered whether this iteration of everyone’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man would hang up the web shooters and make way for a new wallcrawler to enter the MCU, but you can never keep a good spider down.

Set in the years after the events of No Way Home, Peter has devoted himself to being Spider-Man full-time, taking down all manner of villains and keeping the citizens of New York safe, all while living on his own in his Manhattan apartment. Spider-Man is beloved by the city, but even with that adulation, Peter lives a truly lonely existence and has to watch from afar with heartache and sorrow as his former lover MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned (Batalon) go off to MIT. He is desperate to try and somehow restore their memories of him, but remains wary that doing so could put them in harm’s way. As if that wasn’t bleak enough, Peter begins to experience strange changes in his body and powers, all while a terrifying new threat emerges, threatening to undo all of Peter’s good work and unleash absolute chaos on New York’s streets once again.

True to its title, after having a trilogy of films in which Peter was under Tony Stark’s tutelage, dealing with inherited vendettas of villains who felt they had been wronged by the late billionaire philanthropist, or encountering crazy multiverse shenanigans and teaming up with variants of himself, the slate has been totally wiped clean. It is a new dawn, and a new day for Peter, but he isn’t feeling so good. Erik Sommers’ and Chris McKenna’s script returns the character very much to his comic book roots as an unquestionably bright working-class young man who fights crime all by himself, without the vast resources of a wealthy benefactor behind him, or a single soul he can confide in. This becomes particularly problematic when his body begins to change in the worst ways, leading Peter to consult a certain scientist struggling to prevent his green alter ego from reappearing.  It certainly treads familiar narrative beats to (arguably the best Spidey film to date) Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, but rest assured, this is not a retread. Even with the obligatory references and appearances of certain characters to tie it into the wider MCU, McKenna and Sommers’ script keeps the stakes deeply grounded and personal, veering into almost horror territory when Peter’s powers begin to mutate.

With this marking the seventh time he has donned Spider-Man’s mask across solo adventures and wider MCU team-ups, Holland once again excels, slipping back into the suit with effortless ease. Ever since his memorable introduction in Captain America: Civil War, Holland has grown and matured in the role before our very eyes. From a wide-eyed teenager in awe while fighting Captain America and his associates, to a battle for the fate of the universe itself, to multiversal shenanigans, and the death of his beloved aunt. It would be an understatement to say he’s been through a lot over the years, leaving a heavy emotional toll that comes through in Holland’s performance, especially when compounded by the physical upheaval he goes through. Despite his loneliness, he finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle/The Punisher, who also lives cut adrift from everyone else. It’s a relationship that isn’t exactly plain sailing, given Castle’s modus operandi is far more direct and brutal, but the film leans into this dynamic and makes it extremely entertaining as these polar-opposite philosophies and combat styles are left with little option but to join forces, particularly when MJ’s life is threatened.

In taking over from the Home trilogy’s director Jon Watts, Destin Daniel Cretton reinvigorates the franchise in a thoroughly refreshing and exciting manner. It’s easy to see why he was recruited to direct an Avengers film, as there’s vibrancy not only in the scenes where Spider-Man swings and thwips his way through the city, but also in the action scenes. One would strongly suspect that Cretton played the Insomniac games beforehand, as there are clear visual nods to them, along with the impressive flair he so masterfully demonstrated with Shang-Chi especially with the scenes involving The Hand and the film’s main antagonist. The identity of said antagonist shall not be divulged here, given the deliberate manner in which the film’s marketing shrouded it in secrecy. Needless to say, Marvel would do well to keep Cretton in mind should an opportunity to direct an MCU ensemble film come up in the future.

Those wider references to other MCU characters, while necessary, sometimes bog the story down and keep the audience from focusing on Peter’s internal struggles to balance his superhero duties, being Peter Parker, and trying to reestablish some human connection in his life. It shows that growing up is hard, even with superhuman (or spider) DNA, especially when the comforts you have relied on to get through this complicated journey we call life are taken away. You get knocked down, but you get back up, put your best webs forward and come back swinging, because a spider’s work is never done.

Building on the foundations laid by the Home trilogy, Brand New Day raises the stakes with a more mature, grounded story that delves into complex themes of isolation and growing up, with Holland never better as the titular hero.

Posted in 2020-2029, Film Review

The Odyssey (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Universal Pictures and Syncopy

The Odyssey – Film Review

Cast: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Benny Safdie, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Himesh Patel, Elliot Page

Director: Christopher Nolan

Synopsis: Following his victory in the Trojan War, the King of Ithaca, Odysseus (Damon), must embark on a gruelling journey to return home…

Review: From his early career beginnings in the late 1990s when he made his debut film, Following on a micro-budget of $6,000, shooting with a cast and crew made up of his friends on weekends, it feels as if Christopher Nolan has been on his own odyssey as a director. A journey in which he has become an absolute titan of the industry and one of the best and most revered filmmakers in the 21st century. A legacy cemented beyond doubt when he conquered the cinematic mountain, winning the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for his powerful biopic on the life and legacy of the founder of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. A film that very much represented the culmination of his life’s work. Such is the power and prestige Nolan commands, his follow-up could have been just about anything he wanted, and a studio would be only too eager to bankroll it. Any project with his name on it automatically carries intrigue, which would have only heightened when we learnt he would bring his distinctive style to one of the most fundamental texts of Western literature: Homer’s The Odyssey.

As the opening title card reveals, during a ‘time of apparent magic’, King Odysseus of Ithaca has led his army to victory following a gruelling ten-year war against Troy. Desperate to reunite with his wife Penelope (Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Holland), Odysseus and his men set sail for home. However, the voyage proves to be a treacherous one, as they must encounter all sorts of terrifying and mythical monsters and wrathful gods before they can make it back.  Meanwhile, with no word on whether her husband is alive or dead, Penelope struggles to hold the kingdom together. Supported only by Telemachus and Odysseus’s loyal swineherd Eumaeus (a truly excellent Leguizamo), she must ward off a growing number of suitors positioning themselves to usurp Odysseus’s throne by forcing Penelope into marriage.

Had cinematic history played out differently, Nolan may well have already taken his swing at bringing to life a swords and sandals epic, as he was attached to direct 2004’s Troy before circumstances changed and it reverted to its original director, Wolfgang Petersen. One can only wonder what Nolan’s interpretation would have looked like, but since the film he went on to direct instead was the first in his trilogy focusing on a certain Caped Crusader, it was a twist of fate that worked out in his favour. Further proof that the film gods work in mysterious ways. His brilliant work on The Dark Knight trilogy meticulously encapsulated the hero’s journey, depicting one man’s transformation from a regular flesh-and-blood human into an all-powerful, incorruptible symbol. The thematic DNA of this compelling character arc comes to the fore in The Odyssey and is anchored by Matt Damon’s powerful arguably career-best performance. Here is a leader who despite his success in the war, is wracked with guilt and post-traumatic stress following the sacking of Troy, guilt which only grows and continues to gnaw away at him throughout their voyage as they battle against all sorts of terrifying threats. The wrath of the Gods is mighty and is felt by each and every man in Odysseus’s army.

While Odysseus battles deities, monsters and everything in between, Penelope faces her own battle to keep Ithaca and its people together while simultaneously rejecting the advances of the suitors who seek to take her husband’s place. Hathaway’s portrayal depicts Penelope as a woman who, despite not having seen him for years, remains steadfast in her conviction that her beloved will ultimately return home. With Odysseus absent, she must warn her son about the threats posed by the suitors, chief among them the deceitful and slimy Antinous, played with almost devilish glee by Robert Pattinson. In a sea of an incredibly talented ensemble cast, every member turns up to deliver their A-game. Despite the absurd, frankly ridiculous backlash from certain quarters over their casting, Zendaya and Lupita Nyong’o both excel in the limited screen time they’re given as the goddess Athena and Helen of Troy/Clytemnestra, respectively. Similarly, having worked with Nolan on Inception, Elliot Page is perhaps the standout of the rest of the cast in a small but absolutely pivotal role as Sinon, a young Greek soldier who, despite being put in a perilous situation, honourably carries out his duty.

As writer/director, Nolan never does things by half measures, for he is a filmmaker whose mantra is either go gargantuan or go home, as evidenced by the fact that throughout his filmography he has pulled off some extraordinary accomplishments across his career. From recreating an atomic bomb explosion to crashing a plane into a building or flipping an 18-wheeler truck, or in the case of this film, building a gigantic wooden horse. Utilising his trademark non-linear narrative, it can feel disorienting at first, particularly if you have not read Homer’s text, and it is hard to keep track of all the key figures, but ultimately proves rewarding for the audience, thanks to Jennifer Lame’s tight editing. Fittingly, translating the source material to the screen and giving them the scope and scale they deserve proved an odyssey unto itself: not only did the film shoot across multiple countries for six months, but it also became the first film shot entirely on IMAX cameras, which allows Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography to dazzle and horrify in equal measure. Furthermore, Nolan’s preference to avoid CGI as much as possible means that all the threats Odysseus and his crew faced, from massive mythical monsters to humongous Laestrygonian soldiers clad in shining metal armour, put the audience right there in the thick of the action, feeling every mythical roar, swing of the sword and the mighty storms that are unleashed upon them.

Across his brilliant career, Nolan has crafted some truly epic pieces of storytelling, from reviving the legend of the Dark Knight to his former glory, a gripping tale of two magicians trying to outdo the other, a gripping tale of the Miracle of Dunkirk told from three unique perspectives and a mind-bending and wholly original piece of science fiction. Now, after he wrote his name into cinematic history, his adaptation of this classic piece of literature and breathing new life into it for a whole new generation is another feather in the bow of his incredible filmography. With another incredible, stripped-back score from Ludwig Göransson, this is cinema at its most visually majestic and deserves the biggest screen possible. The cinematic gods will be very satisfied indeed.

With a committed ensemble cast led by a career-best performance from Matt Damon, Nolan’s adaptation of this foundatinal piece of literature brins Homer’s epic to life in a majestic manner. A perfect companion piece to his Oscar-winning masterpiece. 

Posted in 2020-2029, Film Review

Supergirl (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Studios

Supergirl – Film Review

Cast: Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, Jason Momoa

Director: Craig Gillespie

Synopsis: As she heads off-world to celebrate, Supergirl finds herself joining forces with an unlikely companion on a quest for revenge…

Review:  As memorable cameos go, Kara Zor-El’s at the end of Superman (2025) would be right up there with the very best. As she drunkenly crash landed into her cousin’s Fortress of Solitude in search of her beloved dog Krypto, she showed herself to be a free spirit. Same set of powers, but more off the chain and eager to let her hair down at every opportunity. A woman with a penchant for partying, preferably on planets with red suns so she can get drunk. No less super, but considerably more jaded and a far cry from the symbol of hope and optimism that Clark represents. After the James Gunn-led Superman and Peacemaker season 2 got this cinematic universe up and running, it made all the sense in the world to pass the torch to her. It is a crying shame that her solo film fails to deliver on its considerable potential.

Shortly after picking up Krypto, Kara whizzes off to the planet Holzherr to celebrate her 23rd birthday, letting loose with the booze flowing in plentiful supply. The morning after a night celebrating is very rarely fun, but in Kara’s case, it’s made even worse when the nefarious space pirate Krem of the Yellow Hills (Schoenaerts) arrives to commandeer her ship and poisons Krypto, leaving him fighting for his life. With a limited window to save her beloved pooch, Kara reluctantly teams up with Ruthye (Ridley) on a quest to find the antidote and get revenge.

After earning well-deserved recognition for her brilliant portrayal of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, Milly Alcock steps into the role of a superhero with effortless ease. As the young Targaryen princess, she balanced a refined, regal presence with a rebellious streak. It is the latter that comes to the fore at this point in Kara’s life. She may have adopted the mantle of Supergirl, but unlike her cousin, she struggles to adjust to her new life on Earth because of the devastating fate that befell her family and Krypton. Such raw pain and grief lead her to planet-hop and drink as a coping mechanism, a tragic foundation that Alcock brilliantly brings to her performance.

Alongside Alcock, Ridley gives a commendable performance as the young warrior driven by her quest for revenge against Krem after he murdered her family. The chemistry between them takes a little while to click, but they make for an effective duo to root for. Adapting Tom King’s Woman of Tomorrow comic, widely considered the best Supergirl comic, should give screenwriter Ana Nogueira plenty to work with and help it stand out in a very competitive genre. However, despite some fun action sequences and emotional moments exploring Kara’s origin story on Krypton, the script lacks sufficient spark overall and does little to differentiate itself from the plethora of superhero origin stories we have seen in recent years, not least last year’s Superman. Director Craig Gillespie, no stranger to directing films centred around compelling and complicated women (I, Tonya and Cruella), does little to spruce up the rather bland action sequences. Furthermore, with needle drops aplenty, it all just comes across as a hollow imitation of Gunn’s previous directorial efforts.

Schoenaerts’s Krem certainly looks ominous and threatening, thanks to some striking hair and make-up, but not even that can prevent him from falling into the generic and forgettable villain territory that has so often been an Achilles’ heel of superhero movies. While the film might have wasted its villain, at the very least, Jason Momoa lights up the screen with boundless charisma as the bounty hunter Lobo. A dream role for him, and it is easy to see why, as he feels like he was born to play this character. One can only hope the studio plans to have Momoa reprise the role in future films. It is incredibly frustrating that, despite having all the right components to build on the foundations of this cinematic universe and to do justice to this character on the big screen, the film still struggles to take off, even with the best efforts of its superheroine.

Milly Alcock does everything she can to elevate the material she was given, but ultimately a lacklustre script prevents this space adventure from delivering on its considerable potential. 

Posted in 2020-2029, Film Review

Disclosure Day (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

Disclosure Day – Film Review

Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: A cybersecurity expert and a meteorologist find themselves being pursued by a sinister government organisation due to their connection to some strange unexplained phenomena…

Review: “Are we alone in the universe?” A burning existential question humanity has asked across the aeons of our existence, driven by the belief that, in such a vast universe, extraterrestrial life exists beyond the world we call home. Without a definitive answer, cinema has extensively explored the concept of extraterrestrial life since its inception, beginning with the 1902 short film A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès. Among modern filmmakers who have left a UFO-sized imprint on this genre, you need look no further than Steven Spielberg. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and War of the Worlds (2005). After looking inward to tell his personal story of how he fell in love with moving pictures and aspired to make them with The Fabelmans, the legendary filmmaker turns his camera back to the skies in search of that elusive, definitive answer to whether alien life could really be out there.

The world stands on the brink of a catastrophic global conflict and cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (O’Connor) is hunted by his former employer, the shady government organisation Wardex headed by the ruthless Noah Scanlan (Firth), after he stole top-secret documents and hard drives confirming the existence of extraterrestrial life. Daniel is determined to release the information to the public, believing they have the right to know, with Wardex stopping at nothing to capture him and ensure those files never see the light of day. All the while, Kansas City meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Blunt) experiences strange occurrences, speaking languages she doesn’t know, both human and non-human, with the latter occurring when she’s on air. Soon, Margaret finds herself pursued by Wardex as well, as she’s connected to this mysterious event in a way she doesn’t fully understand. She soon finds herself in a race against time to find Daniel and a group of former Wardex employees who have gone rogue with their mission to broadcast the truth before it is too late.

Throwing the audience headfirst into the action, amidst an extremely politically charged world where global superpowers stand ready to destroy each other with the simple push of a button, is certainly a bold (and depressingly relevant) way to open your film, without giving much in the way of key context. A striking way to open a film which could have very easily backfired. However, in such a distinguished filmmaker’s hands, it wastes no time in immediately conveying the gravity of the situation. The stakes could not be higher, as Daniel and his girlfriend Jane (Hewson) race to keep the files out of Wardex’s hands and make them public knowledge before the planet is left devastated by a nuclear catastrophe and civilisations as we know them have crumbled.

Given the extent to which he has explored the topic across his spectacular career, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Spielberg has been fascinated by extraterrestrial life since a very young age, a fascination that has become a staple of his filmography. Yet this is a far cry from the whimsical wonder of seeing a young boy become best friends with an alien with a glowing finger who just wants to phone home. Based on a story outline by Spielberg, the screenplay by the director’s long-time collaborator, David Koepp, remains grounded in a gritty political thriller shaped by 21st-century politics. Agendas fly all over the place as various parties are pursued by the government, which will do everything in its power to prevent top-secret files that expose dark truths which could be utterly damaging to its reputation from coming to light. It all sounds eerily familiar to the world we live in today.

With no shortage of men in suits relentlessly pursuing both Daniel and Margaret, the film offers plenty of exhilarating chase sequences, including one involving a moving train, allowing Spielberg to remind us of his force behind the camera. Yet beneath these slickly directed action sequences, many key players lack substantial character development. O’Connor is solid as a cyber expert determined to blow the whistle on long-buried government secrets, but his relationship with Jane is severely underdeveloped. In a rare change of pace from the quintessentially charming British man he usually plays, Firth is suitably menacing as Scanlan, complete with his natural accent, no less. He has a machine-like determination to prevent full disclosure, believing it would cause severe, irreparable harm to all of us.

The unquestioned star of the show, however, is Blunt’s Margaret. A woman who is initially far out of her depth, with little idea of what happened to her on air and confused as to why the government is suddenly pursuing her. Yet, as the film progresses, both she and the audience slowly come to understand just how integral she is to ensuring humanity’s survival, particularly as the film’s climactic third act comes into focus.

The rest of the cast, including Colman Domingo’s Hugo Wakefield, are not given nearly enough screen time or development, eschewed in favour of the high-intensity chase sequences. As the old saying goes, “the thrill is in the chase, not the capture”, but perhaps Spielberg could have leaned more into the cerebral side of the sci-fi mystery. Nevertheless, even after five decades of making us look to the stars and so much more, the veteran director gives us plenty to ponder. Not only to ask if there is life out there, but also how we can be a more cooperative and unified species, should the day ever come when it is revealed that we are not alone in the universe after all.

Centred around a magnetic, career-best performance by Emily Blunt, Disclosure Day delivers thrills and sharply probes the existential mystery of alien life, humanity in the 21st century, and where we might be going. 

 

Posted in 2020-2029, Film Review

The Drama (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© A24

The Drama – Film Review

Cast: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana Haim, Mamadou Athie

Director: Kristoffer Borgli

Synopsis: The seemingly perfect relationship of a couple preparing to tie the knot is put to the test following a startling revelation…

Review: Depending on your familiarity with modern-day or Gen Z slang, you may or may not have heard the phrase: “Spill the tea”. For those unaware, it means to gossip or share new, potentially juicy information. As human beings, we certainly love to natter and share fun or amusing stories on a whole array of topics when hanging out with friends. You would assume that if you’re with your significant other on such an occasion, the person you trust more than anyone in the world, you wouldn’t share anything you haven’t already told them. But what if, while on a double date ahead of your upcoming wedding, a secret is shared that makes you question everything you thought you knew about the one person you thought you would spend the rest of your life with? This is the juicy pull of this riveting drama from Kristoffer Borgli.

The couple at the centre of this is Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Pattinson), who are in the midst of planning their wedding, with only a week to go before the big day. After a busy day finalising arrangements, they go wine-tasting with their friends Mike (Athie) and Rachel (Haim), who will be the best man and the maid of honour. After several bottles of wine, the conversation turns to a drunken game in which they spill the tea and reveal the worst thing they have ever done. Some uncomfortable truths are exposed, including cyberbullying and neglectful behaviour.

However, everything comes to a head when it’s Emma’s turn to reveal that, in high school, she had planned to carry out a mass shooting at her school after being bullied by her classmates, but ultimately did not go through with it. In an instant, the group’s friendly, jovial atmosphere shifts to one of horror, confusion and apoplectic anger, with Rachel in particular left absolutely disgusted by the trauma of seeing a family member severely injured in a shooting. All the while, Charlie begins to question his entire relationship with Emma, wondering whether she is really the same person he met years earlier and whether he should go through with the wedding.

Just as we humans love a bit of gossip, we watch with a mixture of unease and apprehension as the blissful romance we thought was impenetrable between our happy couple is instantly shattered. The fallout they grapple with makes for absolutely riveting viewing, and as awkward and uncomfortable as it is in places, you just cannot look away. Humans are most assuredly not perfect creatures; we all have at least one skeleton in the closet that we would prefer never see the light of day. However, Borgli’s screenplay is bold in its examination of the relationships we hold dear, and is not afraid to ask some difficult questions of the characters, and by extension the audience, about how far those relationships will be put to the test when confronted with the most alarming of discoveries that may fundamentally change how you once perceived that person. How far would we be willing to go to grapple with and ultimately forgive a person for any flaws they may have in their character, especially at a time when their mental health was probably not in the best shape?

In light of the fact that gun violence is a recurring problem that is never far from the headlines, and given the frequency with which such tragic incidents occur in the United States, credit where credit is due for attempting to broach this topic to begin with. It may only be scratching the surface and could have delved much deeper into how such incidents can tear apart entire families and communities. In this increasingly polarised and deeply divided world, using this as a framing device is a courageous move and a valuable starting point for addressing an issue that blights American society.

Such is the script’s controversial and challenging nature that it demands confident, brave performances to dive deep into these characters and ensure it doesn’t amount to a complete misfire. Zendaya and Pattinson rise to the occasion. Arguably two of the hottest (meant in every sense of the word) actors working today, they bring effortless, abundant chemistry to scenes in which they fall madly in love with one another. Not the most difficult task for such popular actors, but everything changes once Emma’s past indiscretion comes to light. It adds a whole new layer to their performances, as Emma is left scrambling to confront the dark truth about her past she hasn’t faced in years, while Charlie flickers between disbelief and quintessential British awkwardness and bewilderment about what his soon-to-be bride nearly carried out. This is emphatically not the case for Alana Haim’s Rachel, who, despite revealing an arguably even worse indiscretion than Emma’s, exhibits pure, venomous hostility towards a woman she once considered her closest friend.

Life is no picnic. It has its joyous moments, such as a wedding (in normal circumstances). Yet it can also present us with difficult dilemmas that don’t offer easy answers. This is the essence of what makes The Drama such a compelling, sometimes awkward, and sometimes hilarious watch. Your tolerance for how it chooses to confront a thorny subject may vary depending on whether a traumatic event has occurred in your family. But above all, it challenges us to accept that the love we have for another person will have its ups and downs. Ultimately, would you be willing to forgive and accept the person you thought you would spend the rest of your life with for who they are, no matter their flaws or mistakes they might have made in the past? Now there is one question you won’t find in any wedding vows.

It may make you squirm with discomfort like a bad speech at a wedding, but with committed performances by Zendaya and Pattinson, The Drama spills the tea to offer a fascinating look at the emotional complexities of a relationship.

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Posted in 2020-2029, Film Review

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Searchlight Pictures and Radio Silence

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come – Film Review

Cast:  Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg

Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Synopsis: After surviving a brutal game of hide-and-seek, Grace (Weaving) learns that her nightmare is not over and is pulled back into a new game…

Review: The morning after one’s wedding night would, in most cases, be a joyous celebration as you prepare to mark a new chapter with the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. Except for Grace Le Domas MacCaullay, it didn’t quite work out that way, as she was forced by her devil-worshipping in-laws to play a brutal game of hide-and-seek as part of a twisted ritual. Though she didn’t emerge unscathed, she ultimately prevailed and got the last laugh after her deceased family members met a rather explosive demise at the end of the first Ready or Not, a film that turbocharged the careers of Weaving and the directing duo collectively known as Radio Silence. Such was the film’s brilliant culmination, though it may have raised the question of whether a sequel was really needed. Fear not, and no sacrifice to Mr Le Bail is needed, because this is another bloody delight.

We pick up immediately where the last film left off as Grace, her wedding dress torn and splattered with blood, lights a cigarette outside the home of her (former) in-laws, now engulfed in flames, before promptly collapsing due to sheer exhaustion. Emergency crews attend to her before taking her to the hospital, where she reunites with her long-lost and estranged sister, Faith (Newton). However, the police are understandably interested in hearing Grace’s side of the story about how she went from happily married to a widow in less than 24 hours. But before that can happen, both sisters are promptly kidnapped and taken to a vast private resort, where Mr Le Bail’s mysterious Lawyer (Wood) tells them that, due to Grace’s survival and the deaths of the Le Domas, this has triggered a new game. Simply put, whoever kills Grace first will win control of the High Seat of an all-powerful Council that runs the world from behind the scenes.

 

Although Grace is initially adamant she does not want to go through this nightmare once again, she is left with no other choice when the council threaten to kill Faith if she does not agree. A new game is afoot, with brand-new players, but the rules remain the same. Grace and Faith must do whatever they can to lie low and prevent the other four families, namely the Danforths, the Wan Chens, the El Caidos and the Rajans, from killing them and claiming all the power in the world for themselves. If it isn’t broke, there’s no need to tamper with it was clearly the mindset of returning writers Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, because it is, more or less, a very similar film to its predecessor in terms of plot. Such familiar beats risk making this sequel stale very quickly, so to counter this, the screenplay expands the world these families inhabit and their motivations for finishing what the Le Domases could not. Furthermore, with it being a battle of super-rich, smug as fuck families vying for control of an all-powerful seat on a council, one could almost liken it to a certain HBO show, only with more than a dozen bucketfuls of blood.

What also makes this sequel a refreshing burst of energy is the introduction of Faith. After damn near stealing the show in Abigail, Newton once again brings that feisty energy to deliver another memorable performance. There is clearly no love lost between these two sisters after years of not speaking to one another. Although Faith is understandably furious with Grace for getting dragged into this game of life and death, she realises that the sisters must set their differences aside and stay alive against the countless numbers of Satanic-worshipping, uber-rich arseholes coming to kill them. The most memorable individuals are the mysterious lawyer and Wood, who is devilishly delightful in yet another role where he is carrying an all-powerful ring. Of those new characters tasked with doing the hunting, the most memorable are the Danforth siblings: Ursula, played by the one and only Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Titus, played by Shawn Hatosy. Like the MacCaullay sisters, their relationship isn’t perfect, but they know what could be theirs for the taking if they succeed, and they’re extra motivated to reclaim the seat once held by their father, Chester (Cronenberg).

After being entrusted with the reins of a legendary slasher franchise featuring numerous killers who like to don ghostlike masks, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett have only gone from strength to strength as directors. Such was the understandable reverence they held for the Scream franchise that their perfect blend of horror-comedy took a back seat. However, now they’re back in this wacky world of the supernatural, the gloves are once again off. No longer being confined to one admittedly rather large house and its grounds allows them to go bigger with truly bonkers action setpieces, including a brutally memorable, fierce showdown between Grace and her late husband’s former fiancée, who harbours a deep grudge against Grace for stealing her man. Hell truly hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Ultimately, it all comes back to Grace, and Weaving slips back into this role (and her bloodied wedding dress) effortlessly, and delivers another killer performance to further establish herself as a truly iconic modern-day scream queen. In a world where the rich seem to be getting richer with each passing day, films which channel an “eat the rich” vibe are worth their weight in gold. Despite its obvious similarities to its predecessor, this sequel goes all in to deliver balls-to-the-wall bloody action. For that, you can’t do anything except sit there and quietly give it a nod of approval.

Upping the stakes from its predecessor, this is another delightfully batshit and blood-soaked serving of over-the-top comedy-horror with a killer sisterly double act in Weaving and Newton. 

Posted in 2020-2029, Film Review

Project Hail Mary (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, Lord Miller Productions and Pascal Pictures

Project Hail Mary  – Film Review

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub, Priya Kansara

Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Synopsis: After waking up on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there, an unlikely astronaut is tasked with a desperate mission to save the Earth…

Review: What would you do if you awoke from a coma and found yourself the only person alive on a spaceship light-years away from home, with no recollection of who you are or how you got there? At first, your reaction might be one of confusion, which soon gives way to panic and sheer terror. However, as the pieces of your memory slowly but surely reassemble, you realise that you’re humanity’s last hope for a desperate mission, a Hail Mary if you will (a term defined as a last-ditch pass in American football), where failure will mean life as humanity knows it will witness a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions as the sun slowly dies. No big whoop (!).

This most unlikely of heroes is Ryland Grace (Gosling), who while living on Earth, was a high school science teacher and molecular biologist. We learn through a series of flashbacks that Grace was recruited by the non-nonsense, straight-talking Eva Stratt (Hüller) to study astrophage, leading to the troubling discovery that this microorganism absorbs energy from our sun and infects other stars. Upon realising that astrophage is a fuel source, the governments of the world form a plan to send a crew of astronauts on board a ship, the Hail Mary, on a one-way trip to a distant star unaffected by the substance. Upon waking up from his coma, and looking like a long-lost member of The Beatles during their hippy era, Grace learns he is the sole survivor. Yet, despite being millions of miles away from home, Grace soon discovers he may not be alone in his mission to prevent the sun from dying.

Throughout film history, and indeed as history itself has taught us, the vast, infinite void of outer space can understandably seem like a truly terrifying entity, showing us how infinitely small we really are within the vast spectrum of our solar system. In addition, it also shows how perilous a place it can be if you make even the slightest wrong move. Yet the reverence for space, and the science by which humanity propelled itself into it, are evident in Andy Weir’s novels. That veneration was captured so magnificently by Ridley Scott and screenwriter Drew Goddard in the adaptation of The Martian. Therefore, it is no surprise that Goddard has, after making his directorial debut in 2018, returned to Weir’s to adapt his 2021 novel, again depicting another man isolated and cut adrift from any other human soul. Only, instead of the rest of the planet banding together to get one man off the Red Planet and return home, it falls to one man (and a companion) to save the Earth and humanity from their slow and inevitable doom if the Sun were to die.

In the same vein as The Martian, Goddard’s script effortlessly balances the bleak reality of humanity’s fate if the mission fails with the humour of finding the most reluctant hero of them all in space. “I put the not in astronaut,” Grace defiantly states during a crucial meeting. He might not be able to do a moonwalk, but he has the necessary scientific knowledge to pull off a miracle. It is fitting in a movie where the fate of Planet Earth rests in the hands of one man, where the film will live or die on this performance, that Gosling meets the moment and delivers a cosmically brilliant performance. Here’s an actor who has the range to deliver the stoic and serious when required, but can also effortlessly switch it up with humour when required, especially when it comes to Grace’s extraterrestrial company. The details of which shall not be spoiled here, but suffice to say, the chemistry between Grace and this mysterious being is perfectly delivered, proving that no matter who is acting opposite him, Gosling has chemistry with anyone and possesses charm that can last for days, maybe even light-years.

In a world that is more bitterly divided and fraught with each passing day, with certain sections of society going so far as to question well-established science, the film’s championing of science and its central theme of humanity and alien life working together to achieve a common goal feel particularly pertinent. If two creatures who have never met before can come together to achieve a common goal, it should serve as a lesson for all of us to do the same, given the very existential threat we face in the 21st century. The exact specifics of the science that is causing the sun to die might whizz over audiences’ heads initially, but the film’s key message about the importance of science as a means of working together to solve problems shines through and will not be lost on anyone.

Greig Fraser’s majestically dazzling cinematography adds plenty of awe and spectacle throughout, making the audience feel like they’re along for this ride with Grace. After more than a decade away from the director’s chair(s), Lord and Miller’s confident direction, with another cerebral score from Daniel Pemberton, allows the film’s humour, science, and mission to mesh perfectly like scientific samples in a test tube, arriving at the perfect conclusion. Space can undoubtedly be hazardous and perilous, but anyone who doesn’t find themselves swept up in the enthralling and heart-warming interstellar ride about the most unlikely of friendships in the most unlikely of circumstances, then you might just have a heart made out of stone.

Crafting the perfect formula of science, a life-affirming friendship between man and an extraterrestrial being gives you a visually stunning out-of-this-solar-system adaptation of an extremely timely story about working together to achieve a common goal.

Amaze amaze amaze.

Posted in Film Review

Hoppers (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Studios

Hoppers – Film Review

Cast: Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Meryl Streep, Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Director: Daniel Chong

Synopsis: A nature-loving teenager hatches a plan to save a deeply meaningful spot of land by using technology that transfers a human consciousness into robotic animals…

Review: For more than 30 years across their distinguished filmography, Pixar Animation Studios have never failed to find innovative ways to tell stories that tug on our heartstrings. Toys that come to life, an overprotective fish forced to embark on a perilous journey across the ocean to find his son, a final adventure for one man to keep the promise he made to his beloved wife, the emotional struggles of the emotions in our minds, and the importance of family, tradition, and the everlasting power of music. Whatever they turn their hands to, chances are they will find a way to charm us with characters and moving storytelling that audiences won’t forget in a hurry. They do all this and more with their 30th film, which is one of their funniest in years.

Mabel Tanaka (Curda) is a free-spirited animal-loving college student who lives in the town of Beaverton. Thanks to her grandmother, Mabel grew up with a deep appreciation for nature and, in particular, for a forest glade and all the animals that call it home. Thus, she is left furious when the town’s smarmy mayor, Jerry Generazzo (Hamm having a ball), announces plans to build a freeway straight through the glade, since all the other animals have left. With her options limited, Mabel hatches a plan to utilise technology developed by her college professors, known as the Hoppers programme, to transport her consciousness into the body of a robot beaver and convince the other animals in the glade to return before the mayor’s urban expansion project irrevocably destroys it.

“It’s like Avatar!” Mabel exclaims after being told by her college professors how the Hoppers programme works. The inherent similarities between the technology on display here and that of the Avatar programme in James Cameron’s behemoth franchise are undeniable. However, director Daniel Chong and screenwriter Jesse Andrews choose to use these similarities as a funny, self-aware joke rather than emulation. Having also been inspired by nature documentaries where a robotic animal is deployed with a camera to observe animals in their natural habitat, the film gleefully combines elements of science fiction, a coming-of-age story, a spy/heist movie and comedy, and the result is a riotous blast of furry energy that delivers laughs by the dam load throughout its 104-minute run time.

Hoppers wears its animal zaniness firmly on its sleeve, or should that be fur? But like all the greatest films the studio has produced, it packs a deeper meaning. You only need to burrow beneath the surface of the humour and the truly wild set pieces that shall not be spoiled here, as it bears an important message about the value of nature and the environment, and how humanity would be wise to cherish these spaces for the benefits they bring us and the wildlife that calls them home. Furthermore, it underscores how urbanisation at the expense of rural land can be catastrophic for the survival of certain species, and humanity would be wise to heed this warning.

Pixar have given us plenty of likeable protagonists over the years, and Mabel is no exception. An animal lover to her core, having tried to rescue and set free the classroom pets when she was a child (spot the Finding Nemo reference), she becomes determined to take a stand against the mayor’s urbanisation expansion, especially since no one else seems willing to do so. As a species, it would be fair to say humanity is fixated on its own survival needs, and that in doing so, we forget that millions upon millions of others also call this planet home. Allowing Mabel to venture into the animal kingdom offers a witty interpretation of how animal societies might function, and absolute hilarity ensues when the human and animal worlds collide, with one moment in particular a hilarious standout moment. You will know it when you see it.

Through all the humour, spectacular animation, stellar voice work across its entire cast, and animal-related shenanigans, the case could be made that Pixar has somewhat faltered in its ability to consistently hit the audience on an emotional level as it has in the past. However, let their 30th feature film bear witness to the fact that they remain very much at the top of their game and can still beaver away to bring delightfully wacky and heartfelt adventures for the whole family to gnaw on and enjoy.

Delightfully and gloriously absurd in concept, Hoppers holds nothing back with its fuzzy swings and hits it out of the glade to deliver a flurry of furry laughs and heart in equal measure. This is a walk on the wild side you’ll want to take again and again.

Posted in 2020-2029, Film Review

Send Help (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Raimi Productions and 20th Century Studios

Send Help – Film Review

Cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Edyll Ismail, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, Dennis Haysbert

Director: Sam Raimi

Synopsis: Two employees become stranded on a desert island after being the sole survivors of a deadly plane crash…

Review: Navigating the world of work can feel like a lottery. If fortune smiles upon you, you might hit the jackpot and land a job that you truly love, surrounded by a fantastic team that brings laughter and camaraderie as you go about your tasks. Furthermore, you may have a boss who genuinely supports your growth, helping you harness your potential. However, some may find themselves stuck in a gruelling daily grind, trapped in a thankless role under the thumb of an overbearing manager for a company that does not value them in the slightest. Now, imagine flipping that script entirely: what if the employee suddenly found themselves in charge during a harrowing, life-or-death scenario? This intriguing setup sets the stage for a gripping survival story brought to life by the visionary master of horror Sam Raimi.

Linda Liddle (McAdams) is a diligent strategist at an unnamed Fortune 500 financial management company. She is good at her job, but is not always aware of her unkempt appearance and her socially awkward mannerisms, which alienate her colleagues and her new boss, Bradley Preston (O’Brien). Linda is expecting a promotion, but is left furious when this opportunity is awarded to one of Bradley’s frat buddies. To add insult to injury, Bradley seeks to humiliate Linda further by demoting her to a dead-end role, but not before taking her on an overseas business trip to help close an important deal. However, the plane suffers a catastrophic failure en route and crashes into the sea, with only Linda and an injured Bradley as the sole survivors. With no immediate hope of rescue, the two must put aside their differences and fight to survive. However, the ace up Linda’s sleeve is that she once auditioned for the game show Survivor and possesses the skills to help them both survive.

After a nine-year hiatus from directing, Sam Raimi pushed the boundaries to the limit by pushing the Marvel Cinematic Universe into its first big-screen foray into the realm of horror. Alas, such are the confines of the MCU, it held him back and prevented him from venturing deep into the realm of brutal and bloody horror that helped him to make his name in the 80s with the Evil Dead trilogy and latterly 2009’s Drag Me to Hell. Absolutely no such restrictions are holding him back here, enabling him to play in the endless sandpit of a desert island, where you never know what may be lurking in the terrain and resources to stay alive are few and far between.

Gone is the office environment where the boss sits at the top of the corporate pyramid, looking down on their employees with complete and total authority. Such a power dynamic where biases, corporate misogyny and sexism can go unchecked simply does not hold water on a remote island where civilisation is far off into the distance and no amount of money, power, and control can change your circumstances. Damien Shannon and Mark Swift’s script is a delightful and entertaining examination of this upended power dynamic. Imagine if Cast Away and Triangle of Sadness were combined into one big melting pot (minus the yelling at volleyballs in the case of the former) with an extra side of “eat the rich” and Raimi’s signature gore. This is the delicious and bloody outcome.

Having worked together on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Raimi was eager to reteam with Rachel McAdams, and it is easy to see why. Her performance is simply sensational and might just be a career-best. At first glance, it might seem a bit of a stretch for such a charismatic actor to play a socially inept and dishevelled loner who lives with her pet bird, but McAdams leans into it and completely owns it. Like a superhero, when they wash up on that island, off go the glasses and suddenly the Linda we know is gone. In her place is someone who is ready to take charge, and she will not stand for any nonsense from the man who, on paper, is her boss.

But a new location means new rules. It is delightful to see the role reversal, with O’Brien equally brilliant as the smug, pompous, and utterly full-of-himself CEO who has immense difficulty accepting the fact that the power he once wielded over this woman has been swept away. Though when you’re as entitled as he is, that is not something he will give up without a fight. The ensuing power struggle is utterly riveting and leaves you wondering how far these two will go to assert their authority over the other. You might root for her to begin with, given the fact that he is a thoroughly nasty piece of work, but Linda pushes this to its absolute limits. In typical Raimi fashion, there are some particularly gory scenes, and one dark, ominous moment in particular that will likely have at least 50% of the audience squirming with nervousness and dread.

Having two souls engaged in a psychological battle, on an island with a finite amount of space and resources, runs the risk of getting a bit stale. However, thanks to Raimi’s exciting and lively direction, Bill Pope’s lush cinematography, and the charismatic performances, any lapses in the film’s pacing are momentary and not enough to completely skew its momentum. With a $40m budget, perhaps this was stretched too thin, as certain elements of the CGI left a bit to be desired and could have been spruced up. Nevertheless, the film meets all the key performance indicators and is a perfect illustration of why bosses and company executives everywhere would be wise never to belittle or diminish their employees. You just never know when you might need their expertise to get out of a tricky life-or-death situation.

A deliciously grisly and bloody tale of a business excursion gone wrong, with committed performances from Dylan O’Brien and especially Rachel McAdams, ensures this is a thrilling return to form for Sam Raimi.  

Posted in 2020-2029, Film Review

Mercy (2026)

Posted on by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
© Amazon MGM Studios, Atlas Entertainment, and Sony Pictures

Mercy – Film Review

Cast: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers

Director:  Timur Bekmambetov

Synopsis: After being accused of murdering his wife, an LAPD detective must stand trial before a judge and prove his innocence or face execution…

Review: It would not be an exaggeration to say that artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the most discussed buzzwords in recent years, and for good reason. This technology has increasingly been integrated into our daily lives in various ways. However, a pressing question remains: to what extent will this technology advance, and could it ultimately lead to the eradication or replacement of certain jobs that one would assume could only be done by humans, such as judges? A futuristic hellscape where a system that has been in place for centuries is made obsolete, and the fate of human lives is entrusted to a machine. After sitting through over 100 minutes of this sci-fi “thriller” from Timur Bekmambetov, the dystopia we’ve seen in countless media where machines have taken over and conquered humanity might just sound a little bit more appealing.

With futuristic Los Angeles gripped by an increasingly severe crime wave, the government establishes the Mercy Capital Court, where defendants appear before AI judges and are given all the resources they need to prove their innocence. If they can put their probability of guilt below 92% within 90 minutes, they will be spared. LAPD officer Chris Raven (Pratt), who helped to develop the concept of the Mercy court, wakes up and finds himself strapped to a chair before Judge Maddox (Ferguson), accused of murdering his wife Nicole (Wallis). With any and all of the evidence he has at his disposal, including CCTV footage and police footage, Chris must establish the chain of events that led to his wife’s death and to find the evidence that will ensure he is not executed and leave his daughter, Britt (Rogers), an orphan.

In this day and age, it would be nearly impossible to find a more relevant film. With the AI genie well and truly out of the bottle, deeply troubling scenes of police and, more recently, immigration officers using brutally excessive force against whoever they please, combined with the widening wealth gap to fuel societal inequalities. All these potent themes would surely be fertile ground for a story that weaves together these pressing issues in our society, raising the question of whether we could really trust the justice system and the fate of human lives to AI.

Unfortunately, Marco van Belle’s screenplay spectacularly squanders this potential. The first mistake is to limit his leading man to being strapped to a chair for the majority of the runtime, a crime in and of itself, given he has proven himself to be more than capable of leading an action movie both on Earth and in the outer reaches of the galaxy. But far more egregiously than wasting Pratt’s potential, the film’s approach to the thorny issue of AI and the defendants’ access to any piece of technology with a camera is extremely sloppy and lazy. It leaves so many unanswered questions about the whole concept of the Mercy Court, its jurisdiction, and its function that it will make you wonder why on earth you’re putting yourself through watching it.

As if that wasn’t enough, the ensuing mystery is just unbelievably dull, and Raven is not nearly given the development needed to make the audience care for his plight, rendering the majority of the 100 minutes of its runtime exceedingly dull in both concept and execution. Ironically, it reads as though someone asked a chatbot to come up with a generic sci-fi thriller about the dangers of technology, and, as an addendum, asked it to make some strange, bizarre choices in some characters’ motivations along the way. It amounts to little more than a poor and hollow reinterpretation of a certain Steven Spielberg film released nearly a quarter of a century ago.

The third act (or more specifically, the final 20 minutes) does perk up a little bit by offering audiences a set that is not just some empty courtroom, if you can really call it that, with a humanoid AI judge watching over you. Imagine it as though HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey became human, only instead of that red light ominously glaring at you, you would have the steely and unflinching gaze of Rebecca Ferguson. Ferguson, perfectly cast for the role of a judge though she may be, her performance amounts to just a spectacular waste of her incredible talent. Someone get this woman a gavel so she can play a judge for real! The threadbare excitement offered up is ultimately too little, too late to make it redeemable. It is an act of relief, or indeed, you could say mercy, for everyone when the credits finally begin to roll.

A premise that offers so much potential and intrigue around a topic that is only going to become more prevalent as the years progress is instead frittered away into a hollow, insipid thriller that doesn’t have an ounce of personality in its hardware.

Verdict: guilty. Sentence: banished to the cinematic doldrums for eternity.