Graeme Guttmann

It's a bold swing from the director and, despite it being tonally uneven and a bit messy, Napoleon can be still quite fun.

Thankfully, Boon, Graham, and Riseborough do enough to anchor the film and bring it home as it lands on a strangely poignant note both chilling and endearing.

It's full of fast-talking tech nerds and morally compromised corporate A-holes, it bites off a bit more than it can chew in telling the story of Research in Motion, but it's still a good time, reminiscent of mid-budget dramedies that have all but disappeared in recent years.

It's a film that sneaks up on its audience, revealing layers to friendship and other intimate relationships that otherwise would not be parsed through if there wasn't the time.

What A Love Song lacks in execution it more than makes up for in stellar performances and beautifully directed scenes.

Part revisionist history, part unconventional character study, Corsage is carried by Vicky Krieps' brilliant performance and its willingness to buck genre conventions in favor of a dark and dreamy fairy tale.

It's a riveting film, but one that left me feeling hollow and ultimately frustrated with the continued way in which much of American cinema tackles crises like the one at the center of September 5.

The narrative of Monica is scant, but this makes way for a poignant examination of trans identity and loneliness through the lens of one family.

With its brisk runtime, the film wastes no time and, though it plays into genre tropes often, its premise is enough to make this film a compelling watch. The film ends up being surprisingly emotional thanks to its protagonist, though its lack of characterization of its human counterparts hurts the film's climax just a bit.

For all The Phoenician Scheme's eccentric thrills, sardonic performances, and globe-trotting adventure, the film still feels limited in the grand scheme of things.

While it doesn't quite reach the horrific highs of the 2013 remake, it rips through other splatter-fests with the finesse of a freshly whetted chainsaw blade.

Writer and director Chris Nash's In A Violent Nature may be the first slasher in a long time to truly deconstruct the genre in a way that feels surprising, even if the results of its experiment are mixed.

While it ultimately reveals everything too late, the film still feels fresh and, unlike plenty of what is released today (on podcasts and in theaters), actually does have something to say.

With Holland and Mara, the commitment to The Dutchman is apparent and though its ending feels as if things are wrapped up a bit too cleanly, the film succeeds in being an unnerving odyssey over one New York night.

Hiding within Stars at Noon is a lean erotic thriller, one where the lack of chemistry between Alwyn and Qualley can be overlooked both because of Denis' directing and the standalone performances of its cast. Unfortunately, the film gets bogged down by pacing issues, hoping to coast on the chemistry of Qualley and Alwyn, but runs out of gas long before danger starts to creep in just past the hour mark.

The sense of timelessness and the sanctuary (itself a bubble made to burst) add a listlessness to the film that only underscores the constant shifting of the family's foundation. Glasshouse may build to a climax that many can see coming, but that's beside the point. The conclusion plays off what has come before it, feeling like a memory that could have easily been forgotten.

At times, it can be bitterly hysterical, with Aster, who also wrote the film, further flexing his comedic muscles after his previous film with Phoenix. On the other hand, Eddington can be almost too on-the-nose, knicking the surface of complex issues but pulling the blade away before it can really draw blood.

The End is a challenging film and the rewards may be minimal, but that it exists at all is a miracle itself.

For all its shortcomings, Sharper manages to pull together all of its cons with a finesse that could have easily been bungled in less capable hands. Even if it fails at its greatest con of all — pulling one over on audiences — it still manages to be a taut thriller that feels fully realized.

Its best moments aren't in the octagon — they're in the quiet moments when Johnson's Kerr is talking to an interviewer backstage or when Dawn and Mark are exchanging barbs in between affections in their cozy Arizona home.

While Schrader's directing and the casts' performances are more than up to standard, Master Gardener somehow ends up being less than the sum of its parts.

Margot knows the dangers of social media – her backstory has shades of cliché, but it's still effective in pushing her down the rabbit hole that her coworkers' superficiality precludes them from exploring. That investigation involves a string of missing persons and a killer obsessed with the dark corners of the internet. The biggest issue with Faces of Death, though, is that it's just not all that dark down there.

It's unclear if Stress Positions has arrived "too soon" but its proximity to the pandemic doesn't make it any less hysterical, even if it's hollow in other areas.

While Red, White & Royal Blue is a little too light on laughs, its central romance follows the book closely enough that die-hard fans will be pleased and casual viewers will be able to find something to love.

With predictable twists and one grating character, the Lionsgate movie tries to do something different from others like it, but it can't quite reach the heights that its main characters aren't (and should be) afraid of.

Unfortunately, Run Rabbit Run is less than the sum of its parts, and even an excellent turn from Sarah Snook can't elevate the movie beyond its basest instincts.

Black Phone 2 is still a solid horror film, with gory kills and exciting set pieces. But the question of why still lingers over the film, even as it delivers on its many promises.

Tetris is a serviceable adaptation, but for all its visual flair and 80s nostalgia, there's still something missing when all the pieces come together.