Mae Abdulbaki

The cast does a lot of the heavy lifting in the film, which evades exploring the characters' trauma. The emotional drama is a vehicle fueling a messy story in a film primarily concerned with elevating the mystery that so easily unravels by the end.

Despite the film's underwhelming and bizarre story developments, French Exit will remain memorable for Pfeiffer's performance alone.

While the film’s leading cast gives fantastic performances, Four Good Days lacks focus and fails to expand upon its emotionally powerful moments.

The film attempts to deliver an emotional, compelling, and entertaining story, but it struggles with balance despite some lovely, uplifting moments.

The film is still very watchable, and it has a lot of heart that makes up for its overall lack of focus and certain emotional throughlines. But where cohesiveness and pacing are concerned, this sequel leaves a lot to be desired.

A couple more action set pieces would have also helped the pacing from growing too stagnant as, like its predecessor, Den of Thieves 2 is far too long at nearly two and a half hours. It’s bloated and, with nothing too exciting going on, the wait for the heist itself starts to drag. Despite some tension, there’s no real sense of urgency at any point. The film sets up yet another sequel, but Pantera lacks the passion and consistency needed to dredge up any genuine excitement for yet another film in a struggling franchise.

The film is overly long, dragging out its story unnecessarily, with Daniels haphazardly shifting focus away from Holiday constantly. The film is unbalanced, generally failing to center on the song driving the story while romanticizing an affair between Holiday and a FBN agent.

It isn’t sincere or as inspiring as it believes itself to be, but it also understands what its aims are, and that self-awareness is worth noting.

As it stands, however, Spin Me Round is all over the place and even its best moments can’t be saved due to a muddled storyline and lack of character development.

It’s certainly not Ethan Coen's strongest film, though it is saved by an especially fantastic performance by Geraldine Viswanathan and a fun story.

A Quiet Place Part II feels hollow where it could have brilliantly captured the nuances of the characters and their journey. The sequel provides some new information, but doesn’t do the work to deepen the story.

While Blitz may not be transformative, it isn’t all bad. McQueen is a capable director who deftly moves between different points in time, offering a glimpse into Rita and George’s life before and during the war.

While the drama can be a tense watch, there is something missing in its execution to make it a riveting, suspenseful watch.

Ash can be horrific and genuinely startling; there’s a specific scene near the end that underscores the apprehension that permeates the film. It’s chilling and memorable. And yet, had the sci-fi thriller given its characters more dimension, it would have been all the stronger.

La Dolce Villa is a feel-good film that forgoes proper tension-building for a more headache-free delivery. The result is a mixed bag that I enjoyed occasionally, though its inability to spark a greater emotional reaction is the film’s greatest weakness.

All told, Fresh has a lot of potential even though it doesn’t fully deliver. Cave makes a case for herself in a directorial debut that is ambitious, even when all the pieces don’t seamlessly fit together.

Filled with a lot of action, The Forever Purge is at times thrilling, but it remains at surface-level rather than delving further into its themes.

The overall momentum stalls and prevents A Lot of Nothing from sticking its landing, but it's a promising debut from McRae, who has a strong grasp with regards to maintaining much of the film's tension through dialogue alone.

A great cast and patience will prove only somewhat rewarding, even if the journey to get there is shaky and more than a bit confusing.

The film is ultimately underwhelming and lacking the urgency needed to drive the story and lend realistic consequences to their endeavor.

In Land, actress Robin Wright’s directorial debut, the sad, isolated feelings that come with bereavement saturate the story, but the film has surprisingly very little to say about grief.

The film does an outstanding job elevating its horror with a sprinkling of disconcertment, but it takes a wrong turn by offering a muddled message.

Silk Road has the makings of a gripping thriller, but it surprisingly lacks the tension required for it to work.

Ultimately, First Blush works as an engaging, compelling exploration of how a change in a relationship can also wake up unresolved personal issues. However, while the first half is incredibly strong, Neumark struggles with bringing it all together in the end by rushing to bring the characters into conflict with one another.

Tonally inconsistent, writer-director J Blakeson takes a big swing and misses with regards to the film’s message. Rosamund Pike gives a fiery, powerhouse performance, but there is something completely missing from I Care a Lot that makes it a hard pill to swallow.

The film doesn’t always rise to the occasion, and there is some lost potential and a general lack of urgency, but We Were Dangerous’ heart is in the right place, bolstered by a great cast and a strong overall message.

The film has its fair share of intoxicatingly gripping moments and watching Kaluuya as Hampton is visceral and empowering. Unfortunately, it never feels like the story gets out of its own way enough to flourish, nor does it explore the complexities needed to emphasize and humanize the characters in the way that it should.

At the very least, The Cow offers some food for thought and has a strong setup, even if it doesn't fully deliver a satisfying conclusion.

Though it has its merits, an excellent supporting cast & fun musical numbers, Wonka wobbles in its journey & storylines while remaining heartfelt.

While Andrew Garfield gives a driven and kinetic performance as Larson, Tick, Tick… Boom! is messy, missing a distinct spark and emotional depth.

Crowe’s performance is The Exorcism’s saving grace. His dedication to crafting a character whose struggles he wears on his sleeve elevates the lackluster horror elements that are consistently on display, but that don’t do much for the overall story.

It’s unfortunate that Being the Ricardos never becomes as interesting as the people it’s centered on. The film offers enough interpersonal drama to keep audiences watching and intrigued, but while Sorkin’s script moves steadily towards the ending, the story wanes and never builds enough momentum to truly impress.

The Inspection has a few poignant moments, but its lack of introspection, well-developed character dynamics, and exploration of the systems in place keep the film from reaching its full potential.

Cervera’s film is consistently intriguing, elevated by the dynamic between Winstead and Monroe, who have solid onscreen chemistry.

The film isn’t trying to hit us over the head with what it’s trying to say, but its themes have depth. When exploring career and glory vs. family, regret and the lengths one will go to return to a life that’s no longer tenable, McGuire gets in a few good swings. If only the horror lived up to these aspects of the film.

The characters have a myriad of flaws and plights that would have made them compelling, but the film fails to explore them beyond the surface.

The feature doesn’t dig any deeper than it has to, leaving us drifting along with Jacqueline without anything to latch onto to keep us afloat.

Where’s the passion and the drama, the heart and the tension? Clooney’s lackluster film strips all that away, leaving behind a muted sports film that barely engages with its characters in any meaningful way.

No Man’s Land is largely uninterested in exploring the Mexican characters’ stories, which transforms the film into an unbalanced drama that lacks nuance.

Marks’ sophomore outing can be quite charismatic and fun, but it’s a misfire when it comes to exploring the couple and their attempts at polyamory.

Annette is extravagant and ambitious, but it’s also frustrating, pompous and emotionally flat.

Winslet’s got plenty of fire as the titular photographer, but the biopic’s spark quickly fades.

The gorgeous cinematography and costumes can’t make up for its emptiness — both in what it’s trying to say and in the way it’s trying to say it.

Palmer is fantastic in a film that needed more depth and time for Alice to acclimate to her surroundings. Without that, it leaves Alice’s realism and emotional core lacking as it veers wildly into one-note chaos.

There are inklings of something more interesting and rich beneath the surface, but Dual never brings the pieces together.

Tipping and his co-writers have a lot of great ideas and thought-provoking commentary about the way we treat athletes, but the lead-up to an admittedly explosive conclusion doesn’t land. Wayans and the score seem to be doing most of the tension-building. It’s a shame the rest of the film couldn’t rise to the same level.

It grows tedious because it feels like we’re holding our breath waiting for something more significant to happen for the lead’s character development, and yet it remains largely stagnant. Exit 8 has so much squandered potential. It might have made for a better short film than a full feature, but as a psychological horror, the film falls flat.

Messy, strange, and somewhat baffling, Gavras’ film is chaos personified. For this sometimes funny film, I wish that were a good thing.

The Watchers is a strange film. It has disconcerting moments, but it never rises above its premise. The story itself is half-formed at best, and the ending is so outlandish that I was stunned by how badly it’s executed. Somewhere in the supernatural horror is a film that’s worth its salt. Sadly, The Watchers is not even worth the price of a theater ticket.

While O’Dessa has a lot of style, it doesn’t have much else. Its substance is sorely lacking, with a lot of jumbled ideas and themes that don’t come together.

With the documentary Amy painting a more detailed and intimate portrait of the singer’s life, it’s hard to recommend such a stilted, unimaginative biopic that doesn’t do Winehouse any justice.

It’s a passion project that, while evoking emotion in the wake of grief, could have used some more editing and fine-tuning for a better and smoother journey.

Easter Sunday starts off well enough before getting off track completely, too preoccupied with aspects of the story that aren't good and don’t matter, sacrificing its characters and their relationships with each other as a result.

While the film has its moments of genuine humor, it never lives up to the energy or intrigue of the opening scene. The rest of the film is an empty, exhausting watch that never truly builds towards anything.

Some of the best game movies have adventure, heart, humor & good characters. I wish I could say A Minecraft Movie had these things besides adventure.

Crisis tries its hardest to be like Traffic, but fails in creating a satisfyingly thorough world with enough high stakes or tension.

It strips Nyad of her complexities for something a bit too formulaic.

Dicks: The Musical is simply doing too much, and not enough of it is good to justify its runtime. It’s neither clever nor funny, save for the couple of jokes that actually land, and it’s too smarmy for its own good.

A rousing story about finding someone and falling in love this is not — nor does it truly contend with the need for human connection very well.

The performance factor alone is fantastic and engaging. Boylan’s own performance is convincing and occasionally even emotional, but her acting talents unfortunately can’t overcome the issues that stem from the writing.

The film’s cast is great and, though the actors typically have great comedic timing, the dialogue falls flat and renders the humor inert. About My Father has a heart at its center, but it never really gets there in terms of having a compelling story and humor to elevate its scenes.

Unfortunately, Cinderella lacks the specificity of Ever After and doesn’t commit to the full fantasy of Brandy’s Cinderella, either, nor does it have the charisma of Ella Enchanted.

If anything, She Loved Blossoms More isn’t weird enough, holding out on exploring what’s beyond the time machine, which is the most compelling aspect of the film.

For those who may not have seen X, Pearl may be intriguing enough for them to go watch the original film. As both a prequel and standalone horror film, however, Pearl comes up short.

If nothing else, Emmerich certainly knows how to create catastrophe while providing a sense of hope despite everything. Does that save Moonfall from being messy? No, but surely some will find it enjoyable regardless.

The script has its moments, and I chuckled a bit at a few points. But what the film lacks is genuine heart and warmth.

With a premise worth engaging with, the film can’t quite grasp what its full intentions are and the execution reflects that.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Two is a disappointing entry, failing to truly and comprehensively build a bridge between the first film and the third film.

Unfortunately, the film doesn’t invest in its characters or in its world beyond the surface, so why should we?

Slow and frustrating, with a finale that is unearned, Red Rocket fluctuates between trying to say something and getting lost in its own premise.

Vacation Friends finds its humor in the disconcerting scenarios the characters find themselves in, but it never evolves past its empty premise.

From a bizarre villain to unexpected musical numbers, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is egregiously bad, but with splashes of occasional humor.

The story is just so rushed, there’s barely any time spent on establishing the world we’re introduced to before it’s full-speed ahead.

The World to Come has the ingredients to build a blossoming love story, but the script is thin and far too rigid for the romance to ever fully soar.

The first half is wildly fun, especially as it puts characters in the uncomfortable position of being at a party that goes awry shortly after the countdown. But what starts off as a quirky teen comedy with hints of sci-fi catastrophe turns into a messy romp that loses its intrigue.

While A Different Man attempts to be a thought-provoking work some of the time, it’s not as deep or as profound as it aims to be.

Written and directed by Mike Cahill, Bliss has strong ideas about economic inequality and it ambitiously works to pull off being a sci-fi thriller that is layered with social commentary. However, the film falls short of delivering something more compelling and complex, primarily because it's trying to do too much at once.

Dear Evan Hansen might be well-meaning, but it completely misses the mark. It’s not the worst movie out this year, but it’s not a musical one might be inclined to rush to the theater to see, either.

Earwig and the Witch has all the parts needed to be a fun and memorable film, but seems to lack the manual for how to bring it all together.

Flora & Ulysses has all of the right ingredients, but falls short of bringing them all together, leaving the film an uncharismatic and empty shell.

It’s fraught with frenetic energy and delightfully charming performances, but Blithe Spirit is not as funny or absurd as it sets out to be.

The concept is no doubt thought-provoking and, occasionally, even creative. But it’s hard to get behind the journey the AIs go on when it’s so detached, the film itself attempting to be a gripping narrative conveying heartfelt emotions that just don’t land.

Uncharted is joyless and has little to no personality.

The story has no heart, genuine romance, or humor, the spy subplot is mechanical, and the actors don’t mesh together as well as you might expect. All told, Ghosted doesn’t even meet the lowest standard for what would make a romantic comedy remotely decent and that is disappointing considering the talent involved.

When a film is trying to tell three stories at once, it’s bound to get tied up in its own narrative misgivings, and Hold Your Breath is certainly culpable of that.

Amanda Seyfried gives a nuanced performance, but A Mouthful of Air fails to go beyond the surface to engage with its themes in a meaningful way.

Crimes of the Future has an intriguing enough setup, but it doesn’t know how to tie everything together, leaving the disparate pieces of the plot adrift and turning the film into a tedious watch.

Reliant on specific political clichés and a twist the audience will see coming from a mile away, Without Remorse is utterly bland and devoid of moxie.

While there's an attempt to convey a message about relationships, We Broke Up is more focused on awkward shenanigans than in exploring its characters.

Writer-director Simon Hacker has a good grasp on his characters and story, but while Notice to Quit has a spark, it lacks any true heartwarming moments, which are buried beneath a surface-level premise that refuses to engage with vulnerability.

It's a run-of-the-mill crime drama that doesn't stand out.

Cat Person is not as compelling as it perhaps aims to be and, though there are great — and even uncomfortable — moments in the film, it doesn’t justify its tonal shifts or its feature length.

It’s meant to shock and disgust — and it does — but while Infinity Pool starts off interestingly enough, its take on power, corruption, and privilege only goes so far.

Despite a stellar cast, Marlowe doesn’t rise to the occasion, stumbling along without ever finding its footing.

While Senior Year has certain moments that are indeed funny, it’s not enough to overcome the film’s many flaws.

It’s a film so soulless I questioned the point of it.

Brothers by Blood is an incomprehensible, frustrating mess that barely touches on its narrative themes and completely wastes the talents of its actors.

Paint could’ve been funny; it could’ve had more heart; it could have even been more fun and ridiculous, with something interesting to say. But it's a mess from start to finish.