Mae Abdulbaki

While the plot is suspenseful and unsettling because it’s something that could happen, the film underwhelms when it comes to its dynamics and individual arcs, each character lacking a depth that would have elevated an otherwise solid thriller.

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.

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

Parthenope is sensual and visually exquisite. It might not dig way too deep into its message, but it does get it across by the end.

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.

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.

Despite some genuinely funny and endearingly nostalgic moments, Coming 2 America attempts to do way too much with its plot rather than keep it simple.

While it might not stand the test of time, the film is an entertaining, easy watch that works well enough.

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

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.

Despite a fantastic cast, Wildflower doesn’t live up to its potential, and uses its disabled characters as vehicles to drive the main character’s story, which will leave a bitter taste in your mouth after all is said and done.

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

Death of a Unicorn is incredibly entertaining. It's weird and a bit goofy (in the best way), with a satisfying ending and character interactions that are off the wall.

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.

It's a fun and intriguing ride that, though it leads to an ending that one might guess is coming, has great energy. Clemons is a charismatic lead who delves fully into her role. When all the puzzle pieces finally come together, the film fires on all cylinders and makes for a magnetic watch.

A Man Called Otto aims to be a crowd-pleasing, heartwarming film, and, despite its many flaws and speed bumps, is a success on that front.

It strikes a good balance between heartfelt and fun, and the cast has great chemistry; their interactions are joyful and dynamic.

While the point of the film is excellent, The Cut has a bit too much trauma. It’s like the writers wanted to throw everything at Boxer and see if he could survive it, but it’s a lot.

It’s a tender drama and one that focuses on its characters in interesting, thoughtful ways.

The lack of a strong narrative and characters, paired with pacing issues, turn the film from an intriguing premise to a boring, hollow, and overall tedious watch.

The cast’s chemistry uplifts this film and makes certain moments all the more enjoyable. Everyone is clearly having a great time, and it shows in every scene. While the film probably won’t be remembered after audiences leave the theater, Champions is a lighthearted, feel-good sports movie that does exactly what it sets out to accomplish. It doesn’t do anything out of the norm, but it is a solid effort from Farrelly and Rizzo that will certainly boost one’s mood after watching.

While the film could have spent more time exploring its central characters, their emotions, actions, and how time has shaped them in the intervening years, My Policeman remains a tender, heartbreaking film that has one of the most devastating and emotional final scenes in recent memory.

The film’s disparate elements and overarching themes don’t entirely come together by the end, leaving the story’s emotional throughline weakened as a result.

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

Don’t Look Up is a deeply unsettling yet darkly humorous watch. It has just the right amount of comedy and zeal without losing sight of its message or the tension bubbling beneath the surface.

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.

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.

It’s not particularly memorable, but it also has its moments, elevated by the chemistry between Madelyn Cline and Riverdale’s KJ Apa.

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.

With Pugh's powerhouse performance elevating the script and an engaging central mystery to keep the plot moving, the film has enough going for it to make it a pleasing watch.

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

The performances elevate a story that could have gone deeper, but is fine for what it’s trying to be.

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

While there is plenty of fun to be had with the monsters and the buildup towards the final showdown, The New Empire’s story feels forced.

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.

The film makes up for some of the missed storytelling opportunities with its stylish, exciting action sequences, and its swift pacing, all of which combined make for a fun, overall enthralling time.

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.

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.

The Book Club sequel will make you feel as though you’re reuniting with old friends for some wine and life lessons, and that’s enough.

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.

Resort to Love doesn’t do anything unexpected or exciting and, despite its overly saccharine silliness, it is entertaining enough to watch in passing.

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.

The film is melancholic and contemplative in a way that isn’t always the case with romance genre films.

Uncharted is joyless and has little to no personality.

House of Spoils is an exploration of witchcraft, land, and the respect it should be given, and a study of the perversion and stress of the restaurant industry.

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.

From a horror perspective, the film is lacking, but it more than makes up for it with well developed characters and a killer who preys on secrets.

The film is bolstered by the strength of Cooke's magnetic performance and is energetically entertaining, heartbreakingly sad, and darkly humorous.

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.

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.

Despite Foe’s shortcomings, it has plenty of heart and something to say. Its visuals are magnetic and Ronan and Mescal give their all in gripping, emotional performances.

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.

The Old Guard 2 is a film that feels longer than it should be and not long enough. It strikes an odd balance, but there’s luckily more here that works than doesn’t, even if the plot is thin.

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.

Bob Marley: One Love won't knock your socks off, but there is enough care put into crafting the narrative that turns it into a lovely viewing experience overall.

Madres is extremely fragmented and painfully subpar, wasting a chance to tell an intriguing, nuanced story that is still an issue in the present.

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.

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.

While Needle in a Timestack aims to be profound, it loses itself within the sci-fi premise rather than exploring the central romance in any detail.

All told, Swiped is a conventional, even hopeful biopic. Lily James is great in the lead role.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

There is so much that could have been done with the film’s plot and twists, but it’s never confident enough in what the story has to offer to lean into any of what might have made it thrilling.

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

From the opening scenes, The Woman in Cabin 10 hooks us and doesn’t let go.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

The Deliverance is bolstered by the cast’s commitment to the story and their characters. Without them, the film's ending wouldn't have been remotely believable.

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.

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.

There are minimal bursts of potential lurking in Chaos Walking’s messy execution, but it doesn’t deliver much but stagnant characters and dull action.

The concept is promising, and the violent delirium of the movie's visuals show that this could have been a fun, adrenaline-fueled romp. Instead, it's just an unfunny comedy that leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.

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.

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.

The film is ultimately an action comedy that is as sickly saccharine and over-the-top as Valentine’s Day itself. For a cool hour and 23 minutes, Love Hurts allows us to enjoy every minute of its absurdity, and you’ll never look at a boba straw the same way ever again.

As far as middling entertainment goes, Five Nights at Freddy’s fits the bill.

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.

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

What could have been a thoughtful, poignant story about loss ended up being an unfortunate misfire.

The film is chilling, balancing its actually scary horror with a lot of heart, advancing the Warrens’ story and providing audiences with a change of pace from their usual cases.

Hurry Up Tomorrow isn’t awful. It stays at the surface, really afraid to interrogate any deeper than required, but it has its moments and aesthetic flair.

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.

Die in a Gunfight is utterly empty, with poorly developed characters, clunky dialogue, and a disingenuous romance that attempts to be epic in nature.

The Ultimate Playlist of Noise has some lovely and heartwarming moments, but it lacks a strong central relationship and is often too formulaic.

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.

With no buildup, tension, or interesting characters, The Sinners fails in its execution and exploration in the themes it puts forth.

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.

While the film tends to get repetitive and its comedy doesn’t delve any deeper than it has to, Some Like It Rare is entertaining and darkly funny.

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