Mae Abdulbaki

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.