Mary Kassel

Pieces of exposition and backstory are dropped sparingly throughout Animale. While this is a strength, the movie could've done with a little more exploration of Nejma's past and relationship with her mother.

The documentary doesn't know who Jeff Buckley was. However, it might expose what we are desperate to get from him, long past the time he has anything left to give.

While it can be profoundly moving to follow the story of people's small but important everyday lives, the film loses both the audience and its momentum by the final act when things should be heating up the most.

I Know What You Did Last Summer isn't the worst long-awaited horror sequel ever put to screen, but it doesn't try to be anything but a shallow reflection of its predecessor.

Delivering the blood, gore, and guts you would expect from the classics of the genre, Ziam has no intention of reinventing anything, unabashedly leaning into the tropes of these stories that audiences know well.

M3GAN 2.0 doesn't lose this completely, but the more polished and grown-up world doesn't fit as easily into the silly sense of humor that made M3GAN so popular.

It's fun, and there's nothing inherently wrong with it, but I found myself distracted, turning away from the screen several times because I knew I wasn't missing much. Something Beautiful will come and go, and for most, it won't make much of an impact.

Watching Echo Valley isn't long at a little over an hour and a half. However, even in that amount of time, I had hoped to witness more of the story and fewer hollow twists.

The movie tells a tight, contained story, but spends a little too much time sharpening its emotional knives to craft a truly compelling supernatural story. Bring Her Back gets lost in the weeds of its desire to rip your heart out.

The best we can hope for is that Summer of 69 will open the door for more contemporary conversations in coming-of-age movies that aren't afraid to have more fun.

The Moogai uses the monster and horror as tactics, but it's at its best when the story shows that it's bigger than these two elements.

William Tell is a rare movie that I would argue should have been longer. If there's any story that could justify a three-hour runtime, it's William Tell, and the pacing would have benefited from this length enormously.

It's a mindless good time.

Fans of De Niro and the gangster movie will have fun with this addition to the genre, but they won't find anything new in its well-tread story.

The Quiet Ones isn't action-packed enough to be pure fun or interrogative enough to be thought-provoking.

Dog Man is trying to tackle too many themes and morals at once, creating a mess instead of a cohesive and accessible lesson.

Birdeater didn't have to be a blood-soaked revenge movie to be more effective, but it took too few risks to be truly thought-provoking.

The chemistry between Booth and Pill is a large part of what makes Young Werther work.

Though competently shot, the storytelling and performances leave much to be desired.

Structurally, Fitting In isn't perfect. It overuses the montage and features dialogue that leans more into preachy territory than Lindy's natural expression of their feelings. However, it's impossible to accuse the film of being anything less than emotionally truthful.

Incoming has funny moments, and the young actors deliver their lines with the commitment of seasoned professionals every step of the way. However, as I was watching, I was endlessly reminded that watching Incoming's influences would have been more enjoyable.

The overarching problem is the film's tendency to be a touch too shallow, even if that's the point of the narrative. Finding out more about Hope's hidden past, the supporting characters, and the big lives everyone hints at would have made the story more compelling and helped the characters feel real.

Tyler Perry's movies fall into many genres, but Divorce in the Black treads no new ground compared to his other dramas. Even in the film's most shocking moments, its narrative is part of a common formula.

The sparsely populated funny moments don't make up for the lack of craftsmanship in the story's journey.

It's commendable that the narrative never tries to explain the magic system of the world or bring up questions of potential paradoxes. However, it equally avoids questions about the nature of consequences. Without any real stakes or time crunch, the story builds and builds, but ends up going nowhere.

As an actor, Bartholomew has a lot riding on her performance, and for the most part, she nails it. Her physicality stands out above all else, as she expertly telegraphs internal changes and anguish to the audience through her body language.

Though the story treads familiar territory and doesn't present a remarkable discovery about human nature, that doesn't leave us any less affected by the journey.