Matt Donato

Wonder Woman is a gorgeous, powerful display of epic storytelling that makes me wish this was Gadot’s first chance to play Diana Prince. It’s the roaring introduction she deserves, and a hopeful shift in DC culture that hints at what’s about to come.

The Old Guard has everything you could want from a Netflix actioner. Combat situations get your adrenaline pumping, and it’s rather quick to the draw. Gina Prince-Bythewood establishes a world worth investment thanks to characters who develop farther than just another team of renegade badasses.

At its best, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is a laugh-filled yet incredibly dark and poignant fever dream that pleads for a safer AI tomorrow. Verbinski's command over utter chaos is nothing short of marvelous, even if the pacing slows while jumping between storylines that eventually all fit together.

Under The Shadow marries haunted horrors with period-piece importance for a deliciously dark ghost story.

Gaia is a dazzling bio-horror excursion.

Sisu keeps it simple as a smaller-focus WWII epic that loves killing Nazis as much as we love watching them die in over-the-top ways.

Get Out marries racial satire with a terrifying finale, one that tears down blinders that some may have kept conveniently in place. Don’t listen to those who say horror movies are defined by physical scares. Plots based on real-life fears typically make for the most horrifying scenarios.

LifeHack is a captivating, exhilarating, and full-speed heist thriller that marks one hell of a feature debut.

Y2K is a deadly unserious disaster comedy featuring fantastic cyber-monster effects and humor inspired by the time period.

Sisu: Road to Revenge offers a ludicrous and punishing take on the same fantastic action-forward indulgence as the original, resulting in a sublime outcome. Writer-director Jalmari Helander's brand of excitement is loud, resilient, and pushes breakneck intensity to the maximum.

A Vigilante succeeds not by exploiting torture, but instead shifting focus to Olivia Wilde's painful, so very real performance.

As punishing as it is grotesquely poetic, Headshot is a healthy dose of breathtaking brutality that makes you hold on for dear life.

Prey is inarguably the best Predator since the original. The film gets so much right, paying homage to John McTiernan’s 1987 masterwork—through cigars and direct quotes that it’ll have fans hooting—and adding Indigenous representation with real cultural strength.

It walks a tightrope with its topics, but Williams is delicate and confident with every step — his performers following close behind, dominating the screen.

Something Else promises monsters but delivers more demons of the human experience variety, as this sweet and sincere creature feature is far more romantically heartfelt than expected.

It’s better as a comedy than as a wickedly sharpened thriller, making The Blackening one of those surefire “see it with a crowd” pleasers.

Dream Scenario is a sprawling dissection of subconscious desires and how marketable popularity spells doom for its subjects, showcasing Borgli's flexible originality without sacrificing emotional investment.

The Conference is one of the better slashers released this year if you’re in the mood to watch liars and brown-nosers get hacked, skewered and brutalized to bits, pulling overtime at the right moments.

Who Invited Them pays mind to cliquish popularity games more than its home invasion peers, which becomes its booze-soaked schoolyard charm.

It's A Wonderful Knife might make its points with steel blades, but that doesn't negate the saccharine earnestness that assures this one as a new Christmas horror favorite with a heart three sizes bigger than you'd expect.

Vannicelli weaponizes therapy-speak where other titles become preachy, uses role-playing as an abusive confusion tactic, and provokes a rather alluring mindf*ck that doesn’t have nor need all the answers to captivate viewers.

J.D. Dillard's Sweetheart is fierce aquatic horror without any frills.

Wake Up makes its impression like a candy bar with a razor blade at its core. It's a sweet little treat for action-horror fans that hurts so good, as long as you're in the mood for visually traumatic, hopeless vibes.

Alexandra Daddario and Maddie Hasson are the Hammett and Hetfield of Marc Meyers’ eyeliner ensemble, with looks that kill and attitudes doubly deadly. For that, this critic can downgrade other complaints. It’s full of amplified unhallowed fun and fiendish shocks in the name of rock n’ roll…or maybe that’s just what “The Man” wants you to think.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 might momentarily lose itself to for-the-kids wackiness, which certainly leaves some plotlines frayed, but the reasons we’re here—Knuckles, Tails, Sonic, more Eggman—are all enthusiastically respected. I’m a happy Sonic fan after Fowler’s high-speed sequel.

The Pool is a bonkers blast from beginning to end. Each wave of misfortune crashes down harder than the last, pummeling a walled-in main character with sadistic spite.

I don’t love every storytelling element, but I do adore all that involves the star of the show, an aggro bear on obscene amounts of blow. You’ll get what you pay for, and can we ask much more from Cocaine Bear?

Run Sweetheart Run is a passionate Los Angeles marathon that severs heads, scolds abusive norms, and gets loud about the ways society needs to reflect upon bettering itself. Shana Feste finds action-packed elegance in rage and reflection, borrowing from fast-moving midnight flicks that aren't afraid to challenge oppressive stigmas.