Patrice Witherspoon

Sharp Stick is charming thanks to great performances, but the lopsided script doesn’t reach its full potential.

Rodriguez as a filmmaker has a history of implementing creativity and inspiration in his works. But with Hypnotic, the end result is a dull feature that doesn’t come close to its potential.

Not everything works and the humor tends to run its course, but Gates puts a solid effort together given the limitations.

Despite being flawed, though, Trap is thrilling at times and a ridiculous display of human behavior at others.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter fails to deliver on its early promise of being a compelling horror experience. The focus on jump scares and a skeptic character detracts from the potential scares and fails to bring authenticity to the storytelling.

Thanks to the special cast chemistry, 80 For Brady’s charm shines through despite being good for only a single watch.

It leans into unrealistic territory, and we’re unfortunately left with a trashy story that very few will like. Not even the ever-charming Gina Rodriguez and confident Damon Wayans Jr. could save this film.

I Wanna Dance with Somebody celebrates the star that captured the hearts of many fans around the world. And through a great performance by Ackie, this film has the ability to do the same, even if it sticks to genre rules.

This story and these women deserve better.

With stuntman J.J. Perry behind the camera, Day Shift is a killer upgrade to vampire lore and a damn good time.

Lou is a quiet thriller that takes a deep dive into the consequences of one’s actions. The film enables Janney and Jurnee Smollett to command every scrap of attention through physical and emotionally compelling performances.

Love in the Villa may be a silly rom-com at heart, but with Graham and Hopper’s compelling chemistry, leaning into the ridiculousness and unrealistic moments is worth it for these two alone.

It’s quite familiar, yet impressively sweet. Kilris clearly understands the appeal of Cyprus, her home, and offers us the chance to witness flawed humans go through the intricacies of everyday life.

Whatever the intent, the execution isn’t all the way there, and that’s the biggest disappointment of all.

The themes in The Miracle Club may be as old as time, but it beautifully celebrates the idea that friendship and compassion can be healing.

Costner and company know the importance of visual and sonic storytelling. In this film, the score, landscapes, and set pieces guide the stories along when the dialogue is limited, helping us to connect to the overall experience emotionally.

With certainty, Cumberbatch put his all into this role. So, if for nothing else, it’s worth it to see him.

A fun film for all ages, Haunted Mansion may be the remake you never knew you needed. The feature is full of great laughs and some age-appropriate scares that will keep viewers of all types glued to the screen. While heavy on cheese and silliness, screenwriter Katie Dippold is never afraid to discuss an important topic like grief through her characters. It brings a realistic element to the film and balances out some of the fantastical elements. Haunted Mansion may not break any barriers when it comes to storytelling, but thanks to a dedicated cast and their commitment to their characters’ vivid personalities, you can’t help but smile throughout.

A holiday film full of creativity, family, and fun, Hudlin’s Candy Cane Lane is a Christmas gift worth watching. Led by a talented leading duo, this adventure could be your next guilty pleasure.

Something from Tiffany’s lacks a good enough script and the chemistry it needs to make anyone want to sit through another holiday rom-com.

Whether that be through exploring mental abolition versus determination or even activism versus an individual’s special needs, Hamm’s latest had the potential to say a lot more than what was accomplished. Instead, he doesn’t do much with either, and he relies a little too heavily on his actors to take this uninspiring script towards sincerity.

In the end, Goodnight Mommy contains a great balance of intrigue, shock, and entertainment. The film also captures the need for a mother’s love and truly thrives when it settles into the more intricate and intimate part of its storytelling. The cast does an incredible job conveying these underlying themes in addition to leaving enough open for audiences to interpret and figure out on their own.

Though The Good Mother contains great talent like Hilary Swank and Olivia Cooke, the predictable formula holds it back from saying something meaningful.

It’s goofy and relies heavily on common tropes, failing to offer insight into the players as people outside their team.

In End of the Road, Shelton transforms an already compelling script into one about family, motherhood, and survival. And it is nothing short of entertaining and refreshing.

Donowho’s western tale follows a typical formula, but there are plenty of laughs and smiles to be had throughout this familiar story.

Last Days is as frustrating to watch as it is to try to understand this avoidable tragedy.

Woodley and Mendelsohn do everything they can to convert the weak story to something worth watching.

It isn’t the worst directorial debut by any means of the phrase, but Burr’s raunchy comedy fails to say something meaningful. Instead, it underwhelms.

With thinly written characters and a narrative confined to moments only serving to push Mike and Kate to the height of insanity, this is about as disappointing as it gets for a film with such promise and potential.

The film is certainly worth a watch simply for the music and the entertaining aspect of its storytelling.

Parallel Tales is exactly as advertised: The central story interweaves the lives of six people in ways that should be a recipe for delicious, chaotic drama. Yet, Farhadi's latest is bogged down by its repetitiveness and refusal to offer anything new to a story about imagination and voyeurism. What we’re left with hangs a little too long onto a thin rope of painful repetition, false hope, and jaded screenwriting.

Its endless, unfunny humor is tiresome and obnoxious, the commentary is short-lived, and jokes related to Sam’s unpreparedness are repetitive.

Ultimately, Father Stu is unlike any other faith-based film I’ve seen. It’s raw, honest, and uplifting without tapping into preachy territory, which ultimately makes it effortlessly uplifting.

Packed with great action sequences and a cast that is committed to each other and the script, Gray's latest is creative and fun enough to hold attention.

The film is messy and gets tangled up in its protagonist’s folly, but in the process, Zac Efron delivers a heartfelt and killer performance.

It’s a difficult film to take seriously, as it buries its potential in absurd drama, dialogue, and sequencing.

Poolman is an unfunny spoof of neo-noir thrillers with hazy direction, even messier storytelling, and unbearable dialogue.

Me Time may not be a groundbreaking entry into Netflix’s catalog, but it offers reliable laughs for anyone needing an escape from their own hectic reality.

This shocking horror comedy is a train wreck that you can’t look away from. Whether the filmmakers intended this to be the case is a question on its own, but I’m sure Krazy House will acquire a following.

Riddled with a familiar story of survival and characters who never stop observing and asking important questions (even though most of them are scientists), Jurassic Island offers some unconventional yet decent entertainment.

Whitebloom struggles to bring the excitement into his heist film, Stowaway, his feature debut, like he’s done in past music videos.

Hatton offers an engaging approach towards his storytelling. By concentrating on the intrigue and horror elements within his feature, the end result isn’t perfect, but there’s plenty of fun to be had throughout to make the watching experience an enjoyable one.

In hindsight, MVP is the kind of film that could definitely work for audiences. What it lacks in technical achievement, it undoubtedly makes up with heart. Though Boyer doesn’t necessarily hit the ball out of the park with his debut due to some odd choices that negatively impact the story structure, it’s easy to see why he chose this as his first project

That familiar question of “am I a good person?” will linger with viewers just as it does the characters, making it a fascinating watching experience as much as it is a good time.

There’s an enormous effort to entertain, but Bromates runs out of ideas faster than it can provide organic laughs.

Director Gren Wells crafts a tender, yet narratively unbalanced film that accentuates the gift that is Sadie Sink’s talent.

Saunders’ feature-length directorial debut is a confident one. With humor and heart, he writes and directs relevant themes and experiences that the world has come to understand well at this point in society. Dotty & Soul is genuine without being preachy, and humorous without leaning into offensive territory.

Freedom’s Path has some hurdles that it just can’t overcome from a narrative standpoint. There’s quite a bit of rose-colored storytelling that goes on throughout this feature. There are also significant pacing issues that make it difficult to lean into the storytelling. With that being said, there’s no denying the underlying heartfelt attempt at sharing profound messages.

What’s ultimately missing from Til Death Do Us Part is proper execution and a script that the actors can build upon.

Ultimately, this story, likely unfamiliar to the masses, conveys the hidden history behind Miranda Rights with conviction and great storytelling.

An intriguing blend of genres and themes, The A-Frame fulfills its promise to excite and entertain even with its mishaps.