Patrice Witherspoon

The most interesting and beautiful piece to this puzzle is the fact that Dillane's performance can steer the audience in any direction emotionally and at any given moment.

If nothing else, it's best to walk into Sean Price Williams’ feature debut, The Sweet East, as a satire decorated with light political and human commentary and wild excitement that never lets up.

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 doesn’t break any genre barriers, nor does the film offer anything new to say about these respective topics. However, Tagliavini nicely crafts a Christmas rom-com that is funny and sincere — a feat with which many other holiday romantic comedies have struggled.

This is merely an example of misalignment when it comes to direction and script. Because while Kane’s vision is mostly clear, the execution of this particular script stumbles.

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.

Though it runs out of steam during its second act, Butler and company do everything they can to keep the energy going, closing out the film with a well-earned bang.

While showing good potential overall, Kendrick’s directorial debut is hindered by tonal imbalances and poor editing.

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

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

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.

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

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

Even though it's a short 82 minutes, a film like Fatherland requires a certain level of patience. There are missing emotional anchors tying all the themes together. In a sense, the script holds itself back from fully embracing its potential, especially for a story centering on a father-daughter duo during the peak of the Cold War. A little certainly goes a long way, but even this moody piece needed a breakthrough.

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.

While Emancipation contains beautiful cinematography amidst brutalities of oppression, it conveys very little about the man who should easily inspire the world.

A decent feature debut, The Absence of Eden is a film that means well. Restrictions in the script hinder the film emotionally, which often show up in the actors' performances as well.

Even though it doesn’t take its own storyline seriously enough, Smile 2 is entertaining. Don’t expect the horror film to have the best commentary on mental health issues, but be ready for some jump-scare fun.

For a story centered on childhood trauma, domestic violence, and the cycle of abuse, these themes feel like afterthoughts when they could have been its strength. It’s certainly lacking, but hearts were in the right place.

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.

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.

Ultimately, Pain Hustlers is a mixed bag of entertainment that opts for flashiness instead of focusing on the important elements of the story at hand — the people affected by the carelessness of others.

It isn’t the best in its genre, of course, but the commitment from Keaton, as actor and director, is more than enough for me to rally behind this film for another watch.

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

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.

Sissy sacrifices its themes for violence and surface-level explorations of psychological realism, making it as frustrating as it is compulsively fun.

A harrowing narrative that contemplates the transition from girlhood to womanhood, Arnold uses magical realism to capture preteen angst with a strong desire for existential freedom.