Going into it, I was ready to love Kara and her story. Though the opening party montage is great (giving us the perfect Gross Girl Summer representation), she sort of blended into the dull, brownish gray background by the end – aside from one moment during the movie's climax, which, frankly, I don't know that it earned. Coming out of Supergirl, I didn't feel invigorated the way I did after Superman. I didn't feel like I understood the character enough. I wasn't even sure if she understood herself.

When I reviewed Enys Men for ScreenRant in 2023, I was awed by the use of form on display, but wished for more of a narrative backbone to hold all that atmosphere together. Rose of Nevada, Jenkin's latest film, supplies it. The haunted, slippery feeling of his movies is very effective when applied to a supernatural mystery, and that sense of full understanding being just out of reach becomes something pulling you further in, rather than pushing you out. For something so deliberately paced, I found it completely gripping.

Girls Like Girls is a familiar plot, which is part of the point. It's a grounded love story that isn't afraid to make characters messy or deal with trickier subjects, largely executing a painfully realistic story with a good sense of craft. While some elements feel underbaked or seem one-note, the central focus and performances by Myra Molloy and Maya Da Costa give Girls Like Girls an effective emotional core.

There have been plenty of horror movies about conversion therapy, but none like this one. Though it is at times terrifying, capturing the isolation of the queer experience with bone-deep emotion, the first-time director's new film is a surprisingly tender look at the shapes love and demons can take.

It's a strong third film by Michael Sarnoski, even if it has some shaggy edges that could have been improved. Filmed with a moody sense of atmosphere and bolstered by strong performances, The Death of Robin Hood has terrific depth and thematic richness that keeps the movie from ever feeling too downbeat to stop being compelling.

Burns is going for smooth entertainment here, and the light tone keeps Finnegan's Foursome from diving into some of the emotional territory it could have. He's also conceived this as a story about the brothers first and foremost, and the children function mostly as an extension of their drama, rather than a chance to explore a whole new set of relationships. One can only imagine what this script might've accomplished in the hands of a more ambitious dramatist. However, those frustrations are only really allowed to surface because Burns' film takes its time getting into a groove – once it does, it's easy to become swept up in its gentle current.

What truly makes Voicemails for Isabelle stand out is that it isn't just another romcom that's going to get some views and be forgotten; this movie offers a genuinely meaningful story, in which audiences get to see Jill heal after this brutal loss—and that's what it's really about.

Seven years after the fourth outing, Toy Story 5 arrives with a meaningful story to tell, and does so with precision, humor, and pathos on par with the original trilogy’s heyday. Not only are the animation, of-the-moment storytelling, voice performances, and character development strong enough to warrant returning to this Pixar franchise again, but this film pulls off the impressive feat of being the funniest and most emotional Toy Story yet.

Its gripping action is so singular that it feels like a one-of-a-kind viewing experience, different from almost every other film (or show) out there.

I have been more engaged trying to sift through my feelings about this movie after the fact than I was actually watching it. Sometimes, when it comes to art, that's just how it is, and I don't think I could convincingly say Jinsei is unsuccessful. But I don't think it's successful enough. Though it creates striking moments and leaves a lasting impact of some kind, Suzuki aims for a scope of storytelling that his film just doesn't achieve anywhere but on paper.

Whatever the secret ingredient is, the result is a movie that is non-stop hilarious and unapologetically goofy. It may not be deep, it may not be compelling, but it is silly enough to be great.

This movie is made for a world that has us spending most of our time looking down, whether metaphorically, heads buried in our own work and struggles, or literally, absorbed by the phones that have overtaken our lives. As if watching the skies is too big an ask in that context, Spielberg instead uses all his directorial power to encourage us to look at each other. The result is another great film in a career filled with them. Structured like a thriller with a propulsiveness worthy of Indiana Jones, Disclosure Day is an attempt to meet this cynical, divided moment and treat it with empathy, as well as with a healthy dose of good, ol' fashioned entertainment.

The filmmakers, and co-writer, producer, and star Brett Goldstein in particular, clearly have a sense of what it is that makes studio rom-coms so appealing, and they've built this one to actually deliver on it. It's a little shaggy, perhaps, and I inevitably found myself missing the shot-on-film glow that did so much for the movies of that bygone era. But I can't really complain. My default state watching Office Romance was a giddy smile.

With even an ounce of narrative focus, it could have had its fun while actually commenting on one of the biggest modern trends in the genre. Instead, it falls into the same traps that subsequently weakened the parody sub-genre as a whole. Despite some good gags, a committed cast, and a solid central premise, Scary Movie just can't get out of its own way.

I can't speak to whether it's a faithful adaptation of the source material, but as someone who wasn't previously a He-Man fan, I'm eager to see where this franchise goes – and there are plenty of indications that Mattel and Amazon MGM are confident that Masters of the Universe could get a sequel.

The more standard it feels, the harder it becomes to be swept up in the narrative swells, and the film's reach eventually exceeds its grasp. But even if it isn't shattering, Miss You, Love You still entertains.

Though I won't be asking for my 60 minutes back, it's about as far from essential viewing as you can get.

The film really strives to examine the psychology of its characters in a way that it isn't fully equipped to do. Even when it falters, though, Backrooms is still an effective horror film, dealing in quiet terror over abject horror. In a world where fear is constantly thrown in our faces, having to look for it, and wanting to do so in the first place, can be just as disturbing.

Andrew Scott and Brendan Fraser do terrific work in the lead roles, and they're magnetic enough to make a movie about debates over weather predictions riveting – even if the script and direction can't quite match their tone. Pressure works best as a two-hander that occasionally surpasses the material, but it's not necessarily a must-see for anyone who isn't already interested in WW2 history.

Netflix's new movie is no shoddy disaster – it's a competently, if unexceptionally, mounted production by director Thea Sharrock, featuring an impressive British and Irish cast. It's not entirely without laughs, either. But this story of a chauvinist who bumps his head and wakes up in a world where women are in charge is so fundamentally misguided that I at times could not believe I was actually watching it. A comedy sketch premise stretched to feature length, the team behind Ladies First should have spent a little less time on thinking up gender-flipped jokes and more time wondering whether they actually had a coherent story worth telling.

This Australian horror film has many similarly striking images in it; writer-director Natalie Erika James clearly has a talent for crafting them. In this instance, however, that proves as much an asset as a drawback. Neither Saccharine's narrative nor editing have the same vitality, and James communicates her ideas so succinctly that too much of our time is spent waiting for the story to continue along the obvious road ahead of it. There are moments of vice-like terror that use the pacing to slowly surround us and squeeze, but the movie lacks the formal tightness to keep it up for very long. Just as often, Saccharine inspires impatience.

Passenger lacks the kind of ambitious thematic approach or emotional depth that elevates the best horror movies, falling into typical impulses of the genre. But there's nothing wrong with being a well-constructed horror movie that doesn't want to waste time with slow-burning monsters. It won't be much of a surprise, especially for fans of the genre – but it's not hard to recommend regardless.

Almodóvar makes thrillingly clear that the moral cost of drawing on one's own life to make fiction is the true subject of this film. Everything else becomes richer through this meta lens.

Can you truly befriend or even develop an acquaintance with someone of dramatically opposing views? The optimist in me says yes. But when it comes to the development and protection of children, Mungiu proves it’s grayer than I care to admit.

This isn't a Skywalker Saga installment, nor does it pretend to be all that much bigger than the show it comes from. This is a film focused on Din Djarin and Grogu, and it delivers on that point. With those expectations set, The Mandalorian and Grogu is genuinely delightful to watch. It's funny, sweet, very emotional at times, and full of action and adventure.

An exhilarating spectacle of epic proportion, Hope is exactly the kind of violently horrific and chaotically humorous film we’ve been waiting a decade for from Na Hong-jin. He manages to continue his great streak as a master of genre mash-ups in ways that blend the best of sci-fi, horror, and action thrillers. It’s ridiculous, it’s bloody, it’s long – and it’s worth every minute of your time.

It's a technically fine film that doesn't do anything especially inventive, but remains capable of telling a concise story with clear action. Fans of the Jack Ryan show should definitely check it out, and appreciators of military action and espionage will probably find plenty to love, too. For everyone else, Jack Ryan: Ghost War could have been something bigger and better.

A beautiful yet simple story about using AI to manage grief, Sheep in the Box hits all the right emotional notes. The script glides through all stages with realism and curiosity in a way that never judges its characters, no matter which side of the AI argument they sit on.