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Top 10 DreamWorks Animated Movies March 7, 2024 By: Tyler Banark A child sitting on the moon fishing accompanied by a fairytale-like fanfare. What more could you ask for from one of Hollywood's simplest and most recognizable studio logos? With Kung Fu Panda 4 on the horizon this week, DreamWorks Animation has another installment of one of its many beloved franchises. While it has evolved over the years, the studio has never lost sight of its humble beginnings. In their 25-year history, they’ve proven adept at rivaling Disney through their ability to tell stories of different substances and styles. And unlike the Mouse House and Illumination (who never fail to rope audiences in with their vexing mascot and bland style), DreamWorks has never shied away from being themselves, even if the result isn’t always exclamatory. Nevertheless, they still crank out consistently amazing movies, and here are the ten that have stuck with me the most. 10. Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) I wouldn’t go so far as to describe animated movies as campy, but if there’s one that fits that mold, it’s this 2009 gem. Led by a voice cast of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland, and Stephen Colbert, Monsters vs. Aliens makes for a wacky monster movie that pokes fun at kaiju movies and old sci-fi cult classics like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman . Rogen gives one of his most underappreciated voiceover performances here as B.O.B., a dimwitted gelatinous mass lacking a brain. The film isn’t one of DreamWorks’ most talked-about works, but rest assured, there are a few lovers of this movie like myself out there. 8. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) As the follow-up on the studio’s biggest surprise hit, How to Train Your Dragon 2 greatly expands the world of Berk and its inhabitants. Hiccup continues his research of dragons and the possibility of them and Vikings living in harmony. The sequel introduces Cate Blanchett’s Valka, Hiccup’s long-lost mother, and Djimon Hounsou’s Drago, a man looking to control all dragons. Their additions add to the already impressive returning voice cast. Throughout the trilogy’s run, each entry made the case that it was worthy of top accolades, but there was always something else pushing it aside. The first and third entries were defeated by Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 , and the middle chapter ran into The Lego Movie and Big Hero 6 . 8. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) The conclusion to one of the most underappreciated trilogies ever, The Hidden World finds Hiccup and Toothless facing the ultimate test of a ruthless dragon hunter and his army, all while discovering a hidden realm where dragons live in peace. The animation is top-notch, and the cast is wonderful as always, especially Jay Baruchel, who never failed to make his case as to why he was the best choice for Hiccup. F. Murray Abraham joined the cast as the antagonist, Grimmel, who, like Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2 , knows how to counter and confound his opponents. Director Dean DeBlois went all out to make The Hidden World a fitting conclusion to a decade-spanning trilogy, with John Powell’s score remaining consistently soulful, just as the series was as consistent in overall quality. 7. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) As a big welcome back to not only the Shrek universe but to DreamWorks as a whole, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish took some of the biggest risks audiences have witnessed from a DreamWorks property. It not only switched gears in animation styles by following the storybook look of The Bad Guys , but it also featured the scariest representation of death in a family-friendly movie. Thanks to Wagner Moura’s spine-tingling voiceover work, the Wolf is one of the best villains in recent years. However, The Wolf wasn’t the only baddie here making a statement for himself. Big Jack Horner, voiced by John Mulaney, displayed his ruthlessness by being willing to kill one of his henchmen without remorse. Puss is written with complexity as he grapples with mortality and anxiety, capped with further commentary on how our time in life is short and shouldn’t be wasted. 6. The Bad Guys (2022) Based on the popular children’s book series by Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys flew under the radar when compared to the studio’s other works. Not only was it the best animated film to come out that year, but it was also one of the first to show Into the Spider-Verse ’s impact on the industry, as the animation is far different than anything done before by DreamWorks. The Bad Guys steers away from the typical computer-generated look and goes for something more storybook-like. It pulled me in immediately through its opening scene: a long take of Wolf and Snake eating breakfast before pulling up to a bank for another heist. On the surface, it’s just an opening scene that the typical viewer could just brush off. However, if you’re like me, you’ll notice that DreamWorks made a subtle homage to Quentin Tarantino and his crime flicks (more specifically, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction ). Sam Rockwell led an excellent cast; including Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Zazie Beetz, and Richard Ayoade. 5. Kung Fu Panda (2008) A remarkable feat that safely introduced young audiences to martial arts movies, Kung Fu Panda not only featured the witty humor audiences came to expect but also a compelling character arc for Jack Black’s Po. The movie provided resonant motifs of never giving up and that answers can be found in the unlikeliest places. Black had an impressive supporting cast around him, including Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, and Ian McShane as one of the best villains in studio history who is both menacing and understandable. Kung Fu Panda cemented DreamWorks’ second most successful franchise, and it’s never been far behind a certain green ogre… 4. Shrek 2 (2004) Shrek 2 is one of the rare sequels to equal its predecessor. Not only did it raise the stakes, but it distanced itself enough to the point where it could be a standalone, feel-good movie. Shrek 2 also featured a great villain in Fairy Godmother, who is nice on the surface but reveals her true intentions by trying to get in between Shrek and Fiona. The sequel also introduced us to the irresistible Puss in Boots, who solidified himself as a franchise favorite to the point where he got two spin-offs. There’s also a strong soundtrack, with the highlights being the movie’s anthem, Accidentally in Love, and Jennifer Saunders’ cover of Holding Out For a Hero . 3. Shrek (2001) A landmark film of a generation and the first film to win Best Animated Feature Film at the Oscars, Shrek is DreamWorks’ golden child. It put the studio on the map and provided a wake-up call to Hollywood that Disney isn’t the only source of animation, while also spawning three sequels and two spin-offs. During its run, Shrek went on to become the first animated film in almost sixty years to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the first to be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars, and Eddie Murphy became the first actor to receive a BAFTA nomination for a voice-over role by playing Donkey. It threw out audiences’ preconceptions about fairytales, giving us a hero far from Prince Charming on the outside, yet still charismatic and lovable. It made a statement that anyone is capable of giving and receiving love, with the added bonus of several raunchy jokes and clever moments that have become staples of online culture. 2. The Prince of Egypt (1998) The best piece of religious cinema I’ve ever seen and one of DreamWorks’ earliest works, The Prince of Egypt follows the story of Moses and his liberation of the Hebrew slaves from Ancient Egypt. Based on the book of Exodus, it’s one of the few faith-based films to resonate with culture both critically and commercially, with other worlds like The Passion of the Christ and Silence falling on extreme ends of the spectrum. A strong cast including Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Steve Martin, and Martin Short all brought their A-game. The Prince of Egypt is still one of the few DreamWorks movies to feature traditional hand-drawn animation, most notably seen in the climax where Moses parted the Red Sea, and an eerie nightmare sequence told through Egyptian paintings. Music from Hans Zimmer and a soundtrack featuring sweeping songs such as Deliver Us , Through Heaven’s Eyes , and The Plagues , aided in establishing the epic scale and the studio’s legacy. 1. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) If you’re reading this and know this cinephile personally, then this shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover, and that’s exactly the case with How to Train Your Dragon . Gorgeous animation with the help of legendary cinematographer Roger Deakin, a stellar voice cast, and a timeless script are just a few of the reasons why the movie exceeded all expectations. Hiccup and Toothless are an irresistible duo, accompanied by many characters that complement them well. Furthermore, John Powell’s score is one of the best, if not the best this critic has ever heard. It’s easy to listen to, and you can’t help but smile when you hear our duo’s themes. This first chapter also lays the groundwork for one of the most consistent animated trilogies ever, never going overboard with the worldbuilding, leaving enough to be discovered and built upon in said sequels. Through Hiccup, the movie conveys that you should never be afraid to be who you truly are, even if everyone around you is different. This method can be applied to DreamWorks as a studio, which is exactly why How to Train Your Dragon is their best. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever November 9, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen To paraphrase James Cromwell’s Captain Dudley Smith from L.A. Confidential : “I wouldn't trade places with Ryan Coogler for all the whiskey in Ireland.” Just on a purely basic level, the bar for the sequel to the box office smash / Oscar-winning / pop culture phenomenon that was Black Panther was almost insurmountable. Add in the untimely death of lead star Chadwick Boseman and the overall decline in reception to the preceding bunch of Phase Four, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for an anxiety attack. To Coogler’s credit, he makes a valiant effort to craft something unique out of his unfortunate situation. It’s just that his efforts didn’t turn into results, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever feeling more like MCU entry #30 rather than a distinct work by a talented filmmaker. Just as Boseman is tragically gone from this world, so is King T’Challa from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film opens with Shuri (Letitia Wright) unsuccessfully attempting to cure her brother of an unknown illness. She blames herself for his death, leaving her unable to properly grieve the loss. With Wakanda stripped of its chief protector, the superpowers of the world see an opportunity to seize their coveted vibranium resources, leading to hostile relations for Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) to deal with. But, as it turns out, vibranium is not solely located within Wakanda. It’s also found near the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean thanks to a detector built by MIT student and overall wunderkind Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). Unbeknownst to all, the underwater civilization of Talokan, led by the ankle-winged (an objectively silly concept) Namor, has observed the surface world for centuries and treats their underwater vibranium excursions as the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Namor wishes for Wakanda to join him on his crusade, but his request is swiftly denied. Knowing that the Wakandan forces are the only ones powerful enough to stop him, he wages war on the briefly vulnerable kingdom. The premise of Wakanda Forever is awfully by-the-numbers, especially when compared to its ever-interesting predecessor. The complex arguments from Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger have been replaced by surface-level (pun intended) anecdotes about how “humans are bad” by Namor, who falls far down the MCU villain power rankings. It also doesn’t help that his motives and the design of his underwater kingdom look and sound scarily similar to 2018’s Aquaman , which actually performed better on a technical level. Of course, James Cameron will probably have the last laugh with Avatar: The Way of Water next month. The blandness that Namor suffers from can also be found in Riri, aka Ironheart. Along with America Chavez from this year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Kate Bishop from Hawkeye , Riri fills the role of the “young protege who needs to be saved by the current hero so that she can take their place.” Florence Pugh’s Yelena remains the cream of that crop, with Riri being adequate, yet entirely forgettable. Still, there are many things that Coogler does within Wakanda Forever that give it just enough personality. One of those things is the emotional heft he conveys through T’Challa’s passing, with the talented cast more than up to the challenge. Wright effortlessly takes on a leading role in this story, and Bassett brings her signature gravitas to every bit of dialogue. Barring the final battle, which, like the first Black Panther , looks shockingly poor, and some off-putting uses of slow motion, the action set pieces are thrilling. Danai Gurira as Okoye remains a venerable badass, wielding her spear with fury. Her introduction out of the shadows is one of the countless beautiful shots. Even with all its shortcomings, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closes out a beleaguered Phase Four as one of its best entries thanks to its emotional honesty and quality action. Except those commendable attributes are in service to a lacking plot and an (at this point, expectedly) uninteresting villain. This return to the land of Wakanda was a welcome one, but it could have been so much more fruitful. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Northman April 25, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen For the majority of filmmakers across the history of cinema, there’s an inverse relationship between the control they have over the final product and how much financial backing they have. Independent films are usually the more daring ones because they can get away with making a smaller return. Sometimes a filmmaker wants to use a bigger budget to execute their vision. But once more money and resources get involved, the need to make a return on investment becomes a top priority. If your film has a $200 million budget, it needs to make around $500 million to be profitable. For a movie to gross $500 million, it needs to be accessible to a wide array of audiences. That’s where the limit on creative control comes in. Filmmakers want to be eccentric and create something unique. But being unique doesn’t guarantee results, so concessions have to be made. Throughout the production, there’s a constant battle between maintaining creativity and “selling out” by playing it safe. Writer/director Robert Eggers is the newest auteur to take up that challenge. His previous two films have a combined budget of $15 million. Both were claustrophobic mood pieces lacking commercial appeal and grossed respectable sums for what was expected. And now for his third feature, The Northman , Eggers was written a check for $90 million to execute his epically staged Viking tale of revenge. Thankfully, the worry that every cinephile has had since the film was announced has been assuaged. The Northman is an audacious uncompromised vision from one of America’s best filmmakers. The Viking theme is not window dressing, it is the full DNA. While this shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the painstaking detail Eggers instilled in his colonial New England folktale, The Witch , and the nautical insanity in The Lighthouse . But for a movie as big as this that needs to attract as much attention as possible, it would make sense from a business perspective to dull down the foreignness. In fact, there have been reports of financiers pressuring Eggers to water things down. Even if the finished version is less than what Eggers wanted, you can’t tell based on what’s still on the screen. A musclebound and completely terrifying Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth, whose legend would be the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet. Amleth’s father is betrayed by his uncle in an attempt to seize power. The young prince escapes and lives in banishment for the rest of his years, with only his bloodlust for his uncle keeping him going. An opportunity bound by fate arises for Amleth to exact his revenge. But like any Shakespearean tale, fate is a cruel mistress, and what seems destined to happen may not happen the way you think. Even at 137 minutes, The Northman is never dull. Eggers lends real weight to the action. Extended long takes illustrate the extreme gore and viciousness of Viking warfare. Limbs are chopped clean off, spears are caught midair and hurled back, and entrails get turned outward with just a few slashes. It’s that violence that creates a stark dichotomy between the physical and emotional assets of the film. The brutality of the violence isn’t properly balanced out with a tender emotional core, despite Eggers' best efforts. Anya Taylor-Joy is introduced near the midpoint to pump the heart as her relationship with Amleth steadily buds into a romance. But the film’s fist stays clenched even during those tender moments, unable to fully deliver the feeling that should be felt. Despite that romantic void, The Northman paves over it with an interesting perspective on the classic tale of revenge against those that have wronged you. The expected payoff doesn’t come, with Eggers finding immense introspection in moments that normally wouldn’t lend themselves to it. Even a sword fight between two naked Vikings taking place at the foot of an erupting volcano (yes, that actually happens) digs deeper than the superficial wounds and finds something close to the heart. The Northman is a brave and bold revenge tale that has immediately become the definitive Viking movie. Robert Eggers is no longer one of the rising stars of American filmmaking, he is the star. As the majority of filmmakers struggle to get financing for their projects, Eggers has proven once again that he deserves a blank check from here on out. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

TIFF24: Tyler's Time at the Festival September 23, 2024 By: Tyler Banark For the third consecutive year, I attended the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). My first two years were filled with joy, friendships, and little sleep. To the surprise of no one, I got that again, and a little more. I intended to see 27 movies in the span of 9 days. Although I fell slightly short of my goal, as I saw 25 in that same amount of time, TIFF was still a blast, and having a press pass to help with certain films was helpful. I saw screenings from every corner of the festival, from the world premieres showcased in the Princess of Wales Theatre and Roy Thomson Hall to the many compact auditoriums of the Scotiabank Theatre and TIFF Lightbox. I aimed to see various movies, not just the ones with big-name titles and star-studded casts. Here are my thoughts on everything I saw at the 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. I kicked the festival off with a press screening of Bird , starring Barry Keoghan. One of the highlights of the Cannes Film Festival, Bird , contains a good start that unravels into some weird moments in the second half. Keoghan gives the second-best performance of his career (behind Saltburn ) while supporting star Franz Rogowski and newcomer Nykiya Adams compliment him. However, the use of Lo-Fi music was a bit off-putting, and the film's intentions didn't add up. Fast forward hours later, I attended the opening night of Midnight Madness with a screening of Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance . As a movie I had strong feelings that I was going to hate, The Substance surprisingly worked for me. Not only does the leading trio of Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid work wonders, but the movie also makes a powerful argument for women's beauty standards in today's society. It also helps that I saw it with a Midnight Madness crowd, one of the best crowds you could experience while seeing a movie at TIFF. On my first Friday, I started with Joshua Oppenheimer's narrative debut, The End . A sci-fi drama that also functions as a musical, it was an okay start to the day that was quickly forgotten. At least Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon gave noteworthy (no pun intended) solo numbers, and George MacKay had a pleasant tenor voice. That night, I had a double feature of world premieres in Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck and John Crowley's We Live in Time . Although The Life of Chuck worked for many TIFF-goers to the point where it won the People's Choice Award, it was slightly underwhelming for me. I personally thought the movie was very schmaltzy to the point where Flanagan was doing his impression of Steven Spielberg. For We Live in Time , I was not a fan of even though I love both the stars: Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. It is a very sappy movie that, without a doubt, was one of TIFF's biggest letdowns this year. I finally got my first dose of solid cinema in Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner, Anora . Although I wasn’t a fan of The Florida Project , Anora worked for me as it contained a strong lead performance in Mikey Madison and a whirlwind of a script reminisced of the Safdie brothers’ Good Time and Uncut Gems . The euphoria I felt with that movie ended when I followed it up with Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl . A film with a heart and lead performance in the right place, The Last Showgirl didn’t have much going for it other than acting as a hopeful career resurgence for Pamela Anderson. Luckily, my neutrality washed away with Ron Howard’s Eden . Dubbed his darkest movie to date, Eden sees a strong cast bringing out the worst in humanity in a true story thriller about a group of Germans living on a South American isle. Ana de Armas became the talk of the town here as her role paints her in a villainous light that we haven’t seen before. Capping off the opening weekend were a couple of religion-infused thrillers in Edward Berger’s drama Conclave , followed by the Canadian premiere of Justin Kurzel’s action piece The Order , and the world premiere of A24’s new horror flick Heretic . Conclave was a rich drama featuring a solid cast led by Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, and Stanley Tucci. The Order dethroned Anora as the best of the fest up until that point, as Kurzel made a gritty action thriller that met my expectations to a tee. Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult led the movie with two mesmerizing performances that shouldn’t go unnoticed by moviegoers. Not only were the action and the acting the prominent points on display in The Order , but the subject matter focusing on a neo-nazi militant group that ran rampant in the Pacific Northwest made the movie more eye-opening. Heretic failed to keep the streak going, as it was an okay horror flick that featured a chilling Hugh Grant turn. It did showcase how much of a double-edged sword religion can be, but it doesn’t break the mold of other A24 horror outings. As the latter half of the festival continued, my thoughts on the other movies I saw were vast and ever-changing. I got some awful outings in Relay , Queer , Nightbitch , and Oh, Canada , where the most vital thing they had going for them was the people working on them. Just because the cast and crew were of respected talent didn’t mean they were the saving graces. Lily James and Amy Adams played sour characters and gave unamusing turns in Relay and Nightbitch , respectively. Daniel Craig provides a good performance as an eccentric traveler in Queer , an otherwise dull film. My disappointment for it was immeasurable as Luca Guadagnino had this as his follow-up to Challengers , which is my favorite movie of the year thus far. Meanwhile, Oh, Canada sees Paul Schrader craft a drama about a man recalling his flees from the US to Canada during the Vietnam War as an unreliable narrator. Films like Megalopolis and On Swift Horses fell towards the middle of the rating scale. Although vastly different, both had strong talent, like the aforementioned movies, but they were closer to being my cup of tea. Experiencing Megalopolis in and of itself was a fever dream, with an interview scene being precisely what I imagined it to be and performances that were all over the place in the best and worst ways imaginable. As for On Swift Horses , the cast of Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Will Poulter, and Diego Calva do what they can with a story that has no substance. A step above these two were The Assessment , Harbin , and Friendship , three more drastically different movies that worked slightly for me but weren’t enough to blow me away. Then there were the movies that worked for me: Saturday Night , Babygirl , The Piano Lesson , The Brutalist , and The Wild Robot . Saturday Night was the best of TIFF 2024 with its star-studded cast that fit into their roles like a glove, layered with impeccable writing from Gil Kenan and director Jason Reitman. The energy was in the air at the TIFF premiere, and the audience ate it up. Babygirl and The Brutalist were also conversation starters at the fest as they were hot off successful world premieres at the Venice Film Festival and were immediately picked up by A24. I intend to see them again once they roll out in theaters because they demand the audience's attention and will get even more people talking about them. The Piano Lesson was a drama that had no business suddenly turning into a horror film in its climax, yet it worked masterfully. Lastly, The Wild Robot will be a major animated film this awards season. Those nine days were a whirlwind for me, but it was the best kind. While I may have recovered my brain, eyes, and circadian rhythm from the ever-changing week, the movies and memories I made at TIFF 2024 will stick with me for a long time. The filmmakers who brought something to the Toronto table this year cooked a divine feast, and I honestly wished it didn’t end. If good things lasted forever, they wouldn’t be as precious. So thank you Toronto for another wonderful year, and I look forward to returning very soon! FULL RANKING 1. Saturday Night(4.5/5) 2. The Order (4.5/5) 3. Anora (4/5) 4. The Wild Robot (4/5) 5. The Substance (4/5) 6. Eden (4/5) 7. The Piano Lesson (4/5) 8. Babygirl (4/5) 9. The Brutalist (3.5/5) 10. Conclave (3.5/5) 11. Bird (3.5/5) 12. Friendship (3/5) 13. The Assessment (3/5) 14. The Life of Chuck (3/5) 15. Harbin (3/5) 16. The Last Showgirl (2.5/5) 17. Megalopolis (2.5/5) 18. Heretic (2.5/5) 19. The End (2.5/5) 20. On Swift Horses (2.5/5) 21. We Live in Time (2/5) 22. Relay (2/5) 23. Oh Canada (2/5) 24. Nightbitch (1.5/5) 25. Queer (1.5/5) You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Naked Gun July 30, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Suspenseful music plays over the opening studio logos. We emerge from the black void to see criminals running amok in a bank. They've taken hostages, freezing the police in their tracks. This has now become a job for someone with a particular set of skills with a name like Ethan Hunt, Jason Bourne, or John McClane. Unfortunately, all those heroes were busy, which means it's up to the next available man to save the day. That would be Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), a cop who doesn't allow anything to stop him from upholding the law. Donning a disguise that makes his seventy-year-old body appear that of an elementary schoolgirl, Drebin Jr. sneaks his way into the bank and defeats all the bad guys. The leader gets away with the P.L.O.T. Device from the vault, which acts as the key to a nefarious scheme by tech billionaire Richard Cane (Danny Huston) to make the world's population go feral and kill each other, leaving the wealthy elite to rule with an iron fist. Accusing the screenwriters of stealing the exact plot of Kingsman: The Secret Service would be an act of futility. The Naked Gun franchise (also known as Police Squad! ) is famous for liberally borrowing well-worn tropes and turning them on their head to reveal the absurdity that we regularly buy into. This reboot/legacy sequel comes with the benefit of time and a shifting media landscape. Theatrically released studio comedies have been a rapidly dying breed, replaced with streaming exclusives, quippy superhero films, and comedies that try to have their cake and eat it too, almost as if they're embarrassed to tell a joke that doesn't add to the plot or have a skewering reference to a piece of pop culture. The Naked Gun does not attempt to be a "smart" comedy, with co-writer/director Akiva Schaffer swinging the pendulum fully back to the days of slapstick, sight gags, and wordplay. In quick succession, we watch as the police captain posts the spring musical cast list on the corkboard, two little girls are brought in for questioning over an illegal lemonade stand, and cold cases are pulled out of the freezer. Frank and his partner Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser) are handed a cup of coffee in each scene, always throwing it away after just one sip. One of Crane's henchmen spies on Frank and his femme fatale Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) through a window, the drawn curtains creating several misconstrued sexual scenarios involving an uncooked turkey and Frank's pet dog. I'm probably the only person who saw the dreadful 2023 film Marlowe on its opening weekend (on Valentine's Day, no less, proving that I don't love myself). That film also starred Neeson and Huston in an identical hero-villain relationship, with the over-serious approach and poor execution inadvertently making the whole thing feel like a parody. Both of those stars get to have much more fun on their own terms this time around, making complete fools of themselves by poking fun at their tough guy images. Frank does more harm than good in his quest for justice, repeatedly running over cyclists and eating too many chili cheese dogs for breakfast. Crane is like all the tech billionaires we wish would just take their money and go away forever. Anderson shows off her long-hidden comedic sensibilities, perfectly matching the goofiness. It's almost back-to-school season, so let's do a quick math equation. We've got a ninety-minute runtime, a joke every thirty seconds, and a sixty-percent hit rate. That math means I laughed about one hundred times throughout the film, and just about as much as I was writing this review. A deal like that sounds too good to be true. But I assure you it's real, and it's much better when shared with everyone at the theater. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

We Grown Now May 4, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark “A place is the people.” Those are the last words shown on the screen of Minhal Baig’s latest film, We Grown Now . It’s a motif used in various other films that have followed the same vein, such as 2019’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco and 2021’s Belfast . To an extent, this philosophy is true, as landmarks can define many cities and towns, but the locals always make it what it is. In the case of We Grown Now , Baig shows off a part of the Windy City that’s rarely discussed outside of it: the now-deceased Cabrini-Green neighborhood. To say Chicago was striving and thriving in 1992 would be a statement that could pose mixed responses. The Bulls were in their prime and Carlton Fisk was near the end of his stint with the White Sox. But above all, the city was in a tough spot with handling the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green neighborhood located on the Near North Side. Living within this area are best friends Malik and Eric (played by newcomers Blake Cameron James and Gian Knight Ramirez, respectively). They go to school blocks away from their high-rise and dream of bigger things than the harsh reality they live in. They escape their troubles by jumping on a big pile of old mattresses at recess in a game they simply call “jumping” and, at one point, skip school to visit The Art Institute of Chicago. In these scenes, We Grown Now paints a soulful look into the wonder and awe of Malik and Eric's experience as if it were something out of a Barry Jenkins movie. This inspiration is worn on the movie’s sleeve as the world slows down or stops altogether while they live in the moment and truly be what they are: kids. Jumping and visiting the art institute aren’t the wisest choices for their parents, but Malik and Eric do it anyway as it’s true escapism from their home lives. Malik lives with his single mom Dolores (Jurnee Smollett), grandmother Anita, and little sister, Diana; meanwhile, Eric lives with his single dad Jason (Lil Rel Howery), and much older sister, Amber. The simple fact of where they live means that being in the wrong place at the wrong time can have serious consequences, with even the supposed good guys of the Chicago PD always toeing the line of morality. Although audiences never see the violence or chaos that runs amuck in Cabrini-Green (the movie is PG), Baig gives a clear idea of what’s going on. She filters these tragic truths as much as possible, and while it works to educate younger viewers safely, it also makes the movie feel a little too restrained. One of Malik and Eric’s classmates was accidentally killed in a shooting. The shooting itself is seen through news footage, and we witness officers stampede at Malik and Eric’s school and enforce ID cards to all the residents of their high-rise. Even though they’re not sure how to feel in the moment, Malik and Eric both understand that it’s not unrealistic to think that could have been them. It’s a double-edged sword to dance around the heavy subject matter. On one end, the great performances fill up the gaps in boldness. James and Ramirez give star-making performances with flawless chemistry that makes for one of the best on-screen youthful friendships in a long time. Howery proves he’s not solely a comedic performer, displaying some great dramatic chops. Smollett gives a powerhouse performance as a mother always on the brink of losing her sanity because of the jarring atmosphere but knows her kids will never learn from their mistakes unless she gets the lesson across correctly. Countering those performances on the other end of the sword is the overt familiarity in the specific beats of this coming-of-age story. That also extends to the visuals as DP Pat Scola’s (also seen in Sing Sing later this year) soulful approach feels a bit copied from the aforementioned The Last Black Man in San Francisco . Faults aside, We Grown Now still has some powerfulness as it brings eyes to a part of an iconic city that’s unknown to outsiders. Unfortunately, the reception on the festival circuit hasn’t been as fervent as it should be, nor will it likely break out in theaters. But for those who venture out for something quieter during the summer movie season, there’s a lot to appreciate. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Bardo November 25, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen No one can ever blame Alejandro G. Iñárritu for not trying hard enough. Be it the juggling of multiple storylines across multiple languages in Amores Perros and Babel , the one-take trickery within Birdman , or the on-location shooting in frigid temperatures for The Revenant , Iñárritu has never been one to take the easy road. With Bardo , another entry in the ever-growing and possibly soon-to-be fatigued genre of director autobiographies, the two-time Academy Award winner for Best Director rivals only Charlie Chaplin and his fellow countrymen Alfonso Cuarón in terms of how many facets of production he has fingerprints all over. Serving as the director, writer, producer, editor, and composer, and basis for the entire narrative, there isn’t a single moment where Iñárritu’s presence isn’t front and center, resulting in the year’s most technically accomplished and uber-pretentious (you decide the connotation of that term) piece of filmmaking. Bardo , or Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths as it's officially called (here’s hoping Iñárritu stops with these elongated titles, Birdman was enough), marks Iñárritu’s first feature film since 2015. Of course, who can blame him for wanting to step away from it all after the immense logistical pressures of constructing Birdman and The Revenant ? But more than just returning to making films, Bardo also represents the Mexican director's return to his native country since his 2000 debut of Amores Perros . Unlike most directors, like Kenneth Branagh with Belfast or Steven Spielberg with The Fabelmans , Iñárritu’s view of his personal life isn’t through rose-tinted glasses. The character named Silverio Gama serves as the Iñárritu stand-in. He’s one of the most revered journalists and documentary filmmakers in Mexico and the United States. But fame in both lands is a double-edged sword, with many of his critics, himself included, finding him too gringo for Mexico, and too Latin for America. “Success has been my biggest failure,” Silverio claims as he prepares to accept an honorary award that will surely churn that existential divide even more. Just as it is within other memory-based films like The Tree of Life or 8 1/2 , the plot within Bardo isn’t really all that important. Much of the film is told out of chronological order, looping around in a circle as aspects from early scenes get reworked into later ones. And much of it isn’t literal either, with plenty of symbolic moments, such as a reenactment of a 19th-century battle or a newborn baby asking to be put back in the womb because “the world is too fucked up” (yes, you read that right), used as grand representations for personal turmoil and existentialism. Is any of it really that deep or insightful? No. And should I have a ton of sympathy for an ultra-successful celebrity that’s going through a glorified midlife crisis? Also no. But there is great beauty within Bardo’s falseness. Replacing regular DP Emmanuel Lubezki (who went off to help David O. Russell make his first feature since 2015 in Amsterdam ) is the equally legendary Darius Khondji, doubly present this year with James Gray’s Armageddon Time . Iñárritu and the Iranian cinematographer concoct some of the most mesmerizing images of the year, taking inspiration from Terrence Malick’s insistence on natural lighting. Many of the most stunning moments are told in Iñárritu’s signature long takes, with the highlight being a dance sequence where the camera weaves around a sea of people as it follows Silverio letting loose. On a technical level, this often feels like Iñárritu’s most ambitious film yet, which obviously is quite the statement. But just like Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front , this must-see theatrical experience will be mostly limited to television screens as Netflix holds the distribution rights. Bardo is a work of staggering beauty, looping around in circles as it makes you ask questions about how we got here, what's going on, and what's going to happen next. Fans (such as myself) will latch on to this singular vision and ponder the meaning behind it all, while detractors will immediately turn it off on account of its obtuse pretentiousness. And, like any great work of art, both sides will be correct in their stances. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

A Simple Favor October 1, 2018 By: Button Hunter Friesen Stephanie Smothers is a young woman who absolutely loves her job as a single mother to her son. Her life consists of caring for him, volunteering at school, and running a popular parenting vlog. At school, she meets Emily Nelson, the mother of her son’s best friend. Emily works a high-end job in the city and is powerful, mysterious, and glamorous, all the things Stephanie isn’t. The two of them quickly become best friends, or so Stephanie thinks. One day she gets a call from Emily, asking for “a simple favor”. The favor quickly gets out of hand, flipping Stephanie's clean life upside down. A twisted game starts to take shape, one that threatens to uncover layers of hidden secrets and dark desires. A Simple Favor comes as the first drama for director Paul Feig, who’s best known for comedies such as Spy and Ghostbusters . Feig directs the first act impeccably. He sets up the plot with confidence by introducing us to the main characters. We are given their personalities and background, but not in their entirety. Some details are left out intentionally in order to build suspense, which works very well at keeping us on the edge of our seats. Unfortunately, the next two acts don’t work as well. Feig starts to lose control over his film and things get messy. The pacing slows way down and important plot points are thrown at us left and right until we can’t keep things straight. The film doesn’t want to be taken too seriously as it mixes elements of both drama and comedy. The only problem is that the flipping between tones doesn’t feel as natural as it should. The third act especially suffers from this as we don’t know what to be feeling when the climax arrives. Adapted from the 2017 novel of the same name, the writing for A Simple Favor fares just as well as the directing. The first act introduces a strong premise with interesting characters. The conversations between Stephanie and Emily are whip-smart as each character tries to understand the other. The next two acts aren’t able to sustain the same level of mystery as the first. Things start to get a little too preposterous too quickly. The characters lose their edge and become carbon copies of what we’ve seen before in previous films. There is also an overabundance of clichés in the latter half of the film that undermines all the good material that had been set up in the beginning. None of them will be listed for the sake of spoilers. It’s just very underwhelming because each one has been done before and comes off as predictable and disappointing. Anna Kendrick does pretty solid work as Stephanie Smothers. She plays the young mom type quite well and provides a lot of great material for the comedic tone. The one struggle she has is when the film starts to get darker as she’s just not entirely believable as a character with a bad side. Blake Lively, sharing the same fate as Kendrick, plays Emily Nelson. Lively excels early on as her confidence brings an aura of mystery to her character. By the end, however, she loses what made her so good and her performance becomes more one-note. Fresh off his breakout role as Nick Young in Crazy Rich Asians , Henry Golding stars as Sean Townsend, Emily’s husband. Golding brings the same charm from his previous role but with more edge to it. He fairs alright but constantly gets overshadowed by the two leading ladies. A Simple Favor can be loosely branded as a campier and lower-quality version of Gone Girl . It boasts one of the best opening acts of the year, but also some of the biggest mistakes that lead to a lot of missed potential. Overall, A Simple Favor is an average film that serves up enough mystery and thrills to warrant a viewing. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Taste of Things October 29, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Taste of Things screened at the 2023 Twin Cities Film Fest. IFC Films will release it for an Oscar-qualifying run in December, followed by a limited release on February 09, 2024. Is there a more perfect way to wake up in the morning than to the smell of sizzling eggs, crackling bacon, and onions soaked in butter? It’s what Dodin (Benoît Magimel) has awoken to every day over the past twenty years, the aroma of the fresh ingredients crawling its way from the kitchen all the way to his grand bedroom within the vast manor. “This is the best moment of the day,” he thinks as he flies down the stairs, ready to be embraced by the food and woman that he loves. Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) has always been the head of her kitchen domain, crafting famous meals with quiet determination. She too is in love with Dodin, yet she always refuses his proposals for marriage on the grounds that matrimony will only complicate the good thing they have going for them. He’s always disappointed in her rejections, and yet he also slightly agrees with her. Together they are unstoppable; him the mastermind of intricate recipes and menus, and her the hands-on artist who brings those ideas to life. If you were to eliminate all the scenes of cooking within The Taste of Things , you would be left with maybe thirty minutes of “plot.” I put that last word in quotations because those extended sequences of cooking tell just as much, if not more, of the story as the scenes filled with dialogue. Cooking is an intimate process for the central pair, a time when they communicate without saying a word. A scene early on sees Dodin entertaining guests with Eugénie preparing all the courses downstairs. Once it is over, all the men congratulate Eugénie and ask her to dine with them next time. She happily says that would be redundant as “what I say is already in the food.” Writer/director Tran Anh Hung (winner of the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival) entrances you in this process of creation. There’s a sweet harmony in witnessing the journey of the garden to the plate. The camera swerves around the kitchen, capturing the in-process cookery with sumptuous detail. Meat sizzles, water boils, spoons clank against the brass pots, the doors of the woodfire oven creak open, and the bread cracks when cut open. It’s a total ASMR experience, one that fully earns the simplistic description of “food porn” that has lovingly been bestowed upon it. There’s little drama or stakes within The Taste of Things , which is one of its best features. There are plenty of movies ( Burnt ) and television shows ( The Bear ) that showcase the anxiety-inducing highwire act that cooking can be. There is great skill under pressure here, but Anh Hung is more interested in the slowly drawn method and how it all comes together when you are comfortable in your element. Time seems to stand still, your body and mind totally connected as one. It’s like a conductor guiding a symphony, every note being hit perfectly with reassuring calmness. The scenes outside the kitchen are just as sumptuous as the food itself. The warm cinematography makes the gardens and fields feel like Eden. The seasons are picturesque in their beauty, leaves turning from vibrant green to bright orange, replaced by a freckling of snow. Binoche and Magimel are an electric pair within their surroundings. They project a consistent feeling of serenity, both of them aware that their love for each other is intertwined with their craft. You know what they say, the quickest way to a person’s heart is through their stomach. There continues to be a need for stories that reflect the increasing bleakness of this world. But that means there’s more room for projects that remind us of the beauty in the timeless things we all experience and often take for granted. The Taste of Things is one of those films as it illustrates both the simplicity and complexity of sustaining ourselves through food. Just make sure to plan your meals carefully before and after seeing it. You owe your stomach (and other senses) that much. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Woman in Cabin 10 October 10, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Keira Knightley stars in The Woman in Cabin 10 , not to be confused with Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train , Amy Adams in The Woman in the Window , Danielle Deadwyler in The Woman in the Yard , or Kristen Bell in The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window . It might be a worrying sign that studios are still producing entries into this female-driven modern Rear Window subgenre, even after it has reached the point of self-parody. The Woman in Cabin 10 isn't here to be a change of pace, or even to be the sharpest knife in the drawer. That would require it to be positively memorable, which it most certainly isn't. Apart from the occasional statements of red, much of this whodunnit mystery is enveloped in a sea of sleek grey. It's meant to represent the cold indifference that has permeated the modern world, of which investigative reporter Laura Blacklock (Knightley) knows all too well. Her latest piece about Kurdish female freedom fighters caused her source to be drowned in retaliation, and her uncovering of a misappropriation of funds at a well-known NGO didn't make a dent in the headlines. An opportunity for a change of pace comes her way in the form of an invitation to attend the sailing of billionaire Richard Bullmer's (Guy Pearce) mega yacht in remembrance of his wife Anne, who is nearing the end of her terminal cancer diagnosis. The journey will be attended by a group of wealthy elites, and end with a gala celebration where everyone will make exorbitant pledges to Anne's foundation. It's charity filtered through the biggest egos on the planet. This scenario means that The Woman in Cabin 10 is another movie where the normal main character arrives at a swanky destination under routine pretenses, only to learn that not everything is what it seems. You've probably seen this trope played out multiple times before over the last few years in stuff like Opus , Shell, Blink Twice , The Menu , etc. This movie even has a similar scene where Laura must swap out her shoes to comply with the dress code, and is notified that cell phone services are restricted while on board. This takes place in the third scene, and, if you've seen any of the films already mentioned in this review, you can very accurately guess where the rest of this story is going to go. The ensemble of guests is rich assholes, although they're all extremely generic and uninteresting. Hannah Waddingham is an art dealer, Daniel Ings is an alpha bro, Kaya Scodelario is his fake influencer girlfriend, and Paul Kaye is a vague drug-addled rockstar. Honestly, it doesn't matter, as their entire personalities are devoted to shaming Laura for ruining their weekend when she claims to have witnessed the woman in Cabin 10 being thrown overboard. However, the ship's captain insists that the room was never occupied, and no one else on board has been reported missing. Laura knows what she saw, and only has a few days to prove it before these people disembark and return to their consequence-free empires. "Tell the truth" is a phrase repeatedly used, with writers Simon Stone, Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse rallying the everyman against the elites who believe that their wealth and power place them above the law. It's a mission statement inundated with modern culture (I'll spare you from another list of movies that have already done this), almost as if it's become gauche for a movie to simply be a piece of entertainment. The Woman in Cabin 10 is too shallow and ludicrous to be taken seriously, and too dull to have fun with. The less said about the ending, the better, in which the film thinks that all wrongs have been righted (hint: they most certainly haven't). The boat at least looks pretty, giving me another small nudge to finally book that Scandinavian cruise I've always wanted to go on. And Knightley is a very capable lead, effortlessly making the material seem much more elevated than it really is. Her presence has been sorely missed on the silver screen, with only two other films - Boston Strangler and Silent Night - to her name in the last five years. Someone needs to come along with a script worthy of her talents, because we're currently letting one of our best actors languish in mediocrity. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Nightbitch September 8, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Nightbitch had its World Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it in theaters on December 06. “Motherhood is a bitch” reads the tagline for Nightbitch , the feature film adaptation of author Rachel Yoder’s much-raved 2021 novel. It comes as a warning to us all, but not in the form the overzealous marketing (including an incredibly divisive trailer ) would have led us to believe. Motherhood can be a trapdoor for some people, with the promises of the beauty of fertility and providing for others being switched out for restless nights, little appreciation, and the slipping sense that you are your own person. It turns women into a primordial version of themselves, a state where self-preservation triumphs over self-actualization. And in the case of Nightbitch (both the novel and the film), motherhood being a bitch is also a warning that there may be a slight chance you start turning into a dog after having children. Only slight! It first starts with patches of fur and a heightened sense of smell for our unnamed Mother (Amy Adams). Her newborn boy is now a two-year-old, and those very long two years have worn her down. When she sees a friend in the supermarket, they ask her if she loves being a mother. In one of several instances of writer/director Marielle Heller’s comically-intuned editing, Mother goes into a long tirade about its pitfalls akin to America Ferrera’s speech in Barbie . But once she’s gotten that off her chest, we cut back to reality and at the start of the initial question, only for Mother to answer with a simple “I love it!” This exchange represents the heart that Heller is digging for in the next 90-ish minutes. There is so much about motherhood that cannot be discovered until it is experienced, with society not allowing women to talk about what they have to go through every day. Or, if someone does lend an ear, it’s usually in the form of her husband (Scoot McNairy), who, while always having a loving interest, never gives the full attention and consideration required. Both of them just float through their existence, one shouting into the void and the other turning the other way. Once the breaking point is reached for Mother, that’s when her animal instincts come out. In a page out of the Animorphs book series, Mother transforms into a red husky at night, running with a pack of dogs doing all sorts of canine things. She comes back to the human world covered in leaves and smelling of blood, and also with a sense of freedom that could only be achieved by fully cutting loose. Is this transformation literal, or just a metaphorical representation of postpartum depression and body changes? The clues lead to it being literal, but Heller never dives enough into the deep end for it to be conclusive. There are more than a few moments of kookiness (the ones promised in the trailer) where this movie could distance itself from the many other stories about womanhood and maternity, but there’s a refusal from Heller to really through us for a loop. Her intentions and emotions are authentic, something that shouldn’t be a surprise considering her filmography which includes Can You Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood . Someone who does cut loose is Adams, devouring the meat of this performance with gusto. Her character fears becoming invisible, but it’s impossible not to see what Adams is bringing to the table, which ranges from soulfully teary monologues to devouring rabbits on the front lawn. Backing her up is an enigmatic performance from Jessica Harper as the local librarian and a trio of neighborly moms (Zoe Chao, Mary Holland, and Archana Ryan) that provide some excellent moments of comic relief. They often say less is more, but in the case of Nightbitch , more would have been more. A little more zaniness here and a little more directness there would have lifted this well-meaning story out of the crowded category labeled “just fine.” A woman turning into a dog isn’t exactly doing just fine, and neither should a film with such promise as this. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Run Rabbit Run February 7, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Run Rabbit Run had its World Premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Netflix will release it on its streaming platform on June 28. Two things are entirely predictable within Run Rabbit Run , debuting at this year's Sundance Film Festival as part of the Midnight Madness section. The first is that Sarah Snook is terrific in the lead role, stripping away her ultra-rich American vibe from Succession and donning her native accent and a plain demeanor. The second predictable thing is the entire plot, right down to character motivations and specific moments where we're supposed to feel scared. It's nearly impossible to feel an authentic level of terror when those elements are so transparent, so all we end up doing is staring blankly at the screen waiting for what we expect to happen to actually happen. Snook plays Sarah (why make things more complicated?), a single-mother fertility doctor in Southern Australia. She appears to be on decent terms with her ex-husband, who pops in to help celebrate their daughter Mia's seventh birthday. But just as one life is being celebrated, another is being mourned. Sarah's father recently passed away, leaving her in charge of the medical care for her senile mother, who is housed in a care facility. Mia has an odd fascination with Sarah's parents, even though she's never met them. She's constantly asking questions about them and decides to take on the persona of Alice to be closer to them. Things continually get darker from there, with Mia’s (or now Alice’s) actions becoming unexplainable, including creepy drawings and claiming to have memories of past lives. Run Rabbit Run is a film littered with symbolism, with the title providing a preview of what animal will be used to conjure up creepy imagery. Director Daina Reid and cinematographer Bonnie Elliot produce some interesting shots, with the white fluffiness of the titular animal providing a stark contrast to the gloomy shadows within Sarah's home and psyche. There's also a decent score provided by the duo of Mark Bradshaw and Marcus Whale, who's semi-regularly partnered with some of Australia and New Zealand's top filmmakers, such as Jane Campion on Bright Star and Top of the Lake . The low strings cut deep to the bone, with occasional pop whenever the terror becomes more in-your-face. "In-your-face" would also be an accurate way to describe Hannah Kent's script, which reveals so many clues early on that it takes little effort to figure out the "twist" ending by the midway mark. Sarah doesn't like to talk about her past, with her mother dropping hints along the way on account of her dementia. A few all too obvious glances at pictures and emphasis on words by the mother tell you all you need to know about what the name Alice means. And if that wasn't obvious enough, the final thirty minutes hammer it home with the same intensity as a nineteenth-century gold miner. It's almost a surface-level cliché at this point to compare this film to The Babadook , but the parallels are so on-the-nose that I feel like I wouldn't be fulfilling my professional duties if I didn't. Plenty of good horror movies have been copies of those that came before them, but they had to earn their keep through inventive ideas surrounding well-worn topics. Run Rabbit Run doesn't do any of that, pedaling the same "elevated" scares that we've partially become numb to at this point. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen