Category Archives: Drama

10.10.26
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The Social Reckoning

Aaron Sorkin returns to the playing fields of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, only with a far more urgent and relevant call to take action on big tech’s omnipotence and its manipulation of us. Though Jeremy Strong’s turn as Zuckerberg feels inferior to Jesse Eisenberg’s performance in The Social Network, he effectively portrays the ego that comes from leading the most trusted and revered communication platform, including the lack of responsibility to anyone but himself, even its billions of users. Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White are the film’s most important dynamic, portraying a reluctant whistleblower and a journalist who’s empathetic and refreshingly clueless at times. Betty Gilpin is outstanding and a scene-stealer here as a figure of authority who’s easy to root for, even when she’s harsh on her employees. Bill Burr also has many of the film’s best scenes and lines, while Wunmi Mosaku and Anna Lambe deserve shouts as well in Sorkin’s well-rounded cast.

Sorkin’s dialogue is often strong and finds the right time for great humor, though it isn’t surprising at this point in film to depict the sheer narcissism and societal control that comes to those with unlimited resources. It may underwhelm in comparison to its predecessor, but it tells a story that feels important without losing sight of the absurdity of the power of tech giants and their abuse of it for the sake of numbers and face.

10.09.26
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Fjord

Fjord opens in a small, isolated town in Norway, beautiful and spacious, that hides some darker secrets within its citizens’ nature. Christian Mungiu’s screenplay takes away the classic narrative trick of giving us (a) character(s) who come off as role models that we can completely see ourselves in. Instead, we are brought into an incredibly uncomfortable situation where nobody is quite “right”, but we sympathize with the majority of them, even if we can’t look at one person and declare that we’d live our lives the way they do.

Sebastian Stan is giving his best-ever work, disappearing into a hardened and charisma-free character, and Renate Reinsve is sensational as the main family’s matriarch, never allowing us for a moment to forget why we feel for and care about these characters, even if we disagree with some of their actions. Mungiu embraces long takes rather than individual coverage to create sweeping intensity and elevate the stakes beyond the personal to the societal.

Over its epic 2.5-hour runtime, the film unravels a truth integral to understanding the structure of any society, from the beginning of time to our era today. It leaves you with no solutions or answers, no clear sides, yet it’ll get deeply under your skin and spark the most important and introspective conversations that the most profound and uncomfortable films should.

10.05.26
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Digger

Truly daring and polarizing works of narrative storytelling don’t come often at this scale. Alejandro G. Iñárritu seems to be embracing both his non-Hollywood roots and the grandeur of major studio production with Digger, a Trojan horse of a film that’s as baffling as it is thought-provoking and urgent. Tom Cruise gives a behemoth of a performance, playing a character meant to satirize the “expertise” and power our society creates around immense wealth. The surrounding cast is also excellent, including the brilliant Sandra Hüller and John Goodman in such a ridiculously angry turn as the POTUS that it actually works for how extravagant the film wants to be.

The film is also very bleak, pulling a trick on you that some viewers will love, others hate, and some won’t know whether it enhances or tanks the story. As it peels back the layers, it tests its luck as to whether the concept is truly effective or just too extravagant for the sake of it, but once it unravels the bigger picture for you, there’s a powerful statement about the depth of human selfishness and ignorance for comfort’s sake. However, it doesn’t know when to dial back the caricature of its characters and situations, even when much of it is intentional. Though I would love to rewatch it knowing what I know now, it also takes getting through a lot of more cringeworthy scenes to get to the unforgettable lightbulb moments. Though the satire is on-the-nose, it’s a film that will stick with you for a while for its ambition and completely jarring essence. Simultaneously difficult to recommend but impossible to skip, it’s got something to say about each one of us sitting in the audience, not to mention the stunning costumes, makeup work, score, and production design (the sets are out of this world).

10.01.26
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Heart of the Beast

David Ayer wisely chooses to shy away from antagonists and big fight sequences in his newest film, focusing more on a man and his dog’s bond and their fight against the forces of nature to stay alive and make it home, after being stranded in the wilderness due to a plane crash.

Brad Pitt continues to be one of our strongest and most unmissable movie stars, and his character’s military background and ferocity are what make him interesting, but the bond between the two main characters are what will make audiences, and all dog lovers, enjoy this one, even if the premise has been done in many ways before and doesn’t present much that’s new.

09.26.26
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Primetime

Robert Pattinson gives one of his most daring performances as TV host Chris Hansen, who led the boundary-pushing reality series To Catch a Predator on NBC. Pattinson brings us deep underneath the ambition and professionalism of the man to show us that his strength and determination come not from a desire to be a star, but from seeing himself as an investigative journalist who believes he’s doing the most important work that not even the authorities can achieve at his level. Merritt Wever is incredible here and the film’s standout. Her work in the film is deserving of so many flowers, portraying conflict, empathy, and ambition in the role of one of the show’s producers. Skyler Gisondo is also fantastic as an aspiring actor who gets cast by Hansen to join the team.

Filmed in a cinematic manner that feels distant from our present but still aware of its ploys, Primetime shows us the relationship between morality and exploitation, without ever giving us easy answers about how we should handle such situations, but allowing us to think about the complex and deeply uncomfortable nature of what we’re watching. Knowing as little about the true story behind the show and its journey will make many moments surprising as well, with lots of humor and shock being balanced with the audacity of these situations, but the knowledge that it’s also far too real and scary.

09.13.26
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The Uprising

In the story that inspired Robin Hood, a farmer leads a rebellion against King Richard II’s tyranny that will determine their fates and freedom.

This film presents some interesting moral and historical ideas, though Paul Greengrass aims for something that always looks epic without always maintaining a strong pace. Andrew Garfield leads the cast very strongly here, which includes great actors such as Thomasin McKenzie, Jamie Bell, and Katherine Waterson, and a special standout being Woody Norman as the king. The action, sets, and costumes are all put together quite well, even if the director’s shaky/documentary-like camerawork that’s occasionally woven in with more grand, cinematic shots, doesn’t always fit. The movie’s runtime also tends to drag in the latter half, which takes out much of the film’s energy, even if the ending itself is quite memorable. Still, the movie thinks it’s far more shocking than it is, and it’s a serviceable film about the cycle of violence and corruption in monarchy, without ever rising above the pack of similar films like Braveheart or The King.

08.28.26
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The Dog Stars

Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic thriller offers a few strong performances, particularly from Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin. However, it seems too obviously to be treading the same ground as films like I Am Legend and 28 Days Later. It may not have much to offer from a tension perspective, and remains predictable in just about every turn, but the actors and the conversations the characters have may offer just enough interest to those who don’t mind something familiar.

Scott knows how to assemble a cast of big names who all work in the film’s favor, and Elorid’s character is very sympathetic. However, it may be easy to guess just about every twist or plot direction due to its lack of apparent originality.

07.01.26
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The Invite

A conversation between two neighboring couples at a dinner party turns into something far more unexpected and challenging, as the couples are forced to confront the most uncomfortable and hilarious truths.

One of the funniest movies to come out in years, Olivia Wilde’s The Invite is lifted by its leading performances and exploration of ideas in its clever one-location setting. The concept may be something we’re no strangers to, but the fleshed-out couple dynamics, hilarious dialogue, and plot turns make this one quite worth the time and enjoyment. Seth Rogen is giving one of his best performances as a man who counters every situation with honesty, while Wilde’s character is the opposite, her night driven entirely by the gratification of social approval. Edward Norton greatly stands out as someone whose demeanor is perhaps what we’d consider eccentric, but his outlook on people is liberating and free of judgment. Penelope Cruz also gets the chance to show how funny she is, but her character is also the most emotionally intelligent of the bunch.

Though the jokes often come at a rapid pace and deliver laugh-out-loud payoffs, every character remains deeply empathetic, not necessarily despite their flaws or destructiveness, but rather because of them, portraying relationships with a complexity that can be discussed, as well as the multifaceted nature of humans themselves.

05.16.26
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Mother Mary

A profound drama that may leave many different interpretations, Mother Mary is one of David Lowery’s most interesting movies with one of Anne Hathaway’s best-ever performance as she wonderfully shares the screen with a ferocious Michaela Coel. Though it’s best to go into this one blind, the intimate lens with which the film focuses on celebrity through a conversation between a pop star and her stylist/former lover is fascinating. It’s so easy for depression to be portrayed as a caricature, especially with films dealing with women’s mental health, but this film is not only respectful but rich in its layered yet not defining depiction of depression. The supporting cast is also resonant, particularly FKA Twigs in a standout role.

The haunting production design is the glue between real and dream and puts the audience in a trance throughout the runtime. The film explores so much that’s only hinted at, but there’s much to be said about the relationship between humanity and the illogical, and the wounds that shape our being forever. Much of the film’s thematic material feels wholly original and left for the audience to unpack long after it ends. It may frustrate some with its lack of easy answers, but this deeply uncomfortable and transfixing journey is one that may marks a career milestone performance for Hathaway and many different aspects that could be unpacked by audiences for years.

04.20.26
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Michael

A musical biopic about a monumental pop star is a whole lot of spectacle that spends too much time with the familiar beats and too little time allowing us to feel the impact of his journey and his discography. Every character feels one-note or like a simple vessel to move plot points forward, even Michael himself. Jaafar Jackson commits himself to Michael’s amazing stage presence and dance moves, but the movie doesn’t allow us to feel much for Michael as a person outside of his circumstances and talent. Colman Domingo is excellent as Michael’s emotionally cold, controlling, and abusive father Joseph, but the film spends way too many repetitive scenes trying to show us that Michael desparately needs to break free from Joseph and pave his own way forward.

Any other theme this movie attempts to go for feels painfully underdeveloped, whether his rise to fame, health issues, activism, or the trails he blazed for black representation in mainstream arts. The things that are special to this musician are touched on briefly, while the movie instead insists on hitting all the familiar beats we’ve seen in countless music biopics. The real star here is the sound design, which dials everything up to an 11 during the concert and performance scenes and make us feel immersed in them. That unfortunately only encompasses about eight minutes of Michael‘s 127-minute runtime, which feels incomplete and like the team in the editing room had an hour they should’ve cut and far more story that could’ve already been told.

Though Michael Jackson’s songs moved the Earth and changed the course of the world, the movie doesn’t reach deep enough into the magic of his music and the work that was put around it. The film seems interested in making the case that he is indeed the greatest popstar of all time but clueless as to how to convince us, even those of us who already believe it, instead presenting us with a few of those extraordinary moments from the King of Pop’s life, while the drama offers frustrating lack of nuance that becomes more and more tedious. This missed opportunity of a film that tries a whole lot of everything with not much of it sticking at all. We should’ve been soaring with the hits and left better understanding the human being behind the legend, instead we feel like we’re interacting with caricatures, and then one of the greatest songs of all time starts playing every now and then.