Editor's Reviews
In-depth reviews by our experts 🔮
The End of Oak Street
"Pretty average sci-fi. Pretty good dinosaur diet given the state of the Jurassic franchise. I anticipated something entirely different since this is by David Robert Mitchell. Didn't get the overinflated ratings on this one, neither any sense of paranoia coming from the other side catered to the delusional so-called feminization of what's historically supposed to be a masculine savior survival adventure. Sure it's not Fallen Kingdom or Dominion but is it even remotely close to anything Spielberg even though clear hints of inspirations can be seen?"
Lucy
"Lucy is one big magic show that parts its way from the realm of science fiction and focuses more into being cocky and a show off. The various modes of exposition were a travesty and for a movie about the unlocked godlike potential at universal scale, it primitively opts for the less sophisticated ways to do it. I know, talk about being ironic. Morgan Freeman with slides, I mean, come on!!! But, then again it would be disingenuous and a great deal of disservice to even suggest that Lucy had no substance whatsoever, it's just that it didn't quite utilize its potential, let alone to a 100%. A mind expanding hypothesis reduced to a bunch of CGI tricks."
Strange Harvest
"I guess there can be too much procedural in a police procedural based on the hunt for a serial killer. The nitty gritties, the concepts associated with this worn out subject have been so repeatedly to death that none of it seemed innovative although Strange Harvest tried to juggle a couple of stuff. Nothing in this felt new or original. It's just a few different true crime tropes mixed in with a lot of ritualistic subjects along with a bit of cosmic horror. So, a little bit of everything."
May
"Creepy weird neighborhood girl grows up to become even weirder and creepier in this uncomfortable watch that has a hand fetish. You know it's all heading for trouble when you have Anna Farris in a movie and she is not the crazy one. Really generic delusional slasher."
Tuner
"Is it like way off to even suggest that I find this one more to my liking than Baby Driver. I mean it is Baby Driver minus the playlist and the comedy and the rushing style of filmmaking. Tuner has great sound design with every click, every creak, ring, clang and clink, whir, bang, thud and all kinds of noises really vivid and expressive enough as is it overwhelming and jarring exponentially as the movie progresses. Calming amidst all this chaos, it finds its rhythm so attuned to the self-destructive theme of squandering what really matters even if with the best of intentions that you just can't shake the dread of the feeling as to when the other shoe is going to drop. The usual classic good kid boy genius finding himself in a pickle, mixed up in bad business. Although, the surprising turn it took when it pulled the rug out underneath by taking a sharp corner not placating to a soft landing of the shoe rather chose a collision course. Absolutely devastating yet bold choice. Totally worth it. Has an uncanny resemblance to Sean Baker's trademarks."
Heresy
"One woman bears the cost of being chaste, gets victimized to the farthest point in a medieval village where morality is a whim and god is the biggest joke. So, she gives birth to a new god. Pretty straightforward. Like Von Trier's Dogville straightforward. Shot like a music video rather than a feature film. If Robert Egger's The Witch was subtle and sharp, this one is brazen and punched through the hyper male-dominated conventions that fuel atrocities without anything leaving to the imagination. Could've easily been a short film."
Smile 2
"With each passing minute of the runtime which felt like an eternity, flecks off my patience were chipping away. A huge step down from the first one just like Taub's getting demoted to an ER nurse after so much experience. Couldn't care for the whole flair, the pizzazz, the flashing lights, the glitter, the shine even though the performance was on point. Okay, maybe a little too intense. And they should have gone easy with the upside down shots. One or two is okay for emphasis but at this rate, things got a little obvious and out of hand along with the chaotic and noisy elements of this sequel harder to contain. All reduced to spectacle, theatrics and effects. The choice of choreographed smiley faces was particularly lame."
Influencers
"This sequel to an underrated original thriller gets off the rails after cultivating much of its time to let you think it's actually going somewhere interesting. Even though it's uneven at places maybe due to its multiple pov approach with one too many time jumps, Influencers designs a cat and mouse game involving one calculating tech-whiz master manipulator psychopath and his former prey hunting down each other. It doesn't begin right where the prequel ended, instead it lets you use your imagination before filling the gaps. It takes you back to the stories of earlier victims and their trauma while in the process doesn't forget to revolve around new marks. The original one was no-holds-barred as it was, the sequel does even one better, which means more outrageous. Therefore, it is less strategic and more boastful and reckless. All things considered, I have to admit the directorial routes Influencers takes and the technical choices it makes are quite good for a movie like this. And by that I mean stories that give the impression of being typically taken out of a novel popularized on BookTok. It's brazen, it's beyond believable but it's entertainment."
Death Becomes Her
"Bruce Willis used to be an actor with so many layers and this comedy proves that. He was hilarious in this. One can witness the seeds being planted 15 years ago for Miranda Priestly here."
Lake Mungo
"Could've fooled me for a documentary with its short simple accessible premise and minimalistic approach with such a low budget. Never knew a ghost can be used in such an intriguing way as an instrument of stand-in for red herring, distraction, misdirection, illusion and coincidences. Had to go back to confirm it all slipped by me. And they sure did. In this case, the low quality res actually acted in favor of the whole vibe of Lake Mungo, although one can always question why was there always someone conveniently available with a camera around all the incidents. It was 2005 not 2025."
Shanghai
"Pitobash and what can easily be claimed as Emraan Hashmi's most sincere and grounded performance along with a stout straight shooter Abhay Deol shoulder this socio-political thriller where the proverbial two Indias are connected by sloganeering, rioting, arson, stone pelting, hockey sticks and fake populism while the poor become displaced from a seedy underbelly of Mumbai slums and the real belly of the beast is the shiny ideas of skyscrapers hopping desk to desk from white formal clad officers and politicians. Just like with every other film of Mr. Banerjee, Shanghai starts at a unique juncture of the script and ends with a bleak resolution, a practical one. Apathy, callousness, the sham of developmental progress, inquiries, committees, political opposition, investigation are laid bare with a colluding nexus of business tycoons, administrative officials, law enforcement and political leaders in this grunge of a take on how different standards of living dance with activism and the justice system. How very bleak and lost cause it is to watch a few people trying to stand up to the elites, the people who run the world when most of the poor folks dance around the pyre of their own making at funeral of their own future on the tune of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai". Dibakar Banerjee as always shows why he is rare amongst a few daring filmmakers. The tracking shots were remarkable. In terms of the depiction of the dark aspects of criminalization of politics and politicization of criminals, the way Shanghai flows through its picture prefect realism is quite powerful, the downside is- it adds nothing noteworthy when it comes to revealing the investigative and larger conspiracy part of the plot. It just doubles down on the second half of the serious traits of Khatta Meetha's theme."
Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere
"Minions on a mission to keep feeding the rage machine and earning cool points. The point is rather quite simple. With modern and advanced technological progress when the world needed pioneers, the nerds came to the rescue decades ago and still come out at the top while in the process inherited the world and the fortunes bestowed upon. And like in every other scenario in the history of the advent of men, then came the swindlers, the multi-level marketing conmen, the fraudsters but they couldn't all be the Nigerian prince at the same time, so they picked whatever that period's culture war ethos were. It's all a front. And the main irony is the redpill corner literally runs as a pyramid scheme to trap innocent impressionable minds while also having this unshakable belief that aliens built the pyramids. That and being raging antisemites and conspiracy nutjobs. But, this documentary is also really about a middle aged man trying to hop on the carriage very late as the train had already left the station years ago while trying to get the lay of the mandom land. Nothing here is fresh and eye opening for an average viewer who has already spent his/her fair share on the internet. Muscular men acting like macho di**heads who in reality have massive dad complex bubbling underneath."
Furious
The Naked Gun
"It's like watching Arslan going veganNot quite achieves the glory of the classics but it stays true to the essence of the Naked Gun series by mocking the elite establishment of the time. It's the space boy's turn. Neeson is not Neilson and this part recognizes and even acknowledges that. At multiple times it feels like it's trying too hard while we are left reminiscing thanks to the comedic call backs that would teleport us back to the 90s when it all started. Too much potty humor and lots of tangents. Basically a Kingsman parody with Mission Impossible references and the triumph de arch chase score in the background. The interrogation scene with the hospital setup was hilarious though."
Monster
"Monster tactfully paints one of the most impressive pictures about what the simplest act of humanity is capable of and what the scenario might be like in the absence of it. It's so heartbreaking yet full of life whenever the screen graces the presence of that one little kid. Full of innocence and playfulness. Adding this one to my list of all-time greatest movies from Japan. I like a film where the monster hides right in plain sight. In the middle of daylight. Strategically shot in a purposeful manner, full of despair, the stigma, the shame, the hopelessness and bruises while at the same time radiates a message of loving bond, friendship, care for others and compassion. Simultaneously, Monster wants to shake us out of our oblivious slumber to reality. Displaying that kind of range and packing it into a two-hour movie is nothing short of a miracle. Like creating a safe corner in the epic vastness of this ever-expanding universe waiting for the big crunch. Exceptional. Unforgettable. One of a kind. A personification of a child's tight hug."
Black Mirror: USS Callister – Into Infinity
"The extension of one of the awe-inspiring and wonderful episodes of Black Mirror goes for its origins moment with a hail mary to the finish line. While USS Callister had the schematics of a nail biting thriller wrapped around a parody of a beloved classic space opera franchise with a sadist antagonist right at its heart, USS Callister Into Infinity is more action-packed, funny and dilemma-based. It goes to the deep end with the presentation of a topical situation of greed mirroring our real world, where mere torture isn't the satisfactory gradient for a prison dynamic, rather it's about the swindle, corporate avarice and reputation-oriented ego-driven maniac with not a care for others. This episode mocks the generic long-established blueprint for a standard sci-fi product, but in the throes of it, it attempts to stand on the shoulder of a giant while being a separate entity on its own. Amidst all that also successfully sticks the landing. It's not better, it's just different."
Black Mirror: Eulogy
"Paul Giamatti pushes through regrets to find closure in the penultimate episode of the 7th season that reshapes the statement- "memories aren't absolute perfect recordings" with a modern technological feature. Like most episodes this season, this one too works to expand already existing premises and ideas and is very apolitical but doesn't try to push the already existing boundaries as an expanding ever-changing genre. It leans into more emotional stuff rather than a jolt of surprise or curiosity."
Black Mirror: Plaything
"Peter Capaldi is getting more and more unhinged with each of his roles. Now, this one may not be as scary as The Devil's Hour Capaldi and it's not very left field when it comes to the science fiction realm but still it has some basic ideas about tinkering with the old concept of how we as a species aren't as clever as we think of ourselves. It's not particularly mind-boggling, not when we consider how insane and to the limits the whole Black Mirror series has gone previously."