From the moment it starts, The Mimic, which is based on a true story, establishes a fanciful tone built on rapid-fire dialogue and deadpan wit. Yet while the movie has the odd poignant moment, it works best as a thought exercise. The film centers on The Narrator (Thomas Sadoski), who not only narrates the film […]
Author: Cynthia Vinney
West Michigan
There are certain things that will always be ripe for artistic exploration, and adolescent angst is one of them. West Michigan is one of the latest movies to explore the challenges of teendom, this time through the eyes of 17-year-old Hannah (Chloe Ray Warmoth), who’s both wise beyond her years and utterly lost. While the […]
Saint Maud
Saint Maud, writer-director Rose Glass’ debut feature film, is a fascinating, at times frustrating meditation on faith, mental illness, loneliness, and connection. The story centers on a young live-in hospice nurse who calls herself Maud (Morfydd Clark) and has taken on a new patient, Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), a former dancer and choreographer with Stage 4 […]
A Nightmare Wakes
These days, the tale of the conception and writing of Frankenstein during a summer of 1816 in Lake Geneva, Switzerland has become the stuff of legend. A Nightmare Wakes uses this as the foundation for its story, which uses the life of Mary Shelley and scenes from the novel to delve into her growing obsession […]
Minor Premise
In many ways, sci-fi thriller Minor Premise feels like a throwback to early Christopher Nolan. Brainy and talky, it relies more on the thrill of discovery than the conventions of a modern-day thriller to tell its story. The movie, the feature directorial debut of Eric Shultz, centers on Ethan Kochar (Sathya Sridharan), a neuroscientist whose […]
Archenemy
Superhero movies have been a major part of the pop-culture landscape for such a long time now that new takes on the genre are often refreshing. This is just what Archenemy attempts to offer. However, despite some promising elements, the movie takes an odd turn before finally glossing over its most promising development. Archenemy, which […]
Songbird
Songbird was the first movie filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Michael Bay-produced project went into production in July while Los Angeles was on lockdown, which no doubt made it easier to shoot in the city’s usually bustling streets. The movie also takes the pandemic as its inspiration. It imagines a scenario only two years […]
Black Beauty
The story of Black Beauty has captured imaginations since the publication of Anna Sewell’s novel in 1877. Over the years, there have been numerous film and TV adaptations of the book, and even a theater production. The latest movie version, which is exclusive to the streaming service Disney+, takes liberties with the original novel while […]
L’Autre
In the opening moments of the French film L’Autre (which translates to “The Other”), main character Marie (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey) is dancing. Soon though, after her father’s sudden death in a terrible accident, she gives up on dance, just like she gives up on almost everything else in her life. What follows is difficult to describe. […]
The Ringmaster
The documentary The Ringmaster tells two stories. On the one hand, it focuses on the onion rings created by chef Larry Lang, which are considered the world’s best by those who’ve tasted them. On the other, it follows the filmmaker, Zachary Capp, as he becomes increasingly consumed by his project, sinks more and more time […]
Dreamland
With echoes of Bonnie and Clyde and movies set in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, Dreamland feels familiar and original at the same time. The film follows Eugene Evans (Finn Cole) a teenager on the cusp of manhood. When Eugene was just five years old, his father left. The only contact Eugene has with […]
Chick Fight
Chick Fight centers on down-on-her-luck Anna (Malin Akerman), for whom things have gotten so bad, it’s pretty much impossible for her to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Her mother recently died, her car’s been repossessed, her coffee-shop business is failing and her widowed father (Kevin Nash), who’s come out as bisexual, […]
Come Away
On paper, Come Away sounds like a magical fantasy destined to captivate viewers young and old; its assets include a starry cast led by Angelina Jolie and David Oyelowo and a story that uses elements of Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan to tell an entirely new tale. Yet the movie, written by Marissa Kate […]
Flytrap
From its opening moments, Flytrap creates an atmosphere of palpable unease, which doesn’t let up throughout the film’s 80-minute runtime. The movie centers on Jimmy (Jeremy Crutchley), an English astronomer who is driving to UCLA to start a new job when his car breaks down just outside Los Angeles. Since he’s also not getting a […]
Over the Moon
Earlier this year, Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings stated a desire to “beat Disney in family animation.” So it’s no surprise in the effort to meet that goal the streamer enlisted one of Disney’s most renowned animators, Glen Keane, to make his feature directorial debut with Over the Moon. However, the movie has many elements that […]