Movie Reviews - AfroToronto.com

Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 09 February 2026

A FRIEND OF DOROTHY (UK 2025) ****
Directed by Lee Knight

Power-açtıng in this short, especially from Miriam Margoyles including a cameo from Stephen Fry as an executor. Dorothy, an elderly widow (her ex-husband, who happens to be gay, whose health is declining but whose mind remains sharp, lives a quiet and solitary life. Her routine is unexpectedly disrupted when 17‑year‑old JJ sends a football into her garden, leading to an unexpected connection between them. Despite their differences in age and circumstance, the two gradually form a meaningful friendship and discover unexpected common ground. The film’s title refers to a historic phrase used as coded slang within gay culture, and the story itself touches gently on themes of loneliness, acceptance, queer identity (of both Dorothy’s husband and JJ), and the power of human connection across generations. Charming and touching with a touch of humour, mainly provided by Dorothy’s character.

THE SINGERS (USA 2025) ****
Directed by Sam A. Davis

Who would think that a film made in a grubby bar with a slew of old misfits could be so engaging? But director Davis’s film, based on a story by Ivan Turgenev Singers published in A Sportsman's Sketches an 1852 cycle of short stories. , depicts a downtrodden, improvised pub sing-off where the grand prize offered by the barkeeper is her and a hundred-dollar bill.. The first song rendered is Amazing Grace,e and as the short movies go along, the singer and the song get better till the final one tho will blow you away. The film, featuring a cast discovered through viral videos and street casting, includes Mike Young and Judah Kelly. Unbelievably and unexpectedly good! Hail the power of song! This short is also available to stream on Netflix Feb 13th.

Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 07 February 2026

ANIMATED

FOREVERGREEN (USA 2025) ***½

Directed by Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears.

The film begins with what seems to be a lonely bear cub, likely an orphan, as nothing is shown of its father or mother, left to fend for itself. It is rescued from falling off a cliff and cared for by an evergreen tree — almost like a parent figure. The cub and the tree develop a deep, emotional connection as the cub learns to survive in the forest. The cub is much loved by the tree, but the cub, being young and naughty, is tempted and learns the hard way that there is more to life than food. As the cub grows, it becomes tempted by human trash and easy food at a campsite, which leads it into dangerous situations. The film touches key components of adult and life themes, such as exploring themes of temptation, growing up, friendship, sacrifice, and the consequences of choices — all accomplished without spoken dialogue, using stylised animated visuals including music to tell the tale.

LA JEUNE FILLE QUI PLEURAIT DES PERLES (The Girl Who Cried Pearls)(Canada 2025) ****

Directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

Stop-motion animation, time-consuming but worth every moment, is animation art in its purest form. In this endearing tale from Canada, in Montreal, at the dawn of the 20th century, a poor boy falls in love with a girl whose sorrow turns into pearls. He sells them to a ruthless pawnbroker, who hungers for more. Tempted by greed, the boy must choose between love and fortune. The choice could damn his soul. From the Oscar-nominated team of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Madame Tutli-Putli), this meticulously crafted film is a testament to the craft mentioned with handmade puppets, mesmerizing narration by Canadian actor Colm Feore, and a haunting score by Patrick Watson. The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a timeless parable of desire, deception, and the price of innocence. It helps that one can identify with a young, innocent boy down on his luck, without fate having dished out. Watching this cautionary moral taleufold is pure delight!

THE THREE SISTERS (Israel/Cyprus/Russia 2024) ****

Directed by Konstantin Bronzit

This is my definite favourite short, and I hope it wins the Oscar for the following reasons. The animated short is fresh, simple, unique, imaginative, original, and mostly has the universal language of hope in a world of despair. The film follows three different sisters, all of individual personalities, who experience. jealousy, love and finally happiness. It is a story of three sisters living solitary on an island when they face challenges. Not an easy achievement for any film! The short combines comedy and drama, a mixture of sad and funny. The director also has a unique animated style that is unlike anything I have ever seen. The humour is subtle, the message universal and the effect of the short indescribable. Ultimately, this one is the best!

PAPILLION (BUTTERFLY) (France 2024) ***½

Directed by Florence Miailhe

The 15-minute animated short begins with a man swimming the butterfly stroke in the sea. As he swims, he reminisces about his childhood to his present life as a man. All the memories are linked to water. It turns out that the man is Jewish Olympic Butterfly Stroke swimmer Alfred Nakache, who has to endure anti-semitism during the Nazi years of the War. He also loses his wife and child during the war as they are separated from him to be taken to a concentration camp. Alfred eventually remarries and has another child. The short is a bit confusing as one has to figure out what everything is all about, but this is more than made up for.

Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 07 February 2026

ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS (USA 2025) ***

Directed by Joshua Seftel

All the Empty Rooms follows Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they embark across the United States to memorialize the bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. The act involves taking photos, talking to the parents, and writing an essay on the killings. The doc is a well-intentioned, good gesture that plays on sentiment but does not shed much new light on the matter. It does not consider the question of moving on, but rather to keep and remember the memory of the dead ones. School shootings have increased manyfold yearly. This problem is raised ninth doc, but it is a problem not faced in countries where there is more control than the United States, an issue that should be brought up with regard to the school shootings.

ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud (USA 2025) ****

Directed by Brent Renaud and Craig Renaud.

The film follows the story of American filmmaker and journalist Brent Renaud, who was killed on March 13, 2022, while reporting on the war in Ukraine. After his death, his brother and longtime collaborator, Craig Renaud, brought Brent’s body and his final footage back to their home state of Arkansas. The doc features vérité footage from their reporting in Iraq with the Arkansas National Guard, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the conflict in Somalia, migration routes from Honduras to the United States, and Brent’s final work in Ukraine. Brent often has the victims speak to the camera. This is emotional and often very hard to watch footage.

“The way you hold your camera…. It shows you are holding it from your heart. You and I, we can change this world.” These are the words of one injured Somalian in the hospital after his arm was blown off. The doc is a worthy tribute not only to Brent Renaud but to all reporters who risk their lives in their duty to inform the world of the atrocities.

THE DEVIL IS BUSY (USA 2024) ****

Directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton

After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the challenges faced by abortion clinics and the people who work to keep patients safe escalate beyond belief, with often angry protestors who only see their selfish point of view. The film follows Tracii, the head of security at a women’s healthcare clinic in Atlanta, over the course of a single day, starting from the early morning when she is first on site. As new legal restrictions and constant protests surround the clinic, Tracii works to protect patients seeking abortions and other medical services, including routine checkups and preventive care. The film, being shot in a cinéma vérité style, depicts both the urgency and credibility of the current problem. The documentary shows the daily safety measures taken by Tracii and the staff, making the doc more personal by showing them checking the building for intruders, coordinating with security guards who escort patients, and using numbered systems to keep identities private. Tracii also shares her own background, supports nervous patients, and deals with protestors who gather outside. You just have to love the work Tracii and her staff are doing!

PERFECTLY A STRANGENESS (Canada/Chile 2024) ****
Directed by Alison McAlpine

Beautifully shot with an opening shot of donkeys at night, PEFRECTLY A STRANGENESS is a wordless meditation of technology and nature. The subjects of the doc are 3 donkeys. Donkeys are often depicted as abused animals in films, but in this doc, they (the dobkeys are also given star billing) have their day as they tour around an observatory, wondering what the hell is going on. Yes, there is extreme beauty in what can be viewed in this doc. The doc was largely filmed at La Silla Observatory, a European Southern Observatory (ESO) site in Chile, with some shots filmed further north at ESO's Paranal Observatory. La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Several other telescopes are also located at the site and are partly maintained by ESO. The observatory is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and was the first in Chile to be used by ESO.

Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 30 January 2026

KOKUHO (Japan 2025) ***½

Directed by Lee Sang-il

Directed by Lee Sang-il and starring two of Japan’s most prominent actors, Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama, Kokuho is a gripping tale of friendship and rivalry in the world of Kamigata kabuki. The story opens in Nagasaki in 1964 and unfolds over five tumultuous decades. It follows Kikuo — the son of a slain yakuza boss — who, at fourteen, is taken in by a celebrated kabuki master and raised alongside Shunsuke, the master’s son and designated heir. Their bond — part brotherhood, part rivalry — drives an epic saga of ambition, sacrifice, scandal, and devotion, culminating in the emergence of a singular kokuho: a living “national treasure.” The film educates the audience on the world of kabuki with all the lavishness and splendour of the disciplined choreography, costumes, makeup up and voices. The kabuki is so controlled that all the female roles are played by males. As such, the two male actors are extremely good-looking, with the film bearing lots of homo-eroticism. The only problem is that the film his way too long at 3 hours, stretching the last bit way too far. The film is a hit in Japan.

THE MOMENT (USA/UK 2026) ***
Directed by Aidan Zamiri

THE MOMENT is a satire mockumentary on the British singer/songwriter known as Charli XCX. It is brave and innovative, sometimes too much, and it takes a while, like the first half of the film, to get its footing. This reviewer hated the first half. The first half is quite bad, but the second half of the film redeemed itself with its freshness as well as weirdness.

The film should come with a warning about flashing strobe lights, which can be really annoying and disturbing to those with mental issues.

Charli XCX is well known to those in the music industry. For those unfamiliar, she is quite the force to be reckoned with.

Charlotte Emma Aitchison born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer, songwriter, and actress. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Records in 2010, Charli XCX released a series of singles and mixtapes in the early 2010s. In 2012, she was featured on "I Love It" by Swedish duo Icona Pop, which became her first UK number-one and went on to achieve global success. Her debut studio album, True Romance (2013), received positive reviews but failed to meet commercial expectations. her new film has a chance of putting her onnthe map of fame.

In the movie, Charli XCX plays a fictionalised version of herself.

The Moment is a 2026 American mockumentary film directed by Aidan Zamiri, who co-wrote it with Bertie Brandes from an original idea by Charli XCX. The film stars XCX, Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell, and Alexander Skarsgård.

THE MOMENT premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2026, and was released in the United States by A24 on January 30. The film has so far received mixed reviews from critics. It opens in theatres in Toronto and in other key Canadian cities on February 6th.

Trailer:

A POET (Un Poeta) (Colombia/Germany/Sweden 2025) ****
Directed by Simón Mesa Soto

Coming right from Cannes, where A POET, in the Un Certain Regard section, won the Jury Prize, the film revolves around Óscar Restrepo, an aging poet who once had hopes of literary success but whose life has since drifted into obscurity, melancholy, and self-destructive habits. A loser in life, but he tries to do something about it, with disastrous effects. Nothing seems to go right! He still lives with his mother, struggles with unemployment, and drowns some of his disappointments in alcohol. While teaching at a secondary school, he mentors Yurlady, a teenage student with raw writing talent. But fate is not on his side, as things go south for the poor soul. A POET is tragedy in its most gruesome form, with Oscar brilliantly played like a monstrous troll by Ubeimar Ríos. Dream big but achieve chaos! One of the best of the TIFF last year and one of the best neglected international films of 2025.

QUEEN OF CHESS (USA 2025) ***½

Directed by Rory Kennedy

This doc/biography of the QUEEN OF CHESS arguably contains the most absorbing introduction one might ever see in a movie this year. The intro grabs one and instills both curiosity and anticipation of how the life of a little Hungarian girl who beats all odds to become the world’s QUEEN OF CHESS.

Hungarian chess prodigy Judit Polgár challenges champion Garry Kasparov (both shown at the doc’s introduction) and her controlling father over 15 years, breaking gender barriers to become the greatest female player ever and one of history's finest.

A few sweeping statements are made in the doc, like “Geniuses are made, not born.” Whether this one is true is questionable, but if not entirely true, it still contains some truth. Crafting genius helps, undoubtedly.

Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, widely regarded as the strongest female chess player of all time. She is the only woman to be ranked in the world top 10 (and one of only three to make the top 100), the only woman to achieve a rating over 2700, and the only woman to compete in the final stage of a World Chess Championship.

Polgár’s early life was particularly interesting and emphasized in the doc. She was born on 23 July 1976 in Budapest to a Jewish-Hungarian family. Polgár and her two older sisters, Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia, were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father, László Polgár, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age. "Geniuses are made, not born," was László's thesis. He and his wife, Klára, educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject. László also taught his three daughters the international language Esperanto. They received resistance from Hungarian authorities as home-schooling was not a "socialist" approach. They also received criticism at the time from some Western commentators for depriving the sisters of a normal childhood.

A few things, too, that non-chess experts are unaware of. The Chess Olympiad is the Chess Olympics of the world. Judit and her sisters got to play their first in Greece, once the communist Hungarian Government released their passports. Then there is Linares in Spain -the Wimbledon of Chess,

What lifts director Kennedy’s doc above other docs and other films is that the film is not just a chess documentary. Just like chess moves—it is about the moves the subject Polgár’s moves she made in her life and about determination, gender barriers, and excellence under pressure. It celebrates not only Polgár’s technical skill but also her role in reshaping perceptions of women in competitive sports.

QUEEN OF CHESS premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and isreleased globally on Netflix on February 6, 2026.

Trailer:

SCARLET (Japan 2025) ***

Directed by Mamoru Hosoda

SCARLET (Japanese: 果てしなきスカーレット, literal meaning: 'Endless Scarlet') is a 2025 Japanese animated fantasy action film written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda, and produced by Studio Chizu. The story, set in Denmark, is strange for a Japanese anime, but it becomes clear when the tie unfolds amend show it is inspired by the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet. It follows the eponymous princess who can cross time and space on a quest of vengeance after her father is murdered.

Scarlet, a medieval-era, sword-fighting princess on a dangerous quest to avenge the death of her father, is the protagonist of this powerful, time-bending animated adventure. The film begins with the princess waking up in a strange arid land, revealed to be the Otherworld. Voiceover informs that it is a place where the dead and living exist. But it is not heaven, nor is it hell. The setting allows director Hosoda to impresses audience with stunning animation, one of the highlights of the film. After failing and being mortally wounded, she finds herself in a surreal place between life and death called the Otherworld. After failing in her mission and finding herself fatally injured in a surreal world, she encounters an idealistic young man from our present day who not only helps her to heal but also shows her the possibility of a future free from bitterness and rage. When confronted once more by her father’s killer, who is her father’s evil brother who has usurped the throne, Scarlet faces her most daunting battle: can she break the cycle of hatred and find meaning in life beyond revenge?

The film explores heavy themes like vengeance, forgiveness, healing after loss, and the cycle of hatred — all filtered through a fantastical narrative inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Though animated, the heavy, leaden themes would make the film unsuitable for younger audiences. The film, however, suffers from a weak narrative. One can predict where the film is heading - that vengeance is not everything that would satisfy the sword-wielding princess, and that she has a lot to learn about the good of mankind.

The film does away with explanations. How does the enemy Voldemand suddenly appear in the Overworld? The princess also has an option to climb the stairway to heaven. Apparently, the party is guarded heavily, and there are bandits to contend with on the hornet to the staircase. And is there an infinite land in the mountains that the stairway leads to? Too many unanswered questions hinder the story’s credibility. The film is also punctuated with songs that emphasise the film’s theme, as in the lyrics of the songs emphasising the colour of the heart and love.

SCARLET had its premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2025. There, it won the Fanheart3 Award – Nave d'Argento for Best OTP. It was released theatrically in Japan on November 21, 2025, by Toho and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan. It opens theatrically in Canada on Feb 8th.

Trailer:

THE STRANGERS - CHAPTER 3 (USA/Spain 2026) *
Directed by Renny Harlin

The latest and last (Thank God for that!) of the trilogy of THE STRANGERS reboot begins rather impressively with the song The Sound Of Silence by Paul Simon played on the soundtrack while a car is driven to the town where the action takes place. And the act is not nice, as expected in a horror film. The film, directed by Renny Carlin, who seems to have only made one good movie in her career (CLIFFHANGER) delivers the lowest of the low in this incoherent, unexciting,g and boring end of the cult following THE STRANGERS franchise. The film goes downhill from there and never picks up.

The Strangers is a psychological horror franchise centred on a trio of masked, sadistic strangers who torment and kill innocent victims with no apparent motive. Originating with the 2008 cult classic, the franchise has expanded into a 5-film series, including a 2018 sequel and a new trilogy (2024–2026) that reboots the timeline.

The masked killers appear again in the movie, and the protagonist is Maya (Madelaine Petsch), who appears in all three chapters, the sole survivor and the one who takes revenge on the masked killers. Not that the audience remembers or cares.

Chapter 3 is designed as the conclusion of the new trilogy, wrapping up the storyline introduced in Chapter 1.

This trilogy was shot back-to-back as a single, continuous narrative, meaning Chapter 3 is expected to: Resolve unanswered questions from Chapters 1 and 2; Bring the psychological and physical terror to a final confrontation, and provide closure to the central character arc introduced in the reboot.

The film is a slow-burning dread, stalking, and inevitability, rather than lore-heavy explanations. The violence without motive (“because the victims happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time”)—remains intact with no explanation of the killers in any conventional way.

THE STRANGERS - CHAPTER 3 opens in theatres Friday, February 5th.

SWAY (Canada 2024) ***

Directed by Ramelan X Hamilton

SWAY is a Canadian gripping thriller wannabe, but mostly a drama, which is produced by Emmanuel Kabongo and directed by Ramelan X Hamilton. The brisk 98-minute film follows the life of a prominent young Black community leader, nicknamed SWAY, facing unexpected challenges that unravel his world. As his brother, Cy, goes missing after losing a bet of an undisclosed amount to a shady big boss character, Sway becomes ensnared in a web of blackmail orchestrated by a mysterious woman, and a murder puts his love and loyalty to the ultimate test. The mysterious girl first appears in his bed one morning after Sway’s last rough night, he does not remember what happened the night before or who this lady is. Premiering in LA on Feb 8th and 10th, and in Toronto on Feb 17th, with Halifax dates to be announced in late February, SWAY promises an unforgettable cinematic experience.

The script contains a few interesting though not groundbreaking ideas. The fight against crime is duly established and serves to be the main goal of the protagonist in the storyline: “Crime is an occupation. It just sits on the opposite side of law and order. Crime has to be driven out of Parkwood,” and so says Sway. The success of the film depends mostly on the script, which tends to be stage-bound.

It is important most of the time for the audience to have a likeable protagonist to side with him and also the film. Sway’s character is shown for both sides of the coin. On his good side, he strives to do good for the foundation, achieving what the press calls 40 under 40, which one assumes is the top 40 under 40-years of age. He is concerned about his brother and loves his family. The family is not seen in the film. The film also shows his other side - short-tempered, with the frequent use of foul language. He also screams and mistreats his employees, though one employee does deserve to be screamed at. But there is a reason for the bad side to be shown, not to reveal any more of the plot, but some dirty goings-on are revealed to the audience about Sway at the mid-mark of the film. The revelation occurs when his interviewer puts him in a corner when questioning an unexplained fire that occurred in one of the buildings at Parkdale. Just when shit is about to hit the fan, the lady in his bed that morning calls him to blackmail him. This is when the audience is forced to either take Sway’s side or do the opposite.

The film is a Canadian film shot in Toronto, though the setting is the United States. The high-rise buildings of Toronto can be seen throughout the film, with many locations recognisable by Torontonians.

SWAY premieres in LA on Feb 8th and 10th, and in Toronto last year at the Black Festival. It opens in theatres on Jan 30th, 2026

Trailer:

WHISTLE (USA 2026) **½
Directed by Corin Hardy

A misfit group of unwitting high school students stumble upon a cursed object, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle. They discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down. As the body count rises, the friends investigate the origins of the deadly artifact in a desperate effort to stop the horrifying chain of events that they have set in motion.

The film begins with a basketball match in which the winning score is won at the very last second by a player called Mason. As Mason enters his locker room and then showers, he is killed by an Aztec creature that burns him to death. His locker is then transferred to a new girl, who discovers a whistle in the shape of a skull in the locker. The girl brings it out and takes it to class, only to have it confiscated by her teacher. This is when the horror begins.

The new Elevation Pictures horror flick opening is entitled WHISTLE. The whistle referred to in the film is an Aztec death whistle that a teacher in high school confiscates and researches.

The Aztec death whistle is a small ceramic whistle from pre-Columbian Aztec culture that produces a terrifying, scream-like sound—often compared to a human shriek or a howl.

The origin is in central Mexico, dating back roughly 700–1,000 years. As shown in the film, it is as if the research is shaped like a skull or stylized human face. When first blown by one of the characters, the others had to shut their ears. Instead of a musical tone, it emits a harsh, chaotic wail that can sound deeply unsettling. The purpose of the whistle is possibly linked to death, sacrifice, or ceremonies honouring gods like Mictlantecuhtli (god of the underworld).

The film blends old occult to modern day teens in high school. The film thus feels like a FRIDAY THE 13th film where the teens are done away with one by one, starting with the most misbehaved of the lot, as parodied in the SCREAM movies. Then the survivors try to stop the curse.
The protagonist is a new girl to the high school, who is, as expected, the blunt of jokes by her other classmates. She has a history of something bad, about her mother being killed by her, an incident that is later explained in the film. She is the one who discovers the death whistle in the locker previously owned by Mason.

The film, directed by Hardy, a veteran of horror films including THE NUN, is both a survival story and a myth-infused mystery, as the characters dig into the artifact’s history to break the curse that threatens them.

WHISTLE is the typical cheesy horror teen flick that delivers its scares in the typical, yes, cliched form, including jump scares, with one huge sound that should jolt everyone out of their seats. WHISTLE opens in theatres February 6th.

Trailer:

YOH! BESTIE (South Africa) **
Directed by Johnny Barbuzano

“Yoh!” is a South African exclamation (from township slang) used to express surprise, emphasis, excitement, or disbelief. Think: “Whoa!”, “Oh damn!”, “Wow!”

“Bestie” means best friend. The spelling makes it cuter, more dramatic, or more teasing.

Put together

“Yoh! Bestyie” roughly means: “Whoa, bestie!”
“OMG, best friend!” or “Girl, listen to this!”

It is also the title of the new Netflix romantic comedy from South Africa. The film is a feature-length spin-off of the popular Netflix series Yoh! Christmas, expanding that story into a standalone movie.

The film continues the story of Thando Mokoena (played by Katlego Lebogang) and her best friend Charles (Siya Sepotokele), characters first introduced in the series.
Thando is perpetually unlucky in love, but when her bestie returns from his travels with a fiancée in tow, she's forced to face a new emotion - jealousy. It is obvious from the film’s first frame that Thando is in love with her bestie, so the magic question is whether she will end up with him. The film provides enough clues as to whether her bestie is a good person. If not,t Thando will find someone else. The film’s ending will not be revealed as it is a major plot point.

South Africa is no stranger to romantic comedies, and Netflix has quite a few already released. African rom-coms are often a fun mix of heart, humour, culture, and local flavour — often lighter than Hollywood rom-coms, more fluff than anything else. In fact, one of the more successful ones also deals with best friends and romance,e also starring Tiffany Bar4buzano called SERIOUSLY SINGLE in 2020. YOU! BESTIE treads no new waters and is a mix of being too pleasant and boredom.

YOU! BESTIE opens for streaming on Netflix this week.

Trailer:

Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 24 January 2026

3 excellent films open this weekend. SIRAT, the TFCA's choice for Best International Feature, MY FATHER'S SHADOW and PILLION, a different take on a love story. Lots to enjoy for the Valentine's Day weekend.

VALENTINE'S DAY FILM REVIEWS:

FINCH & MIDLAND (Canada 2025) ***½

Directed by Timothy Yeung

Finch and L+Midland refers to Finch Avenue and Midland Avenue, two roads that intersect in Scarborough in Ontario, Canada, a neighbourhood rich with Hong Kong immigrants. It is the setting of an anthology of 4 immigrant stories intercut together about middle-aged immigrants trying to make good, if not attaining the Canadian dream. The characters each face mid-life struggles: a former singer trying to reconnect with his daughter; a woman searching for love while caring for her elderly mother; a single mother working in a massage parlour while studying for a real estate licence; and a factory worker confronted with job loss and shifting identity. Through simplicity, humour, and charm, the film effectively explores themes of belonging, identity, sacrifice, cultural displacement, and the cost of chasing the “better life” in a new country, which in this case is Canada. Each story is equally interesting, and Director Yeung connects well with his audience through his characters.

MONTREAL, MA BELLE (Montreal, My Beautiful)(Canada 2025) ***
Directed by Xiaodan He

This is Joan Chen’s daring new vehicle, plunging into the role of a 53-year-old, humble, dissatisfied wife with two children, coming out to her gay leanings. This is Joan Chen's, real age 65, film all the way, she being in almost every frame of the film.

Feng Xia (Chen), a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother living in Montreal, has spent her life shaped by duty — to her family, her culture, and a loveless marriage. But when she meets Camille, a spirited young Québécoise, a long-buried desire is awakened. In the balmy and joyful Montreal summer, Feng Xia takes the radical step of choosing herself — embarking on a journey of forbidden love and long-overdue self-discovery. Her awakening becomes a profound reckoning with identity, exile, and the steep cost of liberation.

Though explosive in its emotional material, director He keeps the tone of the film subtle and pensive, reflected by the city of Montreal, often filmed in soft hues. The film’s pace is unhurried and smooth, though never boring, as if something is not happening on screen, there is definitely emotion that is being felt by the characters. Feng Xia’s issues are slowly brought into the picture. When the film begins, she hardly speaks French, though the audience learns soon after that she is taking French lessons and can speak rather fluid French. Then, the family problems are introduced, with an occasionally overbearing husband who seems to enjoy sex without giving any consideration to his wife’s feelings. One of the bedroom scenes has Feng Zia storming out of bed, screaming, “You never care how I feel,” to her husband. The LGBT issue is then brought in when she goes on a dating app, and to one’s surprise, it is a gay app and she meets Camille, who is not without her own personal problems, Camille ha an ex who wants to come back together, while Camille has passed that chapter in life, and has a mother who wants to reunite with her daughter, but with other reasons. Feng Xia is caught up with all these issues, while quietly keeping a stiff upper lip. Or she might end up doing something bad, as she confessed to her psychiatrist early in the film. Among all this, there is the hanging issue of an immigrant being fitted into another culture. When she meets a new group of friends, she is asked where she is from, as they cannot tell one Asian from another.

Of course, it is a matter of time before Feng Xia’s secret is discovered by her family.

Actress Joan Chen herself is an immigrant from China, moving to America to launch her career. She was famous after the movie TAIPAN (and later in THE LAST EMPEROR) in which she played a mistress of a caucasian and was deemed a traitor back in her country. Chen understands the meaning of loneliness and displacement,

The film is shot in both Mandarin and French, dialogue often replaced by silence when emotions can still be expressed.

MONTREAL, MA BELLE (Montreal, My Beautiful) opens in theatres February 13th, 2026.

Trailer:

THE LAST SACRIFICE (UK 2024) ***½

Directed by Rupert Russell

Directed by Rupert Russell, the son of Ken Russell (THE MUSIC LOVERS, THE BOY FRIEND, THE DEVILS, TOMMY), THE LAST SACRIFICE uncovers the real-life witchcraft killing that inspired THE WICKER MAN and birthed the folk horror genre. This unsettling true-crime interrogation unlocks the perverse cultural undercurrents that shaped the genre from its murderous beginnings to its modern-day resurrection. This is a journey that gets under the skin of British polite society, that slays with pride, kills with prejudice, and exposes an island nation's dark heart to reveal that THE WICKER MAN is more fact than fiction.

The new horror crime drama is as intriguing and captivating as a curiosity piece. The film is made upon a whole lot of horror films like the Hammer horror films of the past, particularly of the 60s and 70s, as well as many doc series. THE LAST SACRIFICE is apparently about witches, which the film claims England exports. It all started with the real-life murder of a chap called Charles Walton living in the Cotswolds in England.

Charles Walton (12 May 1870 – 14 February 1945) was an Englishman who was found murdered on the evening of 14 February 1945 (St. Valentine's Day), at The Firs farm on the slopes of Meon Hill, Lower Quinton, in Warwickshire, England. The foremost police detective of the era, Chief Inspector Robert Fabian, supposedly the best detective in the whole of England, according to reputation, led the investigation into Walton's death. The chief suspect for the murder was the manager of The Firs, Alfred John Potter, for whom Walton was working on the day he died. However, there was insufficient evidence to convict Potter, and the case is currently the oldest unsolved murder in the Warwickshire Constabulary's records. The case has earned some notoriety in popular culture due to its supposed connection with the local belief in witchcraft.

On 14 February 1945, Walton left home with a pitchfork and a slash hook – a double-edged pruning implement with a sharpened straight edge on one side and a concave cutting edge on the other. Edith, Charles’s niece who was living with him, stated that Walton had left his purse at home on 14 February. He was witnessed passing through the churchyard between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. It was a gruesome murder. The murderer had beaten Walton over the head with his own stick, cut his neck open with the slash hook, and driven the prongs of the pitchfork into either side of his neck, pinning him to the ground. The handle of the pitchfork had then been wedged under a cross member of the hedge, and the slash hook had been buried in his neck.

THE LAST SACRIFICE should be seen, not only for the reason that it is quite the well put-together film, but also very nostalgic when the audience watches the old Hammer horror films that many loved and grew up with, including watching many segments involving horror masters Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

THE LAST SACRIFICE opens in Canada as a streaming premiere on Shudder on February 16, 2026. That’s when it becomes available to watch in Canada via Shudder’s service.

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MY FATHER’S SHADOW (UK/Nigeria 2025) ****
Directed by Akinola Davies Jr.

Winner of the Caméra d’Or Special Mention at Cannes, MY FATHER’S SHADOW is a stunning debut set in 1993 Lagos; a lyrical, emotionally resonant story of two brothers reconnecting with their distant father over a single, transformative day.

A bit of the Geography of Lagos and Nigeria is key to appreciating the setting of the film. Lagos, or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. Set against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election, two young brothers spend a day in Lagos with their estranged father.

It all takes place in a single day. The sights of a third-world country's big city, with all its traffic, people, and chaos amid political turmoil, are effectively captured on film. The inspired segment is the bus ride, where a sudden outburst of different political debate opinions emerges from the passengers on the bus. They argue with all their differing points of view, and lo and behold! They all have to disembark the bus as it runs out of petrol. Petrol is scarce during the political unrest.

It should be noted that the Davies brothers developed the idea for the film over more than a decade, drawing inspiration from the loss of their father when they were both very young. In 2012, Wale wrote the first draft of the script, which centres on two brothers spending a day in Lagos with their father on the day of Nigeria's historic 1993 presidential election, widely regarded as a turning point in the nation’s contemporary history. Director Akinola Davies Jr. wrote the script with his brother, making the film autobiographical.

The film looks simple, but do not be fooled, as there is a tremendous amount of work, thought, and talent that went into this piece of work.

The influence of a father cannot be more importantly stressed in the film. In one scene, the father prevents one son from buying ice cream for himself unless he also buys one for his brother. He does not, so it goes without the ice cream. The heart-to-heart talk with one son also sends shivers down one’s spine. The physical absence of the mother is noticeable in the film, but the father stresses the importance of family to his sons, especially for the mother, who, though never seen, is said to be loved by him, and that both of them do the most for their sons. The father explains his absence as necessary for the family to stay as one. The scene where the two brothers share a meal on the plate with the meat, one for each sibling, is moving.

The film had its world premiere at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 18 May, where it won the Special Mention for the Caméra d'Or. It is the first-ever Nigerian film to be selected for the festival's Official Selection. More notably, the film was also selected as the UK's entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

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PILLION (UK/Ireland 2025) ****
Directed by Harry Lighton

From writer-director Harry Lighton, making his feature debut, PILLION, unconventional love story, following two men who express desire in ways rarely depicted on the big screen. Based on the novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, Pillion stars Harry Melling as Colin, a timid traffic warden from the suburbs, and Alexander Skarsgård

A pillion by definition is the seat for a passenger behind the motorcyclist. This word is appropriately used as the title of the new BDSM gay romance film.

Colin, an introverted gay man, lives with his parents and works a menial job assigning parking tickets while pursuing his hobby of singing in a barbershop quartet. Colin and his quartet are pretty good, as one of the performances is captured in the story’s introduction. Yes, a musical interlude to contrast the dark BDSM theme of the romance,

The theme is one that many might not be familiar with. This is how the definition of BDSM goes. BDSM is an acronym for Bondage & Discipline, Dominance & Submission, and Sadism & Masochism, representing a consensual spectrum of erotic, role-playing, and physical practices focused on power exchange, trust, and communication. It involves activities like sensation play, restraints, and role-playing, with safety and, for example, safe words being paramount to distinguish it from abuse. For a couch, one is dominant while he otters submissive, and many activities can enhance the sexual act,

One evening at the pub, he slips a note by Ray, an incredibly handsome member of a local biker gang. The two meet on Christmas Day at a high street alleyway, where Ray wordlessly ushers Colin to perform oral sex. Despite a successful hookup, Ray says he isn't often around to see Colin again.

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SIRAT (Spain/France 2025) ****
Directed by Oliver Laxe

A winner of this year’s Cannes Competition Jury Prize, SIRAT (which means ‘path’ in Arabic) is at once a visceral and metaphysical excursion, in which a man desperately searches for his missing daughter amid a roving raver community in the harsh southern deserts of Morocco.

The title of the film SIRAT comes from the Sirat Bridge of the Islamic religion. The "Sirat bridge" is a bridge in Islamic belief that every person must cross on the Day of Judgment to enter Paradise (Jannah). It is described as a narrow path, thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword, that spans over Hell. This sentence is flashed on the screen at the start of the film. The speed and success with which people cross depend on their deeds; the righteous will pass swiftly, while the unrighteous will fall into Hell.

The film begins with a large party scene in which a multitude of people dance to the tune of electronic music in a rave in southern Morocco. A man (Sergi López) and his son give out flyers with the picture of a missing woman (their daughter and sister Mar) to the attendees of the dance party. A subgroup of ravers tells the man and the boy (Luis and Esteban) that another rave is taking place afterwards, deeper in the desert, and that the missing woman could be there. A group of soldiers dissolves the rave and orders Europeans to be evacuated. The ravers (Stef, Jade, Tonin, Bigui, and Josh) escape from the convoy line in two vans, and Luis and Esteban follow them in their smaller van together with their dog Pipa.

The film has nail-biting edge-of-your-seat moments, which are reminiscent of two films. One is the 1953 French film, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR, in which the characters drive trucks along rocky roads carrying dangerous explosives, a few blowing up. The other is the 2015 Danish film Martin Zandvliet’s LAND OF MINE, in which mines are suddenly triggered and blow the victims to bits. In SIRAT, the climactic scene where the characters are stuck in a mine field shares identical suspense and thrills.

Filming locations in the province of Teruel included the Rambla de Barrachina. Director Laxe stated that the production team faced intense heat and sandstorms while filming in Morocco.

In that scene, the various characters set up speakers and music in the desert. They dance; while in a trance, one of them, Jade, steps on a land mine and dies. Another, Tonin dies by stepping on another mine while trying to reach Jade. Realising they have stepped into a minefield, the remaining group members are determined to reach a presumably mine-free rocky area nearby. This segment is really unsettling as the situation is extremely explosive and unpredictable.

Though the film can hardly be described as entertaining, it provides a fresh, occasional, experimental, and emotional raw look at what it is to be human and how to relate with one another. The film is in full serious mode except for one comical segment where Tonin improves a musical number using his leg stump to perform a sort of puppetry show.

Colin texts Ray, but receives no response for months. Eventually, Ray invites Colin to his home, where Colin is naively initiated into a strict BDSM relationship: Colin cooks, cleans, and shops, sleeps on the floor, and obeys Ray's every command. In return, Colin enjoys an intense but controlled sexual relationship with Ray. Acclimating to Ray's lifestyle, Colin shaves his head and joins the biker gang. Meanwhile, Colin's parents express worry about how little Colin knows about Ray.

PILLION is a different romantic film that opens around Valentine’s Day. The film is described in the press notes as a romantic black comedy. But more importantly, it is a film which rides its story outside the box, where a BDSM themed film turns both charming and still maintains its uncomfortable yet erotic sexiness.

The story in the book is set from the 70s to the present. Colin’s parents are not the stereotyped ones found in gay films, where they either accept the son’s homosexuality with uneasiness or deny it. In the film, they encourage it, with the parents inviting Ray over for dinner in order to know more about the biker. But things do not go as planned.

It should be noted that the film’s ending differs from the original novel, Box Hill (on which the movie is based), where in the book, Ray does die in a motorcycle accident. The film deliberately changes that plot point, not to be revealed in the review, but the ending is an improvement, making the audience think a bit more and yes, outside the box. PILLION is a brave and still powerful movie, a surprising first feature written and directed by Lighton.

PILLION opens February 13th. A must for gay audiences and for straight ones, see it if you dare, and it will be a worthwhile challenge.

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SIRAT (Spain/France 2025) ****
Directed by Oliver Laxe

Filming locations in the province of Teruel included the Rambla de Barrachina. Director Laxe stated that the production team faced intense heat and sandstorms while filming in Morocco.

A must-see, the film is the TFCA’s choice for Best International Feature.

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STATE OF FEAR (SALVE GERAL IRNANDADE)(Brazil 2026) ***½

Directed by Pedro Morelli

Brotherhood members face a crisis as key leaders transfer to maximum security prisons. Elisa, 18, the daughter of founder Edson, is kidnapped by corrupt police. Her aunt Cristina attempts a rescue while the faction orders "Salve Geral.” Salve Geral means Greetings Everyone. The title means Greetings, everyone, Brothers!

It should be noted that the film is a spin-off of the Netflix Brazil series Brotherhood (Irmandade). But prior knowledge of the series is not required,

The film begins with a high-profile attack at a police precinct in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The action set-piece is heightened with a copy in the precinct having a water broken, while celebrating her pregnancy by colleagues.

As São Paulo erupts in an unprecedented wave of violence, a lawyer with underworld ties must strike a deal with the police to rescue her kidnapped niece.

Multiple stories are going on all at once. The central issue is the brotherhood. Apparently, according to the opening titles, the Brotherhood is an established gang that is supposed not to be all bad, and at times, fighting corrupt cops. When riots break out across prisons across the country, as well as the precinct in Freguesia is attacked, the Brotherhood takes responsibility.

The first subjects are the pregnant cop and her beau, as they try to reach a hospital during the precinct attack. But it appears that the delivery has to take place in the cruiser. “Trust me. You can do this,” he tells her.

The story shifts to the lawyer who, with her daughter, picks up her lover, an escaped prisoner. As the daughter’s camera is snatched away, and the thief frames the prisoner because of his colour, the cops demand a ransom to release the daughter. The aunt, who is the lawyer, gets a call about the ransom.

As Aunt Cristina, a high-ranking member of the Brotherhood, tries to rescue Elisa.

The response of the Brotherhood is to order a “state of fear” — a coordinated wave of violent attacks on police stations and security forces that throws the city into widespread turmoil and chaos.

The multiple stories can get confusing, but it might take one to pause the film for a while (which I did) to put the whole story together, as well as to connect all the characters.

Still, STATE OF FEAR is an above average high octane action packed thriller with colourful characters and set in the exotic Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The film succeeds primarily for its intense visuals and sweeping single-shot sequences that heighten the urgency of the story. The story also questions what justice means to different people.

STATE OF FEAR is shot in Portuguese and opens on Netflix, a Netflix original on Wednesday, February 11th.

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“WUTHERING HEIGHTS” (UK/USA 2026) **

Directed by Emerald Fennell

This latest version of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, Emily Brontë’s original 1847 novel that is considered one of the greatest English novels of all time, is given a free adaptation by writer/director Emerald Fennell - the reason the title “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” appears in quotation marks. Re-interpretation of a classic treads dangerous territory, and in the case of the 2026 film, it fails (explained in the review) in terms of what would be expected in an epic romance. The story is set in the Yorkshire Moors, and the word withering itself is a Yorkshire slang term that means to roar or to bluster, terms that describe the stormy nature and weather of the moors.

Filming occurred at Sky Studios Elstree, with location shooting in the Yorkshire Dales, including the valleys of Arkengarthdale and Swaledale, the village of Low Row, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Linus Sandgren is the cinematographer who is to be commended for classic scenes like the dark Heathcliff riding his horse in the shadows of night.

The handsome Jacob Elordi, a white actor, plays Heathcliff. As everyone familiar with the novel knows, Heathcliff is a "dark-skinned gipsy" or "Lascar" in the novel, sparking controversy, but Elordi does a near-perfect job as the troubled lover who takes revenge on his childhood tormentors. The important role of Nelly is played by Hong Chau, an American Asian actress best known for her breakout role in DOWNSIZING. Margot Robbie is Catherine.

The film is a more straightforward retelling of the tale, without the layered flashbacks as told by Nelly in the book. Heathcliff is ‘found’ by Catherine in the film, rather than brought back by the father on one of his travels. The film is also sexually more explicit, a fact that takes away the classic feel and subtlety of the story. The Chemistry between the two leads, Margot Robbie and Jason Elordi, works well at least.

There is much cruelty and marital abuse in the story, a fact that director Fennell does not shy away from. There is also a BDSM scene spied upon by Catherine, a scene that will make many an audience uncomfortable, not only because of the content, but because of the liberty taken to update the story. There are also other explicit romantic and sensual scenes, including kissing and heightened physical contact, whereas in the book, there is more psychological cruelty.

The novel’s gothic tragedy, grounded in bleak moors, class conflict, obsession, and generational trauma are at least still felt in the film, despite the changes made in the simplified story.

There are original songs by British/Indian artist Charli XCX, last seen in the film THE MOMENT.

“WUTHERING HEIGHTS’ has so far obtained mixed reviews from critics. Director Fennell has repeatedly defended her film by saying that her film isn’t meant to be a literal, faithful retelling of the novel but rather her version of it. The film cost $80 million and was bought by Warner Bros after a bidding war.

“WUTHERING HEIGHTS” opens in theatres on Friday the 13th for Valentine’s Day.

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Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 16 January 2026

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ALL THAT'S LEFT OF YOU (Germany/Cyprus/Palestine/Jordan/Greece/Qatar/Saudi Arabia 2025) ****
Directed by Cherien Dabis

ALL THAT’S LEFT OF YOU and the recent German film THE SOUND OF FALLING share the identical theme of generations of a family, a time frame of almost a century. Both films suffer the same setbacks of being overlooked, the former lasting over 3 hours and the latter almost 3 hours. Another problem is the length of both films, that deter audiences from viewing the film. A major problem is that each film has to clearly identify each character and make each character radically distinguishable from the others. This is particularly bad in THE SOUND OF FALLING. The film gets confusing, and if one is lost at the halfway mark, sitting through the remaining three hours is useless. The use of intercut nonlinear chronological storytelling tends to confuse the storyline and also break the flow. of the narrative. Imagine stories like Charles Dickens’s OLIVER TWIST or GREAT EXPECTATIONS told in non-chronological order. The result will be disastrous

FOR ALL THAT’S LEFT OF YOU, thankfully, has a stronger narrative to propel the story along. After a Palestinian teen gets swept up into a West Bank protest, his mother recounts the family story of hope (in flashback), courage and relentless struggle that led to this fateful moment.

The film is first set in 1988 West Bank, and then in 1948, Jaffa, Palestine.

In order to appreciate the story in the film, a bit of knowledge is required of both the West Band and Jaffa.

Tel Aviv, officially Tel Aviv-Yafo, and also known as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a population of 495,230, it is the economic and technological centre of the country and a global high-tech hub. The city, annexed to Jordan, surrendered to the Haganah on 14 May 1948 and shortly after, the British police and army left the city. Israeli historian Benny Morris writes that "There was widespread institutional and private looting by Haganah and IZL troops and Tel Aviv citizens who infiltrated the town, there was robbery on the roads by patrolling Jewish troops. The 3,800 Arabs who remained in Jaffa after the exodus were concentrated in the Ajami district and subject to strict martial law. The military administration in Jaffa lasted until 1 June 1949, at which point, the Tel Aviv Municipality took over the administration. The grandfather in the film has his story told in 1948 when the mayhem occurred.

The story travels to 1948 Jaffa and the Nakba, where Noor’s grandfather, Sharif, resists fleeing as Israeli forces expel Palestinians from their homes. His son Salim grows up under occupation, navigating the trauma of exile and the weight of a father's choices. The film portrays the personal costs of colonial violence while honouring Palestinian resilience and steadfast humanity.

Noor and his family are constantly harassed by the Israeli soldiers. One of the key scenes shows Noor’s father humiliated in front of him, an incident that Noor cannot accept, thus calling his father a coward. Looking at the father’s side, the father had no choice.

The film takes a personal approach to the story rather than a political one. But the effects are just as effective, with the film working best this way. A historical epic, the powerful film chronicles the story of the land through the eyes of one family and three generations of struggle. It is an emotional family portrait, examining the relationship between grandfather, father and son, and the legacy of trauma passed down to each. It is a drama with piercing moments of joy, love and humour that keep it from becoming too hard to watch.

ALL THAT’S LEFT OF YOU opens at the TIFF Lightboxon January 30th.

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BACK TO THE PAST (Hong Kong 2025) *** ½

Directed by Ng Yuen-fai and Jack Lai

BACK TO THE PAST is a fun-filled romp that should satisfy fans of period Chinese action flicks. The film is based on the novel The Chronicles of Searching Qin

by Huang Yiand and the 2001 TV series A STEP INTO THE PAST. A Step into the Past is a 2001 Hong Kong television series produced by TVB and based on Huang Yi's novel of the same Chinese title. The series tells the story of a 21st-century Hong Kong VIPPU Inspector who travels back in time to the Warring States period of ancient China. He is involved in a number of important historical events that led to the first unification of China under the Qin dynasty.

Hong Siu-lung (Louis Koo), who also produced the film) is a 21st-century VIPPU Inspector in Hong Kong. In the first episode, Hong and his colleagues stand guard and rescue an attack on an exhibition of the First Emperor's Terracotta Army. Impressed with Hong's rescue attempt, Lee Siu-chiu and Doctor Wu Yau recruit him for a secret time-travelling experiment. Hong agrees to help them in exchange for an opportunity to travel back in time to salvage his failed relationship with his girlfriend. He is tasked to travel back more than two thousand years to the Qin dynasty, half an hour prior to the coronation of Ying Ching in 247 BC, and document the event with a digital camera before a swift departure. However, a critical error occurs during the traveling stage, and Hong is sent further back in time three years earlier than originally planned. This is the basis of the stor,y and in the film, there is a lot of condensation of the story, moving the plot at a breakneck pace.

The story takes place nineteen years after the conclusion of the television series. Hong Siu-lung has retired to the countryside with his wife and children, living a peaceful life. However, at the height of Ying Ching's power, after unifying the six states and dominating the realm, he is suddenly attacked by Ken (Michael Miu), a modern man who leads a group traveling through time. Wrongfully imprisoned in his early years, Ken vows to rewrite history. He attempts to usurp the throne and proclaim himself emperor in order to make up for the regrets of his life.

For the almost 2-hour running time that includes an alternative ending, compared to the series, the film is a condensed narrative that would be more appreciated by someone who has some familiarity with the TV story. The focus of the film is the continuation/sequel, not a full retelling. A solid take on the time travel fantasy, the story also considers the consequences of time travel, including the importance of not changing historical events that occur at a cost of interfering with history.

The film is coldly Louis Ko’s baby. Produced by Koo's One Cool Film Production, filming for Back to the Past began in April 2019 in Guizhou and wrapped up on 7 July 2019. The film finally gets a theatrical release that includes Toronto’s downtown libation and Yonge and Dundas on January 30th.

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PIKE RIVER (NEW ZEALAND 2025) ***
Directed by Richard Sarkies

PIKE RIVER, the film opens in the setting of 2010, the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. It is the setting, too, of the Pike River Mine Disaster.

The Pike River Mine incident ranks as New Zealand's worst mining disaster since 1914, when 43 men died at Ralph's Mine in Huntly.

The Pike River Mine disaster was a coal mining accident that began on 19 November 2010 in the Pike River Mine, 46 km (29 mi) northeast of Greymouth, in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, following a methane explosion at approximately 3:44 pm. The accident resulted in the deaths of 29 miners. At the time of the initial explosion on 19 November, 31 miners and contractors were below ground. 16 miners and 13 contractors were believed to be located at least 1.5 km (1,600 yd) from the mine's entrance, while two miners managed to walk from the mine and were treated for moderate injuries. Subsequent explosions on 24, 26, and 28 November ended any hopes of any further survivors and raised serious doubt that any bodies would ever be recovered.

In the film PIKE RIVER, Melanie Lynskey stars in this David and Goliath drama based on actual events following the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster that took the lives of nearly 30 men working underground. A touchpoint in global culture at the time, two women—one who lost her son, the other her husband—would make it their mission to bring a negligent corporation to account, no matter the odds stacked against them. Rockhouse and Milton are the last names of the characters, and the two names are on the list of dead miners of the disaster. So, the names have not been changed.

The film can be divided into three parts. The first introduces the two main characters, the two women Rockhouse and Osborne, who are at loggerheads at first but soon bond in their fight against injustice. The second part shows the personal grief each one goes through and the effects of the disaster, and the third, the fight against the injustice of both the company and the government.

There have been complaints that families were not consulted during the making of the film. The disaster itself — multiple explosions in 2010 that resulted in 29 deaths — and the families’ long fight for answers are factual foundations of the story. The central figures, Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse, did engage publicly and persistently in seeking accountability after losing loved ones. But it should be noted that despite political shifts and years of campaigning, justice and full recovery of the miners’ bodies and the mine’s evidence have remained unresolved issues as of the mid-2020s. The audience is led to believe that all went well in the end, but the film ends with hope, but things turned south afterwards, facts that were omitted in the film.

In Canada, PIKE RIVER opens on digital January 30th.

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SHELTER (UK/USA 2026) ***½

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh

On a remote coastal island, a man (Jason Statham) living in self-imposed exile rescues a young girl from a deadly storm. Her uncle dies in the storm while locked in the boat. This action sets off a chain of events, bringing him out of seclusion and both into harm’s way. As their lives intertwine, he must protect the orphaned girl while battling enemies from his past, setting them both on a breathless odyssey of survival and a deeper journey toward redemption.

It turns out the man is Mason, a highly trained, former top operative (no surprise here) who gives him super fighting powers. He is hiding from his past, and particularly, the villain of the piece, played by Bill Nighy, who will not leave him alone.

Besides Statham and Nighy, it is also good to see character British actor Daniel Mays playing a past colleague of Mason’s.

What distinguishes this Statham movie from the others is the locations, both exterior and interior.

One of the action settings takes place at a famous London nightclub called Fabric, but is called Neon Oracle instead. I have been to Fabric in London at Farringdon Tube a dozen times in London. Fabric is called that on the weekdays, but on Sundays it is mostly gay, and the venue is renamed DTPM.

As for exteriors, the setting of Mason’s character is a secluded island in the Scottish Isles of the Outer Hebrides. Despite the Outer Hebrides setting, the film chose to shoot in County Wicklow, Ireland, with the old lighthouse off the island built from scratch, where Mason occupies. The setting is actually Travelahawk, a secluded pebble beach in Wicklow Town. The landscape is simply stunning. The action in the film does not take place all the time, allowing the audience to enjoy the locations of the film, which actually make most of the film’s pleasures.

The sets are also phenomenal. The entire boathouse and lighthouse can be seen and felt when Mason runs from his living quarters or pushes his dory boat out into the water.

Besides the focus on action in the action film, personal emotions are also added to the entertainment equation. The script also includes the story of two lost souls who are both outcasts of society who meet one another and help each other deal with their own demons and hardships, and find an important connection of bonding.

The film also contains all the modern technologies like surveillance, allowing Mason to be detected wherever he goes.

SHELTER does not have the most action of all the Statham films, say THE BEEKEEPER, but it includes many other elements like setting, character emotions, and sets that complement the action set pieces, a big plus in an action film, distinguishing SHELTER as one of the better action films of the year.

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Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 11 January 2026

FILM REVIEWS:

28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE (UK/USA 2026) ***
Directed by Nia DaCosta

28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE is a close sequel to the previous 28 YEARS LATER that Danny Boyle directed. This latest film, not directed by Boyle but by Mia DaCosta, fails to bring in the details of the first film that would make this sequel more sense.

Taking place after the events of the previous film, Spike (Alfie Williams)is inducted into Sir Jimmy Crystal's (Jack O’Donnell) gang of acrobatic killers in a post-apocalyptic Britain ravaged by the Rage Virus. Meanwhile, Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) forms a new relationship with potentially world-changing consequences.

The film shifts among three main characters. One is Spike, renamed Jimmy, and how he copes with the horrors around him. Then there is the villain of the piece, Jimmy Crystal, whom Spike attempts but cannot escape from. Then there is the good doctor, Dr. Kelson wh finds his comfortable, or rather, settled lifestyle is being threatened and he finds himself in survival mode. The three are brought together with disastrous consequences resulting.

THE BONE TEMPLE fails to detail where Spike comes from. It also just mentions the origin of Jimmy Crystal, his introduction to the devil in a church with an inverted cross given to him by his dad, and fails to detail anything more. And where did Dr Ian Kelson come from? All the characters in THE BONE TEMPLE are present for no reason and interact without much expansion. All the explanations are done away with for the sake of a no-nonsense horror thriller, which will satisfy many fond of the horror genre, but the lack of a narrative is noticeable.

The great director Alfred Hitchcock said that he places segments in his movie tat has nothing to do with the film’s plot, sometimes just to give the audience a breather. This technique aids in a film’s pacing, which is noticeably absent in THE BOEN TEMPLE. Director DaCOST ups the ante at a constant madcap pace with no breather, resulting in an extremely intense film, with one horror occurring after another. This is not aided by Ralph Fiennes' manic performance, especially in his Satanic dance, which he goes all out in one of the film’s key scenes.

The first film shows, and this film should explain too, but does not, that in 2002, during the initial outbreak of the Rage virus, a young boy, Jimmy Crystal, flees his house in the Scottish Highlands as his family is attacked by the infected. He takes refuge in the local church with his father, a minister, but finds him praying in ecstasy because he interprets the virus as a harbinger of the end times. Jimmy's father bequeaths him a cross necklace and helps him to safety before submitting to the infected as they break in.

THE BONE TEMPLE also fails to reveal the film setting of the film, assuming that the audience knows it is in the U.K., and nothing is said of the virus’s spread in Europe. (The movie was filmed across northern England locations—such as North Yorkshire, Cumbria, and Northumberland). But as a lean, mean horror machine, director DaCost delivers her blood-soaked flesh gore fest with relentless pacing and conviction.

28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE opens widely in theatres January 16th.

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CHARLIE THE WONDERDOG (Canada 2025/2026) ***
Directed by Shea Wageman

Cineplex Pictures has partnered with ICON Creative Studios to bring audiences Charlie the Wonderdog, a heartwarming new family adventure starring Owen Wilson, opening in theatres nationwide on January 16, 2026. When Danny’s family dog (voiced by Owen Wilson) discovers he has superpowers, Charlie sets out to fulfil his destiny and protect the people he loves — only to learn that real heroism comes from courage, kindness, and believing in yourself.

The story centres on Charlie, a beloved family dog who suddenly gains superpowers after being abducted by aliens and then returning home with abilities beyond a normal pup.

The story is simple and goes like this: Danny, a boy, receives a dog he names Charlie for his birthday. They become more like pals than master and dog. But as Charlie shows his age, Danny feels sad for him. But Charlie is abducted by aliens and attains superpowers. The villain is the cat next door, Puddy, who tries his best to destroy the Wonderdog.

When Danny tells his mum, “Charlie is really slowing down tonight. He can not make it up the stairs.” This truly is a dog movie. For those who own a dog, many scenes will pull at one’s heartstrings, no matter how corny they are. When Danny first sees Charles as a gift for his birthday, the dog, Charlie, responds by licking Danny all over his face. His response is to give the dog a big hug. Giving a dog a big hug is crucial to the love a human can show to a canine. (This reviewer knows, as he owns a dog himself, that hugging her countless times a day.)

The film is charming enough with occasional welcome bouts of humour and goodwill. The film begins to lag during the second half once Charlie starts saving human lives with his superpowers, while delegating audiences mainly at the film’s beginning, before Charlie grows younger and attains his superpowers. Corny as it sounds, at its heart, the film explores themes of courage, kindness, loyalty, and believing in yourself, delivering a family-friendly adventure with comedy, action, and heart.

The film strikes a good balance between the male and female genders. The hero is the boy and Charlie, but Danny’s mother also comes into the picture at the end, helping out as a kind of ‘super-mum’, as Danny’s mother is reputed to be able to fix anything.

You know this film works in that after watching it, you want to go home and hug your best caninefriend. Yes, and the film ends with Danny giving his dog, Charlie, a huge hug and saying: “It is just you and me, Charlie!”

Animation-wise, CHARLIE cannot be compared to the Disney or Pixar Studio animation, but the animation holds its own, with colours matching the alien promise with concentration on the details of the characters’ faces that highlight the emotions of the story.

CHARLIE THE WONDERDOG opens in theatres January 16th.

Trailer:

L’ETRANGER (THE STRANGER )(France 2025)N ****
Directed by Francois Ozon

L’ETRANGER (The Stranger) is touted as based on the novel of the same name by Albert Camus. For those unfamiliar with Camus, here is some important background on the French author. Albert Camus was a French philosopher, novelist, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in the history of the award. His works include The Stranger (which is adapted into the film reviewed here), The Plague, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Fall, and The Rebel.

Director Francois Ozon, world-renowned French director of hits such as his latest QUAND VIENT L’AUTOMNE, and others like SITCOM, CRIMINAL LOVERS, 8 FEMMES, SWIMMING TOO and FRANTZ, to name a few. His films often contain a gay subtext, except for L’ETRANGER which is based on the celebrated, clearly heterosexual author Camus. Like many of Ozon’s other films, the main actor portraying the protagonist is a good-looking male.

Camus novel is a complex one that is filled with metaphorical themes such as survival in an absurdist conventional world, and where the protagonist lives out a life in which he is totally disinterested in.

The film follows the same pacing of Camus’ book, with the halfway mark of the film coinciding with the same mark in the book. The film begins with Meursault being led into prison and asked by fellow prisoners what he did. “I killed an Arab,” is his reply.

Meursault learns of the death of his mother, also at the start of the film, as the film flashesback (without the titles like ‘several weeks earlier’) to the incidents that got him arrested, who has been living in an old age home in the country. He takes time off from work to attend her funeral, but seems to show no signs of grief or mourning to the people around him. When asked if he wishes to view her body, he declines, and he smokes and drinks regular (white) coffee—not the obligatory black coffee—at the vigil held by the coffin the night before the burial with the caretaker. The day after the funeral, Meursault returns to Algiers and encounters Marie, a former secretary of his firm. The two become re-acquainted, swim together, and that evening watch a comedy film and begin to have an intimate relationship. Over the next few days, Meursault helps Raymond Sintès—a neighbour and friend who is rumoured to be a pimp, but says he works in a warehouse—to get revenge on a Moorish mistress, a task that leads to Meursault’s killing of the Arab.

Director Ozon moves his film at a pace that allows his audience to ponder over Camus’s story. Meursault finds peace by fully accepting the absurd nature of existence and the inevitability of death. Meursault is obviously “a stranger” to the society of French Algiers, but also to its societal values. His detachment reveals how social norms often prioritise appearance, sentimentality, and conformity over honesty. The film demonstrates that dignity, and especially freedom, come from honesty, confronting this fact rather than escaping it through false beliefs or social performance.

The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2025, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion. It was theatrically released in France by Gaumont on 29 October. It opens in Toronto this Friday, January 16th.

Trailer:

MALDOROR (France 2024) ****

Directed by Fabrice de Welz

Arriving early 2026, and the best film of 2026 so far, MALDOROR is based on the notorious Marc Dutroux case that shook Belgium in the 1990s. The film follows a young police recruit who becomes involved in a special task force called “Maldoror,” created to track a suspected child predator.

The title of the film, MALDOROR, primarily refers to the villainous, evil protagonist in the influential 19th-century French prose poem Les Chants de Maldoror (The Songs of Maldoror) by Comte de Lautréamont, representing pure evil and defiance against God and humanity, with the name possibly meaning "Evil of Dawn" or "Bad Gift". The term is also used for a 2024 Belgian film, with a villain so evil that he depicts the description of MALDOROR.

Belgium, 1995. The shocking disappearance of two young girls leads to the formation of a secret police operation known as Maldoror. Newly recruited officer Paul Chartier is tasked with monitoring a dangerous suspect but soon finds himself in a losing battle against bureaucracy and systemic dysfunction. As official efforts collapse and the case is closed, still unsolved, Paul spirals into obsession, pushing him beyond legal and moral boundaries in a relentless pursuit of justice.

There are three threads in the narrative that propel the story along in the search for the child abductor. One is the conflict between three branches of the police, one the judiciary, the other the local, and the other the federal. Another thread is the relationship problems that arise from Paul’s obsession with his case. His newlywed wife is expecting a baby, and he is too involved to spend time with his family. When things reach a boiling point, the wife leaves him. At another confrontational segment, Paul blames his wife for the two kidnapped girls being murdered. The audience sees both sides of the argument, and while one feels sympathetic towards Paul, Paul is not always right. The third part of the story is the hunt for the kidnapper while uncovering a hidden network of human trafficking. Incredibly, all the events are based on a true crime that happened in Belgium.

Anthony Bajon is nothing short of excellent in the role of the obsessed gendarme. He is not Mr Handsome, but suits the role of a small-time gendarme. Alexis Manenti is also very good as Luis, Paul’s partner. Manenti was in LES MISÉRABLES in 2019, where he played a racist cop.

The brilliant, well-acted film of an obsessed small-time gendarme hunting down a child kidnapper, combining the themes of systemic police corruption and indifference, the personal toll of pursuing evil, and the topic of vigilante justice,e all add up to make MADOROR a film to be reckoned with.

The film has won accolades at international film festivals, including:

Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival (2024) | Nominee, Best Film

Lisbon Film Festival (2024) | Nominee, Best Film

Ghent International Film Festival (2024) | Nominee, Best Film

Festival Européen du Film Fantastique de Strasbourg (2024) | Winner, Crossovers Competition

Fantasy Filmfest (2024) | Nominee, Jury Prize

The film premiered on 3 September 2024 at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. It was theatrically released in France on 15 January 2025 and in Belgium on 22 January 2025. For the U.S. and Canada, MALDOROR arrives on VOD/Digital Platforms on 1/16 from Film Movement.

Trailer:

THE RIP (USA 2025) ***
Directed by Joe Carnahan

January marks the end of the Quality Award movies every year. What follows every year, then, are expensive or mid-range budget horror or action films to lure audiences to the cinema. As for action, there are already 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE and PRIMATE. Now come the action films like the upcoming Chris Pratt sci-fi flick MERCY and Jason Statham in SHELTER. Also on the radar is a Netflix film to be seen on the big home screen, another high-octane action film starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in a crooked cop movie based on true events, entitled THE RIP. Directed by Joe Carnahan, who directed in 2006 one of my favourite fucked up films called SMOKIN’ ACES that I adored, but most other critics hated. The RIP puts Cagayan again in the action good books. Director Carnahan delivers what is expected, an expensive action flick with enough action set-pieces, with a crime story to boot, that should satisfy action fans who do not demand too much from their film-going.

What is a RIP? It does not mean Rest in peace but a modern use of the word related to crime. According to the Oxford dictionary, rip means to tear or pull (something) quickly or forcibly away from something or someone. In the film, rip refers to the stash of money discovered in a stash house.

The story follows a team of Miami police officers who, during a narcotics operation, discover a huge stash of money—far more than expected—hidden in a rundown stash house.

When they find millions in cash (around $20 million), the situation quickly escalates. The officers must count and secure the money on site, as required by law, while trust begins to break down among the team. As outside forces (including other law-enforcement agencies and criminal elements) learn about the massive seizure, the cops start to question loyalties, motives, and even each other, raising the central theme of corruption vs. integrity in law enforcement.

The film has a fast-paced, gritty, tense crime thriller with action and moral ambiguity, with dead seriousness replacing comedy that is noticeably absent in the film. The dark and moody atmosphere, with most of the action taking place at night, enhances the mood of the film.

The film only reveals halfway through the film whether the cops are crooked or not, with the notion that some cops are more crooked than others. The story then moves into an all for oneself and screw whoever else.

THE RIP should attract lots of viewers on Netflix with star names like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Steven Yuen (from MINARI and MICKEY 17) also stars as a fellow cop. It is also the most expensive film directed by Carnahan, who has done a decent job on the action flick.

THE RIP opens for streaming on Netflix Friday, January 16th, and should have the number 1 film watched on the streaming service this weekend.

THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE (USA/UK 2025) ***
Directed by Mona Fastvold

The film THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE is about Ann Lee, the founding leader of the Shaker Movement, with certain liberties taken by writer/director Mona Fastvold (THE BRUTALISTS). Ann Lee has been proclaimed as the female Christ by her followers. The film depicts her establishment of a utopian society and the Shakers' worship through song and dance, based on real events.

Ann Lee, commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the Shakers, later changed to United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, following her death. She was born during a time of the Evangelical revival in England and became a figure who greatly influenced religion at this time, especially in the Americas.

The film follows the start of the Shakers. In 1774, after nearly two decades of participation in a religious movement that became the Shakers, Ann Lee and a small group of her followers emigrated from England to New York. After several years, they gathered at Niskayuna, shown in the second half of the film, renting land from the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Albany County, New York (the area now called Colonie). They worshipped by ecstatic dancing or "shaking", which resulted in their being dubbed the Shakers. Ann Lee preached to the public and led the Shaker church at a time when few women were religious leaders. She was often referred to and considered the female representation of God.

The ecstatic dancing with arms flailing together, with their shouting and what is called ‘singing’, all looks quite weird, not only for the non-followers but also for the audience of the film.

Ann Lee is also known as, as is also the film’s alternative title, THE WOMAN CLOTHED BY THE SUN WITH THE MOON UNDER HER FEET.

The film opens in the 18th century in Manchester, when Ann was a child, shown with her brother William. Lots of voiceover. The voiceover aids in putting the story in perspective, especially when dialogue cannot always tell the whole story or emotions accurately.

The film can be divided into two parts: the first set in Manchester and the second in America, where Mother Ann travels with her followers to spread her beliefs.

Composer Daniel Blumberg (collaborating the second time with the director) researched the many, many Shaker hymns and wrote three original songs for the film. Film editor Sofía Subercaseaux worked closely with the music edits to put the dances and musical numbers together. One can also see from the editing that the tone in the second half is tighter and more contained than raw compared to the first half.

THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE is a film about faith, the Christian faith with a difference. Though one might call hot a cult, Ann Lee preaches God as in Jesus, and so refutes a lot of her persecutors’ accusations. The shakers were never ridiculed in the film, but more humanised. Opening originally at Christmas, this ‘Christian’ film is not the typical type, and thus been rescheduled for an opening this week.

Trailer:

Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 07 January 2026

THE BIG FAKE (Il Falsario)(Italy 2026) ***
Directed by Stefano Lodovichi

THE FORGER would be a more appropriate title for the new Netflix crime drama opening this week than THE BIG FAKE. Based on true events, with incidents made up, obviously, as he film looks quite commercially oriented, for dramatic purposes, THE BIF+G FAKE opens with the voiceover of its protagonist says g hat he was to attend a meeting but had to miss it for he reason that he is dead. The next scene shows him shot dead. The film moves back earlier, after whetting the audience’s appetite, as to what led to the protagonist, Toni’s (Toni with an ‘i’, as Toni insists) demise.

As the story unfolds, it soon becomes clear that this is not a mystery crime thriller but more of a character study with some messages put forward, as the narrative is more character-driven. The story introduces Toni with two other friends, and the three travel to Rome. Toni is an artist, while the other two are a worker in a factory and a priest. They are all childhood friends, with fate leading each of their lives differently.

Directed by Stefano Lodovichi, the film has a luscious beauty, being meticulously choreographed and staged, like the ride of a bicycle by the two lovers, for example, in the middle of the night, as sights in Rome are seen in the background. High production values follow throughout the film, making it an impressively photographed work, complementing the fact that its lead character is an artist.

Pietro Castellitto, a 35-yearold actor of past Italian films like THE PEDATORS and TWICE BORN, an ordinary looker but with a nice body, plays Toni with sufficient credible gusto, supported by a strong ensemble cast including Giulia Michelini, Andrea Arcangeli, Aurora Giovinazzo, Edoardo Pesce, and Claudio Santamaria. His performance is key to the success of the film, as rather than a fast-paced action thriller, the film focuses on Toni’s internal struggle and the consequences of his choice.

Director Lodovichi spends a lot of time orchestrating Toni’s ‘doownfall’ into the crooked forgery world. Toni is first shown as an ambitious painter who is poor but honest as he first enters the city of Rome. Toni’s talent for reproducing masterpieces is so convincing that it catches the attention of criminal gangs and underworld figures. What starts as an opportunity to make money quickly turns into something much more dangerous and morally complicated. Over time, Toni becomes one of the most prolific art forgers of his era, using his skills to create counterfeit works that blur the line between genius and deception. The film assumes that Toni automatically falls into the temptation of money and success, factors that lead to his death, and what he had said earlier in the film as voiceover.

The 70s era atmosphere is captured by the wardrobe and scenes like the disco segment with 70’s hits like RASPUTIN,

THE BIG FAKE, with a character driven Story of Ambition and Identity opens on Netflix, Friday, 23rd January.

Trailer:

COSMIC PRINCESS KAGUYA! (Japan 2026) ***
Directed by Shingo Yamashita

Co-written and directed by Shingo Yamashita, COSMIC PRINCESS KAGUYA! (Why the title has an exclamation mark is left to the audience to figure out) arrives with much fanfare. Japanese or those who follow Japanese books are already familiar with the source material for the film.

A similar animated film was made in 2013. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a 2013 Japanese animated historical fantasy film directed by Isao Takahata from a screenplay he co-wrote with Riko Sakaguchi. It is based on The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a 10th-century Japanese literary tale. Themes in the film centred on feminism, freedom, nepotism and responsibility. A bamboo cutter makes a living with his wife until he sees a living nymph who turned into a beautiful young woman. It was produced by the famous Studio Ghibli for Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DYMP, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, Toho and KDDI.

The story of the novel follows a bamboo cutter who discovers a small girl inside a glowing bamboo shoot. Believing her to be a divine presence, he and his wife decide to raise her as their own, calling her "Princess". The girl grows rapidly, earning her the nickname "Takenoko" "Little Bamboo") from the village children. But in COSMIC PRINCESS KAGUYA !, it is not a woodcutter but a young girl who finds thermal scar girl inside a glowing rainbow telephone pole. But the woodcutter tale is mentioned in the film.

COSMIC PRINCESS KAGUYA! begins when a 17-year-old high school student called Iroha finds a baby girl inside a glowing telephone pole (voiced by Dawn M Bennett in the English dub version, but is in Japanese and voiced by Anna Nagase, with subtitles in the Netflix version I viewed). She is a sensible kid, a talented musician and a grade-A student who has already moved out of the family home, as she and her mother are always having unhealthy fights, and is living alone, working all hours to pay the rent of her tiny studio flat. In any free time she does have, Iroha follows her idol, AI musical megastar Yachiyo, in a crazy, chaotic virtual reality world called Tsukuyomi. Eventually, they bond over their shared love for virtual idols in the metaverse "Tsukuyomi". But like the original "Princess Kaguya” novel and film, Kaguya cannot stay on earth forever.

COSMIC PRINCESS KAGUYA! has a different style of animation compared to Studio Ghibli’s hand-painted animation, with a more stylised Japanese anime look, making it look more modern than folklore.

The film runs over 2 hours, which is pretty lengthy for an animated feature. But COSMIC PRINCESS KAGUYA! is an easy, undemanding watch, and quite a pleasant one, as one sees a young female manoeuvre through her puberty, with the child of a moon princess. The film does not reach any potential it might be aiming at, with a lagging middle.

COSMIC PRINCESS KAGUYA! opens on Netflix, one of the series of films Netflix has in contract with the studio (Studio Colorido, Studio Chromato), on January 22nd, 2026.

Trailer:

THE BIG FAKE (Il Falsario)(Italy 2026) ***
Directed by Stefano Lodovichi

Director Lodovichi spends a lot of time orchestrating Toni’s downfall in the crooked forgery world. Toni is first shown as an ambitious painter who is poor but honest as he first enters the city of Rome. Toni’s talent for reproducing masterpieces is so convincing that it catches the attention of criminal gangs and underworld figures. What starts as an opportunity to make money quickly turns into something much more dangerous and morally complicated. Over time, Toni becomes one of the most prolific art forgers of his era, using his skills to create counterfeit works that blur the line between genius and deception. The film assumes that Toni automatically falls into the temptation of money and success, factors that lead to his death, and what he had said earlier in the film as voiceover.

The 70s era atmosphere is captured by the wardrobe and scenes like the disco segment with 70’s hits like RASPUTIN,

THE BIG FAKE, with a character driven Story of Ambition and Identity opens on Netflix, Friday, 23rd January.

Trailer:

HONEY BUNCH (Canada 2025) ***1/2

Directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli

A genre-bending sci-fi thriller with a 1970s look and setting, this film is as unconventional as anything can be in a tale that explores love in a remote rehabilitation facility. The story follows Diana, who wakes from a coma with fragmented memories. Her husband, Homer, takes her to an experimental trauma centre hidden in the remote wilderness, yet the reason eludes her. As fragments of her memory start to return, and just as more of the plot is revealed to the audience, so do disturbing and sinister revelations about her marriage. Grace Glowicki and Ben Petrie are marvellous as the troubled couple, with two British veterans, Kate Dickie and Jason Isaacs lend their hands as well. Character actor Julian Rching, who has appeared in more than 200 films, also has an appearance here. The film is bookended by the segment in which Diana carries Homer into the sea, but the climax before the ending scene is something really out of the ordinary. Be prepared for one of the most gross-out set pieces seen in a film this year.

KIDNAPPED: ELIZABETH SMART (USA 2026) ***
Director: Benedict Sanderson

Before the film title KIDNAPPED: ELIZABETH SMART appears on the screen, director Sanderson injects enough information to whet the appetite of viewers who have just come in to watch the film’s first 5 minutes. First, it is declared that the abduction of a 14-year old girl in her bedroom in an affluent community is extremely rare. It is no surprise that the police think the parents are somehow responsible. But the father interviewed says on camera that he does not trust the cops and will do his best to find his kidnapped daughter. When Elizabeth’s younger 9-year old sister, Mary, is asked how she dealt with the kidnapping, she sobs, saying that she is still dealing with it. The adult Elizabeth says to the camera that she would do anything to escape her kidnapping. Enough fodder sown to whet audiences appetite? Definitely. The kidnapping is based on a true story of a kidnapping in Utah.

Elizabeth has been rescued. Currently, Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (born November 3) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. It is a Mormon affluent community. Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, held Smart captive for nine months until she was rescued by police officers on a street in Sandy, Utah. Smart has since gone on to work as an activist and advocate for missing persons and speaking out against abstinence-only education. Her life and abduction have been the subject of numerous non-fiction books and films.

Among those interviewed in the doc are Elizabeth herself, her father, her uncle, the police captain in charge of the case, a TV journalist, and Elizabeth’s 9-year old sister, Mary. Mary was the most witness in the case, as the police captain says. As Mary is the only witness to the kidnapping, she is the key to solving the case. When questioned, Mary says he heard the voice of the kidnapper, a familiar one, telling Elizabeth that she would be killed unless she remained silent; then no harm would come to her. Mary cannot recall who the voice comes from, except that it is a familiar one. This fact prompts the police to interview all the members of the Smart family and their extended family.

The doc plays like a murder whodunit rather than a kidnapping mystery. Director Sanderson places a few red herrings. The suspects were first Elizabeth’s parents, then Richard Ricci, a previous violent felon who had worked as a contractor on the family's house. Ricci died while in prison leading the police to lose their prime suspect, and whatever secrets he kept with him. The mystery suspense pacing is excellent right up to the very end, where the doc starts lagging with the doc trying to offer some messages about life.

The doc is the most disturbing and creepy when Elizabeth, as a grown-up, recounts to the camera the abuse she endured and how she attempted to escape.

The true crime doc KIDNAPPED: ELIZABETH SMART, a worthy suspense and mystery, opens on the streaming service Netflix on Wednesday, January 21st.

Trailer:

MERCY (USA 2026) **

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov

This week’s Hollywood blockbuster (estimated at a non-disclosed $60 million) opening is a sci-fi, futuristic thriller drama (with some action). It contains a timely AI premise, AI being the rage of the future.

MERCY is a near-future action thriller set in a world where artificial intelligence controls law enforcement and the justice system. As the film introduces, MERCY is the name of the court system consisting of an AI-generated judge, jury, and executioner.

The story follows a former U.S. Army operative, detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), who suddenly wakes up, after a drunken night, arrested and accused of the violent crime of murdering his wife,e he insists he did not commit. With the odds stacked against him—including an AI-driven policing system that assumes guilt over innocence—he goes on the run to prove his innocence, protect his family, and expose the dangerous flaws in a justice system that has surrendered human judgment to machines. Raven is strapped in a chair in the MERCY court building throughout the movies. He attempts to prove his innocence in a totally unbelievable scenario that includes so many twists in the plot that make the story even more silly, not to say confusing.

Written by Marco van Belle and directed by Russian Timur Bekmambetov, the latter famous for box-office successful Russian action films like DAY WATCH and NIGHT WATCH, the film contains both lots of flaws and a few positives. In terms of pace and tension, director Bekmambetov delivers an absorbing edge-of-the-seat thriller, despite the credibility factor. His incorporation of layered, superimposed images, showing closed-captioned text and dates across the screen as a scene unfolds, gives the film a futuristic look suitable to its premise. He succeeds in establishing the credibility of an AI-controlled justice system in the film. Placing a human face to the AI, Rebecca Ferguson as Judge Maddox, an AI who is part of the Mercy program. For example, it creates credibility. The ticking away of time as Chris Raven tries to prove his innocence aids the film’s intensity. Van Belle’s script contains the plot twists that is normally required in action thrillers, but he carries it a bit too far. The script has multiple twists and too many twists, so that the final villain revealed serves to confuse matters rather than create a better story. ,

MERCY is a sufficiently satisfying thriller that pushes its credibility promise at the end to detrimental results, creating a silly twist for the sake of just creating one. The incorporation of AI into the promise is a timely and important one. As expected, the moral dilemma of an AI with a human court justice system comes into the equation. The debate is not carried out that intelligently and ends up with some really corny dialogue. An example is Raven trying to convince the AI robot of what a hunch is. For the undemanding action-seeking audience, MERCY should or might satisfy. Others looking for something more should best turn away,

MERCY opens in theatres on January 23rd.

Trailer:

MOTHER OF FLIES (USA 2025) **

Directed by the Adams Family

In dreams, reflections glimmer, and death grows again. I do not pray as it shows a lack of faith, that one does not take what fate brings. These contemplations, from the start of the film abounds throughout the film. Not much happens in this terribly slow-burning film with a narrative that is as weak as its premise. The visuals and sound, in contrast, are detailed and impressive, if one can sit through the tedium.

Something is not right with Mickey (Zelda Adams), the young teen protagonist of the movie. The College student has dark circles and a pale complexion as she taps at the communal piano in her dorm, and a friend tentatively enquires if “it is back.” The audience learns from her father, Jake (John Adams), that Mickey has cancer; that her (admittedly stylish) short hair has only recently grown in; and that she has exhausted all of the conventional medical options.

That leaves them with the witch in the woods - the MOTHER OF FLIES. This is The Adams Family meets the Mother of Flies, with flies and maggots filling the screen at the film’s start.

The Mother of Flies, Solveig (Toby Poser), is introduced first in the film, revealing her naked body, covered in blood, and caressing a rotting corpse in the woods. The grotesque, evocative imagery is contrasted by the witch’s beautifully philosophical voice-over about life and death, which is a recurring motif throughout the film.

Mickey embraces death. Yet contradicting herself (in fact, many of the poetic voiceovers do the same), she says she will do everything in her mother-fucking opera to procrastinate death. Yes, the voiceover is also not share pf foul language,

Mickey sees Solveig, also known as the witch in the woods, with her accompanying father, with whom she does not get along. But when things get weirder and stranger, he opts out. Despite Jake’s concern, Mickey has elected to stay with Solveig for three days of intensive treatment. En route, however, the red flags begin to pop up: it was Solveig who reached out to Mickey, and she’s not charging the girl anything. When father and daughter pull up at the witch’s forest house, they discover it is literally built out of a tree and features an enormous rock pile/totem in the front yard. The set-up bears all of the hallmarks of a fairy tale crone who lures the heroine to her doom. All the hype and build-up do not warrant the anti-climactic ending

MOTHER OF FLIES can be described as a folk-horror/occult thriller from the U.S. filmmaking trio John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser (often referred to as the Adams Family), known for indie horror works like Hellbender. It premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 and won the festival’s top prize (the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film).

The film was acquired by Shudder and is set to stream on Shudder, the horror streaming service, beginning January 23, 2026.

Trailer:

A PRIVATE LIFE (Vie privee)(France 2025) ***
Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski

Lilian (Foster), an American psychoanalyst in Paris, is devastated to learn that her client Paula (Virginie Efira) has taken her own life. Or has she? Visits from Paula's furious widower, Simon (Mathieu Amalric) and taciturn daughter Valérie (Luàna Bajrami), along with the discovery that files have been stolen from Lilian's office, suggest that Paula may have fallen victim to foul play. Assisted by her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), Lilian undertakes some amateur sleuthing. Academy Award winner Jodie Foster stars in this strange murder mystery black comedy, playing an American psychiatrist working in France. Foster speaks perfect French and it is strange but wonderful to watch her totally inhabit the role. She works with French veterans Daniel Auteul, who plays her ex, and Matthieu Amaric, in an angry, deranged encounter among others. The script contains a lot of crazed characters, Jodie’s psychiatrist being one of them, with her conspiracy theories of murder and her past life. It all turns out well at the end with a happy ending, though a bit too far-fetched for the film’s own good.

Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 06 January 2026

This article will be updated as more shorts become available.

LA JEUNE FILLE QUI PLEURAIT DES PERLES (The Girl Who Cried Pearls)(Canada 2025) ****

Directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

Stop-motion animation, time-consuming but worth every moment, is animation art in its purest form. In this endearing tale from Montreal, Canada, at the dawn of the 20th century, a poor boy falls in love with a girl whose sorrow is transformed into pearls. He sells them to a ruthless pawnbroker, who hungers for more. Tempted by greed, the boy must choose between love and fortune. The choice could damn his soul. From the Oscar-nominated team of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Madame Tutli-Putli), this meticulously crafted film is a testament to the craft mentioned with handmade puppets, mesmerizing narration by Canadian actor Colm Feore, and a haunting score by Patrick Watson. The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a timeless parable of desire, deception, and the price of innocence. It helps that one can identify with a young, innocent boy down on his luck, without fate having dealt him a bad hand. Watching this cautionary moral taleufold is pure delight!

THE EXTREMIST (Latvia/USA 2025) ****
Directed by Aleksandr Molochnikov

A 17-minute short based on a true story from The New Yorker! On November 16, 2023, Sasha Skochilenko, a thirty-three-year-old artist, poet, and musician, stood in court to give what is known in the Russian judicial system as the “last word”—final remarks of the accused before the judge delivers a verdict. The final remarks form the epic conclusion of this drama. Extremist was written and directed by Aleksandr Molochnikov as a Columbia University student film project, and it won the BAFTA student film award. The film dramatizes the real-life case of Aleksandra Skochilenko and follows a young artist (portrayed by Viktoriya Miroshnichenko) whose act of protest, in which she replaces supermarket price tags with anti-war messages, leads to her arrest and prosecution. Sasha is also shown to be in an open lesbian relationship, with her relationship problems also surfacing because of her activism. Still, her partner vouches and carries on her work, despite arguing at one point that Sasha never consults her on her actions.

Details: Written by: Gilbert Seah; Parent Category: Articles; Category: Movie Reviews; Published: 01 January 2026

FILM REVIEWS:

THE CHORAL (UK/USA 2025) ****
Directed by Nicholas Hytner

A choral society's male members enlist in World War I, leaving the demanding Dr Guthrie (Academy Award Nominee Ralph Fiennes from CONCLAVE) to recruit teenagers. Together, they experience the joy of singing while the young boys grapple with their impending conscription into the army.

If the film about forming and survival of a choral (choir) during WWI sounds boring or uneventful, this film, THE CHORAL, written by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner (THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE), serves to prove otherwise. The importance of music is clearly established at the start of the film, through the more elderly population. Music transcends everything, including war. The choral master worked in Germany for several years and therefore faces prejudice against his hiring for the task.

The film is set in a fictional town in Yorkshire. It is all very English, and if one loves a good English film with story and morals included, THE CHORAL is the one to watch. From the beginning scenes, the sight of two lads on their bicycles riding down the winding lanes in the country is simply stunning English beauty.

Director Hytner and writer Bennett capture emotions in key scenes as well as simple ones. At the film’s start, a postman delivers telegrams to soldiers who have died in action. As he delivers one to a mother, with the words: “I’m sorry, missus,” the mother holds the postman’s head, giving him a kiss on the forehead with tears rolling down her face. It is a key moment illustrating the power of emotion that radiates from the work of these two artists, which is also observable in other parts of the film.

Every part of a choir is shown in all its glory and importance. When auditioning for the new choral master, the choral master says: Everyone is to audition. "But we are in the committee, and I’m not prepared to argue one," says one. “The scales will do,” replies the choral master. As different auditions are heard, the audience will be mesmerised by the expressions and songs chosen. This is my favourite segment in the film.

German composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Handel being unacceptable, Dr Guthrie proposes to stage a radical new production of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, its theme of death reflecting the current pains of war. He gets permission from Elgar (played with gusto by Simon Russell Beale) himself for this performance, though not until his daringly interpretive new variations are discovered by the angry Elgar.

The film contains a few excellent quotes, such as: Artists are like that. (referring to one knowing another’s talent) They know each other. The film also contains excellent scenes. The best of it is the choral master’s pep talk with Clyde (Jacob Dudman), a young soldier returning from the war prematurely for loss of his right arm. Clyde can sing but does not want to be in the choral. Life has dealt him a consolation prize - his voice, but otherwise, the loss of a limb and heartbrokenness (his girl now feels differently towards him). It is an excellent written scene, full of raw emotion and openness, and delivered with great effect, demonstrating the oneness between theatre and cinema.

THE CHORAL screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens on January 9th. Absolute delight!

Trailer:

THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER (USA 2025 ) ***

Directed by Kristen Stewart

THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER is a biographical psychological drama film and the feature directorial debut of Kristen Stewart, adapted from Lidia Yuknavitch’s acclaimed 2011 memoir of the same name.

At the addiction meetings, Lidia (Imogene Poots) is told to talk about it and that that will help. “I am not talking,” she tells the group leader. Then, there are the scenes of overdose, when she lies on the floor, and the medics are trying to revive her. Her arm and veins are shown as she is about to perform an injection. Her sweaty face, bad complexion, and all are shown in close-ups. If there is any consolation from these disturbing scenes, they are occasionally accompanied by uplifting music. While her parents claim that she is doing so well, director Stewart flashes back to her vomiting into the toilet bowl. (Is the vomiting due to the drug taking or her pregnancy?)

Her indecisiveness is no help either. She punches her boyfriend because he is not nice and does nothing. She does not know what to do. She talks to herself.

The sexual abuse by her father is shown in horrible ways. The way he fucks her is shown in a lengthy and disturbing segment that one can only wish they could turn away from. The father alternates between a few moments of tenderness and screaming at her at the top of his voice.

Director Stewart’s film is a difficult watch. It is no easy watch to experience the trauma of an abused individual,l whether the abuse comes from within or from the outside. From Stewart’s fragmentation use of editing, for example, the audience sees a scene and the next edit with the same scene but occurring a few seconds before, she creates the effect of how Lidia feels and acts as she is bipolar and high. But there is redemption, which slowly emerges during the second half of the film.

A young woman finds her voice through the written word and her salvation as a swimmer, ultimately becoming a triumphant teacher, mother, and singular modern writer.

The term chronology means the arrangement of events or dates in the order of their occurrence. The film does not evolve in the same way as the meaning of the word, in relation to water. It is, in fact, a raw, nonlinear life story of Lidia Yuknavitch—from her traumatic childhood and escape into competitive swimming, to fractured relationships, addiction, sexuality, the loss of a child, and ultimately finding her voice as a writer. Rather than following a straightforward narrative, the film uses a fluid, memory-like structure to evoke how trauma, loss, and memory intermingle, transforming suffering into art.

The film mirrors the memoir’s style, with memories and experiences overlapping like waves—showing life as fragmented yet connected. Water (especially her life as a swimmer) functions as a powerful motif for escape, transformation, and emotional depth throughout the film.

But director Stewart’s artsy style can be overpowering at times, to the point that one wonders what all the fuss is about. Yet, one has to give Stewart credit for trying,

Kristen Stewart has an active and successful career in show business since an early age. This film marks her impressive directorial debut. THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025. The film received positive reviews from critics. It opens in theatres on January 7th, 2026

TRAILER:

FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER (USA 2025) ***

Directed by Jim Jarmusch

FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER is a 2025 comedy-drama anthology film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. Starring an ensemble cast that includes Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Sarah Greene, Indya Moore, and Luka Sabbat, it follows three estranged family relationships in three different countries around the world. The anthology stories are told one after another, not intercut. Intercutting stories often disrupts continuity and destroys whatever has been built up in a segment before switching to the next story. Jarmusch is a filmmaker with a certain style, an odd one like panning a row of residences as a car drives by, for example. Though his films are never the best of the year, they are still an event to look forward to. I will never miss a Jim Jarmusch film. And FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER is one that Jarmusch fans should not miss.

The three stories are all equally interesting, but the last one is the least engaging for one reason: the actors are less proficient than the stars who perform in the first two stories, like John Waits and Adam Driver in the first, and Cate Blanchett. The decision to have the stories set in different cities around the world is an excellent one, giving the film variation and change.

The three stories are called FATHER, the first, MOTHER, the second, and SISTER BROTHER, the final. The best is the second, primarily for the reason that it has Charlotte Rampling as Mother, Cate Blanchett as Timothea, and Vicky Krieps as the other sister. The stores are set in different countries, from the United States to Dublin to Paris, respectively.

Somewhere in a countryside town in the United States, Jeff and Emily drive on a snowy road to a reunion with their estranged and reclusive father. While Emily has no idea how he has enough money to survive without social security following the passing of their mother, Jeff appears to be secretly supporting his father. Further concerned with his loneliness, Jeff brings a box full of expensive groceries. The father appears to hide his real financial state, displaying an old car in the house entrance and messing up the house on purpose, until Emily spots a Rolex, although he pretends it's a fake replica. Seeming not to care about their lives, he forgets about Jeff's recent divorce. After their departure, the father cleans the house and drives in his actual functional car to meet a friend nearby.

Somewhere in Dublin, an elderly, famous writer awaits her annual tea gathering with her two daughters, Timothea and Lilith. The reunion marks the only day in the year they actually see each other, although they all live in Dublin. Timothea's car malfunctions on the way, and in despair, she tries to contact the insurance, but drives to her mother's home to avoid being late. Lilith asks her friend, Jeanette, to pretend she is an Uber driver, avoiding further explanations of her financial state to her mother and sister. During the tea, the mother inquires about their lives, and after some hesitation Timothea announces that she has been promoted to a new position on the city's council for preservation of historic buildings, but is interrupted by Lilith, who announces she also has good news about the new "influencers" of her community, although neither her mother or her sister appears to know what an influencer is. Lilith is spotted with a Rolex, but insists it's a fake replica. In the bathroom, Timothea appears to be overwhelmed by emotion. As the tea ends, Lilith asks her mother to call an uber and the trio waits for the car in silence by the front door.

Somewhere in Paris, Skye and her brother Billy reunite following the passing of their parents in a plane crash in the Azores, and, while driving to their old home, they try to reconnect through memories. At the now-empty apartment, Billy shares with Skye old photos, drawings of their childhood, and an old Rolex of their father's, as well as multiple fake IDs and a fake marriage certificate. The landlord, Madame Gautier, interrupts them, revealing that she personally prevented the insurance company from seizing their parents' belongings, even though they died owing three months of rent. Driving through Paris once again, they head to a warehouse, taking a final look at their parents' old furniture.

FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2025, where it won the Golden Lion. It was theatrically released in the United States by Mubi on December 24. The film opens in Canadian cinemas on January 9, 2026 (English-language release widely across Canada).

Trailer:

HOMEGROWN (USA 2024) ***

Directed by Michael Premo

It is timely with the doc HOMEGROWN being released in North America on the 5th Anniversary of the insurgent attack on the U.S. Capitol— on January 6, 2026

HOMEGROWN brings raw intimacy and unprecedented access to a political moment still unfolding. Shot across battleground communities and key flashpoints of national tension, the documentary reveals the lived experiences of people whose determination to turn their beliefs into action places them on the front lines of America’s political divide.

The film follows three conservative activists—a newly politicized father-to-be in New Jersey, an Air Force veteran organizing conservatives in New York City, and an activist from Texas—crisscrossing the country in the summer of 2020, campaigning for Donald Trump. When they become convinced that the election is stolen, they take their fight to the streets. The result is a chilling portrait of the growing unrest pushing American democracy to the brink.

How bad, ill-informed and moronic are the true Trump supporters? This doc focuses of three such supporters, a doc that would surely shock, if not anger, those who have seen the American democracy crumble and manipulated under President Donald Trump. Michael Premo, director of the documentary Homegrown, spent years embedded with people who later participated in January 6 and has continued to follow how they interpret that day—and its aftermath—over time. His work offers firsthand insight into how pardons are understood not just as legal relief, but as political validation, narrative reinforcement, and in some cases, fuel for continued grievance.

The first featured is Chris Quaglin, 38. Chris was a husband and father-to-be from New Jersey who became deeply involved in the movement. He joined the mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. He injured a police officer when he choked and tackled him to the ground. Quaglin assaulted other officers with stolen police shields, metal bike racks and pepper spray as he clashed with police for roughly three hours. “What an outrage. What a disgrace,” the judge said. who sentenced him to 12 years in prison, Trump pardoned the menace when he became President.

The second subject is Randy Ireland, a U.S. Air Force veteran who served between the two Gulf Wars and later became involved in organizing right-wing activism. The leader within the Proud Boys movement in New York, he appears on-camera as a proud, self-described former leader (the Proud Boys are a far-right group known for political violence and involvement in the January 6 Capitol attack). A Brooklyn, New York resident whom the director describes as someone the film portrays as not personally racist, despite his involvement with far-right activism and debates within that milieu.

The third is the most interesting. Thad Cisneros is the most ideologically complex of the three Latino, Navy veteran, paleoconservative, associated with Proud Boys–aligned activism, but openly critical of parts of the movement. Different from the other two, he expresses sympathy for Black Lives Matter and often engages in dialogue with political opponents. Motivated more by anti-establishment and anti-interventionist beliefs than racial grievance, he often questions authority, policing, and U.S. foreign wars. In the doc, he is portrayed as contradictory, searching, and willing to cross ideological lines.

HOMEGROWN, the timely doc concentrating on three Trump over zealous right-wing activists, with intimate access and never-before-seen footage of events, including scenes around the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capito,l is as disturbing as any doc, showing how citizens can be radicalized through misinformation, conspiracy theories and their individual motivations resilient in the chaos the U.S. is facing today. The one conclusion that can be drawn is how fucked up Americans really are.

HOMEGROWN is a very timely, disturbing and unforgettable documentary that captures key candid moments of the insurrection on Capitol Hill. A definite must-see for Trump supporters to see how they are perceived.

Here is how to watch HOMEGROWN in Canada. Beginning January 6, Homegrown will be available to rent via the Direct To Audience℠ (DTA) platform GATHR. Audiences can head before Jan 6th, to Homegrown.film to preorder the film and learn more.

Trailer:

THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR (Canada/Chile 2024) **½

Directed by Johnny Ma

Winnipeg appears to be a favourite setting and site for Canadian films lately. Late years entry for the Canadian entry for the Academy Award for best International feature (though it did not make the shortlist), but the Winner won the Toronto Film Critics’ Association Best Canadian Feature, UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE and this film, THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR are both shot in Winnepg/

Two Canadian films will be released close to each other, b both of which share similar themes with a difference. The films referred to are THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR, th film reviewed in this article and MONTREAL, MA BELLE. The identical themes in both films are the mother-daughter estranged relationship. Also, one is gay and hidden, making the telaStionship even more troublesome. In MONTREAL MY BALLE, it is the mother, played by Joan Chen, who is gay, and in THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR, it is the daughter who hides her same sex orientation.

The beginning of THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR is the most original segment in the whole movie. The daughter sees a bear near a huge dumpster in the dead of winter, screams and slips. She is inn hospital. Was she attacked by the bear, or did she just slip on the ice? The girl is in a coma. As it turns out, director Johnny is the subject of the daughter to the mother.

Sara (Kim Ho-jung), a woman from South Korea, travels to Canada after her daughter Sumi (Leere Park), who had emigrated to Winnipeg some years earlier, is injured in a fall that leaves her comatose. Upon arrival, Sara discovers how little she truly knew about her daughter's life.

Sara despairs about her daughter’s single status, so she immediately starts catfishing the pleasant Min (Jonathan Kim) to be Sumi’s boyfriend — once she wakes up, of course — and also gets unwittingly entangled with Min’s estranged father, Sam (Won-Jae Lee), who runs a Korean restaurant in the city. As Sam and the widowed Sara connect over their mutual melancholies, a chance meeting with Sumi’s co-worker Amaya (Amara Pedroso Saquel) leads Sara to learn more about the life from which her daughter has chosen to exclude her.

Despite the common theme the film has with MONTREAL, MA BELLE, the themes of a meddling mother, a mother visiting Canada for the first time, and matchmaking are not new ideas. The audience can also find it difficult to sympathise with a bumbling, meddling mother who does harm, m like destroy another relationship, and lie her way around. Director Ma’s film is a quiet, pleasant one, but nothing fresh is0one display and watching the film plod along is a rather boring experience. One word, ‘meh’, can be used to describe the film. There is also a little tour of Winnipeg, of its budding, snowy and wintry streets that makes the film more like an advertisement for the Manitoba Tourist Board.

Performances are ok, and Kim’s performance seems like director Ma is directing it.

At Cinéfest, THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR won the award for Outstanding Canadian Feature. The film is scheduled for a **general theatrical release in Canada on January 9, 2026.

Trailer:

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION (USA 2025) **
Directed by Brett Haley

Rom coms are the least of my favourite movie genres. Typically, they are too predictable. The two first meet under unlikely circumstances, then fall into a possible romantic relationship. Then there is the obstacle, often concerning the past or some misunderstandigthat causes the two to argue and rift apart. But only to come together for a happy ending that often involves something ridiculous, like chasing the other before the plane takes off. But the Rock Hudson Doris Day matchup here is always a delight, with films like PILLOW TALK being a minor classic. This new rom-com from Netflix is based on People We Meet on Vacation, a romance novel by Emily Henry, published May 11, 2021, by Berkley Books, known as You and Me on Vacation in the UK and Australia. The book is a New York Times bestseller, and it would be interesting to see how the story is adapted for film.

People We Meet on Vacation is told in a nonlinear narrative (both novel and film), interspersing its protagonist's present vacation with flashbacks from past trips. It follows Poppy Wright (Emily Bader) and Alex Nilsen (Tom Blyth), two best friends who are opposites in every way. When the two first meet, they share a road trip, and he has a girlfriend. She is an outgoing, wanderlust-filled wild child, while he is mild-mannered and introverted. From the car/road trip, Poppy is shown to be terribly annoying, while Alex grins and bears it. Poppy spills food all over in the car, listens to loud and annoying music and chatters nonstop about nonsense. No one in their right mind would want a car companion like Poppy. Every summer, they come together for a week-long vacation, until a trip to Croatia causes them to stop speaking for two years. One can immediately predict that these two, Alex and Poppy, will live happily ever after, despite their initial hiccups.

Linfield is not the more famous Irish town, but a small town in Ohio, US, where Poppy and Alex are originally from.

How does PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION compare to say, the Rock Hudson Doris Day romantic comedies? For one, the latter are much funnier. Doris Day always plays the prude female, which is always so funny, with her expressions like “Ooooooo,” when she gets into an embarrassing situation. Everyone knows Rock Hudson is gay, which makes their films funnier. In PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION, the jokes are not funny and the jokes that Poppy cracks are more annoying to both Alex and the audience. And the film is already too predictable anyway. It does not help that the supporting characters, like Jameela Jamil with her plastic surgery, huge lips playing Poppy’s boss, Swapna Bakshi-Highsmith, are just as annoying, if not more.

The story is a variation of the old rom-com with Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn, SAME TIME NEXT YEAR (1978), directed byRobert Mulligan, showing how their love develops. Only trouble is that the journey there is laddled with unfunny jokes and boring encounters.

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION, the rom com has so far, obtained n the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 17 critics' reviews are positive. So, despite my bias against rom coms, this might be an entertaining bet for many. The film opens for streaming on Netflix on January 9th.

Trailer:

PRIMATE (USA 2025) ***
Directed by Johannes Roberts

A tropical vacation goes awry when Ben, a family's adopted chimpanzee, is bitten by a rabid animal and suddenly becomes violent.

PRIMATE begins with a description of rabies and what rabies can inflict. It is a way filmmakers attempt to create credibility in a horror movie.

Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals, such as chimpanzees, as seen in the film. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. The characters in the story escape from the rabies chimp by treading water in the middle of the i house swimming pool, making the fact that th chimp cannot swim and is also afraid of water. So, this part is true.

Early symptoms can include fever and abnormal sensations at the site of exposure, which are followed by nausea, vomiting, violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, fear of water, an inability to move parts of the body, confusion, and/or loss of consciousness. All the symptoms except for the fear of water are used in the film. The time period between contracting the disease and the start of symptoms is usually one to three months, but can vary from less than one week to more than one year. The effect is immediate in the movie, with Ben experiencing the symptoms right after being bitten by an infected mongoose.

The film depicts a stunning Hawaii, where some of the characters are vacationing and where Lucy, the protagonist, is returning other poem, to see her deaf mute father and younger sister.

The deaf mute father injects a bit of variation into the movie. The handicap is used for both antipationa nd also for a bit of humour, judging from the laughs coming from the audience at the promoscreenong. Kucy is screaming when attacked by the chimp, while the father is oblivious to the occurrence, unable to hear anything.

The film succeeds in satisfying action-horror fans with formulaic action set pieces and a standard storyline, complete with an ending that is ripe for a sequel. PRIMATE is essentially an expensive Hollywood B-movie with the terrorising beast being a chimp with a severe case of rabies. Whether a rabid monkey is able to go through the lengths shown in the film at terrorising its human victims, or whether the monkey has sufficient strength, is immaterial, so long as jump scares abound and audiences are on the edge of their seats.

Johannes Roberts is an English filmmaker, best known for directing the horror films including Other Side of the Door (2016), 47 Meters Down (2017), The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018), Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) and PRIMATE in 2025. At best, director Roberts can be credited for delivering one lean, mean, no-nonsense effective chiller.

January is the perfect month to open horror flicks. PRIMATE from Paramount opens widely in theatres on January 9th.

Trailer:

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