FILM REVIEWS:
18TH ROSE (Philippines 2026) **
Directed by Dolly Dudu
The 2026 Netflix film 18th Rose is a coming-of-age romantic drama set in the early 2000s Philippines, centred on a teenage girl preparing for a life-changing tradition—her 18th birthday debut.
The story follows Rose, a lively, free-spirited teenage girl approaching her 18th birthday.
In Filipino culture, turning 18 is marked by a grand celebration (a “debut”), symbolizing entry into adulthood. Rose dreams of having the perfect, fairy-tale debut, complete with romance, status, and validation. However, she feels pressure to make the night unforgettable. She worries she doesn’t yet have the “perfect” love story to match the occasion.
Rose makes a deal with a stranger, Jordan, a quiet, somewhat lonely newcomer.
Jordan is an outsider—socially awkward, mysterious, and emotionally guarded. Rose proposes a mutual arrangement. He will act as her date/romantic partner for the debut.
In return, she offers him companionship, inclusion, or help with his own struggles.
In summary, 18TH ROSE is about a fake relationship that becomes real—
and a girl who learns that growing up means letting go of the perfect story she imagined.
For information, the 18 Roses is a traditional part of a Filipina debut that symbolises the debutante’s transition from childhood to womanhood. It involves 18 important men in her life, each offering her a rose and sharing a dance with her. This gesture represents love, guidance, and respect from the male figures who have played meaningful roles in her life. Jo..rdan is clearly the 18th ROSE
The “fake relationship turns into real love” trope is one of the most beloved in romantic films. It works because it lets characters fall in love accidentally, often while pretending not to. This also, unfortunately, means that audiences have seen this premise once too often with many classics that can be watched again or for the first time, and then sit down to watch an overlong 2-hour Filipino teen romance. A few of the best and most notable films that use this idea include THE PROPOSAL (2009), SHE’S ALL THAT, and 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (both from 1999), just to name a few.
18TH rose is an overlong teen romance that uses the once-again, all-too-familiar fake relationship-turned-into-real-love premise. There is hardly anything funny, original, or memorable, except the Filipino setting.
18TH ROSE streams on Netflix beginning April 9th.
Trailer:
BIG MISTAKES (USA 2026) ***½
Directed by Dean Holland (1st 2 episodes) and various others, including Etan Frankel and Timothy Greenberg
BIG MISTAKES is an upcoming American crime comedy television series for Netflix, created by Dan Levy and Rachel Sennott. Levy (best known from the hit Canadian series SCHITT’S CREEK) also acts as showrunner and leads the cast. The series will premiere on April 9, 2026.
BIG MISTAKES is about, obviously, big mistakes - mistakes that are almost impossible to correct. This means that the characters have to do their utmost best to deal with the consequences, which makes for a good opportunity for comedy.
The film opens in a hospital ward. The grandmother is almost about to die, which she does in the scene, but not before declaring that her dying wish is to have a diamond necklace, real or not. The daughter is constantly screaming in the hospital ward at her three adult children, two of whom, Nicky (Levy) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega) decide to go to a local store to get a present. Taylor sees a necklace in a showcase at the store, which she assumes is not real. But the store salesman, at the counter, Yusuf (Boran Kusum), is hiding real diamonds, as there is nowhere to hide something that can be displayed in plain sight. Taylor nicked it, and the necklace is put around the grandmother’s neck just before she is buried 6 feet under. This is when Yusuf shows up, threatening Nicky and Morgan with a gun.
The episodes move at a manic pace, with the characters constantly screaming and arguing with each other as the events turn for the worse. As the siblings try to make do with the situation, there is plenty of suspense and opportunity of comedy. Nick also plays a gay priest, a factor that allows more insane comedy into the series.
The casting of BIG MISTAKES works well from the dynamic Chemistry (always fighting in this case) between siblings played by Dan Levy and Taylor Ortega, nothing short of outstanding. And why not get a real Turk like Boran Kuzum to play Yusuf, a Turk heavy. A Canadian is nicely cast in the role, too, Jack Innanen, who plays a lovable loser who tries so hard to make his romantic dreams come true. Elizabeth Perkins is also excellent, appearing on and off in the episodes beginning with Episode 3.
The introduction of the family members to the audience is done in a remarkable first act in which the family is all gathered, arguing in a hospital ward. No nonsense, right into the story, with the action moving fast and furious. The BIG MISTAKES arrive with more consequences, all ripe for suspense comedy, a genre that this series excels in. And an amazing soundtrack!
There are 8 episodes in all, all opening on Thursday, April 9th, Thursday, each 30 minutes in length. There was a special press screening of the first 2 episodes of the series, and judging from the first two, the whole 8 episodes should all be thoroughly entertaining. All 8 episodes are available for streaming on Netflix, which picked up BIG MISTAKES in May last year.
Trailer:
EXIT 8 (Japan 2025) ***
Directed by Genki Kawamura
Mazes and maze puzzles have always fascinated people. Trying to get out of a seemingly endless puzzle is the goal. In the new Japanese movie EXIT 8, Arashi superstar Kazunari “Nino” Ninomiya plays the Lost Man, a backpacked commuter trapped in an endless, sterile subway corridor. To escape at Exit 8 — where his ex awaits his thoughts about her pregnancy — he must obey one rule: if anything looks off, turn back. Miss a single anomaly, and he’s snapped to the start, condemned to loop again. The premise becomes a taut metaphor for guilt, responsibility, and the paralysis of indecision. There is nothing really much more in the story, but Nino makes turn after turn in one corridor after corridor for the full length of the movie. Definitely a movie that is NOT to be seen twice, credit should be given at least to the filmmaker to capture the attention of audiences for a full 90 plus minutes without incident and with much repetition. No one walked out during the screening - a rare achievement. The eerie and creepy film comes with a music soundtrack of Ravel's Bolero.
Trailer:
THRASH (USA 2026) ***
Directed by Tommy Wirkola
One thing to note right away is that the film is titled THRASH, not trash, the two words obviously having two different meanings. Thrash means a violent or noisy movement, typically involving hitting something repeatedly, as the storm called Hurricane Henry does, and the word trash means rubbish, which the story could be relabelled as. Be that as it may, writer/director Tommy Wirkola knows what the film should succeed as, and the film works in a trashy kind of way, being entertainingly corny at the same time. THRASH, the film is a hurricane disaster movie + shark survival horror, where ordinary people must survive both nature’s fury and deadly predators at the same time. If you think the title is bad, the former titles BENEATH THE STORM and SHIVER are worse!
The film follows multiple characters (an ensemble cast) trying to survive as the town is submerged. These characters include:
Phoebe Dynevor as Lisa Fields: A pregnant woman trapped in a car in the middle of a hurricane, trying to get away from the raging waves and the sharks they bring
Whitney Peak as Dakota Edwards: Dale's agoraphobic niece, who at first, skeptical, dismisses the idea of a Category 5 hurricane approaching her town, but soon realizes the gravity of the situation;
Djimon Hounsou as Dale Edwards: A marine researcher trying to help people trapped in the town as they had been cut off from any rescue attempts.
Alyla Browne as Dee Olsen: Sister of a trio of foster siblings trying to survive while trapped in their own home as sharks invade and terrorize them.
Stacy Clausen as Ron Olsen: Older brother of a trio of foster siblings trying to survive while trapped in their own home as sharks invade and terrorize them;
Dante Ubaldi as Will Olsen: Younger brother of a trio of foster siblings trying to survive while trapped in their own home as sharks invade and terrorize the town.
The setting is the fictional coastal town of Annieville, supposedly in South Carolina (the film was shot on a lot in Australia).
Director Workload takes his trashy disaster horror flick seriously enough. It begins with a note that storms have increased tremendously since 1980, never mentioning climate change as the reason, assuming audiences are bright enough to make the deduction. The film then gets right to business, with scenes of the townsfolk rushing to leave Annieville, though a few refuse to acknowledge the forthcoming danger. The various characters are introduced into the story as done in many disaster films. The Hurricane is Category 5, nearing Category 6, though the film never explains how the categories are listed.
The film gets a bit ridiculous and over the top with segments like Lisa trying to bear a child amidst the flood waters and a family trying to keep the house door shut to stop the sharks. All this is done in good fun and R-rated style.
Director Wirkola is a Norwegian filmmaker who is no stranger to this kind of thriller, which combines horror, action, and satire, including DEAD SNOW (2009) and DEAD SNOW 2.
THRASH opens for streaming on April 10th on Netflix.
Trailer:
UNTOLD: CHESS MATES (USA 2026) ***½
Directed by Thomas Tancred
First thing to note is that one need not be interested or know anything bout chess to enjoy this chess drama documentary,
The new Netflix original doc wastes no time and gets straight to the point. The audience knows exactly what to expect within the first 3 opening minutes. The documentary starts by introducing the two main characters, and immediately the scene is set: this is an all-time great versus a young grandmaster who initially rose to fame through the world of online chess.
First up in the opening montage is Carlsen, beating people blindfolded. The Norwegian five-time world champion said: “I’ve been the definite best player in the world now for 12 to 13 years.” The doc then immediately moves to American Niemann, described as someone with an “insane level of self-confidence,” who pulls no punches. “All I did was play a chess game, and I beat him,” he says. “He’s entered a level of paranoia that’s not sane.”
The two chessmates referred to in the film’s title are Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and American Hans Niemann. As they say, a doc is as interesting as its subjects, and the two subjects are as interesting as any human being can get. They are geniuses, temperamental, and full of ego. When fitted against each other, as the doc shows, all hell breaks loose.
The first chessmate, Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen, is a Norwegian chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion, reigning six-time World Rapid Chess Champion, reigning nine-time World Blitz Chess Champion, and the reigning FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion. Carlsen has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE rankings since 1 July 2011, the longest consecutive period, and trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world. Carlsen's peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history. He also holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak at the elite level in classical chess at 125 games.
The second chess mate, Hans Moke Niemann, is an American chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer. He first entered the top 100 junior players list on March 1, 2019, and became a FIDE grandmaster on January 22, 2021. In July 2021, he won the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia. He achieved a peak global ranking of No. 15 in October 2025.
After rather extensive coverage oft he two subjects, the doc focuses on the scandal. How to start, where it leads, and how it ends. Knowing the two subjects injects more interest in the scandal, making the doc even more intriguing.
“I feel it must be so humiliating for him to lose to such an idiot as me,” says Hans after winning against Carlsen.
In September 2022, Niemann became embroiled in a controversy after defeating reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup. This is what this doc is primarily about.
The doc aims to entertain, and this it does, moving at a pace fast enough to put any chess player to shame. As a sports drama, it incorporates courtroom drama, and the result is an artistically dramatized entertainment to be totally enjoyed.
UNTOLD: CHESS MATES opens for streaming on Netflix beginning Tuesday, April 7th.
Trailer:
