FILM REVIEWS:
MIROIR No. 3 (Germany 2025) ***½
Directed by Christian Pertzold
MIROIR No. 3 is a character study of the subjects on screen and a moody character study at that. Though one can say that nothing much happens in terms of action, there are tons of emotional exchanges among the characters, so that what might appear to be a slow burn of a drama isn’t really one.
On a weekend trip to the countryside, Laura miraculously survives a car crash. Physically unhurt but deeply shaken, she is taken in by a local woman who witnessed the accident and now cares for Laura with motherly devotion. When her husband and adult son also give up their initial resistance to Laura’s presence, the four of them slowly build up some family-like routine. But soon they can no longer ignore their past…
The first line of the synopsis unfolds in 15 minutes with much to explore. Laura is studying piano at he universe and is travelling with her boyfriend, together with another couple, his producer and girlfriend. Laura is aloof. “There is something wrong with your girlfriend,” the producer tells the boyfriend. Laura tells her boyfriend that she is not feeling well and wants to go home. The producer lends them the car for Laura to be driven to the translation, where he remarks angrily that she should have told him earlier and that he had been planning this outing a long time. A sudden accident occurs in which he is killed, and Laura miraculously survives. Laura is still moody and requests to stay at a local woman’s. With one line, a whole story can be made up here, the source of Laura’s guilt for the death of her boyfriend.
The woman is called Betty, and the two men are Richard and Max, her son.
The details of what happens next go like this: As Laura recovers, she gradually becomes part of Betty’s household, which includes Betty’s distant husband and son.
The family dynamic feels strange and slightly off
Betty seems emotionally attached to Laura for a deeper reason
Laura begins to fill a kind of “missing role” in the family
It is a strange but that God uplifting tale, where Laura brings good into the fractured household, like gift to the family from heaven. The men are also intrigued by being able to fix anything from soldering a bike seat to modifying the speedometer (illegal though that may be) of a car,
The film works for its somewhat brilliant creation of mood and psychology:
Grief and loss (especially unresolved grief)
Identity and substitution (taking someone else’s place)
Human connection and emotional dependency
A subtle ghost story / gothic fairy tale feeling
At the ⅔ mark of the film, the film poses he question off hotel Laura’s replacement of the deceased Yelena is helping the family or entrapping them in a web of despair.
The film is cleverly titled Mirror 3. The title refers to a piece from Miroirs, reinforcing the film’s ideas of reflection, doubling, and emotional mirroring. (Laura is repaving the woman’s deceased daughter).
Christian Pretzold is a German, internationally renowned director of acclaimed films like UNDINE and ALFRE.
Trailer:
PEAKY BLINDERS: THE IMMORTAL MAN (UK 2026) ***
Directed by Tom Harper
Peaky Blinders is a British historical crime drama television series created by Steven Knight. Set in Birmingham, it follows the exploits of the Peaky Blinders crime gang in the direct aftermath of the First World War. The fictional gang is loosely based on a real urban youth gang active in the city from the 1880s to the 1920s. The series (lasting in total) features an ensemble cast, led by Cillian Murphy, starring as Tommy Shelby, Helen McCrory as Elizabeth "Polly" Grey, Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby, Sophie Rundle as Ada Shelby, and Joe Cole as John Shelby, the group's senior members. Netflix acquired the rights to release the show in the United States and around the world. A feature-length film titled Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, which is set a few years after the series finale, is scheduled to be released on 6 March 2026. The film also opens two weeks later on the streaming service, Netflix.
The crime drama film is directed by Tom Harper and written by Steven Knight. It is a continuation of the British television series Peaky Blinders (2013–2022), and stars Cillian Murphy in the lead alongside an ensemble cast including Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, Packy Lee, Ian Peck, and Stephen Graham, reprising their roles, alongside new additions Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, Jay Lycurgo, and Barry Keoghan. The bad guy is played by Tim Roth, while Barry Keoghan generally steals the show.
The film is set in Birmingham in 1940. The film begins with the real-life historic bombing and the death of the entire night shift of 53 at the Birmingham small arms factory. Amidst the chaos of World War II, Tommy Shelby (Murphy) is driven back from a self-imposed exile to face his most destructive reckoning yet. Tom Shelby’s son, Erasmus (Keoghan), is up to no good with his gangster dealings, stealing the ammo to be sold to the Germans. At the same time, the Germans are planning to flood the U.K. and Europe with counterfeit currency brining down the banking system and might lead to Germany’s victory in the War. With the future of the family and the country at stake, Tommy must face his own demons and choose whether to confront his legacy or burn it to the ground. This he does, to save the country and to forge a palace in History.
Many would have followed the lengthy TV series. This film is a new version of the story set during World War II that also serves as a direct continuation of the TV series. As stated, Tommy Shelby is in a central role. The time is more urgent. Fascism in Britain (via Mosley and his Blackshirts) becomes more dangerous. Britain is on the brink of invasion. The Shelby family would be older, wealthier, and more politically entangled.
With more at stake in the film, the film is understandably more tense with more action, intrigue, and excitement. The action set pieces are laid out mainly at the end, with some artistic jumps in time and imaginings. These could have been left out for a more linear storytelling.
PEAKY BLINDERS opens on Netflix on the 20th.
THE PLASTIC DETOX (USA 2026) ***
Directed by Josh Murphy and Louie Psuhoyos
The primary subject and main driving force of this eye-opening doc is Dr. Shanna Helen Swan, an American environmental and reproductive epidemiologist who is Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she has taught since April 2011. She is known for her research on environmental contributions to sperm count and the male infertility crisis. She is introduced at the beginning of the film, and she leads the audience right to the very last frame of the film.
The doc essentially discusses and examines the link between human infertility and plastic poisoning.
The structured film unfolds in 4 layers:
Personal stories → 6 couples trying to conceive
Scientific investigation → hormones, chemicals, microplastics
Experiment → removing plastic from daily life
Global perspective → industry, environment
The doc takes off, occasionally with the handling of other subject terms related to global perspectives.
Many would go into the doc not knowing much about plastic detox, but will come out most enlightened on the subject and the power of human resilience. The doc is more educational than manipulative or dramatic but one cannot deny that the doc’s power lies in the demonstration of this power of human resilience.
Each couple’s infertility story adds emotional weight in terms of:
Frustration and grief over infertility
Hope tied to the experiment of going on a plastic detox and then checking for results
Lifestyle struggles (it’s very hard to avoid plastic)
At the end of the experiment, for a very big global problem
The couple’s bodies are tested again.
Some show reduced levels of plastic-related chemicals and
There are signs of improved health markers
It should be noted that, as anyone studying Statistics knows, 6 is too small a sample for any conclusive result. Though the film does NOT claim definitive proof, it presents the results as suggestive, not conclusive. Still, PLASTIC DETOX has a hopeful drive for a huge global problem.
The doc achieves several educational objectives that include the fact that plastics may be silently affecting human health and fertility, and avoiding them completely is nearly impossible
As the opuses demonstrate, small lifestyle changes can reduce exposure. As the couples change their living habits, the audience sees how the detox can be achieved by the use of glass/metal instead of plastic, avoiding heating food in plastic, choosing natural fibres, and limiting packaged foods.
And where are the plastic detox couples now?
By the end of the documentary, several couples see major drops in chemical exposure — with BPA falling to undetectable levels for many participants. And because it takes the male body roughly 70 days to produce new sperm, the 90-day window also allowed for measurable improvement in several of the men’s key fertility measures, like sperm count and concentration.
The doc leads to the conclusion that when it is revealed whether the plastic detox worked for the 6 couples, whether the female eventually got pregnant. No spoilers will be revealed in this review, though.
In the words and surprise of Dr. Swan: “And that’s what the film really shows — when these couples took action and reduced their exposure, they saw differences. THE PLASTIC DETOX opens for streaming on Netflix this week.
PROJECT HAIL MARY (USA 2026) ***½
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
The main story takes place on the Hail Mary spacecraft and is intercut with flashbacks.
Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) awakens from a coma on a spacecraft. Initially erratic with retrograde amnesia, Grace discovers that he is the sole survivor of three, and that he is light-years away from Earth in a distant star system. Grace slowly remembers, as shown in flashbacks in this non-chronological linear film. that he is a middle school science teacher and a former molecular biologist. Scientists observe the Sun dimming, coinciding with the formation of an infrared line from the Sun to Venus called the Petrova line. The dimming, caused by a microorganism known as Astrophage, will result in a catastrophic global cooling of Earth within 30 years. Government agent Eva Stratt (Sandra Huller) approaches Grace and asks him to study Astrophage in the hopes that he can defeat it.
Grace discovers that Astrophage is a cell that is impenetrable to any form of electromagnetic radiation, and that it breeds via carbon dioxide from Venus and energy from the Sun. Other scientists find Astrophage to be an effective, if volatile, fuel source. Grace learns that Astrophage has infected all nearby stars except Tau Ceti. Stratt discloses Project Hail Mary, a plan to send a crew on a suicide mission to Tau Ceti. Humanity can only produce enough Astrophage as fuel for a one-way trip, but Hail Mary will carry probes to send the crew's findings back to Earth. In the present, as Grace approaches Tau Ceti, he sees an alien spacecraft. The spacecraft approaches Grace and docks a tunnel, made of "xenonite" (solid xenon), to Hail Mary. The pilot of the other ship is a rock-like five-legged alien from 40 Eridani, whom Grace names "Rocky" after the alien's shape and Rocky Balboa.
Kudos should be given en to the film’s special effects, sound, and visual crew for the creation of a visually arresting, suspense-creating look that provides the audience suspense and scares while the only human person seen on the screen is Grace.
Once Grace meets Rocky, they form the common bond of friendship because hey she the same purpose of having to save their planets and also the universe.
The film gets unnecessarily sappy at the end when the two friends have to separate. The directors go overboard with the emotions, so one might be advised to bring plenty of Kleenex to the movie.
Both Gosling and Huller make the movie. Huller gets to sing impromptu at a Karaoke function, Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times.” This sequence is a direct nod to Sandra Hudler’s rendering of Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All which she also sang impromptu in Maren Ape’s TONI ERDMAN. After the song, Huller’s character just walks away in both films.
PROJECT HAIL MARY should be seen in IMAX because of its special visual effects and high technology. The film opens everywhere on March 20th. The film has so far garnered rave reviews and should be the year’s first full-blown hit. Looks like Ryan Gosling gets to save Hollywood’s box office at the same time.
Trailer:
READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME (USA 2025) **
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
The sequel to READY OR NOT aims at louder, bloodier, and much more of the same. READY OR NOT is a 2019 American comedy horror film, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy. It stars Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O'Brien, Elyse Levesque, Nicky Guadagni, Henry Czerny, and Andie MacDowell. It follows a young bride, Grace, who is hunted by her spouse's wealthy family as part of a wedding night ritual to worship the Devil.
Set immediately after the events of the first film, READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME follows Grace (Samara Weaving) as she must protect her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), while being hunted by four rival elite families in a high-stakes ritual to claim a seat of ultimate power. The film begins with Grace sitting on the steps of the mansion, the ending of the original film.
Grace MacCaullay, the sole survivor of a brutal "game" that resulted in the deaths of her husband and in-laws, learns that her victory comes with a price: now, the wealthiest and most influential families on Earth have to kill her in a new game - or risk losing their power and fortunes. Grace refuses to participate at first but is left with no choice when she learns that her younger sister, Faith, has also been marked for death and must protect her at all costs.
Ready or Not = one deadly family game
Ready or Not 2 = a worldwide tournament of killers, with Grace at the centre
Despite the fact that the writers have upped the ante with two victims, Grace and Faith, providing some emotional drama in the story and the introduction of a total of 4 families instead of one, the first film had more tension, direction, and emotion. More gore in the sequel does not necessarily translate to more horror comedy. Grace and Faith are constantly on the run.
and they must outwit different families with distinct methods and personalities. The tone blends dark comedy, action, and brutal horror, as in the first film
READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME opens in theatres March 20th.
Trailer:
THE THINGS YOU KILL (Canada/Poland/Turkey/France 2025) ***
Directed by Alireza Khatami.
This review contains spoilers that are integral to the writing. The spoilers are all contained in the one paragraph in bold italics. Please skip the paragraph as deemed necessary.
If one is unfamiliar with the film THE THINGS YOU KILL before seeing it, one might wonder what language the characters are speaking at the start of the film. The film is a Canadian, Polish, French and Turkish co-production, and it is this year’s Canadian pick for the Academy Award for Best International Feature. French films from Quebec are rarely selected, a big omission since the Oscar has been won only once by a Quebec film for Canada. Last year’s Best Canadian Film was from Quebec (in this critic’s humble opinion), BERGERS (Shepherds). Instead, last year’s Canadian entry was the Iranian co-production, UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. The language spoken in this film sounds Iranian, which I thought it was. But it is Turkish. THE THINGS YOU KILL uses dream-like sequences, symbolism (mirrors, seeds, the garden, etc), and a somewhat disorienting narrative structure - often a favourite for a country’s pick for the Best Oscar International entry.
THE THINGS YOU KILL is a psychological mystery thriller with the protagonist, Ekin Koç’s character Ali, a university professor living in Turkey (or connected to Turkey) who returns (or remains) home when his ailing mother dies under suspicious circumstances.
The film covers several issues.
One is Ali’s inability to conceive, due to his low sperm count. The fact that he hides from his wife, Hazar. It takes a toll on their marriage. In fact, the audience gets nervous seeing them being intimate. “Maybe I don’t want children,” he tells her at one point.
Another issue is Ali’s discovery of his father's abuse of his mother. He learns it only after the mother’s death. The hostility towards his father increases.
Another is his garden in the country, where he hires a gardener to care for it. The garden is a metaphor of Ali’s bliss in life.
And important too is the cause of Ali’s mother’s death. Ali thinks that she could have been killed by his father, especially after finding out that his father had a bandaged hand and that his mother was found with her face on the ground.
The Turkey seen is bleak, reflecting the characters' emotional states as they are displayed on screen. There is no sight of the beauty of the county, as in the sea surrounding the country, anywhere to be seen in the film.
In the second half of the film, director Khatami dishes out a whole bunch of metaphors to be interpreted by the audience. This is a very bold move that does not always work for as much as Khatami wishes to lift his film to a higher level; it is also quite confusing in parts.
The film ends with the saying “Kill the light”, used instead of the usual phrase shutoff the light. The sayings uttered by Ali’s father are supposedly killed earlier in the movie. Two things could have happened. Either the father did not die, or the scene is Ali’s dream sequence; most likely the latter. The gardener that Ali hires could also be interpreted as his other alter ego.
THE THINGS YOU KILL ends up a somewhat muddled but still ambitious film. Director Khatami chose not to play it straight, a decision that won his film the prize of Canada’s submission for Best International Feature at the Oscars. It did not make the nominated list. The film opens in theatres on March 20, 2026.
Trailer:
