2026 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival runs Mar. 15-26

The annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival returns, Mar. 15-26, 2026, bursting with moving documentaries, gripping historical, thriller or romantic dramas, dramedies and comedies from around the globe, all with Jewish themes. This year’s film fest includes major releases such as NUREMBERG, ELEANOR THE GREAT, the new historical thriller VINDICTA, and documentary ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE , a new, more personal look at Elie Wiesel, the famous author of the bestselling “Night” about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp and Nobel Peace Prize-winning tireless human rights advocate who fought for the idea that the world should “never forget” the Holocaust.

John Wilson, the Director of Cultural Arts at the Jewish Community Center of St. Louis, which puts on the festival, described it as “a fantastic tapestry of documentaries, dramas and comedies.” As always, this is an international film festival and not just for the Jewish community but all audiences, non-Jewish and Jewish. “[The festival selection committee] watches nearly 80 films a year, so when we get to the final 12, our committee truly feels like we’re offering our community 6 full days of stellar cinema,” Wilson said.

Many of the selections fit in well with an aim of cultural outreach as well as offering top-notch films for the Jewish community. One example is ELEANOR THE GREAT (Mar. 26, 7pm), the drama starring June Squibb that is the directorial debut of Scarlet Johansson, and is about gray areas of identity and representation. Another example is THE PIANIST’S CHOICE (Mar. 22, 3pm), a gripping epic, romantic French drama that spans the 1920s to the post-war 1940s, told through the experiences of a non-Jewish musician in love with a Jewish woman.

Yet another example is the Opening Night film at the SLJFF, which is NUREMBERG (Mar. 15, 7pm), which stars Russell Crowe as Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels and Rami Malek as a Nuremberg war crimes trial-assigned psychiatrist, who is charged with keeping the Nazi prisoner fit for trial but who becomes embroiled in a tense game of cat-and-mouse with Goebbels. This fascinating historical drama also stars Michael Shannon as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice turned war crimes prosecutor.

The St. Louis Jewish Film Festival begins Mar. 15, with two film programs and an opening day buffet provided to ticket-holders for either film, NUREMBERG at 7pm, or FOR THE LIVING at 3pm, a documentary about a group of cyclists retracing a Holocaust survivor’s journey after being liberated from Auschwitz to his hometown of Krakow, Poland.

All films are shown at the B&B Theatre West Olive in Creve Coeur, MO, with one film making its St. Louis debut, VINDICTA, getting an additional preview screening at the St. Louis’ Alamo Drafthouse Cinema City Foundry, in midtown St. Louis. VINDICTA is an American-made thriller-like historical drama, inspired by several true stories, about a young Jewish woman who witnesses the murder of her parents by a Nazi officer, but escapes and assumes a new identity, where she embarks on a campaign of vengeance.

The festival runs Mar. 15-26 but not every night, so check their schedule online at www.stljewishfilmfestival.org for screening dates, showtimes and films, as well as ticket information. Several of the films come with guest speakers or Q&A post-film discussions to spark meaningful conversation and deepen connections with the film’s topics. Many of the films are in English but those in other languages are all subtitled in English. The films are paired together with themes, such as “Memory and Moral Reckoning” or “Faith, Family and Finding Yourself.”

A few more festival highlights include the very funny biographical dramedy ONCE UPON MY MOTHER, about a man born with a club foot who is raised by his Moroccan Sephardic Jewish immigrant parents in Paris, focusing especially on his unpredictable, fiercely-supportive, offbeat mother. Documentary highlights include ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE, a more personal documentary about the world-famous man who worked tirelessly to ensure what happened in the Holocaust would never be forgotten, a documentary that goes beyond his work to examine the man himself. ETHAN BLOOM is a light, farcical coming-of-age comedy about a Jewish boy in the cusp of turning 13 who is supposed to be preparing for his bat mitzvah but is also secretly exploring Christian beliefs at a local church.

More information about the 2026 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival, with all the films as well as showtimes and ticket information, can be found at their website www.stljewishfilmfestival.org.

June Squibb in Scarlet Johansson’s ELEANOR THE GREAT. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

UNDERTONE – Review

UNDERTONE (stylized as “undertone,” all lower case) is an atmospheric horror film that uses innovative sound for much of its effect. It focuses on a young woman, Evy Babic (Nina Kiri) caring alone for her dying mother (Michele Duquet) in the mother’s home, presumably the house where the young woman grew up. The mother is in the finally stages of dying, having stopped eating or drinking and appears to sleep continually. Evy’s major contact with the outside world right now is through a podcast that she and a friend, Justin (Adam DiMarco), co-host together, a podcast about the paranormal called “undertone,” in which the pair of them examine supernatural phenomenon, with him playing the role of the believer and her playing the skeptic.

For most the film, we see only Nina Kiri as Evy, and occasionally the unconcious mother. Justin contributes to the podcast remotely, as he lives in another city. Apart from a couple of brief scenes, everything takes place in the mother’s home, giving the film a claustrophic feel.

UNDERTONE (“undertone”) won the Audience Award at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival and then went on to play the 2026 Sundance Film Festival as part of the Midnight program.

Caring for her mother alone is Evy’s choice, and she gentle turns down her podcast co-host Justin’s offer to flying out to visit her, as well as his suggestion she ask for help from her brother, who in the small town were their mother lives. Evy’s mother is religious and the house is filled with crucifixes, framed religious art and little figurines, but we sense Evy is not. The daughter gently cares for her unconcious mother, checking on her, tending to her needs, talking to her in a gentle voice, and singing the nursery rhyme “Ba Ba Black Sheep” to soothe her.

Downstairs in the dining room, Evy communicates with Justin over her laptop, as she sets up to record their podcast for its weekly release. Justin thinks he has found an intriguing mystery for this podcast, a series of ten audio recordings sent to him by email, from a mysterious, unknown address, and with little explanation about them in the email. Tossing aside any fear of viruses in the the files, he clicked on the first one and listened, hearing a man talking about his wife is saying stranging things in her sleep and that he has decided to record her (with her permission) as she sleeps, to trying to understand them. What Justin hears is bizarre, including some snippets of nursery rhymes, played fast or too slow or backwards, and Evy agrees to use them for the podcast, without hearing them, so she can listen as they record the podcast. They start to listen to them in sequence, discussing each as it ends.

The film is built around what happens as they listen to those audio recordings. Eventually, they learn that they are a married couple and the woman is pregnant, which feeds into some of what heard in the later podcasts. There are tidbitst about dark, hidden stories behind innocent-seeming nursery rhymes (which is true, many do have dark stories behind them) and there something about an evil spirit menances babies.

Most of the film takes place in the house where the woman is caring for her mother, apart from a few hours when she reluctantly agrees to meet her boyfriend at a party for a few hours and when she visits a doctor. Mostly, we just see her and her mother, although there is a scene, perhaps a flashback, where a hospice nurse tells her that once her mother stopped eating, they are near the final phase, which she will recognize by a change in her breathing, but there is no way to know how long that will take.

The looming death and the uncertainty about when the end comes, the eerie recordings Evy listens to alone in a darkened room for the podcast, and references in those recordings to sinister meanings behind some nursery rhymes all combine to create a powerrful sense of unease. That feeling is boosted by the innovative use of sound in the film. Evy hears the recordings and their disturbing sounds through her headphones, but we are never sure those sounds aren’t also echoing through the dark, nearly empty house. The brilliant effect raises the hairs on the back of the neck, and is the most striking aspect of the film.

Additionally, the acting is well done, with Nina Kiri very effective in carrying most of the film alone. The half-lit photography adds well to the unsettling atmosphere and the sets are exactly as they should be for a haunting tale. It always seems to be 3 o’clock but in the darkened home, we are never sure if it is 3am or 3pm.

Everything comes together perfectly to set the stage for horror. And then writer-director Ian Tuasin does not follow through on all that promise. While all those elements are very unnerving and the film has created enormous tension, the film does not give us a full story to make use of all this great material. Things go bump in the night perfectly – but that is never tied into a narrative or an explanation. There is basically no story here beyond the set-up of a woman alone in a house with her dying mother, a woman is maybe feeling some guilt for the past, and the creepy audio recordings for the podcast. There are hints about a true story behind the mysterious recordings, and also hints that Evy may be losing touch with reality in the finally sequence, but it is all very vague and incomplete. There isn’t even enough there to make up an explanation for oneself.

Which is a shame. The film does such a good job setting up the story, setting the tone of dread and fear through it’s masterful use of sound, that the audience is primed to be terrified, But then the film just fails to give the audience any story, any plot to hang all that dread on, which is a waste and so disappointing.

UNDERTONE opens in select theaters on Friday, Mar. 13, 2026.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

REMINDERS OF HIM – Review

And now, borrowing from the sports world, here’s a fairly remarkable literary/cinematic “hat trick”. For the third year in a row, the multiplex becomes a “book club” with the new movie adaptation of a novel by Colleen Hoover. She’s the best-selling author of IT END WITH US (released in 2024, though the legal theatrics seem to drag on and on and…) and last year’s regrettable REGRETTING YOU. Perhaps Ms. Hoover wants to be as prolific in the 2020’s as Nicholas Sparks was for the first two decades of this century, though she got a lot of typing ahead of her. The results of these movie interpretations have been mixed (US) to downright scathing pans (YOU). So will she and the filmmakers hit that cinema “sweet spot” with REMINDERS OF HIM (Hoover has a thing with title pronouns)? Okay, here goes…chapter one…


Actually, the story’s opening is a return, or a homecoming. Keena Rowan (Maika Monroe) takes a taxi into the picturesque village of Paradise, Wyoming. Well, this is after the driver pauses for her to uproot one of those roadside memorials. She is able to rent a room at the somewhat squalid Paradise Hotel after putting up a big deposit, because the landlady tries to give everyone a “second chance” (and a kitten). Yes, Keena has just been released from prison. This makes her employment search even more difficult. Cut to our introduction to Ledger Ward (Tyriq Withers), a former pro-footballer (let go by the Broncos after his arm “blew out”) who also returned to Paradise to run a bar. He lives across the street from old friends Grace and Patrick Landry (Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford), who are raising their late son’s adorable five-year-old daughter Diem (Zoe Kasovic), almost like an adored niece to him. After a day “pounding the dusty pavement”, Keena is stunned that the old bookstore/ coffee is now a “watering hole” owned by, yup, Ledger. The two exchange a bit of flirty banter while she exits through the back door. She’s stunned again by the sight of a battered orange pickup truck. It’s then that its owner, Ledger, discovers that Keena is the former girlfriend of his deceased BFF, Scottie Landry (Rudy Pankow). Ledger had loaned his truck to him during his short NFL stint. Naturally, the banter soon ends. The next morning, he’s gobsmacked when he sees her marching toward the Landry house to finally meet her daughter. Yes, she had been sent up the river after that fatal crash (the courts determined that she was driving under the influence) while only a few weeks pregnant. Soon after giving birth, the baby was taken away to Scotty’s folks. Ledger prevents her from making a scene, but is a bitter reunion inevitable (it’s a tiny town)? And what will become of the blossoming attraction between the duo connected by tragedy?

Can it really be a dozen years since Ms. Monroe appeared on my “radar” in the indie horror gem, IT FOLLOWS? Oh yes, and she’s been fairly busy in genre films, whether it’s more horror like last year’s LONGLEGS, or thrillers like (again, 2025) the remake of THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, or sci-fi with that silly INDEPENDENCE DAY sequel (whew). She can do wonders with very little in the way of a script, and here she proves more than up to the task of carrying a romantic drama. We see how life has battered Keena through Monroe’s down-turned gaze and her deliberate body language and slow gait. But when Keena begins her quest to reunite with her baby, Monroe is energized and dynamic, then gives way to a “softer side” as Keena cautiously lets love back into her heart. Here’s hoping for an even greater variety of lead roles for her. Withers weathers (see what I did) last year’s dreadful horror/sports mash-up mess HIM, to become a strong, complex lead as Ledger, a man trying to deal with his own past issues while being stretched in a dozen different directions at once by the people he cares so deeply about, but still full of charm and grit. Almost as much of it as Pankow as the doomed and endearing Scotty. As his folks, Whitford, as “Nono” Landry, is trying to leave his loss behind until Keena pops back. Ditto for Graham, as his still-healing wife, as she tries to protect her granddaughter, now the only physical part of her only child. Much has been made of the screen debut of country crooner Lainey Wilson, who does well in the small (only a few minutes) role of Keena’s boss/buddy. Amid the turmoil, Monika Meyers provides some comic relief as Keen’s special needs co-worker/ neighbor, Lady Diana.


With her second theatrical feature film, director Vanessa Caswill keeps the pace flowing, though she leans heavily into prolonged close-ups to convey the budding attraction (and they are attractive) of the principals. Plus, she makes great use of the stunning visuals with Canada (again) subbing for its southern neighbor. But then there’s the script, which hammers the dramatic conflicts, veering into melodrama, and gives way to cloying heart-tugging. frequently in the dialogues with Diem and the earlier-mentioned Diana, going to the “cute well” till it’s nearly dry. I did find it interesting that Hoover, adapting her novel with Lauren Levine, opted to leave the big city, lush settings of US and YOU to focus on those struggling to get by, though the under-constructed home of Ledger seems far too opulent. Still, fans of her work will probably be pleased while the rest of us ponder just how this “basic cable TV’ terajerker “escaped” into the multiplex (those literary roots, I suppose). But the potent chemistry between the engaging Monroe and Withers smooths out much of the potboiler tropes of REMINDERS OF HIM (sound of paperback closing).


1.5 Out of 4

REMINDERS OF HIM opens exclusively in theatres on Friday, March 13, 2026.

NEON Releases A Scary First Trailer For Damian McCarthy’s HOKUM – Debuts At SXSW March 14

Damian McCarthy is back with another great horror film, HOKUM, and today we got a first look at the brand new trailer.

When novelist Ohm Bauman retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, he is consumed by tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance forces him to confront dark corners of his past.

HOKUM stars Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Will O’Connell, Michael Patric, Siox C, Brendan Conroy, Austin Amelio, Ezra Carlisle.

The film will screen at SXSW on Saturday, March 14th. https://schedule.sxsw.com/2026/films/2249934. It is also the Closing Night Film at the Overlook Film Festival.

McCarthy also directed the brilliant horror movies CAVEAT and ODDITY – both available to stream – and are highly recommended!

The score is from INSIDIOUS, DARK SKIES, ANNABELLE, MALIGNANT and THE CONJURING composer Joseph Bishara.

See HOKUM in theaters on May 1.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James And Sam Worthington Star In Trailer For FUZE

Roadside Attractions and Saban Films have dropped the brand new trailer for FUZE.

Set in contemporary London, Fuze unfolds after an unexploded World War II bomb is unearthed at a busy construction site, forcing a massive citywide evacuation. Amid the escalating tension and chaos, a daring criminal operation is set in motion—one that uses the evacuation as cover for a meticulously planned heist. As authorities race against time to contain the crisis, alliances blur and moral boundaries are crossed, the film deftly propels audiences through a series of calculated twists delivering a wildly entertaining ride.

Stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Saffron Hocking, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Elham Ehsas, and Sam Worthington.

Yep, Aaron Taylor-Johnson still has my vote to be the next James Bond.

Roadside Attractions and Saban Films will release FUZE in theaters April 24, 2026.

Watch The Trailer For John Carney’s POWER BALLAD Starring Paul Rudd And Nick Jonas – SXSW Screening March 14

Nick Jonas as Danny and Paul Rudd as Rick in Power Ballad. Photo Credit: David Cleary

Check out the trailer for director John Carney’s POWER BALLAD, starring Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald, Marcella Plunkett, Havana Rose Liu, and Jack Reynor.

When Rick (Paul Rudd), a past-his-prime wedding singer, meets fading boy-band star Danny (Nick Jonas) during a gig, the two bond over music and a late-night jam session. But when Danny turns one of Rick’s songs into the hit that reignites his career, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves – even if it means risking everything he cares about. From writer-director John Carney (Sing Street, Once), POWER BALLAD is a feel-good story about music, self-respect, friendship, and the price of ambition.

The film made its World Premiere on Sunday, March 1st at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre as the Closing Night Gala of the Dublin International Film Festival.

POWER BALLAD is scheduled for its North American premiere at SXSW on March 14, before it’s US theatrical release June 5, 2026.

In an interview with ScreenDaily:

“…despite Carney’s track record of successful music-based features – including 2007’s Once, which won the Oscar for best original song as well as a Sundance audience award, Sing Street, and Begin Again – the film was a struggle to get financed. Until Marvel star Paul Rudd signed on. Rudd plays a wedding singer whose interaction with a rock star (Nick Jonas) causes a copyright drama over a song they co-create one drunken evening following an Irish wedding.”

“It’s increasingly hard for somebody like me to get movies made because they’re original stories,” Carney reflects. “There’s no IP or remake or I’m not telling anybody else’s story. I couldn’t get the film made without a mighty star attached. Once Paul came on board, the whole domino thing happened. He was such a straight-up person. He was, ‘I’m in your movie. Go and get the money. I’ll see you on set.’ Which is what everybody needs and dreams of.”

Music is from Gary Clark and John Carney (original songs and score).

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of PROJECT HAIL MARY In IMAX

Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction…but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.

Directed by Academy Award® winners Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Lego Movie), PROJECT HAIL MARY stars three-time Academy Award® nominee Ryan Gosling (La La Land, Barbie), Academy Award® nominee Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest) and James Ortiz (The Woodsman).

With a screenplay by Academy Award® nominee Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods, The Martian) based on the novel by Andy Weir (The Martian, Artemis), the film is produced by Gosling along with Academy Award® nominee Amy Pascal (Little Women, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Lord and Miller, Aditya Sood (The Martian, Cocaine Bear) and Rachel O’Connor (Challengers, Spider-Man: Brand New Day), as well as Weir.

Nikki Baida (Strays), Sara Esberg (Moolight), Ken Kao (The Nice Guys), Lucy Kitada (Borderlands), Patricia Whitcher (Marvel’s The Avengers) and Goddard are executive producers.

Ken Leung (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Milana Vayntrub (Werewolves Within), Lionel Boyce (‘The Bear’) and Priya Kansara (‘Bridgerton’) round out the cast.

Joining Lord and Miller behind the camera are Academy Award®-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser (Dune, The Batman), production designer Charles Wood (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Endgame), costume designers David Crossman and Glyn Dillon (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story) and film editor Joel Negron (Thor: Ragnarok, The Nice Guys). Academy Award® nominee Daniel Pemberton (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Trial of the Chicago 7) is the film’s composer.

FILMED FOR IMAX® Only in Theaters March 20

Tickets now on sale

Prime members have exclusive access to enjoy an early screening of PROJECT HAIL MARY on March 16 in theaters only. 

Purchase your tickets HERE

The St. Louis screening is on Wednesday, March 18 at 7pm at Marcus Ronnies Cine. This screening will be on the IMAX screen.

ENTER HERE FOR PASSES: https://mgmscreenings.com/WAMGHailMary

Rated: PG 13.

Please arrive EARLY as seating is not guaranteed.

Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace in PROJECT HAIL MARY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Jonathan Olley © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

WAR MACHINE – Review

War Machine. Cr. Netflix © 2026.

By Marc Butterfield

WAR MACHINE directed by Patrick Hughes, stars Alan Ritchson (Reacher) as 81, who leads a squad that includes Dennis Quaid, Stephan James, Jai Courtney, Esai Morales, Blake Richardson, Keiynan Lonsdale, and Daniel Webber.

Alan Ritchson and Jai Courtney play brothers with ambitions to become Army Rangers together. When their platoon in Afghanistan is ambushed, these plans may be interrupted. Fast-forward to 2 years later, where Ritchson is accepted into the Ranger Assessment Program, 6 weeks of training where the vast majority of candidates will wash out. Ritchson, now given the candidate number of 81, stoically begins his training. While outside of the training program, we see that NASA has discovered an asteroid approaching Earth, and trainees watch the news report and a cluster of smaller units heading to Earth. (Trailer)

During his training, 81 is called in to meet with the NCO in charge of the trainees, with concerns about 81’s motives for becoming a Ranger, and offers him the “opportunity” to drop out of the training, not because he can’t physically hack it (he can, as anyone knows, Ritchson is a BEAST, but because of these concerns. Unsurprisingly, 81 declines this offer.

81 and the remaining candidates are then given their final task to determine their qualifications as Rangers, a training exercise deep in the mountains, which will test their training, will, and determination. One problem: the task becomes a completely different ball game when the extraterrestrial craft crash lands smack in the middle of the mountains they are in. At this point, it is no longer a story of training, but of survival. 81 and his teammates now must fight the environment, but also for their lives against a WAR MACHINE from another planet.

Alan Ritchson is our modern day Schwarzenegger, a beefed up action hero, grim, determined, and relentless. WAR MACHINE seems a lot like a combination of the original PREDATOR, with whiffs of ALIENS and a touch of BATTLE: LOS ANGELES. Is it great? Yes. Not in the touchy-feely sense, but a real taste of 1980s style maximum testosterone, unapologetic in its approach to the characters involved. 

If you go into this looking for action and explosions, you will be pleased with director Hughes’ film. Cinematographer Aaron Morton’s filming of the action sequences combined with the use of quick cuts to build adrenaline from editor Andy Canny, and a thrilling score by Dmitri Golovko, add to the experience. Definitely a good alien invasion movie. Ritchson goes through hell. And sets up for a sequel of more invaders we really hope to see!

3 Out Of 4 Stars

Watch on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81768525

War Machine. (L-R) Jack Patten as 109, James Beaufort as 23, Alan Ritchson as 81, Alex King as 44 and Blake Richardson as 15 in War Machine. Cr. Ben King/Netflix © 2026.

Read the interview with the director and actor: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/reacher-alan-ritchson-new-movie-war-machine-netflix-interview-1236523370/ 

THE BRIDE! – Review

If you love classic movies, THE BRIDE! is pure delight, fun with a brain that is a treat deluxe for those who love both classic movies and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s original book “Frankenstein.” That description fits this writer and the novel is having a moment now, with Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN and now this film. But in this wild, smart and inventive film, director Maggie Gyllenhaal not only pays homage to the book, but the Frankenstein and particularly Bride of Frankenstein movies, along with a host of 1930s and 1940s films and genres, ranging from film noir to black-and-white musicals and gangster flicks, with a little more modern films like BONNIE AND CLYDE and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN tossed in. Even author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley herself, the brilliant teenager who wrote the original 1818 novel, appears as a character in the film.

All that plus a fabulous cast, led by Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley, featuring Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Penelope Cruz. The film sports a generous sprinkling of movie and even literary references, in dialog or visually, which adds a great deal of fun. And it is all done with an off-beat slight feminist twist that puts the spotlight on the The Bride.

Plus the ghost of author Mary Shelley possesses a gangster’s moll and a woman is the mad scientist in this tale. What more could you possibly want?

THE BRIDE is both clever and a very cinematic film. THE BRIDE! actually opens with the author Mary Shelley (played in a entertainingly crazy way by Jesse Buckley) speaking to us as a spirit from the grave. We see only Buckley’s face, in an oval and in black-and-white, like an antique photo in a locket, while the author spits rapid-fire vocabulary about her biography and literature. The author introduces our story, and then returns as occasional narrator or disruptive spirit. This begins when Shelley possesses, like a demon, a young blonde gangster’s moll named Ida (also Buckley) in 1930s Chicago. The possessed moll, when the author is in charge, spouts poetry and literary references, particularly mentioning Herman Melville’s character Bartleby, who sows chaos by refusing to do things, saying “I prefer not to,” a phrase that pops up continually.

After our (ultimately violent) intro to the woman who will become the Bride, we meet Frankenstein’s monster, played winningly by Christian Bale. A man in a hat pulled low to hide his face and with a scarf covering his lower face (a la Claude Rains in THE INVISIBLE MAN) shows up at a 1930s Chicago medical research facility, looking to speak to a particular scientist, a Dr. Euphronious. He’s turned away at first, but finally a woman comes out to talk to him. She reveals herself to be Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening), as he removes his coverings and introduces himself as a Mr. Frankenstein (Bale). This lonely creation of a mad scientist (and an author) long ago asks the scientist for her help – to build a bride for him. She refuses at first but, good mad scientist that she is, Dr. Euphronious eventually agrees.

Thus launches the tale of the Bride and her Frankenstein, a far more complete story of the Bride than in James Whale’s classic film, including this Bride’s quest for a name, an identity, beyond just that one. The pair embark on an adventure and a journey that sends them out into the 1930s world, against the wishes of Dr. Euphonious, where they sample jazz clubs and movie houses, among other things, and then go on the run as outlaws, “Bonnie and Clyde”-style, after some people turn up dead.

Frank, as the Bride calls him, is movie-obsessed and particularly a fan of one dancing star (Jake Gyllenhaal) of movie musicals, which reveals that the “monster” is a bit of a romantic. When he’s feeling low, at trip to the movies to see his favorite star in one of his dance-filled musical romances or comedies lifts his spirits.

Their adventure is unpredictable, often violent and sometimes bloody, but it is also a monster of a love story. The Bride’s journey of self-discovery is a big part of this film but not the whole story. It is also a wild, entertaining ride, that also involved a pair of noir-ish detectives, played by Peter Sarsgaard and Penelope Cruz, on their trail, as well as gangster kingpins, corrupt officials, fancy parties with movie stars, and more. There is singing and dancing scenes, movie-going and movie houses, characters who find themselves in the movie (a la Buster Keaton), and a score that includes “Putting on the Ritz” (thank you, Mel Brooks) and Monster Mash.

The cast is great. Christian Bale is a marvelous Frankenstein, sweetly polite, even shy, but determined and endlessly resourceful. He is also a hopeless romantic when it comes to his Bride and to the movies he loves. Bale plays this movie-loving monster with such charm and grace, he is irresistible, and turns on extra magic in the dance sequences. Jessie Buckley is electrifying in her two-part role, as the wild, fast-talking and brainy author, who periodically possesses the Bride and as the sweet but confused newly-created Bride, who does not even know her name, much less who she is, or should be. The couple waver between love and her desire to be her own person. And along the way, her rule-breaking launches a social movement of women who want to break free of their restraints in this sexist time, women who show their colors by staining their mouths with ink, to look like hers.

Annette Bening is a charmer as well as the crusty, off-beat doctor, who we suspect has secrets and a history that goes unspoken. As the noir detectives, Peter Sarsgaard and Penelope Cruz also are wonderful, with Sarsgaard playing a world-weary soul with some hidden pain, and Cruz an ambitious detective who is the real brains of the team but who has to pose as her partner’s secretary rather than his protege due to the sexism of the era.

THE BRIDE! is entertaining, smart, thought-provoking, twisting, and a cleverly constructed creation of borrowed parts (much like Frankenstein) from countless classic films, film history, literature and even a little echo of the “Me Too” movement. THE BRIDE! is a wow of a piece of cinema, and certainly a must-see for any fan of either classic movies or Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic horror novel. Just great fun.

THE BRIDE! opens in theaters on Friday, Mar. 6, 2026.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

HOPPERS – Review

At last, the cruel, cold winter is giving way to a fast-approaching Spring (at least for most of the country). And what do many young men’s (and ladies’) fancies turn to, other than a amor? Why, going back to nature, naturally (see what I did there). Well, it just so happens that for their 30th (wow) feature film, those digital animation gurus at Pixar have fashioned a story about going back to nature in the most literal and fantastical way possible. Wth a bit of science fiction magic, this movie’s young heroine can comingle and even communicate (stop me before I launch into that catchy tune, “If I Could Talk to the Animals”) with the woodland critters that she’s watched from afar. Yes, that includes frogs, though they’re not the story’s main focus, nor are they the inspiration for this flick’s title, HOPPERS.


As this modern fable begins, we meet the aforementioned heroine, Mabel, in the Beaverton grade school system (she’s maybe eight or nine) as she embarks on her mission (and not the first attempt) to liberate the many “class animal pets” from their cages, aquariums, and other “jails”. She’s soon sent home with her mom, who, in turn, takes her to her adored grandmother Tanaka (voice of Karen Hule). To calm down the child, they sit on a big rock near a pond in the forest behind Granny’s home. Mabel is spellbound as she watches the water with a beaver dam at its center. Fast forward about ten years or so, as now 19-year-old Mabel (Piper Curda) still enjoys the tranquility of that sweet spot, even though Grandma” T has passed on. But the quiet is soon shattered by a noisy construction crew, determined to complete a big highway and pave over the place. It’s the dream project of Mabel’s constant nemesis, the affable Beavertown mayor, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm). Since all the wildlife has left the pond, it’s fair game for the “improvement”. After failing to get enough signatures on a petition to stop them, Mabel heads over to the college (she’s a frequent “class-skipper”) to enlist the aid of Professor “Sam” Fairfax (Kathy Najimy), who explains that a single beaver could bring back all the animals. Mabel decides that she’ll try to lure and trap a beaver…and it works! One shows up, but he ignores the bait and scampers away to the Prof’s campus lab!


It turns out that, to observe the wildlife, Sam and her two aides have created a robotic beaver connected to a device (looks like one of those big “oldie” hair dryers) that can transfer(or the “hop”) the consciousness from a sleeping human subject to the “bot”. Oh, and the facimilile can talk with and understand all the critters. Of course, Mabel “borrows” the gizmo and literally “high-tails it” to the forest. There she learns of the woodland society, ruled (in a nice way) by the “king of the mammals”, a beaver named George (Bobby Moynihan). Mabel bonds with him and convinces George to unite with the other royal leaders (birds, bugs, fish, and reptiles) to stop the impending construction destruction. But when a decision is made to eliminate the “Human King,” Mabel must try to save her arch enemy, all while avoiding Sam and her staff’s attempts to retrieve their device, and wake up the sleeping real Mabel. Suddenly, there’s more at stake than saving that “watering hole”!

After hitting a major bump in their “original” film slate (yes, I don’t count the big sequels) last Summer with ELIO, Pixar comes roaring back with this truly “all ages” cartoon comedy classic. Oh yes, it brings the laughs, but they haven’t neglected the heart (Mabel and Granny’s super-strong bond), and even a message sneaks in (we’re never pummelled by the ecology themes). Again, the studio doesn’t showcase lots of “big name superstars” for the marquee and marketing value, instead opting for a solid cast at the microphone, though a certain “multiple-Oscar-winner” spreads her “wings” (hint, hint). Curda’s an energetic lead hero with lots of “spunk”, while Moynahn makes the most out of his good-natured charm that we saw during his stint on SNL (and he’s not the only “8H’ vet). Leading man Hamm flexes his comedic chops and continues to be a big audio asset (this is his fourth toon gig). I thoroughly enjoyed Najimy even as some of her Peggy Hill (TV’s “King of the Hill”) seeped in, especially as Sam is flummoxed by Mabel (“No! This is nothing like AVATAR!!”). And kudos for all the cartoon voice vets in the incidental animal extras. Oh, and speaking of “ear candy”, what a terrific bouncy score from kids’ TV icon (“Pee Wee’s Playhouse”) Mark Mothersbaugh!


So, which of the gifted minds in Emoryville concocted this bit of delirious entertainment? Hard to believe that this is the theatrical feature directing debut of Daniel Chong (creator of TV’s “We Bare Bears”), who co-wrote the screenplay with Jesse Andrews (ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL). Sure, there are some “lifted” elements, like the earlier-mentioned AVATAR mixed in with lots of DR. DOLITTLE (all incarnations), but they take the old trope conflict of nature versus commerce, and give it a refreshing spin (the bulldozing baddie is really a fairly nice fella). The script is truly lifted to the heights and beyond by the superior visuals that truly dazzle. The Pixar “pack” has really “upped” the level of sophisticated animation acting here. A third act sequence with Jerry being “taken over” has facial exaggeration and body movement that harkens to the works of “toon masters” like Bob Clampett and “Tex” Avery (I think it would work very well without the audio). I must mention the interesting “coding” of the critters. When Mabel is in the “device,” the animals have big eyes with lots of prominent white while gesturing wildly. But to those in “reality”, the wildlife isn’t nearly as wild, as they move with a slower pace, and the eyes are more or less dark brown dots. The design and some “takes” of the humans seem to be influenced by anime (much like what we saw in LUCA and TURNING RED). The overall look of all the characters is lots of fun (now I can call out the “eye candy”), and they mesh expertly with the lush backgrounds (that’s one beautiful forest). Again, this is “all ages” entertainment at its zenith, delivering a great original Pixar “fix” before another big sequel in a few months. I suppose I should end this by saying film fans should run, no walk briskly, rather than hop to the multiplex for HOPPERS.

3.5 Out of 4

HOPPERS is now playing in theatres everywhere.