MOTHER OF FLIES is a low-budget horror flick that plays out as a sordid endurance test for both the cast and audience, as it straddles the fence between the psychological and supernatural, without delivering on either. It’s a product of the Adams family, written and directed by John, daughter Zelda and wife Toby Poser; starring that trio, plus their other daughter, Lulu. They are not to be confused in any way with the more familiar, and noticeably superior, Addams family. The missing “d” seemingly makes quite a difference.
The plot follows a grieving woman who retreats into isolation after a personal loss, taking refuge in a decaying rural house that quickly becomes less a sanctuary than a cauldron. As her mental state deteriorates, the environment reflects it: rot creeps into every corner; flies proliferate; her own body becomes another site of infestation. That dangled suspense of insanity vs. the supernatural remains vague – presumably by design.
What could have been a marketable premise turns out confusing and dull. Scenes stretch on forever, not because they’re tense or meaningful, but because no one apparently was objective enough to do some editing. No member of the clan could snip another’s dialog or screen time without offending the rest of the household, and ruining the next Thanksgiving. The camera lingers with more familial pride than dramatic purpose. Grotesque images feel inserted or exaggerated for shock value, more than narrative enhancement.
In terms of the performances, the cast is trapped in monotones. There’s no escalation, no modulation—just suffering, presented as a moral achievement. Dialogue is mercifully sparse, but the visuals between talky bits are nothing special. They rely on tropes – rot as metaphor, insects as symbolism, silence as seriousness, etc.
By the time MOTHER OF FLIES slogs its way to the finish line, it brings more relief than enlightenment, leaving us a package that’s less disturbing than exhausting. This one’s unfortunately short on both the sizzle and the steak. All of which is really a shame. This is the family’s fourth collaboration. I haven’t seen the previous three, but note they earned favorable ratings on IMDb, which supports my belief that they have more to offer than this one displays. Enough so that I plan to check out the others.
MOTHER OF FLIES is available streaming on Shudder starting Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
Everett Blunck as Ben, in THE PLAGUE. Courtesy of IFC
THE PLAGUE is one of those horror films that taps into familiar childhood, in this case, early adolescence and the bullying that frequently comes with that, and uses this familiarity to create the horror. THE PLAGUE opens with on-screen text giving a very specific time, Summer 2003, the second session of Tom Lerner Water Polo Camp. The camp is supposed to instill a sense of camaraderie in the 12 to 13-year-old boys, but instead something sinister is going on. What develops is a kind of “Lord of the Flies” in the suburbs. The very specific date and setting suggests that personal experience, from first-time director/writer Charlie Polinger, lies behind this chilling mix of psychological and a bit of body horror.
Most of the boys at the camp already know each other from the first session but Ben (Everett Blunck) is new. He sits down at their lunch table and, after a little teasing about a faint Boston accent, seems to be accepted. When another boy sits down at the table, he gets a very different reaction: everyone gets up and moves to another table. After a few minutes, Ben joins them. The boys’ leader, Jake (Kayo Martin), later tells newbie Ben that the boy, Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), has “the plague” and is to be avoided, because it is contagious. Eli does have a skin rash, which might be contagious, but he is also an odd duck, maybe on the spectrum. Anyway, he is the target of the boys’ group, their outcast, who they describe as having leprosy, whose body parts might fall off, and who is degenerating mentally and physically. Touching Eli, even being too close to him, can give you “the plague.”
That bullying of the outcast is something everyone will remember from growing up. Another thing that is familiar is how this tale mirrors “The Lord of the Flies.” Even though adults are present in this tale, they might as well not be, for all they notice they take of what is going on, and of their ineffectiveness. Actually, the only adult we really see is Joel Edgerton’s stone-faced coach, who is billed as “Daddy Wags,” who varies between oblivious and ineffective. The campers are all boys, ages 12 to 13, who are attending this sleep-way camp, meaning parents are out of the picture. Edgerton’s coach is either unaware of the bullying or unwilling to step in. When he does, at a few moments, he is remarkably unhelpful, with the kid being bullied paying the price.
Later, Jake admits they made those gruesome details and “the plague” isn’t real, although Eli really does have a rash that might be contagious. And Eli does himself no favors, with a strange sense of humor, a “Lord of the Rings” obsession plus a good Gollum impersonation, and a willingness to just be weird. Ben is a kindhearted kid, and someone going through his own problems, with his parents’ divorce, and eventually, also becomes a target for Jake’s bullying.
The acting is overall impressive in this film, with standouts being Everett Blunck as Ben, who is desperate to fit in and worried he won’t, Kayo Martin as bully Jake, alternating between charming and a sharp, intelligent cunning when he spots weakness, and Kenny Rasmussen as Eli, strange but smart, and with an unsettling self-destructive side. All the young actors explore the depths of their characters, with hints of why, while Edgerton’s adult is ineffective and uninspiring, in a chilling way.
However, that rash is one of several odd things about this summer camp. If the rash is contagious, why is he at a water polo camp? It seems most camps would exclude anyone who is contagious. Also, the camp seems to be at a high school, or at least the pool is, but the kids are sleeping in bunks rather than going home. We only see the one coach/camp counselor, Joel Edgerton’s character, although we see other adults in the background and at a distance, running their own water programs at the pool. Late in the film, there is a kind of school dance mixer, with girls from a synchronize swimming camp at the same pool, who we see late in the film.
Director Charlie Polinger builds a great deal of the tension and dread in this chilling film by tapping into memories we all likely have of the time period in our own lives. He also uses a technique to create tension that I personally dislike, which is soft whispered dialog in close up, half-lit scenes, followed by very loud, jarring music or screeching sounds. The shift makes one jump but it seems like a gimmicky, unpleasant way to build tension.
Polinger does better on the visual side. Many of the pool scenes are shot from below the surface, a nice visual metaphor but also a way to create an intriguing visual landscape. In some scenes, the director even flips the camera over, so we are disoriented as to what is up and what is down. He also does a nice job of creating mood with dark and shadowy scenes for the boys discussion, or confined ones in the communal showers with boys in team swim suits, and alternating those with brightly-lit scenes of the angular pool and school hallways.
At 98 minutes, THE PLAGUE is mercifully short but it packs a great deal of horror in that time. I say mercifully, because it is not a pleasant time to revisit. It is an impressive debut feature from the scary side, although the ending makes less sense than it should and the puzzling, unanswered practical questions raised above are distracting. It is a clear way to find the horror in the ordinary, and people’s universal experiences.
THE PLAGUE opens nationally in theaters on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.
A scene from SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. Courtesy of Cineverse
Are you feeling a bit of déjà vu from seeing the title SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT? That’s probably because there have been a morgueful of sequels and derivatives from the original 1984 Christ-X-mas splatter-fest of the same name. Besides its five sequels, and a 2012 remake (just called SILENT NIGHT), plus a slew of other Seasonal slasher sprees like SANTA’S SLAY (my favorite title), NIGHTMARE ON 34TH ST., SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT, and AXEMAS, to name a few. The juxtaposition of innocent holiday cheer and gruesome gore makes for a proven formula.
So, this one is a reboot of the original, with eight-year-old Billy horrified by the sight of his parents being slain by a psycho in a Santa suit (I wonder if Bruce Wayne would have turned into a serial killer instead of Batman if his parents’ murderer had been similarly attired? Discuss among yourselves.) Flash-forward to adult Billy (Rohan Campbell) doing a mashup between the original plot and “Dexter.” He’s been traveling around for years, guided by a voice in his head (Mark Acheson) like Dexter’s “dark passenger” who teaches him to recognize the bad people they’ll target for their December sprees, plus mentoring on how to do it without getting caught. That detection is like a Spidey Sense, but for a significantly different purpose. Bullies, corrupt officials, cheating spouses and others belonging on the Naughty List, including the occasional supremely bratty kid, are all fair game for Billy’s Santa suit and his axe or other weapon of “mess” destruction.
In this current December, he arrives in a small Wisconsin town and is quickly drawn to a babe named Pamela (Ruby Modine; yes, Matthew’s daughter). He starts working with her in her dad’s Christmas shop. Billy has an Advent Calendar to keep track of his killing regimen by putting a drop of each victim’s blood under the flap for the day, much like Dexter’s collection of blood drops on microscope slides. He’s also got a full closet of Santa suits and beards, because each gets soaked in more blood than anyone could clean before the next visit. Or ever.
The killings are plentiful and grisly, with some darkly comic aspects running throughout, so no gore-fest fan will be disappointed. There are a couple of highlights, including a murder montage and a group scene on top of the standard one-on-ones. But if you’re hoping for nudity in the titillation mix, look elsewhere – like the 2012 remake, which featured flashes of boobage.
Campbell looks like a young Tom Berenger, playing his character close to the vest. He’s devoted to his “calling”, but starting to chafe at the rootless lifestyle, especially when his interest in Pamela starts appearing to be mutual. His killings come from a righteous determination to remove the scumbags from each year’s venue, rather than sadistic glee. Ms. Modine plays a much more interesting role. She reminds me of a young Juliette Lewis, simultaneously sweet, sexy and borderline crazy, with the latter two mostly bubbling under the surface – all in one petite package.
So, if you’re seeking respite from the ubiquitous holiday music and décor providing a backdrop for miles and miles of mindless smiles, here’s a quick fix that oughta do the trick.
SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT opens in theaters on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025.
Jesse Plemons gives a jaw-dropping performance as conspiracy-obsessed young man who convinces his pliant cousin to help him kidnap the high-powered woman CEO, played by Emma Stone, of a Big Pharma/agra-chemical company, driven by the belief that she is an alien from another planet who is set on destroying the world, in BUGONIA, Yorgos Lanthimos’ darkly comic, oft horrifying but ultimately humanly touching social commentary on our crazy modern world. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is known for his award-winning, imaginative films with a dark world view, such as THE LOBSTER, THE FAVOURITE, and POOR THINGS. BUGONIA is actually a loose re-make of a South Korean film, SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, and the pair of young men plan to force the CEO alien to contact her emperor and call off the destruction of Earth. Basically, it comes down to a face-off between the obsessed conspiracy-theorist and the heartless corporate CEO, in a battle of the wills filled with twists and enough unexpected turns to spin your head around.
The strange title actually comes from an ancient Greek ritual in which a bull is sacrificed in such a way that it was believed that the carcass would produce bees. This plan to have the alien CEO contact her space alien emperor seems as likely to succeed.
While this premise seems ripe for comedy, audiences should be warned that the film has plenty of violence, and a horror aspect, not just talking in the basement where the two are holding her.
What really makes this film is Jesse Plemons’ startling performance. Plemons gives an Oscar-worthy performance unlike anything you have ever seen from him, as a young beekeeper and environmentalist in a fading small town, who has been driven mad by terrible events in his life and too much time spent on the conspiracy-theory drenched internet. He lives in the crumbling old house outside of town where he grew up with his mother, along with his neurodivergent cousin.
Beyond saving the planet, Jesse Plemon’s character has more personal issues with Emma Stone’s CEO. One of his issues with her company is linked to colony collapse disorder, which the beekeeper links to certain chemicals, and the other has to do with his mother’s experimental treatment for drug addiction, which had devastating results.
While Plemon’s character is a lost soul with a tragic history, Emma Stone’s CEO is a soul less, hard-driven executive in spike heels who works out with martial arts and seems to have little feeling for people. In one of her first scenes, the CEO is recording a diversity message for her employees, when she flubs a line saying “diversity” too many times, with an expression that makes it clear she’d rather not say it at all. She walks down a hall, reminding her employees they now can leave work at 5:30pm. adding “Your call!” but then “unless you have work to finish,” undercutting the whole work-life balance initiative she is launching. “Your call!” she repeats.
Plemon’s character Teddy’s partner in crime is his pliant cousin Don, played well by fuzzy-haired newcomer Aidan Delbis, who lives with Teddy because he has no one else. Don adores his smart, slightly older cousin, who apparently is the only one in town who treats him with kindness and a level of respect. Plemon’s Teddy is clearly smart but absorbed in his elaborate tin-hat theories, which the pliant cousin listens to and accepts – partly because he feels he has no choice.
Teddy wants to kidnap alien CEO Michelle to force to contact her Emperor and call of the attack on Earth. The kidnapping doesn’t go smoothly but the pair do get her back to Teddy’s basement. However, he does not want her to contact her Mothership for rescue, so he cuts off her hair – which is how she sends messages to other aliens.
At first our sympathies are more with the broken, lost Teddy, but that turns rather quickly. And turn back again, and again, with a series of shockers and twists that continue to the end.
None of these characters are simple or black-and-white. The film gives all the characters depth and complexity, which adds an unexpected layer of humanity and heart to the tale, despite the sometimes awful events than unfold.
Whether it is aliens or just alienation, BUGONIA delivers a punch, but primarily through the outstanding performances, especially by Jesse Plemons, one that should win him an Oscar nod at a minimum.
Director Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN does a startling thing: it goes back to the original Gothic novel written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in 1818, “Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.” While there have been seeming endless numbers of screen versions of the Frankenstein story, generally in some form all are based in James Whale’s classic 1931 film and its sequel, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Whale’s film has thrilled countless film fans and inspired many future filmmakers, including Guillermo del Toro. but the story the 1931 movie tells departs greatly from Mary Shelley’s terrifying but more philosophical novel about the hubris of a man playing God.
Now, to be clear, del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN is not a faithful screen adaptation of the novel, but something more based on it. or in parts even, “inspired by” it. In truth, the director of Oscar-winning films PAN’S LABYRINTH and THE SHAPE OF WATER makes this story his own, stamping it with his own unique signature style, using the parts of the original novel that suit his purpose in building his own creation. That creation includes plenty of references to various Frankenstein versions.
Still, this return to Shelley’s Gothic tale makes the film much more strikingly unusual, in a gripping way that other Frankensteins iterations have not. And the director takes full advantage of that fresh approach to what could otherwise be overly familiar.
Like the book, the film starts at the end of the story, with Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) in an Arctic wasteland. He tells his tale, in this case, to the captain of a ship searching for the North Pole. How the doctor got there and why is part of his story. But del Toro then does something else startling in this film: after we see and hear Dr. Frankenstein’s story, the director turns things around and allows the Creature (Jacob Elordi) to tell his version. Yes, the Creature in this one, like the original novel, is intelligent and articulate, although not at first.
FRANKENSTEIN is Guillermo del Toro’s dream project, long planned. The film has the director’s distinct style and many of the same themes that run through other del Toro films, such as man as the real monster, sympathy for the creature, father and son issues, and good versus evil. Visually, the film is very much in the director’s bold style, color-drenched, creepy, and filled with striking cinematic images. The dramatic creation moment, when the creature comes to life, takes place in a huge, strange, foreboding building, one that looks like it was built as some kind of waterworks or water-driven factory, but with echoes of James Whale’s 1931 film. The reference to the link between water and life is inescapable, while the imposing structure itself, visually, is dramatically gothic.
Instead of the frenetic Dr. Frankenstein of James Whale’s classic, Oscar Isaac plays the doctor obsessed with building a man as a brooding, cold, dark, and even heartless fellow, with a huge ego and few ethics constrains. The social commentary on unlimited ambition and power is there.
Mia Goth plays Elizabeth, but in this telling she is not the fiancee of Victor but his younger, sunnier brother William (Felix Kammerer). Elizabeth is both beautiful and intelligent, with a keen interest in science and nature. She is very close to her wealthy uncle (Christoph Waltz), who offers to fund Victor’s experiments in reanimating dead tissue with the aim of creating life. The uncle gives no reason for this decision but hints that he does have an agenda in mind.
Although inspired by the novel, del Toro still references various versions of the the Frankenstein story, in movies and even comics. including the 1931 classic film that so riveted the director as a young child. Those references are sprinkled throughout the film, and it even has a glancing reference to ROCKY HORROR, a kind of Frankenstein tale, in the early appearance of the Creature himself but without the camp.
The cast all turn in fine performances, although the story and its vivid telling is the really strength of the film. Oscar Isaac plays Dr. Frankenstein as a very dark, hard character, an unlikable person who becomes less appealing as we see what he does. The story begins with his childhood to help us understand the character, in a brooding, gothic tale in a world of with funeral black and winter white, splashed with dramatic touches of blood red. The doctor makes himself the hero of his own story but we will hear another version next. The Creature is like a newborn in a grown body at first but grows up quickly, with his innocence turning to resentment and more toward his “father.”
The director caused some uproar by casting handsome Jacob Elordi as the Frankenstein;s creation, but it is worth noting that in the original novel the creation has more the appearance of a man, albeit a large one, than Karloff’s monster. Del Toro doesn’t quite do that, as the creature is a patchwork of sewn-together skin but, like in the book and others versions, of monstrous strength, if not size.
Speaking of monsters, director del Toro makes it clear at the very start of the film who the “monster” is, and it is not the creature. The creation here has more the enormous strength than size, which allows us to see him as a young man, even a big child at the start, the son of the doctor who built him.
Art direction is one of the real stars of this film. The visual side is eye-popping and very effective in creating a sense of awe and terror. The set, costumes and visual effects are all bold, often color-drenched and sometimes massive, a Gothic look on steroids which feels perfect for this film.
One of the most striking sequences is the one where the Creature is brought to life, a process that involves lightning like the 1931 classic film, but taking place in a weird, water-themed building of tile and smooth spouts, ducts, and channels, set on the edge of a cliff plunging into the sea.
Although Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN is not a faithful adaptation of the original novel, going back to that groundbreaking book, and some of its themes, does open the door for some other filmmaker to do that full adaptation. Hopefully that will happen, but until then we have this wonderfully creative new retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic novel.
Olga Kurylenko stars as “Alice” in the horror thriller OTHER, directed by David Moreau. Photo credit: Jerome Prebois. Courtesy of Shudder
Ready for another spooky Halloween warm-up? In OTHER, Olga Kurylenko stars as Alice – a veterinarian with a boyfriend, Charlie (Philip Schurer), and an abiding loathing for her estranged mother. When she hears that mom died rather gruesomely, she’s far from upset, but flies to her home to do her daughterly duty. Mom’s huge home is far from any neighbors and heavily insulated against the outside world by an elaborate security system worthy of a CIA “dark site.” A paranoid’s idea of Heaven.
We gradually learn why Alice hated her mom through flashbacks and saved videotapes showing that the old gal had been the uberbitch of stage moms, forcing her kid into performing and parading in beauty pageants with Draconian diet and training demands. Alice is a beauty, so she probably had some success despite her wishes to do something else – anything else – during her formative years.
While on the isolated, gated estate, Alice is besieged with strange sounds and movements just teasing the margins of her range of vision. She senses something trying to harm, if not kill, her, though remaining clueless as to what and why. Throughout her ordeal, there’s virtually no other human activity on screen. Charlie is mostly involved by phone. A neighbor kid with a drone pops up a few times, both scared by and drawn to whatever evil forces there be, offering little help to our heroine.
The good news is that for its 95 minutes, the camera is almost always on its exotically attractive star. And at the risk of being labeled sexist, the fact that she’s bare-legged and in tight t-shirts for most of it makes up for a chunk of the film’s considerable shortcomings. Kurylenko is probably best known as one of James Bond’s paramours in 2008’s QUANTUM OF SOLACE. She does not appear to have aged in the intervening 17 years. Most of us wish we could say the same.
There are a generous number of jump scares: some gory bits; and the extremes of security features and other happenings that keep her housebound are intriguing. The fact that I never figured out the WHY of it all was frustrating. I really can’t swear to how much of that was the script’s defects or intention vs. my own failing. You’d have to ask director and co-author David Moreau; I’m not sure that Kurylenko was even privy to the explanation. Perhaps your brain will catch what I missed, or appreciate the unanswered questions more than I could.
OTHER debuts streaming on Shudder on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
Hey, Halloween’s just a couple of weeks away, Hollywood studios! So where’s the new spooky, scary flicks? Well, we’ll have to wait another week or so for the new version of Mary Shelley’s classic, so how about a sequel to one of the surprise horror hits from four years ago? And it’s from the classic “monster-maker”, Universal by way of the “ghouls” that dwell in the Blumhouse. Concerned about the number in its title? Perhaps knowing that they got “the band back together”, namely the cast along with the directors and co-writer, should erase your worries. What’s that ringing noise? Do you dare to pick up the receiver and answer the call of BLACK PHONE 2?
It all actually starts with a flashback set in the late 1950s. A teenager trudges through the snow to a desolate telephone booth, somewhere in a frigid forest clearing. After a very odd, even cryptic conversation, the story springs forward to 1982 Colorado. Just outside the high school, a young man is viciously pummeled by Finn Blake (Mason Thames). Luckily, his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) pulls him off the lad. Despite being the young hero who ended the murderous reign of “the Grabber”, Finn is still challenged by bullies. But that’s not their only problem. Though papa Terence (Jeremy Davies) is finally sober, Finn is now the substance abuser, numbing his damaged psyche with bags of weed. Yet somehow he’s alert enough to stop Gwen from her dangerous sleepwalking excursions. Yes, she’s having visions again, this time of three boys murdered in the cold white woods. Could this be the spirit of their nemesis? Gwen’s dreams lead the duo to look into getting jobs at the Christian church “winter camp” called Alpine Lake. Luckily Gwen’s “wannabe BF” Ernesto (Miguel Mora) agrees to drive them there during a blizzard. At the camp’s front gate, they’re met by the horse “wrangler” Mustang (Arianna Rivas) and her father, the supervisor Armando (Demian Bichir). He tells them that other new workers called ahead and cancelled due to the fierce storm. But the trio can stay in the cabins until the roads are cleared. Gwen’s nightmares start up as things get even more weird for Finn. He answers the “out-of-order” payphone and speaks to the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) before seeing the horned, masked demon himself. Soon, Gwen’s visions give her a portal into the fiend’s deadly origins at the camp. Can the Blakes guide the campers in their mission to stop the Grabber and send him back to Hell?
Though he’s prominently featured in the marketing, the participation of Mr.Hawke raised some questions. Since the Grabber is usually masked up, or seen in various stages of gnarly wounded decay, Hawke is really delivering more of a vocal performance. It doesn’t help that the glimpses of him as the magician/balloon twister at the wheel of that old black van are that of a different actor (but then they’re part of Gwen’s visions). Mind you, Hawke delivers a threatening growl, but I recalled the rumors about the 1940s Mummy movies “starring” Lon Chaney, Jr. As for the other “originals”, the very busy Thames (this is the middle of his three 2025 flicks) makes a steadfast horror “hero” as the young man who is paying the mental “price” for his victory over evil. The memories (and grass) have dulled his eyes, but a return match seems to “jump start” his fighting spirit. That, and in protecting his adored lil’ sis’ played with equal parts sass and snark, with a touch of trembling vulnerability, by McGraw. She somehow can make most of her clunkier put-downs (this from a 15 year-old) work. Davies is also strong as a man struggling to rectify his past behavior and reconnect with the kids that will soon drift away from the nest. Mora also provides a good connection to the first flick, while scoring some chuckles as he pines for Gwen. The most compelling new character may be the grizzled Armando, played with a gravitas and protective charm by the always watchable Bichir ((love when he scolds Finn over his “goodie bag”).
Returning to the director’s chair is Scott Derrickson who co-wrote the new script with C. Robert Cargill, based on Joe Hill’s 2004 short story. I will give them kudos for not returning to that dingy basement (it does make a cameo) for a new rash of abductions and escape attempts. Though the first entries had supernatural elements, this one truly goes “all in” allowing for lots of creative effects, some CGI and many practical make-ups (even a bit of puppetry, I’m guessing). But once the Blakes get to their new setting, the story becomes fairly repetitive as Gwen drifts off to sleep in order to be menaced by the Grabber before Finn arrives just in time. And many set pieces are also derivative, as though we’re watching a late 80s Freddy Krueger knock-off set near the Overlook from THE SHINING (the red-coiled space heaters do give the cabin interiors a Hellish glow). The need for new scares and gross-out clutter up the big finale showdown as the “camper’s quest’ finally limps to a frozen finish. The fans have the original will probably enjoy seeing the “OG” cast, but for few new fans will want to jump in that icy glass booth for BLACK PHONE 2.
1.5 Out of 4
BLACK PHONE 2 is now playing in theaters everywhere
(L-R) Logan Lerman and Molly Gordon in OH, HI! Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Modern dating is the focus of writer/director Sophie Brook’s OH HI!, in which a couple, played by Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman, take a weekend trip to the country. The film is billed as a comedy about a relationship, or as the film has it, a “situationship,” but comedy/rom com/horror might be more accurate, as the comedy designation is undermined from the start. The film opens by flashing forward to the end, as Iris (Gordon) confesses to the camera about her “bad decisions,” before we flashback to the beginning of the couple’s weekend trip to the country.
That opening gives the dark comedy a bit of horror film edge right at the start, and we are never sure which way it is going to go as it unfolds. Comedy/horror may be a common genre but the rom com/horror combo is a more challenging match, no matter how dark the rom com, but Sophie Brook does raise some interesting modern dating questions, and the strong cast certainly does everything they can to help it work. OH, HI!, which debuted in New York at the Tribeca Film Festival, is undeniably weird, although whether that weirdness works for you or not depends on individual taste, but at least some audiences may find this ambitious film exhausting and fizzling by the end.
The film follows up it’s unsettling, edgy opening by flashing back to the beginning of the story, as the couple, Iris (Gordon) and Isaac (Lerman), are happily driving through the Upstate New York countryside, on their way to their farmhouse rental for their first weekend trip in High Falls (Iris’ misreading of a road sign gives the film’s title). Along the way, they pass red barns and idyllic scenery, while bubbling Iris playfully teases more reserved Issac. They stop at a roadside stand selling strawberries, where they have a little rom com incident, and a surprising bit of flirtation between Isaac and the strawberry lady, right in from of Iris.
Arriving at the rental farmhouse with plenty of strawberries, the film’s tone returns to blissful rom com, as Iris and Isaac settle in for their romantic weekend. Isaac cooks an elegant dinner of scallops, they drink wine, and dine out on the porch under the stars and string lights. Their conversation reveals their relationship is fairly new, and they are still getting to know each other.
The film’s set-up is interesting if unsettling, part comedy with a tense horror undercurrent, as it deals with the pitfalls and challenges of dating through apps, and raises intriguing questions about relationships, interpersonal communications, expectations, honesty, and romantic dreams. But OH HI! gets increasingly dark as it goes, with an unnerving encounter with an angry neighbor (David Cross) and a series of bad decisions on the part of the couple, particularly after discovering some S&M items in a locked closet leads to a situation that seems headed towards a contemporary MISERY and full-blown horror, as Iris becomes increasingly crazy and Isaac reveals bracing level of arrogance. Why such a beautiful, intelligent woman as Iris would want to hold onto this spoiled, privileged man is puzzling. Nearly as puzzling is Isaac’s sense of privilege, as he clings to the idea that his dishonesty isn’t deceitful and somehow justified by a careful parsing of words.
Yet director Sophie Brooks flips the switch again, and heads back to comedy and farce, with the arrival of some surprise intruders, Iris’ best friend Max (Geraldine Viswanathan) and her boyfriend Kenny (John Reynolds), both wonderfully funny, providing a much needed interruption.
Whether you like this switching back and forth between rom com and horror is up to your individual taste but it didn’t appeal to this reviewer. Further, it seemed like the repeated switches became wearing, and even caused the story to fizzle by the end.
The one thing that does lift this film out of the corner it has painted itself into is the arrival of Geraldine Viswanathan and John Reynolds. They offer a bright, outright funny turn that gets things back on track. At least until the script again jumps the rails, and becomes tedious and nonsensical as it stumbles towards an awkward end.
While the script goes down its rabbit holes, one cannot fault the actors themselves, who turn in excellent performances that often lift the film above the script. Gordon and Lerman have nice chemistry between them, which allows the actors to bring depth to their characters and scenes in increasingly strange situations. But Geraldine Viswanathan and John Reynolds are the real standouts, marvelous in their roles as a functional couple, Max and Kenny, and the have great comic skills and chemistry to boot. They really do rescue the whole film midway, breaking it out of what looks like a descent into an inescapable pit of creepiness, although their efforts aren’t enough to save the film in the end.
Still, OH, HI! deserves credit for it’s high-concept intentions, even if it ultimately is brought down by its constantly-switching, mixed-tone script. Certainly, the film has something to say but it also has some weird ideas about how to say it. Despite all that, OH, HI! has its moments of humor, insight and brightness, often thanks to its strong cast.
Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) in Columbia Pictures’ 28 YEARS LATER. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
28 DAYS LATER was a terrifying horror hit about an viral infection that ripped through Britain, rapidly killing its victims and turning them into angry zombies that spread the infection. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland followed that up with 28 WEEKS LATER, with the Rage virus morphing and spreading to Europe. Now Boyle and Garland are back for a third round, but this time set farther into the future, with 28 YEARS LATER.
Set much farther in the future from 28 WEEKS LATER, 28 YEARS LATER is not a true sequel that continues the story line of 28 WEEKS LATER, but a new full-on post-apocalyptic story set in the same world. After a prologue that loosely ties this new film to the previous one, in which a boy evades to zombies who kill his parents, the film updates us on the situation 28 years later. The Rage virus has been fought back on the European continent but Britain has been declared a quarantine zone, with the remaining people abandoned to their fate and the waters around Britain patrolled by NATO to contain the virus.
Cillian Murphy was the star of the first two horror films, doesn’t appear in this one (although he is one of the film’s producers). Instead, the main character is a 12-year-old boy named Spike (Alfie Williams), who lives in a colony of survivors on an island off the northeast coast of England.
The people on the island are pretty self-sufficient, growing food and raising domesticated animals, with a structured society with assigned jobs and a store of scavenged items for things they can’t or don’t produce themselves in a pseudo pre-industrial life. Being an island helps keep them safe but they also guard against intruding zombie with a force armed with bows and arrows. The island does have an access to the mainland, a causeway that is accessible only at low tide. which they guard with a gate and sentries. The villagers seem to have created a pretty comfortable life but the one thing they lack is a doctor.
Spike lives with his parents Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Isla (Jodie Comer), and his grandfather. Isla is sick with a mysterious illness that comes and goes, leaving her with terrible headaches and confused when she is in the grip of a bout, but a lively, fun-loving person when she’s feeling well. With mom not feeling well, Spike’s dad Jamie decides his son is ready for the colony’s coming-of-age ritual, at trip to the mainland with his father, to kill his first zombie. Although as the other villagers remind Jamie the usual age for this ritual is 14 or 15, he insists his son is ready, although Spike seems less certain about this, and mostly trying to please his father. Leaving his ailing mother Isla in the care of Spike’s grandfather, father and son load up their arrows, grab their bows and make the trek across the causeway at low tide to the mainland, with a four hour window before the tide covers the causeway blocks retreat.
You know something has to go awry but at first all goes well. Weirdly, while they are on the mainland, Jamie and Spike do not forage for supplies to supplement their meagre ones at the store, but instead mostly stick to the forest, hunting slow-moving zombies.
They come across some, pitiful fat slug-like zombies who crawl slowly across the ground but are still capable of infecting people if they manage to sneak up on one. Spike does make his first kill – shoot them in the neck, dad says – but a few more almost sneak up on dad while he is focused on coaching his young son. The pair encounter some faster-moving zombies and even spot a dreaded Alpha, a large fast zombie with more of a brain than the rest. There are harrowing moments and frightening mad dashes, and they are even forced to hide out in a structure, something they had avoided, and while hiding in an attic, catch sight of a puzzling huge bonfire in the distance, not something likely created by the zombies.
Eventually they do make it back to the causeway. Back on the island, the villagers have planned a celebration for Spike but the boy is both rattled by his experiences and his father’s bragging and exaggerating about his prowess as a zombie-killer, and sneaks off to see his mother, accidentally glimpsing something that rattles him even more. Back home with his grandfather, Spike learns something his father concealed from him, that the bonfire they saw was probably built by a doctor. When Spike, concerned about his sick mother, asks his father about it, the father insists that the doctor has gone mad and isn’t really a doctor anymore
Spike, unsettled by his experience on the mainland and even more by his father’s behavior goes on a quest to the mainland with his sick mother, hoping to find the doctor to cure her.
The doctor is played by Ralph Fiennes, in an excellent performance, although we have to wait quite a while for his appearance which is too brief overall. The rest of the cast is good too, especially young as Spike and the wonderful Jodie Comer, as the sick mother who is charmingly funny, strong-willed and capable in her moments of lucidity. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a fine job as the father, trying to project an bravura image but revealing a selfishness underneath. A surprise character who makes a brief appearance is a Swedish sailor who was stranded on the mainland by a shipwreck and runs into Spike and Isla on their quest. Coming from Europe, where cell phones and other benefits of modern life still exist, he has strange conversations with young Spike who has known only the medieval-ish world he was born into, making for an interesting bit of post-apocalyptic commentary.
28 YEARS LATER has its moments, with high tension moments and scary zombie attacks and chases. but there is more that is unsettling and even disturbing in the non-zombie human story that unfolds in this post-apocalyptic world. However, the script has its problems, and not everything that happens really makes sense. For example, why would the villagers risk a trip to the mainland only to shoot zombies, and not forage for supplies, which a high-risk for low-yield decision. There are other odd missteps in logic (a pregnant zombie?), while other details are carefully thought-out. It gives the story an unevenness, which is exacerbated by it’s bit episodic nature, with different sections that seem rather disconnected, and finishing with a last scene that mostly just sets up for a sequel (who knows what they would call that one).
On the plus side, along with its fine cast, the film has beautiful, even haunting locations shots, as it was largely shot where it is set, with wonderful north and northeastern locations, although weirdly, they filmmakers chose to shoot on cell phones. The island of Lindisfarne, off the northeast coast of England and connected to the mainland by a low-tide causeway, stands in for the villagers’ island. The setting is lush, green and dotted with ruined castles, abbys and cottages, as well as more modern derelict buildings
28 YEARS LATER is mixed bag, likely to divide audiences, satisfying those who can’t get enough of its zombies more than some others. Still, there are fewer zombie scenes and less pure horror of that type, while it focuses more on the subtler horror of post-apocalyptic life. While it does feature a strong cast and lovely locations, it also has an unsettling, uncomfortable and disturbing non-zombie human story. Add to that, the film’s final sequence is pure set-up for yet another sequel, which also tends to undermine it, although that might be welcome news to those who crave more Rage virus zombies.
28 YEARS LATER opens in theaters on Friday, June 20, 2025.
Psycho slasher flicks are hard to predict on the quality scale. Some viewers only care about the gore level. Others look more for novelty in the methods of dispatch; the more studious types may seek more in the plot and character vein to understand they whys of the situation. PRETTY BOY is pretty good on the first two, but weak on the third. What I didn’t know before watching was that this 2021 movie is a sequel, picking up right after the events of 2019’s BLIND. I then watched it, too, and probably would have liked this one better if I’d seen them in the correct order. But not by all that much.
The eponymous masked murderer has a fixation on a blind former starlet (Sarah French). As this one opens, he’s schlepping her body around Hollywood Hills for reasons I still don’t understand after seeing both when he comes across a Valentine’s Day party at someone’s home, and starts killing those folks.
We learn a bit about them, but not enough to care who might survive. Despite his lack of dialog, we also learn more of Pretty Boy’s backstory, which is suitably sordid, if not fully credible.
Gore junkies will be more satisfied by the sights and sounds of the slaughter, including plenty of blood and a few unique methods of offing the co-stars. The body count is higher and more visceral than in BLIND. Other plot and character details matter little.
Now that you know what to expect, make your own decision on which parts of the genre you find most motivating, and choose accordingly. That’s the best non-spoiler advice I can offer.
PRETTY BOY is available VOD and on digital platforms starting Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
