David Fincher's 2008 film Zodiac has grown to be one of his best, if not one of the best cinematic offerings of the century. Zodiac strikes the perfect balance between engrossing police procedural, atmospheric horror, and compelling character study to be one of the best movies of the century. To fully appreciate Zodiac, you have to watch it…
A man attempts to bring his wife back from the dead with the help of his sister-in-law in An Unquiet Grave A movie that feels like a campfire ghost story is oddly comforting. It's the type of story that isn't too complex but is told with a vigor that makes it so engrossing. Such is…
The Rental follows two couples who get more than they bargain for when they Airbnb a beautiful oceanside house for the weekend Quick cut: Dave Franco's directorial debut isn't a groundbreaking slow-burn thriller, but it is a competently made, supremely acted, and satisfyingly effective one. ★★★ Unlike many other feature debuts, especially those from actors…
Dunkirk is a thrilling and emotional war movie that is singular in its form and a high-point in Christopher Nolan's already impressive career Quick cut: Though it is infused with the cinematic innovation that's synonymous with Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk also finds him at his most human. The action, visuals, and disorienting story make it a cinematic…
Crawl follows a college student as she attempts to rescue her father from a pack of aggressive alligators during a Category Five hurricane. 30-second review: Picture a movie where a father and daughter are trapped in a cramp Florida basement in the middle of a Category Five hurricane by alligators — and you have Crawl. It is…
The Perfection follows two students of a renowned music academy whose first encounter leads to sinister results. 30-second review: The Perfection's first half portends a sharp and tense psychological thriller with two committed performances by Allison Williams and Logan Browning as the former and current star students of a prestigious music academy respectively. But one…
John Cho shines in Searching, an engaging and suspenseful thriller that takes place completely on a computer screen Searching begins with a very familiar landscape with rolling hills, a blue sky speckled with clouds, and mountains in the distance. This vista is the desktop of a computer. That's where the entire running time of Searching, like the film Unfriended before it, takes place.…
You Were Never Really Here is a hypnotic and thrilling crime drama that doesn't let you go until the credits begin to roll. A third of the way through the breezy 90-minute running time of You Were Never Really Here, essentially director Lynne Ramsey's arthouse version of Taken, Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) lays down next to a hitman he…
A Simple Favor is a darkly funny and campy mystery thriller anchored by stellar performances by Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. 30-second review: So much of the plot of a simple favor is melodramatic and ironically plays off like an episode of a CW primetime soap opera. But it works. That's thanks to director Paul Feig's…
Piercing is a twisted watch that will completely satisfy genre fans and polarize mainstream audiences — but that's why it works (mostly). Piercing — based on Japanese novelist Ryū Murakami's book of the same name — feels so familiar. It has story elements of American Psycho and tinge of Phantom Thread while boasting stylistic flourishes reminiscent of 70s horror movies like Carrie and Suspiria—…
