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—…
Bad Times at the El Royale is a thrilling, character-driven neo-noir homage that will keep you guessing from beginning to end. Don't let the flashy trailers, catchy title, or A-list stars fool you. Bad Times at the El Royale is not your typical popcorn thriller. Written and directed by Drew Goddard, who had a lot to live up…
Widows is successfully a thrilling heist movie, emotional character study, and dissection of our current social climate. Widows is based on the 1983 British television show of the same name, but you wouldn't know that watching Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen's adaptation from a screenplay written by Gone Girl scribe Gillian Flynn. The film, which changes the location from London to…
The Shallows follows a young med student as she becomes harpooned on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean surrounded by a Great White Shark One sentence review: The Shallows makes the most of its familiar premise to deliver a thrilling and tense tale of survival grounded by a great lead performance by Blake Lively. One…
