Director: Hikari
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, Akira Emoto
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 110 mins

Rental Family is a comedy drama starring Brendan Fraser as Phillip Vanderploeg, a Japanese-based American actor who has been struggling to find meaningful work after a successful toothpaste advert seven years earlier. He meets Shinji (Takehiro Hira) who introduces him to his company, ‘Rental Family’, a business that provides actors to play stand-in family members and friends for strangers. “We sell emotion” is how Shinji sells it. Although somewhat reluctant at first, Phillip takes on two long-term jobs – one acting as the estranged father of a young half-Japanese girl called Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), who her mother thinks will be a great way to boost her daughter’s mood to get her into private school, and another as a journalist profiling retired actor Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto) with dementia. But Phillip finds himself getting a little too involved and finds himself caring for them.

This is a sweet-natured and very positive comedy-drama with an excellent Brendan Fraser performance that you’re sure to walk out of with a smile on your face. While the first half borders on saccharine, director Hikari does enough to keep things more than interesting in the latter half where the complexities and moral questionings of what the firm’s employees do come into the fray and it takes a more melancholic tone.

It’s hard not to be totally wrapped up by Fraser’s deliciously twinkly performance, with a gentle physicality and affable temperament – and Rental Family wouldn’t be half of what it is without that central performance. There’s good supporting performances from the rest of the cast, and there’s reasonably strong development of the firm’s employees who begin to form a warm dynamic. Takurô Ishizaka lenses the film neatly too, with some colourful, sweeping shots of the luscious Japanese landscape.

But although I enjoyed Rental Family for what it is, I wanted a deeper exploration into the themes of loneliness and loss, which the film only touches on. That would have given the narrative more of a complete circle. Still, if you want an uplifting comedy-drama with an effortlessly likeable Brendan Fraser, Rental Family hits the spot.

Director: Nia DaCosta
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Chi Lewis-Parry
Certificate: 18
Run Time: 109 mins

Fittingly arriving 28 weeks later after last year’s excellent 28 Years Later is 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which was filmed back-to-back with its predecessor. While Danny Boyle returned to the director’s chair for the first film in the proposed trilogy, The Bone Temple is directed by Nia DaCosta. I’ve had mixed opinions on her filmography to date – both Little Woods and Candyman were excellent, The Marvels was rather ropey (although DaCosta reportedly experienced a rough ride under the Marvel Cinematic Universe regime) and I don’t understand what all the fuss is about for her most recent film Hedda.

This sequel picks up immediately after 28 Years Later‘s jaw-dropping final scene, which generated rather a lot of controversy. The film opens as Spike (Alfie Williams) is initiated into the Fingers gang, led by the psychopathic “Sir Lord” Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), who claims to be the son of Satan. Crystal styles himself after Jimmy Savile, as do his gang members. The group go around disturbing the peace with any non-infected humans they can find, with torture and violence regularly on the menu (much to Spike’s disgust).

This storyline is intercut with another featuring Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) who continues to maintain the titular Bone Temple, and his interesting relationship with Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), the villainous Alpha zombie from the previous film. In the film’s third act, the two storylines are brought together to a rather memorable climax.

While 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple lacks Danny Boyle’s frenetic directorial style, it more than makes up for it with its fascinating narrative and memorable characters. It’s the very antithesis of 28 Years Later – a shaggy-dog affair with Anthony Dod Mantle’s disorienting but beautiful camerawork (often on an iPhone) that’s stuffed to the brim with thoughtful ideas and themes, while Nia DaCosta’s sequel is a focussed and polished film that feels smaller in scope. But that’s not a problem because this is a powerfully gripping sequel from start to finish (28 Years Later‘s second act relies on a slightly far-fetched decision that throws you out a little) with some sensational performances.

DaCosta sets the grim tone from the very first scene with Spike’s brutal and foul-mouthed initiation and never relents – this film is gleefully nasty and doesn’t hold back with its torture or body organ consumption. It’s certainly the strongest film in the 28 Days Later series to earn its 18 BBFC age rating. Jack O’Connell’s turn as the Satanic cult leader is absolutely fantastic – he makes for a truly repugnant villain, but with plenty of charisma to make him memorable. This is a much nastier performance than his much-lauded villainous turn in Sinners.

There’s some good performances from the rest of the Fingers gang (which reminded me of A Clockwork Orange), although some characters are inevitably short-changed with Jimmy Crystal’s penchant for needless violence. Erin Kellyman is brilliant as Jimmy Ink, one of the cult’s more empathetic members and Emma Laird is another highlight as one of the more sadistic figures.

The second storyline with Ralph Fiennes is also excellent, and his relationship with Samson is fascinating and even becomes touching as it progresses. Fiennes was one of the highlights of the last film, and here we get to dig even deeper into his methodological psyche as he tries to memorialise the victims of the epidemic and perhaps find a cure. Chi Lewis-Parry is just as impressive, and DaCosta’s humanisation of what was a no-good zombie lands this film a real emotional heft.

When the two storylines eventually collide, it results in a giddily exciting third act climax of immense proportion. There’s a particularly memorable sequence with Ralph Fiennes that I shan’t spoil and of course, there’s an exciting tease for what’s to come in the closing chapter.

But The Bone Temple isn’t a perfect film. The most significant flaw is the sidelining of Spike, who doesn’t get much of a character arc other than bearing witness to the cult’s horrific atrocities, and DaCosta could have explored the trauma of his character. On the flipside though, spending more time focussing on Spike might have disrupted the film’s breakneck pacing.

Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score is the very opposite of 28 Years Later‘s frenzied Young Fathers music, but it’s yet another brilliant work by the Oscar-winning composer. There are so many memorable themes here, especially in the opening and many of the scenes set in the Bone Temple, with brilliant needledrops too. And like the score, Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography isn’t as kinetic as Anthony Dod Mantle’s, but there are some stunning shots here, particularly of the Bone Temple and the star-filled night sky.

Other than Spike’s sidelining, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a masterclass of a middle chapter, that doesn’t sag under the weight of its own bones with its coherent and self-contained storyline. It’s wickedly nasty with some juicy performances, backed by a brilliant Hildur Guðnadóttir score and striking visuals. I think 28 Years Later is the slightly stronger film overall though – although ramshackle, it really soars in its strongest moments and there’s something to be said for Danny Boyle’s direction and Anthony Dod Mantle’s gonzo cinematography. I can’t wait to see how this trilogy concludes.

Director: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 126 mins

Hamnet is the new film by Chloé Zhao, best known for her Best Picture and Best Director Oscar-winning film Nomadland. I’ve been rather mixed on her filmography – I thought Nomadland was fine but not Best Picture material, I really wasn’t a fan of The Rider and I liked Eternals, her divisive Marvel Cinematic Universe effort which I admired exactly because it upset the apple cart. Still, there’s no denying she has a distinctive style, with her Terrence Malick-like documentary aesthetics combined with themes of self-discovery and marginalised communities.

An adaptation of the 2020 novel of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet dramatises the life of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) from their courtship to how they cope with the tragic death of their 11-year-old son. The film has received quite the critical acclaim.

But I found Hamnet to be a very disappointing experience – an overlong, emotionally manipulative film that continuously and aggressively tries to get its audience to weep. Zhao’s film has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Rather than getting invested in the depressing events it depicts and really feeling for the characters, I found myself rolling my eyes on multiple occasions and on the border of sniggering during what’s supposed to be a traumatic childbirth sequence because the film grossly overeggs it.

What’s more, I don’t understand the praise Jessie Buckley is receiving for her performance – I thought she was terrible. I’ve had mixed feelings on her past performances – she fares well in films such as I’m Thinking Of Ending Things, Men and Wicked Little Letters but she was woeful in Women Talking and The Lost Daughter. To this day, I can’t believe she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for the latter with her wandering attempt at a British accent. In Hamnet, the problem is she’s simply miscast and her natural smirk does her no favours with the character’s emotional baggage. It’s unfortunate Buckley is also saddled with some rather trite dialogue.

Paul Mescal fares better, even if his Shakespeare is underdeveloped, but at least it’s a quiet performance where we’re invited to ponder how he might be feeling through his silences, emotionally distant expressions. This is a hurting character and the only way he can process the various tragedies he has experienced is by leaving his family behind and taking to developing his stage plays.

Max Richter can always be trusted to turn in a reliable score – and that’s true to an extent here. His moody music is sparsely used in the first half, but becomes more prevalent in the latter half and there’s a few excellent and memorable cues. But unfortunately, the film makes a choice to use what is perhaps his most notable work ‘On The Nature of Daylight’ in the closing scenes – and this is another factor that really hurts Hamnet. There’s no denying it’s a powerful piece, used to striking effect in works such as Shutter Island and The Last of Us – although it didn’t quite work for me in Arrival.

Richter reportedly was set to use original score for Hamnet’s ending, but apparently the inclusion of this prolific piece was suggested by Jessie Buckley. After already becoming withered and grey for the best part of an exasperating two hours in a film that’s tried and failed to get me to cry, ‘On The Nature of Daylight’s inclusion was the cherry on top of my frustrations and again, I snickered and rolled my eyes at the overcooked finale.

Elsewhere, Łukasz Żal’s (of Ida and The Zone of Interest fame) cinematography is occasionally beautiful, the highlight being how he captures the Globe Theatre, but I thought much of the film was unnecessarily dim, failing to convey the mood it’s trying to achieve.

Hamnet is ultimately a big disappointment. Its biggest problem is tone – Zhao tries to force-feed the emotion of the tragic events rather than being delicate. This is odd because the director’s style is one of delicacy and minimalism. In fact, Hamnet doesn’t really feel like a Chloé Zhao film because it’s lacking that meditative and thoughtful energy – none of her films have been emotionally manipulative or (I hate to say it) felt like Oscar bait. One of my issues with Nomadland was that it never quite managed to stick the emotional wallop it needed, but it’s the opposite problem here.

The core problems of Hamnet‘s script and tone not working then feed into the performances, and Jessie Buckley doesn’t have the chops to save it. Throw in the egregious use of ‘On The Nature of Daylight’ and scenes that evoke laughter rather than tears and it’s a recipe for disaster. At least Paul Mescal gets away with his reputation relatively unscathed. It’s saddening that Hamnet is dissatisfying on so many levels and I’m frightened at what Oscars it might get nominated for and win – it’s properly pants!

Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 133 mins

Sentimental Value is the new film by Joachim Trier and has received quite the acclaim, especially for Stellan Skarsgård’s performance. Trier reunites with Renate Reinsve, who gave the actress her breakout role in The Worst Person In The World. Reinsve plays Nora, a theatrical actress who often suffers from stage fright. Her sister, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) is a historian and married with a son. Stellan Skarsgård plays their father, film director Gustav Borg, who divorced their mother Sissel and left Norway for Sweden to focus on his film career during their childhood. As such, the relationship between Gustav and his daughters is strained.

When Sissel dies, Gustav returns to reclaim the house. His career has been on the decline and he hasn’t made a film in 15 years. He wants to film his latest movie to be shot in the family home and for Nora to play the lead, a character inspired by her grandmother, but she refuses to read the script. So Gustav replaces her with American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) and her stardom convinces Netflix to finance the project. What follows is a difficult production that brings the family closer together.

Sentimental Value is an excellent drama that maturely melds history, stardom and generational trauma with brilliant performances across the board. Trier skilfully builds the relationship between Gustav and his daughters to the point where we know what the characters think just by their facial expressions and body language, rather than by what isn’t said. This is a film about what it means to be an artist and how one can express themselves and find meaning with the parallels in their lives, while also untangling the building trauma the characters have experienced in their past. I also loved the smart smatterings of film industry criticism, such as how Netflix tends to limit theatrical releases and how Gustav looks to reunite with his preferred cinematographer.

Skarsgård is excellent and deserving of the critical acclaim he’s received as the director getting back in the saddle. He sensitively conveys his need of another hit but I also fully bought him as someone who wants to fix the familial cracks in the process, even if he clearly lacks the emotional intelligence.

But it’s Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas who are Sentimental Value‘s standouts and some of the best acting I’ve seen this year. Their characters are particularly authentic as close siblings, with both deftly portraying the cracks and ripples their tainted childhood has had on them. But the sisters are both very different from each other – Reinsve’s Nora is impulsive and vulnerable, whereas Lilleaas’s Agnes is more maternal and level-headed.

Elle Fanning is also excellent as the American actress, a figure who takes their body of work very seriously and I found her respectful process of how to really get under a character’s skin fascinating. In some ways, Fanning’s performance is the very antithesis of Natalie Portman’s brilliant turn in May December, another film about an actress who studies her subject.

The film’s technically brilliant too, lusciously shot by Riders of Justice cinematographer Kasper Tuxen who balances the almost documentary-like feel of some of the everyday life and filming scenes with several surreal and dream-like sequences. He knows when to hold onto a shot for maximum effect and there’s an interesting colour palette throughout. The film’s also complemented by a thoughtful score by Hania Rani, which never feels emotionally manipulative.

For the most part, I loved Sentimental Value – this is a very mature piece, especially from a director who is still in his prime. Like the subject matter it explores, it feels like a film a director would make at the end of their career and I can’t wait to see what Trier does next. The performances are some of the best I’ve seen all year and the film has plenty of staying power with its thoughtful themes – if anything, there might be a bit too much in this respect because certain ideas and strands aren’t as developed as others – but even still, this is a very impressive piece of work.

Director: Tom Gormican
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Steve Zahn, Thandiwe Newton, Daniela Melchior, Selton Mello
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 99 mins

Anaconda is an action comedy meta reboot of the 1997 film starring Paul Rudd and Jack Black as Ronald and Doug, two childhood filmmaker friends who try to remake the original monster horror. The duo have fallen on hard times in recent years, with Ronald an extra who craves a leading role and Doug a wedding videographer who kids himself as having a “B, maybe B+” career. When Ronald claims to have secured the rights to remake Anaconda, he convinces Doug and friends Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton) to travel to the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil to realise their dreams. The film’s directed by Tom Gormican, who made the similarly self-aware The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent starring Nicolas Cage as a fictionalized version of himself, which I found very muddled.

While this meta reboot of Anaconda has an excellent concept that could have freshly reinvigorated the series, it’s sadly a big disappointment. It’s not terrible – I laughed twice and snickered three or four times, but it’s nowhere near as good as it should be considering the talent involved. The script by Gormican and Kevin Etten is terrible, and while Rudd and Black (particularly the latter) deliver energetic performances, there’s no getting past the poor writing.

The film struggles to settle on a tone and isn’t funny, playful or scary enough. There’s no getting away from the fact the original Anaconda is an incredibly cheesy film, but the idea of having a self-aware meta-sequel is interesting because it could have playfully mocked it while offering thematic depth and terrifying thrills. Instead, what we’ve got is a film with long stretches between laughs, and it fails on the horror front too. The watered-down 12A rating is a mistake – the film would have really benefited catering to a more adult audience where you’d get some gruesome kills and raunchier jokes. The dreadful visual effects also really hinder the film’s verisimilitude and are frankly unforgivable in 2025.

While Jack Black is undoubtedly the highlight, Paul Rudd struggles with a poorly written character despite putting his all in. Thandiwe Newton’s Claire has zero substance and Steve Zahn has to resort to drug or toilet humour, which is a shame considering how talented an actor he is. The Suicide Squad‘s Daniela Melchior is completely wasted as Ana, a woman who claims to be going after illegal gold miners in a needless subplot and while it’s nice to see Selton Mello after his outstanding turn in I’m Still Here, he too is wasted as a poorly written snake handler.

It’s a real shame Anaconda isn’t the slam-dunk it could have been, considering the excellent concept and star-studded cast. While the result isn’t offensively bad, it’s nowhere near the standard it should be and the chief culprit is the shonky script that misjudges what the film’s tone should be. Anaconda could have been excellent if it had first-rate jokes while embracing the horror of such a deadly creature, but what we’ve got is a watered down, underpar and overly cynical, corporate-feeling film that’s designed for a mass audience.

Director: Josh Safdie
Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 150 mins

Marty Supreme is Josh Safdie’s first film as a solo director since 2008, after his many collaborations with his brother Benny. This sports drama is loosely inspired by the life and career of American table tennis player Marty Reisman, and stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, an aspiring and ambitious table tennis champion. It’s a film Safdie has been wanting to make for a while, with Chalamet cast all the way back in 2018, the actor practicing the sport ever since. It’s also interesting that like his brother, Josh Safdie has also made a sports drama since the duo announced they would be pursuing solo careers. Benny Safdie recently directed The Smashing Machine, which received a fairly muted reception but I really liked it for its exceptional Dwayne Johnson performance, fascinating character development and focus on defying typical biopic conventions.

Marty Supreme is a brilliant sports drama with a terrific Timothée Chalamet central performance and tension-filled atmosphere. It reminded me heavily of Uncut Gems, the last film the Safdies directed together, in how it sustains a palpable tension throughout with Marty continually digging himself into more desperate situations. That Josh Safdie has been able to make such a gripping film out of what may seem like a low-stakes sport is a commendable achievement.

Timothée Chalamet is endlessly charismatic as the ambitious table tennis star and it’s impressive how much we care for someone who is a fairly unlikeable individual. He’s fiercely sharp and crass, doing anything to attract attention and make a name for himself to carve out a career. This is very much Chalamet’s film, with the rest of the cast in fairly small roles, and he’s fully deserving of what I suspect will be a lot of upcoming Awards attention. The film’s paced brilliantly and the 150 minutes fly by, although it takes 20 minutes or so for the film to really grip you under its spell.

Odessa A’zion is another highlight as Rachel Mizler, an equally scuzzy character who Marty has an affair with and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary is brilliant as the slimy Milton Rockwell, an influential figure who takes a financial interest in table tennis through Marty. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Rockwell’s retired actress wife, Kay, and while she’s perfectly serviceable, her performance is quite muted. There’s also strong turns from Tyler, the Creator (yes, really!) as a taxi driver and filmmaker Abel Ferrara as a criminal Marty dangerously crosses paths with.

The film is stunningly shot by Darius Khondji, with a seedy aesthetic that faithfully recreates a 1950s feel and there’s a pulsating score by Daniel Lopatin that dominates over the entire film – Khondji and Lopatin both previously worked on Uncut Gems too. I expect both will receive Oscar nominations for their work here, and both would be very deserving.

I had an absolute blast with Marty Supreme, which gripped me throughout and this firmly cements Josh Safdie as a top-tier solo director. It’s a wild thrill ride from start to finish that never lets you take a breather and it’s wince-inducing how characters dig themselves into more desperate situations, but impressive in how you root for a host of unlikeable characters. I can’t wait to rewatch it and this is a film that’s begging to be seen on as big and loud a screen as possible.

Director: Jafar Panahi
Starring: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr, Deelnam Najafi, Afssaneh Najmabadi
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 104 mins

It Was Just An Accident is the 2025 Palme d’Or winner by Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker who made the film without official permission from the Iranian authorities after repeatedly criticising their regime in his works and imprisoned several times. The film opens as a man with a prosthetic leg drives his car at night with his wife and daughter. After he accidentally hits and kills a dog, he visits a garage where the mechanic Vahid recognises him from the squeaky sound his prosthetic leg makes as he walks. Vahid kidnaps him, but has final hour doubts when he prepares to bury him alive because he isn’t 100% sure he has the right man. So, Vahid sets about rounding up a group of former Iranian political prisoners to confirm his identity, and there’s fierce debate among them whether it’s right they should take their revenge on the man.

This is a gripping thriller with a bluntly political edge that asks the question – is it morally right to take your revenge on your torturer not just for your own satisfaction but for the greater good of the many others who suffered? For the first half-an-hour where we spend time with the suspected jailer as he tries to get his car fixed, you’re not really sure where the film is going – and there’s a real thrill when Vahid kidnaps him because it comes out of the blue. All of the characters are brilliantly developed and although a totally different setting and story, this film reminded me of Anora in how Vahid is constantly pushed from pillar to post. There’s something almost comical in the lengths the characters need to go to make progress in their revenge quest, even if the reason why they were original imprisoned and tortured is unspeakably bad. Some of the highlights include paying for a bribe via a contactless card reader or having to buy a box of pastries to accompany some cash. Panahi’s script is razor sharp too, with unpredictable hothead Hamid (Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr) getting some brilliant lines and offering multiple perspectives on the situation.

But although Panahi’s film reaches a satisfying conclusion, it’s the last act of the film that doesn’t quite sustain the pace of the first two – I found the film far more profound in its earlier sections. Still, It Was Just An Accident is a thought-provoking and thrilling piece by the courageous filmmaker and is well worth checking out.

Director: Jared Bush & Byron Howard
Starring: (voices of) Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Shakira, Idris Elba, Patrick Warburton, Quinta Brunson, Danny Trejo, Alan Tudyk, Nate Torrence, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt, Jenny Slate
Certificate: PG
Run Time: 108 mins

Zootopia 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the excellent 2016 original, which was not only one of my best films of that year but one of Walt Disney Animation Studio’s very best works. Zootopia did a roaring trade at the box office, earning the animation powerhouse over a billion dollars, and the film really worked because it appealed to both children and adults alike, loaded with jokes that would go over younger viewers heads. Disney have carefully taken their time with this sequel, which arrives nine years later and it’s once again directed by Byron Howard – but alongside Jared Bush this time rather than Rich Moore, who left Disney in 2019 for Skydance Animation.

This sequel picks up a week later after the events of the original, with buddy cop duo Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) on the trail of a reptile after finding a piece of shed snake skin during a smuggling ring raid – no snakes have been seen in the city for years. Things pick up the pace when the duo are framed for a crime they didn’t commit and they have to go on the run.

Zootopia 2 is a real treat and takes everything there is to love about the original and develops it in a very satisfying way. The gags come quick and fast and there are so many small, clever details to find in repeat viewings, but this is balanced with plenty of heart and emotion too. Howard and Bush perfectly balance familiar elements that were the highlights of the original film, with new characters, gags and locations. There’s some fantastic set pieces, ranging from a kinetic opening car chase to a powerfully emotional sequence in a power plant. The film’s also intelligently relevant to current times, such as its depiction of a puppet-like mayor (a stallion hilariously voiced by Patrick Warburton) and the unjust persecution of minority races.

The chemistry between Nick and Judy is brilliant once again, from lots of laughs to be had in them being forced into a therapy session to their relationship being tested time and time again through events with real stakes. There’s some excellent additions to the cast, with Ke Huy Quan a highlight as Gary De’Snake, Patrick Warburton as the aforementioned Mayor and Danny Trejo as a basilisk. It’s all held together by an excellent score by Michael Giacchino, who introduces some memorable new themes.

Zootopia 2 is a brilliant sequel, taking the elements that made Zootopia so memorable and elevating them – after two viewings, I think it’s even better than the original. I can’t wait to see where the world and characters are taken next, and not only is it one of the best films of the year, Zootopia 2 is one of the best animated films of the decade, along with Soul and Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 144 mins

Wake Up Dead Man is the latest in Rian Johnson’s prosperous Knives Out series centred around Daniel Craig’s Southern private detective Benoit Blanc. While the first two films are undeniably original and full of the auteur director’s style, I wasn’t hot on either of them – the first film ran out of steam in the second half and I found Glass Onion‘s tone too boisterous. This third outing is set in a rural parish in upstate New York, and follows Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a former boxer turned Catholic priest who gets reassigned after punching a deacon. Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) is the charismatic and domineering priest at the parish, and Duplenticy comes into conflict with him straightaway. Wicks has a loyal following of similarly toxic characters in the town, including Glenn Close’s devout right-hand woman, Kerry Washington’s long-suffering lawyer, Andrew Scott’s washed-up author and Jeremy Renner’s alcoholic doctor. But when there’s a murder mid-way through a church ceremony, Benoit Blanc’s services are enlisted.

Wake Up Dead Man is gripping for the vast majority of its run time and I liked that Rian Johnson reins in the comedy somewhat this time round, opting for a darker, gothic and Agatha Christie inspired tale. As you’d expect, there’s another rogues gallery of despicable characters, aptly played by a star-studded cast, although it’s a shame some of the characters are underdeveloped. It’s also a shame I was able to predict a large portion of the ending, and of all three films, the climax is sadly quite underwhelming. Still, there’s lots of positive points.

Daniel Craig gives the best performance of the trilogy, more serious and long-haired this time round. He takes a relative back seat compared to Josh O’Connor’s priest, who’s also great and very likeable as a priest many would appreciate to call their own. Like his recent performance in The Running Man, Josh Brolin really chews the scenery as Monsignor Wicks and it’s nice to see Jeremy Renner in a film again after his awful snowplow incident in 2023.

Wake Up Dead Man is also undeniably the best-looking film out of the three, with Steve Yedlin beautifully lighting and framing the church setting – it’s a sumptuous film to look at. And even though Rian Johnson has a tendency to overindulge, there are many moments of wit in his sharp script.

Some of the cast aren’t fully utilised – Glenn Close isn’t given a great deal to do as Wicks’ right-hand church lady, Andrew Scott has a slipping American accent as a former best-selling author who’s also underdeveloped and although both Thomas Haden Church and Jeffrey Wright do the best with what they’ve got, they both have minor roles.

Even though Wake Up Dead Man is yet another film in the series that doesn’t make the most of its potential, it’s the one I enjoyed the most until the underwhelming finale. There’s lots of good work here, from some of the performances to the more intimate and darker cine-literate setting. It’s just a shame the character development isn’t as assured this time around and a great story deserves a thrilling conclusion, which Johnson doesn’t quite deliver.

Director: Osgood Perkins
Starring: Tatiana Maslany, Rossif Sutherland, Birkett Turton, Eden Weiss
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 99 mins

Keeper is the second of two Osgood Perkins films this year, who reached new career heights with the excellent Longlegs last year. His first film this year was The Monkey, a horror comedy adaption of the Stephen King 1980 short story which was also hugely enjoyable with some brilliant set-pieces and striking imagery. A folk horror, Keeper couldn’t be any different from The Monkey. Tatiana Maslany plays Liz, who heads on a weekend trip to a secluded countryside cabin with her boyfriend Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland) to celebrate their one-year anniversary. However, Liz soon starts to become haunted by strange visions.

Keeper is unfortunately a big disappointment and while it’s reasonably well-directed, its problems stem from a conceptual level. This feels far closer to Perkins’ earlier work, such as I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House and Gretel & Hansel in its tone and the script by Nick Lepard (only the second film of Perkins that he hasn’t written) is overly expository. This makes the film languorous, even more so because I predicted the ending of the film as the opening scene transitioned into the title card and got it mostly right. There are also problems with geography and continuity – a character walks into a house and then disappears, for example.

While Tatiana Maslany does her best with the flawed script, I didn’t really sympathise with her character and I certainly never brought her relationship with Malcolm, with Rossif Sutherland totally miscast – the two share zero chemistry. Birkett Turton plays Darren, Malcolm’s obnoxious cousin who turns up uninvited on the first evening during the couple’s dinner, and is just insufferable – but I suppose his performance satisfies the brief.

The whole film hinges on its final set-piece and while there’s some interesting imagery, it’s not enough and certainly not worth the 80-minute trudge to get to that point. And although Perkins has proven himself multiple times in the horror genre, Keeper completely lacks tension and isn’t scary, save for one jump scare.

It’s a shame Keeper doesn’t continue Osgood Perkins’s horror genre momentum. This is a largely uninteresting and tired tale that doesn’t really have any surprises up its sleeve with uninvolving characters. The problem is the concept – this cabin-in-the-woods horror doesn’t have the brain or legs to sustain the 99 minute run time and it shouldn’t have been greenlit.