REVIEW: “The Drama” (2026)

April 14, 2026 by Keith Garlington

Sitting down and watching a movie that you know nothing about can certainly have its advantages. I know several people who go out of their way to avoid trailers and TV spots just because they prefer to go into a movie blind. That’s essentially what I did with “The Drama”. I knew some of the basics, but mostly I had no idea what to expect. As a result, I think the film played better for me than it would have otherwise.

I say that because it’s not hard to figure out where this combustible relationship drama is heading. But it’s the character work, rooted in writer-director Kristoffer Borgli’s screenplay and in the nuanced performances of co-leads Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, that gives “The Drama” a compelling psychological edge. Not everything ends as organically as it begins. But it works thanks to Borgli’s serious approach to storytelling and his willingness to let things get messy.

Charlie Thompson (Pattinson) is a museum curator. Emma Harwood (Zendaya) is a bookstore clerk. The two meet in a Boston café and quickly hit it off. A short time later they are engaged to be married. But one seemingly harmless game with friends threatens to derail what looks to be a beautiful relationship. From there the majority of the “The Drama” plays out over the course of the turbulent week before their scheduled wedding.

The turning point for Charlie and Emma comes during a late-night dinner with their best friends, Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie). After a few too many drinks, the four play a game where each share the worst secrets from their pasts. I won’t spoil what Emma’s confession is, but it troubles to entire group to the point of driving a wedge between them. Rachel and Mike go as far telling Charlie he should leave Emma. But he’s unsure of what to do. And soon his fiancée’s secret becomes a destructive obsession that Charlie can’t shake.

Borgli uses his scenario to make a number of interesting observations about relationships. The essential nature of trust, the limits of forgiveness, the need of acceptance – they all come more into focus as Charlie and Emma try to hold things together. They put on the best show they can as they meet with their wedding photographer, dance coordinator, DJ, florist, and so on. But back home, it’s another story. Emma regrets ever saying anything and desperately wants to forget about it. But the increasingly paranoid Charlie’s fixation has him constantly bringing it up.

As everything spirals, we repeatedly hear the word “empathy” spoken yet it becomes clear that neither Charlie, Rachel, or Mike have any. Instead all three are quick to cast their own harsh internal judgments about Emma which they can only hide for so long. Meanwhile Emma keeps certain details bottled up which adds to the pressure. It all leads to several volatile face-to-face reckonings which steadily intensifies the drama (no pun intended). It makes for a compelling, provocative, and morally complex anti-romance.

“The Drama” does have its issues. We end up getting a series of cliché-riddled flashbacks to Emma’s high school years that simply don’t work as intended. This is also one of those movies where it feels as if everything could have been averted with just one open and productive conversation. Still, it’s hard not to lose yourself in the messiness of Emma and Charlie’s crumbling relationship. That’s because Borgli views it through an honest and incisive lens while the formidable performances from Zendaya and Pattinson is the glue that holds it all together.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

REVIEW: “They Will Kill You” (2026)

April 13, 2026 by Keith Garlington

Director Kirill Sokolov pulls from a wild assortment of influences to craft his new film “They Will Kill You”. It’s a genre fever dream, custom made for the midnight movie crowd, that is equal parts action, horror, and comedy. It’s a fast-moving and hyper-stylized extravaganza of blood and guts, with the kind of cinematic gusto to keep its audience onboard, even as the grindhouse glee starts to wear off.

There is very little in “They Will Kill You” that we haven’t seen before. And that feels strange to say considering how bonkers things get. Sokolov and his co-writer Alex Litvak throw together enough lore to get by, most of which bears a strong resemblance to the “Ready or Not” films. It too has a tough-as-nails female protagonist, a confined single location setting, rich and entitled elites, and a deranged satanic cult.

**Image Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures**

The difference with “They Will Kill You” is in how gonzo it’s willing to go. Sokolov takes some absurdly wild turns and it ends up working in the movie’s favor. So much so that it becomes easy to look past the familiar premise because you’re having so much fun amid the genre-blending chaos. And it doesn’t hurt having Zazie Beetz, whose physically demanding, go-for-broke performance impresses from the very first moment she appears on screen.

Beetz plays Asia Reeves, an ex-convict who arrives in New York City in search of her younger sister, Maria (Myha’la). Ten years earlier, Asia was arrested and sent to prison for shooting their brutish father who routinely abused Maria. Now she’s out and has tracked her sister to a towering co-op building in Manhattan called The Virgil. Posing as the new maid, Asia is greeted by the building’s superintendent, Lilith Woodhouse (Patricia Arquette) who immediately shows our hero to her room.

We learn that The Virgil was built in 1923 and is occupied by a number of pampered elites and a large staff of servants. The creepy building also has a dark supernatural history – something Asia becomes acquainted with after a group of robed intruders slip into her room late at night while she’s sleeping. But to their surprise, Asia is no damsel in distress. And as they try to apprehend her, she furiously fights back with fantastically gory results.

From there movie barrels forward, bouncing us from one blood-bathed action sequence to another. The story introduces a bumbling devil-worshipping cult consisting of “an unusual family with rather unusual needs”. But they mostly exist for the occasional laugh and as fodder for the force of nature that is Asia. And honestly, that’s perfectly fine considering the action is the film’s bread and butter. And it is ferocious, frequently tipping its hat to “Kill Bill”, “John Wick”, “Evil Dead”, and more.

The supporting cast is a lot of fun, most notably the comically sinister Arquette and a hysterically gonzo Heather Graham. But this is Zazie Beetz’s show, and she pours every ounce of herself into her performance. She’s not only fiercely charismatic, but also genuinely menacing in large part due to the intense physicality she brings to the role. She adeptly sells every vicious slash, every plunging stab, and every double-barreled blast.

“They Will Kill You” does pepper in a few themes dealing with race and class disparity. But as with most of its story, it never goes deep enough to matter. And though it tries, the movie never lands the second-half emotional punch it’s going for. About the only narrative beat that stands out is the deliciously off-the-rails ending which embraces absurdity in ways you won’t see coming. It fits nicely with the breakneck, gore-fueled action that makes this entertaining romp worth seeing.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

First Glance: “Mutiny”

April 11, 2026 by Keith Garlington

Like clockwork, you can count on getting a new Jason Statham movie every year. And while many of them follow the same basic blueprint, they usually all feature the same ingredients that fans of the 58-year-old action star crave. That’s certainly the case for Statham’s latest action thriller “Mutiny”. This time he teams up with director Jean-François Richet for what looks to be another bullet-flying, bone-cracking good time.

For many, the story of “Mutiny” will ring strikingly familiar. Statham plays another former Special Forces soldier keeping a low profile after being framed for a crime he didn’t commit. While working private security on a cargo freighter, he discovers a human trafficking operation with powerful military connections. Like any good hero he fights back, using everything he has at his disposal. The first trailer lays out the fairly by-the-book story. But it’s the kinetic action sequences and Statham’s steely charisma that make this a film to see.

“Mutiny” swings its way into theaters on August 21st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Thrash” (2026)

April 10, 2026 by Keith Garlington

An old-fashioned disaster movie meets sharksploitation in Netflix’s “Thrash”, an insanely silly and at times bafflingly bad survival thriller that still makes for decent throwaway entertainment despite its litany of shortcomings. But while there is a definitely a little fun to be had with it, you can’t help but feel that “Thrash” could have and should have been a lot more bonkers than it ends up being.

“Thrash” is written and directed by Tommy Wirkola. The Norwegian filmmaker has some noteworthy directing credits on his resume including 2009”s “Dead Snow”, 2021’s “The Trip”, and most recently 2022’s “Violent Night”. While all three are solid films, none of them set an especially high bar, which makes it even more disappointing when “Thrash” fails to reach it. Instead, Wirkola’s latest feels like a rushed patchwork of ideas, sewn together with only a few bare threads of story.

As a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane barrels towards the small Atlantic coastal town of Annieville, South Carolina, a select group of locals, who (for various reasons) didn’t heed the evacuation warnings, find themselves in perilous situations. The fast-moving Hurricane Henry makes landfall with surprisingly little visual fanfare. Instead the real danger hits when the ocean levees break and the storm surge sends flood waters rushing into town.

Among the residents fighting for survival is Lisa Fields (Phoebe Dynevor), a pregnant woman from New York trapped in her car after not making it out of town in time. There’s Dakota (Whitney Peak), an agoraphobic young woman stuck on the top floor of her flooded home. There’s a trio of siblings left alone thanks to their abusive and brainless redneck foster parents. And there is Dakota’s uncle, Dr. Dale Edwards (Djimon Hounsou), a marine researcher rushing to Annieville to rescue his niece.

But the thinly-sketched survivors quickly discover they have more to fear than the rising flood waters. Far more deadly is the shiver of blood-craving bull sharks that enter town with the ocean surge. They add a preposterous yet admittedly entertaining twist that Wirkola has a lot of fun with. But here’s the thing – the sharks turn out to be more interesting and at times noticeably smarter than the vast majority of the human characters.

Most of the film’s problems seep from the script which puts these people in dangerous situations as a result of their own dimwitted choices. It would be one thing if this played like a straight comedy. But while there are moments of humor, most of the story is told with a straight face which doesn’t do the characters any favors. It also doesn’t help that they are handed the kind of ludicrous dialogue that no level of talent can make sound good.

“Thrash” is a movie that finds itself stuck in-between the better films it could have been. It’s a case of not fully committing to any particular vision. So it ends up all over the place, fumbling through its attempts at being thrilling, scary, and/or funny. To its credit, there are some impressive uses of both practical and digital effects which Wirkola really leans into during specific scenes. But the movie desperately needs more – namely more gonzo chaos, the slightest bit of coherence, and characters that we can at least care about.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

REVIEW: “Preschool” (2026)

April 9, 2026 by Keith Garlington

Josh Duhamel directs, produces and stars in the light, breezy and mostly family-friendly comedy, “Preschool”. It’s a silly yet oddly endearing movie that gets most of its mileage out of a game cast whose charm and conviction keep things afloat. At times it threatens to push the antics too far. But Duhamel the director keeps things wrangled together, delivering a big-hearted crowd-pleaser anchored by a fun ensemble.

Penned by screenwriter Richard D’Ovidio, “Preschool” is a pretty basic brew, flavored with some fairly familiar ingredients. Two men fly off their rockers in a childish rivalry while their level-headed and far more mature wives endure their husbands’ nonsense, becoming good friends in the process. The ‘dumb guys tolerated by smarter women‘ bit is nothing especially new. But there’s enough humor and heart here to make the blemishes easier to overlook.

The story revolves around two couples vying for one spot at a prestigious (and notably pretentious) London preschool. Brian Young (Michael Socha) grew up with nothing and had to work extra hard to build the adequate life he shares with his wife Sarah (Antonia Thomas). Since their son Dylan was born, Brian has obsessively spent four years prepping the child for a life he never had. And it begins with getting him into the distinguished preschool program at Puggsley Academy of Excellence.

Unfortunately for Brian, there is another finalist for the last vacancy at Puggsley. It is Grace, the daughter of the ridiculously rich Alan and Lauren Williams (Duhamel and Charity Wakefield). Alan is an aspiring restaurateur who proudly carries himself as a pampered elite. In reality, his wealth came on the back of wife who inherited their fortune from her family. But that doesn’t stop Alan from feeling his daughter is entitled to the last spot at Puggsley.

The two couples meet during an introductory tour at the Academy. The wives hit it off while their husbands immediately begin jockeying for the favor of the school’s Dean (Fenella Woolgar). Afterwards, as a friendly gesture, Lauren invites the Youngs to their house for dinner, much to Alan’s chagrin. Brian agrees to go, but only as a chance to scope out his son’s competition. Instead of breaking the ice, the evening only fuels the friction between the two dads.

Like their wives, we quickly begin to recognize that Brian and Alan are surprising similar despite their dramatically different backgrounds. Both are driven yet hardheaded. And both seriously lack self-confidence, to the point of trying to prove themselves through their children. And that leads to a comical mano-a-mano game of one-upmanship which gets more outrageous as their rivalry intensifies. Bribery, deception, sabotage – nearly everything is on the table.

While “Preschool” serves up several good laughs, not all of the humor works as intended. For example, there’s a woefully unfunny bit involving a children’s television group called “The Wild & Crazies”, who dress as jungle animals and sing songs about flatulence. Thankfully that’s just a small slice of an otherwise enjoyable family comedy that is sure to entertain and surprise a lot of people. “Preschool” is now available on VOD.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

REVIEW: “Faces of Death” (2026)

April 8, 2026 by Keith Garlington

I still remember the wild controversy surrounding John Alan Schwartz’s mondo horror film “Faces of Death”. The movie first released in theaters in late 1978, and due to its intensely graphic content, the movie was censored or outright banned in multiple countries. Yet it was a success at the box office where it gained a notable cult following. But for many, the disturbingly gruesome feature earned more attention following its VHS home video release in 1983. It became quite the topic of conversation between those able to rent it from their local video store.

Now director Daniel Goldhaber is bringing back “Faces of Death” but in his own unique way. Where the original version played as an unsettling shockumentary, Goldhaber’s is a more straightforward narrative film that references the 1978 movie rather than remakes it. The results are surprisingly intriguing and at times fittingly unnerving. That is until everything threatens to crumble in a wobbly final act where absurdity undermines the big finish the film is going for.

Thematically, “Faces of Death” 2026 deserves credit for taking a scalpel to our current TikTok culture. It’s not the most incisive examination, but it does poke at the addictive nature of social media and our numbing consciences towards extreme content. Barbie Ferreira plays Margot, a struggling young woman who has mostly isolated herself following the traumatic death of her sister which was captured live in a now infamous viral video.

Margot works as a content moderator for a TikTok-esque video platform called Kino. She spends her entire work days viewing submitted videos and flagging explicit content with warnings or for removal. Her job is to view, approve or flag, and then move to the next submission. But she’s deeply shaken after seeing a video of what looks like a real-life beheading. A man’s voice calmly narrates the grisly ritual with startling detail. Later she comes across a chilling video of an electric chair execution from the very same account.

Margot shares her concerns with her friend and boss Josh (Jermaine Fowler) who tells her to let it go. Instead, the obsessed Margot breaks company rules and starts investigating the account after hours, coming to the conclusion that the content creator is recreating the deaths from the controversial 1978 film “Faces of Death”. The trail she follows takes her into the path of a deranged serial killer named Arthur (Dacre Montgomery). Their battling obsessions leads to an inevitable face-to-face with blood-drenched consequences.

It’s a solid setup with several disturbing reveals that should appeal to the genre faithful. And while the climax is predictable, it’s built up with a palpable sense of dread. Unfortunately logic flies out the window in the final 20 minutes or so. It begins with Margot seeking help from two of the most inept cops ever put on a screen. An equally incompetent doctor follows. And then Margot herself goes braindead in ways that are just too ridiculous to look past.

Thankfully its final act flub-up doesn’t totally derail “Faces of Death”. But it’s enough of a hindrance to keep a potentially audacious chiller from leaving the impression it’s clearly going for. Instead it limps towards a finish that could have been effective if the final leg of the story wasn’t so absurd. Still, there are things to admire in this unique horror movie swing that tips its hat to the 1978 cult classic instead of remaking or reimagining it. If only Goldhaber could have seen all of his ideas through to the end.