First Glance: “The Secrets We Keep”

SECRETS

Things get a little dark in the upcoming thriller “The Secrets We Keep” from Israeli director Yuval Adler. Set in New York shortly after World War II, the film (from a screenplay by Adler and Ryan Covington) takes an intense look at revenge, absolution, and coping with enormous trauma. Speaking to the film’s subject matter, star Noomi Rapace told Entertainment Weekly that it left her and co-star Joel Kinnaman “emotional trainwrecks“. I’m instantly intrigued.

In the film Rapace plays a Holocaust survivor named Maja who is still trying to put her life back together some 15 years after the war. A chance encounter with a man played by Kinnaman brings back a flood of emotion flashbacks. Maja is convinced this mysterious man was her leading tormentor during the Nazi occupation. Maja takes matters into her own hands, abducting the man and intent on getting his confession of guilt by any means necessary. The always good Chris Messina plays her husband, torn between supporting his wife and doing what’s lawful. This looks really good.

“The Secrets We Keep” comes out in theaters September 16th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

First Glance: “A Call to Spy”

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The upcoming movie “A Call to Spy” looks to be a fascinating historical drama from a uniquely female perspective. It’s directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher with Sarah Megan Thomas writing, producing, and starring. This World War II espionage thriller dropped its first trailer over the weekend and it appears to have a powerful and timely story to tell.

Early into the war a desperate Winston Churchill organized a new task force to recruit and train women as spies for a fledgling resistance. The film follows a group of recruits, each with their own unique strengths, as they prepare and carry out missions against Nazi occupiers. It also stars Stana Katic and Radhika Apte. The period design looks sharp and the story looks to have some real meat on its bones.

“A Call to Spy” opens October 2nd in select theaters and On Demand. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

First Glance: “Honest Thief”

THIEF

Liam Neeson has been busy. After already flexing his dramatic muscles in two earlier 2020 dramas (“Ordinary Love” and “Made in Italy”), Neeson gets back in crowdpleasing mode with his upcoming banger “Honest Thief”. And judging by the new trailer, the film has all the markings of a Neeson action-thriller right down to the signature gravelly-voiced one-liner “I’m comin’ for you.” Sound familiar?

Neeson plays a highly-skilled bank robber who the authorities have never managed to snag. But he turns over a new leaf once he meets and falls for Annie (Kate Walsh). Hungry for clean living, he prepares to surrender the money to police in exchange for a immunity. Two crooked cops and a shot federal agent later, Neeson finds himself framed for murder with two money-hungry detectives on his tail. I’m in.

“Honest Thief” opens October 9th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

First Glance: “Centigrade”

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Calling director Brendan Walsh’s new film “claustrophobic” may be the understatement of the year. “Centigrade” is a film built on a suffocating premise. And as far as these types of tightly confined movies go, it’s a ‘based on a true story’ thriller that shows a lot of promise.

The film follows husband and wife Matt and Naomi (played by Vincent Piazza and Genesis Rodriguez). We don’t really know the cause, but the two of them find themselves stranded in a stalled car that’s buried under ice and snow. With both food and patience running out, the couple are pushed to the very edge in their attempts at surviving. Oh, and there are a couple of other interesting details in the new trailer I’ll let you discover for yourself.

“Centigrade” premieres in select theaters and on VOD August 28th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

 

First Glance: “Sputnik”

SPUTNIK

Science-fiction, horror, suspense all rolled into one terrific looking movie. That’s my first impression of the new Russian thriller “Sputnik” from director Egor Abramenko. It was originally slated to debut at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival before joining the slew of other films pushed back due to the coronavirus. But thanks to IFC Midnight “Sputnik” is set to premiere in just a few weeks.

The first trailer looks like an intriguing mixture of “Aliens” and “The X-Files” set in the Soviet Union, 1983. A young scientist (Oksana Akinshina) is recruited by a top-secret military facility to study a mysterious parasite found in one of their cosmonauts (Pyotr Fedorov). Obviously that doesn’t turn out well at all. The trailer does a great job setting up the tone and atmosphere of what could be a chilling sci-fi treat.

“Sputnik” is set to premiere August 14th in select theaters and on VOD. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

First Glance: “Project Power”

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Streaming giant Netflix is taking a pinch of action, a dash of science-fiction, and a sprinkle of superhero flavoring and mixing it all together in their new Original film “Project Power”. It comes from the directing duo of Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost and stars the interesting pair of Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Perhaps most intriguing is screenwriter Mattson Tomlin who is co-writer of the much anticipated Matt Reeves film “The Batman”.

The first trailer hints at a pretty wild story. Apparently a pill has been created that imbues whoever takes it with his or her own unique superpower. “You never know what your power is until you try it.” The catch is it only lasts five minutes meaning people are always wanting more. Of course there are some ugly side effects and of course dealers look to get rich off of abusers. Enter Foxx and Gordon-Levitt each playing characters with their own particular motivations.

“Project Power” premieres August 14th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.