One of big treats of the 2026 El Dorado Film Festival was the screening of writer-director Lilian T. Mehrel’s “Honeyjoon”. This is an emotionally rich, life-affirming dramedy that had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. Now as it continues to make its way along the festival circuit, more people are getting to experience this impressive feature debut from a filmmaker with a number of compelling interests on her mind.

Set and filmed in the gorgeous Azores islands off the coast of Portugal, “Honeyjoon” tells a mother and daughter story that has its own unique flavor. It’s a story with deep-rooted humanity that is conveyed in a variety of ways. It’s mostly seen through the two fully defined lead characters. Their individual experiences, their emotional complexities, their vastly different philosophies – it all fuels the heartfelt drama while setting the table for some smart and often unexpected humor.

The sensual June (Ayden Mayeri) and her more modest mother Lela (Amira Casar) travel to the Azores islands for the one-year anniversary of their husband and father’s death. Years earlier he had visited the islands and he had hoped to one day take his family. But he was diagnosed with cancer and died before he had the opportunity. So June and Lela make the trip themselves as a way of honoring his memory.

But the mother and daughter are at two dramatically different points in their lives. They have sharply contrasting views on how to grieve, how to move forward, and how skimpy June’s wardrobe should be. That last bit feeds one the film’s best running jokes, but it also adds some clarity to their clashing perspectives. To her credit, Mehrel doesn’t judge either of them. She simply explores what has shaped their points of view.

June and Lela arrive at there hotel to find themselves surrounded by honeymooners. To get away from all the intimacy, they book a private island tour that’s guided by a hunky surfer named João (José Condessa). The aggressively flirty June tries to get João’s attention. But he seems much more interested in philosophical conversations with Lela. Ultimately their time with João opens their eyes, allowing them to see each other in a new light.

Things start to come unglued in the final act as Mehrel dilutes the film’s theme of moving forward by linking it with sexual pleasure. It leads to a strange and unwieldy turn that probably looked better on paper than it turned out on screen. But Mehrel gets things back on track with a moving final sequence that really speaks to what “Honeyjoon” is all about.

With “Honeyjoon”, Lilian Mehrel balances a wealth of themes through her intimate and grounded mother-daughter story. It’s a funny and affecting drama that would never work without the sparkling chemistry between Mayeri and Casar. Her film is also a visual feast, from the breathtaking scenery to the impressive camera choices (crisp digital, an iPhone, and best of all, vintage Super 8). It all makes for a strong first feature and it will be exciting to see what Mehrel does next.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

When not playing a key role in the box office shattering Avatar film series, Stephen Lang is still making a variety of modest independent movies. His latest is “Hellfire”, a small town action thriller that tells a familiar story in a familiar setting about familiar characters facing a familiar dilemma. But Lang makes anything watchable. And supporting turns from Harvey Keitel and Dolph Lundgren add to the fun.

Set in 1988, the residents in the small one-horse town of Rondo, Texas live in the iron grip of a local crime boss and drug runner named Jeremiah Whitfield (Keitel). Whitfield owns most of the town and uses his power to force the handful of citizens to do his bidding. If they refuse, there’s a heavy price to pay. And they know too much for Whitfield to let them leave town.

Among the oppressed townsfolk is Owen (Chris Mullinax) and his daughter Lena (Scottie Thompson) who run a local bar. They are frequently terrorized by an area thug named Clyde (Michael Sirow). He is Whitfield’s entitled son who happens to have an eye for Lena. The people get no help from their spineless and corrupt Sheriff Wiley (Dolph Lundgren) which leaves them with little choice but to do what they’re told.

Things heat up when a drifter (Lang) wanders into town. He begins doing odd jobs for Owen in exchange for enough money for a meal and a motel room. But Whitfield is leery of newcomers. So he orders the sheriff to make sure the drifter, who Owen nicknames “Nomada”, packs his things and gets out of town. But the drifter decides to stick around, much to the chagrin of Whitfield’s gang who quickly learn that Nomada isn’t some helpless vagrant. He’s a highly skilled military war veteran with a possible higher calling.

What transpires from there isn’t hard to figure out. And generally speaking, the story plays out just as we might expect. But director Isaac Florentine and screenwriter Richard Lowry help things by throwing in a surprise or two, including an unexpected dark turn which we never see coming. Meanwhile Lang is a steady and sturdy presence who consistently elevates the material. And he’s especially good in the action sequences, showing remarkable physicality for a 73-year-old.

“Hellfire” is an easy and involving watch, and at 95 minutes it doesn’t drag out what is a pretty straightforward story. With the exception of one especially sharp turn, it doesn’t get a lot of mileage out of its well-travelled story. And it doesn’t have enough of its own flavor to leave a lasting impression. Still, Stephen Lang anchors the movie with grit and commitment while Keitel, Thompson, and Lundgren offer solid support.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” is a new Hulu streaming exclusive that may sound familiar to viewers of a certain age. That’s because it’s a remake of the 1992 Curtis Hanson directed film of the same name which starred Annabella Sciorra and Rebecca De Mornay. The original wasn’t a particularly great film, but it was an entertaining domestic thriller despite its silliness. This new spin on the story doesn’t fare quite as well.

Directed by Michelle Garza Cervera and written by Micah Bloomberg, this new iteration of Amanda Silver’s 1992 screenplay uses the basic framework of the original film but surrounds it with a considerably different and less convincing story. It’s enough to set the movie apart from its inspiration. But it’s mostly a drab contemporary reimaging that relies too much on the incompetence of characters and the willingness of audiences to go along no matter how frustrating things get.

The film stars a committed Mary Elizabeth Winstead who squeezes what she can out of her character. She plays Caitlin Morales, a successful Los Angeles attorney who has just given birth to her second daughter. The tightly wound Caitlin and her remarkably dense husband Miguel (Raúl Castillo) live comfortably in a swanky suburb where the only real inconvenience are speeding cars and the need of a stop sign.

Caitlin is set to return to work while hoping to avoid another poorly defined post-partum episode like the one that followed the birth of her first child. To help, Caitlin and Miguel decide to hire a nanny to help watch their 10-year-old Emma and newborn Josie. They decide on Polly Murphy (Maika Monroe), a former client at Caitlin’s firm who impresses Caitlin with her knowledgeable of saturated fats and microplastics. Polly wastes no time ingratiating herself to the family, even earning an invite to move into their guest room.

Amazingly Polly’s hushed intensity and ice-cold demeanor doesn’t set off warning sirens. Instead, she gains Caitlin and Miquel’s full trust. Of course we know immediately that she’s up to no good and is not the person she claims to be. We watch as Polly secretly breaks Caitlin’s rules to win the children’s affection and methodically works on turning Emma against her mother.

It takes a while before Caitlin finally grows suspicious but she gets no support from the oblivious Miguel who couldn’t see light if he were staring into the son. So we’re left to watch an hour of endless gaslighting as Polly pushes Caitlin over her psychological edge. It’s here that the frustration sets in as the movie becomes a near endless cycle of Polly’s ruthlessness, Caitlin’s suffering, and Miguel’s mind-boggling incognizance. Meanwhile any hint at a motive for Polly’s actions is stashed away until late in the movie when any chance at building suspense is gone.

Many of the movie’s wild swings at modernizing the story come off as thematically lazy. Look no further than its bungled attempt at addressing childhood trauma. Even more surprising is the lack of genuine tension, especially in a movie with this kind of premise. The pace does finally pick up as the movie races towards a payoff. But even then, the rush of final act reveals is too little too late. “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle” is streaming now exclusively on Hulu.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

Spike Lee‘s latest joint sees him reteaming with one of the greatest actors of our time, Denzel Washington. “Highest 2 Lowest” is the pair’s fifth big screen collaboration and their first since 2006’s “Inside Man”. With their long overdue reunion it’s pretty clear they haven’t missed a beat. Lee’s direction is imbued with what feels like fresh energy. And the always watch-worthy Washington mixes swagger with solemnity with pitch-perfect savvy.

“Highest 2 Lowest” is an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic “High and Low” but reworked for 2025 by Lee and screenwriter Alan Fox. While catching the similarities between the versions is fun in itself, it’s the differences in Lee’s reimagination that make the movie purr. Aside from the many smaller details and style choices, there is the noticeably upbeat and less cynical tenor, the move from Yokohama to a vibrant New York City, the integral role of music in its story, the emphasis on Black culture, and the fascinating alterations to the final act.

But the richness of Lee’s verve could only carry the movie so far without Washington’s invigorating lead performance (among the actor’s best in years). Dripping with charisma that manifests itself in scenes of both grandiosity and subtlety, Washington takes Toshiro Mifune’s voracious shoe executive and fully transforms him into a beguiling modern day music mogul. Through his impeccably precise yet effortlessly smooth performance, Washington conveys a lifetime’s worth of aspiration, struggle, and resilience.

Lee kicks things off with a soaring opening credits sequence featuring rapturous views of New York City capped off by an elegant long zoom to the penthouse balcony atop Brooklyn’s waterfront Olympia Dumbo complex. There stands David King (Washington), a millionaire music executive and founder of Stackin’ Hits Records. Said to have “the best ears in the business”, David spent 25 years building a music business focused on cultivating and promoting black artists before deciding to sell his majority interest.

With his two co-owners on the verge of selling to a rival label, David convinces one of his partners (Michael Potts) to sell him his shares, allowing him to regain controlling interest in the business he founded. But to do so, David is forced to put up his penthouse and art collection to finance the deal, much to the concern of his wife Pam (an excellent Ilfenesh Hadera). While there is some good character work involved, all the early corporate drama is merely setting the table for the next act.

The tone shifts dramatically on the eve of his big business deal after David receives a call saying his son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) has been kidnapped and the ransom is $17.5 million in Swiss francs. It only takes one call from David before the NYPD arrive, led by three detectives (Dean Winters, LaChanze and John Douglas Thompson). They quickly find Trey leading to the reveal that the kidnapper snatched the boy’s best friend Kyle (Elijah Wright) by mistake. Kyle is the son of David’s childhood friend and chauffeur Paul (Jeffrey Wright).

One of Lee’s biggest and best changes to Kurosawa’s story involves David and Paul’s relationship. The two friends grew up together on the streets but their lives took different paths. David became a successful self-made entrepreneur while Paul ended up doing prison time. Yet their friendship stayed strong. But that friendship is tested with David’s sudden hesitation over paying the ransom – something he was fully prepared to do when he thought his son’s life was on the line. The thick moral haze only thickens once David’s pending business deal is factored into the scenario.

I don’t want to reveal too much, but the tone shifts again with the propulsive third act. After David agrees to pay, he’s instructed by the kidnapper to deliver the money himself. From there the story moves from the posh comforts of the penthouse to the vivid character-rich streets. It kicks off with an exhilarating set piece beginning on the 4 train from Brooklyn to the Bronx before spilling over into a Puerto Rican Day festival powered by a spellbinding street performance from the late jazz legend Eddie Palmieri. It’s a thrilling sequence with the only distraction being Winters and his incessant over-the-top yelling.

There’s so much more to appreciate and glean from Spike Lee’s 24th feature film. There’s his unique spin on Kurosawa’s examination of class. There are his statements on the influence of social media and public perception where “attention is the biggest form of currency”. There’s his admonition on preserving music and culture. Add to it Lee’s spirited perspective, seen most through his freshly polished direction, Matthew Libatique’s dynamic lensing, and the array of sublime performances highlighted by the force of nature that is Denzel Washington. Here’s hoping we see these two together again sooner rather than later.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Few films (if any) this year have left me more conflicted than “Him”. Directed by Justin Tipping, “Him” is a sensory feast that serves up helping after helping of big bold ideas. Unfortunately for it (and us), many of them come out the creative oven half-baked rather than fully cooked. Yet the movie’s unflinching vision and ferocious sense of style makes its allegory-soaked deconstruction of football culture hard to turn away from, even if it never reaches the heights of its ambition.

“Him” is a queasy cinematic mix of surrealist horror and football drama that’s more committed to telling its story through striking imagery than narrative cohesion. Making sense of everything we see gets harder and harder as we go, and the movie doesn’t seem to care. It doesn’t leave us with much time to think about anything, and it certainly doesn’t take its own time to explore the ideas it opens up.

And that gets to one of the bigger frustrations with “Him”. I could fill a lengthy paragraph just listing the themes introduced by Tipping and his co-writers Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers. Without question they are vividly and surprisingly potent. But the filmmakers are too content with simply revealing themes rather than examining them. There are so many things expressed about the world of sports that are begging to be explored.

Yet while “Him” may cast its net too wide, it still cleverly gets several big points across with alarming and often unsettling clarity. It starts with its intentionally heavy-handed and highly effective comparing of professional football to a religious cult. The grooming of young acolytes/athletes, the veneration of our on-field idols, the ritualistic worship of sporting events, the sacrifice of self at the alter of success and stardom. It’s a powerful analogy that is woven into the story from its fiery beginning to its blood-drenched finish.

But “Him” goes even further. It also delves into such issues as parental pressures, athlete commodification, the allure of fame, the mental and physical toll of performing at high levels, the predatory nature of sports agencies, and the cold dehumanizing business side of professional sports. Again, it’s way too much for one movie to handle. But Tipping gets in several good shots while also exposing some powerful truths.

Interestingly, the name plastered across every poster, trailer, and TV spot is Jordan Peele. Peele serving as a producer is meant to be a major selling point. But the person most people will be talking about as they leave the theater will be Marlon Wayans. He delivers a scorching performance playing Isaiah White, the superstar quarterback of the San Antonio Saviors. With eight championship rings to his name, White has been heralded as the G.O.A.T. But with his contract set to expire at the end of the year, he and the team may be looking to pass the torch.

Enter Cameron Cane (Tyriq Withers), a college football superstar who many believe will be the next Isaiah White. But days before the pro football combine, the consensus #1 pick in the upcoming draft is attacked by an obsessed fan, leaving him with a severe concussion. While the football world questions Cam’s status in light of his injury, Isaiah invites him to his remote sanctuary/compound in the desert for a mini bootcamp. If Cam impresses Isaiah he’ll get a contract with the Saviors and he’ll be christened as Isaiah’s successor.

But what starts as training with his hero turns into a dark, nightmarish descent that pits Cam’s quest for greatness against the grueling cost of achieving it. The brutal workout drills with Isaiah’s ruthless practice squad, the grinding body training regimens, the mysterious injections and blood transfusions – the film sends Cam on a deranged downward spiral that pushes his body and mind to the brink of destruction. Tipping intercuts these scenes with warped imagery accented by Bobby Krlic’s ominous score that’s meant to emphasize the physical and psychological violence Cam endures.

It’s all driven by Isaiah who Wayans portrays as a whirlwind of charm and menace. Withers is an intriguing protagonist despite being frustratingly opaque. They both fully commit to the material which ushers them along at a breakneck pace, right through the film’s blistering, batty, and bloody ending. It’s the kind of finish that can legitimately make or break your opinion of the movie. For me, it was a genre-licious exclamation point to a movie overflowing with rich and provocative themes, some that are amply dissected, others not as much.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS