Maika Monroe goes fully unhinged in the devilish horror thriller “Victorian Psycho”. Based on the 2025 Virginia Feito novel of the same name, the film takes the framework of a Victorian-era period drama and infuses it with bloody slasher horror. It results in something that often succeeds in realizing its warped vision yet that doesn’t quite live up to the gonzo potential teased in its opening fifteen minutes or so.

Monroe immediately establishes herself as one of the film’s biggest strengths. She plays Winifred Notty (that’s “Notty” for those who get her name wrong), an eccentric young governess in 19th century England who is quick to inform us that she’s the sanest person she knows. The film opens with Winifred taking a carriage ride to her next assignment. It’s a brief sequence where director Zachary Wigon puts most of his cards on the table. By the end, I was wishing he had kept a few up his sleeve.

It’s glaringly obvious from the start that Winifred is unwell, thanks to Wigon’s disorienting camera and Monroe’s off-kilter narration that goes along with her dead-eyed stare. In no time she arrives at the bougie Ensor House, home to the affluent Josh and Emily Pounds (Jason Isaacs and Ruth Wilson) and their two children: the favored son, Andrew (Jacobi Jupe, so good in “Hamnet”), and the neglected oldest, Drusilla (Evie Templeton).

Upon arrival, Winifred is immediately routed to the servant’s entrance – the first of several signs pointing to the film’s class-conscious themes. She’s led to her quarters where Wigon reinforces Winifred’s psychotic state through a scene involving a severed ear that still doesn’t make sense. Anyway, she learns her main job is to have the snotty Andrew ready for boarding school by the end of the year. But she has her own motivations for being there. And they hastily come to light as her flimsy facade starts to crumble.

It doesn’t take a detective to read the clues beyond the film’s rather pronounced title. Winifred’s warped inner monologue drips lines like “this won’t be like the other times” while her uncomfortable directness with the children is a queasy mix of humorous and unnerving. But it’s the bloodshed that reveals just how deranged Winifred really is. And there is no shortage of grisly deaths once she begins feeding her inner “darkness”.

But as Winifred gets more….unbalanced, so does the movie. This especially shows in the diluted big finale that doesn’t live up to its billing. Everything pointed to a gonzo gore-glazed final act blowout in line with Feito’s book. Instead we’re given something considerably tamer than what the film had been building towards. While the violence is certainly there, Wigon merges visions with reality in a way that has a dizzying effect. It’s a peculiar choice, and a case of the movie never fully committing to its deranged vision.

“Victorian Psycho” is littered with smaller frustrations that don’t fully undermine its strengths but that do add up over time. Some are simple logic issues, such as no one noticing when servants suddenly go missing. There’s also the wasting of good supporting cast members (sorry Thomasin McKenzie). And how are we supposed to view Winifred when the movie seems conflicted itself? These are nagging problems rather than dealbreakers. But they add to a list that weighs the movie down and keeps it from being what it should have been.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

Has anyone had a busier 2026 than Anne Hathaway? She starred in David Lowery’s “Mother Mary” which released back in April. Hot on its heels was “The Devil Wears Prada 2”. Her third film of the year was Christopher Nolan’s critical and box office juggernaut, “The Odyssey”. She followed it up with “The End of Oak Street” in August. And that brings us to her fifth and final film of 2026, “Verity”. Oh, and did I mention she’s also pregnant with her third child?

“Verity” is vastly different than Hathaway’s other 2026 films. It’s the latest adaptation of a popular Colleen Hoover novel, this time by screenwriter Nick Antosca. But while it hearkens back to the twisty erotic thrillers of decades past, “Verity” never shows enough confidence in itself regarding what it wants to be. It’s a nagging issue that really rears its head in the final act. And there’s nothing its committed and capable three stars can do to overcome it.

“Verity” plays best as a straight psychological thriller. But rather than really going for it, director Michael Showalter holds back, at least until his big finish, which may not work as attended, but at least it takes a swing. I wish the same was true for the buildup. Instead it spends much of its time stuck in neutral rather than propelling the story forward. Nowhere does it struggle more than in its steamless attempts at being an erotic thriller. And wedging in a handful of provocative scenes doesn’t spice things up at all.

Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling New York City novelist who’s still grieving the recent loss of her mother to cancer. With the help of her agent Corey (Ismael Cruz Córdova), Lowen lands an exciting opportunity. Verity Crawford (Hathaway) is a best-selling author whose wildly popular Noble Virtues book series has earned her fans across the globe. But a serious car accident has left her in a catatonic state, unable to move or speak on her own.

You may be wondering, what does this have to do with Lowen? Verity’s husband Jeremy (Hartnett) offers her a job as a ghostwriter. He and Verity’s publisher wants Lowen to finish the much anticipated Noble Virtues series – three books, $75,000 per book. Lowen accepts, and after signing her NDA, is invited to stay at the Crawford’s lavish lakeside House in Vermont where Verity has amassed years of notes and outlines. It’s there that the majority of the story unfolds.

Lowen moves in and begins her research. Along the way she learns that Verity’s accident isn’t the only tragedy the family has endured. She finds herself unnerved by Verity who spends her days in a vegetative state. She also finds herself attracted to Jeremy which adds a predictable wrinkle to the story. But things really take a turn after Lowen discovers a hidden flash drive containing Verity’s secretly written autobiography. In it are several dark and twisted revelations that reshape how we and Lowen look at everything going forward.

As the movie progresses it’s barely able to work itself into a mild simmer. It isn’t until the final 20 minutes or so that things finally ramp up. Unfortunately the story doesn’t end on the most satisfying note. Several obvious questions arise and go unanswered. Meanwhile we are asked to believe some pretty outlandish stuff. And that’s before the ridiculous final twist turns the story on its head, and not in a good way.

All of that said, I expect there will still be an audience for “Verity“. And even though there isn’t a spark of romance, no memorable thrills, and nothing remotely erotic, I can see it serviceably satisfying many within its target audience. For me, the film’s saving grace is its cast, namely Hathaway and Hartnett who find ways to pull more from the material than is actually there. Sadly they can’t pull enough to make up for the film’s lukewarm vision and absurd finish.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

Writer-director John-Michael Powell has conceived and crafted one of the best rural crime thrillers in recent years with “Violent Ends”. Shot in Northwest Arkansas with the Ozark Mountains as its backdrop, the film offers a markedly clear-eyed perspective on cycles of violence and the devastating consequences to families caught within them. And though his film is a work of fiction, Powell grounds his story in a rich and visceral authenticity.

“Violent Ends” is an independent film through and through. In addition to its financing and production, this gripping indie tells a uniquely compelling story that’s pulled from a very specific region. It’s a movie more interested in layered storytelling than splashy spectacle. And it remains focused on grounded characters whose lives are molded by the complexity of their circumstances. At the same time, Powell shows an affection for genre which significantly enriches this Southern Gothic revenge thriller.

The film opens with a quote from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. It reads “These violent delights have violent ends“, a reference to the tragic fate of the play’s doomed lovers. The story itself kicks off in the hills of Northwest Arkansas. It takes place in 1992 as rural communities are still recovering from a crippling farming crisis. Seeing an opportunity, the Frost family grew into a powerful crime organization by trafficking cocaine and meth up the Arkansas river, preying on the desperate and despondent.

The Frost family’s operation is ran by three brothers. Ray and Donny oversee the cocaine business while Walt is in charge of the meth trade. The opening scene introduces us to Lucas Frost (Billy Magnusson) as he’s entering the state penitentiary to visit his incarcerated father Ray (Matt Riedy). Lucas shares news that he is about to marry his girlfriend Emma (Alexandria Shipp) and he’s leaving the family business. The news enrages Ray, but Lucas finds support in his mother Darlene (Kate Burton), a sheriff’s deputy caught between caring for her family and covering for them.

Meanwhile, just getting out of prison is Walt’s son, Sid. He’s played by the underrated James Badge Dale who gets a savory villain role he can really sink his teeth into. Sid is a cold menacing presence with a bad haircut and out-of-control ambitions that soon ignite a civil war within the Frost family. It begins with Sid and his brothers robbing a scrapyard as Emma happens to be delivering some checks. In the chaos, Sid’s antsy little brother Eli (Jared Bankens) shoots and kills Emma. It’s a mistake that has a violent ripple effect across the entire family.

Powell uses Emma’s murder to jumpstart his story’s revenge angle as a devastated Lucas sets out to discover who killed his fiancé. And once he follows the trail to Eli, it leads to an explosive chain of events that sees Lucas reeled back into the very life he wanted to escape. As the story careens down its inevitable path to violence, Powell subtly underscores the individual and family tragedies, both of which fuel his film’s powerful thematic core. And by the time we’re done with his tension-soaked final act, the brutal cost of violence has been made painfully clear.

From beginning to end, Powell emerges us in his assiduously defined Southern setting. He and cinematographer Elijah Guess vividly capture rural Arkansas through their carefully chosen locations and keen attention to some of the smallest details. Equally important are the richly textured and lived-in performances from Magnusson, Burton, and Dale, along with strong turns from Nick Stahl and the always great Ray McKinnon.

“Violent Ends” is an inspired sophomore feature from an exciting filmmaker with his finger firmly on the pulse of the story he’s telling. John-Michael Powell’s fresh voice and sharp perspective helps to energize his storytelling while the evocative themes he explores unfold with unsettling clarity and a deep emotional resonance. An intensely focused narrative, great performances, and a splash of genre grit – it all gives “Violent Ends” the kind of kick that will stick with you well after the end credits roll. “Violent Ends” opens in theaters on October 31st.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

Based on a harrowing true story of courage under fire, “Valiant One” is an action war thriller directed, produced, and co-written by Steve Barnett. This lean and modestly budgeted feature clocks in at just barely over 80 minutes. But it does some good things in its short running time, most notably telling a story about overcoming fears in the face of death and putting your life on the line for those under your command.

At Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, United States Army Sergeant Edward Brockman (Chase Stokes) is surprised when he is assigned to a field operation to repair a radar unit in the demilitarized zone near the North Korean border. But their routine in-and-out mission turns into a nightmare after wind shears from a storm causes their helicopter to violently crash outside of allied air space.

With his superiors killed, a reluctant Brockman is next in the chain of command. The first thing he discovers is that he and the other survivors are inside North Korea meaning headquarters can’t send a chopper to pick them up. So Brockman is tasked with leading the team’s medic, Selby (Lana Condor), infantrymen Ross (Jonathan Whitesell) and Lee (Daniel Jun), and a civilian engineer, Josh Weaver (Desmin Borges) across the border to an extraction point where Delta Force is waiting.

“Valiant One” starts off a little shaky as it introduces its core characters through an early sequence hampered by unconvincing tough guy banter. But it gets on track as the soldiers begin making their way through enemy territory. Barnett effectively emphasizes the intense pressure that comes with making split-second decisions. And he’s not afraid to show fear and even panic. That’s because his soldiers aren’t sketched from action movies. They’re grounded in real life.

At the same time, not much is shared about the region’s tensions or the geopolitical interests of the United States. Pretty much all that’s conveyed is we are the good guys and the North Korean army are the bad guys. So don’t expect to learn anything about the conflict beyond that. It doesn’t kill the intensity of watching the soldiers navigate the dangers they repeatedly face. But it does leave the story feeling light on context.

Aside from that, there are a few other blemishes that you can’t help but notice. While most of the performances are serviceable, they aren’t always up to par. And there are a handful of scene-sabotaging music choices that stick out like a sore thumb. But Barnett and company pull it off where it matters most. They make the soldiers their focus, highlighting the in-the-moment courage a soldier must possess despite the emotional consequences that will eventually come with their actions.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

The first two Venom movies had all they needed to be great – a terrific character with an equally terrific history, the perfect actor, and the big budget backing of a major studio. And while 2018’s “Venom” and 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” were financial successes, neither were particularly good movies. And that leads us to “Venom: The Last Dance”, the third and final Venom film that sadly falls into many of the same traps as its predecessors.

The overqualified Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist turned fugitive who is the host of a super-powered alien symbiote called Venom. The pair went on the run following the events of the previous film, eventually settling in Mexico. But when Eddie sees himself on the local news, the duo head out, turning “The Last Dance” into a buddy road-trip movie with the frazzled Eddie as the straight man and Venom as the incessant jokester.

As the two travel into the States, they’re pursued by a crack black-ops military unit led by Chiwetel Ejiofor’s General Strickland. But this time around Eddie and Venom find themselves hunted by a far more dangerous threat. The movie starts with a cold open where we’re (barely) introduced to Knull, an evil cosmic deity who created the symbiotes but has sense been imprisoned by his creations. In order to escape he needs something called a “Codex” that just happens to be inside of Venom. So Knull sends his creature army to fetch the Codex so he can break free.

Through several uninteresting turns we learn the only way for the Codex to be destroyed is if either Eddie or Venom dies. Once Strickland gets wind of it, he and his soldiers intensify their search for our protagonists. At the same time, Knull’s ravenous creatures find their way to earth leading to a not-so-epic showdown. Along the way several side characters appear who do little more than eat up screentime. Namely the symbiote-obsessed scientist, Dr. Teddy Payne (Juno Temple) and her assistant Dr. Sadie Christmas (Clark Backo). And a family of alien enthusiasts led by their hippie father, Martin (Rhys Ifans).

Kelly Marcel, the writer of the previous two Venom movies, takes on full screenwriting and directing duties this time around. She hits us with more of Eddie constantly sparring with his attached alien “buddy”. And as before, the goofy banter gets old pretty quick. We also get tons of CGI action, some of which is pretty entertaining, especially once we reach the decommissioned AREA 51. Unfortunately the narrative threads that hold it all together are paper-thin and finding anything to latch onto is a lot harder than it should be.

Tom Hardy has said this is his last run as Eddie/Venom and that’s a good thing. The 47-year-old Englishman is a powerhouse actor who can hopefully move on to more substantial projects. As for “The Last Dance”, it ends the already subpar series on a whimper. It’s plagued by an erratic script, a lack of emotional weight, shallow characters, and a handful of truly awful scenes (none worse than a laughably bad dance number to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”). It still may muster up enough to satisfy the Venom die-hards (assuming they exist). But most everyone else will just be happy the series has come to an end.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

“Violent Night” is dumb beyond measure, deliriously hyper-violent, and a glaring clone of countless other movies (just with a Christmas time setting). But here’s the thing, this holiday action-comedy is proud to be all of those things. In fact, it’s exactly what director Tommy Wirkola and the screenwriting duo of Pat Casey and Josh Miller are going for. Their firm devotion to their vision is certainly commendable. It’s also what makes the film wear out its welcome well before its numbingly goofy (and proudly blood-soaked) final act.

David Harbour plays Santa Claus, donning the classic red suit and white beard but with a far from festive snarl. We first meet him on Christmas Eve chugging beer at a pub in Bristol, England. Disenchanted with the greed and overall lack of Christmas spirit in the world, the not-so-jolly elf lets out his frustrations to his makeshift drinking buddies before hopping on his sleigh, upchucking all over the bartender (a drunk barfing – there’s a new one), and flying off to continue his deliveries.

Meanwhile in Greenwich, Connecticut, an estranged couple, Jason Lightstone (Alex Hassell) and his wife Linda (Alexis Louder), are taking their daughter Trudy (Leah Brady) to the excessively lavish Lightstone estate, the home of Jason’s crude and obscenely wealthy mother, Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo) who’s hosting a Christmas Eve party for her family. Between the staff, the security detail, and the team of caterers, it’s far from a cozy affair. But that’s hardly a concern for the garish and self-consumed Gertrude.

Already at the party is Alva (Edi Patterson), Gertrude’s shallow, boozy daughter; Morgan (Cam Gigandet), Alva’s husband and a low-rent action movie star; and Bert, Alva’s obnoxious son from her first marriage and a wannabe social media influencer. They all come together for a night of upper-crust indulgence, fake affection, and family posturing.

But just as the money-grubbing Lightstones are set to begin their festivities, the caterers pull out automatic weapons and start mowing down Gertrude’s staff and security detail. Leading the assault is “Scrooge” (John Leguizamo), a holiday-hating mercenary who fires more dopey Christmas one-liners than bullets (a gag the movie never seems to grow tired of). Scrooge and his team aren’t just their to crash the party. No, he’s there for the $3 million in cash that Gertrude has locked up in a state-of-the-art vault.

What the goons didn’t count on was Santa Claus who stops at the Lightstone compound to leave a present for Trudy (she’s on his nice list). But after he encounters one of the mercs, Saint Nick finds himself forced into action. From there this “Die Hard” knock-off pretty much plays just as you would expect, with Santa as the John McClane character, Scrooge playing a poor-man’s Hans Gruber, and several heavily armed henchmen – some trying to open the vault while others try to track down the poison pill that threatens to derail their heist.

The film shamelessly rips off several other movies, but in the case of “Die Hard”, it’s too much to even be considered an homage. But thanks to its Christmas setting, “Violent Night” is able to have some fun all its own. And that’s fairly entertaining for a while. Unfortunately for me, the film reached a point where I needed more than a hard-R spin on a Christmas movie. But Wirkola and company are relentless, milking their gimmick dry and then still pressing on for another 30 minutes or so.

One bit I did enjoy was its tip of the hat the “Home Alone”. We get about a ten-minute sequence that I won’t spoil, but it sees Trudy going full-blown Kevin McAllister but with much more gruesome results. And despite the lazily conceived potty-mouthed Santa bit, Harbour is (to no surprise) really good in his role. There’s not much depth or nuance in the character (despite the writers trying to manufacture some), but Harbour’s natural personality makes his Santa semi-interesting.

“Violent Night” desperately wants to be a new holiday cult classic, but it’s hardly something that’ll leave a lasting impression. Ultimately it is aggressively what it is. It tries to add some emotional layers by throwing in a couple of sudsy scenes along the way. But in reality, the movie mostly seems interested in pushing its R rating, and it loses itself in that relentless pursuit. It’ll be a blast for some. But for those who burn out on its gimmick, I can see it being an endurance test. “Violent Night” is out now in theaters.

VERDICT – 2 STARS