Category: Drama
-
Roofman: The Man Who Stole My Heart, Among Other Things
Roofman (2025) Derek Cianfrance Heading into Roofman tonight, I had been led to believe by its marketing that this was going to be a straight studio comedy, and that couldn’t have been much further from the truth. While there were certainly plenty of laughs to go around—and I mean plenty—Roofman really surprised in its emotional storytelling and family dynamics, which had me not only cheesing for most of the movie, but on the…
-
The Smashing Machine: The Boulder Has Entered the Ring
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. The Smashing Machine (2025) Benny Safdie I’ve always been a fan of athletes finding a second life in acting, whether they gun for the more dramatic roles like Dave Bautista or they go full comedy like John Cena and Marshawn Lynch. I’ve always enjoyed The Rock’s movies, but his résumé was always missing a dramatic turn that The Smashing Machine has now impressively satisfied. I totally get that…
-
Light of the World: Redeeming the Age-Old Narrative
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Light of the World (2025) Tom Bancroft and John J. Schafer I remember hearing about both The King of Kings and Light of the World around the same time this year, and I initially believed Angel Studios would come out on top. Angel Studios left the door open for Light of the World to take the top spot on my 2025 Animated Jesus Movie List, and boy, did it ever do just…
-
The Assessment: Parents and Normalcy in Short Supply
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. The Assessment (2024) Fleur Fortuné For the last night of the Estes Park trip, we wanted to end on a banger, so we sidestepped Happy Gilmore 2 for The Assessment, which was undoubtedly more memorable. The jury is still out on whether that’s a good thing; Sammy and Abby logged their displeasure on Letterboxd, I’m sure my parents would’ve done the same if they had the app, but Morgan…
-
Eddington: Mask Mandate Time Machine
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Eddington (2025) Ari Aster With a cast as stacked and enjoyable as Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler, it wouldn’t have mattered what the plot of Eddington was; I would be seated. I had only seen one Ari Aster film—Midsommar—prior to tonight, so I truly didn’t know what to expect out of Eddington, and what I got was quite the mixed bag. In theory, I would’ve…
-
Superman (2025): A Hopeful, Heroic Return to Form
Superman (2025) James Gunn Rarely do I anticipate a movie’s release so excitedly or for so long as I have James Gunn’s Superman. In these seven months since the first trailer that I’ve been waiting, I have shockingly rekindled a love for superhero movies that has seemingly hit its climax tonight, in glorious IMAX, which I don’t think I’ve experienced since our elementary school field trip to the downtown IMAX theater. Superman had…
-
F1: Racing Straight Into My Heart
F1 (2025) Joseph Kosinski Let’s imagine, for a second, that Nate has been given the keys to the next big blockbuster. What does he need in it? Big stars? Beautiful, immersive cinematography? A score from one of his favorite composers? A bomb soundtrack? Given this, it surely seems like I wrote F1, a movie I knew I’d enjoy going in, but definitely not this much. While the path of F1 was well-tread, especially…
-
The Life of Chuck: Living in the Little Moments
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. The Life of Chuck (2024) Mike Flanagan Though it wasn’t technically an entry into my Adaptation Appreciation list for this year, I did read The Life of Chuck ahead of seeing the film and absolutely loved it. I’m game for any sort of existential, “life-affirming” (as the reviews have said) story, and the trailers for this film got me super hyped. Thankfully, The Life of Chuck absolutely delivered, and…
