281 | The Damned

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 29min

• Directed by Thordur Palsson

• Written by Jamie Hannigan

• Stars: Odessa Young, Joe Cole and Siobhan Finneran

• Premiered at Tribeca Film Festival June 6, 2024

• Released in US January 3, 2025

• RT: 90% critics / 47% audience

• Currently Streaming on Hulu

  Synopsis

  A widow is tasked with running an isolated fishing outpost in Iceland at the end of the 19th century. When a ship wrecks on some rocks off the coast, she makes the decision not to rescue the passengers, dooming her crew to madness and danger.

Join us again in two weeks when we will be reviewing The Rule of Jenny Pen, currently streaming on Shudder and AMC+

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

280 | 28 Years Later

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 55min

• Directed by Danny Boyle

• Written by Alex Garland

• Stars: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes

• Release in US theaters June 20, 2025

• RT: 88% critics / 63% audience

  Synopsis

  12yr old Spike lives with his domineering father and mysteriously ill mother on a small island less than a mile away from mainland northern England. While safe there from the infected, the citizens uphold a tradition that sees their young people escorted to the mainland to kill infected as a rite of passage. Disillusioned after his outing and determined to locate the rumored doctor there, Spike sneaks out of the compound with his mother in tow in an attempt to cure her illness.

Join us again in two weeks when we will be reviewing The Damned, currently streaming on Hulu

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

279 | The Ugly Stepsister

• Not Rated 

• Runtime: 1hr 49min

• Written & Directed by Emilie Blichfeldt

• Stars: Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss and Ane Dahl Torp

• Premiered at Sundance January 23, 2025

• Limited Release in US theaters April 18, 2025

• Currently Streaming on Shudder and AMC+

• RT: 96% critics / 86% audience

  Synopsis

  Rebekka and her two daughters, Elvira and Alma, move into the estate of her new husband, Otto, and his beautiful daughter, Agnes. Elvira, the oldest of Rebekka’s daughters, is a dreamy, braces-wearing teen who swoons over the kingdom’s handsome prince and his romantic poetry. But when Otto dies suddenly and it is revealed that he was deeply in debt, Rebekka is forced to pile all her hopes for financial stability on the prince choosing Elvira as his bride at the upcoming ball. In order for the plain and gawky Elvira to catch his eye, she must undergo a series of horrifying medical procedures to become more beautiful.

Join us again in two weeks when we will be reviewing 28 Years Later, currently playing in theaters.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

261 | The Substance

• Rated R

• Runtime: 2hr 21min

• Written & Directed by Coralie Fargeat

• Stars: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid

• Premiered at Cannes Film Festival May 19, 2024

• Released in theaters September 20, 2024

• RT: 90% critics / 71% audience

Synopsis 

Fading Hollywood star Elizabeth Sparkle has just been fired from her fitness show and is to be replaced by a younger actress. She decides to use a mysterious drug called “The Substance” to make herself look younger. But this is no ordinary fad drug…

Join us in two weeks when we review Apartment 7A, currently streaming on Paramount+.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

243 | Birth/Rebirth

• Directed by Laura Moss

• Written by Laura Moss and Brendan J. O'Brien

• Rated R 

• Runtime: 1hr 41min

• Stars: Marin Ireland, Judy Reyes and A.J. Lister

• Premiered at Sundance January 20, 2023

• Limited release August 18, 2023 

• RT: 96% critics / 75% audience

  Synopsis 

  A morgue technician has developed a method to reanimate the dead using embryonic tissue. When she tests it on the recently deceased daughter of a delivery room nurse and the nurse catches wise, they work together to keep the child alive at all costs.

Join us next time when we'll review Society of the Snow, currently streaming on Netflix.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

237 | Appendage

• Written & Directed by Anna Zlokovic

• Rated TV-MA

• Runtime: 1hr 34min

• Stars: Hadley Robinson, Emily Hampshire and Kausar Mohammed

• Premiered at South by Southwest March 11, 2023

• Released on Hulu October 2, 2023

• RT: 52% critics / 62% audience

  Synopsis 

  A stressed-out young woman finds that her anxieties are manifesting themselves in strange ways, as a growth begins to appear on her stomach and soon dislodges itself and develops a mind of its own.

Join us next time when we'll review Argentinian import When Evil Lurks, currently in theaters and coming to streaming October 27.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

235 | Perpetrator

• Written & Directed by Jennifer Reeder

• Stars Kiah McKirnan, Alicia Silverstone and Christopher Lowell

• Not Rated

• Runtime: 1hr 41mins

• Premiered at Berlin International Film Festival February 17, 2023

• Released September 1, 2023

• RT: 80% critics, 32% audience

  Synopsis 

  Teenage outcast Jonny is sent to live with her strange aunt in a town where girls have been going missing. As her aunt introduces Jonny to her burgeoning new powers, she decides to utilize them to find her missing classmates.

Join us next time when we’ll be reviewing V/H/S 85, streaming on Shudder starting October 6.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

216 | Eve's Bayou

• Written & Directed by Kasi Lemmons

• Stars Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good, Lynn Whitfield

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 55mins (Director’s Cut)

• Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival September 7, 1997

• Released November 7, 1997

• RT: 84% critics, 89% audience

  Synopsis 

“The summer I killed my father I was 10 years old.” So begins the story of Eve and her powerful family in 1962 Louisiana. Through Eve’s eyes we meet her gorgeous, long-suffering mother, philandering doctor father, and eccentric Aunt Mozelle, who is a fortune teller. When Aunt Mozelle has a premonition of tragedy befalling the family, Eve and her siblings are confined to the safety of their stately home. But keeping them locked up isn’t going to keep the family safe from tragedy.

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Out of theaters and into your streaming boxes, The Menu is next up for us. This film had a pretty good theatrical run, but now it’s available to watch from the comfort of our respective homes. So join us next time as we serve up the first entree of the new year.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/