WARNING: This review has spoilers and talks about some scenes of the film.
‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ is a crime drama mini series made by Ryan Murphy and was released in 2022. This show follows the life of one of the most famous serial killers in history and the people he hurt. This series is rated TV-MA, because it has some violence, gore, sexual content, and some other disturbing parts.
Jeffery Dahmer is a quiet and awkward guy living in Milwaukee who is doing horrible things secretly in his apartment. He targets young guys and even though his neighbor, Glenda Cleveland, keeps calling the police because of the smells and noises coming from his apartment, they never do anything.
The show starts with Dahmer’s final arrest but then it goes back in time to show his childhood and how he became a monster. It’s different from other shows because it focuses on the victims and their families instead of just making Dahmer look like a main character.
As each episode of the series continues, the person watching gets to see how many times Dahmer almost got caught. One of the most frustrating parts is when 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone escapes the apartment, but the police walk the boy back inside because they believed the lie Dahmer told them being together. The tension gets higher and higher as you see the families struggle to get justice while the police just ignore them.
The closer you get to the end of the series, the more you see how much damage was done to the whole community, not just the people that he killed.
The character development is also what sets this show apart from the rest. Evan Peters, who plays Dahmer, is great at the role. He acts weird and sometimes it’s hard to watch. Niecy Nash also gives a great performance in the show as she plays his next door neighbor Glenda Cleveland. She shows how mad she is at the fact that the police don’t really do anything to Dahmer when Konerak manages to escape. He lies to the police and takes him back inside his apartment. One thing this show does a good job at is showing this part of Dahmer’s life because from here you can see how insane it is that he was allowed to just get away with it by lying to the police. And they chose to believe Dahmer over Glenda.
To be honest, watching this really opened my eyes. It’s actually scary how someone could get away with so much just because the police didn’t care about some of the neighborhoods. Like for example, Glenda literally lived right next door and called the police so much to tell them about Dahmer, but they didn’t listen to her. It made me think about how true crime isn’t just entertainment and that these were real people’s lives that got ruined.
Evan Peters was definitely the best choice they could’ve made for this role because he made the character feel human but still totally terrifying. He just had that uncanny look. The ending where he finally gets killed in prison doesn’t even feel like a good ending because I got left thinking about all the people who could have been saved if the cops actually listened.
It’s a very heavy and emotional show, but it’s worth watching if you want to see a different side of Jeffery Dahmer’s story.
I would give ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ an 8.5/10. It’s available to watch on Netflix.
‘Ello, ace! It’s me: famed paleontologist and wildlife documentarian Frederick von Franchisesequelheimer II. Never heard of me before, I take it? (Chuckles) Don’t worry mate, I’m not gutted. Matter of fact, I’m chuffed to bits to have a new apprentice to regale my tales of grandeur to.
Since 1954, I have been trekking the world in search of the most marvelous creatures I can find, hoping to document my findings for this field journal you’re now reading. Dragons! Unicorns! The mythic Sasquatch! Why, there’s only a single individual of the latter-most species left in the world, and yet I’ve poached 3 of them!
Yet there remains a class of beasts of whom I’ve never been able to properly capture, nor kill and harvest from. Ever since I was a wee lad in my home in Britain, I’ve always dreamed of making skin medication out of one of their horns…and yet have failed every single attempt I’ve made to catch them. What am I talking about? Simple: kaiju.
Kaiju (roughly translating from Japanese to “strange beast”) is a term denoting large, powerful cryptids the size of mountains. Many have become popular over the years from film and television — and no doubt my numerous reports on them — as icons of national and international pop culture. Of course, that makes them all the more lucrative to myself and other fellow poach-! I mean…wildlife expeditionaries.
Of course, some of these chaps are more prized than others, so I’d be a mug if I didn’t try and capitalize on that fact. So I thought: ‘a ranking of all these kaiju is a swell idea, innit?’ And you know what, lad? I was right! So here’s a ranking of a handful of kaiju from films around the world, ordered by personal preference. Enjoy!
. . .
#12: “Meganulon(s)”
Film of origin: ‘Rodan’ (1956)
Bloody hell, these beasts are atrocious. They’re basically these cow-sized bugs that crawl around, killing people. Cool, right? But that’s the problem: that’s all they do. They can’t fly, swim, shoot lasers…really, they’re the closest kaiju on this list to resembling a regular animal.
They weren’t even the main monsters of the movie they come from! Don’t even bother hunting Meganulons down: their hide is tacky, their claws, weak, and don’t even get me started on their ghastly eyes. Bunch of chavs, the lot of them.
#11: “Space Godzilla”
Film of origin: ‘Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla’
(Sniffs) I’m not much of a space enthusiast myself. I find the idea of aliens existing ridiculous, preposterous, absurd, droll, vacuous, facetious, gelastic, and really, a bit dumb. In my years of traveling around the world, poaching any animal stupid enough to cross my way, I’ve never been able to figure out a way to hunt an alien; they just float around up there in space, barely out of reach of my Poachin’ Pistols™. Perhaps that’s why I hold some animosity towards Space Godzilla. That, and its design being the dumbest on this list. Yikes.
#10: “Anguirius”
Film of origin: ‘Godzilla Raids Again’
Anguirius is to other Kaiju what Pluto is to other Mickey Mouse characters: they’re all technically animals, yet some are, for whatever reason, bestowed with consciousness. What’s up with that? How come Goofy and Pluto — both dogs, mind you — can occupy the same space, yet only the former can freely express and communicate themselves like an intelligent being? Not to delve too deep into fictional canine class relations, but these questions have plagued me ever since my childhood in Belfast.
Anguirus is a kaiju like all the others, yet somehow feels like the dog of the group. Get off your hands and knees, Anguirus! Stop looking like a dope and actually do something cool! What a lame-o.
#9: “Baragon”
Film of origin: ‘Frankenstein vs. Baragon’
Despite the movie it originated from having an ironically-hilarious title, this dude’s just kind of boring. Better than the last 3, yeah, but what kind of poacher would I be to want this fella’s head over my mantle board? Not even a mother could love a face like that! Oh well: Baragon was apparently an inspiration for the Pokémon Nidoking, so as a poacher who enjoys #gaming, I suppose that’s cool.
#8: “King Kong”
Film of origin: ‘King Kong’
When it comes down to it, liking King Kong is basically dependent on how much you like gorillas. As for moi, they’re…fine, I guess? They’ve never been a favorite animal of mine, so the idea of trying to take down a colossal version of one has never been my fancy. Apparently this guy fights, like, dinosaurs back home, so that’s kinda sick. Whatever.
#7:“Gamera”
Film of origin: ‘Gamera, the Giant Monster’
I like turtles. Who doesn’t? Yeah, snakes are infinitely-cooler, but hey — nobody’s ever complained about adding 4 legs to one. And a shell.
Gamera’s an iconic figure in both pop culture and hunting circles, the latter of which I’m much more invested in. That out of the way, they really are just…a fire-breathing turtle. It’s as if its character designers didn’t really know how to make a giant turtle cool, so they bit the bullet and let it partake in everyone’s favorite pastime: arson. And y’know what? That kind of works for it!
#6: “Rodan”
Film of origin: ‘Rodan’
Ducks, pheasants and other medium-sized birds are popular game for hunters, and I’m no different. So that begs the question: does that admiration translate over to pterodactyls? Uh…yeah. Maybe.
Look, the idea of a giant pterosaur that flies at supersonic speeds is cool, but Rodan was really let down by its appearance in early films. It really just looked like an oversized turkey; I found myself chortling in my cinema seat when first viewing it. Granted, later ‘Godzilla’ films have made me reconsider potentially hunting and poaching it; they look a lot cooler. Still relatively-low on this list, but Rodan could still become one of my most sought-after choices of game someday.
#5: “Mechagodzilla”
Film of origin: ‘Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla’
Wha-? …what am I, a wildlife hunter, supposed to say about a robot? (Sighs) Maybe this list wasn’t such a great idea: here I am, rambling about random monsters, while I could be out scalping wildebeests like I usually do.
My stance on Mechagodzilla is similar to that of King Kong: if you like what it’s based on, you’re probably gonna like its respective kaiju too. The good thing is that I find world-destroying lizards far cooler than boring apes, so by proxy I guess I like Mechagodzilla. I mean, ANYTHING’S better than Space Godzilla, at least.
#4: “Mothra”
Film of origin: ‘Mothra’
I’ve got a mate back home that’s into entomology; chap’s gonna be livid with this placement. Oh, his name? Franz Kafka.
Mothra seems to be a fan favorite amongst both film and poaching circles. Do I like it as much as others seem to? Nah. Do I respect it, though? Yeah, of course! Without any context, the song the 2 fairies sing about it in ‘Mothra vs. Godzilla’ is a bop, and it’s pretty inspiring to see an overgrown grub beat up a radioactive reptile. You go, queen!
#3: “Biollante”
Film of origin: ‘Godzilla vs. Biollante”
I’ve never seen a production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ but I’ve always been into the carnivorous plant archetype of creature designs because of it and this lad. Biollante is a rad concept for a Kaiju, combining a flower, a lizard and the damned soul of a child into one awesome opponent. Heck, I’ve got all 3 of those things in my basement, I could make my OWN Biollante if I wanted to!
Oh, that reminds me: I need to go home and water my plants real quick. Don’t worry, I left a written note for the next ranking. See you in a second.
#2: “Godzilla”
Film of origin: ‘Godzilla’ (1954)
#1: “King Ghidorah”
Film of origin: “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster”
Ever since I first picked up poaching, I knew from the start what my dream game would be to bag. King Ghidorah is my all-time favorite Kaiju, with its film being among the best ‘Godzilla’ movies too. There’s just something so compelling about this 3-headed beast that’s made it my white whale. Elusive, yes — but that’ll just make it all the sweeter when I finally add it to my collection of taxidermied trophies.
. . .
Welp! (Slaps thighs) I guess that’s that: the ranking’s done, and I’ve finally made up my mind as for what to pursue next. Er, well…hmph.
I don’t know if I should be telling you this, reader, but…a few days ago I got a call from someone asking to put a hit on another. Now, I may be adept at hunting wildlife, but murdering another man…I couldn’t imagine it. Still, I reluctantly took the job to ensure my bills get paid. Good coin was offered, anyways.
While unorthodox for even me, I suppose this is my next operation. It’s horrible, yes, but what else could I do? Hunting all of these Kaiju isn’t easy, and I need all the funds I can get. Should be a pretty easy job, too: the person on the phone even mailed me a picture of them.
So that’s all from me, gang. Cheers, and thanks for reading. And while I’m at it, if any of you guys have any intel on this person I’m set to murder, feel free to reach. Until then, however…
‘The Hunt (Jagten)’ is a drama movie directed by Thomas Vinterberg and released in 2012. This movie is about a nice kindergarten assistant living in a small Danish village when his life is ruined by a false accusation. The rating of this movie is R because it has some sexual content, some violence and language.
Lucas is a lonely guy but has some respect in his community and he’s getting his life back together after a divorce and custody battle for his son Marcus. He works at a preschool in the village where the kids all love him, like Klara, who’s the daughter of his best friend, Theo. After Klara says something about Lucas touching her to the principal, Lucas gets called out for touching Klara. Even though there is no evidence against Lucas, and he’s denying it, the whole village goes against him.
When the film keeps going, the person watching can see Lucas’s life really fall apart. He gets banned from the grocery store, he gets assaulted, and gets shut out by his so called “family”. The tension in the film gets higher as ‘The Hunt’ goes from Lucas getting cut off from the whole village to him getting beat up. And all of this happens when the viewer knows that Lucas is really innocent. The closer it gets to the end the more you can see Lucas’s life go all the way down.
Mads Mikkelsen gives a good performance of Lucas. He shows a guy that’s slowly losing himself over the movie over a false rumor. He tries to stay strong but slowly starts to go insane.
Theo, Lucas’s friend, also has a weird feeling over the movie when he struggles with protecting his daughter Klara and believing that his friend didn’t touch his daughter.
My thoughts on the film is that it’s a great movie but that it also plays with your head. Because at the end of the movie, after everything calms down for Lucas and it’s proven that he didn’t touch Klara, he gets shot at at the end of the movie. What I think that means is that nothing will ever actually go back to normal for him. At least for Lucas.
I would give ‘The Hunt (Jagten)’ a 10/10. This movie is on Prime Video and other streaming services.
‘American Psycho’ is a psychological thriller movie directed by Mary Hardin and released in 2000. This movie is based on a novel written by Bret Easton Ellis in 1991. The film revolves around a wealthy man living in New York City who secretly lives a double life. Throughout the movie we see the main character struggle with his identity, obsession with status, and inability to form genuine emotional connections.
Patrick Bateman is a successful investment banker working on Wall Street in New York City. On the outside he seems to live a perfect life filled with wealth, expensive restaurants, and high social status. However, behind his polished image he hides his psychopathic and violent urges.
He becomes obsessed with superficial things such as business cards, physical appearance, and designer brands. As the movie progresses, we see him commit brutal acts of violence while trying to maintain a normal public image. His violent actions show his deep emptiness and detachment from reality.
Throughout the film Bateman carefully maintains his professional life while hiding his disturbing behavior. He spends his time with wealthy coworkers discussing status symbols and material possessions. While at the same time, he secretly stalks and murders victims whom he believes deserves punishment. As his violence impulsively grows stronger, it becomes more difficult for him to maintain control. The movie often blurs the line between reality and imagination, leaving the viewers questioning whether all the events happened or it was all in Bateman’s head.
In my opinion, ‘American Psycho’ is a show that illustrates that someone can appear completely normal on the outside while hiding serious psychological problems. I believe the movie does a great job showing us why an obsession with wealth, status, and appearance is unhealthy. What really interests me is how the film shows us Patrick’s emptiness and shallowness while also showing his coping mechanisms such as surrounding himself with coworkers, being obsessed with status, and his violent fantasies. My favorite part of the film is that it leaves it to the viewer’s interpretation whether the events are real or that it’s all in Bateman’s head.
‘Jujitsu Kaisen’ is a popular anime that has been trending for a long time, recently at a peak with season 3 releasing, building up to an arc of the story that was arguably the best of the manga.
The base power is Cursed Energy which comes from negative emotions of people, and when high in an area it manifests as Curses, which are entities that threaten society. This is the very base of what ‘JJK’ is about. There are Sorcerers, who are trained humans that harness, control, and manipulate the same energy curses are made of, Cursed Energy, to battle them.
Though, it’s not that simple.
My favorite part is how complicated harnessing and controlling cursed energy as a human gets. All humans have innate techniques which is a unique ability engraved into someone’s brain at birth. It’s a way your brain automatically manipulates cursed energy to use it. There are infinite and endless ways, ranging from straightforward and weak, to straightforward and strong, to very very complicated, to anything in between.
A straightforward but extremely strong one is Satoru Gojo’s Limitless. It lets him manipulate space, that is the default way his brain manipulates CE. Straightforward. But he combines it with an ability to have molecular perception and precision of Cursed energy he was born with called the Six Eyes, allowing him to manipulate space not just basically in ways like having a permanent invisible force field to make him untouchable, but also launching an orb of space that pulls things together forcefully called Blue, and even reversing it to make an orb of space that violently repels things called Red. He even figured out how to combine Red and Blue making Purple, which is an imaginary mass that erases anything fundamentally from space.
Another innate technique is Suguru Getos. Instead of manipulating space his is Cursed spirit Manipulation. A type of technique that can allow you to manipulate cures. Specifically, his technique lets him absorb a curse that he defeated in battle by swallowing them. Once he swallows them and absorbs them he can store them in his body and summon them and use their abilities at will. This is very very powerful, turning the enemies into his own, completely under his control. The only downside is that he needs to first beat the curse in battle himself, then absorb them by swallowing them. He describes the process of absorbing a curse to be very very excruciatingly disgusting and painful psychologically. This eventually led him to a very bad depression until he turned evil. Even though he was one of the strongest and most loyal, his own ability on top of the harshness of life destroyed his mental health completely.
I could talk about the many many characters and their techniques also, everyone’s techniques are just as complicated as each others in completely different ways.
The true beauty of ‘JJk’ to me is the amount of characters and how central everyone is. There is no true main character because the story is about everyone and everything. One extra person being there, no matter how weak, would change the entire outcome. It bounces between eras, showing the current modern era like Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi handling school life chaos in Tokyo, then showing thousand long year plans in the making from ancient sorcerer myths like Sukuna, and Kenjaku. No one steals the spotlight permanently, every character development is through other characters.
‘JJK’ doesn’t hold back with the characters you’ve known from the start from dying. Characters turn evil, get cheated by the system, hated by their families for being different, and even complete noobs to Jujitsu but got pulled in and now have to compete with the best.
The diversity, with humor, tragedy, philosophy, character psychology, unpredictability, and complex themes and power system is why this anime is trending so much.
Description: Inspired by a true story of a family who believed they were possessed by spirits, this film follows a woman who must protect her child from a curse.
I remember when this movie got popular during 2024 and it caught my attention since everyone on social media were talking about how scary this movie was. I’ve checked it out and once the movie ended I felt terrified.
Things that I liked about this movie was the adrenaline rush of feeling on some scenes since you never can expect a jumpscare. There were also some few parts that made you very uncomfortable and eerie. It kept me on edge from beginning to end constantly guessing what might happen next.
If you’re looking for a deeply unsettling charged horror movie that sticks with you, I highly recommend this one since this horror movie isn’t like the rest of the others having some weak jumpscares that will actually surprise you.
Description: A deaf writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears at her window.
The deaf perspective in this movie makes this movie very thrilling. It taps into the fear of being alone in a remote house realizing your safety has been completely compromised. This movie is very intense by making the protagonist deaf and forces you to rely on visual clues making every noise feel like your heart is about to drop.
This movie doesn’t use cheap jumpscares and is very unique from the rest of the movies I’m ranking.
Description: Former toy maker Sam Mullins, and his wife Esther, are happy to welcome a nun and six orphaned girls into their California farmhouse. Years earlier, the couple’s 7 year old daughter, Annabelle, died in a tragic car accident. Terror soon strikes when one child sneaks into a forbidden room and finds a seemingly innocent doll that appears to have a life of its own.
In my opinion, ‘Annabelle: Creation’ is better than the first ‘Annabelle’ (2014) as there are a lot of improvements on the atmosphere and jumpscares.
This movie uses a lot of shots where there’s a massive black space behind characters during some scenes, for example when Annabelle is trying to play “hide and seek”. It forces your eyes to focus on the background trying to search the shadow movements making you create your own scares.
It’s a fun movie to watch with a group of friends because the scares are well timed
Description: 1956 – France. A priest is murdered. An evil is spreading. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit ‘The Nun’ follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face to face with the demonic force Valak-The Demon Nun.
This horror movie relies on religious dread and iconography. I really don’t like religious horror movies since I feel like they’re the same like every other horror religious movie but this one was good. I watched the first horror nun movie and it really didn’t get me hyped like this one. This movie had a big improvement on the atmosphere from the first nun movie and some genuine creepy visual scenes.
This movie leans into heavy loud noises for its jump scares going from quiet to LOUD. It’s a traditional horror technique that in my opinion, doesn’t really get you into a fear state, but this horror movie had the greatest quiet to loud noises just because of the scenes they used for that technique.
Description: About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events.
Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.
It’s rare for a horror sequel to be better than the first one, but ‘Smile 2’ pulled it off. In ‘Smile’ the movie was about the curse and now this one focuses on the loss of reality when the “smiles” starts to happen in public places.
This movie isn’t really scary but I love how this movie adds a fear of public humiliation in front of everyone. This movie contains some of the best effects and it’s a really good movie if you’re in love with plot twists. The end will surprise you, and overall, the actress and other people are on point.
Hey guys, it’s me: Movie Mike. If you haven’t heard of me before (chuckles), then I’d be surprised. As one of the world’s leading film critics, it’s near-impossible to encounter an aspiring reviewer in the Hollywood industry not influenced by my work. No one comes close! My opinions are sacrosanct! I wore a Criterion Collection t-shirt to my great aunt’s funeral!
Being the “movie mogul” I am, it’s safe to say that my ratings for films are all correct. This means that you simply can’t get mad at me for my opinions because, well…they aren’t! ‘Tampopo’ is overrated. ‘Bambi’ is the best Disney movie. Baz Lurhmann films all suck. These are a mere sampling of my just and truthful views, ones that – in a perfect world – would be religiously-accepted.
Anyways, that’s enough about me. 2025 was a pretty good year for movies overall, even when compared to years like 2019 and 2023. Lots of good stuff came out, so it was pretty difficult to narrow down this list to just 5. So before I begin with the countdown, let’s go over a few honorable (and dishonorable) mentions.
‘Train Dreams,’ directed by Clint Bentley, was my 6th favorite of last year. This is a lush, dreamy story about an American logger during the early 20th century, the plot paired finely with near-hypnotic cinematography. A slow film, the visuals and sound design work to captivate your interest throughout as you watch this man’s life unfold – from the beginning to the very end.
Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ also just missed out on the top 5. This was among the year’s most popular, arguably becoming the first universally-acclaimed release of 2025. I love it a lot too, though maybe a little less than others: the tone felt all over the place for me, trying to balance elements of horror, action, fantasy and even comedy genres at times, though never as gracefully as I would hope. Still very good, however.
To speed through some other films, ‘Weapons’ was one of the biggest surprises for me, especially as someone mostly-indifferent to horror flicks. I honestly foresee it potentially climbing into the top 5 with another rewatch; it gets better the more I think about it. ‘Superman’ and ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ were both extremely overrated, ‘F1’ somehow got an Oscar nom for Best Picture despite having a shallower story than ‘Cars,’ and, well…I actually did kinda like that K-Pop movie everyone’s talking about.
Alright, I think that’ll do. Without further ado, here’s my (official) list of the Top 5 Feature Films of 2025.
#5: ‘One Battle After Another’ (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Yeah, it was a shoo-in for ending up on this list, but really, why wouldn’t it? It’s safe to say that ‘One Battle After Another’ is among the premier movies of 2025, quickly becoming amongst those future cinephiles will sweat and stammer about when remembering the year’s catalog.
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the film follows a group of retired mercenaries reuniting to rescue the daughter of one of their members. This is an action movie in every sense of the word, and unlike something like ‘Sinners,’ I don’t feel I have to end that statement in a question mark. The movie never lets up in its profound portrayals of family, friends and the importance of community – a notion countered by the film’s antagonist in one of Sean Penn’s best roles. Of course, Chase Infiniti, Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor also do excellent jobs – even if I think the latter-most’s performance is a tad overrated.
While I may have it lower than others might, that’s not to diminish this film’s quality. In times of unprecedented peril and hostility around the world, it’s great to have a movie unabashedly hopeful for the future of humanity.
#4: ‘Frankenstein’ (Guillermo del Toro)
I’m a very big fan of del Toro overall, he’s easily a personal favorite director of mine. This isn’t to say he has a perfect filmography, but it’s rare for a director to have so many individually-perfect films like him. ‘Frankenstein,’ despite some minor issues, is yet another triumph from the Mexican filmmaker, feeling like the culmination of his career thus far.
Of course, the film is an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel of the same name, so I’d be wasting article space recounting the play-by-play. As it stands, however, the film is a lovely tribute to the novel, introducing new ideas whilst honoring the original’s. Oscar Issac and Jacob Elordi also do great jobs as Victor Frankenstein and The Creature respectively as well, accompanied by a talented supporting cast.
This movie pairs nicely with del Toro’s adaptation of ‘Pinocchio’ from a few years back (my personal favorite work of his), both films addressing father-son relationships, creation, and life in meaningful and touching ways. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I firmly stand by ‘Frankenstein’ as being among the year’s most heartfelt flicks.
#3: ‘Bugonia’ (Yorgos Lanthimos)
‘Bugonia’ is among the films from last year I’ve thought most about since first viewing, which goes to show its staying power in the mind. What I originally perceived as a simple alien story cartwheeled into a vast sci-fi epic – one taking place entirely in a man’s basement.
The plot has a simple set-up: 2 men kidnap a CEO under the belief that she’s an alien, both seeking to save the world from her species’ wrath. The film eventually unfurls into something greater, however: a harrowing story about vengeance and what drives people to pursue it, no matter the consequences. In a collision course of a final act, ‘Bugonia’ manages to maintain both great comedy with powerful drama and cement itself as among its genre’s finest. And that score? Woof.
#2: ‘Hamnet’ (Chloé Zhao)
‘Hamnet’ is one of those films that, upon rewatch, I could see lowering my rating for and/or placement of it here, but for now I’ll just let it go. Because WOWIE, this movie is pretty dang good, actually!
An adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, the plot predominantly follows Agnes and William Shakespeare as they grapple with the death of their 11-year-old, the titular Hamnet. The film shows their differing methods of dealing with grief, the latter using the tragedy as the basis for a new play.
The film is largely Agnes’s, however, played by Jessie Buckley in among the actress’s finest roles. I’ve been careful with my synopsis of the story to not describe her as merely “Shakespeare’s wife,” as that rids her character of so much depth on display here. Her sadness, given tangibility by the noble nature of her son’s death, is profound and moving to a fault. It’s this character and her struggle that defines the film, making it among the best of last year.
The movie isn’t perfect, but it’s crazy just how many individual things ‘Hamnet’ does do perfectly. Again, I could see myself lowering my score upon a more critical second viewing, but for now I herald it as a triumph.
#1: ‘Marty Supreme’ (Josh Safdie)
Despite claiming the top spot, I surprisingly don’t have much to say about ‘Marty Supreme’ that others haven’t already. The Safdie brothers excel in fast-paced, chaotic films that spiral out of control within minutes, given character through honest, flawed leads that add to the narrative’s energy and dynamism. ‘Uncut Gems’ has always been a great example of this trend, and ‘Marty Supreme’ looks to equal it in its levels of mania.
As to not spoil much, the film centers on the semi-fictional character of Marty Mauser, a young man who aims to be the greatest table tennis player in the world. The plot chronicles just that — for like, an hour. Interspliced with his rise to global recognition are countless vignettes showing his madcap life that quickly steal the show, turning what would be a normal sports flick into a modern epic.
I could sit here and say the filmmaking on display isn’t rocket science, but who am I kidding: it’s miraculous how what could’ve been a smorgasbord of absurd, random nosequators was instead weaved into an all-time classic. A definite highlight of 2025, and a movie I’d recommend to anyone.
‘The Pitt’ is a medical drama TV show created by Scott Gemmill and starring Noah Wyle. Each season of the show is one whole day and follows the emergency department staff’s 15 hour work shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center; each episode is 1 hour of their work shift totaling 15 episodes.
Season 2 takes place on the 4th of July holiday, where Dr. Robby (played by Noah Wyle) starts his last shift before his 3 month break. Dr. Langdon returns from rehab, and a new character, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, is introduced to step in during high pressure.
I think that season 2 of ‘The Pitt’ so far has its pros and its cons. To start with the cons, I wish that Dr. McKay (played by Fiona Dourif) would get more screen time. I noticed that whenever she would come back into the scene, I had completely forgotten about her because the show would have long scenes without her. She also almost never interacts with other staff, which brings me to my next con. I don’t like the creative choices of not putting main actors into scenes together or making them avoid a relationship. I understand that this could happen in real life, but I want to see more doctors with each other, such as Dr. Samira and Javadi, who have a close relationship outside of the show but not inside the show, as they never share one scene.
My last con is how this season feels slower paced and repetitive. One reason I liked and continued to watch season 1 was because of the chaos and how everything was messy in a way, just like season 1 of the restaurant drama show ‘The Bear,’ but just like this show, the later seasons became slower. I understand why some shows do this to show the growing maturity, but one season is only one day, and I think if this show continues, they need to have the following seasons be as fast as the first one, and then they can slow it down when it comes to an end.
This season also seems to keep showing the main characters’ past problems, which already took up a substantial amount of time in the first season, which I don’t appreciate because characters like Samira (played by Supriya Ganesh) are either not getting a good plot or becoming less featured or both. One thing I really appreciated from the first season was how Dr. Samira advocated for more empathetic patient care; the way she focuses on healthcare inequality, race, and systemic barriers was very important because racism in healthcare is still very prevalent, and many people don’t know that. But now in season 2, they have given her less success in these barriers being fixed, and it feels to me they are trying to make her an annoying character.
Now to talk about the pros of this season. My first pro is that they keep up with the times, for example, Dr. Al-Hashimi introduced an AI system for the hospital, and other doctors were criticizing it just like people today. And what I like is that it’s not in a cringey way like how other shows mock Gen Z with the most stereotypical phrases, but instead in a more realistic way, which brings me to my second pro about this show, which is realism. One of the main things this show is known for is how realistic it is; even doctors and ER workers have said how accurate the protocols and procedures are. This is probably the biggest reason I like and continue watching this show because of the realness this show has vs. others like ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ which is famously known as the most inaccurate medical TV show.
Overall, I would give Season 2 of ‘The Pitt’ a rating of 8.1/10 and would recommend this show to many, but it is rated TV-MA and often shows open wounds, so watch at your own discretion. You can watch ‘The Pitt’ on HBO Max
‘Waves’ is a young adult film made in 2019. The film is produced by Trey Edward Shults, Kevin Turen and Jim Wilson. The main cast of the movie contains Tyler (played by Kelvin Harrison), Alexis (played by Alexa Demie), Emily (played by Taylor Russel) and Ronald (played by Sterling Brown).
The film starts off with Tyler, it shows his routine and how much pressure is being put on him especially from his dad Ronald. He has a lot of anger built up but his girlfriend Alexis is the only one to keep him at peace. One night, Alexis finds out she’s pregnant, and they plan on getting an abortion but once they get to the clinic, she changes her mind. They leave the place and end up arguing in the car about it which leads to Alexis stepping out of the car and walking home. Tyler was very angry about the situation and destroyed his bedroom out of anger, and they ended up breaking up which led to Tyler to start taking drugs. Around that time, prom arrives. They don’t end up going together and she decides to go with her boy best friend. Jealousy overcomes Tyler through an Instagram post of them together, and he decides to show up at the prom’s after party to look for Alexis.
He storms out of the house which makes his parents worried, and once he arrives at the party he sees Alexis walking upstairs with her boy best friend. He assumes the worst and once Alexis comes back down he follows after her. She went into the garage for some drinks and that’s when Tyler appeared. They started arguing again about whether or not she should abort the baby and should they get back together. She slaps him across the face because he was yelling at her and that’s when Tyler punched her, killing her. He runs away and Emily finds her body and eventually Tyler gets caught by the police which leads him to get life in prison.
The second half of the movie is about his twin sister Emily and about how after the tragic incident with Alexis she didn’t feel the same. She would get death threats and keep to herself, until one day a boy named Luke asked her on a date. She decided to go and they really liked each other. From that day on they would talk everyday and would go on trips with each other. They became a couple, and they were there for each other through the most rough times, like when Luke’s dad passed away, and when Emily would blame herself for Alexis. They made each other happy.
This film really feels like two different movies. The first half really shows toxic masculinity and the intense relationships between Tyler and his family. The film had a lot of vibrant colors for whatever emotion was portrayed on the screen. The second half of the film was very calming, as it emphasized love and forgiveness, dealing with the hate and overcoming the pain. The film did feel like a wave of emotions; I really like this movie because of that. The soundtrack was amazing as well (Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator), it had a lot of good powerful songs.
I give this movie a 5/5. I recommend this film to whoever likes to feel the emotions through the screen. You can watch this film on Tubi, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.
‘Dexter’ is a television show about psychological thriller created by Jeff Lindsay in 2004. The show revolves around a man who is a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami police department. Throughout the show we see the main character struggle with violent urges, following a moral code, and living a double life.
Dexter Morgan is a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami police department, helping solve murder cases. However, he secretly lives the double life as a serial killer who targets murderers. He follows a strict moral code that was instilled within him from a very young age. This is supposed to keep Dexter in check so he doesn’t harm innocent people. Growing up, he experienced severe traumatic events such as his mother getting murdered right in front of his own eyes. After the incident, he was adopted by a Miami police officer. His adoptive father tried but failed to break Dexter out these weird behaviors, but nonetheless it didn’t lead anywhere. Throughout the show we see Dexter change from someone who thinks he is a pure monster to recognizing his humanity.
Throughout the show Dexter works as a forensic blood spatter analyst while also hiding his secret. Throughout the show, we see Dexter use Miami metro database information to track potential targets. In each episode of Dexter, he does his job as a blood analyst and uses his lunch breaks to look for potential killings. Throughout the show we see Dexter face villains every season while also keeping his identity in check. This gets evermore difficult as the show progresses. His friends become suspicious because of his activity and actions. This leads to multiple climactic endings that keeps the viewer invested.
Dexter has multiple relationships with female characters through the course of the series. Characters such as Rita Bennett, Lila West, and Debra Morgan play a major role in his life. He first dates Rita Bennett, who he initially sees as a safe cover for his double life, but he gradually develops genuine feelings as the show progresses. Lila West was important for Dexter’s character because she taught him to accept the monster he is rather than running away from it. As she teaches him to bring out his darker impulses. Lastly Debra Morgan, Dexter’s sister remains a central character throughout the series, she helps Dexter throughout the show in the more emotional parts of the series. Throughout the show we see how Dexter grow and learns from every female cast character he meets and connects with.
You can watch ‘Dexter’ on Paramount+ or other streaming services with a subscription.
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