Here we are again folks, another round up of films that are truly varied in their reviews and ratings this month! From dramas to horrors, comedies to thrillers, we’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get right into it!

This month’s TTRs consists of: Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story; After the Hunt; Ballad of a Small Player; Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale; Good Boy; Hedda; Hell House LLC: Lineage; In Your Dreams; The Long Walk; The Naked Gun (2025); The Plague; Priscilla; Reflection in a Dead Diamond; Train Dreams.

Director: Natasha Kermani
Writer: Natasha Kermani, based on the short story by Joe Hill, in turn based on characters created by Bram Stoker
Cast: Titus Welliver, Brady Hepner, Judah Mackey, Jocelin Donahue, Jonathan Howard

2024 was the year of the vampire, with Nosferatu making a splash, and 2025 is the year of Frankenstein, but there was no way Dracula was going to let the Creature take all the attention. Based on Joe Hill’s short story and as a sort-of sequel to Dracula, Abraham van Helsing (Welliver) moves his sons and wife Mina (Donahue) to the US, and having grown up on Abraham’s stories of creatures of the the night, his sons train to take up their father’s fight against vampires. The short story is interesting and a good length to just offer a little extra from the Bram Stoker’s world, but it isn’t enough to have a feature-length film (though at 90 minutes it is probably considered relatively short). Frankly it’s slow in pace, boring in story and far too dialogue-heavy. The performances aren’t bad, but they don’t have much to work with. This is the much weaker of two films based on short stories from Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts anthology released this year, the other being Black Phone 2, a sequel to The Black Phone, that is far better executed.

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writer: Nora Garrett
Cast: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny

Luca Guadagnino has made quite a splash with his work in the past decade, and though his latest, After the Hunt, follows in his style, it takes a step into a bigger world of societal issues. Alma (Roberts) finds herself caught between her colleague and old friend Hank (Garfield) and her PhD student Maggie (Edebiri) when Maggie accuses Hank of sexual assault. In theory it’s a strong premise, and there are moments of poignancy, but in execution it feels too forced with the various subject matter it tries to cover. Nora Garrett’s story pits older generations against the younger using modern societal issues and SA as catalysts – the characters talk about being ‘performative’ in numerous ways, yet that is exactly how the film itself translates. The true stars of the show are Roberts, who puts in a great performance, and the music, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Director: Edward Berger
Writer: Rowan Joffe, based on the book by Lawrence Osborn
Cast: Colin Farrell, Tilda Swinton, Fala Cheng, Alex Jennings

Brendan Reilly (Farrell) a disgraced financier and gambling addict, poses as a Lord to in Macau to live in luxury and continue his gambling, despite being essentially penniless, and it’s not long before his debts start to catch up with him. Farrell puts in a good performance, and there is some great cinematography that keeps things aesthetically interesting (though the colourisation is very saturated), but the story doesn’t do too much to keep up with the visuals. It attempts to go deeper into Reilly’s personal suffering and need for connection in spite of his glaring flaws, but it becomes increasingly difficult to empathise with him until he finally makes a change, a change that comes too late to really care for long.

Director: Simon Curtis
Writer: Julian Fellowes
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Harry Hadden-Paton, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Joanna Froggatt, Robert James-Collier, Jim Carter, Allen Leech, Sophia McShera, Michael Fox, Lesley Nicol, Phyllis Logan, Penelope Wilton, Douglas Reith, Kevin Doyle, Dominic West, Arty Froushan, Joely Richardson, Paul Giamatti

In this third (and supposedly final) cinematic outing for the residents and workers of Downton Abbey, the Crawley family find themselves at the centre of a scandal involving Lady Mary (Dockery), struggle to stay financially afloat and reluctantly face the future and modern standards and sensibilities. Fans of the show and the previous films will likely enjoy this one and find some satisfaction in the way the lives of some characters are wrapped up. There is some clear growth for some characters while others have the potential to continue in further spin-offs, yet it truly feels like it is now the end of an era. Like the other films, it comes across as an extended episode, but unlike Downton Abbey and A New Era, this one is a little stronger in story.

Director: Ben Leonberg
Writers: Alex Cannon, Ben Leonberg
Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman

Everyone loves dogs, right? They truly are man’s best friend, and Good Boy shows this to good effect. When Indy and his owner Todd (Jensen) move from the city to a rural area, Todd becomes haunted by a presence that he appears to be unaware of, but Indy, ever the loyal canine, does his best to protect Todd from the evil that surrounds him. Not since Homeward Bound (1993) have I enjoyed a movie centred around a dog or pets so much (Marley & Me was alright). It’s so much more than just a horror movie – it has themes about depression and survival in humans and the role dogs play in both and just how central they are to our lives at times. It is shot fairly well, though it could have been edited to give Indy a little more personality, and though the ending was good, I felt Indy deserved better by then, because he truly was a good boy.

Director: Nia DaCosta
Writer: Nia DaCosta, based on the stage play by Henrik Ibsen
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Nina Hoss, Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock

I would just like to preface this by saying I knew next to nothing about Ibsen’s play (titled Hedda Gabler) before watching this film, and so the story was relatively new to me. Hedda (Thompson), unhappy in her recent marriage, has a get-together of friends and acquaintances that soon falls into chaos when secrets are revealed and revenge is sought. The play’s setting is changed to be a little more contemporary, and the is a gender role reversal in one of the love rivals, and though I cannot say if these changes make any significant difference to the play, I can say that it perhaps makes certain scenes easier to digest and understand. It is really well shot and especially interesting how Hedda is often framed central to many shots, even if that means cutting off other characters with whom she interacts. Of course this makes somesense, considering she is the titular character, but it serves as a reminder of how the world does seem to revolve around here, at least in within this timeframe of events. The pacing is a little off at times and bridges between events somtimes feel stretched, but Thompson’s performance is consistent throughout.

Director: Stephen Cognetti
Writer: Stephen Cognetti
Cast: Elizabeth Vermilyea, Searra Sawka, Cayla Berejikian, Victoria Andrunik, Bridget Rose Perrotta, Destiny Leilani Brown, Mike Sutton, Nicholas Stoesser

The Hell House series appears to be at an end, and honestly, thank god. Once again, characters return to investigate deaths connected to the Carmichael Manor and all… uh… hell breaks loose. Instead of continuing in the found footage style, this is the only film in the series to be shot traditionally, and it looks like that was a big mistake, as it took away just about the only interesting aspect of these films. Nothing really happens until about half an hour in, and even then we are greeted with poor dialogue and flat performances. The ‘scares’ are anything but, and the story is just boring – sometimes it feels like they’re trying too hard to link everything together but each link is as tenuous as the next. Unfortunately, this series that began with such promise has slowly dwindled, thus going out not with a bang, but with a pathetic whimper.

Directors: Erik Benson, Alexander Woo
Writers: Erik Beson, Alexander Woo
Cast: Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Elias Janssen, Craig Robinson, Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, Omid Djalili

Netflix’s first feature film from their Animation Studios was Klaus in 2019, and it was/is a wonderfully animated Christmas film that I recommend every year. In the years since, they’re struggled to eminate that success, especially when coming up against the likes of Disney and Dreamworks. In Your Dreams doesn’t look like it’ll be the film to bring them back, either. Siblings Stevie (Hoang-Rappaport) and Elliot (Janssen) find themselves caught their own dream world when they ask the Sandman (Djalili) to grant their wish of a perfect family. As much as it attempts to get thematic and see through the eyes of children, it’s lacking that *spark* that makes a children’s film successful. It seems to rely on humour in order to hold interest, and while it does occasionally succeed in that department, the plot is lacking in said interest and struggles to bring the audience along on its adventure.

Director: Francis Lawrence
Writer: J.T Mollner, based on the novella by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)
Cast: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Want, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Roman Griffin Davis, Judy Greer, Mark Hamill

Francis Lawrence is no stranger to a dystopian world (Hunger Games, anyone?), and so he was the right choice to direct this famous novella from Stephen King, story that sees a group of boys take on the Long Walk, in which they must continue to walk above 3mph until just one boy remains, his prize being money and one wish for something he wants. If one should stop or fall below 3mph, he gets three warnings before getting shot. It doesn’t come a whole lot more dystopian than this, and due to the nature of the story and its lack of action, it relies heavily on characters being strong and dialogue being interesting, both of which it succeeds in. At times it will make you sad, others it will make you angry, but everything the audience is guided to feel coincides with the characters and their own feelings towards the dictatorial regime that has them forced to partake in this suicide walk. The actors themselves, particularly Cooper Hoffman (son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman), put in excellent performances and their offscreen camraderie did wonders for their onscreen chemistry with each other.

Director: Akiva Schaffer
Writers: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, Akiva Schaffer
Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Kevin Durand, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu

Remaking, rebooting or refreshing, whatever you want to call it, a beloved comedy classic is always a huge risk, but fortunately, we have one here that not only stays true to its roots but pays homage to them in numerous hysterical ways. Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr. (Neeson), son of the late Frank Drebin (played by the late Leslie Nielsen in the original film) continues his father’s legacy at the LAPD Police Squad and must do everything he can to prevent the Squad from being shut down. Though Neeson doesn’t quite reach the comedic heights of Nielsen, he does a damn good job of almost getting there. He emulates the similar dry humour that was common in classic spoof movies pre-2000, a type of humour so many comic actors try to replicate but usually fail at. Just like the original ’88 film, the story is not what matters, ensuring the slapstick and physical comedy is funny and that the jokes land is what makes a film like this successful, and along with performances from Pamela Anderson and Paul Walter Hauser Jr., it all works very well.

Director: Charlie Polinger
Writer: Charlie Polinger
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Everett Blunck, Kenny Rasmussen, Lennox Espy, Caden Burris, Lucas Adler, Elliott Heffernan, Kolton Lee, Kayo Martin

I’ve gotta say, Joel Edgerton really knows how to choose amazing film projects. In this first of two Edgerton-featuring movies on this list, he plays a water polo coach to a group of boys whom this story is about. One is outcast due to having a skin issue that the boys dub ‘the plague’, and when new boy Ben (Blunck) comes along, he finds himself going along with their taunts and pranks so he can fit in, but he soon finds his empathy getting the better of him. This film will likely resonate far more with men and teenage boys due to its subject matter, but there’s still plenty to relate to for women and girls, too. There’s something rather Lord of the Flies about it due to the attitudes and almost feral nature of some of the boys when left to their own devices (though they do have some adult supervision here and there), and as Ben gets to know the boys and their ‘traditions’, we’re almost pulled into it ourselves and can understand why he feels he has no choice but to follow the crowd. Stylistically it has fantastic and oft-terrifying soundscapes and a sound design that makes getting in the pool seem more frightening than getting in the ocean with Jaws. Many of the underwater shots are fantastic and gives such an uneasy feeling in conjunction with the sound, underscoring the terror of the film as a whole.

Director: Sofia Coppola
Writer: Sofia Coppola, based on ‘Elvis and Me’ by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon
Cast: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen, Dagmara Dominczyk, Tim Post

It’s become a clear to modern society that Priscilla Beaulieu was far too young to be courted by a much older Elvis Presley back in the fifties/sixties, but to get her perspective on things tells an interesting story. Based on Priscilla’s own autobiography, the film picks up from the time Priscilla (Spaeny) met Elvis (Elordi) in Germany while both he and her father were stationed there, and follows their marriage, the birth of their daughter Lisa Marie, and through to their separate lives and eventual divorce. Bear in mind, this all happened between the ages of 14 and 28 for Priscilla, and Spaeny is uncanny across those ages, effectively portraying a teenager as well as a full adult, with Spaeny being 24 at the time of filming. She delivers an amazing performance and holds her own extremely well, even when up against the towering Elordi as Elvis. The pair have great chemistry onscreen, neither of them stealing scenes but rather working them together from Priscilla’s point of view. Though the story is based on true events from Priscilla’s perspective, it doesn’t shy away from showing Elvis in a good or bad light, and the production as whole does a great job of impressing a feeling of isolation and suffocation when it comes to Priscilla being a part of Elvis’s complicated world.

Directors: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani
Writers: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani
Cast: Fabio Testi, Yannick Renier, Manon Beuchot, Koen De Bouw

In this French thriller, John Diman (Testi), an ex-spy, has retired and now lives in Côte d’Azur, but he fears old enemies have tracked him down and are looking to take him out. He also views himself in his younger years (Renier) when he was more agile and attractive. It certainly comes across as a retired James Bond film though done far more stylisitcally, as though he’s high and reminiscing on his hey day. There’s something about it that gets under your skin and, without spoilers, it kind of becomes clear why toward the end of the film. There are some gruesome yet thrilling moments, though the plot can get a little messy from time to time, particularly when the cinematography starts to take on a life of its own. Essentially this film is about an older man reflecting on his heyday and doesn’t have a whole lot of substance to it, but it’s got a certain je ne sais quoi, to steal from the French, that I enjoy about it.

Director: Clint Bentley
Writers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, based on the book by Denis Johnson
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Alfred Hsing, William H. Macy, Nathaniel Arcand

Between the early- to mid-1900s, Robert Grainier (Edgerton, in his second project on this list), a logger and railroad worker, experiences happiness and loss in various forms, with nature playing a significant role in the major events in his life. The film is beautifully shot, showing off the stunning landscape of North America, with Bentley purposely using 3:2 (1.50:1) aspect ratio to impress on the audience the height of the towering, aged trees, and while some seem to dislike it, I enjoyed it for the way it also ages the film. Contrastingly, the story is a stark reminder that nature often has a way of fighting back, sometimes in an almost supernatural kind of way. It’s a meaningful snippet in the complicated history of the destruction of North America and the creation of the United States, and it doesn’t shy away from the sins of colonisers against both nature and fellow humans. Wonderfully written with an exceptional lead performance from Edgerton and a minimal yet impactful performance from Macy, this is one of the strongest films of this year.