His House is about a pair of Sudanese refugees, Bol and Rial. They survived a horrible trek across the country and a disaster at sea in which they lose their daughter. Bol and Rial make it to England to be granted temporary asylum and given a place to stay. Though, the house they are given is haunted by the ghosts and demons they brought with them. The film stars Sope Dirisu, Wonmi Mosaku, Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba, Javier Botet, and Matt Smith. The film is written and directed by Remi Weekes from a story by Felicity Evans and Tony Venables. The film is streaming exclusively on Netflix. Holy shit His House is scary. I'm so glad I watched it in the day time. Though, wearing noise cancelling head
On the Rocks is about a writer, Laura, who is in a rut creatively. She has a second full time job as a mother to two girls and her husband, Dean, is often away on business. After a weird interaction with Dean, Laura seeks help from close friends and family to suss out if Dean may be having an affair. Yet, there's only one person who would know for sure and that's her philandering father, Felix. Laura and Felix get lost in their own narrative as they chase down leads in an effort to find the truth. The film stars Rashida Jones, Bill Murray, Marlon Wayans, Jessica Henwick, Liyanna Muscat, Alexandra and Anna Reimer, Barbara Bain, Alva Chinn, Juliana Canfield, and Jenny Slate. The film is writte
Bad Hair is a film about a young woman, Anna, who has been trying to break into hosting on an MTV like network. Though, because she is a Black woman who wears her hair naturally, she's finding many roadblocks along the way. She takes the advice of her new boss and goes to the salon to get a hair weave sewn in. Anna finds that people are more interested in her and her ideas with her new hairdo, but something's wrong. The hair begins to take over and thirst for blood. The film stars Elle Lorraine, Jay Pharoah, James Van Der Beek, Ashley Blaine Featherston, Lena Waithe, Yaani King Mondschein, Kelly Rowland, Usher Raymond IV, Judith Scott, Chanté Adams, Daheli Hall, Laverne Cox, Blair Underwood,
Rebecca is an adaptation of the acclaimed novel of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier. It is about a young woman who is unnamed until she marries, "above her station," to Max de Winter. As the new Mrs. de Winter, the narrator is brought back to the ancestral home, Manderlay, which is figuratively haunted by the former Mrs. de Winter, the titular Rebecca. As Mrs. de Winter uncovers the secrets of Rebecca's mysterious death, she's driven mad by the calculating former servant of Rebecca, Mrs. Danvers. The film stars Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Riley, Bryony Miller, Tom Goodman-Hill, Jeff Rawle, and Ann Dowd. The film is directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Jane Goldm
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a courtroom drama about eight men accused of starting the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968. Though the evidence is clearly in the men's favor, it's obvious that the political establishment has a desired result and will work the system in order to get that result. The film stars Eddie Redmayne, Alex Sharp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, John Carroll Lynch, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Shenkman, J.C. MacKenzie, Frank Langella, Danny Flaherty, Noah Robbins, John Doman, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Caitlin FitzGerald, Alice Kremelberg, and Michael Keaton. The film is written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. The
Evil Eye is a story told between phone calls. Usha lives in Dehli and calls her daughter Pallavi everyday, mostly with dating advice. One day Pallavi stumbles into a relationship all on her own, but Usha has a bad feeling. She begins to spiral convinced this man may be the reincarnated spirit of the horrifically abusive man she dated before meeting Pallavi's father. The film stars Sarita Choudhury, Sunita Mani, Bernard White, Omar Maskati, Anjali Bhimani, Rachel Cora Wood, and Lena Clark. The film is directed by Elan and Rajeev Dassani and written by Madhuri Shekar. The film is a part of the Welcome to the Blumhouse series streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime. I have to admit my trepidation
Content warning: This film includes multiple depictions of suicide. Nocturne is about a prestigious performing arts high school at which a pair of fraternal twins attend. Juliet, the ambitious, but more anxious of the two is having trouble getting noticed. Her sister, Vivian, has the friends, the boyfriend, the spot at Juilliard, and because of the top student Moira's, suicide, a spotlight performance at the senior showcase. Yet, when Juliet discovers Moira's notebook and plays the song within, things begin to go her way. Lots of happy accidents occur, but they start to mirror the strange drawings in the notebook and make Juliet suspicious about what the missing sixth drawing is supposed to
Unpregnant is about two teenagers on a road trip... so that one of them can get an abortion. Veronica and Bailey used to be best friends, but a riff in high school drove them apart. Now, Bailey is Veronica's last hope to get from their home in Missouri, which is a state that doesn't allow for women under eighteen to get an abortion without a parents consent, to Albuquerque, which is the closest city that will allow the procedure to take place. Of course it wouldn't be a road trip without a lot of hijinks along the way. The film stars Haley Lu Richardson, Barbie Ferreira, Alex MacNicoll, Brekin Meyer, Sugar Lyn Beard, Denny Love, Betty Who, Giancarlo Esposito, and Mary McCormack. The film is
Black Box is about Nolan, a man who is recovering from a traumatic brain injury. A car accident cost him his wife and his memories of her, but as he tries to piece his memories back together he gets persistent messages from a neuroscientist who claims she can do what no one else can. Her radical therapy has some very unexpected results. The film stars Mamoudou Athie, Phylcia Rashad, Amanda Christine, Tosin Morohunfola, Charmain Bingwa, and Donal Elise Watkins. It is directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Jr. and written by Osei-Kuffour Jr., Stephen Herman, and Wade Allain-Marcus. The film is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime as a part of their Welcome to the Blumhouse series. Black Box strik
The Lie is a film about a divorced couple who coparent their teenage daughter. As Jay drives his daughter, Kayla, to a weekend retreat for her dance school, they find Kayla's friend Britney waiting at a bus stop. They drive for a while and then have to stop so Britney can relieve herself. That's when everything goes wrong and Jay has to enlist his ex-wife Rebecca to cover up what Kayla did. The film stars Peter Sarsgaard, Mireille Enos, Joey King, Cas Anvar, Patti Kim, Nicholas Lea, and Devery Jacobs. The film is written and directed by Veena Sud. The film is streaming as part of Amazon Prime's showcase, Welcome to the Blumhouse. Teenagers are such idiots. I know that and you know that becau
The Forty-Year-Old Version is about a playwright, Radha, who after her rising star fades, has taken a teaching position to pay the bills. She tries everything to get her creative juices flowing even attempting a mixtape for a possible career shift to hip-hop. She ends up being talked out of it and compromising her art for a shot at her play getting produced, but it could be her breaking point. The film stars Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Imani Lewis, Haskiri Velasquez, Antonio Ortiz, T.J. Adams, Oswin Benjamin, and Reed Birney. The film is written and directed by Radha Blank. The film is streaming exclusively on Netflix. I loved this movie. The influences of Spike Lee are there, but Radha Blank's
Charm City Kings is about Mouse, a teenage boy from West Baltimore who looked up to his big brother and the guys his brother rode dirt bikes with, the Midnight Clique. Mouse wants nothing more than to get his bike and join the MNC, but several mentors including his mother who doesn't want to lose another son to the streets, a police officer who gets him into an internship position with a veterinarian, and the former leader of MNC who teaches Mouse how to build bikes, not just ride them try desperately to keep him from that life. Yet, the pull of his brother is too strong and Mouse might fall down the wrong path if he doesn't realize his talents lie elsewhere. The film stars Jahi Di'Allo Wins
Save Yourselves! is a film about a thirty-something couple who live their lives virtually. Their intimacy, jobs, family, and all their brain power goes into their computers. When enough is enough, Su and Jack decide to get out of the city for a week. They turn off their devices and return to a more natural way of living. Of course, this also happens to be the week in which an alien species decides to invade Earth. Now their fight is for their lives and their intimacy. The film stars Sunita Mani, John Reynolds, Ben Sinclair, John Early, Jo Firestone, Gary Richardson, Johanna Day, Zenobia Shroff, and Amy Sedaris. The film is written and directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. The f
Vampires vs. the Bronx is about three boys who are best friends. They're facing a great new wave of change in their beloved Bronx, but only Miguel has been working as an activist to save the heritage and culture of the neighborhood from being overrun by hipsters. When Miguel stumbles on a vampire conspiracy linked back to the group buying up property all over the neighborhood, he, Bobby and Luis try and come up with a plan to save their lives and the neighborhood. The film stars Jaden Michael, Gerald Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV, Sarah Gadon, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Shea Whigham, Coco Jones, Joel "The Kid Mero" Martinez, Jeremie Harris, Imani Lewis, and Zoe Saldaña. It is directed by Oz Rodr
The Boys in the Band is based on the stage play of the same name. It's about a group of gay men who gather to celebrate a friend's birthday in 1968. Though, as the booze flows and an unexpected guest arrives, the night takes a turn. Truths, pains, heartbreaks and ugliness come to the forefront as the men try and reckon with their own self loathing and be comfortable in their own skin. The film stars Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tuc Watkins, and Zachary Quinto. The film is directed by Joe Mantello and is written by Ned Martel and Mart Crowley, based on Crowley's original play and film. The film is strea
The Glorias is a biographical film about the life and work of Gloria Steinem. The film is not always linear, but because Steinem has spent a lot of her life traveling, there is a connecting thread of a bus headed down the road where the different iterations of Gloria's past commiserate and attempt to understand the seminal moments of her life. The film stars Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Lulu Wilson, Alicia Vikander, Julianne Moore, Janelle Monáe, Loraine Toussaint, Bette Midler, Kimberly Guerrero, Monica Sanchez, Mo Brings Plenty, Enid Graham,Timothy Hutton, and Gloria Steinem. The film is directed by Julie Taymor and written by Taymor and Sarah Ruhl. The film is streaming exclusively on Amazon Pri