The Sun Never Sets

• Director: Joe Swanberg
• Writer: Joe Swanberg
• Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson, Cory Michael Smith, Debby Ryan, Karley Sciortino, Lamorne Morris, Anna Konkle

Grade: B+

“Not everyone’s next chapter has to look the same,” says Wendy (Dakota Fanning) upon learning that her best friend is pregnant, while simultaneously defending her uncertain lot in life. Throughout the events of The Sun Never Sets, those words will be tested for Wendy in unexpected ways as she volleys back and forth between relationship prospects. The result is an emotionally honest romance that leans into romantic drama’s conventions but keeps its characters front and center, thanks to the best performance of Dakota Fanning’s career.

Colony

• Director: Yeon Sang-ho
• Writer: Yeon Sang-ho, Chi Gyu-seok
• Starring: Gianna Jun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Shin-rock, Shin-Hyun-been, Go Soo, Lee Junk-ok

Grade: C

A normal day at a shopping mall turns into chaos as a scientist launches a bioterrorist attack. Horror has seen its fair share of subgenres, and one of the big ones that is rarely done well is the zombie genre. We have our bright spots such as 28 Days Later – along with two of its sequels 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead (1978 and 2004), Shaun of the Dead, and Train to Busan. Ten years following the release of Train to Busan, South Korean filmmaker, Yeon Sang-ho, attempts to recreate what made that film a massive success that its 2020 sequel, Peninsula, could not for audiences with Colony. 

One Night Only

• Director: Will Gluck
• Writer: Travis Braun
• Starring: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, King Princess, Ziwe, Ben Marshall, Molly Ringwald, Levar Burton

Grade: C

The United States Government has instituted a national ban on pre-marital sex, and New Yorkers are preparing for the only night of the year where the ban is temporarily lifted and they can fulfill their suppressed desires. While it’s unfortunately not crazy to envision this as a not-too-distant future headline in the real world, it’s actually the premise for One Night Only, Will Gluck’s new romcom starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner. The duo’s characters, Allie and Owen, meet on this fateful day and, as expected, shenanigans ensue. What follows is a good enough time at the theater, but nothing that adds anything special to the genre.