Damsel

• Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
• Writers: Dan Mazeau
• Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, Angela Bassett, Ray Winstone, Nick Robinson, Robin Wright

Grade: C+

Caught somewhere between a Cinderella spin-off and a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, Netflix’s Damsel scratches an action-adventure itch without a heavy investment from the viewer. The film features Netflix’s own mainstay/captive Millie Bobby Brown, in what’s an easily enticing role. As I’ve spoken about many times before, Netflix films come and go without much fanfare, but Damsel is enjoyable enough to belong somewhere in the upper half of the scrap heap.

Dune: Part Two

• Director: Denis Villeneuve
• Writers: Denis Villeneuve, Josh Spaihts
• Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Christopher Walken

Grade: A

For the past two decades, there’s been a myriad of genre blockbusters that have tried to emulate the epic scope of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. There have been some films that made a noble effort, but none have been able to successfully capture that lightning in the bottle. Enter Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films, a franchise that once felt like it would never actually get made after David Lynch’s ill-fated 1984 movie. 

Io Capitone

• Director: Matteo Garrone
• Writer: Matteo Garrone, Massino Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini, Andrea Tagliaferri
• Starring: Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall, Issaka Sawadogo

Grade: B

Rarely has the immigrant experience been as harrowingly fictionalized on film as in Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano. There have been a number of films throughout history that depict a story of immigration – that unquantifiable desire to find a better life – but it’s perhaps just as important to show the incredibly difficult journey many immigrants embark on. In the case of Garrone’s film, which he directs and co-wrote with Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini, and Andrea Tagliaferri, it’s a journey across multiple countries, and its young protagonists are setting off on their own, multiplying the dangers.

Lisa Frankenstein

• Director: Zelda Williams
• Writer: Diablo Cody
• Starring: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Henry Eikenberry, Carla Gugino

Grade: B+

Diablo Cody is one of the few remaining superstar screenwriters left in Hollywood today. The Oscar winner has done tremendous work on various projects, from critically acclaimed films like Juno to cult classics like Jennifer’s Body. Her signature dry humor and skillfully written dialogue makes her an auteur writer, placing her among the ranks of Charlie Kaufman or Tony Kushner. 

Argylle

• Director: Matthew Vaughn
• Writer: Jason Fuchs
• Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana DeBose

Grade: C

Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle is the kind of film that would cause a much bigger uproar if it weren’t released in the first quarter of the year, when studios tend to dump the projects they have the least faith in. It’s the kind of easily digestible popcorn film to see when you’ve already seen the remnants of the previous year and have caught up with the crop of Oscar nominees still hanging around. It shamelessly pays homage to the spy thrillers of yesteryear, along with films like Romancing the Stone or the recent The Lost City, without really carving out its own space in the genre.

The Kitchen

• Director: Daniel Kaluuya, Kibwe Tavares
• Writers: Daniel Kaluuya, Joe Murtagh
• Starring: Kane Robinson, Jedaiah Bannerman, Henry Lawfull, Rasaq Kukoyi, Richard Lawrie

Grade: C+

January of any year typically serves as a bit of cinematic wasteland, a time when studios dump their projects in the hopes that they’ll generate a quick buck or two – and Netflix is no different, as evidence by their latest release, The Kitchen. From trashy genre films to failed Oscar bait, it’s usually difficult to find a worthwhile new release that will stick in the culture past winter. Thankfully, the film, from first-time directors Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares, has a number of thoughtful ideas at play that makes it more than just background noise.

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire

• Director: Zack Snyder
• Writers: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, Shay Hatten
• Starring: Sofia Boutella, Djimon Honsou, Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman, Ed Skrein, Bae Doona, Ray Fisher, Cleopatra Coleman

Grade: D-

Zack Snyder’s most basic impulses as a filmmaker seem to revolve around one guiding principle: make the coolest-looking image at any given moment. This is part of what makes him a filmmaker that audiences flock towards (and that’s all I’ll say about his fans in this review). But it’s what makes him so often frustrating, because his instinct for visual flair comes at the expense of thought-provoking storytelling. Though the bulk of Snyder’s films come as comic book and graphic novel adaptations, could he fare any better when making a wholly original work with the backing of Netflix?

The Iron Claw

• Director: Sean Durkin
• Writer: Sean Durkin
• Starring: Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, Jeremy Allen White, Lily James, Stanley Simons, Holt McCallany, Maura Tierney

Grade: B+

It’s human nature, when in the aftermath of an unexpected, tragic event, to ask ‘could this have been prevented?’ It’s a kind of coping mechanism to try to make sense of the unimaginable, a way to find some peace of mind when answers may not be readily available. Biopics tend to attempt to find their own answers, whether by re-contextualizing the facts, or unveiling what was previously forgotten.