KEEPER (2025) review
written by: Nick Lepard
produced by: Chris Ferguson & Jesse Savath
directed by: Osgood Perkins
rated: R (for some violent content/gore, language, and some sexual references)
runtime: 99 min.
U.S. release date: November 14, 2025
“Why does it always have to end?”
By my count, Osgood Perkins’ “Keeper“ is the sixteenth new horror movie I’ve watched in 2025, with the genre accounting for nearly half of the films I’ve seen in the entire year. It’s safe to say horror is thriving at the moment, thanks in no small part to Perkins himself, as this is his third theatrically released film in the last 16 months following “Longlegs” and “The Monkey.” “Keeper” is both the most and least ambitious of the three, landing in a similar spot as Alex Garland’s “Men,” in the subgenre of folk horror with a heaping helping of commentary on toxic masculinity. Read more…
THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD? (2025) review
written by: Gabe Polsky
produced by: Gabe Polsky
directed by: Gabe Polsky
rated: not rated
runtime: 87 min.
U.S. release date: October 17, 2025 (limited) and November 14, 2025 (AMC River East 21, Chicago, IL), November 15, 2025 (Wayfarer Theaters, Highland Park, IL)
I appreciate a movie title that presents a question and actually includes a question mark in its title. That may sound odd and/or obvious, but many “question titles” do not include the needed punctuation. The latest documentary from writer/producer/director Gabe Polsky, “The Man Who Saves The World?”, includes the necessary punctuation in its title, and that question mark loomed large in my mind throughout my viewing experience. No doubt, the title is catchy, prompting the reader to ask, “Who is this man?” But the more you repeat the title in your head, the more it seems the title is questioning the question. After all, what one man can save the world? Read more…
TRAIN DREAMS (2025) review
written by: Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
produced by: Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer & Michael Heimler
directed by: Clint Bentley
rating: PG-13 (for some violence and sexuality)
runtime: 102 min.
U.S. release date: November 7, 2025 (select theaters) and November 21, 2025 (Netflix)
“Train Dreams” feels like a fever-dream memoir or the discovery of a long-lost journal of a man that would otherwise be forgotten. It’s a transportive viewing experience, as co-writer/director Clint Bentley (“Jockey”) adapts the 2011 novella of the same name by Denis Johnson. The story explores memory and loss, examining how these concepts are affected by the passage of time. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t appear to be a good fit for a transition to big-screen storytelling. However, Bentley does a masterful job at capturing our attention by maintaining the poetic tone of this mournful tale. “Train Dreams” is something special, capturing Johnson’s historical interests while also offering a beautiful atmosphere that at times feels like an emotional meditation. Read more…
PREDATOR: BADLANDS (2025) review
written by: Patrick Aison (screenplay/story) & Dan Trachtenberg (story)
produced by: John Davis, Brent O’Connor, Marc Toberoff, Dan Trachtenberg & Ben Rosenblatt
directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
rated: PG-13 (for sequences of strong sci-fi violence)
runtime: 107 min.
U.S. release date: November 7, 2025
Who would’ve thought we’d have three great Predator movies in a matter of three years? Director Dan Trachtenberg is behind all of them, starting with the straight-to-Hulu release “Prey,” which dropped in 2022 and was a huge hit. This year, he helmed an animated feature, “Predator: Killer of Killers”, a cool triptych with strong visuals and epic action that also dropped on Hulu this past June. Now he gives us an epic theatrical experience with “Predator: Badlands”, the first movie in which the alien hunter is the lead protagonist. It’s pure sci-fi live-action action, and the first movie to mention the species name of the Predators, Yautja, with Trachtenberg and writer Patrick Aison (who also worked on “Prey”) focusing on survival, as well as loyalty and family. Read more…
DIE MY LOVE (2025) review
written by: Enda Walsh, Lynne Ramsay, and Alice Birch
produced by: Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Ciarrocchi, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill & Andrea Calderwood
directed by: Lynne Ramsay
rated: R (for sexual content, graphic nudity, language, and some violent content)
runtime: 118 min.
U.S. release date: November 7, 2025
At first, I thought “Die My Love” would be about Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in a tumultuous relationship, possibly even one where they tried to kill each other. That’s not quite right, but it sounds good. The fact that these two stars have teamed up with the bold Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, who has a penchant for telling surreal stories in artful ways, is a draw in itself. Ramsay is a director who doesn’t make many films; her last one was 2017’s “You Were Never Really Here,” a riveting crime thriller. Read more…
FRANKENSTEIN (2025) review
written by: Guillermo del Toro
produced by: Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, and Scott Stuber
directed by: Guillermo del Toro
rated: R (for bloody violence and grisly images)
runtime: 150 min.
U.S. release date: October 17, 2025 (limited) and November 7, 2025 (Netflix)
It seems like almost everything writer/director Guillermo del Toro has worked on has led to him making a “Frankenstein” movie. He has stated that the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, by English author Mary Shelley, has long been his favorite book and has mentioned it numerous times as a “dream project” to adapt his version of the Gothic classic. From “Cronos” to “Crimson Peak” to “The Shape of Water”, the themes and romanticism of Shelley’s novel have been present in del Toro’s work. Knowing this, and his love for monsters, seeing del Toro finally getting a chance to present his version of The Creature to the world in his own production of “Frankenstein” makes this big-budget epic one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Read more…
CHRISTY (2025) review
written by: Mirrah Foulkes and David Michôd
produced by: Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Teddy Schwarzman, Brent Stiefel, Justin Lothrop, David Michôd & Sydney Sweeney
directed by: David Michôd
rated: R (for language, violence/bloody images, some drug use and sexual material)
runtime: 135 min.
U.S. release date: November 7, 2025
It may seem that Sydney Sweeney wholly investing herself in a de-glammed boxing role for “Christy” feels like she’s priming for an Oscar next year. Well, good for her. The same can be said for Dwayne Johnson in his recent “Based on a True Story” role as an MMA fighter in “The Smashing Machine“. So, why not Sweeney? She’s certainly been going out of her way lately to take roles that don’t emphasize her sex appeal and instead give her potential opportunities to disappear into a role. Playing the role of Christy Martin, an aggressive scrapper who achieved success and popularity in the 90s as a boxer who rose out of obscurity. While the story, written by screenwriters Mirrah Foulkes and David Michôd (who also directs), incorporates some sports biopic conventions, the heart of the story revolves around harrowing real-life situations in which the most challenging fights in the titular character’s life take place outside the ring. Read more…
STITCH HEAD (2025) review
written by: Steve Hudson (screenplay) and Guy Bass (story)
produced by: Sonja Ewers and Mark Mertens
directed by: Steve Hudson
rated: PG (for action, thematic elements, and mild rude humor)
runtime: 89 min.
U.S. release date: October 31, 2025
“Stitch Head” is a movie that succeeds in what it sets out to do: having a good time with fun material. The animated feature, written and directed by Steve Hudson, is based on the children’s book series of the same name by author Guy Bass. It serves as a good introduction to these oddball characters, as well as an entertaining monster comedy for all ages, albeit primarily targeting younger viewers. The first of six books was published in 2011, aimed at 7-10-year-old readers, and featured gothic-styled black-and-white drawings. While this movie may not be the start of a franchise, it nevertheless has a perfectly timed release date, since there are rarely kid-friendly Halloween movies released theatrically this time of year. Read more…
HEDDA (2025) review
written by: Nia DaCosta
produced by: Nia DaCosta, Gabrielle Nadig, Tessa Thompson, Dede Gardner & Jeremy Kleiner
directed by: Nia DaCosta
rated: R (for sexual content, language, drug use, and brief nudity)
runtime: 107 min.
U.S. release date: October 22, 2025 (theatrical) and October 29, 2025 (Prime Video)
Before we get a “28 Years Later” sequel from director Nia DeCosta in January, her fourth film, “Hedda,” receives a fall release. It’s a loose adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler, which premiered in Germany in 1891. DeCosta, who wrote and directed the drama, puts a queer spin on the material and sets the story in early 20th-century England, and the film reunites her with Tessa Thompson, who starred in DaCosta’s 2018 feature debut, “Little Woods.” Thompson is commanding in the lead, and DeCosta goes extravagant and bold in her production design, crafting a captivating sound-and-visual pastiche. If only the characters in “Hedda” were as fascinating and compelling as everything else we get to feast our eyes on. Read more…
CIFF 2025 – Sentimental Value
One of the very best films that I’ve seen this year at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) is “Sentimental Value”, which is the eagerly anticipated film from Danish-Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, the first since his award-winning “The Worst Person in the World” capped off his Oslo trilogy in 2022. It premiered this past May at the Cannes Film Festival, where Neon acquired North American distribution rights, with release dates expected next month. With his new dramedy, Trier once again gives us relatable, flawed characters dealing with past trauma in their own ways, which means some of them are not dealing with it at all, or very well. Yet we can only prolong addressing what the past has done to us for so long before we’re able to move forward. Read more…
