28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE (2026) review
written by: Alex Garland
produced by: Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernie Bellew, Danny Boyle & Alex Garland
directed by: Nia DaCosta
rated: R (for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, language throughout, and brief drug use)
runtime: 109 min.
U.S. release date: January 16, 2026
Last summer, “28 Days Later” found director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland returning to the post-apocalyptic world they introduced 22 years ago with some curious anticipation. It turns out enough time had passed for the two artists to bring some fascinating ideas, compelling characters, and striking filmmaking to the horror series. So confident were they in their return that they shot a sequel immediately afterwards, which is how we have “28 Days Later: The Bone Temple” in theaters seven months later. Director Nia DaCosta (“Hedda” and “Candyman”) was tasked with helming this next chapter from Garland, and the result is a darker, gnarly tale with some surprising moments of humor and compassion that focuses more on complicated humans than those infected with the Rage virus. Read more…
THE RIP (2026) review
written by: Joe Carnahan
produced by: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Dani Bernfeld & Luciana Damon
directed by: Joe Carnahan
rated: R (for violence and pervasive language)
runtime: 133 min.
U.S. release date: January 16, 2026 (Netflix)
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are back in front of the camera again. So, why isn’t their new crime thriller, “The Rip”, opening in theaters? Partly because that’s the current state of the industry, but also because this is the first collaboration between Netflix and Damon and Affleck’s production company Artists Equity, which produced the last film the two actors worked on, the Affleck-directed “Air” in 2023. Written and directed by Joe Carnahan (“Narc” and “The Grey”), the movie is inspired by one of the most significant criminal investigations in Miami police history. The tightly wound, well-paced story takes place over the course of one evening, in which loyalties, temptations, and accountability are tested within an overworked and underpaid tactical narcotics squad. Read more…
CHARLIE THE WONDERDOG (2026) review
written by: Steve Ball, Shea Wageman, and Raul Inglis
produced by: Carson Loveday, Jenn Rogan, and Shea Wageman
directed by: Shea Wageman
rated: PG (for action, some rude humor, and language)
runtime: 92 min.
U.S. release date: January 16, 2026
Last year at this time, the wonderful animated feature “Dogman” was released, a fun, silly, and quite creative adaptation of the popular graphic novel series. Now we have “Charlie the Wonderdog” in theaters this month, a canine superhero comedy clearly targeted at a young audience. Indeed, that seems to be the only goal that director and co-writer Shae Wageman has in mind. It’s a cartoonish feature that definitely adheres to basic ideas of heroism and villainy, but Wageman and his co-writers cram too much plot when all it really needs to be is a companionship romp about a boy and his dog who can’t help but do good. Read more…
OBEX (2025) review
written by: Albert Birney and Pete Ohs
produced by: James Belfer, Albert Birney, Emma Hannaway & Pete Ohs
directed by: Albert Birney
rating: not rated
runtime: 90 min.
U.S. release date: January 25, 2025 (Sundance Film Festival) and January 9, 2026 (limited)
Sometimes it takes almost a year, maybe more, for a film that premieres at Sundance to reach the general public, and even then, its release is limited to select theaters in a few cities. Sometimes that can be a good thing as it can prevent a film from getting lost in the mix, or the matrix (dot matrix, in this case), as is the case with the main character in writer/director Albert Birney’s black-and-white film, “OBEX”. It’s a surreal, nonsensical fantasy set in a cicada-ravaged Baltimore of 1987, about a socially awkward man and his dog. It’s not “based on a true story”, but it feels like it could be. Read more…
FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER (2025) review
written by: Jim Jarmusch
produced by: Charles Gillibert, Joshua Astrachan, Carter Logan, and Atilla Salih Yücer
directed by: Jim Jarmusch
rating: R (for language)
runtime: 110 min.
U.S. release date: December 24, 2025 (limited) and January 9, 2026 (wide)
There are three different families in writer/director Jim Jarmusch’s latest drama, “Father Mother Sister Brother”, living in three different countries, yet the similarities are there if you’re as observant as Jarmusch. After taking a genre detour with the 2019 horror comedy, “The Dead Don’t Die”, Jarmusch is now focusing on something more relatable as he presents strained familial relationships, in particular adult children and their estranged parents. It’s a curious and engaging triptych, presenting character eccentricities within a through line of melancholy and sadness that permeates each story. Once you align yourself with Jarmusch’s pacing, a director who’s known for appreciating the minutiae in life, then you’ll be rewarded with something special. Read more…
IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU (2025) review
written by: Mary Bronstein
produced by: Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Richie Doyle, Connor Hannon, Sara Murphy, Ryan Zacarias
directed by: Mary Bronstein
rated: R (for language, some drug use, and bloody images.)
runtime: 113 min.
U.S. release date: October 10, 2025
“I can’t help it if in my dreams you always want to kiss me.”
The elitist movie snobs among us will have you believe that one of the things that made the New Hollywood era great was the influx of (almost exclusively male) protagonists that were difficult, if not impossible, to root for. Heck, critics are falling all over themselves right now in celebration of Timothée Chalamet’s incredibly unlikable protagonist in “Marty Supreme,” so the tastemakers’ tastes rarely change. Read more…
GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION (2026) review
written by: Mitchell LaFortune and Chris Sparling
produced by: Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Sébastien Raybaud, John Zois, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Ric Roman Waugh & Brendon Boyea
directed by: Ric Roman Waugh
rating: PG-13 (for some strong violence, bloody images, and action)
runtime: 98 min.
U.S. release date: January 9, 2026
In 2020, the apocalyptic survival thriller “Greenland” received only a VOD release in the States due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it nevertheless did surprisingly well. It subverted any viewer expectations of being “yet another Gerard Butler action flick” (personally, I look forward to those, but they get eye rolls from many) or of being an unwanted retread of 2017’s “Geostorm”, which, coincidentally, also starred Butler. It turned out to be the rare disaster flick that felt more grounded, following a single family as they navigate an imminent extinction crisis, rather than a bunch of talking heads and whiz-bang CGI. It ended on a somewhat hopeful note, yet with the future still feeling grim and uncertain. So, although I wasn’t necessarily asking for a sequel, I’ll admit I did wonder how this family would handle their next set of challenges. Read more…
I WAS A STRANGER (2025) review
written by: Brandt Andersen
produced by: Brandt Andersen, Ossama Bawardi, Ryan Busse & Charlie Endean
directed by: Brandt Andersen
rated: PG-13 (for strong violent content/bloody images, thematic material, a racial slur, and smoking)
runtime: 105 min.
U.S. release date: December 31, 2025, and January 9, 2026
It isn’t lost on me that American writer/producer/director Brandt Anderson is called “I Was A Stranger”, considering it’s a film distributed by Angel Studios, Inc. It’s a studio known for its “values-based” films that often have Christian themes, and here is a title that references a Bible verse in Matthew 25:35-36, in which Jesus states that how well we treat others will determine our standing in the eternal world on Judgement Day. It goes hand in hand with “Love your neighbor as yourself, a core edict that is mentioned in the previous chapter. Such a reference may suggest that Anderson’s directorial debut will focus on how we treat each other, and while it does, it also doesn’t go out of its way to hit us over the head with any particular brand of messaging. Read more…
PRIMATE (2O26) review
written by: Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera
produced by: Walter Hamada, John Hodges, and Bradley Pilz
directed by: Johannes Roberts
rated: R (for strong bloody violent content, gore, language, and some drug use)
runtime: 89 min.
U.S. release date: January 6, 2026
There’s a subgenre of horror films called “natural horror”, in which animals or plants threaten humans. At their best, there’s Hitchcock’s “The Birds” and Spielberg’s “Jaws”. After those two, there are hundreds of movies out there with varying levels of quality – for every “Sharknado” there’s a “The Day of the Triffids”. There’s an audience for everything. After I saw “Primate”, the latest from English writer/director Johannes Roberts (“Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” and “The Strangers: Prey at Night”, and the “47 Meters Down” movies), the gratuitously gory movie about a face-ripping and head-bashing chimpanzee, I was left horrified. Read more…
DEAD MAN’S WIRE (2025) review
written by: Austin Kolodney
produced by: Cassian Elwes, Joel David Moore, Tom Culliver, Veronica Radaelli, Sam Pressman, Mark Amin, Remi Alfallah, Noor Alfallah, Siena Oberman, Andrea Bucko, Matt Murphie, and Paula Paizes
directed by: Gus Van Sant
rated: R (for language throughout)
runtime: 105 min.
U.S. release date: December 12, 2025 (limited), January 9, 2026 (wide), and January 16, 2026 (wider)
The last time veteran director Gus Van Sant released a film was back in 2018 with “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot”, a dramedy based on the memoir of the late alcoholic quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. He was quite a character, and now the director has returned to focus on another real-life character. “Dead Man’s Wire” is a “based on a true story” crime thriller about an event that took place almost 50 years ago in Indianapolis and received national attention. It’s a “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore” story that may seem relevant to those who have followed the Luigi Mangione story from December 2024. Read more…
