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    Half Man (2026)

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    Half Man (2026)

    The chronicle of two brothers who found comfort in one another while causing each other misery and pain.

    A labyrinth of family, trauma, and love.

    Following the unprecedented success of Baby Reindeer (2024): https://kaygazpro.com/baby-reindeer-2024/, writer/producer/actor Richard Gadd returns with something different yet extremely intense: a thriller/drama obsessed with human complexity. If Baby Reindeer explored obsession from the outside looking in, Half Man turns its gaze inward, examining the intricate and often painful bonds that tie families together.

    The storytelling itself reflects that complexity. The narrative unfolds nonlinearly, beginning and ending at different points in time, immediately challenging the audience to understand how everyone arrived there. Each episode peels away another layer, only to reveal several more beneath it. Just when you think you have figured it out, the story shifts perspective, forcing you to reconsider everything you believed. It becomes an onion of revelations, a rabbit hole whose depth remains impossible to measure until the very end.

    What also elevates the series, however, is the acting. Jamie Bell is phenomenal. From Billy Elliot (2000) to today, Bell has consistently demonstrated extraordinary range and versatility. Actor, dancer, leading man – he does it all. Here, he delivers one of the finest performances of his career, and it is no surprise that he personally convinced Richard Gadd to take on the role of Ruben. Thankfully, Gadd accepted, because the dynamic between the two becomes the emotional and dramatic engine of the series. Alongside them, Neve McIntosh, Mitchell Robertson, Stuart Campbell, and the rest of the cast completely inhabit their characters, adding layers of authenticity and emotional depth.

    The editing deserves praise as well. It never rushes crucial moments. Instead, it carefully balances actions and reactions, understanding exactly when a look is more important than a line of dialogue and when silence is more devastating than confrontation.

    Oh yes, and there are confrontations. The moral dilemma of Episode Three places enormous pressure on the audience, dividing viewers as effectively as it divides Niall. The brotherly confrontation in Episode Four is also one of the most emotionally brutal sequences I have seen in years – a painfully honest collision between two people carrying decades of unspoken resentment.

    What fascinated me most, though, is the gradual realisation that Ruben is not simply a villain. There is a very fine line separating him from those who perceive themselves as his victims. As the layers unfold, tables constantly turn. Ruben may appear to be the mentally tormented Goliath, but nobody around him is David.

    The HBO series also explores queerness in the UK with a realistic sensitivity. Rather than pointing fingers, it acknowledges the pain caused by decades of repression, secrecy, and societal expectations. The “gay stuff,” as one character memorably puts it, becomes one of the strongest and most heartbreaking subplots in the narrative, resurfacing how many people spent years suppressing who they truly were and whom they truly loved.

    This is my second 5/5 for Richard Gadd. I may have been more shocked by Baby Reindeer, but Half Man confirms something equally important: Gadd understands not only what story he wants to tell, but exactly how to tell it. And when he wants to shock you, he knows exactly where to aim.

    A man who deserves every praise under the sun!

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Pride, Cinema, and the Power of Being Seen

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    Pride, Cinema, and the Power of Being Seen

    For much of cinema history, LGBTQ+ characters existed in the shadows. This Pride Month, let’s talk about visibility, understanding, and the unique power of cinema to help us see ourselves – and each other.

    Image References: IMDb

    George Lucas

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    George Lucas

    “I dislike directing. I hate the constant dealing with volatile personalities. Directing is emotional frustration, anger and tremendously hard work – seven days a week, twelve to sixteen hours a day.”

    American Beauty (1999)

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    American Beauty (1999)

    Screenwriter Alan Ball conceived the idea for the film while sitting in the plaza of the Twin Towers, where he noticed a plastic bag floating in the wind in front of him.

    The Beach House (2019)

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    The Beach House (2019)

    What was meant to be a romantic escape for a young couple turns into a living nightmare when an infection spreads across the area.

    Haunting and thought-provoking.

    After watching Backrooms (2026): https://kaygazpro.com/backrooms-2026/, I found myself revisiting mind-bending, mysterious, and somewhat underrated films that I either did not get a chance to review over the years or include in my article referenced below*. The Beach House is the first stop – there’s more coming.

    So, was Jeffrey A. Brown’s directorial debut deserving of its mixed reviews? I’m not entirely convinced. The premise is simple enough: a young couple heads to a beach house for a romantic getaway and, inevitably, all hell breaks loose. What I found impressive was Brown’s patience. The film spends almost fifty of its eighty-five minutes building atmosphere. During that time, Emily (Liana Liberato) discusses microorganisms, how little we truly know about the natural world, and how microscopic life can dramatically alter environments once conditions allow. One could argue this is merely narrative setup or even a gimmick. My advice is simple: let it go.

    Because when things begin to unravel, that foundation pays off. Some of the most effective horror comes from what has always been around us – beneath our feet or under our nose, in the air we breathe, or hidden just beyond our understanding. The idea that something ordinary could threaten the fabric of our existence remains one of horror’s most enduring strengths. And The Beach House is on it!

    Visually, the film is accomplished. The balance between static compositions and shoulder-mounted camera work creates a feeling of both observation and participation. The spreading fog-shrouded coastline, the isolation, the gradual zombification, and the growing helplessness all contribute to a mounting sense of dread. There is also a distinctly Lovecraftian quality here. Much like Color Out of Space (2019): https://kaygazpro.com/color-out-of-space-2019-horror-sci-fi/, which actually came out the same year, the horror emerges from forces beyond human comprehension.

    What I find particularly interesting is the environmental reading. Is Earth striking back? Or is it simply responding naturally to conditions we have created? Melting permafrost releasing ancient pathogens, or microorganisms adapting to environmental changes, are all real-world examples of nature behaving in ways we barely understand. Horror simply pushes those possibilities a little further.

    Liana Liberato, Noah Le Gros, Jake Weber, and Maryann Nagel all deliver strong performances, making the characters worth caring about – and worth saving. Liberato, especially, leads the way – both literally and figuratively.

    Ultimately, The Beach House is a low-budget slow-burn that spends its money wisely, builds rewarding tension, and warns us that the things we fear most are not always from… out of space.

    *”Indie, Low Budget, and Utterly Mind-Bending”: https://kaygazpro.com/indie-low-budget-and-utterly-mind-bending/

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Arcadian (2024)

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    Arcadian (2024)

    At the end of the world, a father and his two sons try to survive in a farmhouse against monstrous beings, and not only.

    Flawed in many ways, but decent.

    When people hear that Nicolas Cage is in a post-apocalyptic horror film filled with creatures lurking in the darkness, they may expect him to dominate the narrative. He does not. In fact, Cage is not really the lead actor here. The film belongs to the younger cast, Jaeden Martell, Sadie Soverall, and Maxwell Jenkins, and thankfully, they are more than capable of carrying it. All three do a great job navigating a world that has already fallen apart. Their performances give the film its emotional foundation and transform what could have been a generic creature feature into something more personal.

    One criticism often levelled at Arcadian is that it feels too static. Much of the story unfolds in limited locations, with the action confined to a relatively small geographical area. That is actually ironic, because the next criticism concerns the shaky camera, which sometimes renders it unwatchable. The third is that there isn’t enough action involving the undead-like creatures themselves.

    Regarding the shaky camera, I get it. But horror without drama is hollow. We may remember the scares, but we rarely remember the people experiencing them. Here, the drama occasionally overshadows the horror, but that is what makes the film stand out. Director Benjamin Brewer and writer Michael Nilon are far more interested in family, survival, responsibility, and human relationships than they are in endless monster attacks. Shudder liked the idea and distributed it for us to see.

    And speaking of monsters, the film suggests something interesting. The main enemy is not necessarily the dead. It is the living. The creatures are dangerous, certainly, but the tensions, decisions, and actions of human beings prove equally threatening. Horror cinema has explored this idea countless times because it remains true: we are often our own worst enemy. After all, despite everything lurking in the shadows, humanity remains the scariest species on the planet.

    The creature sequences themselves are effective enough, even if they are not particularly groundbreaking. What lingers afterwards are the characters and the choices they make. The ending is also befitting of everything that came before it. It neither overreaches nor undermines its themes. So, overall, Arcadian may not reinvent post-apocalyptic horror, but is worth your time.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Iron Lung (2026)

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    Iron Lung (2026)

    After all the planets of the universe disappeared, a convict is sent with a ship to explore the only one left, one covered in an ocean of blood.

    Claustrophobic, psychological, dystopian, dark, and… too long!

    One of the strengths of Iron Lung is that it does not throw the audience into complete confusion. The story is explained. The rapture-like event that has transformed the universe is discussed. The importance of the mission is highlighted. The stakes are established. Yet despite all that, a certain degree of confusion remains. And I suspect that has much to do with the relationship between the film and the game.

    Having never played the original game before watching the film, I found myself feeling that there were pieces missing from the puzzle. Not enough to make the narrative incomprehensible, but enough to create questions that the film itself only partially addresses. Interestingly, after watching gameplay and lore videos afterwards, I realised just how faithful the adaptation actually is. David Szymanski, writer of the homonymous game and the film, and co-writer/director Mark Fischbach respect the source material far more than many game adaptations dare to.

    Atmospherically, it is remarkably effective. Imagine Event Horizon (1997), made on a significantly smaller budget by Terry Gilliam, and you are somewhere in the right vicinity. The film traps both its protagonist and the audience inside an oppressive environment where every metallic creak, every distant sound, and every uncertain signal carries weight. The result is an experience that feels simultaneously paranormal, psychological, and existential.

    The acting is solid throughout, but special credit should also go to the off-screen performers. Plot twist: Mark Fischbach is also the lead actor (you may know him as “Markiplier” from YouTube)! The voices transmitted through speakers and communication systems become characters in their own right, creating tension, uncertainty, and occasional comfort in a world almost completely devoid of human presence – only blood and the ungodly creature at the bottom.

    The directing, editing, and practical effects are equally commendable. Plot twist 2: Mark Fischbach is also the editor! There is a tactile quality to the film that digital effects alone could never have achieved. Hidden beneath the science-fiction horror are also a few intriguing sociocultural observations about isolation, authority, sacrifice, and humanity’s response to catastrophe.

    My primary issue is the running time. Two hours inside essentially the same environment is a difficult balancing act. Eventually, the repetition begins affecting audience engagement. The film could have easily achieved everything it wanted in around one hour and forty minutes tops.

    Still, as said, Iron Lung succeeds where many adaptations fail. It understands what made the original unsettling and translates that dread remarkably well to the screen. Ask yourselves why it leaves certain questions unanswered.

    P.S. Plot Twist 3: Mark Fischbach is also the executive producer.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Barber (2023)

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    Barber (2023)

    A private investigator is hired to find a missing girl, but the more he digs, the deeper the rabbit hole goes.

    Plain.

    Not much to say, really. And that, in and of itself, says a lot. From a filmmaking perspective, Fintan Connolly’s Barber is competently made but largely unremarkable. No particular cinematic technique stands out. The directing, editing, cinematography, and sound all do their jobs without ever drawing attention to themselves. Nothing is bad, but very little is memorable either.

    The story is a different matter. Unfortunately, we have seen it before. Not necessarily in cinema (which we have), but also in real life. In newspapers. On television. Through scandals involving public figures, corporations, institutions, and individuals whom society trusted, voted for, admired, or supported. Sad. Horrific. But true.

    That reality gives the narrative a degree of weight that it might otherwise lack. So why watch it? The answer is simple: Aidan Gillen. From The Wire (2002-2008) to Game of Thrones (2011-2017), he brings intelligence and gravitas to every role, whether playing calculating manipulators, authority figures, or deeply flawed human beings. Here, he once again elevates material that might have struggled without him.

    I also appreciated the film’s handling of Ireland’s changing social landscape. The subplot surrounding queer identity serves as a hopeful message of how far society has come, particularly in a country where such issues were once deeply contentious. Likewise, the film touches upon themes that resonate with the wider impact of the #MeToo movement, giving voice to victims and exposing predatory behaviour that for too long remained hidden or ignored.

    These elements provide the film with its strongest emotional and moral foundations. Having written extensively about Irish thrillers and horrors, though, this one is arguably the weakest I’ve seen.

    Overall, Barber is one of those films you watch, forget your problems for a couple of hours, and then head off to bed. Its intentions are noble, even if its execution never fully rises above familiarity.

    And no, budget is not the issue. If films such as Monolith (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/monolith-2022/ have proven anything, it is that compelling storytelling has never been a question of money.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    The Odyssey: The Debate of Casting, Diversity, and the Illusion of Cinema

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    The Odyssey: The Debate of Casting, Diversity, and the Illusion of Cinema

    With The Odyssey (2026) reigniting debate around modern casting, audiences once again find themselves asking difficult questions about immersion, reinterpretation, authenticity, and representation in cinema. But why? Let’s delve into it…

    Image References: IMDb

    Disclosure Day (2026)

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    Disclosure Day (2026)

    A shadowy government organisation hunts down a whistleblower who threatens to reveal all the data about alien existence.

    Great parts that are not greater than the sum.

    That sentence summarises my thoughts on Disclosure Day better than anything else. Let’s start with what unquestionably works. Visually, the film is magnificent.

    Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography instantly evokes the Spielberg science-fiction language we have been watching for decades. Since their first collaboration on Schindler’s List (1993), Kaminski has developed a visual vocabulary that is immediately recognisable: balanced lens flares, bleached white backlights, elegant crane movements, protracted shots, Dutch angles, and a camera that behaves like a curious observer, revealing and concealing information at the right moments. Every frame here feels meticulously designed.

    The visual effects and sound departments deserve equal praise. This is one of those films whose full impact can only be appreciated in a cinema. The scale, the atmosphere, and the audiovisual immersion create an experience that stays with you long after you leave the theatre.

    The acting is equally impressive. Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, and the rest of the cast deliver performances that bring credibility and emotional depth to an extraordinary premise. They never lose sight of the human drama beneath the spectacle. Especially, Courtney Grace (news anchor) in the film’s climax.

    As someone who spent a significant part of my research life analysing Michael Kahn’s editing, I was saddened not to see him cutting a Spielberg film (he served as co-producer on it). From Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) to The Fabelmans (2022), Kahn helped shape the rhythm of modern cinema. Thankfully, his former apprentice Sarah Broshar proves more than capable of carrying that legacy forward. Her editing is precise, intelligent, and highly effective.

    Which brings us to the problem. The script…

    David Koepp reportedly went through forty-two drafts, yet the final result often feels like a two-and-a-half-hour chase constructed from narrative conveniences and repetitive gimmicks. The supposedly elite black-ops team repeatedly appears incompetent. Characters escape situations in ways that strain credibility. Themes surrounding religion and extraterrestrial life are explained so thoroughly that little remains for the audience to discover on their own. And by little, I mean nothing.

    Ironically, the delayed reveal of the aliens is one of the film’s strengths. Spielberg has always understood that mystery is often more powerful than exposure. Unfortunately, once the film begins showing “The Greys,” it rarely stops. And unlike the tripods of War of the Worlds (2005), these images feel overly familiar.

    By the time the long-awaited disclosure arrives, the audience is already exhausted. Yet despite all its flaws, I still recommend it. Because even when Steven Spielberg misses, he remains one of cinema’s greatest storytellers. His influence on Hollywood is immeasurable. And perhaps that final idea is what resonates the most. Cinema has always prepared us for possibilities before they become realities.

    Who knows? One day, we may look up at the sky and discover what humanity has suspected all along.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Nightbitch (2024)

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    Nightbitch (2024)

    A woman quits her job and becomes a stay-at-home mom, but it affects her in ways she could never possibly imagine.

    Motherhood told… in a different way.

    And that is where Nightbitch succeeds and stumbles at the same time. Let’s start with the first half, which I found considerably stronger than the second. Writer Rachel Yoder and co-writer/director Marielle Heller create something both beautiful and uncomfortable. Through a distinctly female gaze, they examine motherhood not as a miracle alone but as a burden, a sacrifice, a transformation, and, at times, an identity crisis.

    The editing plays a significant role in this. Anne McCabe’s asynchronous cuts, the repetition of daily routines, and Amy Adams’ wonderfully expressive reactions turn ordinary moments into a bittersweet comitragedy. The film captures something many parents – and perhaps mothers especially – rarely say out loud: that creating life can be miraculous and exhausting simultaneously.

    And Adams is magnificent – she always is, after all. She takes situations that could easily become exaggerated or self-indulgent and turns them into recognisable human emotion. Through her performance, sleepless nights, social isolation, domestic monotony, and the gradual loss of one’s former self become tangible realities.

    What I particularly appreciated was how the film refuses to romanticise motherhood. It acknowledges frustrations and resentments that society often expects mothers to suppress. That honesty is where the film is at its most powerful.

    However, there is also an element that, I believe, did not entirely work. The narrative increasingly embraces fantasy, turning the protagonist’s psychological and emotional state into something more literal and surreal. While the transformation is clearly symbolic and intended as a continuation of the same “madness,” it shifts the tone considerably. The symbolism is certainly there – instinct, identity, freedom, female rage, and the animalistic side of motherhood all become central themes – but whether the metaphor remains effective throughout is debatable.

    The emotional truth of the first half carries more weight than the fantasy of the second. And when it returns to that emotional truth, it has nothing new to offer. Not only that, but the beautiful and worrying at the same time message becomes a tad repetitive and “in-your-face” or “shoved-down-your-throat”, oversimplifying it into: “Men! Understand your women, acknowledge your mistakes, assume your responsibilities as fathers, abolish patriarchy, and things will be all right.” Life doesn’t work like that, though…

    Nevertheless, Nightbitch deserves credit for attempting something different. It joins a growing collection of films exploring the relationship between maternity, motherhood, female identity and societal norms through unusual lenses. Some choose horror. Some choose drama. Some choose a psychological breakdown. This one chooses absurdity.

    In my last review, I promised to post this collection for you to explore those different approaches in the last few years. It is not exhaustive, but significantly diverse. So, here it is:

    P.S. Interestingly, Nightbitch shares a similar theme in a dissimilar situation with the following film – I’ll let you be the judge of how and why: The Beast Within (2024): https://kaygazpro.com/the-beast-within-2024/

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Run Rabbit Run (2023)

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    Run Rabbit Run (2023)

    A girl’s strange behaviour makes her mother, who is also a fertility doctor with established beliefs, question that establishment.

    Thrilling, depressing, and shocking all at once.

    Run Rabbit Run is a proud Australian slow burn that raises a rather simple question and then spends its entire runtime refusing to answer it. Is it paranormal? Or is it psychological?

    The viewer enters Run Rabbit Run knowing full well they are watching a horror film. Before long, most audiences will think they have figured out exactly what is happening. The clues seem obvious. The behaviour appears familiar. The narrative points in a particular direction.

    But writer Hannah Kent (theatrical feature bebut) and director Daina Reid emphasise the problem. Sarah is a mother. And mothers do not easily accept explanations that threaten the foundations of their reality, especially when their children are involved. Or do they? That uncertainty drives the entire film.

    Sarah Snook absolutely nails the role – as she absolutely does whatever the role. Every scene depends on her ability to balance grief, denial, fear, confusion, and maternal instinct, and she carries the film effortlessly. Whether you interpret events as supernatural or psychological, Snook makes both possibilities feel equally plausible.

    What fascinated me most, however, was not the horror itself but the emotional core beneath it. Estrangement, family trauma, unresolved grief… The scars we inherit and the ones we pass on. In that sense, Run Rabbit Run joins the growing collection of recent films exploring maternity through the lens of horror – the full list of those I have watched will be revealed in the next review. Some approach it through possession, others through monsters, others through guilt, depression, or identity. Here, motherhood becomes a labyrinth.

    And speaking of labyrinths, the rabbit imagery is far from accidental. Like Alice following the White Rabbit into Wonderland, Sarah is pulled into a metaphorical rabbit hole where certainty gradually disappears. Rabbits, holes, doubles, buried memories, and fragmented identities all become symbols for motherhood’s darker side: the fear of losing a child, the fear of losing oneself, and perhaps the fear that the two are inseparable.

    Reid keeps everything mysterious and unsettling, allowing atmosphere and ambiguity to do most of the heavy lifting. And then there is that final look into the camera (no spoilers) that will keep you thinking about way past you turn off Netflix and your TV.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Toy Story 3 (2010)

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    Toy Story 3 (2010)

    The screenplay and shot breakdown/storyboards took two and a half years to complete. This is hardly surprising, considering the film features 302 characters. It more than earned back its budget, becoming the first animated film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.

    Jean Cocteau

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    Jean Cocteau

    “A Film is a Petrified Fountain of Thought.”

    Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)

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    Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)

    A doctor at a mental facility gets obsessed with a mute woman with psychic abilities.

    As experimental, retro, and colourful as only Panos Cosmatos knows how to make.

    Before anything else, a warning: this is not for everyone. You have to love experimental cinema. You have to appreciate slow-burn storytelling. Most importantly, you have to be willing to surrender conventional narrative expectations and simply absorb the experience.

    Writer/director Panos Cosmatos, a few years before giving us Mandy (2018): https://kaygazpro.com/mandy-2018-action-horror-thriller/ – another colourful and insanely trippy film, patiently unfolds a story that begins with a seemingly noble scientific pursuit: happiness. Yet as the narrative progresses, happiness becomes increasingly absent from the screen. What remains are loneliness, control, loss of identity, and the collapse of morality.

    The doctor of this strange world is every bit as eccentric as the retro-futuristic facility he inhabits. Opposite him stands the patient, the victim, the individual who desperately seeks the happiness the institution promises but can never truly provide. Think about it, why is she there?

    Visually, the film is mesmerising. Synth-heavy music, excessive colours, practical effects, elaborate costumes, and dreamlike imagery create a hypnotic atmosphere that feels suspended somewhere between science fiction and a hallucination. The influences are impossible to ignore. There are shades of Alphaville (1965), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and Solaris (1972), while the eerie surrealism often ventures into unmistakably Lynchian territory and into Cronenberg-esque body-horror madness (the Canadian film school never fails).

    Yet despite all those influences, the film remains uniquely Cosmatos. Watching it feels less like following a story and more like wandering through someone’s subconscious. Mainstream audiences will likely spend much of the runtime asking, “What on earth is going on?” And that reaction is understandable.

    One sequence that particularly stood out to me is the shaft sequence, which carries a strange charisma and visual power [John Carpenter – Dark Star (1974) tribute]. Part of me wished the film spent even more time exploring that environment. There is something about its verticality and isolation that reminded me, in spirit at least, of the ideas later explored in The Platform (2019): https://kaygazpro.com/the-platform-2019-horror-sci-fi-thriller/ and The Platform 2 (2024): https://kaygazpro.com/the-platform-2-2024/.

    As much as I enjoyed Beyond the Black Rainbow, it remains a niche experience.

    If you are looking for a more accessible, action-oriented version of similar themes, Carrie (1976) or Firestarter (1984) may be better starting points. For everyone else, prepare for a bizarre, surreal, and unforgettable trip.

    P.S. Ask yourselves this: What is the relationship between the 80s and sci-fi?

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Galileo: Fighting in the Dawn of Modern Science (2013)

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    Galileo: Fighting in the Dawn of Modern Science (2013)

    Officially, the first Greek docudrama about the Scientific Revolution and also the first to be accompanied by an e-book based on the same story.

    In the Grey (2026)

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    In the Grey (2026)

    A team of operatives with uncanny abilities are hired by a multi-billion dollar corporation to retrieve money from a mob boss.

    A stylised action flick with a Guy Ritchie signature all over it.

    The problem is that a signature alone does not guarantee success. I have always admired Guy Ritchie. He understands action, humour, rhythm, and cinematic style better than most contemporary filmmakers. Whether it is Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Snatch (2000), RocknRolla (2008), or even some of his more commercial ventures, there is usually a distinctive energy behind his work. Unfortunately, In the Grey never quite lands.

    On paper, everything seems to be in place. The film looks slick, moves quickly, and features an attractive cast led by Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Eiza González. Yet the further the narrative progresses, the more artificial it becomes. The biggest issue is how explanatory everything feels. Almost every development is either narrated, predicted, or immediately clarified. Apart from one notable incident, events unfold almost exactly according to plan. Suspense evaporates because there is rarely any uncertainty. We are simply informed of what is happening and then watch it happen.

    The characters themselves do not help matters. Nobody knows why they possess the extraordinary abilities they do. There is virtually no background, no meaningful context, and no effort to establish how these people became so remarkably competent. We are simply expected to accept it. And accept a lot we must. No one’s hair is ever out of place. Makeup remains immaculate. Every gadget, weapon, vehicle, contact, and resource required for the mission is readily available exactly when needed. They never truly struggle. They never genuinely adapt. The script simply provides.

    The filmmaking follows a similar pattern. The film contains more montage sequences than continuity sequences. Montage is a powerful cinematic tool when used purposefully. Here, it often feels like a substitute for storytelling itself, accompanied by voice-over that explains exactly what the audience is already seeing.

    Ironically, the only person who appears genuinely human is Fisher Stevens (Horowitz). He sweats, struggles, and looks like someone actually exerting effort.

    Ritchie remains a talented filmmaker. This one, however, feels like style without substance. And the audience seemed to agree as it bombed irreparably.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Tim Burton

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    Tim Burton

    “[The studio] finally understood that black and white is not just an artistic choice, it’s an emotional one as well. The emotion is stronger in black and white.”

    Rabbit Trap vs. Undertone: When Horror Listens Back

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    Rabbit Trap vs. Undertone: When Horror Listens Back

    Some films don’t show you fear… they make you hear it. From The Conversation (1974) to The Zone of Interest (2023), and now Rabbit Trap (2025) and Undertone (2025), sound becomes the story. But both of them affect you differently.

    Image References: IMDb

    Is God Is (2026)

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    Is God Is (2026)

    Two sisters set off to find their father and seek revenge for their mother and for scarring them for life.

    A surrealistic road trip drenched in revenge.

    Writer/director Aleshea Harris makes her feature-film directorial and screenwriting debut with Is God Is, adapting her Off-Broadway play into a cinematic experience that feels deliberately detached from reality. Whether something was lost in translation from stage to screen or whether this strange, heightened world is exactly what Harris envisioned is ultimately up to the viewer to decide.

    What is undeniable is that the film has a personality. From the very effective first flashback, Harris establishes a narrative driven by pain, trauma, and retribution. Yet this is not revenge in the conventional sense. The story unfolds like a fever dream, taking the audience on a bizarre road trip where logic frequently takes a back seat to symbolism, style, and atmosphere.

    The Tarantino-esque influences are impossible to miss. The stylised violence, the heightened dialogue, the eccentric characters, and the deliberate theatricality all point in that direction. However, Is God Is is far less interested in imitation than it is in creating its own mythological space.

    That is where many viewers may struggle. The dialogue often feels unnatural, but I would argue that it is supposed to. Heroes, anti-heroes, and villains are not written as people who belong in the real world because almost nothing else in this film does either. Their exaggerated speech matches the exaggerated reality they inhabit. Once that becomes clear, many of the film’s peculiar choices begin to make sense.

    That said, there are issues. The rhythm occasionally loses balance between the major revenge set-pieces. Certain stretches feel caught between reflection and progression, preventing the momentum from fully carrying through.

    Fortunately, the production values remain consistently strong. The cinematography is striking, the editing complements the surrealism, and the performances by Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown, Janelle Monáe and the rest of the cast embrace the material’s over-the-top nature.

    Ultimately, Is God Is succeeds or fails depending on whether you connect with its script and the world it creates. The stereotypes it invokes, subverts, and reimagines are central to understanding what Harris is attempting to say.

    Confusing? You can say that. Memorable? Without question.

    Thanks for reading!

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    Pulse (2001)

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    Pulse (2001)

    Two separate groups of people discover that spirits are using the internet to enter our world and eliminate us.

    A social commentary with strengths and weaknesses.

    I deliberately chose the translated title over its original, Kairo, as I vividly remember giving a rather unforgiving review to its American adaptation, Pulse (2006): https://kaygazpro.com/pulse-2006-horror-sci-fi-thriller/, a film I would rather not comment on any further.

    So, about this one… Dark. That is the first word that comes to mind. Twenty-four years after first watching it in 2002, I decided to revisit writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s eerie meditation on technology, loneliness, and human disconnection. Unsurprisingly, my perception of the world has evolved. Yet somehow, the nostalgia of this film remains intact.

    Watching Pulse today is a fascinating experience. Modern audiences may smile – or even laugh – at some of its warnings regarding the Internet. After all, we now live in a world of smartphones, social media, streaming services, and constant connectivity. But it is important to remember that this film emerged during the early Internet era, when the online world still felt mysterious, foreign, and, for some, genuinely frightening.

    Kurosawa cleverly exploited those fears. Horror had already given us haunted houses, cursed objects, and possessed places. Here, he transformed the Internet itself into a haunted space. At the time, that idea felt revolutionary.

    The result is an atmosphere that remains remarkably effective. The eerie music, haunting reflections, shadowy frames, frightened reactions, and endless sense of dread create a world that feels as though it is slowly fading away. Even now, certain moments retain their power. The hanged man. The woman who throws herself to her death. Images that stood the test of time.

    What fascinates me most, however, is how prophetic the film feels. The Internet was supposed to connect the world. Instead, it often isolates us while creating the illusion of connection. Look at how many platforms we have to communicate on, yet approaching someone at the bar to say “hi” feels more intrusive than online.

    As one character observes: “Wanted to connect with other people?… People don’t really connect, you know… We all live totally separately.”

    That is the film’s true horror. Not the ghosts. Not the website. Not the shadows in empty rooms. But the possibility that despite being more connected than ever before, we remain profoundly alone.

    Highly recommended, whether you are discovering it for the first time or revisiting it decades later – for more than one reason.

    Thanks for reading!

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    Fanny and Alexander (1982)

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    Fanny and Alexander (1982)

    The film had a $6 million budget, making it the most expensive Swedish production of its time. It featured at least 60 actors and over 1,200 extras.

    David Lean

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    David Lean

    “I love making movies. If I wasn’t paid to do it, I would pay to do it.”

    Backrooms (2026)

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    Backrooms (2026)

    A man discovers an entrance to a place full of rooms that seem never-ending and sinister.

    A mind-bending thriller that will be discussed in length.

    There is so much one can say about Backrooms, but not much without spoiling it. So, I will keep this relatively generic and to the point – for now anyway, because there is a TikTok episode right with its name on it.

    The first thing that must be addressed is the casting. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve are brilliant choices and fully understand the psychological weight of the material – an audiovisual experience that constantly threatens to dissolve into existential abstraction. And then there is Mark Duplass, whose brief presence somehow adds even more unease to an already unsettling experience.

    But the real star of the film is unquestionably the production designer Danny Vermette, who is the production designer in Osgood Perkins’ films, who is a producer in this film. He’s the one who’ll make you say “I like what you’ve done with the place”, which is partially why audiences paid – and will continue paying – the ticket price. The architecture itself becomes the horror. Pay attention to the perfect imperfections: asymmetrical hallways, endless office-like spaces, unnatural room transitions, misplaced and half-sunk furniture, dimensions that feel awfully wrong. Everything appears familiar yet fundamentally alien. The mono-yellow photography, the fluorescent lighting, the constant buzzing ambience, and the oppressive emptiness combine into something nightmarish.

    And then come the people inhabiting these spaces. The makeup effects are exceptional, creating figures that become “memorable” in more ways than one. Keep the quotation marks in mind.

    Naturally, the film’s greatest hook remains the mystery itself: What is this place? How can it exist? How does one escape it? Is escape even possible? Writers Will Soodik and Kane Parsons refuse to provide simplistic answers, and thankfully so. From beginning to end, the film commits to uncertainty and existential dread rather than exposition-heavy convenience. Not without certain issues in pace and rhythm, and not without concerns in dialogue, especially after the second half. The impact of the film, though, will make you think about things more thoroughly afterwards.

    The reported “30,000 square feet of actual backrooms” built for the production was absolutely worth it – even crew members allegedly got lost inside it. And you feel that immersion onscreen. No surprise the film became A24’s biggest opening success – grossing over $50 million domestically and over $100 million worldwide in its opening weekend. There is a chance that it will join the pantheon of mind-bending films, such as Triangle (2009), Coherence (2013), and Predestination (2014), but I wouldn’t place it there*. Personally, it did not evoke those feelings or not on that level, anyway. That does not mean, by the way, it is far off.

    The film, as noted, is largely mind-bending but leaves crumbs behind. I’ll leave you with some of these crumbs should you be interested in some direction.

    *”Indie, Low Budget, and Utterly Mind-Bending”: https://kaygazpro.com/indie-low-budget-and-utterly-mind-bending/

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    .

    .

    .

    .

    Mild spoilers:

    • “The Window Within” (book).
    • Furniture in a lifeless store.
    • The infinite loneliness.
    • The idea that consciousness itself evolves through memory.
    • “It’s every place there’s ever been”

     

    Inglourious Basterds (2009)

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    Inglourious Basterds (2009)

    The film’s dominant languages are German and French, with only 30% in English – and some Italian here and there. Very rare for a Hollywood production…

    Shonda Rhimes

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    Shonda Rhimes

    “Truly creative things happen when one thinks differently, yet nobody wants to think differently.”

    She Rides Shotgun (2025)

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    She Rides Shotgun (2025)

    A man just released from prison flees with his daughter to save her from a dangerous gang.

    Well made, but lacks originality.

    She Rides Shotgun is a pseudorealistic action/drama that achieves its goals primarily through performance. Director Nick Rowland has not done a bad job whatsoever. The film is very well paced and emotionally balanced, allowing its narrative to unfold naturally without overcomplicating itself. It belongs to that category of American independent cinema that knows exactly what it promises its audience and delivers exactly that.

    What truly elevates the film, however, are the performances. Taron Egerton once again proves his versatility, balancing vulnerability, desperation, and intensity, but the real revelation here is Ana Sophia Heger. She will absolutely knock your socks off. There is a rawness and emotional intelligence to her performance, making the relationship believable and deeply human.

    Odessa A’zion is also excellent and very much human. Unlike Until Dawn (2025): https://kaygazpro.com/until-dawn-2025/, where the screenplay does her zero favours by reducing her character – and all of the surrounding characters – to somewhat one-dimensional cardboard cutout figures. Hopefully, we will see her in even richer roles moving forward. She’s actually amazing.

    Narratively, the film treads familiar ground. Cinema has revisited this emotional structure countless times across decades and genres: a damaged adult forced to protect a child while navigating a hostile world and desperately trying to reach safety before external forces close in. From Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and The Road (2009) to Leave No Trace (2018), Light of My Life (2019), The Creator (2023), and Sovereign (2025), audiences know this journey well. And that is the film’s biggest weakness.

    The script offers little that feels genuinely new. The emotional beats, dangers, and developments often unfold exactly as expected. Yet despite that familiarity, the film still works because its intentions remain sincere. The emotional connection between the leads feels authentic enough to overcome the predictability.

    While I personally found the ending somewhat anticlimactic, it’s still worth your time.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

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    The Cost of Trying

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    The Cost of Trying

    Not everyone who tries will succeed. And that’s the part no one likes to talk about. From The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) to Magazine Dreams (2023) and Baby Reindeer (2024), cinema has shown us something deeper than success stories… It has shown us the cost.

    Image References: IMDb

    Hard Boiled (1992)

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    Hard Boiled (1992)

    According to production, the tequila hallway scene with explosions was filmed twice. The first time, the explosions were too far from actor Yun-Fat Chow. The second time, they were too close, but the actor, ever polite, asked the director how it went. When told it was good, he turned to leave and muttered, “That motherf*cker…”

    Passenger (2026)

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    Passenger (2026)

    A couple stops to help a man in need in the middle of the forest, only to be marked by a sinister supernatural entity.

    Inundated with clichés.

    Horror evolves. Or at least it should. Just look at what the genre has given us since last year (to name but a few):

    Films attempting new structures, fresh symbolism, psychological experimentation, audiovisual risks, and unconventional storytelling. We cannot keep going backwards.

    So when a major studio like Paramount Pictures releases a horror film that spends half its runtime feeling like an advertisement for a Mercedes campervan – and then for itself – there is something fundamentally wrong at the conceptual level.

    But even that is not the real issue. The real issue is how aggressively formulaic Passenger becomes:

    • The paranormal entity can apparently do anything whenever the script requires it, creating endless narrative gimmicks.
    • The film relies almost entirely on jump scares because it struggles to create fear through atmosphere, psychology, or suspense.
    • Characters constantly explain what the audience is already seeing, as though viewers cannot interpret images themselves.
    • Whatever remains unexplained conveniently already exists online as “expanded lore,” ensuring audiences can read detailed explanations in between.

    You get the idea… And this is not about me attacking films. I wouldn’t. I haven’t. The point of my criticism is to examine strengths, weaknesses, and ultimately the filmmakers’ relationship with their audience. What are they trying to achieve? What do they believe audiences want? Worse – what do they think audiences will tolerate, fall for, or hopefully won’t get?

    Because when independent and low-budget horror films repeatedly manage to create genuine suspense, psychological dread, and memorable imagery with fractions of the budget, major studios have absolutely no excuse for producing horror this disposable.

    Which makes this all the more disappointing considering the director involved. André Øvredal has already contributed significantly to modern horror through films such as Trollhunter (2010) and especially The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016). Ironically, then, the greatest horror here may be the feeling that a talented filmmaker became trapped inside a machine more interested in algorithms, marketing, and manufactured reactions than actual fear.

    And that, unfortunately, is becoming its own horror subgenre.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

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    Akira Kurosawa

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    Akira Kurosawa

    “For me, filmmaking combines everything. That’s the reason I’ve made cinema my life’s work. In films, painting and literature, theatre and music come together. But a film is still a film.”

    Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

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    Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

    The shot where The Bride slices a baseball in half with a samurai sword was real. Credit goes to Zoë Bell, Uma Thurman’s stunt double.

    Obsession (2025)

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    Obsession (2025)

    A man purchases a novelty toy that grants wishes, wishes for a girl to love him, and turns their relationship into pure sinistry.

    Careful what you wish for… on steroids.

    Sensitivity, communication, love, emotional distance, isolation – every relationship is built and broken through these elements. And writer/director Cury Barker weaponises all of them in Obsession, crafting a horror film that projects something esoteric about human connection: we often do not truly know what we want from others because we barely understand what is missing within ourselves.

    The film takes the classic “genie in a bottle”, or, in this case, a genie in a stick and twists it into something sinister. The fantasy sounds simple enough: someone appears capable of making another person behave exactly the way we wish. But relationships do not function like commands, and neither do emotions. Even if our desires were magically fulfilled, would they actually satisfy us? Or would they expose deeper voids we never understood in the first place?

    That contradiction lies in Obsession. Bear, played brilliantly by Michael Johnston, gets his wish fulfilled in the worst possible way. What follows is not merely horror, but a psychological spiral exploring how fear, loneliness, insecurity, anxiety, and emotional repression distort both desire and identity. Barker turns internal chaos into cinematic terror, creating sequences that crawl under your skin rather than simply jump at you – although yes, there are moments that will absolutely make audiences jump out of their seats. That scene in particular, where… OK, no spoilers.

    What makes the horror especially effective is how recognisable its emotional foundations are. Shyness, modesty, fear of rejection, and difficulty expressing emotions – qualities often romanticised in life – can become prisons for men, women, and non-binary people when communication collapses. Horror thrives in those emotional gaps, exploiting what happens when longing mutates into fixation and when silence allows fantasy to replace reality.

    And then comes Inde Navarrette… Like Johnston, Cooper Tomlinson (Ian) and Megan Lawless (Sarah) are amazing. Hands down. Navarrette, though, is tasked with the heaviest burden. She is absolutely terrifying. Every moment she appears – foreground or background – you instinctively panic. Her performance radiates unpredictability in the same way Mia Goth dominated X (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/x-2022-horror/ and Pearl (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/pearl-2022-horror/. Chaotic, magnetic, creepy.

    Alongside Undertone (2025): https://kaygazpro.com/undertone-2025/, Obsession stands as one of the most impactful horror films of 2026 so far. And, finally, after so long, a positive surprise from Blumhouse.

    And if this is where horror cinema is heading this year? I genuinely cannot wait for Backrooms (2026).

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

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    It Was Just An Accident (2025)

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    It Was Just An Accident (2025)

    A man kidnaps a person whom he thinks is a jailhouse torturer and gathers a group of ex-prisoners to verify his identity.

    Pure tension!

    From the film being secretly made in Iran, to cast and crew members reportedly being arrested, to the footage being sent to France for editing and protection from the Iranian authorities, It Was Just An Accident carries tension not only in front of the camera, but behind it as well. And you feel that tension in every frame.

    Co-writer/director Jafar Panahi transforms his own bitter experiences with the Islamic Republic into a hauntingly realistic thriller/drama that constantly forces the audience into moral quicksand. Using mostly non-professional actors and actresses – with Ebrahim Azizi standing out as the alleged torturer – Panahi blurs the line between fiction and lived reality so effectively that the film often feels less like cinema and more like dangerous testimony.

    From the opening moments, the film establishes its moral dilemma. A prolonged shot introduces the alleged antagonist: family man, ordinary man. Another equally patient “oner” introduces the protagonist: lonely man, ordinary man. And once the latter commits the act that sets the narrative in motion, the audience immediately begins questioning everything. Is he truly guilty? Even more disturbingly, does he deserve what is planned for him?

    What follows is a gradual accumulation of trauma. Panahi introduces more victims, more stories, more atrocities – each one detailed with such realism that disbelief slowly turns into emotional exhaustion (for both them and the audience). The film repeatedly confronts viewers with impossible questions. Is revenge justified? Is it morally acceptable to become violent against violence? And if they punish him, do they become reflections of the very system they despise? Worse still… what if they are wrong?

    The brilliance lies in the film’s patience. The long takes (even up to 13 minutes!) allow you to absorb not only information, but emotional weight: the silence, the fear, the rage, the emptiness carried by people whose “crime” was often nothing more than holding personal beliefs. There is no melodrama here. No manipulative soundtrack forcing emotions upon you. Just raw human pain unfolding in what feels like real time.

    In today’s troubled world, It Was Just An Accident feels less like optional viewing and more like essential cinema. A gripping thriller, devastating drama, and moral confrontation all at once. It was France’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category of the 98th Academy Awards in 2026. Combine it with Tunisia’s official submission, The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025): https://kaygazpro.com/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-2025/, and you have a worldwide cinema that makes meaningful statements about the world we live in and the regimes that control it.

    Cinema has been, is, and always will be powerful! And that gives hope in a world that desperately needs it.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

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    Normal (2026)

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    Normal (2026)

    A sheriff gets a temporary job in a small and quiet town in Minnesota, but when a bank robbery happens, its dark secret comes to the surface.

    Great fun for… most of the family.

    If you have watched the trailer, you already know roughly what you are getting into: shootings, explosions, absurd violence, escalating chaos, and all of it unfolding in the least likely town imaginable. The real question is not what happens… It is why.

    And that mystery becomes the film’s strongest hook. Director Ben Wheatley, the man behind the explosive Free Fire (2016), the fascinatingly strange In the Earth (2021): https://kaygazpro.com/in-the-earth-2021-horror-sci-fi-thriller/, and one of my favourite British horrors, Kill List (2011) – yes, we are politely leaving Meg 2: The Trench (2023) out of this conversation – fully controls cinematic momentum. From the opening moments, Normal advances the narrative with confidence, balancing action, mystery, and comedy with ease.

    The pacing is one of the film’s greatest strengths. The editing knows exactly when to accelerate and when to breathe, preventing the narrative from ever feeling stagnant. There is always another reveal, another confrontation, another explosion waiting around the corner. And then, it is Bob Odenkirk, who once again proves that his ability to combine exhaustion, sarcasm, vulnerability, and absolute chaos remains endlessly entertaining.

    Now to the “why.” Written by Derek Kolstad, the man behind the John Wick universe, Nobody (2021): https://kaygazpro.com/nobody-2021-action-crime-drama/, and Nobody 2 (2025): https://kaygazpro.com/nobody-2-2025/ (review made last night), the film cleverly blends Eastern and Western influences into a story full of eccentric characters, escalating suspense, and charming unpredictability. Kolstad and Odenkirk co-write a script that prioritises entertainment above all else. Are there believability issues? Absolutely. But the film is so enjoyable that you willingly forgive whatever logic gets blown up alongside the buildings.

    And that is precisely the point. There are no heavy-handed morals here. No deeper parables demanding interpretation. Wheatley, Kolstad, and Odenkirk simply want audiences to have fun for ninety minutes and momentarily forget the madness outside the cinema walls. This is the third action-packed film of Odenkirk, backed by Kolstad, and who knows if they are going to do it again.

    Regardless, the result feels almost like an American cousin of Hot Fuzz (2007), infused with more bullets and deaths. Lena Headey, Ryan Allen, Billy MacLellan, Reena Jolly, Henry Winkler, and the rest of the cast do an amazing job of supporting the escalating chaos.

    And from your seats, so should you.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

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    Nobody 2 (2025)

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    Nobody 2 (2025)

    An assassin decides to take a break and go on vacation, but trouble doesn’t take long to find him.

    If you loved the first one… then chances are you will have a good time with this one.

    So, here’s how it goes. Director Ilya Naishuller could not return for the sequel after doing a fantastic job with Nobody (2021): https://kaygazpro.com/nobody-2021-action-crime-drama/. This time, the directing duties fall to Timo Tjahjanto, the man behind Headshot (2016): https://kaygazpro.com/headshot-2016-action-drama-thriller/ and The Night Comes for Us (2018): https://kaygazpro.com/the-night-comes-for-us-2018-action-thriller/, amongst others, making his American debut with a film that fully embraces excess, chaos, and over-the-top action.

    And it works… well… mostly… The recipe remains very similar to the first film. The script follows a fairly predictable structure, the levels of implausibility are sky-high, and many of the narrative beats feel like things Hollywood action cinema has recycled countless times before. You will often know exactly where the story is heading long before it gets there.

    But here is the thing: writer Derek Kolstad’s script is still ridiculously entertaining. And that is largely thanks to Bob Odenkirk. Odenkirk once again proves why he was such an unconventional yet brilliant choice for this franchise. The amount of physical preparation he put into the role is obvious, and the fact that he performed many of his own stunts adds an extra layer of authenticity to the madness unfolding onscreen. He brings exhaustion, sarcasm, frustration, and brutality together in a way that keeps the character “real” even when the action becomes completely absurd.

    Alongside him, Connie Nielsen continues to light up the screen every time she appears, while Christopher Lloyd, John Ortiz, RZA, Colin Hanks, and the one and only Sharon Stone fully embrace the insanity and clearly enjoy every second of it.

    Will it necessarily lead to a third film? Probably not. But for an hour and a half, it does exactly what it sets out to do: entertain you with relentless action, dark humour, and stylish chaos. And if you haven’t already – enjoy, and on to the next Odenkirk kick-ass film [Normal (2026)].

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

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    Orson Welles

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    Orson Welles

    “Having made one film, I decided that it was the best and most beautiful form that I knew and one that I wanted to continue with. I was in love with it, as you say, really tremendously so.”

    Dracula, Love, and the Monsters Amongst Us

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    Dracula, Love, and the Monsters Amongst Us

    For more than a century, cinema has tried to kill Dracula – yet he always returns. Why does every generation reinvent the vampire? From plague and aristocratic power to tragic love and modern allegory, Dracula may be more than a monster.
    Image References: IMDb

     

    Sirat (2025)

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    Sirat (2025)

    During a politically turbulent time, a father with his son joins a group of strangers to search for his missing daughter in North Africa.

    Simple premise, anything but a simple film…

    From the opening sequence, Sirat establishes its identity through atmosphere rather than exposition. The neutral, dusty colour palette immediately emphasises the film’s (almost) spiritual emptiness, while the slow editing pace and steady rhythm force the audience to absorb every detail of the rave party unfolding onscreen. The camera lingers but also drifts between crowds and isolated individuals with patience, observing rather than judging. And that realism becomes even more fascinating when one realises that, apart from Sergi López, most performers are not professional actors at all, but real off-grid individuals and street performers inhabiting the world as extensions of themselves.

    That authenticity gives the film a certain quality. The trailer and logline suggest a straightforward search narrative, but once the father and son merge with this wandering collective, the film transforms into something far stranger and far more unpredictable. It becomes a psychedelic Odyssey across unforgiving landscapes – both literal and psychological. A journey of movement, grief, survival, and existential collapse.

    And then it happens. Without warning, the film reaches a moment so sudden and so devastating that your blood freezes. Not because it is sensationalised, but because of how matter-of-factly it unfolds. You need a moment to process it. And once you do, a single question takes over your mind: What now?

    The reactions to the film have understandably been divisive. “Worst film I have viewed in years” and “One of the best films I have seen this year” (IMDb) are both sentiments floating around online, and strangely enough, both make sense. Writer Santiago Fillol and co-writer/director Oliver Laxe deliberately reject conventional storytelling structure in favour of experience and interpretation.

    The result is a contradiction: a tight emotional story unfolding through an intentionally loose plot. Whether you embrace or reject Sirat will ultimately depend on your relationship with cinema itself. Because this is less a film you simply watch – and more a journey you either surrender to or refuse altogether.

    P.S. Spain’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category of the 98th Academy Awards in 2026 – and Best Sound.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

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    The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025)

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    The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025)

    Red Crescent volunteers put in a superhuman effort to save a 6-year-old girl who was trapped in a car under IDF fire in Gaza.

    Painful to watch and listen to.

    And it should be! Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab is one of those films that traps you emotionally from the very beginning and refuses to let go. Not through spectacle. Not through manipulation. But through unbearable humanity.

    The entire film feels like a suspension of disbelief because the reality it portrays is too horrifying to fully process. You sit there watching, listening, hoping that somehow what unfolds cannot possibly be true. Yet it is, and is one of the countless real-life atrocities that continue to stain modern history.

    Saja Kilani (Rana), Motaz Malhees (Omar), Amer Hlehel (Mahdi), and Clara Khoury (Nisreen) deliver devastating performances that do not feel performed at all. They pin you down emotionally. Their fear, desperation, helplessness, and exhaustion become inescapable. It feels closer to witnessing suffering unfold in real time.

    And that is where the film’s true horror lies. This is, in essence, a race-against-time horror film grounded not in fantasy, monsters, or supernatural evil, but in human cruelty and indifference. One side is hellbent to take life, the other to save it. The tension becomes unbearable because the audience knows what is at stake, yet remains as powerless as the people onscreen. The film pulls you in, ties you up emotionally, and forces you to look directly at what so many choose to ignore (damn, some even support).

    It becomes less a viewing experience and more a confrontation. The involvement of numerous Hollywood producers undoubtedly helped amplify the project’s visibility. Amongst numerous others: Alfonso Cuarón, Spike Lee, Rooney Mara, Michael Moore, Joaquin Phoenix, and Brad Pitt (huge controversy behind him). Yet, it still remains Ben Hania’s uncompromising vision: to bear witness.

    And by the end, you are left emotionally shattered. This is one of the most heartbreaking films you may ever watch. One that leaves you staring at the screen long after it ends, wondering how humanity repeatedly allows such suffering to exist.

    And if there is a God watching all this, one can only hope mercy reaches the victims – and judgment reaches those responsible.

    P.S. Tunisia’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category of the 98th Academy Awards in 2026.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

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    Mortal Kombat II (2026)

    Kay
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    Mortal Kombat II (2026)

    The best fighters from Earthrealm and Outworld compete against one another for their very existence.

    Exciting and fun!

    Let’s cut straight to the chase, shall we? Mortal Kombat II delivers exactly what it promises. An action-packed spectacle with a tremendously entertaining cast, outrageous martial arts sequences, buckets of gore, and enough nostalgia to transport many of us straight back to childhood. That is exactly what this franchise should be.

    Writers Jeremy Slater, Ed Boon, and John Tobias, alongside director Simon McQuoid, understand this task. Rather than reinventing the mythology beyond recognition, they embrace the spirit of the homonymous game and amplify it with cinematic flair. The result is a film that, surprisingly (by Hollywood standards), balances humour, brutal combat, fantasy, and fan service. And yes, it is gloriously violent.

    The fight choreography is relentless, the fatalities are satisfyingly excessive, and the pacing rarely gives the audience a moment to breathe. It feels like a two-hour adrenaline rush designed specifically for fans who grew up memorising moves, arguing over favourite characters, and hearing “Finish Him!” and “Get Over Here!” echo through living rooms.

    The cast also deserves tremendous credit. Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Martyn Ford, Tati Gabrielle, Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Chin Han, Joe Taslim, and especially Hiroyuki Sanada bring charisma, personality, and genuine presence to characters fans have loved for decades.

    And most refreshing of all: the film focuses on entertainment first. No forced messaging. No heavy-handed ideological distractions. Just a diverse group of talented performers fully committing to the harmless madness and having fun with it.

    Are there creative liberties? Of course. Certain character developments may divide audiences. But when the directing, editing, visual effects, sound design, and performances all work together this effectively, those issues become easy to forgive.

    This is the Hollywood extravaganza Mortal Kombat fans were waiting for. Highly recommended.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

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    Ridley Scott

    Kay
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    Ridley Scott

    “I don’t get attached to anything. I’m like a good antique dealer. I’m prepared to sell my most valuable table.”

    They Will Kill You (2026)

    Kay
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    They Will Kill You (2026)

    In an attempt to find her sister, a woman gets a job at a building where everyone tries to kill her.

    Absolutely bonkers!

    Writer/producer Alex Litvak and writer/producer/director Kirill Sokolov decide very early on that reality, physics, and logic are optional concepts – and then proceed to throw all three out of the nearest Manhattan window of the titular building. What follows is an audiovisual explosion of action, gore, absurdity, and self-aware madness. They Will Kill You is not interested in realism. It is interested in spectacle. In excess. In entertaining you to the bone. And… Mission accomplished!

    “Believing” gets completely defenestrated here. Instead, exaggerated, self-conscious insanity takes centre stage. Every sequence escalates the chaos further, turning the film into a hyperviolent fantasy filled with symbolic undertones, allegories about power, and a world operating entirely on cinematic adrenaline. If you are searching for grounded storytelling or airtight logic, you are in the wrong building entirely. But if you want the polar opposite – pure audiovisual carnage – look no further.

    Zazie Beetz and Patricia Arquette throw themselves at each other with glorious intensity, while Myha’la, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham and the rest of the cast fully embrace the film’s insanity rather than trying to resist it.

    And yes, the Quentin Tarantino influences are impossible to miss. The Kill Bill (2003/2004) DNA is splattered all over the screen – from the stylised violence to the rhythm of the editing and the almost comic-book choreography. But there is no parthenogenesis in art. Cinema constantly borrows, reshapes, and reinvents. What matters is whether filmmakers inject enough personality into those influences to make them their own. Here, they do.

    In my last review, I teased a comparison, so here it is. What makes They Will Kill You particularly interesting is its thematic overlap with Ready or Not: Here I Come (2026): https://kaygazpro.com/ready-or-not-here-i-come-2026/, released only a week apart. Both films channel a similar fury toward the elite – the untouchable class operating by different rules while everyone else rows the boat they command. It reflects a growing cultural frustration. As Solon once suggested, democracy can resemble a spider web: the small insect gets trapped, while the powerful tear straight through it. Cinema reflects that anger because cinema reflects us.

    We live in a world where the rich get far richer and the poor far poorer. For more than one reason, it doesn’t feel like home anymore. And that reflects on cinema, which, as I have said many times, lost count by now, is a cultural mirror. It reflects our views and projects our fears, insecurities, weaknesses, worries, but also strengths, passions, dreams, desires, and achievements.

    Therefore, it couldn’t be more cathartic to see two female protagonists take down the people or institutions running this show from the shadows. So, why the hell not enjoy it and cheer for these amazing women?

    P.S. Pretty Lethal (2026): https://kaygazpro.com/pretty-lethal-2026/ was also released between these films and also gave us the pleasure of seeing young women tear down a local empire. Pattern, anyone?

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

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    Ready or Not: Here I Come (2026)

    Kay
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    Ready or Not: Here I Come (2026)

    Having survived a deadly game planned on her wedding night by a powerful family, a woman now needs to confront the families that fight for the throne.

    Ridiculously entertaining!

    We were never entirely sure there would be a second one. But boy, am I glad there is. Ready or Not (2019): https://kaygazpro.com/ready-or-not-2019-comedy-horror-mystery/ was bold, violent, hilarious, suspenseful, and unapologetically entertaining – a bloody comedy/horror that understood exactly what it wanted to be and fully committed to it. The balance between chaos, satire, gore, and tension worked brilliantly. So naturally, the question surrounding the sequel was simple: could lightning strike twice? It could, and it did!

    The original creative team returns, with writers Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy alongside directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett picking up exactly where the previous film left off. More importantly, they understand that the audience needs answers – and more. The sequel expands the mythology in a straightforward way, explaining what is happening and why without overcomplicating matters. Does it work? Aye! Instead of weakening the mystery, it broadens the concept and makes the madness feel even bigger. And the audience gathered once more for chaos.

    The film delivers from the opening scene to the end. The “oner” introducing Grace immediately reminds you why Samara Weaving became such a horror icon in the first place and gets your undivided attention. From there, hell breaks loose almost instantly. Blood sprays across walls, bodies pile up, foul language flies around like ammunition, and the film transforms into an absurdly entertaining feast of gore, dark comedy, and relentless carnage. It knows exactly how ridiculous it is – and weaponises that awareness beautifully. Alongside Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Elijah Wood, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, and the rest of the diverse cast elevate the fun to the extreme – You will even see David Cronenberg in there!

    Yet beneath the madness, there is a layer of a more symbolic darkness. The elite here are portrayed symbolically: childish, privileged, detached from consequence, worshipping power itself under the guise of satanic ritual. They operate by different rules, protected from the realities ordinary people suffer. Whether intentional social commentary or simply a reflection of collective frustrations, it becomes very easy for audiences to replace these fictional elites with real-world faces. Anyone comes to mind?

    And, you see, that is part of why the film works so well. Because underneath the bloodbath and satire lies anger. And Grace, by being covered in blood, swearing through chaos, and refusing to die, stands like a beacon; the ultimate anti-elite nightmare.

    Let me say it again: Samara Weaving absolutely rocks!

    P.S. I’m so glad that Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett left after Scream VI (2023): https://kaygazpro.com/scream-vi-2023-horror-mystery-thriller/ and didn’t carry on with the horrible franchise.

    P.P.S. With the next review, there is an interesting comparison coming!

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

    Wasteman (2025)

    Kay
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    Wasteman (2025)

    Days before his release from prison, a man’s new cellmate threatens to ruin everything.

    One of the best UK prison films in years.

    Gritty, claustrophobic, and emotionally raw, Wasteman throws you straight into the suffocating reality of prison life and refuses to let go. Using real ex-inmates alongside a pseudo-realistic found-footage aesthetic, the film achieves something many prison dramas desperately chase but rarely attain: authenticity. Not performative realism. Not exaggerated brutality. Authenticity.

    Based on Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran’s script, director/producer Cal McMau mounts the camera on his shoulder and drags us through narrow corridors, overcrowded cells, and volatile confrontations with an immediacy that feels invasive. The movement is restless, tense, constantly searching – as though the film itself is trapped within the prison walls alongside its characters. There is no glamour. No romanticism. Just concrete, steel, sweat, drugs, turf, bullying, and perseverance.

    What strengthens the immersion even further is the language. The slang, the regional vernacular, the rhythm of the conversations – it all feels lived-in rather than written. The dialogue never sounds like people pretending to be prisoners; it sounds like survival communication within a closed ecosystem governed by its own rules, hierarchies, and codes. An ecosystem that spans from survival to domination.

    David Jonsson (also a producer), Tom Blyth, Alex Hassell, and the rest of the cast are brilliant in their roles, and, as I like to say, if the performances are not convincing, everything else collapses, no matter how well it is made.

    Wasteman is about a man standing at the edge of change – finally presented with the opportunity of a lifetime – only to find himself with one leg in the fire and the other in the frying pan. Freedom, loyalty, fear, and survival begin pulling him in opposing directions until every decision feels fatal in one way or another.

    Andrews and Doran develop and escalate both the narrative and the characters, guiding them to a climax that ultimately pays off. The tension builds naturally rather than artificially, keeping you constantly on edge because the stakes feel human and immediate. What makes Wasteman so effective is that it understands prison is not merely a setting. It is a physical and psychological torment. I remember feeling that way after watching Scum (1979): https://kaygazpro.com/scum-1979-crime-drama/ for the first time. And by the end, you do not simply feel like you watched it. You feel like you survived it.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

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    Jane Campion

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    Jane Campion

    “The world has been full of sheep. You want to be a sheep, okay, this is a democracy. But if you want to find your own way, this is the time to do it. It’s not harder to be yourself, it’s just more obvious that it’s hard. Really hard. It’s always been hard. It was hard for Keats.”

    No Other Choice (2025)

    Kay
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    No Other Choice (2025)

    When a man loses his job, he makes it his life’s goal to eliminate competition in an attempt to get it back.

    Engaging, funny, and gripping.

    There is a very particular cinematic language that South Korean cinema has mastered over the years: the seamless blending of dark comedy, drama, and thriller into one cohesive emotional experience. Few film schools can shift from laughter to dread to heartbreak within the same sequence without losing balance. The Korean film school, through filmmakers such as Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, and Lee Chang-dong, has transformed that balance into an art form, understanding that darkness and humour are often reflections of the very same human condition – remember that comedy was born from drama. No Other Choice embodies that philosophy.

    Based on “The Ax” by Donald E. Westlake – previously adapted by Costa-Gavras as The Axe (2005) – this reinterpretation feels entirely its own. And appropriately so, the film is dedicated to Costa-Gavras, while simultaneously distancing itself from his approach through a distinctly Korean socio-cultural lens.

    Technically, the film is immaculate. The audiovisual composition operates like a Swiss watch. The close-ups are meticulously calculated, the music subtly manipulative in all the right ways, and the editing – particularly the cuts from action to reactions – creates anticipation, sometimes focusing more on the action but other times prioritising the reactions when it’s more necessary for you to see how the heroes and antiheroes feel about the action. Then come the performances. Lee Byung-hun delivers yet another commanding performance, balancing desperation, absurdity, and menace, while Son Ye-jin and her mesmerising presence bring an understated emotional complexity that anchors the chaos around her.

    But beneath the thriller mechanics lies a subplot that supports that kind of intricate plot. The obsession with the paper industry is not arbitrary. It has to be that industry. There is… no other choice. Paper represents bureaucracy, documentation, status, productivity – systems that define value through output and replaceability. As the narrative unfolds, every character appears trapped within structures larger than themselves. The competition behaves the way it does because survival demands it. The wife adapts because stability demands it. Everyone becomes a product of pressure. So, if everyone is pressured, who instigates it? Who sits at the top?

    And suddenly, the title transforms from narrative convenience into social commentary. Much like Parasite (2019): https://kaygazpro.com/parasite-2019-comedy-drama-thriller/ and Squid Game (2021-2025): https://kaygazpro.com/squid-game-bloodsport-debt-and-the-death-of-innocence/ (analysis), the film dissects modern Korean anxieties: economic pressure, social hierarchy, identity tied to labour, and the fear of becoming disposable. Pay attention to the final shots and think about what they possibly represent and how they relate to what you have seen until then.

    It may be impossible for Park Chan-wook to surpass Oldboy (2003). But No Other Choice does not need to. It stands in a class entirely its own.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

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    Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026)

    Kay
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    Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026)

    A couple’s young daughter disappears into the desert only to be found eight years later, mummified… and alive.

    Great audiovisual experience with almost no substance whatsoever.

    Producer/writer/director Lee Cronin, the man behind Evil Dead Rise (2023) and before that the atmospheric The Hole in the Ground (2019): https://kaygazpro.com/the-hole-in-the-ground-2019-drama-horror-mystery/, returns with a horror film that definitely knows how to look and sound impressive. Visually, The Mummy is polished to near perfection. The cinematography is slick, the energetic editing controls the pace and rhythm, the score is imposing in all the right ways, and the production design constantly demands your attention. It is blockbuster horror filmmaking firing on all cylinders.

    But then comes the script. And this is where everything meaningful, like the parents’ heavy drama, collapses under the weight of its own absurdity. I genuinely struggle to remember a recent big-budget horror film with more holes than Swiss cheese. Almost every major narrative turn relies on gimmicks specifically designed to force the plot toward the destination that producers Jason Blum and James Wan clearly envisioned from the beginning. The problem is not supernatural logic – audiences willingly accept mummification, curses, demons, ancient evils, and impossible horrors. That is part of the genre’s contract.

    The issue is when the real world becomes more implausible than the fantasy one. Murders occur with seemingly no police involvement. A child reappears after years in horrifying condition and is casually returned home, with no meaningful intervention from child services. Characters effortlessly learn incantations in dead languages as though browsing a recipe book. Scene after scene, I caught myself asking: How is this even possible?

    And when a film repeatedly forces that question upon the audience, it begins to feel less like suspension of disbelief and more like the filmmakers assuming viewers simply will not care. The frustrating part is that… many didn’t. Because the gore works. And it works well. The violent sequences are impactful, grotesque, and often genuinely disturbing. Combined with the great acting by Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, and the rest of the cast, and with the relentless pacing, they become effective distractions from the utter narrative chaos unfolding underneath. Audiences surrendered to the spectacle and embraced the darkness overtaking the screen.

    As a final note, I appreciated the numerous stylistic nods to Brian De Palma, even if they occasionally felt overused. Ultimately, The Mummy is bold, visceral, entertaining – and intellectually hollow. A haunted rollercoaster with stunning visuals and absolutely no brakes.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

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    The Rise and Fall of the Modern Biopic

    Kay
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    The Rise and Fall of the Modern Biopic

    Studios keep producing big, prestigious biopics – and most of them financially fail. From Napoleon to Ferrari, from Maria to A Complete Unknown, audiences seem uninterested. Then Oppenheimer arrives – a three-hour film about a physicist – and nearly makes a billion dollars. Why is that? Let’s find out…

    Hokum (2026)

    Kay
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    Hokum (2026)

    Seeking closure, an American writer visits his parents’ honeymoon hotel in Ireland, only to experience the horrors it hides.

    Atmospheric, claustrophobic, and intense… with a “but”…

    Hokum‘s impact, tone, and darkness are evident from the opening sequence. Writer/director Damian McCarthy once again proves that he can build tension. Following the success of Oddity (2024) and, for me, still unmatched by his own Caveat (2019): https://kaygazpro.com/caveat-2020/, he crafts a story that is tightly written, sharply directed, and very well performed. Adam Scott becomes Ohm Bauman and surfaces the trauma that hides inside him. Because beneath that horrifying surface, there is a deep, devastating drama unfolding – one that almost feels like it belongs to a different film, yet ultimately fuels everything we see.

    And then there is the folklore. Irish horror, more often than not, draws from it. It is part of its DNA. There is a certain panache to how Ireland approaches the supernatural – seen in films like The Hole in the Ground (2019): https://kaygazpro.com/the-hole-in-the-ground-2019-drama-horror-mystery/ or Sea Fever (2019): https://kaygazpro.com/sea-fever-2019-horror-sci-fi/ – where darkness is not imposed but inherited. It resonates. It seeps. It does not need to announce itself. It simply exists, and in most cases, predates humans and our belief systems.

    Which brings us to something I’ve been circling around lately: the fine balance between what the paranormal is, how we perceive it, how filmmakers think we understand it, and how it is ultimately delivered. Sometimes, that balance merges – almost seamlessly – with psychological horror. Look at recent films like Undertone (2025): https://kaygazpro.com/undertone-2025/ or Rabbit Trap (2025): https://kaygazpro.com/rabbit-trap-2025/. Which one is truly supernatural? Which one is psychological? The answer is rarely clear – and that’s the beauty of it.

    Neon’s Hokum plays within that space. But it also leans – perhaps too heavily – on jump scares. And here is where my reservations begin. Because while they work (and they do, especially for certain audiences), they often overshadow the film’s more powerful and haunting moments. The kind of moments where suspense builds through absence, through silence, through what is not shown. Irish horror, at its best, does not rely on sudden jolts – it breathes through atmosphere. And every horror should. Jump scares have become, for some time now, the way to scare audiences because nothing else works. But all the aforementioned films prove otherwise. Because the play between on-screen and off-screen performs miracles. Jump scares are just a tool – not a replacement.

    That said, Hokum remains an engaging experience. McCarthy’s vision is clear, his control over pace and rhythm evident, and his ability to turn intimate drama into horror is commendable.

    Thanks for reading!

    Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to film, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

    Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

    Stay safe!

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