Reviews

Maika Monroe (a certified scream sueen: Villains, It Follows, Longlegs) who stars in Maxime Giroux’s In Cold Light as Ava, is sterling. She is meant for close-ups. Based on her filmography, she’s got the practice. Without a word she conveys more understandable exposition (assumptive exposition?) than the reams of cold, lifeless dialogue motormouths churn out in much of today’s artistic landscape.

If a previous over-reliance on great (if, even at their best, self-serving) monologues led, eventually, to turn towards favouring towering, intense close-ups, then let In Cold Light be known as the keeer of some of the best.

Another stellar perfromances comes from actor Troy Kotsur (Coda, Black Rabbit), who is notable not just because he is an Oscar winner, but because he is the first male deaf actor to ever win the award. Kotsur conveys a mixture of contempt, grief, and guilt, and a kind of intensity in his physicality that makes him a scene stealer (he’s a real danger for this in the aforementioned, and great, Black Rabbit).

Giroux gathers her players at sets them alight, at the bottom right from the start of the story.

Ava is fresh out of prison. She used to head a small “gang” of drug dealers, which included her twin brother, who worked at a pharmacy. It’s been a while, so when she returns, she finds she’s lost her unimpeachable spot at its centre. The gang relegates her to being just another body — just another body of an operation she herself created. They argue she’s a risk. She is. She knows it. But doesn’t history count for something? Not everything that happened prior to the start of this film was her fault. Where’s the leeway?

Leeway comes from her twin brother, Tom, thanks to their unbreakable bond. They can criticize each other honestly. He’s unimpressed with her for getting into enough trouble selling and doing drugs she wound up in jail. She’s unimpressed he’s a premature father and ever joined her gang of drug dealers in the first place. It’s an insidious cycle, and blame, rightly, can be placed nearly everywhere.

Soon after, the siblings are stopped by a police officer. What are they going to do? They have drugs on them. Ava can’t go back. Suddenly, a gunman appears where the officer just was. He shoots Ava and Tom. Both go down. The officer returns and congratulates the gunman, his son. In the time they speak, Ava slips out the far side of the car and out of sight. The gunman returns and finds her gone. He and the officer split up to look for her. Ava returns, and takes a last look at her brother.

Gauntlet tossed. Line in sand drawn. Noted. What follows is missplaced blame, conflicting motivations, and reasonable distrust.

Like Good Time, a film that seems to revel in anxiety caused by living on the edges of society, and the consequences that come with that, In Cold Light never lets up. The camera never strays, yet it’s rarely still. The lighting brings to mind 1980s neo-noir, but with a modern indie softness. If there is a criticism here, it’s that it knows it’s beautiful, and seems to luxuriate in it. Even at 1h 36m, some of it could be chopped, but it is a beautiful, penetrating project indeed.

It’s easy to imagine throngs of film nerds (compliment) in line for the eventual In Cold Light 4k Blu-Ray with commentary.

All this to say, Maxime Giroux’s first English feature In Cold Light is a modern classic.

It’s not quite that the found footage genre is limited, or has a ceiling; certainly someone is going to come along and disassemble the way we understand it, but that time has yet to come. Like a stripped down song, what it’s got to say becomes the selling point. What else is there to focus on? For example, the camera angles — ostensibly set up by the characters within the found footage film — can only be so clever.

Luckily, Dream Eater brings to the fore a creation that helps freshen everything up: parasomnia. Parasomnia is — in the world of the film — a known phenomenon that affects someone during sleep. They don’t just get up or walk around or mumble in their sleep, they perform paranormal actions (moving cups of water, increased strength, to name a few). They lose all sense of themselves.

Alex (Alex Lee Williams) suffers from parasomnia, and his partner, Mallory (Mallory Drum), wants to film everything she can to document it both for a personal creative project and, possibly, to give to their specialist.

There are a few plot issues, or character beliefs that don’t quite hang together (why are characters in the film gung-ho on understanding, or at least being open to, the idea that parasomnia is real, but can’t get their head around possession?), and occasionally the dialogue feels like a place-holder (“Not again!”). Maybe it needed more time to cook, but, for the most part, following the mystery of this psychological / medical / paranormal “issue” is a solid B-plot to the actual house events’ A-plot. As Alex unravels, Mallory embraces some of the out-there advice from parasomnia specialists that at first seemed absurd (to some of them), and we learn more about Alex’s family — how this parasomnia may be familial, and-or related to his deeply troubled chldhood.

The biggest problem with Dream Eater is its many web conferencing scenes. This is the reality of 2025. It is probably how we would get in touch with a personal doctor, depending on certain circumstances, but the acting as well as the editing seem a little off, as though the dialogue was not recorded in real time, but was — like a one-sided phone call — stitched together in post. It’s unclear whether or not this is the case, but either way, these are the scenes in which Dream Eater threatens to collapse under the stress of its genre (and therefore, in some cases, technological) limitations. There is showing frustration Alex won’t get help, and then there is frustration the film doesn’t move past the issue of Alex not believing it. There’s footage. There’s evidence. They can only have so many uncomfortable conversations before they move the dial forward or it moves for them via some outside pressure.

Even if one or two scenes are redundant, so-stars Alex Lee Williams and Mallory Drumm hold the screen with ease; its a pleasure to watch them engage, the more they get to do.

Overall, Dream Eater is successfully unsettling, fun, and sometimes even funny, in a horror subgenre that, although saturated, hasn’t seen a film this potent in some time.

In Eephus (the name of a slow, arcing pitch meant to throw off batters), a sports dramedy about over-the-hill baseball players who get together to commemorate and in a way eulogize their community’s baseball diamond, Soldiers Field, after its decided it will be demolished. The space serves as a watering hole for all members of the community. Kids play. Old-timers sit and drink beer — or they, too, play. Anyone with energy squabbles about what was a ball, what was a strike, and whether or not the tie goes to the runner. Adler’s Paint is the favoured local team led by Ed Mortanian (Keith William Richards, Uncut Gems).

Director Carson Lund knows what to include and what to avoid in this now-stuffed sports subgenre. This is a movie that is easy to enjoy. Knock it out in an afternoon and be reminded sometimes quality comes in the form of a familiar package.

Eephus is gentle in its touch. Its approach is simple. A gang of loveable misfits get together to do their best to preserve — in any way they can — an identifying slice of their town; one that typically captures its heart, its spirit. In this case, that means one last baseball game between rivals.

Fans of The Bad News Bears, The Sandlot, and the like will find much to enjoy if they decide to flip this on.

One of my favorite spiderman movies

A childhood favorite that has lasted to this day and continues on. Love this movie.

This is not just a film about death; it is a moving and bittersweet immersion into the life that is fading away. We are introduced to Rémy, a sixty-something intellectual, a hedonist, slightly pompous, and gravely ill, who is in his final days. His ex-wife, Louise, desperately calls their son, Sébastien, a successful and highly pragmatic financier living in London—a complete opposite to his father's bohemian ideals.
​What follows is an unusual act of love: Sébastien, using the power of his money, purchases the dignity that the public healthcare system denies them. He transforms the bleak hospital ward into a refuge, a luxury hotel suite, a sacred space for the farewell. He gathers Rémy's old guard: his Marxist, socialist, professor friends, and former lovers—that entire "barbarian invasion" of intellectuals who dreamed of changing the world in the '60s and '70s, and who are now confronting a world that has left them behind, and a disease that respects no ideology.
​The film's magic lies in its dialogue. It is brilliant, sharp, funny, and absolutely human. There are debates about religion, sex, politics, education, the failure of utopias... and the ever-present reality that, in the end, the only thing that truly matters are the connections we made.
​Sébastien's journey is the deepest—one of reconciliation. He moves from cold detachment to tangible filial love, moving heaven and earth to give his father a death with a quality of life, even procuring a dose of heroin to soothe a pain that no amount of morphine could manage. It's the most honest portrait of how money, at times, can be an instrument of supreme love and not just ruthless capitalism.
​When Rémy says goodbye to his loved ones, it is a moment of pure and simple beauty. The film reminds you that aging is facing decay, but that true solace is found in the tribe, in shared laughter, and in the acknowledgment of a life, with its mistakes and successes, that was lived. It leaves a sob caught in your throat, but also an affirmation of friendship and family at the threshold of the end.
​Star Rating 💫
​5 out of 5 stars 💫💫💫💫💫
​An essential dialogue on life, death, and love in the modern age. A humanist masterpiece.

This is great. It's fantastic to finally see DiCaprio with PTA after their near miss on BOOGIE NIGHTS. To me, this is not the best PTA, like some folks are saying, nor is it the Second Coming; however, it's excellent. PTA's mastery of craft is on display, he re-invented the Car Chase as we know it, and he caught lightning by completing a story that took him 20 years write as it reaches its greatest relevance (everything going on in 2025).

There is something to be noted... about how some of the black women are portrayed (if they're stereotypes), and if how they're portrayed is meant to be a commentary on how black women are portrayed.... or if PTA just fell into the same lazy stereotype usage that "lesser" creators also have. Does it make sense to give the benefit of the doubt every single time?

Benicio del Toro doing some of his best work here and in THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME. Gotta love him.

This is a movie you sit down, turn the lights out and enjoy

Loved the action in this movie and I’m a huge fan of wolverine. Glad he’s back in action

Didn’t like the movie as much as I thought I would.

Esta pelicula me hizo llorar en el final cuando Leonardo Dcaprio se hunde en el mar al soltar la mano de su amada.La banda sonora de la pelicula es una maravilla amo esa cancion y la escena en el barco con las manos abiertas frente al mar es maravillasa una genialidad

Esta pelicula les muy buena y muy emotiva hasta incluso tiene aires de mistico pero la disfruto cada vez que puedo.Si les gustas peliculas de sentimientos profundos esta es la ideal.

Esta película está plagada de erotismo para su época resultó un boon

Es muy buena pero aún le falta más profundidad

If you care about spoilers for THE BLACK PHONE, stop reading now! Alright, I warned you. In that movie, a serial killer known as The Grabber kidnaps the wrong kid and ends up dead. You’d think it would be almost impossible to make a sequel from that, right? Well, director Scott Derrickson found a creative way of bringing him back in BLACK PHONE 2, terrorizing Finn (Mason Thames) and his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) once more. This time they go to a snowed-in Christian Youth Camp. This is very much a homage to NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and other horror icons, but it doesn’t feel like a rip-off or cash-grab. It’s more violent than the original, making it feel like the story has grown up with the characters. This is what a horror sequel should be like. I enjoyed getting a little more information about The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), albeit through a very exposition heavy scene. The way they use super 8 film during Gwen’s nightmares is so cool, making it look very grainy. Her visions and nightmares are legit scary; things Hollywood probably don’t have the balls to do. I could feel the confidence behind the scenes. The visual effects are gory but they felt real. It’s thrilling and surprisingly emotional. It probably could be a few minutes shorter. I had some issues with the dialogue and the “hearability” of it, especially from a phone or behind a mask. These are now two movies that are based on a short story written by Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son. It’s pretty rare that Blumhouse has a horror hit, let alone a creative sequel. Kudos to them for doing it right with BLACK PHONE 2!

There are some films that leave you as soon as you watch them (they do not leave a trace). Others cling to you like the perfume of a lover that seeps into your clothes and will not escape your senses despite the passing of time...and perhaps the eventual indifference that can develop between lovers. I have had that scent of cinematic joy cling to me only a few times. With the first two films created by Francois Truffaut, I saw the development of a talent coming to terms with his own difficult youth and life on the outside of society. I saw that he could make me laugh and cry, often within the space of a single frame. And then there was the incredible quantum leap made with a film about a German friend who, with his French friend, enters into a relationship with a free spirit that neither man can claim...
Jules and Jim is a film for adults who cannot bear to leave behind what their youth gave them. It is also the only film I have given a perfect rating to on the Peliplat page. Maybe I will regret this special place in my list of reviews. Maybe you have not seen the film, or will see it, or have seen it and cannot feel the same way about this film.
Please, look again, and fall in love...
;)

Good movie

A film to watch thousands of times and still discover something new with each watch. Introspective, dreamy, and explorative, truly one of the best Christopher Nolan films.

Hands down a terribly underrated movie. This is still to this day, one of my favourite movies. Love the acting and the story.

This was the first time I experienced this type of movie before, it truly opened my mind!