Death of a Unicorn (2025)

Death of the Unicorn is one of films that I have been intrigued by purely because of the title. With it being an A24 film it was clear that the film was going to have more than a hint of strangeness. The plot of the film sees Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega play father and daughter who are on their way to weekend retreat when they hit what turns out to be a baby Unicorn and the magic properties that it has are utilised by the pharmaceutical family lead by Richard E. Grant but the problem is the parents of the unicorn want their baby back and they are not very happy. 

I really liked this film and the many reasons why. Firstly with a plot centred around Unicorns, the film should not work and yet it does. A key reason is the setting. I am a big sucker for isolated settings because it keeps the story contained and they can only work if the story is structured to cope with the restricted setting and it stretches the term isolated a bit because there are some scenes in the woods but it's still relatively close to the house. The film also benefits from the restricted cast and that may have been a budgetary decision but it helps because it means that the characters we see get enough screen time.

The film boasts an impressive cast list with Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Richard E. Grant & Téa Leoni. Jenna Ortega is very good as Ridley. She takes what was probably on paper a very whiny role and manages to make it a likeable one. Paul Rudd is likeable as Elliot who is just trying to do the best for his daughter after his wife passed away. Rudd is always likeable but he does fall into a supporting role for most of the film. To be fair they do have a good dynamic together and in the final act they feel like a father and daughter team. 

Will Poulter steals the show as Shepard, as a rich trust fund kid who has a new idea every five minutes. He is constantly being the funny part of the film and proves the humour when the more serious scenes happen. Richard E Grant is very good as the dad. Saying that Richard E. Grant is very good is a bit like saying there are seven days in the week. I think this performance is as good as the one in Saltburn. He starts the film at death's door to begin with but in safari gear and hunting unicorns by the end. That visual alone is worth the ticket price.

Téa Leoni is the weak link of the central cast. It’s not that she is bad but it does feel like the plot wouldn't miss anything if Belinda wasn't there. Belinda is a sort of cliched rich businesswoman who is just following the almighty dollar. 

Another reason why the film works when it shouldn't is the way the plot is structured. The family is not very nice and perhaps a bit cliched but I liked them enough to enjoy the film although happy when they got killed off. All their deaths were gruesome and perhaps what they deserved. The gore is another big thing I like because the deaths seem slightly over the top but the blood didn't seem computer generated or if it were then it was very well done. I would say that Belinda’s death was perhaps the most gruesome although Shepard’s was simple but still seemed tough

The film ends with what could be seen as a sequel bait ending with the trio of unicorns attacking the police car with Ridley and Elliot with the implication that they are there to rescue the father and daughter. I think that unless this leads to a sequel then the ending was a bit of a disappointment as it would have just been better for the film to end when the unicorns run off into the woods. Time will tell I suppose.

I really enjoyed this film as the film defies the odds and makes a film with unicorns at its heart a lovely and quite horrific film. A24 has a great track record and films like this show why. The cast worked really well together and the tone was pitched just perfectly. It just goes to show that you can make a successful movie about just about anything.

Novocaine (2025)

Novocaine is what would be called a ‘high concept idea. The film sees Jack Quaid play Nathan Caine who is the Assistant Manager at a bank when he falls for Sherry the cashier at the bank and after they go on a date, the bank is targeted by robbers and takes Sherry. The thing about Nathan is that he was born with a condition where he cant feel pain. He has to watch what he eats and goes to the toilet. When Sherry is taken by the hostages, Nathan is racing to save her but also try and avoid the police who naturally think that Nathan is working with the robbers. 

Jack Quaid is quite good as Nathan. As Nathan, he is a terrible fighter but realistically he isnt going to be very good because he works in a bank. He isn't suddenly going to be John Wick so he wins sort of by luck more than anything else and that might be a problem for some but I think that it works for the film. Amber Midthunder is also very good as Sherry. The last time I recall seeing her in was Prey the Predator sequel and she was very good in that and whilst she doesn't really have much to do she makes all her scenes seem important and you notice when she’s not around. Also making Sherry seem like someone worth saving is tougher than you would think yet because of Midthunder, you want Caine to save her. Ray Nicholson is ok as the leader of the bank robbers but only really gets to be any good in his fights with Caine. Jacob Batalon plays the sort of role that is use to playing in the Spider-Man films although he is good at doing it so why not play the comic relief that the protagonist can rely on.

There are issues with the film but they are mainly plot related. Firstly we are told quite early on that Sherry is related to one of the robbers long before Nathan finds out so the twist of him finding out is wasted because it sort of makes Nathan look like a fool even if he doesn't know it yet. The other issue is at the end when Nathan gets 6 months under house arrest and Sherry gets 2 years (??) in prison. I think that what Nathan does is way worse than what Sherry does and yet Sherry gets the tougher sentence. 

Those two issues aside, the film is a lot of fun. Quaid has a lot of charisma that gets you through the early part of the film when nothing really happens and the fight scenes are enjoyable and mixing that in with the gore helps create a fun film that sort of knows what it is but has fun doing it. There are a couple of wincing moments which did make me want to look away. The first was when Nathan has not one but two finger nails pulled out. The next is when Nathan hammers his thumb back out of place so he can get the handcuffs off him and then snap it back. That looked horrible. Then there is a bit at the end when Nathan has his ulna bone (fancy name for his arm bone) broken and his hand is sort of flapping away at the side but it does lead to the death of Nicholson’s character and it's the last of many great deaths.

Novocaine is definitely worth your time. The only thing that ruined my movie experience was two people talking constantly throughout the film. Normally people talk during the trailers and shut up once the film gets started but these two a**holes carried on talking. I would like to watch this again but without talking. I thought this film did what I was expecting and wanted it to do.

The Alto Knights (2025)

The Alto Knights is the answer to what a Martin Scorsese film would look like if it had no involvement from Scorsese. The Alto Knights sees De Niro play crime bosses Frank Costello & Vito Genovese. At the beginning of the film someone tries to kill Frank and he decides to give up the power to Vito and the rest of the film is about that and how Vito doesn't trust Frank.

One of the few plus points of the film is Robert De Niro. Quite why he is playing both roles is a mystery. It’s either money or vanity. It made sense for Tom Hardy to play the Kray twins in Legend but seeing as Vito and Frank aren't related it can only be that they offered him more money cause it worked out slightly cheaper than hiring another actor. To be fair, De Niro does a good job in playing both roles differently enough that it makes it worth the hassle it must have been to do all of this. 

The big scene comes obviously at the end when there is a big meeting and Frank has it arranged under the premise that he will hand over power to Vito in front of all the bosses and it's just a hoax so that the bosses can get arrested by the police. This felt like Scorsese would have done it and that is about as good as it gets really. 

The main problem with the film is that it lacks the flair and style that Scorsese films have which isn't always a bad thing but when that is the style you are going for it does make it an issue with the film. There are moments which are quite fun to watch but there is always something that takes me out of it and wishing I was watching Goodfellas or Casino or something like that. This is the first film for quite a while that made me wish it was longer. It could easily have been another 25-30 minutes and it would have made all the difference cause it felt like things were cut to get it under the two hours run time (even though with credits it's just over 2 hours).

I wasn't expecting a lot from this film and seeing as it didn't deliver I can't say that I was made about what I saw. It's something that might be worth seeing when it appears on streaming but it's not something that is worth making the trip to the cinema on a Monday night (or any night for that matter).

Mickey 17 (2025)

Mickey 17 is the first film from Bong Joon Ho who directed the amazing Parasite and is based on the novel Mickey 7. The story sees Mickey Barnes who joins a program that will clone him to do the grunt work and when he dies there will be another one but when he survives and the company think that he has died they create a new one and there is a rule about duplicates and the film then becomes a battle between the two Mickeys and the company.

I went into this film not thinking that this film would be as good as Parasite. Parasite is a perfect film and this at best was going to be a close second. There are things to like about this film including Robert Pattinson. Pattinson is very likeable in this film and it's hard to believe how far he has come since the Twilight days. Here he has to play two different versions of himself and make them work. The horrible version of him is likeable enough so that when he ends up dying it does feel like a sad moment. His nicer version is the one that we want to see make it to the end and get the life he deserves. There is a nice aspect of the plot that his life is a result of a bad decision when he pressed a red button that led to his mother’s death. Naomi Ackie is also very good in this as the only person that seems to care about Mickey. Last time I saw Ackie was in Blink Twice which she was good in and here she continues to show what a good actress she is. 

The film isn't perfect as they do waste Steve Yeun who pops up every so often and does contribute to the story but I would have liked to see more of him. The biggest problem with the film is Mark Ruffalo. I can remember how impressed I was with his performance in Poor Things and yet it seems like he has gone backwards with this. It’s undeniable that he is doing what I think he thinks is a Trump performance and it's just boring now when people do a parody of Trump, even if he hadn't won the election in 2024, it would have been an eye rolling performance. There was potential to make him a decent villain but either the director or Ruffalo himself thought this was ok. Even Toni Collette is a bit of a let down as she is just there to be the one that is pushing Marshall to do certain things but she is never presented as being the main villain but she gets overshadowed by Ruffalo’s performance.

Despite these few issues, the film is as good as I hoped it would be. There are things that are very Bong Joon ho and these add to the quality of the film. The effects of the creepers is very good and the fact that they are portrayed as not being terrorising monsters works very well. The film has hints of Starship Troopers and Moon which are good films to include in this film and overall the film works because of the central performances from Pattinson and Ackie. I think the way that the film is pitched might put some people off but I think that it deserves people’s time as it's a fun two hour film and shows that Bong Joon ho is a very good director.

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

When it was announced that Marvel were effectively hitting the reset button with the Fantastic Four it meant that two films were already pointless. The other film is Thunderbolts but Captain America 4 is the big casualty. Coming six years after Steve Rogers handed over the shield and four years after Winter Soldier and the Falcon TV show which I admit that I haven't seen, this film shows Sam Wilson walk from one scene to another saying things while grumpy pensioner Harrison Ford who is now President (playing the role previously held by William Hurt) from going Red.

GOOD POINT 01 - ESPOSITO & FORD SAVE THE FILM

There are very few standout performances in this film but the only ones that stayed in the memory are Giancarlo Esposito and Harrison Ford. Esposito is wasted in this film but he still gives it his all and if I were involved in production I would have told Esposito to do the role he did in Breaking Bad because that would have made him much more valuable to the plot. Ford might be getting grumpier by the day (something thats probably been happening since 1982) but it was good seeing Ford get that sweet sweet Marvel paycheck.

GOOD POINT 02 - NICE CONNECTION TO ETERNALS

Nice is probably stretching it but I thought it was unexpected that they referenced Eternals which came out 4 years ago and to the best of my knowledge has not been referenced since. So it is a bit random that they did this now but at least it was on screen for more than a split second and was the backdrop behind one of the best scenes in the entire movie.

GOOD POINT 03 - NEVER BORED

Whilst it's not the greatest film ever made, I was never bored at any point during the film. It was just under two hours long and the film never felt like there was any padding. Admittedly it wasn't very good but it still managed to maintain my attention for the entirety of the movie.

BAD POINT 01 - ACTION SCENES HAVE NO ENERGY - I DIDNT CARE

It didnt take very long for me to come to the conclusion that the action sequences were going to be disappointing. The very first one in fact helped me draw to this conclusion. The ultimate problem is that while things are happening, nothing is really happening and there doesn't seem to be any energy to what we are seeing. Action sequences should be entertaining and at best the strongest one in this film were passable. 

BAD POINT 02 - SAM WILSON IS CAPTAIN BLAND

It’s alluded to in the trailer but missing from the end film but there is a line about Sam Wilson not being Steve Rogers and this normally wouldn't be a thing but Wilson is very dull and whilst Rogers was never the most charismatic person in the world, he did have a charm and this is missing from Wilson. Whether this is Anthony Mackie’s fault or the writing, I never felt like he could be a leader and would have made a substandard deputy. Wilson seems so wrapped up in clearing some old person’s name that he never shows us why he would make a good avenger.

BAD POINT 03 - VILLAINS MOTIVATION IS RUBBISH

So Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder would have made a good villain but he’s the secondary villain for some. The film decided that Samuel Sterns is the villain to show people the reason President because he’s a bit grumpy. Not only is Sterns a terrible villain but his motivation is mediocre at best. I just didn't care. I think I miss the days when the villain would want global domination instead of getting a tiny bit of revenge. Marvel has always had this problem and it shows no sign of being sorted out.

OVERALL

My expectations were low for this film and they were met. The film isn't terrible but it felt like a film that cost a lot of money but never felt like it had been spent on any important areas. The performances are ok at best and pointless at once and the directing is fine but never felt like it has any vision behind it or anything that would ever make me want to watch this again and I think even the Marvel shills will not be rushing to recommend this anytime soon. Hopefully this is the last time that Sam Wilson leads a film because I dont think Disney/Marvel can afford many more films like this especially the way their films have been received at the box office since Endgame.

The Monkey (2025)

The Monkey was another of the Mystery Screenings that my local cinema has been putting on and this is one of the films I was looking forward to in 2025 and after enjoying Longlegs I wanted to see what Osgood Perkins was going to do. Sadly the signs were not great when I saw that Atomic Monster were involved and James Wan is involved so it's not going to be clever or atmospheric but instead it's going to appeal to the lowest common denominator whilst thinking it was being clever.

GOOD POINT 01 - THE KILLS WERE VERY GOOD

Considering this is a horror film, the kills are as good as they should be. Like Heart Eyes, the inventive kills happen very early on with the owner of a shop being the first victim after he is harpooned and then the harpoon is pulled out along with the owner's internal organ. Unlike Heart Eyes, the kills keep coming including the woman who explodes after diving into an electrified swimming pool or a guy who shoots a hornets nest through the car window and the hornets fly through the bullet hole and into the guy's mouth. The kills are very big highlight of this film

GOOD POINT 02 - THE MONKEY’S MOTIVE SEEM UNPREDICTABLE

Some people might see this as a problem but I think that it works in the films favour. Being unpredictable means that as a viewer, we can't really guess with any certainty what the Monkey would do. The film does a very good job of highlighting this when Lois dies after Hal asks the monkey to kill his brother Bill.  

GOOD POINT 03 - THEO JAMES AND TATIANA MASLANY ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS

Theo James is good as both Hal & Bill and enough was done to make them seem different and even when they eventually have a face to face towards the end of the film they look different and the versions are also different. Tatiana Maslany takes what is really a basic role and makes it much more. She brings some warmth to the family of the younger Hal & Bill and it's a shame when she gets killed off. 

BAD POINT 01 - THE MONKEY CAN TELEPORT

Ok I am willing to admit that I haven't read the story that this film is based on but I hope that it is explained why the monkey can teleport. Unless something was mentioned that I missed, there is no explanation given why the monkey can move. This is shown at the beginning when young Hal & Bill go to the restaurant and the monkey goes from being on the back seat to the front seat and you could argue that this was moved in a deleted scene but when it's thrown down the well and then disappears its just accepted that it can teleport instead of coming up with some reason like somebody came along through a tunnel and took it home. That would have worked better than a teleported monkey

BAD POINT 02 - THE BROTHER REUNITE AT THE END

This might seem harsh since Bill ends up with a squished head but the way that the reunion is done poorly. So they spend all the time leading up to the end with Bill blaming Hal for their mothers death and the following dialogue is said

Bill: You killed my mother.

Hal: She was my mother too.

Bill: Oh yeah, i never thought of it like that.

A moment later they shake hands. If you're going to have them reunite then do a better job that doesn't come across as lazy.

BAD POINT 03 - WASTING ELIJAH WOOD

I was quite excited when I saw that Elijah Wood was in this film. Sadly it's more of a cameo. He comes in early on as the new husband to Hal’s estranged wife and wanted to take sole custody of Hal’s son Petey and I thought that it would have led to more scenes with the former hobbit but sadly that's it. One scene that probably only lasts for 4-5 minutes and I think if you're going to feature Wood then it should have been in a better role or give him some more screentime.

OVERALL

This was a major disappointment. I thought that whilst the deaths were creative and the central performances were very good, the whole film felt like a major step down for Osgood Perkins. I think if you haven't seen any of Perkins’ other films then this film might not be the disappointment that I thought it was but after Longlegs, this film seemed like there was a creative battle between Perkins and James Wan. Perkins knows how to make creative horror and Wan has no interest in being creative. It feels like the kills were Perkins and everything around them was Wan. Not worth going to the cinema for but maybe when it appears on streaming around Halloween then……maybe.

Heart Eyes (2025)

Heart Eyes was another mystery screening which I had pretty much worked out and this is another film where I probably wouldn't have gone to see it normally. This is a horror film which sees some co-workers stalked by a serial killer who thinks they are a couple. That is pretty much the plot.

GOOD POINT 01 - VERY GOOD OPENING

The film wastes no time in setting its stall out with the Heart Eyes killer attacking a pretentious social media couple who are staging a marriage proposal in a vineyard and get killed (along with the cameraman filming it all). It's relatively short but it does end with the woman being squashed to death in some wine making contraption. Its gory and not what I was expecting. It is probably the most gory death in the film but its 

GOOD POINT 02 - GOOD CHEMISTRY BETWEEN ALLY & JAY

One of the key things you need in a romantic film (even a horror) and that is chemistry from the main couple and we get that in this film. Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding work well together and there is a nice evolution between the two as they go from two co-workers who don't get on to two co-workers who fall for each other and ride off into the sunset. Holt plays Ally as someone who isn't the most confident person and doesn't like that someone comes in and does her job better and Gooding plays the smooth talking person that Ally isn't supposed to like but finds it hard not to. Thye play the roles well.

GOOD POINT 03 - COMEDY WAS PITCHED JUST RIGHT

There were comedic moments sprinkled out throughout the film and it wasn't over the top but pitched just right there was one moment where Devon Sawa’s Detective Hobbs, looks angrily at Jay in an interview room, is escorted out of the room by Jordana Brewster’s Detective Shaw and the door is closed but it has a glass window in the door and it placing is perfect as his funny face is still looking at Jay. That may not make the joke sound funny but trust me it is and there are plenty of funny moments which work to create the right mood for the film. 

GOOD POINT 04 - GOOD KILLS

One thing you want in a slasher horror is that the kills need to be good and that is one thing the film does very well. The first kills happen within the first 5 minutes of the film and sees the self indulgent girlfriend meet her end in some sort of wine making machine which squashes the grapes and berries and its literally an eye popping scene. The rest of the kills might not be quite as graphic or original but they are what you would expect and they are effective.

BAD POINT 01 - DIALOGUE MUST HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY AI

Whilst the chemistry of the two leads and the deaths make this film enjoyable, the script is terrible and sometimes its ear scrapingly bad. It's bad to the point that I wondered at one point if the screenplay had been written by AI. I know expecting the script in a horror film to be anything above average was asking a lot and was probably not going to happen, it still would have been nice to have something approaching decent. 

BAD POINT 02 - KILLER REVELATION WAS A BIT RUBBISH

The question of who the killer was is another thing that slasher films are known for and sometimes they work but other times they dont and unfortunately in the case of Heart Eyes its the latter. It’s revealed that Detective Shaw and her boyfriend/lover are the ones responsible and it felt a bit of a disappointment. It would have made more sense for it to be Ally’s ex-boyfriend or someone else. Instead we get a cop and the IT guy we encounter in one scene halfway through. Not the best revelations.

OVERALL

I didn't have too many expectations for this film but despite that I enjoyed this film. I thought it did what it was supposed to rather well and its a fun 97 minute horror film. Will it be one that I will want to watch again. Maybe if I see it on TV but I don't know. The central performances and the kills are worth your time and it would work as a nice double feature with one of the recent Scream films.