The Weekly Movie Rundown #1

The New films I watched this Week/Weekend

Hello there reader, it's movie weekends like this where I realized it would be fun to implement a new type of post that isn’t just reviewing one film for the week, so today is the first of the weekly round up where I talk a little bit about some of the new releases coming out for the weekend. I decided to skip out on the Snow White remake and The Alto Knights so I saw the two smaller releases of the weekend both of which I recommend. This format will make more sense with something like next week, where there are three wide releases that will all be covered.

Ash (2025)

Synopsis: A woman wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed. Her investigation into what happened sets in motion a terrifying chain of events.

Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale

Director: Flying Lotus

Ash at first impression while watching is very hard to initially get a grasp on as it immediately thrust you into its world and the reality that Riya (Eiza González) finds herself in and it definitely weighs the movie down throughout its runtime and can make it feel like style over substance some might say, but I Overall think the movie found itself more and more as the pieces of this mystery puzzle start coming together in the narrative. Being Flying Lotus’s first feature, there are definetly things that give this off and of course there will be many a Alien and the Thing comparisons to go around, but I really love the bright flashy look of the whole thing and the sequences of action in the film are impressively handled. Eiza González handles her first time as the lead in a feature incredibly well and the narrative would not be nearly as easy to buy into if it weren’t for her clear commitment to every scene, despite its bit of a rocky foundation, I think the film more than cements its self as another solid Sci-fi horror while pumping up the cosmic dread.

3/5 stars

Locked (2025)

Synopsis: When Eddie breaks into a luxury SUV, he steps into a deadly trap set by William, a self-proclaimed vigilante delivering his own brand of twisted justice. With no means of escape, Eddie must fight to survive in a ride where escape is an illusion, survival is a nightmare, and justice shifts into high gear.

Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins, Ashley Cartwright, Michael Eklund

Director: David Yarovesky

In a cinematic landscape where many complain that Hollywood doesn’t make certain types of films anymore, Locked feels like one of them till the end. An incredibly captivating and claustrophobic thriller Following Eddie (Bill Skarsgård) being trapped in a car he was trying to steal from and William (Anthony Hopkins) serving him his own kind of justice. Theres definitely silliness at play here (especially as we go more and more off the rails near the films tail end, but that’s honestly a plus for me, a concept like this is always gonna be a little silly at times and film is able to balance that and still be extremely thrilling simultaneously. You really have to have a knack to be able to make a film like this visually engaging despite being trapped in one area for its majority and director David Yarovesky is able to make you feel every moment of paining torment Eddie feels while trapped whether its through lower angles, or the smaller cameras William uses to keep an eye on Eddie throughout, its always able to remain innovative. It at times can admittedly take itself a bit too seriously with its class and social commentary but Locked is a stellar example of a modern single location thriller done right.

3.5/5 Stars