Drop. Directed by Christopher Landon
Drop is a peculiar movie with an interesting premise: a woman, Violet (Meghann Fahy), is blackmailed into killing her first date, Henry (Brandon Sklenar). The synopsis definitely requires some suspension of disbelief, but once it is suspended it is quite fascinating. Unfortunately, the execution is what really squanders what could have been a fun, first-date thriller. Drop probably would’ve worked much better as a short film rather than a 100 minute long feature as the premise just doesn’t have enough fuel and ends up dragging by its end. There are a few solid moments of tension, and Meghann Fahy proves she’s a solid scream queen, but a setup like this can only go so far. In the end, it’s an intriguing concept that’s simply not built to sustain a feature-length runtime.
My Rating: C
The Surfer. Directed by Lorcan Finnegan
The Nicolas Cage renaissance rolls on with his latest feature film, The Surfer, where we follow a man, simply known as The Surfer (Nicolas Cage), returning to the idyllic beach of his childhood to catch some waves with his son. But when a group of hostile locals stops him from surfing, he’s thrown into a bizarre conflict that pushes him right to the edge. In just 100 minutes, The Surfer plunges the audience into a surreal acid trip, drenched in saturated blues and oranges. Under the blistering Australian sun, both the protagonist and the audience are thrown into the wringer, as the film blurs the line between reality and delusion. The locals torment The Surfer in increasingly unhinged ways, while the film digs into themes like localism, toxic masculinity, and the danger of obsessing over the past. If this premise doesn’t sound like your thing, odds are The Surfer won’t win you over. But if you’re into strange, surreal movies where Nicolas Cage fully commits to the madness, then this one’s definitely for you.
My Rating: B
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. Directed by Rugano Nyoni
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is the first film I’ve seen from Zambia, and after watching it, I know I need to explore way more African cinema, because this one is genuinely fascinating. The story kicks off with Shula (Susan Chardy) stumbling upon her uncle’s body on a desolate road in the middle of the night. What follows is a 90-minute unraveling of buried family secrets, as Shula and her cousin navigate the tensions that emerge during the funeral proceedings. Set within a middle-class Zambian family, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl quietly but powerfully explores the emotional fallout when an abuser dies, and the complicated ways families respond to that truth. Anchored by a strong lead performance from Chardy and the assured direction of first-time filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, it’s a haunting and philosophical debut that points to a very promising career ahead.
My Rating: B
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