While the movie works as an atmosphere-building slow burn, the lack of substance in the story makes “Black Cab” harder to get into as a narrative.

What’s on the other side of the cellar door is far more disappointing than anyone can imagine, and so is the bland movie bearing its name.

It’s hard not to think a better heroine and a little more linearity might have earned “Last Straw” another full star.

Terry Gionoffrio’s ordeal simply seems like a trial run for what Rosemary Woodhouse experiences in a scarier, sleeker, superior movie.

Everyone else who has no problem with a fright flick that feels like “Lizzie McGuire” decided to get dark with a PG-13 Halloween special should do just fine.

Coralie Fargeat and “The Substance” showed me things I’ve never seen before alongside things I didn’t even know a movie could do.

“Don’t Move” relies heavily on serendipitous events and “you’ve got to be kidding me” behavior, which amasses an amount of disbelief not all viewers will be willing to suspend.

Emotionally charged performances make “Woman of the Hour” a consistently compelling, and occasionally unsettling, examination of violence’s often overlooked victims.

“Carved” has a creative concept. What the movie does not have is a punchy, popping personality to match its peculiar premise.

The movie you might think you’re getting may not be the movie it actually is, as “Never Let Go” packs a different punch than the one you see coming.

The return to a familiar formula focused on fan service puts the film in a fight against creative freedom to stamp a standout mark in the series.

Enjoyable without being empty, and sincere without being sappy, "Mr. Crocket" manufactures a solid selection for a "31 Nights of Halloween" marathon.

If a gimmick is all a movie has to go on, then it's also a great way to ensure an audience swiftly forgets the film.

It takes some getting used to the scaled-back styling, yet once you do, the film's unsettling aura of folk horror quietly creeps up on you.

Apparently, game-based horror movies are now down to simple party activities that can be played with an empty two-liter of orange Fanta.

Taken for the final product it was forced to be, it's hard to imagine any alternate 100-minute cut of this content coming out distinctly better.

What makes "Strange Darling" clever is how its twist retroactively recontextualizes everything you've already witnessed.

Viewers who can look past how far the film bends believability should be intermittently captivated at a minimum, and possibly deeply disturbed.

"The Front Room's" primary objective appears to be to get on an audience's nerves as much as Solange tries getting on Belinda's.

There's only the smallest smattering of substance inside "Afraid," making it about as artificially intelligent as a filler thriller can be.