2025 – Drama! Action!
Before we get into it, here's a rough summary of 2025:
Favourites:
· A Real Pain
· Weapons
· It Was Just an Accident
· Black Dog
· Cloud
· One Battle After Another
Action:
· One Battle After Another: final car chase
· Cloud: an almost anti-shootout
· Appofeniacs: the last act
· A Real Pain
· Happyend
· How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies
*That’s* your ending??
· The Brutalist
· 28 Years Later
· Sinners
Favoured performances:
· Aiden Delbis, Bugonia
· Aaron Pierce, Rebel Ridge
· Jesse Eisenberg & Kieren Culkin, A Real Pain
· Dina Silva, Frankie, Maniac Woman
· Raquel Lebish, It Needs Eyes
My Horror & Science Fiction breakdown to come....
Despite its title promising perhaps some madcap bad taste comedy, Pat Boonnitipat’s ‘HOW TO MAKE MILLIONS BEFORE GRANDMA DIES’ (‘Lahn Mah’) proved anything but. An affecting tale of generational ties, differences, selfishness, familial love, respect and disrespect, even financial planning. Although rooted in the Thia family dynamics, the themes are universal and relatable, making this the kind of film that reflects recognisable experience, getting under your skin until you’re properly stirred.
Neo Sora’s ‘HAPPYEND’ had a similar build-up of details and astute life observation to culminate in an emotional pay-off. Set in near-future Tokyo, following a bunch of youths as they start to make choices about who they want to be. Opening with a fun sequence of our protagonists just trying to go clubbing, and the pranking and goofing of the students provides a lot of amusement until it leads to the whole school being put under a surveillance-and-demerit system. That’s where the slight sci-fi tinge comes in, although it hardly feels it. Rather, this follows the coming-of-age genre’s focus on the brief, crucial and lost time of changing identities, defiance and friendships, and is all the more moving for that.
Jesse Eisenberg’s ‘A REAL
PAIN’ achieved an emotional heft I wasn’t expecting. From ‘Succession’,
we know that Kieran Culkin can do this in his sleep, and he’s fantastic in
these roles that exhibit righteous defiance and dickishness, troubled charm and
outright dirtbaggery; but it was the table monologue scene from
and by Jesse
Eisenberg that knocked me for six. A deceptively bright and light veneer held a
wealth of reflection about the injustices and confusions of deeply felt
relationships; plus, our own and global place in historical contexts, all of
which resides under the banner of the title.
Although Ian Dunt says that gunn’s ‘Superman’ is hands-down the most political film of 2025, ‘ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER’ is the most obvious and brazen. Upsetting both sides but ending with an instantly iconic car chase and a positive outlook on future generations being both defiant and wiser.
‘THE ORDER’ also felt right on the zeitgeist, even if it was a fictional elaboration on a true story to trying to bring down a group of White Supremacist in Pacific Northwest. Justin Kurzel’s directorial style is deceptively unflashy, harking back to his devasting approach to ‘Snowtown’ and ‘Nitram’, but here it is almost meat-and-potatoes, leaving a lot more moral murkiness: good guys do bad stuff too, etc. If anything, all the films noted are interested in showing how ultimately irredeemable characters based on real people are on a day-to-day basis: not so much their humanity but just their ordinariness. To this end, in ‘The Order’, Nicolas Hoult exudes cold charm and menace and Jude Law a burnt-out professionalism, just like the filmmaking, to consummate effect, but there’s a less devastating aftertaste than the aforementioned films.
Kathryn Bigalow’s ‘A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE’ surely harked back to the feel of those Seventies and Eighties’ films about the folly and fear of nuclear war and human helplessness. Deliberately, it’s all build-up to demonstrate that how impervious military protocol thinks itself to be against impending Armageddon, it is not prepared for the random and unpredictable. We may never know who or why. It does this by rerunning the same period from three different perspectives, but without any new insights but ultimate powerlessness. There’s a cast that know just how to sell this stuff, Bigalow knows how to keep things tense, it feels urgent and intense and yet the repetition doesn’t quite reap enough reward. If it does feel a little old fashioned, it also comes over as oblivious with the absurdities and character of modern American politics (‘Don’t Look Up’ captures the essence of modern times more convincingly). Unsettling, nonetheless.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘BAGONIA’ may be a remake of Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 ‘Save the Green Planet!’, but its conspiracy theory basis and craziness touches on the zeitgeist. A little less bonkers than the original, there are great performances from a frazzled Jesse Plemens, cold corporate-speak fish Emma Stone and a heartbreaking turn from Aiden Delbis. Lanthimos doesn’t lose the sense that there’s an in-joke being played which typifies his work – and there’s that ending – it is his representative dark satire, but the careful placement and execution of the build-up and revelations is riveting. It is a story that captures the fury and impotence of a little man who thinks he knows the truth about the privilege and arrogance of those a tier or two above him. The ending, although taken from the original, fits in thoroughly with Lanthimos’ cruel prank tendencies.
Cody Brobert’s ‘THE BRUTALIST’ came on like of those iconic, canonical dramas: historically grounded and convincing, epic, biographical credibility, serious performances. Its length declared that it intended to be such. Compelling and direct in its telling, superbly mounted, admirable in its intent but saddled with a coda that muddies much of what felt to be the messaging of the past hours; and even if it is not meant to be taken at face value, an endnote of ambiguity with no real groundwork laid beforehand will leave some bafflement.
Guan Hu’s ‘BLACK DOG’
(‘狗阵’,
‘Gouzhen’) starts as the standard tale of a maligned
outsider in a stark community but feels like it has casually slipped into
iconic canonical drama by the end. Much of this can be credited to the desolate
but painterly widescreen compositions – cinematography by Gao Weizhe – and the
slightly aloof-opaque emotional tone, which in turn is mostly down to the
near-silent protagonist Lang (famous Taiwanese singer Eddie Peng). Lang is just
out of prison, returning to a barren hometown at the edge of the Gobi desert,
finds himself a dog-catcher in an attempt to clean up the stray infestation for
the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Human and dog bond, metaphorically
representing on another, as the changing China offers them nothing even as the
zoo animals are set freed onto the streets
and the celebrations and fireworks go off. A melancholic and ultimately
strangely stirring slice of beautifully mounted slow cinema.
Something about masculinity…
Benny Safdie’s ‘THE SMASHING MACHINE’ was a decent film filmed in typically Safdie-stressed style with a solid, memorable performance by Dwayne Johnson, although the general commentary-consensus seems to be a shrug when John Hyuam’s 2002 documentary did this story with the genuine material.
More Safdie-stress with Josh’s ‘MARTY SUPREME’, set in 1950s ping-pong world with anachronistic 1980s pop hits and focused on a Timothée Chalamet everything-in performance. The Safdie approach is a compelling and perhaps career-best central performance, a stellar cast with a sprinkling of surprise cameos, a breathless pacing kept buoyant by a striking soundtrack, and a piling-on of mostly misfortune brought on by the protagonist’s assholeness. It’s full coarse meal with period recreation a bonus. Yes, there is nothing here that wasn’t covered gloriously in ‘Uncut Gems’, even another excellent score by Daniel Lopatin, Still, even after following such a selfish hustler for hours and deciding he isn’t worth rooting for because of all the damage he’s done, the third act is still riveting. On the way, it is perhaps Chalamet’s fencing with Gwyneth Paltrow that is best, and the cameos by Abel Ferrara and Tyler the Creator that stand out. Perhaps the ending frustrates because the whole film has been about the dangers of narcissism when you Follow Your Dream at the expense of everything and everyone else. The arrogance of con your way to greatness?
Derek Cianfrance’s ‘ROOFMAN’ had a trailer that suggested lots of anti-hero hijinks, but – like ‘The Smashing Machine’ – gave a portrayal of a flawed man fighting against the grain of his own character. The based-on-a-true story is remarkable and offbeat in itself to be compelling, but it proves less of a romp than anticipated, focusing on detail and performances. As such, it is well tailored to Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst’s charms, and the film rests upon them as the rest of the characters – despite a recognisably esteemed supporting cast – are fairly thin and stereotypical. It may not get very deep into its protagonist’s anti-hero motivation – except “bad decisions” – but there’s enough elaboration on the complexity and murkiness of human and relationship behaviour to make this more than just an offbeat true story.
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s anthology ‘FREAKY TALES’ was also apparently taken from true stories: club punks versus Nazis, a girl duo triumphing in a rap battle, and … well, turning NBA legend Sleepy Flood into a vengeful blackspoitation sword master is all made up, obviously. The VHS 80s affections and affectations are in vogue right now, so that isn’t quite a masterstroke, and it is definitely a mixed bag of mash-up material. Diverting, occasionally controlled, sometimes overreaching, a dayglo wish-fulfilment exercise with a sort-of comic book We All Have Powers! superpower thread.
After a slow build-up, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s ‘CLOUD’ stumbled into a more traditional showdown, almost as surprised by itself as its protagonist discovering that he himself is the villain. And like ‘Appofreniacs’, ‘Cloud’ tapped into a newer, online criminality to truly disturb that brings out the worst in people.
Jafar Panahi’s ‘IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT’ is one of those films that shows up all the shallow revenge fantasies that permeate so much cinema as the juvenile fantasies they are. Not that they don’t offer shallow catharsis, but they often don’t dig deeper. A director who has experienced the torture described in the film first hand allows humanity, doubt and farce to run free as he is evidently processing thoughts and feelings from his experience and observations. This is frequently the case with artists who have been through these experiences themselves, finding little bizarre nooks in the narrative. An Azerbaijani man thinks someone that crosses his path is the man that tortured him and spirals into a need for retribution.
Perhaps the most obviously comical scene is the run-in with two security guards, but by then the film has started from a perfectly executed set-up to taking on more and more baggage that allows for absurdity to seep in. Yet the chill, anger and seriousness are never compromised. And that’s an end note that reveals this as a perfectly formed discourse on inhumanity and revenge, causing harm, trauma and humanity.
Chris Andrew’s ‘BRING THEM DOWN’ offered almost as bleak a vision of Irish rural community as ‘Calm with Horses’, both starring Barry Keoghan who can’t be bettered when it comes to portraying cocky/conflicted/malevolent/unreadable slippery bastards. Christopher Abbot stomping to vengeance across miles of countryside is more psychopathic than a righteous payback. Grim and pretty, reminding also of ‘As bestas’, in a landscape where grudges and vindictiveness, petty or otherwise, can only lead to the worst happening. You’ll probably be left with unsettling visions of sheep in fields at night.
Gareth Evans’ Netflix ‘HAVOC’ was a disappointment. Having set the modern template for Modern Screen Melee with ‘The Raid’, this felt just average, meaning more attention to story and character was the way to go if he cannot top his aesthetic elsewhere.
It was just the same kind of Netflix shallow action fare like Seiji Tanaka’s based-on-Manga ‘DEMON CITY’. This is the kind of action flick that gets off on being unrealistic, slapstick, outrageous but implausible, and yet taking itself sort-of seriously (?).
John Maclean’s ‘TORNADO’ was an example of taking itself too seriously, insisting that its titular heroine is elevated to legendary status. But it’s a bit hard to take her as mythmaking material when she’s telling her father-figure “I hate you!” like a petulant child and getting people killed. Robbie Ryan’s cinematography is gorgeous and the despicable men, headed by a tired Tim Roth, have far more flare than Tornado herself: at least they earn their despicable reputation. There is plenty here to enjoy but there’s the feeling that it runs out of steam and the vengeance is all too brief and underwhelming.
Alternatively, ‘SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE’ plunges head-first into absurdism. I was a little disappointed that the original didn’t offer more than comic strip violence, shrugging off any realism, but that was the joke. It’s the joke here too, and often funny and ridiculous. It swaps Nazis for Soviets, but there’s nothing to get concerned about: just one good guy obliterating the bad guys in the name of moving home. If there’s any depth, it’s in his eventually finding a bunch of people that aren’t out to kill him.
Timo Tjahjanto’s ‘NOBODY 2’ just riffs on cliches and the current trend of making elder renowned actors into invulnerable cartoon killing machines. All uninteresting, but Bob Odenkirk is always good for the money, and it plays with the flailing dad juggling between family and sec ret identity, just trying to have a family holiday. But, like the original, it is best in the first half before it gets devolves into explosions and dumb zingers.
With ‘Sisu’ and ‘Nobody’ I was perhaps initially expecting something more like Jeremy Saulnier’s ‘REBEL RIDGE’, which of course they weren’t doing. But Saulnier presents an attuned sense of the violence he metes out and what it means whilst not skimping on the catharsis: something like Cronenberg’s ‘A History of Violence’. Saulnier has apparently set himself the challenge of making an action flick with no killings and succeeds mostly because of Aaron Pierce’s towering presence. His character’s control and locked-down manners are perfected, speaking to the vulnerability of a black man being pulled over and moving in a potentially hostile environment; but when he twitches or finally breaks out into a smile, it could go either way. “Too much sauce?” With Don Jonson playing more smarmy Southern corruption, a few surprises, satisfying action, some quotable lines – “He’s on Wikipedia…” – and a whole taught wire length of tension, it turns out you can do this without a ‘John Wick’ influence simply by promoting writing over absurdity, set-piece and excess.
If you are going to do both smart writing and excess, Grégory Morin’s ‘FLUSH’ is a good example. With a premise that doesn’t promise much but dumb outrageousness – a man gets his head stuck in a toilet in a semi-thriller scenario – but proves that nimble writing, escalating madness, invention and farce and staying just the right side of gross-out comedy (though that too) transcends any limitations of location and circumstance. Part of the fun is seeing the jerk protagonist get karmic justice, so we are free to laugh and wince at his predicament without too much guilt. It has more in common with ‘Why don’t you just die?’ than, say, Troma, and proved a delightful, funny, entertaining surprise.
Brian Kirk’s ‘DEAD OF WINTER’ said that female stars can get in on the mature action act too. A solid thriller with a threadbare title distinguished by its focus on old person heroism-by-pragmatism, and by Emma Thompson-with-an accent. All the performances are great, snowbound northern Minnesota provides magnificent white vistas, and the joy is in watching our mature, well-seasoned heroine use her wits to evaluate and deal with the situation when she stumbles upon a kidnapping. There’s a refreshing turn in seeing the usual Action Machismo – self-sewing a bullet wound, dashing for cover, loading guns – being carried out by a smart, somewhat unassuming old woman motived by little more than the stubbornness of caring, of not knowing how to not get involved. Respected older actors turning into action stars in late career is a trend usually reserved for the guys, the industry trying to squeeze some last virility out of them, so it’s nice to see the ladies cash in. In fact, this one, the writing debut of Dalton Leeb and composer Nicholas Jacobson-Larson, is definitely for the girls.
There are the expected plot holes inherent in the genre (wipe the glass!), but there’s plenty to admire in a script that is essentially a back-and-forth between two locations. There is nothing original, but it’s pretty, suspenseful, well played and entertaining.
Gerard Johnson’s ‘ODYSSEY’ was a far less rewarding representation of female power and action. If ever a film felt like a workday, this is it. Polly Maberly commits an excellent performance as an arrogant Estate Agent storming through her financial downfall and cognitive dissonance into dilemmas with the underworld but belabours its point and takes too long. The filler is good but there are times when spotting locations for Londoners (Dublin Castle!) becomes the focus. Tiresome unpleasant urban Englishness is the default. It’s a fine character study of a reprehensible character and the unlikeable mob around her, until Mikael Persbrandt turns up to provide some gravelly control, but not much else is proven except the protagonist’s steamrolling ego until a crowd-pleaser massacre to finish up. The film apparently mistakes her for an anti-hero?
And the pentagram belongs to another film.
Chris Marrs Piliero’s ‘APPOFRENIACS’ If you liked ‘Lowlife’, https://bucktheorem.blogspot.com/2017/09/frightfest-2017-day-5_6.html like hard-boiled crime fiction by the likes of Gifford and Leonard, this is sure to float your boat. Pulp ensemble, criminal and broad characters verging on the cartoonish and intersecting subplots may wear its Tarantino love too conspicuously on its sleeve, but there's plenty of escalating misunderstanding and mayhem of its own to carry you along. Mostly, all the foreshadowing pays off to a full-blown ending to leave you giddy with its excess. Also, its a film that highlights how terrifying AI in the wrong hands could be by not even exaggerating by much. Again, it's the people who are the problem.
Darren Aronofsky’s ‘CAUGHT STEALING’ was a fun Unlucky Man romp of a thriller with enough nastiness and twists to keep the audience on its toes. Most details led to narrative results – even Matt Smith’s absurd punk outfit had a pay-off – indicating more attentiveness than just the Colourful Criminal Types being threatening. Austin Butler gets to show how hot he is amongst a superior cast, in which Zoë Kravitz is sumptuous, and the rest all seem to be having fun. It’s more Ed Brubaker than Tarantino and probably more for entertainment’s sake than Aronofsky has done before.
Barry Levinson’s ‘THE ALTO KNIGHTS’ is a film guided so much by tropes and a tired sense of going-through-the-motions that any potential in the true story basis is stifled from the start. This means that having De Niro play two parts doesn’t have the resources to overcome its novelty: rather, the audience may just spend the film being distracted by prosthetics/AI/CGI embellishments to his face throughout. It is a gimmick with no narrative justification and, really, De Niro’s gangster mafioso dialogue and schtick is so rote that it’s almost parodic. Levison throws in voiceover, temporal displacement, De Niro relating the story to camera, an array of vintage cars and anything else in an attempt to bring it all to life. Sometimes going through the motions can be entertainment enough, but what the impression here is of, ironically, on- and off-screen a tale of old men trying to revive old glories.
The production story of the making of Mohammad Rasoulof’s ‘THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG’ is more provocative even than anything in the film. Filmed in secret, the director fleeing, the crew forbidden to leave the country. All this proves the point of the film, a criticism of patriarchal politics and domineering religion at home and nationally. Perhaps the lurch into an almost serial-killer-hunting-victims denouement feels a little less subtle than what has gone before, but the central argument that it is always the women that suffer most is well made. A flawed but important film.
Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s ‘THE DEVIL’S BATH’ (‘Des Teufels Bad’) may have come with an almost comical name when being lumped in with the horror genre, but it was anything but. A folk horror in that beliefs and Faith lead to the worst in human behaviour. No scenery-chewing villains here, just the delusion of a patriarchal and religious community that has no place for the individuality and needs of a woman. The era of 1750 Austria is convincingly and compellingly reconstructed until the final moments provide a stunning confessional and a clarification of the horror of the historical truth.
These were far more revealing to me about the female experience in society than Lynne Ramsay’s ‘DIE MY LOVE’: A troubled woman as performative-to-the-cameras defiance, that does very little to demonstrate the terrible self-centredness and effect on others. Mental health issues validated by poeticism.
And ultimately, Rob Reiner’s ‘SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES’ was neither as good as you wished it were or as bad as your feared. It coasted on the legend and brilliance of the original and gave us those excellent central comic performances with oodles of cameos, which didn’t quite make up for what it lacked.
