All posts by Daniel Bokemper

Mickey 17 (2025)

Let’s get the biggest letdown out of the way: Unfortunately, Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 doesn’t feature the 1981 pop hit “Mickey” by Toni Basil. The flick does, however, have Toni Collette (Hereditary) obsessing over various sauces. I guess that’s a decent enough consolation.

Beyond the sauce, Mickey 17 is a compelling, yet quite a bit weaker satire from South Korea’s best-known director. While it certainly won’t receive the same critical celebration as 2018’s Parasite, it still holds a comfortable place among a stellar filmography. That said, if you’d sooner watch Mother or Memories of Murder over Okja or Snowpiercer, this one might not be the Joon Ho joint you’d hope for.

Mickey 17 is a fairly close adaptation of Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel, Mickey7 (minus the 10 extra Mickeys, of course). On the run from a powerful mobster with a chainsaw fetish, Mickey (Robert Pattinson, The Batman) and his “friend” Timo (Steven Yeun, Nope) get jobs with a commercial space cruiser bound to colonize a mysterious ice planet. While Timo negotiates for a position as a pilot, Mickey becomes the ship’s only “expendable.” Possibly the worst gig imaginable, Mickey is employed to die and get reprinted so he can effectively gauge the dangers of space travel and colonization.

More so than Joon Ho’s other sci-fi satires, Mickey 17 excels in its casting. Pattinson channels his inner John C. Reilly to deliver a hilarious and endearing performance. His attention to physical comedy also excels, appropriately matching the energy of his character’s existential (and interplanetary) nightmare. Plus, Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things) and Collette carry the antagonism as the colony ship’s insufferable, corporate power couple.

That said, the film’s attempt at satire also works against it. Kenneth Marshall (Ruffalo) obviously pulls from Donald Trump and Elon Musk, but unfortunately, Joon Ho doesn’t say anything interesting about that. Sure, Marshall is a bumbling idiot who has more power than he should have ever been granted, but the film fails to actualize the consequences of that in a meaningful way. As entertainment, the character operates fine. As something genuinely interesting and resonating, on the other hand, he fails miserably.

While that miss eclipses most of Mickey 17’s commentary that lands, it doesn’t completely ruin it. The film’s critique on automating and replicating human capability to extinction works. And though the monstrous centipede-buffalo stand-in for Indigenous societies feels a bit gross, at least where the film’s heart lands doesn’t. In other words, it flounders as a modern, pointed satire, but saves itself as a dystopian black comedy.

Certain sequences thankfully save the film when awkward flashbacks and hallucinations cause it to stumble. It isn’t that those achronological scenes should’ve been removed outright. Rather, their presentation makes the film noticeably stumble toward its crescendo. Which feels bizarre, given the montages and dialogue push the movie forward so well.

To be clear, Mickey 17 is an entertaining, worthwhile ride. It just winds up among Joon Ho’s weaker works, fighting for a knife in the slush with Snowpiercer. Ultimately, that’s still pretty high praise. —Daniel Bokemper

Get it at Amazon.

A Real Pain (2024)

One of the most popular shows on Norwegian TV involves uninterrupted footage of trains traveling across the countryside. It can go for hours — even days — to capture actual length one of these journeys take. Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain isn’t necessarily a slow crawl at a lean 90 minutes, but it’s also not necessarily ripe with narrative development. It’s a film that’s as somber as it is funny, washing over you like a walk through a familiar neighborhood.

Shortly after their grandmother dies, Jewish cousins David (Eisenberg, The Social Network) and Benji (Kieran Culkin, HBO’s Succession) reunite for the first time in over a decade to tour Poland. David is a dad and accomplished digital marketer whose neurosis, pessimism and risk-adverse nature keeps him from enjoying life. Benji, who still lives with his mom and is presumably unemployed, operates with an abrasive charisma that’s equally grating and lovable. Together, the two explore their ancestry, get high and gradually work to resolve their 10-year tension.

A Real Pain places an intimate, family conflict against a historical jaunt. And it simply works. Yes, it delves into the Holocaust — including a sequence through a still-standing concentration camp — but it doesn’t do so in an overly dogmatic or heavy-handed way. It also doesn’t get too cerebral with its commentary, subtly weaving in historical context into David and Benji’s relationship.

Eisenberg and Culkin’s acting breathes life into the characters, which is where A Real Pain finds its staying power. The duo’s dialogue is refreshingly natural, true, but their physical performances make David and Benji even more compelling. 

One scene at a train station illustrates this perfectly. We see them on the empty platform having just missed their stop. David is rigid, his posture snapping into sharp angles as he tries to chastise his cousin. Benji, on the other hand, is lax and fluid, shrugging off David’s imminent panic attack. Gradually, David loosens up, and it shows in his body language throughout the film. It’s a subtle shift that speaks volumes in a film of tiny, though nonetheless meaningful moments.

The setting also lends itself to the cousins’ attempt to reconcile. Surrounded by monuments to Jewish heritage and hardship, David uses reverence and respect to shield himself from feeling much of anything. Benji, on the other hand, sees every informative plaque and even the non-Jewish tour guide as a barrier between feeling connected to his past. Yet in a candid conversation with someone else on the tour, a recently converted Jew from Sudan (Kurt Egyiawan, Beasts of No Nation), David rejects the idea of stewing on tragedy and trauma. Benji, however, is undeniably moved and shaken by it. (Admittedly, it’s a little weird Benji makes no mention of Israel and Palestine, though that probably would never fly in what’s ultimately a Disney production.)

Again, A Real Pain never gets to some dramatic moment of reconciliation. It feels more in line with the slice-of-life vibe found in 2021’s C’mon C’mon. Instead, it’s rooted in reality, reminding us that change isn’t always obvious or resonant. —Daniel Bokemper

Terrifier 3 (2024)

For every Cinema Paradiso, there’s a film primed to make us regret ever watching movies. Since 2016, Damien Leone has seemingly gone out of his way to put that “honorary” distinction on the Terrifier franchise. And he does a pretty damn good job at it. Still, pushing the grotesque envelope can only go so far until it eventually busts. With Terrifier 3, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) makes a tragic misstep from shockingly scary to schlocky slapstick.

After his head’s cut off by Sienna (Lauren LaVera) at the end of Terrifier 2, Art’s reanimated corpse reconvenes with his first victim turned disfigured villain, Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi), at an insane asylum. (Conveniently, she also gave birth to his head at the end of the second flick.) The starstruck lovers seal their union by ceremoniously bashing in the brains of an unsuspecting Chris Jericho.

Five years later, Sienna’s released from a trauma center to the care of her aunt (Margaret Anne Florence) and uncle (Bryce Johnson). She quickly reconnects with her niece, Gabbie (Antonella Rose), while trying to do the same with her similarly scarred little brother, Jonathan (Elliott Fullam). At the same time, Art and Victoria resurface to dismember families and blow up some children. You know, the usual.

Terrifier 3 isn’t outright bad. The kills seem somehow more brutal and deranged, and Leone’s choice to set the film during Christmas seemed like an easy way to frame Art’s violence toward children. It’s a setup that yields some entertaining payoffs, like when the clown toys with a drunken mall Santa at a dive bar. Yet these fun sequences ring hollower when the narrative that facilitates those scenes feels like an afterthought. Bone Tomahawk provides enough evidence that intense gore — even when it seems to be the entire point of a movie — doesn’t require a weak and uninspired plot.

Which begs the question: Why create any continuity for Terrifier at all? It ultimately feels like the best vehicle for Art was All Hallows’ Eve, Leone’s 2013 anthology film that used the clown as more of a chilling concept and occasional slasher villain. If the intent is to make Art into a lawless agent of chaos, Leone’s tale of angels versus demons seems like a horribly messy distraction.

That said, Terrifier 3 is still a gorehound’s smorgasbord. The supposedly gruesome opening scene, however, feels a bit overblown. Yes, it’s grizzly, but it feels like extremely familiar territory for anyone who’s watched 15 minutes of either previous film. And by the time we get to the real show stealer, a chainsaw massacre in a coed shower, its effect almost seems muted by what came before. The practical effects are still impressive, but beyond lingering on the brutality for a bit longer than usual, it doesn’t really feel like leap into a horrifying new direction. It’s more like a gentle shuffle.

As it stands (or hobbles), it feels like Terrifier has run its course. Art is still legitimately creepy, but he’s starting to resemble a black-and-white crutch for Leone. With the next installment alleged to be the last, it’ll be interesting to see the filmmaker try a bit more than excessive blood and guts. Because, ultimately, the gory torture porn is about the only thing that distances Terrifier 3 from a Lifetime original movie. —Daniel Bokemper

Get it at Amazon.

V/H/S/Beyond (2024)

Since 2012, the V/H/S franchise has emerged as the definitive, modern horror anthology series. (Sorry, The ABCs of Death, we hardly knew thee.) Unfortunately, save V/H/S/2 and V/H/S/94, few of the collections have offered a compelling reason to rewind and rewatch. Sure, we might revisit “Storm Drain” and “Safe Haven,” but one compelling segment never single-handedly saves an entire film. The series’ latest entry, V/H/S/Beyond, doesn’t feature the best shorts across the entire franchise. It does, however, offer one of the most cohesive experiences yet.

Framed by a mockumentary directed, written and starring Jay Cheel (Shudder’s Cursed Films), the anthology’s interludes explore the viability of two tapes allegedly containing proof of extraterrestrial life. It dials down the intensity of the previous films’ frame narratives, but it’s nonetheless memorable and interesting. It also wraps up with a confusing, albeit creative and stomach-churning climax.

The shorts themselves offer a mix everything. While loose sci-fi seems to be the connective thread, most feel like they could’ve easily been plugged into one of the previous entries. That said, it’s nice to have them all in one flick, even if only a few reach very far “beyond.”

Jordan Downey’s “Stork” and Justin Martinez’s “Live and Let Dive” are the most thrilling entries by a mile. “Stork” is a zombie-filled police raid oozing with [REC] residue. “Live and Let Dive,” on the other hand, pushes the boundaries of found footage through an intense sky-diving sequence. However, its luster wanes a bit, as Martinez overexposes his monsters despite an extremely short runtime. Virat Pal’s “Dream Girl” falls in a similar camp, though what could’ve been the most substantial short quickly descends into a hollow — and hard-to-see — splatter fest.

Christian and Justin Long’s (yes, that Justin Long) “Fur Babies” is perhaps the furthest removed from the overarching theme, but emerges as the most deranged and delightful segment. Imagine if Dr. Moreau and Annie Wilkes from Misery started a doggy daycare business. This inherently goofy premise goes full Tusk, yet unlike Kevin Smith’s podcast-inspired horror, doesn’t overstay its welcome.

V/H/S/Beyond saves the best for last with Kate Siegel and Mike Flanagan’s “Stowaway.” It’s an intriguing look into obsession that features a final shot and prosthetic not far off from the creature effects of 2014’s Spring. It’s also so damn sad, pulling at an emotional cord that most V/H/S stories don’t even consider, let alone try to approach. Even so, “Stowaway” still feels like it could’ve benefited from an extra few minutes and clearer camera work, though addressing the latter could infringe on the short’s level of intimacy.

If anything, V/H/S/Beyond hopefully sets a new standard for what the franchise can be. It sits in that funny space where it doesn’t blow past all other entries, but offers a variety not seen in the previous installments. If you can only pick one anthology film to fill out your Halloween movie marathon, you should just rewatch Creepshow. Though V/H/S/Beyond would be a solid second choice. —Daniel Bokemper

Get it at Amazon.

Lake Mungo (2008)

More often than not, found-footage films are the Twinkies of horror: They might satisfy at first and indulge a surface-level curiosity, but many ultimately feel airy and provide little to meaningfully digest. Plus, if you deal with any motion sickness, watching is bound to make you hurl.

But in mimicking reality, found footage has a chance to resonate with and even haunt us. (And no, not in the same way The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity managed to fooled many of us with solid guerilla marketing.) Joel Anderson’s Lake Mungo dodges the pitfalls of the genre through intimacy and a surprising normalcy.

“Normal” in the sense that the family at the center of the mockumentary, the Palmers, feel tragically real. During a typical Australian night swim at a local lake, Mathew Palmer (Martin Sharpe) loses track of his sister, Alice (Talia Zucker, HBO’s Winning Time). Hours later, emergency responders recover her bloated corpse.

Her dad, Russell (David Pledger), identifies the body as her mom, June (Rosie Traynor), can’t bring herself to look at Alice’s cadaver. She doesn’t have to wait long to see Alice again, however, as her daughter’s specter starts showing up in random photos taken a few months after her death. This kick-starts an exploration of Alice’s fears, hidden life and premonition itself.

Lake Mungo isn’t completely free of structural hiccups. Though shocking, some of the twists in the third act feel a stretched thin and more inflated than Alice’s washed-up body. However, not fully embracing found footage, save its climax, breaks what might others be a linear and jump-scare-reliant jaunt. It has some abrupt and tense sequences, but thanks to the strength of the narrative and proximity we have to the Palmers’ plight, these otherwise low-reaching moments feel earned. It also helps that Lake Mungo features a corpse that puts The Ring’s Samara to shame.

Some nagging issues aside, Lake Mungo rises above the tide with how it wrestles with the inexplicable. The Palmers’ desperation to have some kind of closure feels palpable and genuine. Although the mystery they unwind may feel a little cruel and confusing, it’s not mean-spirited or needlessly provocative.

For example, Russell explains after identifying Alice’s body, car issues forced he and June to drive back to their home in reverse. It’s not scary, true, but it’s a telling metaphor that speaks to how understandably someone in their shoes just want to turn back the clock. To reject the tragedy that they just endured. And at that same time, to be pulled by unknown force back to a twisted form of Alice’s presence.

Another refreshing element of Lake Mungo is that it’s not a typical ghost story. It toys around with something paranormal, but it rebukes all of the expected explanations. For instance, Alice isn’t literally haunting, proven by mostly compelling evidence. (The film sort of drops on the ball on this with its final frame, though not so outlandishly to completely throw apart the point its making.) Instead, it explores something darker and begs an uncomfortable question: What if the ghosts that haunt us don’t belong to anyone, but emerge solely from our own fears of mortality?

Hailing Lake Mungo as timeless would be too generous, though it has plenty to set it apart from the cinematic cloth its cut from. It’s examination of what we might do when loss become too much feels reasonable, and exceptional editing paired with surprisingly strong sound design keeps it from collecting too much dust. And even the arrangement of its plot is suboptimal, Lake Mungo is a damn good advertisement for life jackets. —Daniel Bokemper

Get it at Amazon.