MMFF 2025: Review of UNMARRY: Advice About Annulment

December 20, 2025

Celine Santos (Angelica Panganiban) was filing an annulment case against her wealthy husband Stephen Alcaraz (a maddening Tom Rodriguez). She wanted custody of their two daughters, Chloe (Andy Cortez) and Zoe (Britney Romero). She also wanted all of their successful pastry shop named after her. However, Stephen believed she did not deserve any percentage of this business because he paid for everything about it.

Ivan Buencamino (Zanjoe Marudo) wanted to file a case opposing the petition of his wife, prominent TV news anchor Maya Castro (Solenn Heusaff) to annul their marriage. Ivan was an art prodigy when he was much younger, but was now at a low point in his career, a situation made worse by him indulging in a destructive vice. Caught in between the conflict between Ivan and Maya was their young son Elio (a very promising Zac Sibug). 

One afternoon, Celine and Ivan both showed up at the office of Atty. Jacqueline "Jackie" Lombridas (the inimitable Eugene Domingo), located on the 12th floor of a building with a frequently faulty elevator. Atty. Jackie became popular because of her viral videos recounting her controversial cases. The current entry in her vlog "Walang Butas ang Batas" ("No Flaw in the Law") was about the legal process involved in cases of marriage annulment.

It is incredible to learn that the last full-length film of veteran director Jeffrey Jeturian had been "Ekstra" (2013). "UnMarry" is actually only his tenth film in his 27 year career. He had been concentrating on numerous television series like "Please Be Careful With My Heart" and "Maalala Mo Kaya" since then until now. ("Lakambini" was started by Jeturian in 2015, but only finished by another director earlier this year.) 

It had been 20 years since Jeturian had collaborated with writer Chris Martinez twice in "Bridal Shower" (2004) and "Bikini Open" (2005). While those two were overtly sexy comedies, this latest partnership of theirs tackles a much more serious topic. While the trailer suggested heavy dramatics in store for us, the actual film still packed more than a dash of signature Chris Martinez wit and humor, with Eugene Domingo delivering the goods as only she can. 

Shamaine Buencamino and Adrienne Vergara play Celine's mom and sister respectively, ever reliable and supportive. Mari Kaimo and Angel Aquino play the lawyers of Stephen and Maya respectively, and whoa, how intimidating they were! Nico Antonio and Donna Cariaga play Atty. Jackie's staff, mostly for laughs. Kaladkaren and Brian Sy play the best friends and character witnesses of Celine and Ivan respectively, but too bad, we never hear them testify. 

This is Angelica Panganiban's first movie since "Love or Money" (2021), and her performance as vulnerable Celine proves that she has certainly not lost her touch for both drama or comedy at all. Zanjoe Marudo has proven to be a strong, reliable leading man over the years, and his performance as flawed Ivan was sensitive and affecting. Panganiban and Marudo have good chemistry, and their drunken night at the bar was their best scene together, giving similar vibes as Panganiban's past classic "That Thing Called Tadhana" (2014).

**** SPOILER ALERT

I personally felt that it would have been better for the film if the script just had the relationship of Celine and Ivan strictly platonic. This development went against Ivan's character arc, since he wanted to keep his marriage with Maya intact in the first place. This also gives an uncomfortable dimension to that climactic tearful scene when the two hug each other saying "It's over." Were their tears happy ones because their cases were resolved, or were they sad ones because their affair could not proceed?  7/10

MMFF 2025: Review of I'MPERFECT: Discerning Down's

December 21, 2025

Jessica (Krystel Go) is a 28-year old lady with Down's syndrome. She lived with her mother Norma (Sylvia Sanchez), a seamstress who raised Jessica single-handedly since her father Arman (Joey Marquez) left them behind when she was born. She enjoyed keeping herself pretty and had won several awards in beauty pageants. She was quite independent as she rode the tricycle on her own, worked as a waitress at a cafe and cooked a mean sinigang. 

Jiro (Earl Amaba) is a 29 year old young man with Down's syndrome. He lived with his parents, Lizel (Lorna Tolentino) and Dan (Tonton Gutierrez), who were both physicians. He had a younger brother Ryan (Zaijian Jaranilla) who was taking up pre-med, but would rather be a musician. Jiro was an excellent swimmer and he made windchimes as a hobby. Because he was homeschooled, Jiro was shy and aloof, so others thought he was grumpy. 

This unique film written and directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo dealt with Down's Syndrome (DS), a condition which many people recognize, but really do not know much about. Most people think of them as children because of how they look, and treat them as children even when they are of adult age. Bernardo tells us that persons with DS are actually capable of feeling romantic love and all the complicated thoughts, acts and emotions that come along with it. 

Watching this film is an eye-opening experience. It was heartening and educational to learn about DS from the point of view of people who have it. It is normal for us to feel protective about them, but they would rather that we put more trust in them, that they can be independent and think for themselves. Seeing and marveling at how Go and Amaba was able to portray Jessica and Jiro so well is the first step to this process of understanding them better. 

While this film celebrates what persons with DS are able to do, there are also scenes in this film that also show how vulnerable they can be when they attempt to do activities regular people do and take for granted. While Jiro and Jessica were somehow able to do it, it can be too idealistic to think that everyone they encounter along the way would be kind, helpful or accommodating to them, especially there was no family or friend around to defend them. 

That a film like this was even produced and filmed at all was already a very remarkable feat -- the very first Filipino film where the lead actors were persons with DS. It was inclusive, supportive and all sorts of positive for the most part. Go and Amaba shone brightly, holding their own beside their veteran co-actors in challenging bittersweet scenes. That is why I must admit it was difficult for me to process why the ending had to happen that way. 8/10

Review of AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH: Rehashing a Rehash

December 18, 2025

Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri's (Zoe Saldana) family have settled with the Metkayina clan led Tonowari (Chris Curtis) and his now pregnant wife Ronal (Kate Winslet) in their seaside community. Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) was still feeling very guilty about his brother's death, and was advocating for an exiled young tulkun (whale). Neytiri was unhappy that Spider (Alex Champion) was staying with her family, and wanted him to live with "his own kind." 

One day, while the Wind Traders were visiting Metkayina, the war-like Mangkwan clan (or Ash People), led by their cruel leader Varang (Oona Chaplin), launched a destructive attack against them. Jake's nemesis Quaritch (Stephen Lang) introduced firearms to Varang, and became her consort of sorts. Their respective troops merged together to form an even more formidable army to capture Jake, who was considered a traitor against humankind. 

This new film in the Avatar franchise is 3 hours and 17 minutes long, 5 minutes longer than the second film, "Way of Water." Since these were shot together, they basically looked very much the same, sharing the same animated-looking CGI designs of the backgrounds and characters. In fact, for me, it felt like it just retread the main plot of the second film, with only two significant story points that distinguished one from the other. 

The addition of the Varang and her Mangkawan clan was merely to double the menace and danger against Jake and his family, by giving Quaritch a similarly heartless war-freak of a partner, especially after she learned how to operate automatic weapons and flamethrowers. However, with all these various Navi clans fighting each other on their flying animals, the battle scenes did get confusing to follow who was who and who was winning. 

The only other innovation to the plot involved Spider, who had developed something very significant to his respiratory physiology which had scientists racing the clock to find out how this happened. Whatever this was could be the key for all humans to be able to move to and further exploit Pandora.  This detail led to a intense scene with Jake and Spider that called to mind a similar walk taken by Abraham and Isaac in the book of Genesis.

I read that there will still be an Avatar 4 and 5 coming up. However, even at this point with Avatar 3, we already feel that James Cameron had literally been telling the same story of colonization and exploitation over and over again, just with different settings and different Navi clans. Despite being great to look at, this third film really felt very long because of the repetitiveness of its message, which had been already been tackled from the first film.  6/10

MMFF 2025: Review of REKONEK: Internet Interruption Impasse

December 17, 2025

One day, a solar flare shot out from the sun and hit Earth resulting in a loss of internet connection all over the world. As would be expected, since practically every human activity was now connected and dependent on a great degree to the internet, everybody's daily routines were all thrown into a big mess by the shutdown of the world wide web. Without the option of virtual meetings and streaming entertainment, people were now compelled to interact face to face. 

Wes (Gerald Anderson) worked in IT with Bennie (Raf Pineda) and Markus (Dom Corilla). He just sent his wife Kate (Charlie Dizon) an email but was not sure if it went through. The family vlog of Bridget (Carmina Villaroel) and Jordan (Zoren Legaspi) and their twins Eve (Cassy Legaspi) and Derrick (Mavy Legaspi) was put on hold. The planned meet-up of musician Jasper (Kokoy de Santos) and his fan Cheska (Angel Guardian) was deferred. 

OFWs in Bangkok Trisha (Bela Padilla) and Gigi (Andrea Brillantes) were planning to go home for the Christmas holidays, but their flights were cancelled, so they had to find another way home. Artist Onyx (Kelvin Miranda) was falsely arrested as a murder suspect, but there was no way to contact his family. Paula (Alexa Miro) used to run a number of online scams from catfishing women or defrauding merchants, but the shutdown made her rethink her ways. 

However, there was one woman in Batangas who did not seem to mind the loss of the internet. This was the elderly widow Cory (Gloria Diaz), who lived without family, only with her helper Peks (Donna Cariaga). She steadfastly stuck to the old ways of doing thing, resisting the use of any modern gadgets, so she had a landline, encyclopedias and cold cash. However, she was known among her neighbors as a grumpy old lady who did not like people bothering her.

The screenplay was a complex interweaving of multiple stories written by writers Jericho Aguado ("Third World Romance," "Gospel of the Beast") and Leovic Arceta ("A Girl and a Guy," "Rabid"), with Kat Naval. This is director Jade Castro's first film since "LSS" (2019), and he clearly never lost control in telling this web of disparate stories of seemingly unrelated people, and came up with something so engaging, bittersweet and heartwarming. If there was a weakness in this, it would be that scene on how the internet ecosystem was restored.

All the actors understood their assignments, they worked as an ensemble. They kept everything light in tone, yet also knew how to tug at our heartstrings in tear-jerking moments. Ms. Diaz stood out with her delightfully deadpan delivery of her funny lines that had me laughing out loud in glee. This film proudly declared itself the only Christmas movie for this year's MMFF. I have a feeling this, like its inspiration "Love Actually" (2003), may become a classic Christmas movie for Filipinos to enjoy for the years to come as well. 8/10

MMFF 2025: Review of MANILA'S FINEST: A Policeman's Pride

December 16, 2025

The year was 1969. Four policemen from the Manila Police District Station 4 were roaming the streets in their squad car #014. At the wheel was Lt. Billy Ojeda (Enrique Gil), and beside him was Capt. Homer Magtibay (Piolo Pascual). Seated at the back were Liwanag (Joey Marquez) and Meneses (Romnick Sarmenta). As news about Gloria Diaz and the moon landing were being reported over the car radio, they encountered a squad car of Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command officers, led by Lt. Danilo Abad (Cedrick Juan).

This set the tense mood for the whole film, as the PC Metrocom were encroaching into the operations of the local police units -- from the rumbles of the Sputnik vs. the Bahala Na gangs to the rallies by university student activists. Magtibay was not ready to give up his turf, even as there was a change in their station leadership, from his friend Maj. Conrado Belarmino (Ariel Rivera) to the new, more abrasive chief Epifanio Javier (Rico Blanco). Meanwhile, his junior partner Ojeda was showing signs of rebellion and may be turning to the darker side. 

On a personal side, Magtibay also had potential conflicts brewing. He was a dutiful husband to his second wife Yolly (Rica Peralejo), but he also had a secret girl on the side, Janette (Jasmine Curtis Smith), who was seemingly the mistress of his whole station. He was also a doting father to Agnes (Ashtine Oliviga), his daughter from his first wife, now a freshman in UP Los Banos. She and her friends had started to join street protest rallies, the very activities which her father was dutybound to keep in check. 

Piolo Pascual's Magtibay was not a perfect man or policeman, but he had his head squarely in the right place, remaining loyal to his profession and his organization. Enrique Gil played Ojeda with the impulsiveness of youth which led him to trouble later. Joey Marquez and Roomnick Sarmenta delivered the witty one-liners. Ariel Rivera's chief was dignified, while Rico Blanco's chief was dubious. The nature of Cedrick Juan's Abad and his Metrocom group was kept ambivalent. Also making a strong impression were Soliman Cruz as a photographer with inside scoops, and Dawit Tabonares as a curly-haired Visayan gang leader.  

If the fan response at the premiere night was to be gauge of a star's popularity, Ashtine Olviga topped them all. Her fans were screaming every time she was onscreen, no matter what she was doing. These girls would also scream during scenes featuring Ethan David (as Agnes's not-yet-boyfriend Cecilio), Dylan Menor (as a rookie cop Efren Taguyonon), Paulo Angeles (as a mustachioed gang leader Remen), or Kiko Estrada (as rabble-rouser Carmelo de Leon). Pascual need not feel insecure about these young guys though, as the girls were also screaming their heads off when he bared his torso in a bed scene. 

The production design, costume design, and hair and makeup teams were very meticulous with the details. The interiors of the MPD station should look familiar to boomers, especially those hand-painted letterings on the glass panels. Very interesting were those round shields seemingly made of woven rattan that were used by Magtibay and his men to ward off students. I have never seen them used like that before, except as patio tabletops. There were a few compromises, notably that Mendiola rally obviously shot in Liwasang Bonifacio. Curiously, song choices in the soundtrack were dirge-like kundimans instead of 60s rock and roll. 

Director Raymond Red took on the story written by Michiko Yamamoto, Moira Lang and Sherad Sanchez, and told it with a realistic period vibe. The issues the students were fighting for then are still what those we hear up to now. The pace was deliberately slow but engaging, but with only a few action scenes than would be expected from a police movie. Just when the film might start feeling kind of long, something major suddenly happens abruptly with no buildup. This startling scene will surely have you straighten up in your seat wondering if you missed anything. 8/10

Netflix: Review of WAKE UP DEAD MAN: Riveting Resurrection

December 12, 2025

When he was still a young boxer, Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) mortally injured one of his opponents. He turned his back on boxing and trained to become a Catholic priest. After being involved in a fight with a deacon, Rev. Jud was reassigned to be the assistant pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude in Chimney Rock, New York. The parish priest there was the charismatic but controversial Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).

Wicks had a loyal group of supporters around him led by his loyal assistant Martha (Glenn Close), groundskeeper Samson (Thomas Haden Church), doctor Nat (Jeremy Renner), lawyer Vera (Kerry Washington) and her adopted son wannabe politician and influencer Cy (Daryl McCormack), sci-fi author Lee (Andrew Scott), retired cello player Simone (Cailee Spaeny). One Good Friday, a murder was committed in a small enclosed room beside the altar. 

As with the first two Agatha Christie-inspired "Knives Out" murder mysteries whipped up by writer-director Rian Johnson, every character had a motive to kill the victim. This is a job for the ever- flamboyant private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who had been invited to assist by local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis). Aside from Christie, Johnson outright cited "The Hollow Man" by John Dickson Carr for his mechanics of a perfect murder.

Johnson had really woven in a lot of intricate twists and turns into this case to involve even a beloved former pastor, a destructive "harlot whore" and a mysterious heirloom. Johnson also made his crimes so complex such that no one in his audience can likely get every little detail correctly. The whodunnit part may be guessed at, but how everything fell into place, especially the part about an apparent "miracle," can still surprise the most jaded couch detectives. 

What an impressive cast Johnson has gathered together! Craig's Blanc was as over-the-top as ever and was fun to watch his histrionics. Glenn Close, of course, won't be ignored, and she stole the scene whenever she's on. Josh O'Connor was riveting as the sincere but conflicted Rev. Jud, torn between his violent past and his present vocation, between wanting to solve the case and wanting to serve his flock. O'Connor's had this quiet scene of epiphany with a distraught woman on the phone (Bridget Everett) which was just so good.

Rev. Jud had some very well-written lines about his concept of Catholic priesthood. On the other hand, Catholicism also took some blows here, with distorted beliefs in scandalously confrontational homilies, or the destructive desecration of the church tabernacle and icons, including the taking down and shattering of the main crucifix. There was also a disturbingly irreverent depiction of the Sacrament of Reconciliation where the icky contents of a priest's confession will make you regret you watched this with your parents. 7/10

Netflix: Review of SANA SINABI MO: A Sensitive Secret

December 11, 2025

Pastor Joseph "Otep" Mariano (Bodjie Pascua) just passed away from cancer. His son Joseph "Seph" (Juan Karlos) and wife (Lotlot De Leon) were hosting a service at church, attended by their Head Pastor Leopoldo Marquez (Nonie Buencamino) of the Church of the Holy Lord. In the middle of Joseph's eulogy, a foul-mouthed woman named Cecil (Rosanna Roces) went up to his coffin and started scandalously exposing the pastor's sordid past as a gay man. 

Director and co-writer Shaira Advincula alternated the present events to flashbacks of Otep's youth. During the 1970s, young Otep (JC Santos) and young Cecil (Yesh Burce) went out to discos at night, at the risk of being caught by policemen during the curfew. At that time, Otep also had a penpal from Cordoba, Spain, Rafael "Rum" Pena (Jaime Garcia), who was a gardener in an olive garden there, with whom he exchanged passionate love letters. 

This film was a not-so-subtle shade against organized Christian religion and their aversion against homosexuals (and I suppose, all LGBTQIA +). In this ultra-conservative cultish Church of the Holy Lord, no matter how good a person is, his name is automatically besmirched, and he is shunned socially once he is found to be gay. Lest you think this his film is set in the past, no. This is present day, mind you -- Otep only passed away in 2024. 

Somehow complicating things was a subplot about the powerful Pastor Leo Marquez and his own iniquities among the young girls in his flock, ugly wig notwithstanding. This side story did not even involve Otep nor Joseph directly, so it could have been completely dropped without consequence. I am guessing this was only a direct stab/reference to a recent news about a locally-based cultish religious sect and its notorious founder/leader. 

The penpal reference should connect with the Boomer or Gen X segment of the audience who could wax nostalgic about their own penpals from other countries, as well as their hope to actually meet their penpals in person.  This Cordoba part would have been good, if not only for the awkward writing of the scenes when Seph first spoke to Rum. All those "sir, sir, sir" and "are you gay?" were irritating, any person would have also shut the door on his face. 

While the script had some good things going for it, like the Medenilla magnifica seeds, there were also a number of problematic parts. The finding of Otep's old suitcase buried in the garden was such a random coincidence. There was a lot of uncalled-for profanity for a film going for the heartstrings like this, even good-boy Seph cursed. Cecil was not only sexually vulgar, it was not clear why she scandalized her old friend in the first place.  4/10

Review of ETERNITY: A Difficult Dilemma

December 10, 2025

After he died, Larry Cutler (Miles Teller) found himself in a train station-like place called the "Junction." With the help of his Afterlife Coordinator named Anna (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), Larry had to decide where he wanted to spend his eternity. A few days later, Larry's wife of 65 years, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), also passed away, and the two were reunited at the Junction, expecting to spend the rest of their afterlife together. 

To her surprise, her first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died 67 years ago in the Korean War and waited for her ever since, also showed up to claim her as well. Now Joan was faced with a very difficult decision to make. Will she spend her eternity with her first love and husband, whom she barely spent any life with? Or will it be with a man she spent 65 long years filled with both happy and problematic memories?

Director and co-writer David Freyne wisely tackled this rather heavy topic with a light rom-com touch. His version of the afterlife is clearly not based on any religious dogma, hence it was open to his own original ideas with regards to its rules (once a soul chose his eternity, there is no turning back or else Eternity Cops will throw him into the Void), or features (for the price of a ticket, you can take a stroll into an "Archives" of your cherished moments in life). 

His three main actors knew their assignments well, and kept their performances also breezy for the most part, while knowing when to go a bit serious as the story required. Both Teller and Turner played their roles with their own brands of earnest charm, to make Joan's (and the audience's) dilemma that much more difficult who to choose. The suspense of the close contest will make you want to stay for Joan's final decision.

The premise of the film was actually very simple, but Joan's big dilemma will make audiences also reflect about their own romantic relationships in life. At the start, a marriage between two young people in its first year is quite idealistic as it basked in a honeymoon glow. In contrast, a marriage of over 50 years is a dizzying roller-coaster ride as it went through many wringers along the way.  You, which partner would be your choice be for your eternity? 7/10

Netflix: Review of JAY KELLY: Consequences of Career Choices

December 8, 2025

Movie star Jay Kelly (George Clooney) wanted to spend time with his daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards) before she leaves for college. However, she had booked already booked a tour in Europe with her friends. Jay ordered his loyal manager Ron (Adam Sandler) and publicist Liz (Laura Dern) to get him on the same train bound for Italy with her, so he can invite her to join him to attend a career tribute organized for him in Tuscany. 

Feeling pensive at this turning point of his career, Jay did plenty of reminiscing about people he encountered along the way when he was younger (Charlie Rowe as young Jay). There was Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), the director who gave him his big break. There was Timothy Galligan (Billy Crudup), his old friend from acting school to lost a big role to him. There was Daphne (Eve Hewson), a female co-star with whom he had an affair.  

However, it was with his own family that Jay had the most conflict with because he had always prioritized his movie career over all of them. Aside from Daisy who would rather travel with her friends than with him, there was elder daughter Jessica (Riley Keough), who was seeing a therapist  (Josh Hamilton) to sort through her father issues. Like his girls, Jay also had trouble connecting with his own father (Stacy Keach). 

At this senior statesman stage in his real life career, George Clooney was perfectly cast as Jay Kelly. His portrayal felt so effortlessly natural, you'd believe that these things were happening in actuality. Clooney's Jay was a suave and cool superstar, but when each and every important person in his life was turning him down, you can clearly see his ego collapsing even without a word being said. That climactic film montage tribute for Jay Kelly was a tribute for George Clooney himself, and those mixed emotions on his face say it all. 

Also gaining much critical attention now is Adam Sandler, as Jay's hard-working, street-smart manager, which fit so well with his personality. When Ron finally realized that Jay was purely business and never a friend, he also realized that he had been prioritizing Jay too much, over his wife Lois (Greta Gerwig) and other clients, like Ben Alcock (Patrick Wilson). This scene, plus that perfectly timed tear when Jay held his hand, may well just win him the Oscar.  

Three Best Picture Oscar hopefuls -- "Hamnet," "Sentimental Value," and now this "Jay Kelly" share a plot point in common. They were all about male artists who had once abandoned their families for their careers, and were hence having difficulty reconnecting with them. Mescal, Skarsgard and Clooney all gave moving performances, but Clooney is the only one gunning for Best Actor, while the other two had been relegated (unfairly) as Supporting. 

Noah Baumbach directed and co-wrote (with Emily Mortimer) this reflective inside-look into a senior actor's life, and those of the people around him. Having been a filmmaker since the mid-1990s had provided Baumbach with so much behind-the-scene stories to work into not only Jay Kelly's story, but also Ron's, Liz's and his daughters. These interpersonal conflicts were brought to life with wit and sensitivity in Baumbach's signature dialog-driven style.    8/10 

Review of HAMNET: Song of Shakespeare's Son

February 18, 2026

William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) was working as a tutor when he met Agnes (Jessie Buckley) whom he saw training her pet falcon. His parents were against him seeing her because she was rumored to be the daughter of a forest witch. However, William and Agnes still got married, and had a daughter Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach). Soon after, Agnes allowed William to pursue his theater career in London, even if she was again pregnant, this time with twins, who grew up to be Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe). 

This film was directed, co-written and co-edited by Chloe Zhao, her latest project after winning the Oscar for Best Director for "Nomadland" (2020). The screenplay was co-written with Maggie O'Farrell, the author of the 2020 award-winning historical fiction novel upon which the story was adapted from. By the time I watched this film, this film is already widely-predicted to be one of the big players come Oscar season, hence awards expectations are very high. 

The loudest Oscar buzz is for Jessie Buckley and her passionate portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare, who went through an emotional roller-coaster throughout this film. Majority of critics are already naming her as the Best Actress winner as early as now. Prior to this film, I only knew her from two Netflix films -- "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" (2020) and "The Lost Daughter" (2021), and even then, she already proved her chops for intense drama.

Paul Mescal has been very active since his debut in "The Lost Daughter," which was soon followed-up with an acclaimed turn in "Aftersun" (2022) which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. His role in "Hamnet" was being touted as supporting, likely for campaign purposes, but I thought his part was just as important for this story. He was the one who wrote a theatrical masterpiece in order to heal himself and his wife from their grief. 

The pace of the storytelling may be slow (in true Chloe Zhao style), and things do get quite overwrought at one point, which may make some wonder where the critical acclaim was coming from. It did feel like a typical family melodrama about a housewife dealing with three kids, spousal abandonment and an insidious plague. 

However, the real magic began in the last 15 minutes at the premiere staging of "Hamlet" (Noah Jupe as the Danish prince). It was here that we feel the true heart of this film and finally get what all the critical acclaim and awards buzz was all about. Realizing later that the child Hamnet and the stage Hamlet were played by real-life brothers adds another layer of emotional connection and closure. 8/10

Review of FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2: Mayhem by Marionette

December 6, 2025

One year after the events of the first movie, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) was still having nightmares about her father William Afton (Matthew Lillard) and his murderous acts. Meanwhile, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) still took care of his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio), who was a devoted fan of the original Freddy Fazbear animatronic characters. One day, Toy Chica (voiced by Megan Fox) called Abby on her FazTalker radio toy. 

Despite negative reviews, the first "Five Nights at Freddy's" film (Emma Tammi, 2023, MY REVIEW) earned back almost 15x its original production cost and is Blumhouse's top-grossing film of all time.  "Five Nights at Freddy's" was originally a video game series about a night security guard trying to survive being killed by animatronic characters of a pizza shop. Game creator Scott Cawthon himself wrote the screenplay of the first film, as well as this sequel. 

We actually see three different versions of the main animatronic quartet in this sequel. The main set we mainly see are the newer-looking Toy versions of Freddy, Chica and Bonnie, and Foxy (the jump-scary Mangle). We also see the scarier-looking Withered versions, prototypes cannibalized for spare parts, in the basement. The original versions make a brief, but surprisingly emotional appearance. Their "acting" was actually better than the human actors. 

For a Gen X'ers like me, it was good to see three actors from notable 1990s suspense films again. Matthew Lillard (Shaggy of "Scooby Doo") reprised his role as William Afton. Skeet Ulrich (Billy Loomis of "Scream") played the role of Henry Emily, father of Charlotte, the angry anti-parents spirit in the scary Marionette.  Wayne Knight (Dennis Nedry in "Jurassic Park") was once again an irritating nerd, Abby's middle-school science teacher Mr. Berg.  

Like the first film, this sequel will be better appreciated by fans of the FNaF video game than those who have no knowledge of the game at all. I have never played the game, so I was only introduced to the franchise via the 2023 film. My sons, who are very familiar with the game, had fun excitedly recognizing various cameos (of Circus Baby, Balloon Boy, and another major one revealed at the mid-credit extra scene) that all drew a blank for me. 

There was a whole big to-do about a town festival called FazFest dedicated to the local lore surrounding these animatronic characters. There was even a scene where Toy Freddie was walking among the crowd at the festival. However, all of this build-up of a horrific bloody massacre went to naught as the climax only occurred in the Schmidt house -- such a waste of a potential Grand-Guignol type finale. I rate this a 4/10. My sons rated it only a 5/10.