MovieswDan

Last week, my friends and I went to see the new psychological horror film from A24, Heretic, written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. The film stars Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East as two young missionaries from the Mormon church, and Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed, the old man whom the two missionaries visit to talk about their beliefs and see if he wants to join the church. At first, their visit with him seems perfectly innocent, but after a short while, things take a turn for the worst.

I absolutely loved this movie, and it exceeded my already high expectations. One thing that stood out to me was Hugh Grant's performance as Mr. Reed. Both Thatcher and East's performances were incredible, but they paled in comparison to Grant's. He somehow found a way to be charming and captivating, while also being off-putting and disgusting at the same time. Another thing that I absolutely loved is how much this movie made me think. You know that you just watched a really good and very well written film when you and your friends are still in the theater, long after the credits have finished rolling, still discussing the film. Although somewhat polarizing, Heretic is a very captivating psychological horror film that dares to question your belief system, no matter which religious background you come from.

I went into this film somewhat blind. I knew the gist of the plot, but other than that, I had no idea what was going to happen, and I recommend doing the same.

The newest adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot hit streaming on MAX early last month. Unfortunately, I missed it during spooky season, but finally got a chance to watch it today. Written and directed by Gary Dauberman, this film serves as the 3rd adaptation of King's classic novel about the small town of Jerusalem's Lot, Maine that gets overrun by vampires.

One of the reasons why this movie was not on the top of my watch list was because it was not very well received when it first released. Overall, I felt like the negative reviews were a little harsh. Admittedly, this movie was nothing special and I will likely never think about it again after finishing this review, but I did enjoy it. It was a fun horror film from the great mind of Stephen King that featured some badass kids and scary monsters. My favorite aspect to the movie was how the only character who knew what to do, was the young new kid, Mark. He was the only one who was willing to do what was necessary to defeat the vampires. Sometimes, it is the ones you least expect to become heroes that do exactly that.

If you are in the mood for an easy to watch yet spooky vampire story, I recommend checking out Salem's Lot on MAX. Just because spooky season is over, does not mean that you can't watch spooky movies!

This week, I watched the dark comedy, It's What's Inside, written and directed by Greg Jardin and now streaming on Netflix. This dropped on Netflix in early October and was recommended to me by a friend of mine. The movie centers around a group of friends who gather together for the first time in years for a pre-wedding party. One of the friends brings along a new piece of tech that makes it possible for you to switch bodies, and the group decide to play a game, similar to the classic card game, mafia. As expected, things go awry rather quickly as secrets and past traumas start to bubble to the surface.

I found this movie to be much better than expected. It reminded me a lot of 2022's Bodies Bodies Bodies which is another teen thriller centered around a party game that goes too far. I felt that the way they went about the body swapping in It's What's Inside was very unique, and I absolutely loved the cinematic style used to let the viewer know who was inside each character's body. The acting performances by the entire cast were very impressive considering especially that they had to often switch their character's mannerisms to match whoever was supposed to be inside their body at the time.

This movie is a lot of fun. It is sexy and funny and very entertaining. Above that, it shares a good lesson of being true to yourself and being honest with others, especially those that you love. I really enjoyed It's What's Inside and highly recommend checking it out.