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Movie reviews and look-backs: written verdicts, no star ratings

Every film review and look-back on Rough Cut Review in one list, each ending in a written verdict.

Movie reviews and look-backs: written verdicts, no star ratings
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The verdict standard for film reviews

Film pages on Rough Cut Review split into two kinds. A review covers a film on its merits: what it sets out to do, whether it gets there and who is likely to enjoy it. A look-back returns to an older film, a franchise entry or a whole series, and asks how it holds up now. Both finish with a verdict section that states plainly whether the film is worth watching and for whom. The verdict is a few sentences of argument, not a number, because a score hides the reason a reader most wants to see.

There are no star ratings anywhere in the section. A film that works as a comedy and fails as a thriller cannot be summed up by a single figure, and two readers with different tastes would read the same figure differently. Where a direct comparison is useful, the publication uses a ranked list with a stated method instead, and those live in their own section. A review links to any ranking that places the film, so a reader can see the argument in two forms: the individual verdict and the position among its neighbors.

Published reviews are revised when something changes the reading. A sequel can reframe an earlier film, a director's cut can alter the story, and a corrected credit or date is fixed on sight. Revised pages carry an updated date. Spoilers are labeled at the top of any piece that discusses endings, and franchise guides handle the large picture for series such as Star Trek, James Bond and Mad Max. Pick a film below, or go to a guide when the question is where to begin. Each review also states what it was judged against: the film's own ambitions first, then its genre, then its franchise. A reader gets the reasoning behind the verdict, and the headline always names the film and the format, so a review and a look-back of the same title can sit side by side without confusion.

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Reviews and look-backs are listed below; open the page for the full verdict.

  1. No. 01Organ Trail Movie Review (2023): A Gritty Western and Its Ending, ExplainedOrgan Trail is a 2023 frontier thriller from director Michael Patrick Jann in which a young woman fights to take back her family's horse from a gang of outlaws. It looks superb and has one standout supporting performance, but anyone expecting a horror movie about organs will find a Western about survival instead.
  2. No. 02Arcadian Review: Unsettling Monsters Buoy Nicolas CageArcadian is a 2024 survival horror starring Nicolas Cage as a father protecting two teenage sons from creatures that hunt at night. Its plot is familiar, but its monsters are among the freakiest in recent memory, and that carries the film.
  3. No. 03The Boogeyman Review: An Underwhelming Stephen King AdaptationThe Boogeyman, released in theaters on June 2, 2023, is a competent, patient horror film built on a Stephen King short story from 1973, and this review lands on craft over fear. Rob Savage stages a few memorable scares, but a grief plot assembled from stock parts and a monster with no clear rules keep it from landing.
  4. No. 04The Top Ten Mother's Day Films of All Time, RankedThe best Mother's Day film on this list is Albert Brooks's Mother (1996), and the other nine run from Jerry Maguire to The Babadook. Several of them double as pregnancy movies, and a short list of extra picks on pregnancy follows the ranking.
  5. No. 05When Evil Lurks Review: A Bleak, Brutal Demonic Possession FilmDemián Rugna’s When Evil Lurks is an Argentine horror film about a world where demonic possession is common enough that the police refuse to deal with it, and it is the rare possession movie that treats the idea as a social problem instead of a private tragedy. It is bleak, nihilistic and often very tense, and it grips harder than Rugna’s earlier Terrified.
  6. No. 06Hell of a Cruise Review: Emergency Unpreparedness at SeaHell of a Cruise is a Peacock documentary directed by Nick Quested about the Covid-19 outbreak aboard the Diamond Princess in February 2020, told through never-before-seen passenger footage. It is a tense, well-assembled film that doubles as an argument about how little the world was prepared for what came next.
  7. No. 07Snow Blind Film Review: Mortal Kombat Legends (NYCC 2022)Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is an 82-minute animated movie about the young swordsman Kenshi, shown at New York Comic Con 2022 before its digital and disc release that October. It is an entertaining, very violent, Mad Max-flavored take on the franchise, and Manny Jacinto's performance is the best thing in it.
  8. No. 08Bill Plympton on Slide: His Most Personal FilmBill Plympton, the Oscar-nominated cartoonist behind Your Face, says Slide is the most personal film he has made: an 80-minute, hand-drawn western set in his native Oregon, scored with country music and populated by about 200 villains. He talked about it at his Artist Alley table at New York Comic Con 2023.
  9. No. 09Room Review: How the 2015 Film Compares to the Room BookLenny Abrahamson's Room (2015) is a faithful, emotionally exact adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel, carried by Brie Larson as Ma and Jacob Tremblay as five-year-old Jack. Readers of the Room book will find its premise and its heart intact, with the film adding what Jack's narration could never show: his mother's face when he is not looking.
  10. No. 10Kerri Medders and Karen Lam on Bring It On: Cheer or DieKerri Medders had never cheered before she became the cheer actress at the center of Bring It On: Cheer or Die, and director Karen Lam knew neither football nor cheerleading when she took the job. Their account of three weeks of training, one rough tumble and the biggest set of Lam's career explains why the Syfy slasher feels so physical.
  11. No. 11Claire in Mission: Impossible (1996): Emmanuelle Béart's RoleClaire Phelps, played by Emmanuelle Béart, is Jim Phelps's wife and the getaway specialist on his team in Brian De Palma's 1996 Mission: Impossible, and her role turns out to be tied to the film's biggest betrayal. This look back follows what she does, what happens to her, and why the story around her still divides fans of the original TV series.
  12. No. 12Sharknado Movie Poster: First Look at the Official Sharknado 3 ArtSyfy unveiled the first official Sharknado movie poster for Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! in spring 2015, announcing that the shark-filled storm was moving to Washington, D.C. and Orlando with Ian Ziering and Tara Reid back in the lead. The film premiered on Syfy on July 22, 2015.
  13. No. 13Danishka Esterhazy on Slumber Party Massacre and Women in HorrorDirector Danishka Esterhazy says the 2021 Slumber Party Massacre remake began with one question: who are the women in this story? She explains why a Syfy slasher can keep its vision, how the original's callbacks were chosen and why the midpoint flips the genre.
  14. No. 14Anthony and James Gaudioso on Keeping Filmmaking a Family AffairAnthony Gaudioso and his twin brother James write, act, produce and direct their own films, and they say it started with a stepfather's Kubrick tapes and a mother with a van. Their path runs from Long Island through Vanity Fair to Duke, The Ghost and the Whale and Numb.
  15. No. 15Is Trading Places a Christmas Movie? The 1983 Comedy's CaseYes, Trading Places is a Christmas movie: John Landis's 1983 comedy puts its hero's low point on Christmas Eve and springs its revenge at the Duke & Duke holiday party. It is also a sharp joke about the rich, and that joke keeps it fresh.
  16. No. 16Roman Pearce in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003): Role, Recap and ReviewRoman Pearce is Brian O'Conner's estranged childhood friend, played by Tyrese Gibson, who joins the undercover job against Miami drug lord Carter Verone in John Singleton's 2003 sequel. This page covers who Roman is, what happens in the film, and whether 2 Fast 2 Furious is still worth a rewatch.
  17. No. 17Is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang a Christmas Movie? The Case for ItYes: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Shane Black’s 2005 comedy-thriller with Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer, is set at Christmas in Los Angeles and ends with the holiday’s kind of fresh start, even if it is wrapped in bullets and bad language. It is a film noir dressed as a Christmas movie dressed as a film noir.
  18. No. 18Mission: Impossible II (2000) Review: John Woo's Stylized SequelMission: Impossible II (2000) is John Woo's spy sequel starring Tom Cruise, released by Paramount on May 24, 2000, and it swaps the dense plotting of the first film for slow-motion gunplay, motorcycles and a Hans Zimmer score. It is the loudest and least subtle film in the series, and it still has some of its best-looking action.
  19. No. 19Interstellar Review: Christopher Nolan’s Space Epic on the Big ScreenInterstellar, which went into wide release in North America on November 7, 2014, is Christopher Nolan’s ambitious story of a farmer-pilot who leaves his children to look for a new home for humanity. It is gorgeous, original and about half an hour too long, and it is best seen on the biggest screen available.
  20. No. 20Oscars 2024 Live Blog: Every Winner and Moment of the 96th AwardsOppenheimer won Best Picture and six other Oscars at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, 2024, while Poor Things took four. This Oscars 2024 live blog recap collects all 23 winners, the performances and the records set at the Dolby Theatre.
  21. No. 21Fury Review: Brad Pitt in David Ayer’s Tank DramaBrad Pitt Fury is David Ayer's 2014 tank-crew drama, a visceral and clearly staged World War II film that is stronger in battle than in the scenes between. Logan Lerman is the standout, and the film asks for little beyond a taste for good action.
  22. No. 22Mockingjay Part 1 Review: A Darker, Quieter Hunger GamesMockingjay Part 1 is the quietest Hunger Games film, a political war story anchored by Jennifer Lawrence and weakened by little action and a thin Gale. It works best as a bridge to Part 2.
  23. No. 23Nimona Review: A Beautiful Combination of Funny and HeartfeltThis Nimona review comes down to one point: the Netflix film, released June 30, 2023, is a fast, funny fantasy that earns its tears. Chloë Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed carry a story about a shapeshifter and the knight she adopts as her villain.
  24. No. 24The Hunt Club (2023) Review: Ambitious but Messy ExecutionHunt Club, directed by Elizabeth Blake-Thomas and released in the United States on April 4, 2023, is a female-led take on The Most Dangerous Game with a good idea and an uneven script. Mena Suvari and Maya Stojan give it some heart, but caricatured villains, a misjudged subplot and a hunt that barely appears on screen keep it from landing.
  25. No. 25A Recipe for Seduction Review: Mario Lopez as Colonel SandersA Recipe for Seduction is a 15-minute holiday short made by Lifetime and KFC, premiering on December 13, 2020, with Mario Lopez as Colonel Harland Sanders. It is a commercial dressed as a Lifetime romance, and it is funnier for how well the costume fits than for any joke it makes.
  26. No. 26Annie (2014) Review: A Remake That Never Finds Its TuneThe 2014 Annie remake, released December 19, 2014, moves the story to modern New York and swaps Daddy Warbucks for a phone tycoon running for mayor, and almost nothing in the update works. Cameron Diaz's Miss Hannigan draws most of the attention, but she is not the only performance that sits wrong.
  27. No. 27Project Almanac Review: Better Than It Could Have BeenProject Almanac, the found-footage teen time-travel film Paramount released on January 30, 2015, gets its characters and humor right and trips over a paradox at the worst moment. This Project Almanac review lands in the middle of the time-travel pack: worth a rental, not a theater trip.
  28. No. 28Slumber Party Massacre (2021) Review: A Flipped Male GazeSlumber Party Massacre, directed by Danishka Esterhazy and shown on Syfy on October 16, 2021, is a fun, self-aware horror remake that takes the slasher’s habit of nudity and turns it on its head. It plays the old teenage-girls-at-a-cabin setup for parody, then hands the objectifying camera to the men.
  29. No. 29Demonic Toys: Jack-Attack Review: A Short, Creepy B-HorrorDemonic Toys: Jack-Attack is a ridiculous killer-toy-clown movie from Full Moon Features that runs a little under an hour and knows exactly what it is. It is not memorable, but it checks the horror boxes with creepy clowns, cheap practical gore and one very good jack-in-the-box.
  30. No. 30The Bubble Netflix Review: Judd Apatow's Pandemic ComedyThe Bubble is a Judd Apatow comedy released on Netflix on April 1, 2022, about a film crew quarantined in an English hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bubble Netflix review in one line: a strong ensemble and a likeable lead in Karen Gillan, undercut by a script that never shows what the pandemic actually cost anyone.
  31. No. 31Why Is No Escape Rated R? A Review of the 2015 ThrillerNo Escape is rated R for strong violence throughout and for language, and the film earns the rating with a rebel massacre, a near-rape set piece and a child ordered at gunpoint to shoot her father. It also earns a harsh review, because the violence is exploitative and the script cannot justify it.
  32. No. 32The Imitation Game Review: A Superb Cumberbatch Plays It SafeThe Imitation Game, directed by Morten Tyldum from a Graham Moore screenplay, tells the story of the mathematician Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park team that broke Germany's Enigma code. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent in the lead, but the film follows the standard shape of an awards-season biopic and rarely steps outside it.
  33. No. 33Point Break 1991 Cast, Crew and Verdict Against the 2015 RemakeThe Point Break 1991 cast is led by Keanu Reeves as FBI agent Johnny Utah and Patrick Swayze as the surfer-robber Bodhi, in a Kathryn Bigelow film that Rough Cut Review scores at 2.8 out of 4 against 1.4 for the 2015 remake. The comparison below covers who played whom, what each film does with the same premise, and why the original wins five categories out of five.
  34. No. 34Megalomaniac Review: The Disturbing Belgian Arthouse Horror FilmMegalomaniac is a 2022 Belgian horror film written and directed by Karim Ouelhaj, a stylized and extremely violent story about the fictional children of a real, never-caught serial killer. Rough Cut Review calls it superbly made and deeply troubling, and scores it 4 after marking down the writing.
  35. No. 35John Wick 4 Review: Chapter 4 as a Symphony of Shootouts in Three ActsThis John Wick 4 review comes down on the side of excess: Chad Stahelski's John Wick: Chapter 4, released in U.S. theaters on March 24, 2023, spends nearly two hours of its 169 minutes in three vast action sequences and uses the rest for a story about what a killer does when freedom is finally in view. Rough Cut Review's original verdict was warm: the film is operatic, absurd and, at its best, thrilling.
  36. No. 36Scream VI Review: A Solid, Brutal Slasher Sequel With CaveatsScream VI reviews landed mostly on the positive side in 2023, and Rough Cut Review’s verdict agreed: it is a solid, bloody sequel that is less clever than its predecessors but strong on character. It moves the series to New York, gives Ghostface a more aggressive style and lets its young leads fight back.
  37. No. 37Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Review, and Who War Pig IsSearches for War Pig Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 usually want the character: a cyborg pig guard working for the High Evolutionary in a film that is mostly Rocket’s story. Rough Cut Review’s verdict was that it ends the trilogy on a high note and is the most Marvel movie it had seen.
  38. No. 38The Platform Explained: What El Hoyo Says About Modern SocietyThe Platform (El Hoyo, 2019) uses a tower prison and one shared meal to show how wealth, power and goodwill travel through a society. This guide to The Platform explained covers the allegory, the characters, the ending and the 2024 sequel, plus the verdict Rough Cut Review reached.
  39. No. 39Kraven the Hunter Review: How Kraven Gets His Powers and Why It MissesHow did Kraven get his powers in Kraven the Hunter? As a boy Sergei Kravinoff is mauled by a lion in Ghana, and a girl named Calypso heals him with a serum that leaves him with enhanced, animal-like abilities. The film itself did not earn the goodwill its origin story needed, and Rough Cut Review's verdict was that it is not a good movie.
  40. No. 40Dune Families Explained: Who's Who in Villeneuve's Dune FilmsThe Dune families at the center of Denis Villeneuve's films are House Atreides, House Harkonnen and House Corrino, with the Fremen and the Bene Gesserit shaping every outcome. This guide names each character, the actor who plays them, and how the casting came together.
  41. No. 41Jinn Netflix Review: Jordan's Arabic-Language Horror Series (2019)Jinn is a five-episode Jordanian supernatural series that Netflix premiered on June 13, 2019, and it is Arabic-language horror, not Turkish. Rough Cut Review found its cast strong and its scares thin, and this page also points readers looking for Turkish horror movies on Netflix toward the genre's best-known jinn story, Dabbe.
  42. No. 42The Last Days of American Crime Review: Netflix's Action MisfireThe Last Days of American Crime is a 2020 Netflix action thriller, directed by Olivier Megaton and adapted from Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini's graphic novel, about a heist timed to a government signal that stops people from committing crimes. Rough Cut Review called it boring, tasteless and badly timed, and most professional critics agreed.
  43. No. 43The Spy Who Dumped Me Review: Great Stunts, Predictable StoryThe Spy Who Dumped Me is a 2018 action comedy from director Susanna Fogel in which Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon play best friends dragged into an international spy plot. Rough Cut Review's verdict was that the story is too formulaic to stand out, while the stunts and the friendship between the leads make it a watchable popcorn movie.
  44. No. 44Sound of Metal Review: Riz Ahmed's Drummer Facing the SilenceSound of Metal is Darius Marder's 2019 drama about Ruben, a heavy-metal drummer played by Riz Ahmed, who loses most of his hearing and has to decide who he is without music. Rough Cut Review's verdict was that it goes well beyond a musician-with-an-illness story, and the film went on to win Academy Awards for sound and film editing.
  45. No. 45Knock at the Cabin Review: Shyamalan's Tense, Divisive ThrillerKnock at the Cabin is M. Night Shyamalan's 2023 adaptation of Paul G. Tremblay's novel The Cabin at the End of the World, a 100-minute thriller in which four strangers tell a family that one of them must die to stop the end of the world. Rough Cut Review's verdict is that it is among the strongest films of Shyamalan's career, tight, claustrophobic and carefully shot, though audiences and critics split on how much it explains.
  46. No. 46Horrible Bosses 2 Review: Why the Sequel Falls Flat and Who Saves ItHorrible Bosses 2 is the 2014 sequel to the 2011 comedy, again starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day, this time as would-be entrepreneurs who turn to kidnapping. Rough Cut Review's verdict is that it delivers exactly what it promises and little more: the cameos from Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston are the best parts, and the humor leans on tired stereotypes.
  47. No. 47Mad Max (1979) Look Back: Does Miller's First Film Hold Up?Mad Max (1979) is George Miller's debut, a 93-minute Australian revenge thriller about a highway patrolman who snaps after a motorcycle gang destroys his family. Rough Cut Review's look back finds a stark, violent film that is overshadowed by its louder sequels but still holds up, and the one that launched both Miller and Mel Gibson.

Questions about this section

What is the difference between a film review and a look-back?

A review covers a film on its merits. A look-back returns to an older film, a franchise entry or a whole series and asks how it holds up now. Both end with a written verdict.

Why are there no star ratings?

A single figure hides the reason a reader most wants to see. The verdict is a few sentences of argument, and direct comparisons are handled by ranked lists with a stated method.

How are spoilers labeled?

Spoilers are labeled at the top of any piece that discusses endings. The label states how far the page goes.

When are published movie reviews revised?

A review is revised when something changes the reading, such as a sequel that reframes an earlier film or a director's cut that alters the story. Corrected credits and dates are fixed on sight, and revised pages carry an updated date.

Where do I start with a long film series?

The franchise guides cover series such as Star Trek, James Bond and Mad Max. Each opens with a watch order and says where a newcomer can begin.

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