Sundance ‘26: ‘UNION COUNTY’ A Maybe Too-Authentic Portrait of Addiction and Rehabilitation

Grounded in a lived-in addict experience, Union County, written and directed by Adam Meeks, is a stripped-down recovery drama anchored by a soft-spoken, quietly emotive performance from Will Poulter. Set in rural Ohio, where the opioid epidemic has left deep scars, Meeks draws from personal history, using his own hometown of Bellefontaine to portray the far-reaching impact of addiction not just on individuals, but on the systems meant to help them. Supportive judges, rehab-over-jail programs, and small-town efforts form the fragile infrastructure holding it all together. Read More

Overwhelming ‘WARFARE’ A Gonzo Descent into Garland’s Hellish Sandbox

April 10, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged A24, Adain Bradley, Alex Garland, Allon Reich, Andrew Macdonald, Charles Melton, Cosmo Jarvis, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, David J. Thompson, Evan Holtzman, Fin Oates, Finn Bennett, Henry Zaga, Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor, Matthew Penry-Davey, Michael Gandolfini, Noah Centineo, Peter Rice, Ray Mendoza, Taylor John Smith, Warfare, Will Poulter 2 Comments

Warfare, the immersive Iraq War survival thriller from Navy SEAL veteran and first-time filmmaker Ray Mendoza and co-writer/co-director Alex Garland, is a blisteringly intense procedural experience. On one hand, it’s an incredibly effective piece of transportive filmmaking, one that leans into both the numbing banality of war plans and its most barbaric excesses. Told through a real-time, boots-on-the-ground POV, the film drops us alongside a platoon of Navy SEALs tasked with infiltrating a seemingly innocuous position and establishing a sniper nest. That’s all the context we’re given. No grander mission, no tie-in to some greater geopolitical scaffolding. Just a squad, a target, and a whole lot of code words. Which may very well be the point: a war without meaning, with boys playing at war. Read More

‘DEATH OF A UNICORN’ a Satirical Creature Feature that Beats the Dead Horse

March 25, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged A24, Alex Scharfman, Death of a Unicorn, Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni, Will Poulter 5 Comments

When uptight compliance attorney Elliot (Paul Rudd) drags his teenage daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) on an out-of-state business trip, what was meant to be a major career opportunity takes a turn for the absurd: they hit a unicorn. In a moment of panic (or probably just impatience), Elliot bludgeons the moaning mystical creature to death and stuffs its bleeding corpse into the rental’s trunk. But not before Ridley touches its horn, forming a vague, E.T.-style bond with the mythical beast. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘DETROIT’

August 3, 2017 by Jason Jean Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie, Detriot, Detroit, Jason Mitchell, John Boyega, John Krasinski, Kathryn Bigelow, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Will Poulter 1 Comment

On the night of July 25th, 1967 two factions coalesced on the Algiers Motel. A small contingent of African American men weathering the storm of Detroit’s 12th Street Riots, and a platoon of enraged white cops looking for the person/persons who fired a gun at their patrol from a window of the motel.

Out in Theaters: ‘THE REVENANT’

December 4, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alejandro González Iñárritu, Best of 2015, Domhnall Gleeson, Emmanuel Lubezki, Mark L. Smith, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Revenant, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter 1 Comment

Not since Jim Caviezel hitched himself to a cross and got struck by lightning playing JC himself has an actor suffered so mightily for his craft. Enter Leonardo DiCaprio, the heir to Mel Gibson’s “they killed my family, I will have my revenge” throne. In The Revenant, DiCaprio plays a guide for a fur-trading company who survives a savage Indian assault, is brutally mauled by a mama grizzly, finds himself stitched up like the Necronomicon, left for dead and buried alive all before dragging his ass across a frigid tundra hot on vengeance’s trail. Read More