• Straight Up

    Maintenance Required

    Regretting You

    Eternity

    Marty Supreme

    Dracula

  • Marjo Molfino

  • Kali Uchis - “Cry About It!“

Moving Forward After the Split: Sweeney’s “Twinless” Offers a Searing Portrait of Grief and Redemption

After James Sweeney’s 2019 debut feature “Straight Up,” he has returned as writer, director, and lead actor in “Twinless,” a measured dark comedy and psychological drama that picks at the scabs of grief and absence. 

The film’s premise centers around a chance encounter between Roman (Dylan O’ Brien) and Dennis (James Sweeney) at a support group for  grieving twins who have lost their other half, their “built-in best friend,” and must now learn to  navigate the world as “singletons.” This is where the unlikely relationship between the two characters flourishes and grows into desperate co-dependence, where both succeed in avoiding the deeper truths of their grief. There is a deep absence and regret that Sweeney masterfully crafts in both characters’ lives and use to extract visceral reactions from his audience when they least expect it. 

‘Maintenance Required’ Sputters in its Attempt to Give the Rom-Com Trope a Modern Tune-Up

“Maintenance Required” marks the directorial debut of writer-director Lacey Uhlemeyer, centering on a female-led, family-owned auto repair shop. The film is largely inspired by a short documentary she previously created about an all-female auto shop, as well as classic romantic comedies.

Stylistically, the film leans unabashedly into romantic comedy tropes, calling to mind genre staples like You’ve Got Mail and The Shop Around the Corner. It features an enemy-to-lovers plotline, secret correspondence leading towards a highly anticipated first encounter, and an avoidance of romance in the two lead characters that needs resolving. 

The cast is comprised of up-and-coming actors Madeleine Petsch (Charlie), Joe Scipio (Beau), Madison Bailey (Izzy), and Katy M. Brian (Kam). Despite its familiar faces, the film falters a bit when it comes to sustaining chemistry between the two leads. 

‘Regretting You’ Struggles to Balance Comedy and Tragedy, Faltering Under Its Own Emotional Weight

Regretting You is a dramatic romance that achieves much more in the comedy department than in the romance one. It is overly aspirational in its adaptation of the 2019 novel by writer Colleen Hoover, attempting to cram in oversized tragic plotlines without enough dramatic chops to measure up to the task—whether from its cast or, more critically, its script. We are witnessing a run of Colleen Hoover novels adapted for the big screen, with some leaving a mark and others unfortunately missing it. Regretting You finds itself in a middle ground, able to garner the intended laughs and occasional sighs from its audience, but failing to take on emotional scenes that could drive the impact of tragedy beyond a mere plot device. We observe the characters, but do not feel the anxiety or anguish of their crossroads, nor see a semblance of range in their possibilities or choices. This may be partly due to the movie offering rushed resolutions to heavy plot points, glossing over family deaths, extramarital affairs, illness, and depression. 

Choosing Forever: A24’s ‘Eternity’ Turns the Afterlife Into the Ultimate Love Triangle

What if the ideal afterlife could be found through a choice as arbitrary as picking up the right pamphlet, hearing the right pitch at Exhibition A, or flipping through channels and landing onto a commercial that seems specifically (and almost eerily) made for you? This is the bureaucratic and precise world that director/writer David Freyne and writer Patrick Cunnane construct as the backdrop for one of the most vivid and high-stakes love triangles on-screen this season. At its center is Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), a former librarian who died of cancer, Larry (Miles Teller), her second husband, who passed a few months before her while eating a pretzel, and Luke (Callum Turner), her first husband, who died during the Korean War.

From Enemies to Empathy: Kali Uchis and Ravyn Lenae Take on the Other Woman Trope in “Cry about it!”

Kali Uchis is rolling out the release of her upcoming album, “Sincerely: PS,” by teaming up with fellow R&B singer and songwriter Ravyn Lenae. Their single, “Cry about it!” fuses smooth R&B with strong 1950s doo-wop influences, creating a sound that feels both nostalgic and modern. Together, Uchis and Lenae deliver an incisive yet soothing bilingual melody that perfectly encapsulates a sort of “…must be cruel to be kind” approach when speaking to their current lover’s ex.

Both Uchis and Lenae, co-writers on the song, contribute a fresh take as the “new woman,” a rather untold side of an assumed but unsubstantiated love triangle. Instead of being reduced to the hated party (the girl who keeps the guy) – they craft a perfect response to their lover’s ex and her meddling. They refuse to engage with the undeserved projections and resentments towards them. Instead, they encourage the past lover to leave behind the imagined rivalry and move on – for their own sake.