With the release of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on July 31, we have officially left behind the Summer Blockbuster season and are now entering that nebulous August/September space where studios and streamers throw everything at the multiplex wall just to see what sticks. It’s not quite prestige, Oscar-bait season yet, so whatever movies you end up seeing this month will vary wildly in quality — as I learned the hard way over the last few days. Here are a few recent releases I stumbled across, along with a few words on whether you should do the same.
“One Night Only” — I’m not entirely sure who this movie is for. The high-concept romantic comedy imagines a world where sex is illegal (unless you’re married) except for one night a year. We follow a pair of ridiculously hot New Yorkers as they meet cute, part cuter and continuously a run into each other throughout the night. Basically, it’s “The Purge,” but for one-night stands.
But here’s the problem: as charming as Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro are (and, my God, they have chemistry to burn), they’re still trapped in a movie with no clue what it wants to be. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy, not sexy enough to be hot, not smart enough to be satire and not angry enough to be political.
At one point, a politician on television says, “It’s now a badge of honor to be an incel.” The script just throws this line away without a shred of interrogation. Say what you will about “The Purge” franchise, but at least those high-concept thrillers are intelligent enough to unpack what one night of legal murder means to the collective soul of America.
“One Night Only” has an interesting idea buried somewhere beneath all the fluff, but this fails to dig it up. That said, Monica Barbaro is so effortlessly charismatic that the screen catches fire whenever she is on it. If this movie exists solely to make her a movie star, then sitting through it might have been worth it after all. If all you’re after is watching good-looking people making out and charming each other while the world burns down around them, then go for it. Ignore what the movie is saying and you might feel less insulted.
“The Wrong Girls” — Stoner comedies might not make a comeback after this weird little movie greets the world. I’m not even sure the film is actually good, but I’m so glad it exists.
Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat play two underemployed, bong-brained, ride-or-die best friends who cross paths with mad scientists, handsome assassins, lazy kitties and too many other bonkers things to list here. A case of mistaken identity ends with Stewart possessing a briefcase filled with a rare narcotic harvested from deep-water squid that grants the user psychic powers. Things only get weirder from there.
“The Wrong Girls” is a decent watch. Unfortunately, the obvious fun you can tell everyone is having on set doesn’t quite translate to the viewer. Still, Stewart and Shawkat share such a lived-in chemistry that I had a lovely time just watching them hang out and run from Dutch assassins, regardless of context. More women-led stoner comedies, please. Just make the next one a bit better, if at all possible.
“The End of Oak Street “ — When I say that this is the best dinosaur movie since 1993’s “Jurassic Park,” keep in mind that I find the “Jurassic World” movies to be several different shades of underwhelming. I don’t want to damn the film with faint praise because it deserves more than that. It honestly feels like a lost Spielberg movie filmed in 1982 and pulled straight from the vault.
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor play an unhappy married couple who, along with their teenage children and entire suburban neighborhood, are inexplicably transported back to prehistoric times. “The End of Oak Street” fulfills the promise the “Jurassic” franchise abandoned: deadly dinosaurs wreaking complete havoc on middle-class suburbia. I didn’t realize how badly I needed to see feathered raptors rooting through garbage cans like prehistoric trash pandas, but here we are.
The film sent me right back to being 13 years old and watching the OG “Jurassic Park” for the first time. It recaptures a genuine danger and intensity we haven’t seen in ages. Delightfully pulse-pounding, jaw-dropping and emotionally captivating, this is a total blast for anyone just looking for a great time at the movies. Some wonky plotting in the third act threatens to derail the story, but it all comes together nicely — if a bit too conveniently. Also, there is a giant snake sequence in this that will live in my nightmares for years. If I had kids, they would absolutely love this.
“The Last House” — Here’s another Netflix Original featuring a fun concept surrounded by some of the laziest writing imaginable. Remember how M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” was about killer wind? This one, at first, appears to be about sentient, malevolent rain. It is exactly as unintentionally hilarious as it sounds.
A family led by the great Wagner Moura and Greta Lee (both aggressively slumming it here) is locked inside their home for years by what appears to be angry water and whatever else is lurking outside in the moistness. The first half is actually compelling as we see what the family must do to get food and fresh water, but once the screenplay reveals what is actually happening, the film devolves into pure goofiness, burning through every ounce of goodwill it had stored. When people say, “They don’t make them like this anymore,” I’m not sure this is what they mean.
“Her Private Hell” — Pure, beautiful nonsense. Filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn might be completely drunk on his own hype, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing if the results are this mesmerizing and darkly sensual.
The plot follows a group of actresses swept up in an urban legend about a serial killer known as The Leather Man, while an American G.I. named Private K hunts the killer to avenge his dead daughter. There is nothing here to invest in, emotionally, so it’s all vibes and hypnotic tone.
“Her Private Hell” is a Neo-Giallo phantasmagoria. It is given real weight by spectacular, internal performances from Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton — two actors who will both be global movie stars before the decade ends. I don’t know if this is a “good” movie, but the visual storytelling had me locked in for every frame. I’m excited for whatever gorgeous, nonsensical spectacle NWR has in store for us next. I bet it’s weird.
“One Night Only”
Dir. Will Gluck
Grade: D+
Now Playing at Regal Old Mill, Sisters Movie House
“The Wrong Girls”
Dir. Dylan Meyer
Grade: C-
Now Playing at Regal Old Mill
“The End of Oak Street”
Dir. David Robert Mitchell
Grade: B+
Now Playing at Regal Old Mill, Sisters Movie House, Redmond Cinema, Madras Cinema 5
“The Last House”
Dir. Louis Leterrier
Grade: D
Now available on Netflix
“Her Private Hell”
Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Grade: B
Available on VOD on Aug. 25
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
