SWIPED Starring: Lily James, Ben Schnetzer, Dan Stevens, Myha’la, Jackson White, Ian Colletti, Mary Neely, Pierson Fodé, and Dermot Mulroney Director: Rachel Lee Goldenberg PAIGE Swiped is a conventional biopic that doesn’t do much to stand out from the crowd. While the movie certainly touches upon issues like gender inequality in the workplace and online harassment, it doesn’t dive deep enough into these matters. The film needed to lean more on such topics and the ways in which Whitney Wolfe Herd (Lily James) overcame them to convey this impactful story of female empowerment. Instead, the movie plays it safe. It may be a breezy watch, but it’s not something I’d swipe right on. ROBERT Recent-history biopics have been a… recent trend, sometimes with studios optioning a story less than two years after the real event occurred. Usually, they focus on financial or tech-based companies, so Swiped falls right in line, fictionalizing the founding of Bumble by Whitney Wolfe Herd (Lily James). The film captures the toxic nature of tech-bro culture in a way that makes you require a shower afterwards, but otherwise, it doesn’t push boundaries or make you feel the need to know about Whitney’s whole life. However, the way in which they frame her rise, fall, and rise again, coupled with Lily James’ performance, is intriguing. KATIE Swiped is entertaining with a great leading performance by Lily James, but it is ultimately a disappointingly paint-by-numbers account of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s (James) complex rise to success. It's bright, glossy, straightforward, and simple, and it certainly shows us how the misogynistic tech bro culture impacts Whitney’s life, career, and her mental health. However, Swiped doesn’t get into how this culture is perpetuated or offer much insight into how Tinder impacted its users and the ethics of dating. The film feels shallow, and many of the supporting characters are underdeveloped. It lightly touches upon the pitfalls of girl boss feminism, but not satisfyingly enough. BODE It’s a testament to Lily James that I was even somewhat interested in Swiped , which chronicles the story of dating app titan Whitney Wolfe Herd. And credit to her performance, and to the film’s creative team, they make what’s essentially a dramatized Wikipedia page decently entertaining. It’s certainly at its most interesting when observing the toxicity of the male-dominated tech world, and how Wolfe Herd benefitted from it until she suddenly didn’t. It probably would’ve been better had it not become another celebration of the corporate billionaire by the end. Regardless, you can still swipe right on this biopic.

EL CONDE Starring: Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Paula Luchsinger, Catalina Guerra, Marcial Tagle, Amparo Noguera, Antonia Zegers, and Stella Gonet Director: Pablo Larraín KATIE El Conde is so many things at once: scathing, gruesome, wickedly funny, absurd, and beautiful. Director Pablo Larraín re-imagines the infamous Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, as a literal blood-thirsty monster who, much like his real-life legacy, refuses to die. This is an ingenious way of confronting Chile’s traumatic recent past, allowing Larraín to make a mockery of the dictator, showing him miserable and wasting away in his crumbling mansion. The black and white cinematography is striking and brimming with visual references, creating an absurd alternate reality that traps all the characters within it. This film will stick in my mind for a while. QUENTIN In its entirety, El Conde isn’t a movie that I enjoyed. Despite the intriguing and outlandish logline, it’s surprisingly boring, but it’s possible that it works better for people who have some knowledge of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, of which I have very little. Perhaps that is why the satire didn’t hit for me. That said, director Pablo Larraín was able to create a surreal and haunting atmosphere that is well suited to the content, but this mix of Knives Out and Roma falls into the “movies I respect more than like” bucket. ADRIANO It’s hard for me to say that El Conde doesn’t overstay its welcome a bit, but I still feel it accomplished its goal of being a sharp and funny satire. Granted, some of its ideas overshadow the overall goal, and it leans a little too hard into the gore and surrealist elements, meaning the film’s political angle easily gets lost in the madness. But Pablo Larraín’s direction and Edward Lachman’s slick black-and-white cinematography make this a unique viewing experience that, for better and for worse, is unlike anything you’ll see this year. This film was reviewed by Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 Venice International Film Festival.

EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT Director: Baz Luhrmann ADRIANO Based on this and his 2022 biopic Elvis , it seems like Baz Luhrmann's interest in Elvis Presley is much more geared towards his impact on culture and less on his personal life. In EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert , that's a little more forgiving. Aside from the tacked-on opening 20 minutes, this concert movie achieves what you'd hope it achieves: watching Presley perform with magnum electricity. In IMAX, you can really feel the seats move, and there are wonderful editing choices that blend simultaneous performances. That's all this movie really is, but that's all I really asked for. QUENTIN At this point, your feelings about Elvis Presley are probably set. Nothing I say is going to convince someone who doesn’t care about Elvis to watch EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert , just like I’m not going to deter massive Elvis fans by saying it’s terrible. With that said, coming from this Elvis fan, EPiC is a must see. The concert footage is electric, providing the on-stage excitement most of us never experienced first-hand, while the off-stage footage goes to great lengths to show Elvis as an actual person and not just the monolithic icon. Like I said, though…you already know, going in both directions. BODE If you thought that director Baz Luhrmann said all that needed to be said about Elvis Presley with his 2022 biopic, you’d be mistaken. 159 minutes isn’t enough time for the Australian maximalist to dig into The King’s cultural impact. And after watching EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert , I’d agree. With the use of previously unreleased footage, and editor Jonathan Redmond blending it all together, EPiC wonderfully captures the raw energy felt from his shows. It occasionally stumbles whenever it goes over previously explored information about his life, but as far as tributes go though, this is a viscerally swaggering one. See it in IMAX. This film was reviewed by Adriano and Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2025 Zurich Film Festival, respectively.

INTO THE WONDERWOODS Starring: Dario Hardouin-Spurio, José Garcia, Prune Bozo, Yolande Moreau, and Philippe Katerine Directors: Alexis Ducord and Vincent Paronnaud QUENTIN Truth be told, I don’t watch a ton of animated movies. It’s not that I don’t enjoy them, per se, but so many of them are unabashed toy commercials aimed at children. There is no real weight behind the storytelling, and it’s hard to tell which ones are worth my time. Enter Into the Wonderwoods , a charming and delightful spin on Alice in Wonderland that features beautiful and varied animation, as well as a surprisingly emotive score. I admit it’s a small sample size, but it’s one of the better animated movies not named Spider-Verse that I’ve seen in a while. AMARÚ Into the Wonderwoods is an ultimate trek into your inner child, using multiple animation styles to wander through the vast imagination of our adventurous protagonist Angelo (Dario Hardouin-Spurio). Its myriad of quirky characters and locales feels like Terry Gilliam made a kids version of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen . Many of its weird bits are just the right amount of offbeat, while others are too unorthodox or trippy to be interesting (particularly a pedestrian villain slapped amongst much more fascinating characters), but following our young hero through his wondrous journey provides enough heart to care how this tale ends. PAIGE Into the Wonderwoods is a straightforward, yet endearing movie that unexpectedly moved me. Despite a few superfluous subplots that take away from the primary theme, the general storyline of the film is powerful enough to leave an impression on its viewers and serve as a reminder of the importance of how imagination can help one deal with life's challenges. In addition, the use of alternating 2D and 3D animation styles to depict our protagonist Angelo's (Dario Hardouin-Spurio) journey between his fantasies and the real world really impressed me. All in all, the heart of this French film is in the right place. This film was reviewed by Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

MEG 2: THE TRENCH Starring: Jason Statham, Able Wanamakok, Li Bingbing, Sienna Guillory, Sophia Cai, Jing Wu, Cliff Curtis, Skyler Samuels, Page Kennedy, Melissanthi Mahut, and Sergio Peris-Mencheta Director: Ben Wheatley PHILL Meg 2: The Trench takes a deliberate bite at trying to be a nonsense-filled schlockfest, but never quite succeeds as well as its predecessor, The Meg. The disjointed sequel flows with breakneck pacing, but somehow still spends too long on a very dull interhuman confrontation instead of the interspecies one. Jason Statham does what Statham does best, and if you’re a fan, you know what you’re getting. But with weak performances aplenty and a very mixed bag of visual effects that range from quite lovely to purely abhorrent, this franchise sadly sinks further in quality the second time around. ADRIANO A good sequel should expand upon its predecessor while also giving fans of the original more of what they loved about the first one. Meg 2: The Trench does neither. I could’ve forgiven the asinine writing and the embarrassing performances because I assumed this movie was going for a fun B-movie but with more money, but it’s not fun enough for me to give it that kind of pass. With one momentary exception, the big shark is just chilling for the most part, and instead, we are left with a dull action plot with nothing to care about. PRESTON If you loved The Meg , you will probably love Meg 2: The Trench , which is by no means a glowing endorsement. B-movie is 100% the intention here, where a plotless adventure ensues with Sharknado -esque improbability. The corybantic camerawork keeps you in the confused chaos, first established by the inexplicable James Bond-like qualifications of its protagonist, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham). Plus, oddly, the story doesn’t even feature Megs throughout the film. This is the type of production that you bring your young children to with unapologetic abandon, as loud insiders to my particular viewing ventured to do…and I didn’t really care. KATIE Were the effects shonky? Absolutely. Did the plot make sense? Barely. Were the performances convincing? Definitely not. Did the action scenes have so many cuts and shaky camera movements I found myself unable to make out what was going on? Unfortunately, yes. But did I care? Not really! Despite all of this, I sat back and mostly enjoyed nearly two hours of pointless, ridiculous, and cheesy fun featuring Jason Statham and various supersized aquatic threats. Although its run time is too long and I was not at all emotionally invested in a single character, I, begrudgingly, had a good time. CALEB I was hoping The Trench would embrace the absurdity of its premise and deliver some cheesy B-movie fun, but it never does. Instead, I was treated to an excruciating two hours of lifeless direction, mediocre effects, and writing dumb enough to make the first one look like Jaws . The most painful thing about this sequel is its astounding lack of sharks. The Megs themselves play a secondary role in the narrative, taking a back seat to the film’s dull human conflict. Jason Statham brings his usual charisma, but even he can’t save this Megalodon-sized flop.

BULL RUN Starring: Chris Diamantopoulos, Tom Blyth, Ashwin Gore, Helena Mattsson, Alyshia Ochse, Troy Garity, Zach Villa, and Jordyn Denning Director: Alfredo Barrios Jr. KATIE Bull Run is an unbearably obnoxious film. The protagonist speaks directly to the camera in a manner that is clearly trying to replicate The Wolf of Wall Street, but it's as jarring as the rest of the editing. It constantly cuts to sequences of random stock footage-looking images and clips to emphasise particular points, doing so recklessly and seemingly without significance. Scenes are randomly intercut with cross-fades and repeated shots, annoying sound effects, and a distracting, bassy kind of soundtrack. I didn’t care about any of the characters or the story, and at only 100 minutes, I felt bored quickly. AMARÚ While Bull Run could have been nothing more than a cheap knockoff of The Wolf of Wall Street , director Alfredo Barrios Jr., star Tom Blyth, and a game ensemble use breakneck pacing, an infectious score, and the playfully jargon-filled screenplay to make something all its own. Smashing their foot on the pedal allows the cast to speed-talk through charming dialogues and monologues, have fun with not-too-vulgar schemes, and keep audiences engaged even if we can’t keep up with every interweaving plotline. Ultimately feeling more like Office Space than The Wolf of Wall Street , Bull Run is a surprisingly fun little film.

COLD STORAGE Starring: Joe Keery, Georgina Campbell, Liam Neeson, Lesley Manville, Sosie Bacon, Aaron Heffernan, and Gavin Spokes Director: Jonny Campbell PAIGE Cold Storage is the kind of movie where you just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. David Koepp’s script is pretty rough at times, and there’s no ignoring some of the horrendous visual effects here, but that’s also kind of part of the movie’s appeal. It may be a bit over the top, but it knows that it is, and everyone involved seems to have understood the assignment. As a pulpy B-movie, even with tons of plot holes, Cold Storage is at least fast-paced and delivers some solid humor. ROBERT Cold Storage inspires a movie comparison never uttered in human history and probably never considered again: Evolution meets I Trapped the Devil with a sprinkling of Life . Sometimes, like Black Friday , a one-location horror movie can be dumb fun buoyed by one hero performance; in this case, it is Joe Keery, who is charming as hell and drags this film along by its ears. This isn’t peak straight-man Liam Neeson, as he tries to joke around, but it is close enough. The CG is a little hokey, and some odd tonal choices generate some weirdness with the climax, but the laughs are infectious. AMARÚ Just as you forget that Liam Neeson’s voice is more than a vehicle for his next B-movie action thriller, a B-movie horror comedy like Cold Storage gives him a scene to remind you that his monologues carry tons of gravity. He pulled me into what could’ve been just a movie to play in the background. What almost pulled me out is that the stupid person who looked in places they had no business being was Black. All jokes aside, this film straddles the line between interesting and ill-conceived, with actors who retrieve my interest every time the story loses it across that idiotic line. BODE The thing to accept about David Koepp and his incredibly versatile career as a screenwriter is that he can miss (Mortdecai , Jurassic World: Rebirth ) as often as he hits (Jurassic Park , Spider-Man , Black Bag ). But then there’s a film like Cold Storage , which isn’t anyone’s greatest hour, but far from anyone’s worst. It drags a little more than it should (even at 99 minutes), but director Jonny Campbell mostly handles its grotesque B-movie scenario with workmanlike efficiency, never taking the assignment too seriously and allowing his actors to bring the charm as needed. It’s fine for what it is.

EXHIBITING FORGIVENESS Starring André Holland, Andra Day, John Earl Jelks, Ian Foreman, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jamie Ray Newman, and Matthew Elam Director: Titus Kaphar KATIE Exhibiting Forgiveness is a poignant film that explores family trauma through a father-and-son relationship damaged by a history of abuse. First-time director Titus Kaphar’s artistic style and talent are clear in the film, which features his stunning paintings and sculptures throughout, and uses them very effectively to explore emotional trauma. The cast is incredible and swept me up in the gripping emotional drama, particularly André Holland’s raw performance as Tarrell. Unlike other films focused on estranged relationships, Exhibiting Forgiveness doesn’t view reconciliation as a prerequisite for forgiveness, resulting in a nuanced, tentatively hopeful film that will stick with me. AMARÚ Exhibiting Forgiveness is a gorgeous film. First time writer-director Titus Kaphar captures images as vibrant and light-filled as one of his paintings, and starting the movie depicting how artistry should allow people to live brought a brightness that was sorely needed in this heavy story. André Holland is outstanding as a father trying not to pass on his trauma, a son trying to move on from his past, and an artist trying to capture the love and pain of it all. He and his co-stars capture the complicated nature of forgiveness and redemption, and the light you choose to find in life’s darkness. ADRIANO Occasionally, I'll watch a directorial debut in disbelief that what I'm watching is from a first-timer. My latest experience, Exhibiting Forgiveness , is the writing/directing debut of Titus Kaphar (a painter), and although it can be familiar, the film takes a sincere approach to the idea of... well, forgiveness. It's not easy, nor is it always fair, but forgiving others and yourself for past trauma is as healing for you as it is for them. Mix that with an excellent ensemble and cinematography that is stunning but not glossy, you've got yourself a wonderful hidden gem that deserves to be found.

A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE Starring: Kevin Smith, Seth Green ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Gilbert Gottfried, Taran Killam, Paul Scheer, and Donny Osmond Directors: Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak This film has been reviewed by Nick and Paige as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival. NICK The almost mythic Star Wars Holiday Special has long been discussed as the worst piece of Star Wars content ever created. Unfortunately, this documentary shows there really isn’t much more to say beyond that. Notable names such as Kevin Smith, Seth Green, the late Gilbert Gottfried, and more are interviewed, but they’re almost there to mask the lack of story there is to tell. It was a variety special featuring the original cast doing musical numbers, numerous Golden Age TV guest stars, and a whole bunch of Wookies (some doing questionable things). No big conspiracy here, just a bad decision everyone involved wishes never happened. PAIGE Even though A Disturbance in the Force tries to dive further into the reasons why the Star Wars Holiday Special was created and why it was such a hot mess of a disaster without saying anything new, this documentary is actually more of a celebration of the pop culture phenomenon through interviews and archival footage. This hilarious and entertaining doc caters to die-hard Star Wars fans. While it feels like a time capsule for this fandom, it’s an intriguing study on this bizarre case that occurred in entertainment.

TILL Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Patrick Thomas, John Douglas Thompson, Haley Bennett, and Marc Collins Director: Chinonye Chukwu ADRIANO There was a very fine line that writer/director Chinonye Chukwu had to walk for Till , given how disturbingly tragic the subject matter is, and thankfully, that line was walked wonderfully. This film isn’t an easy watch in the slightest, but Chukwu did a wonderful job of making it digestible for audiences by focusing not only on the incident itself, but also the good that can come from horrific tragedy. Mamie Till’s story is incredibly powerful, and Danielle Deadwyler delivered her story with an earth-shattering and breathtaking performance that shook me to my very core. Overall, a tough but worthwhile experience. JACOB The scripting of Till may feel rather conventional, but sometimes, all a good story needs is to be well-told, and the legacy of Mamie Till-Mobley as portrayed in this film is a sacred one to tell. Deftly handled with careful direction from Chinonye Chukwu, not to mention starring a best-yet Danielle Deadwyler, the film wisely refuses to indulge the white brutality of its central event, yet still confronts the audience with the consequence of it. The score and sound editing are its biggest strengths in that respect, and while those awards chances are tentative, Deadwyler is a surefire contender for a Best Actress Oscar.

THE SPIRIT OF HALLOWEENTOWN Directors: Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb This film has been reviewed by Nick and Paige as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of Fantastic Fest 2024. PAIGE The Spirit of Halloweentown is a somewhat intriguing documentary that captures the essence of a town forever tied to Disney's Halloweentown . While certain anecdotes are definitely more interesting than others, directors Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb do a decent job of capturing the atmosphere of the town by delving into the lives of the locals and how they have or have not embraced the legacy of the spooky season. However, my main issue with this documentary is that it's dull and a bit uneven in its approach. NICK Although The Spirit of Halloweentown is a documentary, it’s filled with a collection of characters, some quite unlikable. In terms of following the case of two camps - those who are in favour of the Spirit of Halloweentown and those fighting against its existence - the film does a good job. What it doesn’t do a good job of is putting everything together. Its uneven approach and tendency to jump from story to story doesn’t work (the paranormal focus takes up far too much time), and I didn’t feel like I really learned that much, which is kind of the point of a documentary, no?

INSIDE Starring: Willem Dafoe Director: Vasilis Katsoupis NICK Death, taxes, and Willem Dafoe playing mentally unstable characters. His performance is, as expected, wonderful; a one-man show deserving of all the praise I expect to come. Unfortunately, it's the journey of him becoming unhinged that can be a little underwhelming. We start off great with some extreme close-ups that really build a claustrophobic atmosphere, but things fail to escalate from there for a large portion of the picture. Instead, any tension takes a backseat as the focus is put on some heavy-handed metaphors that laugh in the face of subtlety. Overall, a great performance in a film that can’t maintain its early momentum. ADRIANO As someone who can watch Willem Dafoe go insane for hours, Inside began to get on my nerves, but I still quite enjoyed it. I was almost immediately captivated by the film’s setup, as Dafoe’s character needs to survive with comically low resources. But then it started to get a little repetitive, and because its themes and messages are thinly veiled, it begins to be a rinse-and-repeat of the same stuff over and over again until the film reaches its unsatisfying conclusion. Even though I enjoyed the film going in more than I did going out, I did enjoy it.