Set in 1982, aspiring novelist Denise Platt (Anne Hathaway) and her husband Greg (Ewan McGregor) are already navigating the rocky waters of a strained marriage when their family nightmare takes a turn into the completely inexplicable. Alongside their two children, Audrey and Brian, and the family dog, Starbuck, they suddenly find themselves transported back to the Jurassic period, trapped in a hostile environment with seemingly no way home; and dinosaurs are making a very unwelcome resurgence. It is, quite literally, the stuff of nightmares.

Embracing the Mystery

Directed by David Robert Mitchell, The End of Oak Street doesn’t necessarily concern itself with explaining every single detail of its premise. And, frankly, that is part of the fun. How did this happen? Why them? What exactly is going on? There are questions aplenty, but not every cinematic mystery needs a tidy answer. Sometimes the sheer thrill of the ride is enough.

And what a ride this is.

The film veers effortlessly between genuine tension, dark comedy and moments that simply make you sit back and think, What the actual hell? There is an infectious sense of unpredictability running through the entire film, with Mitchell embracing the kind of grand, imaginative storytelling that feels increasingly rare in modern cinema.

A Throwbock Blockbuster Event

There is also a distinctly Spielbergian, Amblin-esque quality to the film. The 1980s setting, terrific period fashion and vintage production design give the movie an unmistakable retro character, while the science-fiction premise pushes it firmly into stranger territory.

Interestingly, The End of Oak Street feels so much like the adaptation of some long-lost cult science-fiction novel that it comes as a genuine surprise to discover it is an original cinematic story. The film has the scale and imagination of a sprawling genre adventure, yet it retains an unusual sense of personality throughout.

Strong Performances at the Centre

Anne Hathaway is particularly impressive as Denise, bringing a believable maternal ferocity to a woman desperately trying to protect her children while simultaneously attempting to find a way home. Her performance gives the film an emotional anchor, ensuring that the family’s predicament never becomes merely a vehicle for spectacle.

Ewan McGregor provides a strong counterpoint to Hathaway as Denise’s husband Greg, with their fractured marriage adding a surprisingly human dimension beneath all the prehistoric chaos. Their strained relationship adds an additional layer of tension, as the family must confront both external danger and problems that existed before their extraordinary displacement.

Dinosaurs That Mean Business

And then there are the dinosaurs.

These aren’t cute, family-friendly theme-park dinosaurs. These things are terrifying. Ferocious, vicious and utterly relentless, Mitchell’s prehistoric beasts feel genuinely dangerous, with plenty of blood, gore and gruesome collateral damage along the way.

At times, Jurassic Park feels positively like Saturday-morning television by comparison. The dinosaurs are not simply background attractions; they are constant, unpredictable threats that make every jungle, clearing and shadow feel potentially lethal.

A Visually Striking Nightmare

Michael Gioulakis’ cinematography is another standout, giving the film an expansive, cinematic scale while maintaining a sense of claustrophobic danger.

The visual style also complements the film’s unusual blend of retro adventure and nightmarish science fiction. The world feels both recognisable and completely unknown, creating an atmosphere in which the characters, and the audience, are never allowed to feel entirely safe.

Final Verdict: Pure Blockbuster Fun

Ultimately, The End of Oak Street is pure blockbuster entertainment. Strange, stylish, occasionally absurd and gloriously fun.

Most importantly, it is different. At a time when cinemas could use a little more creative risk-taking, David Robert Mitchell has delivered a film that feels genuinely original. It may not answer every question, but it delivers something arguably more valuable: the feeling of discovering something you’ve never quite seen before. And sometimes, that’s exactly what going to the movies should be about.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

The post ‘The End of Oak Street’ – Dinosaurs, Domestic Dysfunction and One Hell of a Time Warp – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.

The Odyssey follows Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, on his long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War, chronicling his encounters with mythical beings such as the Cyclops Polyphemus, sirens, and the nymph Calypso, while attempting to reunite with his wife, Penelope.

Nolan’s Complete Vision

As a filmmaker, Christopher Nolan is a force of nature who redefined the blockbuster movie experience beginning with 2005’s Batman Begins, and who has successfully tread the line between high-end action blockbuster filmmaking and more intriguing, thought-provoking arthouse work; in my mind, The Odyssey sits there. Interpreting the nearly 3000 year old work of Homer’s in his own vision, audiences find themselves watching a production that is filtered deliberating through Nolan’s own mind, and you almost feel like he’s exploring further ideas he previously explored in Oppenheimer with man’s unique take on both creativity leading to triumph or destruction, and it all makes for a very interesting realm on which to explore this ancient work.

Told with a structure that moves back and forth across time, itself a fabled Nolan trope, we come to see a disjointed and lost Odysseus who following the fall of Troy searches for a way to get back to his ancient home of Ithica, and tis narrative is juxtaposed with his loyal wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and his son Telemachus (Tom Holland) who wait holding out hope in Ithica for Odysseus return all while a vile group of suitors, led by the cruel and sadistic Antinous (Robert Pattinson) scheme and vie for Penelope’s hand in marriage, and total control of Ithica. With such a sprawling canvas, Nolan’s The Odyssey approaches its subject matter through a lens of memory, rage, and the passage of time, and it is less your standard action-adventure picture and more a thinking man’s blockbuster. Violence and action abound, but all of it is in service to Nolan’s study of the figure of Odysseus, and this work almost feels like a character study of a classical character, with all the veneer and polish stripped away so only the man is left.

A Cast of Titans

For Matt Damon, The Odyssey feels like an interesting choice for studying a hero stripped of his power and forced to contend with the reactive forces of fate and the will of the gods. Damon cuts a striking figure as the powerful Odysseus, but here Nolan really shows us him as an ordinary, if not gifted man, who is tested by the gods, must contend with forces beyond his control, and which test his will to its very limit. Damon delivers a man wrestling with the past and the consequences of his choices, making for a nuanced portrait of the legendary hero.

Juxtaposed with him are Anne Hathaway as his great love, Penelope, and Tom Holland as his loyal son, Telemachus, both of whom serve key roles in the production. For Anne Hathaway’s Penelope, we find a woman wrestling with the pain of longing, holding on by a very thin thread; she sees the bigger plan at play in Ithaca. Immense emotional power drives her performance as Penelope, and we see her holding on to her husband’s memory for dear life. Holland as Telemachus is a young man with everything to prove, but who is not schooled in the art of palace politics, and who must suffer the viper-like motions of the suitors who sit in his father’s hall. Seeking a chance to prove himself, he ventures out into the unknown, desperate for answers, and has to follow a path that will finally turn him into a man without his father’s presence.

Nolan’s The Odyssey also features a large cast of supporting characters, with some key standouts. Robert Pattinson’s Antinous, the leading suitor to Penelope, is a vicious and vile character who moves like a viper through Odysseus’ hall in Ithaca, seeking a way to claim what we view as his, and he’s incredibly frosty and repellent and again plays into Pattinson’s wheelhouse of delivering characters who can truly stand out. John. Bernthal also makes a solid presence as Menelaus, King of Sparta and husband to Helen, whose rage incites the Trojan war, and he delivers a hulking, muscular presence to the film, which is tinged by arrogance and power, but whose adherence to honour and loyalty leaves its mark on Telemachus. But the film’s scene-stealer is, hands down, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, Odysseus’s faithful servant and blind swineherd, who holds to his master’s return and utterly seizes the audience’s attention with his performance.

Sheer Spectacle

In terms of the experience of Nolan’s The Odyssey, this is a picture where the fantasy is made real, and Nolan brings to life the famous moments that have defined Homer’s epic, from the Cyclops to the Sirens to the witchcraft of Circe, and all of it is presented in a way that feels mythical yet entirely practical and real. And all of it is captured in IMAX, making for a profound and exciting sight. Watching Nolan’s The Odyssey in IMAX is an experience unlike anything you’ve ever witnessed before.

The scale and scope only serve to magnify this gigantic story, and all of it is captured in pristine detail, with a grand attention to detail, and it utterly washes over you. Production design and the total ambience of the picture also ground the audience in the Bronze Age, and you feel like you’re watching a picture that is both ancient and also weirdly contemporary at the same time, or a legend that exists outside of time and place where mysticism and the real clash side by side, and where gods and ghosts walk amongst us. Academy Award-winning Ludwig Göransson’s soundtrack is also tempered by sounds of a time long passed, echoing with the chimes or strikings of bronze, and heavy percussion riffs that echo throughout the theatre, and again it elevates the experience of the picture.

But if The Odyssey does have a moment where its heightened feeling comes to a cataclysm then its definitely the fall of Troy, when Odysseus and Greeks creep from the Horse, and ignite a trap that sees Troy sacked and left to fiery ruin, and not only does its heat and fire and flame quench the very limits of the IMAX screen, but this moment is where the film cements its thematic moment. Told in flashbacks that move back and forth across the narrative, it is Odysseus’s revelation in the powerful third act, where both his genius and fury are visited upon the Trojans, and where Nolan’s exploration of time, memory, regret, and consequence comes into play. This third-act moment is where the whole film comes together, and its presentation of the grand theme will truly affect the audience who witness it.

Final Verdict: Nolan’s Vision

The Odyssey is a vision of cinema fully shaped by the mind of Christopher Nolan, and he takes audiences into the size and scale of this story through the immense spectacle of IMAX and delivers a narrative that is his definitive take on the subject matter of the original text.

Image: Universal Pictures

The post ‘The Odyssey’ – Christopher Nolen delivers a ‘thinking man’s’ blockbuster – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.

And now he returns to cinemas with a vibrantly ritualistic experience of image and sound as Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway, alongside rising powerhouse Michaela Coel, deliver transcendent performances in this beautifully twisted portrait of artistry, creation and emotional possession in Mother Mary.

And you’re not ready for this pulsating watch of theatrical immediacy to completely take over you.

Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer on the eve of her comeback performance.

A Burning Gothic Ghost Story Wrapped In Haute Couture

Anytime we see David Lowery’s name attached to a film project, we immediately feel goosebumps. He’s a filmmaker with such a command of his craft that he almost feels like an heir apparent to the master craftsmen of cinema, echoing the pure filmmaking style and ethos of directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and James Gray. And now he returns to cinemas with A24’s Mother Mary to really shake things up.

Following the journey of fallen pop star Mother Mary (Hathaway), who in the faltering fallout of her self-destruction finds her way back to former collaborator and fashion impresario Sam Anselm (Coel), she arrives with a unique commission: to build her a costume for her final ever show. But this ploy is only the beginning of a deeper, far more personal mystery that binds these two women together in a force of supernatural possession that neither can predict nor comprehend.

The end result is a burning, ecstatic Gothic haute couture fashion ghost story that completely takes hold of the audience.

As an audience member, when you get the chance to witness something truly original, you can’t help but get caught up in the immense ecstasy of the presentation. And that’s exactly what Lowery delivers here. This intrinsic puzzle-box of a picture unleashes layer upon layer of narrative contextually, shaped through the interactions of two deeply unique characters, while examining what happens when contemporary society comes between soulmates, and how no one can interfere with the force of nature or the momentum of artistry itself.

Lowery constructs Mother Mary as a shifting chess match of intrigue, desire, suspense, horror and presence, with the movements of each character revealing something deeper, darker and more desperate about one another inside this turbulent hurricane of visual splendour. There’s a sharp, almost Shakespearean edge to the drama which, matched with its intriguing gothic horror sensibility, keeps audiences on edge the entire way through.

The tension builds moment by moment, while the surprises — and the feelings they invoke of love, romance, horror, terror and total bliss — make this a piece of cinema that thumps with a loud and burning heart of pure artistry.

A Sensory Explosion Of Music, Light & Emotion

The whole experience of Mother Mary is a sublime treat courtesy of Lowery and an incredible team of performers and collaborators, and the sheer visual and audio presentation becomes a cocktail of sheer sensation.

Everything about this film carries a level of hyperreality as Lowery pushes the extremes of pop-star performance to a solar level of burning intensity, and the visuals are utterly sublime. Mixing the gothic shadows of Sam’s deserted English estate with Mother Mary’s circular, revealing stage of light and sound is a genius move, and the way the camera moves and transitions pulls audiences directly into the emotions and desires of these characters.

Light and colour swirl about the frame constantly, and this becomes a work of evocative sensation where your senses buzz with feeling from beginning to end.

The soundtrack is equally palpitating courtesy of the artistry of Daniel Hart, Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX and FKA twigs. Every sonic beat lands with immediate force, and it completely overtakes the audience in the process.

Anne Hathaway & Michaela Coel Deliver Career-Best Work

The characterisation within Mother Mary also exists on another level entirely, with Hathaway and Coel delivering mirrored portrayals of fraught, broken co-dependence that take a dark and twisted turn before resolving themselves in the most unexpected way imaginable.

With Mother Mary, Hathaway presents a character whose talents have almost consumed her to the point of madness. In Lowery’s hands, she becomes a Taylor Swift-esque icon pushed to the absolute edge of sanity, and it results in something genuinely unique.

It’s difficult to remember seeing Hathaway this vulnerable and electrifying in equal measure, and what emerges is a character caught in flux between performative goddess and shattered soul. And it absolutely pulls you in.

Matched against her is Michaela Coel as the enigmatic and almost unknowable Sam Anselm, a genius fashion designer and Mother Mary’s original collaborator — perhaps even her creator. Through her interactions with her soulmate-turned-spurned-nemesis, we witness something deeply raw, intimate and psychologically dangerous unfold on screen.

Coel’s presence and performance continually keep audiences on their toes in the most deliberate and unexpected way possible, and the chemistry between both performers burns with unsettling intensity.

Final Verdict – A Pulsating Watch of Performance

Mother Mary is a powerful expression of pure storytelling and heart-wrought emotion, with its visual and performative flair utterly consuming audiences whole.

For those seeking a cinema experience of pure artistic splendour, David Lowery’s latest stands as an utter triumph — haunting, hypnotic and overflowing with feverish cinematic passion.

Trailer

Image: A24 Films

The post ‘Mother Mary’ – David Lowery Conducts A Fever Dream Of Fame, Obsession & Gothic Desire – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the all new trailer for Verity below:

Here’s the official synopsis below:

Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) is a writer in need of work when she is contacted by Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett). Jeremy’s wife is bestselling author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), and due to a mysterious accident, she is unable to finish her successful book series. Jeremy asks Lowen to complete the series, and while working on it, she discovers a manuscript that raises questions regarding Verity’s psychological well being and possible links to her publications.

Filmmaker Michael Showalter (Oh. What, Fun., The Eyes of Tammy Faye) really changes up here, as he jumps headfirst into this unsettling, and rather at times gruesome new tale of obsession, lust and identity and presents a Grand-Guignol like tale that instantly pulls audiences in. Set to a freakish rendering of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’, Verity is sure to deliver a fright.

Dakota Johnson, herself no stranger to tales of wild obsessions and wanton scandels, is almost cast against type as ambitious writer Lowen Ashleigh who is pulled into a world that takes her for a hell of s freakish ride, and she’ll certainly be on edge. Juxtaposing her is Acadmey Award-winner Anne Hathaway as the now quadriplegic Verity Crawford… or so she appears to be, but as Lowen looks further a terrifyingly dangerous secret lies at the very heart of Verity’s position. Josh Hartnett rounds at the cast as Verity’s seedy husband Jeremy, and he’s a man with his own desires, and isn’t to worried about temptations… or getting caught.

The whole picture has an almost Misery style quality to it, but it’s almost the reverse, where the invalid is now the monster, and it’s every one’s turn to a victim. Showalter balances the utter terror of this burning psychological thriller, with an almost haunted house-monster picture, and Verity is going to keep audiences on edge.

Ready yourselves for sheer psychological terror when Verity arrives in cinemas this October.

The post Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway deliver pure shock value in ‘Verity’ appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the transcendent and alarming teaser trailer for Mother Mary below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel) on the eve of her comeback performance.

An instant rush of adulation and gothic romance reimagined for the 2026 era flashes across the screen in Mother Mary. You know this is a film that you’ll need to experience with your whole being as an audience member. With its narrative of obsession and psychological violence, combined with striking, hypnotic visuals of pop excess, the film promises an unforgettable journey. The ghostly soundtrack features original music from artists like Charli XCX and FKA Twigs, adding to this haunting presentation. It’s sure to be an extraordinary experience.

The real shocker, however, is Anne Hathaway, who throws caution to the wind and finds herself drawn into an erotic nightmare of personal demons. Set to a pulsating soundtrack, this first trailer gives us only a glimpse of what’s to come, yet it is a tantalising preview that showcases a remarkable cinematic experience thanks to Lowery’s eclectic vision.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by SpicyPulp (@spicypulp)

Pray for the souls of those who enter a cinema to witness David Lowery’s Mother Mary. This film is shaping up to be one of the most striking presentations of 2026, sure to leave audiences filled with emotions and endorphins when it arrives in theaters in April 2026.

Image: A24

The post David Lowery delivers a haunting vision of gothic ecstasy in A24’s ‘Mother Mary’ appeared first on SpicyPulp.

In late 1967, a young orphaned boy goes to live with his loving Grandma (Octavia Spencer) in the rural Alabama town of Demopolis. As the boy and his grandmother encounter some deceptively glamorous but thoroughly diabolical witches, she wisely whisks him away to a seaside resort. Regrettably, they arrive at precisely the same time that the world’s Grand High Witch (Anne Hathway) has gathered her fellow cronies from around the globe — under cover — to carry out her nefarious plans.

Hollywood legend Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future) returns to the big screen with a bang as he adapts Roald Dahl’s infamous children’s tale, The Witches, to the big screen and brings a perfect mix of scares and humour that younger fans, and their parents, will have a lot of fun with. Reinterpreting The Witches for a new generation, Zemeckis sets the film in the Southern United States, and this combination of warm weather, baroque visuals and monstrous witches keeps the story fresh and exciting. At every turn, Zemeckis changes things up for his younger audience around, and there’s plenty of fun to be had as our young hero (Jahzir Kadeem Bruno) and his beloved Grandma (Octavia Spencer) do everything in their power to stop the Witches evil scheme.

Having an absolute ball as the Grand High Witch in The Witches is Anne Hathaway, and this Academy Award winner has plenty to keep her busy in this film. Best described as an ‘evil Jackie O’, as The Grand High Witch Hathaway is stylish, calculating and has a venomous hate for children. She’s sure to freak out younger viewers with plenty of surprising scares and she’s a hoot to watch from beginning to end as she works to rid the world of children forever. It’s clear with this role that Hathaway just wanted to kick back and have some fun, and in my mind she absolutely succeeded.

Standing in the way of Hathaway’s Grand High Witch is Octavia Spencer as the Grandma of the story’s protagonist. A kind, loving, devoted grandmother, Grandma is that special character that every audience member comes to know in their hearts. Added to this interpretation is Grandma’s power as a healer, and her strong faith and with this she goes into battle to combat the witches and stop The Grand High Witch’s evil plan. Octavia Spencer never gives a bad performance, and she has plenty of fun going up against Hathaway in The Witches and audiences will love her even more after this one.

As a cinematic experience it doesn’t get much better for younger audiences than The Witches. From it’s grand visuals and baroque stylings to the flamboyant presence and appearance of Anne Hathway’s Grand High Witch, to the misadventures of the film’s three mice protagonists and all the mischief they get up, there’s plenty to enchant with this one. The addition of Alan Silvestri’s whimsical score adds a great little sparkling bit of magic to the film as well, and The Witches is sure to go down a treat this holidays for younger viewers.

Arriving just in time for the holidays, The Witches is sure to be a hit for families looking for a much-needed getaway to the cinema.

Image: Roadshow Films

The post ‘The Witches’ – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.