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Mistress Dispeller

Reel TalkPremiumInside China’s wild ‘Mistress Dispelling’ industry

Elizabeth Lo’s astonishing film takes viewers inside China’s little-known “mistress dispelling” industry, revealing a story of heartbreak, dignity and emotional truth that feels almost too dramatic to be real.

Ben O’Shea

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked: For Good (2025).

Reel TalkPremiumWicked: For Good lacks the joyful fun of the first film

The follow-up to Chu’s record-breaking hit grapples with weaker source material and a darker tone, resulting in a visually stunning but emotionally uneven journey back to Oz.

Ben O’Shea

Ariana Grande is Glinda in WICKED FOR GOOD, directed by Jon M. Chu.

MOVIE REVIEWCommentsWicked: For Good is missing the wow factor of first film

Defying Gravity was the signature showstopper in last year’s record-breaking Wicked movie, but the sequel, Wicked: For Good, fails to recapture the magic and falls notably short in defying expectations.

Ben O'Shea

Glen Powell as Ben Richards in The Running Man.

Reel TalkPremiumRemake a solid popcorn flick

Is The Running Man the best film of the year? No. But if you want a solid popcorn flick, it does the job.

Ben O’Shea

Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. IMDB

Reel TalkPremiumAnxiety, motherhood and A24 weirdness in new Rose Byrne film

Rose Byrne gives the performance of her career in Mary Bronstein’s unflinching portrait of a mother barely holding it together.

Ben O’Shea

Bugonia Unknown

Reel TalkPremiumChaos and conspiracy: Bugonia is weird and wonderful

Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons light up Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest oddball experiment — a darkly comic sci-fi about paranoia, power, and the possibility that your boss may be an alien.

Ben O’Shea

Tracy Letts in A House Of Dynamite.

Reel TalkPremiumIdris Elba stars in new AI thriller

Kathryn Bigelow returns with a tense, hyper-realistic thriller that revisits Cold War nuclear fears, following the US government’s frantic 18 minutes after a catastrophic missile launch.

Ben O’Shea

Channing Tatum stars in Paramount Pictures' Roofman.

Reel TalkCommentsPremiumTrue-crime caper gives Channing Tatum his best role in years

Channing Tatum proves he’s more than a lovable goof in Roofman, a stranger-than-fiction story of a man who robbed McDonald’s with manners and fell in love while hiding in a toy store.

Ben O’Shea

Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield in After The Hunt.

Reel TalkPremiumJulia Roberts stars in #metoo thriller

In a story of intellect, power and blurred consent, Julia Roberts leads a stellar cast through a moral minefield.

Ben O’Shea

The Smashing Machine.

Reel TalkPremiumThe Rock shows his range in The Smashing Machine

Dwayne Johnson shows off his acting chops in this guts and glory biopic of a famed MMA fighter.

Ben O’Shea

One Battle After Another is in cinemas now.

Reel TalkPremiumDiCaprio and Penn clash in political fever dream

Adapted loosely from Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, Anderson’s film blends revolution, romance and paranoia into an ambitious Oscar contender that dazzles even when it stumbles.

Ben O’Shea

Ryan Corr in Kangaroo.

Reel TalkPremiumCute animals, stunning scenery make Kangaroo worth a watch

A film brimming with warmth, wildlife and heart, Kangaroo ultimately hops into familiar storytelling territory.

Ben O’Shea

Splitsville is in cinemas now.

Reel TalkPremiumSplitsville’s messy marriage makes for breezy fun

Dakota Johnson anchors a messy, funny and oddly sweet exploration of love and lust in a film that leans into farce.

Ben O’Shea

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman in The Roses.

Reel TalkPremiumThe Roses blooms again

Cumberbatch and Colman spar brilliantly in Jay Roach’s remake, a wickedly funny tale of love, resentment and the comedy of collapse.

Ben O’Shea

Peter Dinklage and Jacob Tremblay in The Toxic Avenger (2023).

Reel TalkPremiumSo bad it’s good

The jokes are bad and the gore is excessive and always played for laughs, but, somehow, it all just works.

Ben O’Shea

Joaquin Phoenix in Eddington.

Reel TalkPremiumPandemic, politics and paranoia, Eddington is all too real

Ari Aster’s Eddington blends pandemic dread, politics and conspiracy-fuelled paranoia in a gripping, unsettling thriller led by Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal.

Ben O’Shea

Bob Odenkirk as Hutch Mansell in Nobody 2, directed by Timo Tjahjanto. Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures

Reel TalkPremium“Sheer, bloody enjoyment”

It may be epically silly, but that won’t stop audiences from cheering out loud at this Bob Odenkirk led action film.

Ben O’Shea

The Naked Gun is in cinemas on August 21.

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MOVIE REVIEWSCommentsPremium
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Liam Neeson is everything that’s wrong about The Naked Gun

Remaking a comedy classic was never going to be easy, but The Naked Gun reboot made the task even harder when it cast the deeply unfunny Liam Neeson as the son of Leslie Nielsen’s iconic Frank Drebin.

Ben O'Shea

The Life Of Chuck.

Reel TalkPremiumStephen King as you have never seen him before

Forget haunted hotels and killer clowns — King’s latest adaptation is a surreal, touching meditation on life, death and legacy.

Ben O’Shea

Freakier Friday stars Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Movie ReviewsCommentsPremiumFreakier Friday: Lohan’s return is freakier but still funny

If you watch one legacy sequel this week, for the love of comedy make sure it’s Freakier Friday and not Happy Gilmore 2.

Ben O'Shea

Four Letters Of Love.

Reel TalkPremiumIrish romance misses the emotional bullseye

A talented cast struggles to rescue this overly whimsical film.

Ben O’Shea

Happy Gilmore 2 is streaming on Netflix.

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MOVIE REVIEWComments
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Happy Gilmore 2 is easily one of Adam Sandler’s worst movies

If Happy Gilmore 2 were a golf shot, it didn’t just miss the fairway. We’re talking the rudest of shanks that ends up so deep in the rough that you don’t even bother looking for it and never speak of it again.

Ben O'Shea

Fantastic Four: First Steps is in cinemas.

Reel TalkPremiumFantastic superhero saga’s fresh approach in third reboot

With brilliant lead performances from Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is, without doubt, the best big-screen outing for Marvel’s First Family. 

Ben O'Shea

Chase Sui Wonders in I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025).

Reel TalkPremium90s summer slasher returns

I Know What You Did Last Summer was huge in the 90s — can this new reboot recapture some of that old magic?

Ben O’Shea