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SYNOPSIS: Written and directed by Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland (Civil War, 28 Days Later), Warfare embeds audiences with a platoon of American Navy SEALs in the home of an Iraqi family, overwatching the movement of US forces through insurgent territory. A visceral, boots-on-the-ground story of modern warfare, told like never before: in real time and based on the memory of the people who lived it.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Warfare drops audiences straight into the chaos. There are no setups, no backstories, no character arcs not even a prologue. From the first frame, we’re thrust alongside a platoon of young Navy SEALs occupying a civilian home in Al Qaeda-controlled Ramadi, Iraq, where they spy on insurgents across the street. But things quickly spiral out of control as the soldiers find themselves surrounded and hunted.

For a brisk 96-minute runtime, the opening stretch feels deceptively quiet. For the first half-hour, the soldiers linger inside the stifling house, fiddling with radios while two men take turns watching the enemy through a sniper scope. Yet an undercurrent of dread lingers. Sooner or later, disaster is inevitable.

Co-directed by Alex Garland (Civil War, Ex Machina) and former Navy SEAL Rey Mendoza, Warfare is built on the memories of an actual SEAL team something proudly declared in the opening credits. Unlike modern war films such as Black Hawk Down or The Hurt Locker, this is storytelling stripped to the bone: no political stance, no sentimental brotherhood speeches just a brutal, claustrophobic survival tale.

For military enthusiasts, the technical details and jargon are a treat. The film spares no effort in replicating the mission with authenticity. Once the first shot is fired, the tension never relents. The immersive sound design and stark cinematography make you feel pinned down, unsettled and on edge as bullets and explosions tear frighteningly close.

The ensemble cast is strong without relying on marquee names. Will Poulter (The Maze Runner) leads as the squad commander, joined by Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), Charles Melton (May December), Michael Gandolfini (Daredevil: Born Again), and Noah Centineo (Black Adam), among others. The lack of A-list stars works in the film’s favor, keeping attention firmly on the mission’s realism rather than celebrity distractions.

At its core, Warfare is a lean, unflinching war thriller that confronts the brutality and psychological toll of combat. These are young men fighting for country and conviction but the fate awaiting them may not be the one they hoped for. And that’s what lingers long after the credits roll.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: When Simon (Jack Quaid) thinks he witnesses an abduction and the police refuse to believe him, he reluctantly turns to his next-door neighbor Ed (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) - a bitter, retired security guard - to help him find the missing woman.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Jack Quaid may be a “nepo baby,” but he’s hardly coasting on his family name. In Neighbourhood Watch, he takes on the demanding role of Simon, a young man living with schizophrenia who claims to have witnessed a woman’s abduction.

But is Simon truly seeing what happened, or is it another manifestation of his illness? The voice in his head insists it’s all a delusion, while the audience is left to wonder though, of course, without a real mystery, there wouldn’t be a story.

Convinced he needs backup, Simon turns to his neighbour Ed (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), an overzealous retired security guard whom he views as an authority figure. What follows is a trail of leads, missteps and frantic chases that ultimately forge an unlikely but heartfelt friendship between the two men.

Neighbourhood Watch is less about its crime plot than it is about the chemistry of its leads, and fortunately, Quaid and Morgan deliver in spades. Their dynamic anchors the film, elevating it beyond a standard indie mystery drama.

Morgan’s Ed is eccentric, even a little unsettling at first. We never fully understand why he continues to linger around the campus long after his employment ended. Initially, he’s wary of Simon but as the story unfolds, Ed morphs into something like an unofficial therapist, grounding Simon when his schizophrenia threatens to overwhelm him. Simon, in turn, finds in Ed a connection strong enough to keep him from spiraling completely out of control.

Director Duncan Skiles and writer Sean Farley weave in quirky humor, injecting a “mismatched buddy cop” energy into the proceedings. Still, the central crime storyline feels undercooked, lacking the intrigue and tension to make it truly gripping.

At the end of the day, it’s the performances that matter most. Quaid and Morgan shine, their oddball rapport overshadowing the film’s flimsy mystery. Neighbourhood Watch may not be a powerhouse thriller, but thanks to its leads, it’s an enjoyable if uneven ride.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: Jill Leung’s captivating debut, Last Song For You, is a soulful, time-bending ode to lost love, shared memories, and music’s healing power. Spanning Hong Kong and Japan, and evoking the nostalgic spirit of 1990s Hong Kong cinema, this supernatural romance stars Cantopop legend Ekin Cheng as faded pop star So Sing Wah, who reluctantly travels to Japan with Summer (Natalie Hsu), the daughter of his high school crush, to scatter her mother’s ashes. Unwittingly, their journey transcends distance and time itself. Through flashbacks featuring rising star Ian Chan (Mirror), youthful dreams and passions are revived in this swooningly lyrical heartbreaker about second chances, bittersweet longing, and timeless resonance.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Ekin Cheng, best known for his iconic roles in the Young and Dangerous franchise, Storm Riders and A Man Called Hero, has kept a relatively low profile in recent years. Yet with his trademark wavy, shoulder-length hair and effortless charm, he remains a magnetic presence in the romantic drama Last Song for You.

Cheng plays So Sing-wah, a washed-up Cantopop singer-songwriter who nearly dies from an overdose in the film’s opening scene. Creatively bankrupt, perpetually drunk and unable to deliver a new song for his client, So drifts aimlessly through life until Summer (Natalie Hsu), the daughter of his former muse, approaches him with a request. She asks him to accompany her on a trip to Japan to scatter her late mother’s ashes. Reluctantly, So agrees, only to uncover truths about Summer and her mother, Ha Man-huen (Cecilia Choi), that he never knew.

Written and directed by veteran screenwriter Jill Leung (Paradox, Ip Man 3), Last Song for You might just be the most romantic Hong Kong drama in decades. In tone and texture, it feels closer to a Korean or Taiwanese romance. Shot partly in Shikoku, Japan and on Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau island, the film’s visuals are soft, dreamlike, and almost ethereal thanks to Oliver Lau’s lush cinematography (Mama’s Affair, We Are Family).

Adding to this dreamlike quality is a subtle “magical” twist reminiscent of Jay Chou’s Secret or even The Lake House. Leung toys with the notion that So’s interactions with Summer may be figments of his fragile imagination. Yet the film flows so naturally between past and present that viewers are swept up in his emotional journey.

Ian Chan, a member of HK pop group MIRROR, plays the younger So, capturing the character’s early days as a songwriter. His story intertwines with Ha’s, who once tried to confess her love for him only for So to leave Hong Kong with his mother. A classic case of love missed by circumstance.

But Last Song for You is not merely about regret or midlife despair. Its heart lies in the question of “What if?” What if we had the chance to relive the past? What if it could teach us something about the present? While skeptics may dismiss the premise as sentimental fantasy, there is an undeniable poignancy in its message about love, memory, and second chances.

Performance-wise, Cheng delivers a subdued yet affecting turn as So, reminding audiences why he was once the face of an entire generation of Hong Kong cinema. Natalie Hsu (daughter of 80s actress Ann Bridgewater) brings both charm and emotional depth to Summer, while Ian Chan, though a bit stiff in parts, impresses in several musical sequences. Longtime Cheng collaborator Chan Kwong-wing provides a moving score and theme song that elevates the film’s emotional core.

Those expecting a straightforward time-travel romance may miss the point. While the film suffers from occasional pacing and tonal issues, Last Song for You ultimately succeeds as a tender, heartfelt drama—one that lingers well after the credits roll.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: Suburban dad Craig falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor, as Craig’s attempts to make an adult male friend threaten to ruin both of their lives.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Google simply defines "friendship" as the state of being friends. But for how long? That’s debatable. Friendships can last a lifetime, or just a few days or months, depending on circumstances.

In Friendship, comedian and ex-SNL writer Tim Robinson plays Craig Waterman, a man who takes the idea of friendship a little too seriously. Craig is a self-described lone wolf. His marriage to Tami (Kate Mara) is on the rocks, as she eventually seeks comfort in her ex-boyfriend. At work, Craig struggles to collaborate with colleagues, and at home, his teenage son Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer) is firmly attached to his mother. Isolated and awkward, Craig seems trapped in his own bubble until he crosses paths with Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd), the charismatic weatherman from the local TV station.

Austin appears to be the perfect best friend: warm, funny and delightfully unpredictable. He takes Craig on underground adventures through the city’s hidden tunnels, invites him mushroom-picking, introduces him to new instruments and even promises him a ride if he buys a new car. For a brief moment, Austin becomes the buddy Craig desperately craved. But when an unexpected incident drives a wedge between them, Austin abruptly distances himself, leaving Craig desperate to reclaim the bond.

The premise echoes Rudd’s 2009 comedy I Love You, Man, but Friendship is edgier, darker and far more unhinged. Craig Waterman is both sympathetic and unsettling: at heart a decent man but painfully socially awkward. Writer-director Andrew DeYoung crafts an uncomfortable exploration of male loneliness though its themes could easily resonate beyond gender.

While scattered with comedic beats, the film feels more sorrowful than funny. Craig’s office meltdown, his bizarre misadventures with his wife in the sewer and even his breakdown involving a gun are less comedic antics than distressing portraits of a man spiraling out of control. This isn’t Anchorman-style absurdity; it’s raw, unnerving desperation.

Rudd’s Austin however is the film’s saving grace, injecting bursts of charm and levity. Without spoiling anything, there’s one surprising reveal about his character that stands out as the film’s best gag—playful, harmless and layered with meaning. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to fully lift the film out of its heaviness.

In the end, Friendship plays less like a comedy about bonding gone wrong and more like a dark psychological drama. Watching Craig unravel is an uneasy, discomforting experience. Truth be told, most viewers would rather spend time with Austin than endure Craig’s downward spiral.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Action/Drama
Director: Ronald Cheng, Mark Wu
Cast: Ronald Cheng, Chrissie Chau, Philip Keung, Jiang Chao, Fu Shun Ying
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Sexual References)
Released By: Golden Village
Official Website:

Opening Day: 18 September 2025

Synopsis: Single father Lung (starring Ronald Cheng) and his daughter – Ying (starring Fu Shun Ying) are each other’s only dependence. Despite the huge debt left by his ex-wife, Lung believes in good karma, until Ying wad kidnapped while they were travelling in Thailand. Lung abandons his faith. He marries a Thai Chinese – Lan (starring Chrissie Chau) and stars a new life in Thailand, but he never leaves the past behind. All these years, he has been gathering information of the kidnap syndicate and vow take justice in his own hands at any cost.

Movie Review:

At times poignant, perplexing and shamelessly exploitative, ‘Atonement’ is a tonally uneven drama that could benefit from a stronger director at the helm.

The draw here is Ronald Cheng playing against type as a vengeful father Lung, who is determined to hunt down the kidnappers who had taken his young daughter Ying. As the opening scene of Lung dragging one of the kidnappers bruised and battered down a busy road establishes, Lung is not afraid of breaking the law and getting caught for it, especially since landing in a maximum security prison is part of his plan.

Co-written by Mark Wu and Lam Fung, ‘Atonement’ spins a familiar but nonetheless compelling story that starts with a somewhat guileless Lung three years ago making the best of his circumstances with Ying in Thailand, after his wife had abandoned them both and left them saddled with a mountain of debt. Ying gets into harm’s way after Lung intervenes to stop a bunch of kidnappers from snatching away a child and the baddies end up snatching his daughter instead.

In somewhat truncated fashion, the movie fast-forwards from scenes of him desperately giving out flyers of Yung’s picture to a buffed-up Lung sporting a buzz cut now married to a fellow Hong Kong immigrant Lan (Chrissie Chau). Lung and Lan share a tender marital relationship, the former in particular acting as protector against a lecherous local cop’s occasional sexual advances on Lan, with both husband and wife united as broken individuals with their respective baggage of difficult circumstances.

To their credit, Cheng and Chau carry this second act of the movie beautifully, and you’d be won over by their little gestures that demonstrate their affection for each other. It is deliberate that we are only told how they met and why they got together much later on, and even though it instantly makes Lung a much less likeable character than some would have liked, the late twist also adds interesting colour and shade to what would otherwise be a rote avenging figure.

Those looking to see Cheng go completely berserk will have to wait until the third act, which sees Lung get his chance to confront the mastermind of the kidnapping gang responsible for Ying’s disappearance. Lung finds a friend in fellow prisoner Dan (Philip Keung), who not only serves as his voice of caution but also a voice of reason, not least because Lung feels no compunction unleashing the full extent of his wrath confronting the obnoxious Mad Dog and his clique.

As much as it does allow Cheng to showcase the physical preparation he had to go through for the role, the finale is a odd and ultimately unnecessary detour into gratuitous violence. Ironically, it is seeing Lung totally lose it that we also come closest to losing the sympathy Cheng had accumulated over the course of the movie for his character, and we wonder how a more skilful director would have handled Lung's inevitable brinksmanship before his eventual redemption.

And in that regard, Cheng as well as his co-director Mark Wu come off woefully out of their depth. There is a good story here, as well as a compelling message centred on how moving forward with life requires one to let go of the past, however painful or difficult it may be; but the execution leaves much to be desired. Not only is it tonally uneven, the movie feels disjointed shifting gears from one act to another.

Thankfully, Cheng proves a better actor than he is a director, and even though this is a deliberate attempt to play against type (and possibly establish himself as a serious actor to shed his usual comedic persona), the do-over is surprisingly effective. Cheng also has good chemistry with Chau, and a nice bromance with Keung who shines in a small but critical supporting part. These strengths do not entirely atone the many weaknesses we described, but they do make ‘Atonement’ better in parts than in sum.

On a final note, it has taken 8 years for this effort to make its way to the big screen, and even though flawed, we’re glad it has finally seen the light of day. It won’t be the career-changing movie Cheng probably intended it to be, but Cheng’s performance anchors the movie and makes it an engaging watch for most of the time. As long as you keep your expectations in check, you might find this a sufficiently cathartic watch about healing and forgiveness.

Movie Rating:

(Deliberately playing against type, Ronald Cheng anchors a tonally uneven but nonetheless engaging watch about the importance of letting go of vengeance to find salvation)

Review by Gabriel Chong

SYNOPSIS: In the psychological thriller directed by Lorcan Finnegan, a man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. But his desire to hit the waves is thwarted by a group of locals whose mantra is “don’t live here, don’t surf here.” Humiliated and angry, the man is drawn into a conflict that keeps rising in concert with the punishing heat of the summer and pushes him to his breaking point.

MOVIE REVIEW:

The premise of The Surfer might sound deceptively simple. A man, known only as “the surfer,” hopes to spend an idyllic day riding the waves with his teenage son at Luna Bay. His plans, however, are derailed by a gang of hostile locals led by Scotty “Scally” Callahan (the late Julian McMahon) the only character in the entire film with a proper name.

But then you realize Nicolas Cage is playing the surfer, and you know this isn’t going to be an ordinary movie.

Famous for his manic, unhinged screen presence, Cage plays a man on the verge of finalizing a deal for his childhood home. Driving a flashy Lexus, he brings his son to admire the ocean where he once surfed. But the day quickly unravels as he’s harassed by thuggish locals and an equally corrupt cop.

In a typical Liam Neeson film, the protagonist would fight back and beat the living daylights out of everyone. In The Surfer, however, Cage’s character spirals into madness. Bullied to the edge of sanity, he refuses to leave the beach’s car park despite every reason to do so. Instead of retreating to the comfort of a Hilton or Four Seasons while waiting for his finances to clear, he chooses to endure the blistering Australian sun with his surfboard, car, phone and watch stolen. At one point, he even tries to swallow a dead rat.

That grotesque moment might well be the most memorable and morbid scene of this nearly two-hour film.

Irish director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium) knows how to exploit both Cage’s volatility and Australia’s unsettling wildlife. Much of the movie is punctuated by crawling, slithering creatures. But are they real, or hallucinations born of the surfer’s unraveling mind? Is this descent into chaos a nightmare playing out in his head?

Unfortunately, while Finnegan indulges in Cage’s theatrics and eerie cutaways, the late Julian McMahon is left underused. His Scotty Callahan, an influential community figure and self-styled beach cult leader, could have been the core of a far richer narrative. He embodies toxic masculinity in a way that screams for exploration yet his screen time feels frustratingly limited.

Another underdeveloped thread involves the beach bum (Nic Cassim), a grieving father who blames Callahan for his son’s death. The character disappears for much of the film, only to re-emerge with sudden significance in the final act.

Though billed as a psychological thriller, The Surfer will likely test the patience of mainstream audiences, who may find it more punishing than compelling. Cage, as always, is magnetic if you appreciate his brand of chaos, but beyond that, the film veers toward the artsy and the obscure. In the end, the rat—puppet or not—deserves just as much credit as anyone else on screen.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infinit
Runtime: 2 hrs 42 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:

Opening Day: 25 September 2025

Synopsis: From Warner Bros. Pictures comes One Battle After Another, written, directed and produced by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Academy Award and BAFTA winners Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro, and Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti. Washed-up revolutionary Bob (DiCaprio) exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa (Infiniti). When his evil nemesis (Penn) resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her, father and daughter both battling the consequences of his past.

Movie Review:

Paul Thomas Anderson has always been a director of fascinating contradictions. Across his wide body of work, he has given us the sprawl of Magnolia, the precision of There Will Be Blood, and the hazy dreamscape of Inherent Vice. For this writer, though, his most treasured film remains Punch-Drunk Love (2002), precisely for its oddball quirkiness and the way it found tenderness within chaos. That film felt like a reminder that Anderson, despite his reputation for high art, has always had an eye for the human heart. With his latest, he reaffirms this balance—delivering a film that is both grand and surprisingly accessible.

Of course, when Anderson sets his sights on something ambitious, he does not shy away from scale, and here he’s paired with Leonardo DiCaprio, an actor who continues to stretch himself in fascinating directions. DiCaprio has long since transcended the “leading man” mould, and in recent years he has become a master of portraying deeply flawed but compelling figures. In this movie that is also likely to be an Oscar bait, he takes on yet another layered role—an everyman turned reluctant combatant who finds himself swept up in conflicts both literal and personal. Watching him navigate Anderson’s world feels like witnessing a partnership that was overdue; the director’s precision and the actor’s intensity dovetail beautifully.

What makes the movie stand out is its accessibility. Anderson has a history of challenging his audiences with films like The Master (2012) and Inherent Vice (2014), works that divided viewers with their density and deliberate opacity. Those films had their admirers, but they were not easy entry points for the casual moviegoer. This new work, however, feels different. Its central themes—struggle, resilience, and the cost of conflict—are communicated in a way that is direct without being simplistic. The film invites viewers in rather than daring them to keep up, making it one of Anderson’s more approachable efforts in years.

The runtime, at 162 minutes, might raise eyebrows at first. It is no small commitment. Yet One Battle After Another earns every one of its minutes. Anderson structures the film in movements, with each “battle” functioning as both spectacle and metaphor. These sequences are not merely action for action’s sake; they serve to chart the inner terrain of DiCaprio’s character, marking his evolution from a man adrift to someone confronted with meaning, purpose, and sacrifice. The pacing is deliberate but never stagnant—Anderson understands rhythm, and he gives the audience space to breathe between the intensity. By the end, those two hours and forty minutes feel less like a test of endurance and more like the natural scope required to tell this story properly.

In short, the movie represents Anderson at his most generous: narratively clear, emotionally resonant, and anchored by a DiCaprio performance that is as riveting as it is human. It’s not the quirky gem that Punch-Drunk Love was, but it shares that film’s heart, marrying Anderson’s artistry with accessibility. For longtime fans and newcomers alike, it’s proof that even after decades of work, Anderson still finds ways to surprise us—one battle, and one triumph, after another.

Movie Rating:

(Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio join forces for an emotional saga that's surprisingly accessible and entertaining)

Review by John Li

SYNOPSIS: The Unholy Trinity starring Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson and Tim Daly unravels a tale of betrayal, revenge and redemption in the dusty lawlessness of 1870s Montana. When Henry Broadway returns to witness his estranged father's execution, he learns the hanging was the result of a brutal setup. Determined to avenge him, Henry rides into the town of Trinity, a place ruled by buried secrets and shifting allegiances. There, he's caught between Sheriff Gabriel Dove, a lawman with a haunted past, and the enigmatic St. Christopher, whose motives remain dangerously unclear. As blood is spilled and loyalties fracture, Henry must fight not only for survival but for the truth that could finally set him free or destroy him.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Once a dominant Hollywood staple, the Western has struggled to find its footing in recent decades especially in the wake of high-profile disappointments like Kevin Costner’s ambitious Horizon saga. Still, the genre occasionally finds new life on the streaming market, where indie projects like The Unholy Trinity can appear seemingly out of nowhere.

To its credit, The Unholy Trinity isn’t entirely a low-profile affair. With Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson leading the cast, the film carries enough star power to turn a few heads. Written by Lee Zachariah and directed by Richard Gray, it attempts to pack betrayal, revenge, greed, and all manner of frontier evil into a lean runtime sometimes to its detriment, but rarely without intrigue.

Brosnan plays Gabriel Dove, the town’s lone sheriff, while his wife Sarah (Veronica Ferres) conveniently serves as the local doctor. Trouble arrives in the form of Henry Broadway (Brandon Lessard), a young man bent on killing Dove for the hanging of his father. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure named St. Christopher (Jackson) rides into town with his eye on the gold Henry’s father left behind. A third thread involves Running Cub (Q’orianka Kilcher), a Native American woman accused of murder, whose innocence Dove insists on defending despite the townsfolk clamoring for her death.

It’s a busy script, though Zachariah doesn’t quite weave its many threads into a cohesive whole. The pacing drags, and centering so much of the story on Henry Broadway—an underwhelming character at best robs the film of the intensity it promises. A sharper conflict between Dove and St. Christopher from the outset might have delivered the kind of tension the film sorely lacks.

Even so, Gray manages to stage some satisfying old-school shootouts and bursts of sudden violence that keep the film from flatlining. Brosnan, aging gracefully, remains a magnetic presence as the weary sheriff, while Jackson injects unpredictability and menace into his ex-slave drifter. A brief cameo by David Arquette as a phony priest adds a touch of pulp charm.

The Unholy Trinity isn’t for everyone. It gestures toward epic scope but never fully delivers and much of its cast is saddled with underdeveloped or shady roles. Yet the combination of Brosnan, Jackson and the sweeping Montana backdrop makes it an easy if imperfect watch. Hardly a classic but good enough for fans craving a few shootouts and a whiff of frontier grit.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Comedy/Adventure/Family
Director: Seth Worley
Cast: Tony Hale, D'Arcy Carden, Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence, Kalon Cox, Jaxen Kenner, Randa Newman
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Frightening Scenes)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:

Opening Day: 18 September 2025

Synopsis: When a young girl's sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life—unpredictable, chaotic, and dangerously real. As the town unravels, she and her brother must track down the creatures before they leave permanent damage. Their father, racing to find them through the fallout, must navigate a town in crisis to reunite his family and stop the disaster they never meant to unleash.

Movie Review:

We were taken aback to see Angel Studios, the production label best known for faith-based, Christian-themed titles emerge as the primary backer for Sketch. Not because the film lacks heart but because it’s not the type of project the studio usually produces.

Yet Angel Studios may have a winner on its hands. Sketch is, at its core, a fantasy children’s drama that manages to resonate even with non-faith-based audiences, delivering a wholesome and meaningful experience for the entire family.

Written and directed by Seth Worley, the story follows 9-year-old Amber (Bianca Belle) and her older brother, Jack (Kue Lawrence), who are still reeling from the recent death of their mother. Their father, Taylor (Tony Hale), is struggling to hold the family together while leaning on his sister Liz (D’Arcy Carden), a real estate agent helping him sell the family home—a convenient excuse, perhaps, to start over.

While Taylor and Jack appear to be coping, Amber withdraws into her notebooks, filling the pages with eerie drawings of monsters and strange creatures. Her teacher grows increasingly concerned. One day, Jack stumbles across a magical pond with the power to repair, restore and heal. But when Amber accidentally drops her notebook into the water, her frightening creations spring to life, terrorizing the siblings and their friends.

Despite being aimed at younger audiences, Worley never talks down to viewers. With imaginative use of CGI, Amber’s hand-drawn sketches come vividly alive from one-eyed spiders to a cookie-monster-like beast named Dave. A standout sequence sees the children trapped inside a school bus by Dave, forced to soothe the creature with calming music. It’s a clever, well-staged scene that balances humor, thrills and inventiveness.

That said, the film’s frequent jump scares may be too intense for very young children. Some of Amber’s creations, particularly a disturbing human-like figure born from her darkest thoughts, are surprisingly unsettling. The CGI stands out most in its tactile, crayon-and-marker-inspired textures, which lend the monsters a unique visual authenticity.

Beneath the monster mayhem lies a surprisingly poignant message: how do children truly cope with grief? Jack, drawn to the magical pond for reasons of his own, attempts a heartbreaking act—trying to bring back his mother using her ashes, only to be stopped by his father in time. Amber externalizes her sorrow through her drawings, but the film gently asks: what about those who seem fine on the surface? Are they really okay?

At just 92 minutes, Worley packs in a lot of charm and heart. The lively group of kids including Amber’s bully, Bowman (Kalon Cox) are consistently entertaining while the adult cast plays a quieter, supporting role, with Hale shining as a thoughtful and compassionate father. The monster-filled adventure is inventive and fun but it’s the film’s timeless, meaningful themes that leave the deepest impression.

Movie Rating:

(Imaginative monsters and grief comes together in this wondrous drama about facing your true feelings)

Review by Linus Tee