There are actually quite a few options out there for this lower-scale April week. This set of write-ups includes a rom-com, a horror reimagining, an indie video game adaptation, a Hollywood satire, and a college comedy. The following features reviews for You, Me, and Tuscany, Faces of Death, Exit 8, Outcome, and Pizza Movie.
You, Me, and Tuscany: 6 out of 10
The Setup: Anna (Halle Bailey) impulsively jets off to Tuscany, Italy, to stay at a stranger’s villa without permission. Caught inside the house by the man’s mother and nona, she convinces them she’s his fiancée. That little lie soon becomes a big problem when Anna develops a growing attraction to the stranger’s handsome cousin, Michael (Regé-Jean Page).
Review: I want to jump right ahead to the ending real quick. No, I won’t spoil anything (though I trust that anyone could guess what happens), but I do wish there was a better way to take on these big, happy third acts in standard rom-coms. It’s a testament to the casting, use of location, and general vibes that I can let so many other things slide in films like this. Still, it becomes harder when the audience is essentially given what they want, with no nuance and even less follow-through. Once a big gesture happens, the movie speeds into the end credits, with more focus on behind-the-scenes bloopers than on what this new status quo actually looks like.
Okay, but what about the rest of the film? Hey, it satisfies. Bailey has a ton of charm that works well for what amounts to an Italian-themed riff on one of the 90s rom-com favs, While You Were Sleeping. Page shares good chemistry with Bailey and has enough character to make all his smoldering worthwhile. Despite only allowing us to see so much of it, the actual Italian locations look nice, as does the food we get to see. And the family Bailey’s character has to interact with throughout is the right kind of fun.
There’s not a ton else here to really look at, but it’s the sort of film that doesn’t ask for much, expects you to be on board with what it’s after, and has you look over things like the way people speak and how certain scenarios would really play out. Given that romantic comedies are an endangered species in theaters, the mild pleasure found here does enough.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on April 10, 2026.
Faces of Death: 7 out of 10
The Setup: Margot (Barbie Ferreira), a content moderator for a major video platform, discovers what appear to be re-enactments of murders from the original 1978 horror film, Faces of Death. In an online world where nothing can be trusted, she must determine whether the violence is fiction or unfolding in real time.
Review: This was a nice surprise, though perhaps it shouldn’t have been, given how much I liked director Daniel Goldhaber’s previous film, How to Blow Up a Pipeline. Still, the notion of doing a new Faces of Death in the online age makes a ton of sense, enough for me to worry if the actual execution could nail it. Not only does it manage to pull off what it’s aiming for, but the film serves as a much better example of a Scream-type movie than the actual recent entry in that franchise.
In that regard, here’s a film grappling with multiple ideas: online culture’s obsession with crime and violent content, the responsibility to monitor that content, what drives online traffic, and how that relates to nostalgia and the relaunch of previous IP. This is all rich material, and the movie not only lets those themes take over but also gives them proper representation through our lead characters.
Ferreira is terrific as a young woman building a not-unjustified obsession with the footage she is seeing. Adding a very specific backstory of her own only underscores how well-thought-out this character is. At the same time, Dacre Montgomery is terrific as the character on the other end of all of this, with the film wisely not trying to play the whodunnit game, instead understanding that it’s a go-nowhere plot device when you can so fully delve into the ideas by taking out that mystery.
On top of all of this are the violent kills we see, the clever uses of photography to convey different ideas, mediums, and perspectives, and the strength of casting in general (with some playing against type and others being Charlie XCX). Working as both another night out watching a horror film and a movie with things to say and get across, there’s plenty to appreciate when taking in these new faces.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on April 10, 2026.
Exit 8: 7 out of 10
The Setup: After a man (Kazunari Ninomiya) gets lost in an underground passage, strange things start happening to him. Is this space real? Or an illusion? Will the man be able to escape the passage?
Review: I’ve never played the video game this movie is based on, but perhaps it earns more benefit of the doubt than I’m giving it. On the one hand, it’s a creative display of problem-solving that relies on effective psychological horror. However, I did find my mind drifting now and again due to the inherent redundancy of the plot, let alone the use of one main location repeated over and over again. Yes, this speaks to the accuracy of the adaptation, while adding additional symbolic components simply by being rendered as a cinematic experience. Still, if I wasn’t blown away, there’s only so much I can add to these general thoughts.
Yes, the film is ultimately successful in what it’s doing. The feeling of a film like Cube, combined with the mood of a David Lynch film, feels like a way to award this movie especially high marks. Perhaps it will be accurate for some who truly respond to what this movie has to offer and the way it pulls it off. As it stands, there’s a lot here that aligns with what I want in original features, especially those from a smaller system rather than a mainstream IP. Maybe if I got lost in these subway corridors again, I’ll have more to want to look out for.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on April 10, 2026.
Outcome: 4 out of 10
The Setup: Reef Hawk (Keanu Reeves) is a beloved Hollywood star who must dive into the depths of his hidden demons after he is extorted with a mysterious video that’s sure to shatter his image and end his career. With the support of his lifelong besties, Kyle (Cameron Diaz) and Xander (Matt Bomer), along with his crisis lawyer, Ira (Jonah Hill), Reef embarks on a soul-searching journey to make amends with anyone he could have possibly wronged in hopes of identifying the blackmailer.
Review: What’s clear to me about Outcome is that it would have played better if Keanu Reeves were playing himself. This is the End got a lot more mileage out of simply having all those comedy stars play heightened versions of themselves, rather than leaning into Hollywood satire without fully taking it on. It’s a shame, because the core question is a fun idea. What if a beloved Keanu Reeves-type actor, who has a reputation for being one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, was actually a deadbeat who would be instantly canceled if anyone knew the truth?
Director and co-writer Hill certainly wants to test this to its extremes, but I’m just not sure he quite knows how to balance what he’s after. There’s plenty of sincerity on display, such as a very nice scene featuring Reeves and Martin Scorsese as his former agent. At the same time, we get an extended bit where Reeves and his assistant (Ivy Wolk) keep a conversation going with Hill while he’s on the toilet. It’s not impossible to make both work in the same movie, but Outcome is not the sharpest in how to pull that kind of thing off. The parade of celebrity co-stars is fine, even if only a few of them payoff (Bomer gets in a lot of good laughs).
Then you get back to Reeves, who is clearly game to lean into what the story is calling for, but it was simply hard to actually believe in him suddenly becoming a manic mad man trying to retain his reputation. Whether it’s because the film is asking too much or there’s too much of a disconnect between the results and the intention, I had a tough time accepting what the movie was after, when so many decent scenes were followed by an occasional flop.
Where To Watch: Available to stream on Apple TV starting April 10, 2026
Pizza Movie: 7 out of 10
The Setup: A shy college student (Sean Giambrone) and his reckless roommate (Gaten Matarazzo) set out on a simple mission to grab pizza, but after a strange dose of a mind-bending experimental drug, they’re thrust into a chaotic night of absurd encounters, wild hallucinations, and unexpected revelations that could change their lives forever.
Review: Despite having a large online following, I’ve only recently become more aware of the sketch comedy duo BriTANick, made up of Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher, who wrote and directed this movie. I point that out because their effort and background speak to the nature of this movie, as well as what they have done to raise the stakes, show ambition, and prove they can handle theatrical ventures just as well as comedy shorts. It’s not easy to construct a feature that could be seen as a series of sketches to some degree, and yet still do enough of the work with the characters and plotting to have things pay off as effectively as they do with this film (and that’s not even speaking to what the stoner audience may have to say).
Pointed critiquing aside, this movie is just funny. I laughed a lot throughout this film because of the sensibilities of all involved. Removing an inner logic shared by every scene in the film gives you a range of comedic material to work with, and it’s all grounded in what the leads are giving. Bits of absurdism are as fun as the number of one-liners that come up throughout. A head explosion gag goes so far that it comes around to being as funny as it ever needs to be by the time we finally get past it. Strange runners have payoffs that yield great comedic results. Perhaps there are a few shortcomings regarding the pace to some degree, but I still had a blast watching a film like this that had nearly everything on it.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Hulu.
