While the Toys are back in town on the big screen once again, here’s what else is going down. There are write-ups here for a horror film, a heist flick, a coming-of-age story, a couple of absurdist comedies, a female-driven thriller, a couple of character dramas, and a rom-com. The following features reviews for Leviticus, Tuner, Girls Like Girls, Never Change, Find Your Friends, Love’s Company, Miss You, Love You, Honeyjoon, and Office Romance.
Leviticus: 8 out of 10
The Setup: Two secretly gay teenagers (Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen) become tormented by a violent supernatural entity, summoned by their homophobic religious community, that takes the form of the person they desire most – each other.
Review: I have to say right now, this movie is pretty messed up in the way it gets under one’s skin. Working in the realm of queer horror and feeling like the creepy offspring of It Follows and The Witch, the premise alone was enough to intrigue me. Still, the delivery was about as wild to think about as it was to realize Mia Wasikowska is now old enough to play the mother of a teenager.
Writer/director Adrian Chiarella has found a pretty extreme way to comment on the efforts of religious conservatives to stifle the very existence of homosexuality. Taking the idea of “conversion therapy” and pushing it into the realm of horror allows for such an unsettling and cruel reality for this film to exist in, and the main actors affected by this really lock in on balancing what’s already a confusing and difficult time for them with something so much more vicious.
Perhaps not as visually stylish as the works of David Robert Mitchell or Robert Eggers, the movie still delivers on a level of intensity that speaks to what independent horror filmmaking can really nail with a solid enough premise and a script that supports it. All of this, plus the time still taken to make the violent portions effective enough to elicit the right reactions without feeling gratuitous. There may not be easy deliverance in this one, but it sure does deliver.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on June 19, 2026.
Tuner: 8 out of 10
The Setup: A talented piano tuner (Leo Woodall) with meticulous skills discovers an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.
Review: Here’s a fun one seemingly coming out of nowhere – a jazzy heist story about a young piano tuner that doubles as a romance and a thriller. It comes from director Daniel Roher, of all people, who made the Oscar-winning doc Navalny (along with this year’s The AI Doc). With the caveat that I suppose some of the plot elements come together somewhat conveniently, there’s really almost nothing out of sorts here that ever diminishes the entertainment value.
All of the pieces of this film work like a finely tuned piano. The initial setup is already fun, as we watch Niki (Woodall) and his mentor, Harry (a well-used Dustin Hoffman), show off their skills as bickering friends and tuners. This, in turn, leads to Niki’s interactions with a love interest, Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), who shares nice chemistry with him. Eventually, we meet Uri (Lior Raz) and his crew, who introduce Niki to a tempting life of crime. Even if one can see where some of this is going, the film plays it all light on its feet, has a great attitude, and actors who all seem game to feed into what’s being offered. As stated, this is all finely tuned to make for a joy of a clever film.
Where To Watch: Now playing in theaters.
Girls Like Girls: 7 out of 10
The Setup: After moving to a small Oregon town to live with her estranged father (Zach Braff), young Coley (Maya da Costa) meets the charismatic Sonya (Myra Molloy), her boyfriend, Trenton (Levon Hawke), and the rest of their friends. Content to observe from a distance, Coley gets pulled into their world as sparks start to fly between the new girl and the popular girl.
Review: A perfectly good summer-set coming-of-age story fit for Pride month (or any time of year). It’s well acted, sweet, melodramatic in the right ways when needed, and appropriately sensitive in the sort of realistic way that speaks to a story by director Hayley Kiyoko that I can only imagine is fairly true to life. Shot in British Columbia, it’s the way we watch two friends (one of which hoping for more out of this relationship) interact with their natural environment that breathes even more life into what’s presented.
The film is well shot and features a soundtrack driven by 2000s-era songs, along with a fitting score by Jessica Rose Weiss. With some areas left vague on purpose, this speaks to how teenagers can feel lost in a world pushed upon them, even as they believe they have found someone who understands them. Not relying on heavy cliches to move the story forward, even as we watch some drama unfold, this is the sort of film that shouldn’t be left alone due to an arbitrary rating, as it will easily connect with so many young adults trying to better understand themselves.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters June 19, 2026.
Never Change: 4 out of 10
The Setup: Former high school seniors reunite in their 30s to complete their education after a tornado abruptly ended their final year in 2005. As they return to the halls of North Meadows High, past relationships reignite and hidden truths surface.
Review: It’s a shame this comedy doesn’t come together better, as there’s plenty of opportunity to really watch this ascend to a level of chaotic absurdity akin to Wet Hot American Summer. Instead, with the ensemble cast all on different tracks, the whole thing comes off as unbalanced, often unfunny, and as if it’s much longer than it actually is. With this amount of funny people in the cast, there are some highlights, and I’m sure others may find favorite moments as well. Still, despite a pretty sound premise for a goofy comedy, I would need lots of change for this one to work.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Hulu.
Love’s Company: 6 out of 10
The Setup: Lonely Antoinette (Rachel Dratch) thinks she’s been saved from misery when her favorite Hollywood personality, Blake de Troy (Jack Plotnick), a washed-up, professional guest star, crashes in the Florida swamps near her home. But don’t meet (or kidnap) your idols.
Review: Now this is an absurd comedy I was happier to get behind. While not all of it comes together, there are flashes of greatness, and the central premise is killer – Misery, but as more of a dark comedy, filled with goofy characters. A performer like Dratch can make this work. The fact that director Jason Laurits finds enough room to balance her work with Plotnick and the rest of the proceedings goes a long way toward making this feel like a good time. Not that this is the sort of film full of twists and turns, but there is enough comedic mayhem on display for me to say I laughed a good amount and wouldn’t want to give up too much as far as what’s in store.
Where To Watch: Premiering at the Dances With Film Fest on June 19, 2026.
Find Your Friends: 2 out of 10
The Setup: Amber (Helena Howard) and her four best friends head to a desert town for some fun and sun, but an encounter with hostile locals soon turns their alcohol-fueled party into a violent struggle for control and survival.
Review: Coming maybe a decade too later to serve as the blend between Spring Breakers and I Spit on Your Grave that no one was asking for, it doesn’t provide me much pleasure to declare this the worst film I’ve seen so far this year. Director Izabel Pakzad is not wrong in wanting to communicate to audiences something concerning the power of friendship, the need to believe women, and the dangers of toxic masculinity, but it’s all in the execution, and rather than make a functional film that can detail this crazy journey, what we get is a mess.
All of the leads, save for Howard, rely on some form of bad improvised interactions with one another when they are not screaming at each other. The film’s style is aggressive in ways that may evoke the relatable feeling of girls constantly partying, but not enough to justify the constant disorientation. On top of that, the real threat that emerges becomes so over-the-top that one wishes there was any hint of satire on display as opposed to an attempt to keep things grounded. The results make the effort repellent to watch, let alone irritating to try and engage with, especially given how redundant it ends up being.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Shudder.
Miss You, Love You: 7 out of 10
The Setup: A blunt, grieving widow (Allison Janney) is forced to plan her husband’s funeral with a total stranger: her estranged son’s assistant (Andrew Rannells).
Review: Nice to see Jim Rash putting together an effective little drama. Relying on actors who have proven to be effective on stage and screen, it’s easy to see what would attract them to a project like this. Relatively small-scale, with each given plenty of conversational and argument scenes to relish the rhythms of while simultaneously having the chance to pull off extended monologues, there’s certainly a lot of theater energy here. Perhaps that would have helped this story come in for a landing sooner than just over 90 minutes. Granted, the acting is great, and the way the story reveals itself is handled well enough. I just don’t know if the minimalist approach allowed for the best way to tell this story cinematically.
Being an HBO Max original, I do suppose it makes more sense for this story to play out on premium cable and not have to worry as much were it to go theatrical. Perhaps this is too specific an issue to dig into. Still, the whole thing does feel stagey, which doesn’t necessarily detract from the power of the story on display, with its themes of family, sexuality, etc. Still, as a two-hander built on dramatic and awkward energy, it works well enough.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on HBO Max.
Honeyjoon: 7 out of 10
The Setup: Persian Lela (Amira Casar) and her sensual daughter June (Ayden Mayeri) take a trip to the romantic Azores after loss, with opposite ideas about how to grieve, how to live, and tiny bikinis. A charming philosophical guide (Jose Condessa) helps them find each other as they come back to life.
Review: With the understanding that there’s something deeper at the core of this story, I really liked this film as a solid mother-daughter movie that balances the little things, both to irritate each other with the stuff that ultimately speaks to why there’s always going to be love there. Director Lilian T. Mehrel deserves credit for underplaying the film’s beauty while still doing a fine job of capturing the Azorean island. Both the environment and the way she captures the actors allow for a level of beauty that is unlike what a typical mainstream film would. On top of this, I liked the hangout vibe of the movie, which didn’t let me easily take in a clear understanding of where everything was headed. Instead, it’s all more naturalistic, in a way that’s also inviting and enjoyable.
Where To Watch: Now playing in select theaters.
Office Romance: 6 out of 10
The Setup: Jackie (Jennifer Lopez), President and CEO of Air Cruz, runs a tight ship, including a rigid anti-fraternization policy for all her employees. When a strait-laced yet appealing new lawyer (Brett Goldstein) begins working for her, that policy is well tested.
Review: Lopez’s run on Netflix has not been the best, but I was quite pleased with how much smiling I was doing while watching this silly rom-com. Now, perhaps it’s the R-rating and some of Goldstein’s sensibilities as a writer that allowed me to see a bit more freedom in what was on display, the type of dialogue exchanges being had, and a pretty funny roster of supporting actors that all helped in this regard. Still, I had a good time with this movie nonetheless.
Goldstein and Lopez show good chemistry. The dramatic angles actually make a good level of sense. There are running jokes I was pleased by. Even the romantic aspect manages to be somewhat sensual without being comedic. By no means will I have strong feelings about this film later down the road, beyond saying it’s good enough for Netflix, but that really is what it is. The film delivers on what it sets out to do, making it an easy pick for a streamer.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Netflix.
