This week, plenty of bad and good guys are trying to do what’s right on the big screen. That said, as usual, don’t sweat the small stuff either. This set of write-ups includes a kid-friendly monster movie, a body horror flick, a comedy legacy sequel, an action movie, a psychological horror film, and a sci-fi horror comedy. The following features reviews for Sketch, Together, Happy Gilmore 2, Trouble Man, The Home, and Ick.
Sketch: 8 out of 10
The Setup: A widowed father (Tony Hale) of two is struggling to help his children Jack (Kue Lawrence) and Amber (Bianca Belle) come to terms with the death of their mother; however, one day the sketch book in which Amber has been drawing visual representations of her grief accidentally gets dropped in a magical pool, resulting in the neighborhood becoming terrorized by strange monsters made of crayon wax and chalk dust.
Review: I am not saying movies should be designed to scare children. However, I am a fan of films like Sketch that know it’s okay to be a little scary, along with being fun, inventive, and full of unique kinds of adventure. Writer/director Seth Worley has taken what must be fond memories of the 80s/90s Amblin-era of adventure films for older kids (Goonies, Gremlins, Jurassic Park) and delivered his own loving homage that serves as one of the stronger stories of its kind to tackle grief. That comes by way of confidence in the material, not condescending to the audience, and matching the emotional material with terrific visuals, especially for an independent film that’s been picked up by Angel Studios.
There’s so much delight in this film, with much of it coming from strong kid acting. Belle is quite good here, having the right kind of attitude of a child coming to an understanding with her emotional positioning over the loss of her mother. Matching that well is Hale, also a producer on the film, who goes deeper than we’ve typically seen, as a widower and father trying to do what he thinks his best. Solid support from D’Arcy Carden as his sister only helps matters further.
All of that in mind, yes, this is a wild monster movie featuring fantasy creatures that look like kids’ drawings come to life. The fact that this is both enjoyable to see and, at times, threatening speaks to the effectiveness of the work done to make this happen. With only so many live-action films that speak directly to this young adult/young teen age group, it’s an absolute joy to see a movie that nails what’s needed to hit on all levels, let alone one inspired by some crazy sketches.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on August 6, 2025.
Together: 8 out of 10
The Setup: Years into their relationship, Tim and Millie (Dave Franco and Alison Brie) find themselves at a crossroads as they move to the country, abandoning all that is familiar in their lives except each other. With tensions already flaring, a nightmarish encounter with a mysterious, unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and their flesh.
Review: It will be interesting to note not only how many couples end up seeing this film together, but also the number that walk away believing the film to be quite relatable. This directorial debut of writer/director Michael Shanks dives into the gross side of things, particularly in the physical depiction of a supernatural force that bonds two people together. With that in mind, having this idea serve as the representation of the way co-dependency can affect a relationship allows the clever scripting to provide enough meaning and weight to the issues presented. As a result, this is a gnarly little movie that gets excellent mileage out of the key casting choices of real-life couple Brie and Franco.
Both are game to play into specific types, with conversations about their status as a couple that feel all too real. This is the sort of film that could work even if one were to drop the genre element, which always speaks well to the quality of the writing. That said, I appreciate that we, as the audience, are allowed to know just enough, but not too much, as far as how ahead of certain characters we are at certain times.
As far as the gore of it all goes, while there are some tense and bloody moments, the film does know how to hold back and lean more on the dark comedy of it all, as opposed to the severity (the Philippou brothers, on the other hand, for example, have less restraint on the mind). That’s not a knock on the film, but just an observation that speaks to what Together is after, which is something not quite unsettling, depending on the angle of entry.
Where To Watch: Now playing in theaters.
Happy Gilmore 2: 4 out of 10
The Setup: Following some unfortunate setbacks, causing him to retire from golf, Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) returns to the sport to finance his daughter’s ballet classes.
Review: It’s one thing just for Adam Sandler’s latest Netflix comedy to be bad, but it’s another when it feels annoyingly so. As it stands, there’s an almost passable first hour that has to step over two major plot points that rubbed me the wrong way, only to find an agreeable enough groove rooted in Happy Madison-type humor that is fine. However, the latter portion of this film fails to develop, so the jokes start to lose their impact, the constant cameos become less enjoyable, and the entire plot involving an extreme version of golf becomes intensely grating.
Here’s the thing – I love 1996’s Happy Gilmore. It’s my favorite Sandler comedy back from before he was a streaming movie star. What I can tell about this movie is that many others love it too, and the choice was made to deliver a film that feels more like an ode to the fans than an attempt to provide something truly special. Sure, it has an open-heartedness about itself. Sandler appears to be giving a real performance of a guy who knows he’s not the smartest, but also lets alcohol get in the way of how he can deal with crucial problems in his life. That’s all well and good. However, as a madcap sports comedy, there were a lot more bogies, and worse, this time around.
It’s not for a lack of trying, because dammit if I don’t laugh at anything Steve Buscemi does whenever he randomly pops up in a movie with his friend the Sandman. Christopher McDonald’s return as Shooter McGavin was also welcome, with a notable tinge of respect and empathy afforded to the character. And perhaps most notably, this movie is highly invested in actual golf, with numerous appearances by real golfers, male and female, and many story beats that rely on the game. All of that said, I wish it were funnier. Kyle Newacheck’s direction is so incredibly lackluster that I pine for the days of Dennis Dugan (who was still game enough to reprise his role from the first film, not unlike nearly everyone else who is still alive).
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Netflix.
Trouble Man: 6 out of 10
The Setup: Jaxen (Michael Jai White), a former cop turned Atlanta PI, is hired to find missing R&B star Jahari (La La Anthony). His investigation uncovers that her disappearance is connected to a larger conspiracy, forcing him to question those around him and his own past.
Review: I’ve made it clear in the past that I really like what Michael Jai White brings to movies, especially now, as he seems to understand how to lean into what works about him physically and in terms of his comedic charisma. He doesn’t so much try hard as he just emotes in a manner that can result in a smile, even as he lays down some badass fight moves to prove a point. All of that is to say that Trouble Man may have been put together with a shoestring budget, but serving as director of the film, Jai White clearly knows how to make sure the levels of fun outdo the film’s cheapness. Not hurting is the solid line-up of supporting players, including Anthony, Method Man, Mike Epps, and Orland Jones. Serving as modern blaxploitation, I can’t say the film is doing anything as revolutionary as those urban classics. Still, it does well enough at keeping up a sort of tradition.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters and on digital August 1, 2025.
The Home: 3 out of 10
The Setup: A rebellious twentysomething (Pete Davidson) is sentenced to community service at a quiet retirement home. The residents on the fourth floor are strictly off-limits, said to require “special care.” As his suspicions grow and he digs deeper, he uncovers a chilling secret that puts both the residents’ lives and his own in grave danger.
Review: I get the idea of wanting to make horror movies centered around the idea of elderly people who act in peculiar ways, and how that can mess with one’s psyche, but this film is a mess. Director James DeMonaco has little care for establishing any sense of normalcy in this film, as we arrive with everything already so amped up. That means there’s little room for us to appreciate whatever Davidson is trying to do, which is a shame, as I do think the character he plays is pretty fitting for the young comedian’s abilities as an actor.
With that in mind, it’s hard not to think Davidson more or less wanted a part like this so he could insist on having fun in ways that reference other superior movies, understanding that he’d likely never have the chance to do so again. So we get a blood-soaked Davidson re-enacting the hallway fight in Oldboy, having teeth pulled out like in Marathon Man, and dealing with paranoia as if he’s on his own Shutter Island. That could be all well and good, but the execution of everything felt so lackluster, let alone ugly, making this more of a tough sit than anything.
Where To Watch: Now playing in theaters.
Ick: 6 out of 10
The Setup: For almost two decades, a viscous vine-like growth known colloquially as “The Ick” has benignly crept into every nook and cranny of American life while the residents of small-town Eastbrook remain blasé about its existence. The exceptions are former high school football star-turned-hapless science teacher Hank (Brandon Routh) and his sardonically perceptive student Grace (Malina Weissman), who are thrown together by Grace’s mom Staci’s (Mena Suvari) closely-guarded secret and a mutual suspicion that the Ick is about to unleash some monstrous mayhem.
Review: While I remain intrigued by the fact that we are just now getting a film featuring a former Superman that has the basis of a storyline that doesn’t feel too far off from James Gunn’s Slither, I was excited nonetheless to see what director/co-writer Joseph Kahn had in store with Ick. Here’s a filmmaker who very much likes to play around with kineticism when it comes to his shooting style, and fixates on sarcastic and sometimes witty dialogue to depict characters as the ridiculous types of people they can be. Rooting it all in 2000s music culture also means getting a pop-punk heavy soundtrack that will undoubtedly create an appeal for a specific audience. But is any of this effective?
I was certainly curious what this was going to amount to at first. An early attack sequence highlighted a level of scale that felt impressive for a moderately budgeted horror flick. Later on, Debra Wilson comes in for a brief cameo detailing circumstances in a manner clearly referencing how some of America responded to the COVID-19 lockdown. It’s a highlight section of the film, primarily because it puts some meat on the bones of what we were seeing. That said, for a brisk 90-minute movie, it does feel like Ick finds itself spinning its wheels a bit too often, once we are stuck knowing that only a few of these characters truly matter and that the film has little else to offer by way of social commentary or more interesting themes. Still, there’s enough ick in Ick to make it suitably horrific in fun enough ways, and I really do enjoy seeing Routh get time to shine as a lead character.
Where To Watch: Now playing in select theaters.
