While theaters are attempting to challenge the webslinger with dinosaurs, other films are also on the table. The write-ups here include a neo-Western, a few wacky comedies, a gory horror movie, a sci-fi drama, and a robo thriller. The following features reviews for The Rivals of Amziah King, The Wrong Girls, Nimrods, Super Troopers 3, Ice Cream Man, Her Private Hell, and Soulm8te.
The Rivals of Aziah King: 9 out of 10
The Setup: Amaziah King (Matthew McConaughey) is the unofficial mayor of his rural Oklahoma community. Southern charm personified, he works as an apiarist but spends his spare time jamming out bluegrass tunes with his ragtag group of buddies and hosting potluck lunches. When his former foster daughter, Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass), suddenly reappears in his life, Amaziah seizes the opportunity to reconnect; but his plans to teach her his trade hit a roadblock when his beekeeping rivals put the family business at risk.
Review: Director Andrew Patterson delivered something special with his ultra-low-fi but effective sci-fi mystery debut, The Vast of Night. His sophomore effort has a bigger budget and true-blue movie stars, and yet it feels like he’s still pulling off the same sort of magic. From frame one, there’s something special about the way this neo-Western/heist/thriller/coming-of-age story can put so many different pieces together and work at being as likable and unpredictable as it is. This film is entirely different from Patterson’s first effort. It makes me excited to have no idea what he plans to do next, yet confident it’ll be another feature that is, at the very least, unique and interesting.
As it stands, McConaughey’s embodiment of Amziah is terrific. This is some of his best work as an actor, and maybe the film that’s allowed him to shine in the purest way since Mud. Whatever the case, he invites all viewers in to go along on this twisty journey that eventually pairs him up with newcomer LookingGlass. She too is great here, in a film that really needs us to believe in several relationships, the cost of running the sort of business Amziah has, and what that ultimately has to say about how one chooses to live their life. I am enamored with this film, as it’s easily one of the best of the year, and it does so while always feeling like a comfortable movie to watch.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on August 14, 2026.
The Wrong Girls: 7 out of 10
The Setup: Two codependent best friends (Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat) living paycheck to paycheck and bong rip to bong rip get caught in a case of mistaken identity that throws their lives into chaos.
Review: This is one of at least two films this week that could be considered a stoner comedy, and while that’s not an area I personally explore explicitly, I can say they function just as any other comedy or otherwise should. That value generally stems (intended) from a sort of sweetness found in the bond of the friends who happen to be stoners that inadvertently end up on some sort of adventure. This is exactly what takes place here, as the joy comes not only from the absurdist plotting and the ensemble supporting cast, but also from how well the buddy aspect plays out.
Structured somewhat similarly to films like Pineapple Express or Beavis and Butthead Do America, but with the budget of a Kevin Smith film, and starring women in the lead roles, writer/director Dylan Meyer gets plenty of mileage out of the fun chemistry shared by Stewart and Shawkat. It’s been a minute since I’ve seen such a fun use of the mistaken identity plot in a comedy, and this is a movie that really knows how to commit to its level of nonsense. Not hurting is the major specificity in the things both ladies are interested in, let alone the sense of place. Perhaps a bit thin, but still, plenty of fun in a punk rock sort of way.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on August 14, 2026.
Nimrods: 7 out of 10
The Setup: When Tommy (Mason Thames) receives a phone call inviting his band to open for Green Day on New Year’s Eve, he doesn’t realize it’s an elaborate prank by his older brother, Wayne (Keen Ruffalo). Desperate to believe his life is about to change, Tommy steals Wayne’s car and sets out with his band from Kansas City to Los Angeles, hell-bent on getting there in three days. What follows is a rowdy and uproarious road trip across America, inspired by Green Day’s early days of touring in a van, years before the release of their breakout record Dookie.
Review: This is the sort of comedy premise that can wear thin if handled poorly or work quite well if it maintains the right balance of sincerity and hijinks. The coming-of-age road comedy most closely recalls films like Stand by Me. Still, this particular film fits better with efforts like I Wanna Hold Your Hand or Detroit Rock City. Honestly, the plot is basically Fanboys, but with an emphasis on Green Day instead of Star Wars (and it’s also not godawful). Whatever the case, this is all a way of saying there’s a lot of endearing fun that comes for the age group intended, and works as the kind of teen comedy that we should be seeing more of – one with a sense of nostalgia for something (in this case the band Green Day), but without having to literally trap it back in time to achieve its goal.
Nimrods is a modern-day film that doesn’t shy away from trying to feel that way. Because of that choice, the film can more explicitly root itself in the various characters and other aspects that don’t require tripping over period details. Scored largely to Green Day songs and featuring a variety of cameos and supporting roles, the film is anchored by the three teens on this journey, with particular strength from Thames. And not for nothing, but his former co-star from Regretting You and real-life girlfriend Mckenna Grace share very solid chemistry in their scenes. While the film is pretty reliant on wish fulfillment somewhat rooted in white privilege (a different topic to consider elsewhere), it ultimately works thanks to the likability and dependable writing/direction from Lee Kirk.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on August 14, 2026.
Super Troopers 3: 6 out of 10
The Setup: When Farva’s (Kevin Heffernan) wildly over-the-top Indian engagement to Thorny’s sister (Hannah Simone) spirals into chaos, the Super Troopers must navigate Thorny’s (director Jay Chandrasekhar) schemes to break up the relationship, while trying to crack a pernicious new drug ring — all to save the day and maybe the wedding itself.
Review: It’s really hard to get a read on what fans of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe want. The common thread is that they all love the original Super Troopers. I personally quite enjoy Club Dread, while many others really like Beerfest. Tacoma F.D. was a consistently funny sitcom, but their other cinematic efforts haven’t really hit big. A partially crowd-funded return to Super Troopers felt like it barely registered, despite being profitable. So, would a third really have much of a chance?
As it turns out – it did. While I don’t see this one ascending to the status of cult comedy fav like the original, compared to the first sequel that felt like it was both pandering and riding too hard on the goodwill of the first, this third entry simply wants to exist as a standalone comedy that happens to feature this cast returning to some of their old characters. As a result, I found it to be consistently amusing, with enough generally hilarious moments to make for a good time. That’s all the Broken Lizard crew really seem to be asking for, and while it’s somewhat funny to think that all of these guys are now older than co-star Brian Cox was in the original, I’d still be on board for them to continue with these shenanigans if their heart remains in it.
Where To Watch: Now playing in theaters.
Ice Cream Man: 2 out of 10
The Setup: An idyllic summer town descends into madness when an ice cream man (Ari Millen) serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results.
Review: Playing as a sort of gross amalgamation of a variety of currently popular things in horror, such as Art the Clown from the Terrifier series and Weapons, Eli Roth’s first feature as a part of his new independent horror label, The Horror Section, spectacularly fails at doing anything all that interesting. It’s also curiously empty of any real meaning beyond perhaps some surface-level ideas. Even when Roth isn’t working at his best (which is often), he seems to at least get how to tap into some social ideas…even if by accident. The Ice Cream Man can’t even hit that mark.
What’s here, instead, is a horror movie that peaks incredibly early as far as seeing the kind of carnage it intends to deliver. With no real suspense, we just watch scene after scene of the same basic thing – kids turning evil and gruesomely murdering the adults around them. The gore is too over-the-top to have any real visceral impact, and the ice-cream-colored visuals also rob the film of any real strength as a hard-core horror film. The attempts at dark humor all fail, and none of the actors ever register in a way that makes me hope to see more of them in the future, including the poor ice cream man. This one melted before it ever got close to being served.
Where To Watch: Now playing in theaters.
Her Private Hell: 5 out of 10
The Setup: When a mysterious mist engulfs a futuristic metropolis, unleashing a deadly and elusive entity, a troubled young woman (Sophie Thatcher) searches for her father. Her quest collides with an American GI (Charles Melton) on a harrowing odyssey to rescue his daughter from Hell.
Review: It feels like a lot of criticism aimed at director Nicolas Winding Refn and his latest film, which suffers from a lack of coherency and prioritizes style over substance. The latter part is understandable, but I wouldn’t think what’s taking place is all that hard to understand for anyone paying attention. This doesn’t mean the film works either, but I wouldn’t write off Refn, largely because there’s at least a clear ambition in engaging with his features. The main issue I have, however, is that the guy needs to get past trying to be David Lynch, or Dario Argento, or Brian De Palma.
Not everyone can somehow cram all of their reference points into a blender and come out with consistently great features like Tarantino. Her Private Hell is a perfect example of how wanting to be so in line with the filmmaker’s preferences just doesn’t automatically work. Yes, the film uses color, camera angles, practical visual effects, and more effectively, but it also often feels like a chore to watch, with a deadening pace that isn’t enlivened by its music or other aesthetics. That’s why it’s hard to even take this in as a “vibes” film, because those at least want you to ride with it in a somewhat entertaining way. This movie literally wants us to journey to Hell and back, and, well, it feels like it.
Where To Watch: Now playing in theaters.
Soulm8te: 3 out of 10
The Setup: A man (David Rysdahl) acquires an artificially intelligent android (Lily Sullivan) to cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. In an attempt to create a truly sentient partner, he inadvertently turns a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate.
Review: Originally conceived as a spin-off from the M3GAN series, the concept there is pretty simple. Rather than having a child’s android doll that becomes too obsessed with its objective, let’s instead turn that into an erotic thriller. There’s a way to make that work, and we’ve certainly had plenty of sci-fi films that allow for some form of eroticism to become part of the experience. This film, however, plays all of its cards way too early, and doesn’t know how to have fun with its silliness.
Dropped directly to streaming, one could argue it’s because M3GAN 2.0 failed to launch, but that seems more like an excuse to not call this movie what it is – unwanted cyber garbage. Universal clearly wasn’t fond of the film, and they dumped it. It’s easy to see why. No matter how well Sullivan can act as a sex robot with killer instincts, director Kate Dolan never makes her or the idiot humans around her distinctly fun. M3GAN at least had a clear personality that people responded to. Sara the sexbot is nowhere close to having their own viral video or Halloween costume line. There was certainly little hope this movie would capture any sort of magic or feel like it wasn’t given a fair chance, but that’s just not the case. There’s no malfunction here; it needed to be returned to its initial programming.
Where To Watch: Now available on digital and VOD.
