ginocox-206-336968

Trap House (2025) is part police action and part teenage fantasy fulfillment. As such, neither genre is fully realized. The mystery isn't too mysterious, although there is an unexpected plot twist, and kudos to the filmmakers for casting an attractive actress as the love interest, when many films cast soccer moms. Action and Dave Bautista fans may find the film gets annoyingly schmaltzy at times and the central group of teenagers seems so unrealistically diverse that one character remarks that they seem unlikely friends.

It's unlikely to make any top-ten lists, but it's passable entertainment with a few decent scenes, suitable for multitasking. Dave Bautista seems to be developing his acting skills. Bobby Cannavale delivers a credible performance as the sidekick. The cast includes a femme fatale who actually looks the part, but her role isn't well developed, possibly due to the age of the actress. The plot demands an unusually high suspension of disbelief.

Relay (2024) is about 30% leftwing propaganda, 20% how-to manual for covert anti-establishment radicals, and 50% muddled thriller. Production values are adequate for a low-budget film. A potentially intriguing third-act reversal is clumsily executed, followed by a decent action sequence, but ruined by a deux ex machina resolution. Performances are limited by a weak script and an apparent effort to prioritize social consciousness and diversity over dramatic ability in the casting.

The film lacks passion, sensuality, humor, and beauty. Between indifferent direction, weak writing, and rampant miscasting, it is difficult to pinpoint the film's flaws. None of the characters is particularly likeable or despicable, and it isn't clear who is on the side of the angels. Riz Ahmed portrays a handler for a secret organization that facilitates and enables whistle-blowers who get cold feet to return incriminating evidence to the evil corporations that are prepared to dispatch teams of pathological mercenaries to enforce nondisclosure agreements with extreme prejudice. Lily James portrays a whistle-blower who develops cold feet after some shadowy evil corporation's henchmen set her car aflame.

The premise is evocative of Eraser (1996) with Arnold Schwarzenegger playing guardian angel to Vanessa Williams. But rather than a hunky action star defending a sexy babe, Relay offers a nerdish geek insisting he is not a bodyguard to a somewhat frumpy and indecisive chick-flick protagonist. Sam Worthington and Willa Fitzgerald, who would have been cast as the protagonist and sidekick had the movie been made in the 1970s, are the primary villains.

As with many recent productions, the film seems more concerned with avoiding potentially controversial content than with entertaining fans of thrillers. The cast is noticeably diverse to a fault. The only vaguely romantic attraction is cross-cultural and decidedly unrequited. There is no nudity, implied, actual, or off-camera; and no physical affection. There are no gunfights and little action until late in the third act, and even then, nobody gets shot. The premise seems implausible and hugely flawed. A group of do-gooders with clandestine surveillance capabilities that rival those of the CIA, help evil multinational corporations squash efforts by whistle blowers to reveal corporate misdeeds, while extorting hush money from the corporation, and ensuring the safety of the whistle blowers who don't blow whistles. Somehow the target audience is expected to approve of corporations paying hush money and dispatching teams of mercenaries to harass, intimidate, kidnap, and possibly murder former employees.

Icefall (2025) is fairly engaging as a low-budget DTV production. It starts off strong with a kinetic opening sequence, but slows and becomes more focused on social relevance, before ramping up for a decent climax and an affecting denouement. The action, chase, and pyrotechnics are economical, but well done. The cast is relatively small, but credible in their roles. Danny Huston plays the smarmy villain he's played in other productions. Joel Kinnaman, Cara Jade Myers, and the others deliver credible performances. Shot in Bulgaria, but set in some frozen wasteland that looks like Alaska, but has Rock County police cars, much of the film looks like it was shot on a sound stage. Nobody's breath is frozen by the cold. The plot reversals seem a bit exaggerated and a plot device involving animal traps is overused. Efforts to add dimension to the characters don't seem integral to the plot. Despite its faults and limitations, it is an enjoyable film.