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Not only is this the best movie of 2025 so far, but this is one of the best, most inventive, most original films of this decade.

Ryan Coogler is establishing himself as a can't-miss director, and as one critic recently put it, this film is his masterpiece.

The screenplay, direction, cinematography, music, acting...it all blends into a clear, concise, transformative vision of 1930s Southern Black culture, featuring references to blues, hoodoo, and the preeminent vampire flicks of the 90s (From Dusk Til Dawn springs to mind in particular).

It's bloody. It's romantic. It's funny. It's chilling.

It will stick with you long after the credits roll. (Make sure to stay for the post-credit scenes!)

Utterly brilliant.

Anna Kendrick's directorial debut is an absolute TRIUMPH.

Based on true events, this is the story of Cheryl (Kendrick), a struggling actress who gets booked on a hit 70s TV bachelor show and ends up choosing Rodney Alcala, unaware that, despite his intelligence and charm, he is actually a serial k*ller who preys on vulnerable women (and men) and slaughters them.

Anna Kendrick's performance as Cheryl is the finest of her career. She displays a wide range of emotions quite convincingly, so much so that we share in her ultimate realization about Rodney and the feelings of terror that follow. Her direction is as much, if not more, of a revelation. Behind the camera, she tells a direct, cohesive visual story that alternates between suspense and humor aptly. Ian McDonald's screenplay is top notch, and the writing and direction compliment each other well.

Daniel Zovatto is so utterly convincing as the brutal, cold-blood Rodney that his performance chills to the bone. This could be an award-winning role for him.

Every character is memorable. Every line delivers. The hour and a half runtime flew by.

It all draws to a sinister close, featuring a crawl detailing Alcala's litany of brutal murders over the course of a decade.

Everything about this movie works. One of the best movies of 2024.

SYNOPSIS: A young couple, Jim and Kat, try to find each other as the city around them erupts with a plague that turns everyone into bloodthirsty, murderous sadists.

You don't need to know anything else, except that you're about to see something that will SHOCK the pants off of you.

I firmly believe that gore is not only essential to the telling of many stories, but that it can be a vital, practical tool to place us, the audience, in the same state of shock and fear that the characters onscreen face. That being said, I have NEVER in my LIFE seen a movie this casually gory. I spent the majority of the movie gasping and holding my hands to my mouth in pure terror. (This is all complimentary.)

The acting is excellent, the effects are 99.9% practical, which is incredibly impressive, and the pacing never lets up for even a MOMENT, making this one of the most exciting, depraved zombie/pandemic movies ever made.

A modern-day classic. I'll have nightmares for weeks.