KILLERS (2021)

At first glance, “The Good Liar” is a respectable piece of fiction, starring Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren. But underneath everything, the film expertly hones the unpredictability of deceit.

These confines won’t really encourage you to read the film as a metaphor for the nerve-inducing experience we’ve all been through over the last year, however — and in the interest of maintaining your dignity, you probably shouldn’t. While the sociopolitical commentary may have worked for the similarly-themed Buried (2010), in which we find Ryan Reynolds on his own buried alive in the Middle East, but this futuristic take on the premise is best left as a piece of distracting entertainment. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is no less suffocating, literally and dramatically.

Shudder’s Host (not a particularly original title, I must say) attempts to bring the spooks to “the quarantine generation” by presenting us with a scary Zoom call during lockdown.

Gretel & Hansel falters due to its razor thin story and lack of characterization. It loses sight of horror’s key rule: In order to create an effective tale, characters and emotions must be emphasized.

Never Have I Ever season 3 is charming and hilarious as it has been in past seasons and still sports a diverse ensemble cast. However, the show doesn’t always treat its marginalized characters that well.