Magic & Crime (2025)

Ever since the mid-’90s, the Mortal Kombat game franchise has seen multiple attempts to make it on the big screen, or at least adapted into other media.

I write for a diversity-focused film review blog, so I’ll be honest: I really wanted to like Pretty Lethal. Starring Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow, Avantika, and Millicent Simmonds, Amazon Prime’s new thriller seemed like it would be a girl power movie about dancers with a horror action twist. Sort of a Suspiria for teens. But with shallow and unlikeable characters, a confusing plot, an overreliance on violence, and cringey dialogue, any fun the movie started out with was quickly lost. What was left was a faint echo of greater horror movies about dancers made before. 

The film, which focuses on an Argentinian family during an intimate birthday dinner, efficiently captures the eccentricities of each character as well as the nuances of their interpersonal dynamics. 

If you’ve been itching for a sign to finally go on that unforgettable summer camping trip, this is it.

'The Patient' is bound by four walls and a mediocre ending that leaves you wanting more.

A haunting look at grief, survival, and a mother’s quiet collapse in a world that never gave her room to fall.