Leave the World Behind (2023)

A New York family takes an impromptu getaway to a beach house AirBnB. They almost immediately lose phone and internet signals, then witness the confusing beaching of a oil tanker. It's not until the home's owner and his adult daughter show up late at night that they're told about chaos and blackouts in the city. Together, these two families must face a new reality, without even being sure that they can trust each other.

I liked the surface premise: how would you handle the "owners" showing up at your rental requesting shelter? Could you trust their news of what's going on elsewhere when you have no way to verify? But the weirdly written women almost derailed it. Why did the owner's daughter have such a big chip on her shoulder? And why was the vacationing matriarch treated as paranoid just because she didn't want to let strangers into a home with her children? The script obviously wanted us to think about race relations (the vacationers are white while the owners are black), but I just read it as a ridiculous distraction. I also think I would've enjoyed the ambiguity being explored a bit more: leave out the tanker and let it be a real question mark if the visitors are on the level.

In short: it made me think, but mostly about ways this could've been a lot more intriguing.

B-

Cuckoo (2024)

Gretchen's mother has died, which means the teen is moving from her home in the states to live with her father Luis, his wife, and their daughter. This new family is in the middle of relocating to the German Alps -- a fresh start for everyone! Their host owns a resort and has contracted with Luis to design a building, so he's a constant presence in their lives. He's especially nervous about anyone being out alone after dark. So... something's going on, right?

Yep. Something about impregnating people as hosts for a species that would die out otherwise. But I'm not sure why anyone is anxious to keep the species going since "weird screamy noises that kind of bend reality" seems to be its one skill.

Hunter Schafer as Gretchen is what makes this movie almost work. I'd not seen her before and found her absolutely mesmerizing.

C

False Positive (2021)

After trying to get pregnant for a couple of years, Lucy and doctor husband Adrian decide to reach out to Dr. Hindle, a mentor of his who has had great success in the fertility field. Lucy is almost immediately pregnant with triplets and faced with a "selective reduction" choice to ensure success: either terminate the female or the two boys (who share a sac). Though it's against the doctor's recommendation, the couple decides to move forward with the female.

And then things get silly. It felt like a dumb Rosemary's Baby -- everyone, including Adrian, has an agenda to which Lucy isn't privy. She joins a mommy group and makes a friend (or does she?), gets obsessed with a magical negro midwife (or does she?), gets passed over to run a project she landed at work, finds proof that she's under surveillance (or is she?) and imagines that her husband and Hindle are having a torrid affair (eh... probably not). There's a weirdly Stepfordish nurse who is both the chipper "You've got this" support for Lucy as well as a menacing presence who isn't above coming to Lucy's workplace. Is it "mommy brain" as is suggested on repeat or something more nefarious?

Felt like a waste of time. This has all been handled better in other films. And the "payoff" here is both a letdown and a huge dose of wtf.

D+

Kind Lady (1951)

Mrs. Herries, a rich woman with a tender heart, takes an interest in struggling artist Henry Elcott. When his wife collapses outside of Mrs. Herries's home, she is immediately invited to convalesce in one of the spare rooms. And that's all Elcott needs to make himself at home and for Mrs. Herries to understand the dangerous situation she's now in.

The tone of the film is perfect: at first it feels like it might be a heartwarming Christmas film. Everything's right in this woman's world -- she's loved and respected. But, once it's suggested that her mind is no longer her own? Arguments or screams to the contrary just seem to prove the allegation all the more. Even those who knew her well can only shake their head in sad acceptance. Nasty little story, but it's well-told and got to me.

B-

House (1977)

Its bizarre factor makes it tempting to give this a higher grade than it deserves. But, since it could've easily been made by a few of 8th graders with a camera and buckets of technicolor fake blood, I won't pretend.

After a group of girls have their holiday plans fall through, Gorgeous offers her auntie's house as an option. See, she's upset that her father is remarrying -- never mind that she's only met her aunt once when she was a child -- and wants to get away. The friends' names are a little bit of ridiculousness of their own: Gorgeous (she's pretty!), Fantasy (she daydreams!), Prof (she wears glasses!), Melody (she likes music!), Kung Fu (she's sporty!), Mac (she likes to eat and everyone keeps pretending she's fat but she's really NOT!), and Sweet (she's... sweet, I guess). Welp, Auntie says to come on ahead and so they do.

The Aunt has apparently turned evil because her boyfriend didn't return from the war like he promised he would decades before. Her house and cat are also evil. Together (but mostly the house), they take down the girls one by one because eating unmarried girls is their passion. I don't know. It's so aggressively mad I can't even beLIEVE that a movie this fantastically insane exists. I mean wowza.

F