Slice of Strife: The Wailing (2025) Review

Director: Pedro Martín Calero

Notable Cast: Ester Expósito, Mathilde Ollivier, Malena Villa, Claudia Roset, José Luis Ferrer, Lia Lois, Sonia Almarcha, Tomás del Estal, Lautaro Bettoni, Alex Monner

 

The entire arthouse horror aspect of pairing "haunting" and "trauma" has now become a staple of the genre, but The Wailing approaches it in a fascinating way. The film essentially tells its tale through three women through two different time frames. It's a slow-burn narrative that focuses on how this haunting builds from the mundane to the manic, and on not being up front with its terrors, but seeding them under the skin and in the folds of the brain. Sure, it’s the kind of horror film that seems fairly par-for-the-course now in a post-A24 era, but don’t sell The Wailling short - it has a voice, and it's executed impressively. 

 

The Wailing is a film that might be compared to other haunting/trauma films, like the socio-hauntings of It Follows or the technological horrors of The Ring, but it wholly wants to present itself as a slice-of-life film. It just happens to feature various characters who are terrorized by an unseen horror that creeps up through an outside lens (in this case, the camera), thereby highlighting the technological aspect that was so prevalent in late 90s and early 00s J-horror. However, the film certainly takes its time with each of its characters as they go about their lives, and with how each one eventually succumbs to the horror of this ‘curse’ passed down to them. The process of getting there may be fairly mundane to some, with its incredibly meticulous pacing and seemingly meandering character beats, but it all fits with the complexity of its themes and the humanity that is tragically lost as the horror grows closer. 

 

Peril at Sea: Rescue at Dongji (2026) Review

Directors: Fei Zhenxiang, Guan Hu

Notable Cast: Zhu Yilong, Leo Wu, Ni Ni, Yang Haoyu, Chen Minghao, Ni Dahong, William Franklyn-Miller, Li Jiuxiao, Wang Yiquan, Kevin Lee

 

Living in the shadow of Hollywood, the big war story blockbuster is essentially its own genre. Although Chinese cinema handily receives the “jingoistic” label more often than not, let’s be up front and honest here - they learned how to do it from Hollywood. And judging from Rescue at Dongji, they’ve taken the classic war-film elements, given them a Chinese cinematic twist, and let them rip. Rescue at Dongji is a bombastic flick, layered with incredible performances, white-knuckle action, and a heartfelt narrative that speaks universally. While it certainly feels like it owes much of its success to lessons learned from previous films, it does so in a way that makes it feel fresh, and that’s ultimately what matters. 

 

Part of what makes Rescue at Dongji (sometimes noted as Dongji Rescue) so fresh is that it strikes a balance between the rousing heroics and the war's innate brutality, which these films so often miss. Its narrative is certainly centered on the village's heroics. The focus remains on two brothers, played by Zhu Yilong and Leo Wu - outcasts even on the island they were raised on, adopted by a local fishing family, and their relationship with each other and the life they live in the village. By focusing on them and then building the settings around them, the film moves from being just a historical action drama to a film about humanity. It’s an incredibly smart choice.

 

Fangs For Everything: Night Patrol (2026) Review

Director: Ryan Prows

Notable Cast: Jermaine Fowler, Justin Long, RJ Cyler, Nicki Micheaux, Freddie Gibbs, Phil Brooks, Dermot Mulroney, YG, Flying Lotus

 

Watching Night Patrol made me realize something. Boy, do I really miss Tales from the Crypt. Not just the show, but there was a time in the 90s when the HBO horror series made the leap to the silver screen for a couple of films. (Do we count that third Tales from the Crypt movie, Ritual, that no one saw?) Watching the strange concoction that is Night Patrol gave me the vibes of when I saw Demon Knight some decades ago. The offbeat humor, the bold swings in lore-building, the use of fantastic character actors, and the ambitiously deranged social commentary just give off big Tales from the Crypt vibes. And, quite frankly, I am 100% here for it. 

 

Night Patrol is the kind of independent horror that ought to find a very dedicated audience with time. Not only does it encapsulate the era of its release, particularly in how it portrays police violence and a distinct arm of the law that seemingly operates with no limitations, but it also does so by creating its own world that runs parallel to our own. Ryan Prows’ second feature-length effort is so oddly satisfying in the threading of its tones and themes that it immediately cements itself as a cult classic - brutally punchy in its efforts, but so incredibly watchable nonetheless.