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Film reviews

Night Always Comes Review

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One of the most thought-provoking films from Netflix, Night Always Comes explores the challenges and hardships of keeping a family together. While trying to maintain a home, bad choices are made and revisited. Directed by Benjamin Caron, the film reveals the pattern of sacrifice as the clock keeps ticking. Moments of precious time cause viewers to hearts to ache. This film is a realistic portrait of the anxiety created when awaiting consequences.

The film’s main character is Lynette, played by Vanessa Kirby. Her brother is Kenny, played by Zack Gottsagen, who has Down syndrome. The mother is Doreen, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Lynette has a past with drugs and working in escort services, but she has a desire to start a new life for her brother. With her mother not supportive of the idea, Lynette finds herself in a place where eviction is bound to happen. Her mom does not care what happens, but Lynette does. With a limited amount of time to secure a huge amount of money to avoid living on the streets, Lynette finds herself having to revisit her dark past to make ends meet.

The film becomes a gripping odyssey of layers of darkness that is anxiety-provoking. It is not a positive storyline, but the film is faithful to its portrait of consequences. The moving parts involving prior choices and efforts to climb back out of the darkness results in a subtle tone in Night Always Comes. Every choice or decision that Lynette makes comes with a corresponding consequence. This leads her to retrace her negative influences from back in the day. One of these former influences is Tom, played by Michael Kelly, who is a drug dealer who had Lynette doing tasks in trafficking scenarios. The life that Lynette wanted out of slowly comes back up to the surface. With her brother living in fear, and her desperation to save her house, the evening hours are filled with uncharted territory and a host of new choices with associated new beginnings. They are not light decisions, but audiences will feel immersed in the uncertainty of the outcomes.

What is so unique about Night Always Comes is how it has momentum but remains quiet while also suspenseful. The writing and scenarios feel approachable in part because Kirby’s role is very emotional. The fact that it is a sister doing what she feels is best for her brother is the highlight of this film. Night Always Comes keeps the question of what is going to happen next at the top of audiences’ minds. There is no clear end in sight.

This movie is a hard watch but worth it for those who can handle the nature of the events. The subject of a sister trying to help her brother who has disabilities played a huge role in my appreciation for Night Always Comes. The sacrifices Lynette is willing to make shine through in Kirby’s performance. The obliviousness of the mother is highlighted in Leigh’s performance. A caring sister and an absentee mother makes for adynamic duo that boggles the mind in this film. Three out of four stars for Night Always Comes.

Film reviews

Nobody 2 Review

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The first film was just an introduction, but Nobody 2 brings a new level of explosions and mayhem. Fuming with funniness is Bob Odenkirk as the center of attention. It is a sequel in which action and humor work together to please audiences. The party in Nobody 2 results from the problems of the first film being multiplied when the main character in this sequel goes on vacation with his family of four. What can go wrong? What more can explode? Nobody 2 is unique while remaining slightly silly because it is infused with an enthralling magic touch.

The plot of the sequel involves Hutch (Odenkirk) recovering from the events of the first film. The life of being a dad in the suburbs has not been an easy adjustment for him because his sense of mayhem still lingers. He tries to be in dad mode, but it does not come easily. Therefore, he decides to take his family on a vacation. He is accompanied by his wife Becca (played by Connie Nielsen) and his kids, Sammy (played by Paisley Cadorath) and Brady (played by Gage Munroe). They also bring Hutch’s father David (played by Christopher Lloyd). The vacation dynamic is dominated by Hutch trying to repeatedly dismiss his assassin side. In addition, they discover that his son may have the same type of personality as he does. The stages of getting overly angry and violent do not fly well when they’re trying to enjoy their family vacation in Nobody 2.

The film feels slightly redundant since many moments from the first film feel like they are repeated within the second. Because this is an action and comedy sequel, that is kind of expected. However, the approach used in the sequel is the main problem. During the second film, the nemesis characters are looped in as well. Hutch’s wife has a bad past of her own, and that addselements of bad karma. The result is that there are some bad people after Hutch, his wife, and the entire family. 

As Hutch navigates the challenge of keeping his assassin-side intact, the new enemies make his urges harder to resist. This is especially the case when it comes to a questionable police officer. That individual is Abel (played by Colin Hanks), and he follows Hutch and his family to unravel some of the hidden dangers that exist for this family. Additionally, there is the head criminal, Lendina (played by Sharon Stone). With this cast of characters, there is a rough, powerhouse dynamic where funny can be deadly, but which also struggles due to the redundancy in its writing.

With Odenkirk, Hanks, and Stone playing out the good guys versus bad guys dynamic, Nobody 2 felt a bit simplistic. These characters are right for the roles and are able to keep the generic yet silly tone that works for this film. Fortunately, the comedy vibe mixed with evil is faithful. In the end, Odenkirk still rises as a suburban dad with a bad attitude to take on all kinds of cinematic mayhem. Two-and-a-half out of four stars for Nobody 2.

Film reviews

Highest 2 Lowest Review

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This film directed by Spike Lee with Denzel Washington in the lead is one that makes for a masterclass in filmmaking success. Highest 2 Lowest is what I consider to be one of the best films of 2025. It has a dramatic sense of power and irony that moves in a direction that creating its own force of nature. Lee’s directing is like the setup of a play of power and triumph–one where millionaires and the music industry find themselves in a battle of ransom to the highest peaks. Instead of suspenseful tones of action, it follows more along the lines of politics weaving back and forth with egos fighting to come to an agreement. With Lee, fans know that he is one to paint the portrait with the writing on the wall. It is fresh “writing on the wall” all over in Highest 2 Lowest.

The film centers on a music mogul named David King (Washington). He is all about money and thriving on the power of creativity via words and wisdom. His wife is Pam King (played by Illfenesh Hadera) and his family friend is Paul Christopher (played by Jeffrey Wright). The life of New York is golden and glamorous with King fully living the high life of the music industry. All that changes in a heartbeat when his son Trey (played Aubrey Joseph) is kidnapped. It is a ransom situation that gets political and ethical. A moral dilemma is presented with much authority associated.

The film is mesmerizing because of its set-up. It feels like a Shakespeare production. That is because the many moments of suspense will have Washington pontificating on authority and business while also dealing with finding the means to get around a ransom. Not only that, but also assuring that his life continues to be glamorous and successful with his family. Lee brings in that brotherhood and fatherhood vibe with many lines of wisdom throughout the hard and aching moments of the powerful crime. The New York streets boil down the mood of anxiousness with an artistic form of continuity that is one-of-a-kind in Highest 2 Lowest.

The dynamic between Washington and Wright is also the major component of staying connected in Highest 2 Lowest. There is a background of writing that establishes what a close relationship looks like while dealing with a hard situation. But also, the ransom scenario has its moments where it competes—because money is the key to getting out of the conflict. Ultimately resolution is all in the hands of the business perspective of Highest 2 Lowest and Lee’s directing creates a road that presents this vividly in Highest 2 Lowest.

To retrace my words of why I love this movie, it is because I love how Washington can play a man of success and a man dealing with a complicated situation.  At the same time, he presents a serious side but is also mentally prepared to go down with the irreparable consequences. Music, money, family, hardship—greed and success does not bring good people with it sometimes. The portrait of jealousy lies within, but the voice of fighting to keep going strong via politics is where Highest 2 Lowest shines. Four out of four stars for Highest 2 Lowest.