Most film reviews are 2,000 words of plot summary before getting to the verdict. Not doing that here. Five recent films. Three categories: BUY (worth a ticket), WAIT (catch on streaming), SKIP entirely. Honest reasons.
1. Anora (2024)
Verdict: BUY.
Quick take: Sean Baker continues his streak of excellent films. Mikey Madison's lead performance is among the best of the year. The film modulates from comedy to tragedy with real control.
Caveat: Some scenes are uncomfortable in ways that are intentional but may be hard for some viewers.
Bottom line: Worth the ticket. Will likely be remembered as one of the best of 2024.
2. Civil War (2024)
Verdict: WAIT.
Quick take: Alex Garland film about photojournalists during a near-future American civil war. Strong production. Strong performances. Script that does not quite live up to the premise.
Caveat: Visual experience is genuinely cinematic; theater viewing has advantages.
Bottom line: Good but not essential. Catch it on streaming when convenient.
3. The Substance (2024)
Verdict: BUY (with strong caveat).
Quick take: Coralie Fargeat body horror with Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Brutal, satirical, completely committed to its conceit. Most distinctive film of the year.
Caveat: Genuine body horror. Not for everyone. The third act is intentionally extreme.
Bottom line: If you can handle body horror, this is essential viewing. If you cannot, skip entirely.
4. Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
Verdict: SKIP.
Quick take: The musical sequel nobody asked for. Confused about what it wants to be. Wastes both its leads.
Caveat: Some of the musical numbers are visually striking. That is the only positive.
Bottom line: A reminder that "elevated" superhero films can fail just as badly as the regular ones. Skip.
5. Conclave (2024)
Verdict: WAIT.
Quick take: Vatican thriller about the election of a new Pope. Ralph Fiennes is excellent. Production is gorgeous. Plot has problems in the third act.
Caveat: Solid mainstream prestige film. Will probably get Oscar nominations regardless of whether it deserves them.
Bottom line: Watch on streaming. Not worth the theater experience.
The pattern across these five
The two BUYs (Anora, The Substance) have something in common: distinctive directorial vision, willing to commit fully to their conceits, regardless of mainstream appeal.
The two WAITs (Civil War, Conclave) are competent films that do not quite earn the theater experience over streaming.
The SKIP (Joker 2) is the standard contemporary disappointment: high budget, big stars, no clear sense of what the film is trying to do.
The pattern: distinctive vision beats production polish. The films worth seeking out are the ones with clear authorial commitment.
How to read film reviews going forward
A few rules I use:
Watch for embargo timing. Films with reviews dropping the day before release often have problems studios want to hide.
Discount enthusiastic festival reviews. Festival fever distorts critical perception. Wait a few weeks for steadier assessments.
Ignore studio quote pulls. "Hilarious!" — Random Critic at Random Outlet. Almost always misleading.
Trust word of mouth after a week. If people who actually saw the film are recommending it, that signals more than launch-day press.
Look for specific criticisms. Reviews that identify specific problems are usually more reliable than reviews that are uniformly glowing.
The contemporary cinema landscape
Honest assessment of where things stand:
Theatrical experience: Increasingly reserved for films that genuinely benefit from it (visual spectacle, distinctive vision, social viewing). Mainstream prestige films often work fine on streaming.
Streaming originals: Highly variable. Apple and A24 distribution generally good. Most Netflix originals mediocre. Amazon Prime mixed.
Independent cinema: Better than ever in terms of quality. Smaller market reach than ever. The disconnect between quality and audience continues to widen.
Big-budget Hollywood: In a particularly weak period. Sequels and IP exploitation dominate. Original films at scale are rare.
The takeaway
Of the five films above, two are worth full theater prices, two are worth a streaming evening, one is worth skipping. That ratio is about right for any current month.
Most months only one or two films are actually worth full theater prices. The rest can wait. Patience is the most valuable thing in modern movie-going.
The films that justify the theater experience are getting rarer. The films worth watching at all are getting more numerous (especially on streaming). Calibrate accordingly.
