The Housemaid (2025) | Millie gets a dream job & ignores every red flag in sight while Amanda Seyfried is disturbing in the best way. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.4/10. Good to see The Housemaid wastes absolutely no time getting started. Millie Calloway, played by Sydney Sweeney, rolls up to this gigantic mansion looking to interview for a live-in maid position with wealthy couple Nina and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar). Right away, things feel a little too polished, a little too perfect, and considering Millie is basically living out of her car with a résumé held together by pure confidence and crossed fingers, she assumes there is no chance she lands the job. Of course, if she did not get the phone call shortly after offering her the position, we would have ourselves a very short movie.

Things go sideways impressively fast. It takes roughly one day before Millie realizes Nina Winchester, played so well by Amanda Seyfried, might be just a tiny bit unhinged. And by “tiny bit,” I mean completely off her rocker. The dream job suddenly becomes one of those situations where every room in the house feels like somebody is one bad day away from throwing a vase through a window.

Now, here is where The Housemaid occasionally frustrated me, mostly because Millie might be one of the worst liars ever written. Early on, she gets caught in these painfully obvious fibs, like explaining why she wore glasses during the interview but suddenly not afterward with the incredibly suspicious excuse of, “I do not always wear them, contacts.” Millie… just say you wear them for driving! Problem solved! Crisis averted! Instead, she practically waves a giant “I AM LYING” flag over her head.

And speaking of questionable judgment, Millie continues making decisions that had me shaking my head while also laughing at how obvious some of the setups felt. Already told to stay away from the husband? Sure, why not go see a show with him using tickets you were literally asked to buy for mysterious reasons. Oh, and why stop there? Might as well end the night at a hotel, too. You don't think that gifted phone is tracking you, do you? At several points, The Housemaid had me thinking, "okay, this setup feels way too convenient…somebody is absolutely playing chess here while Millie is stuck playing checkers".

To the movie’s credit, while the first half does not bring many surprises, things improve once the twists start kicking in. I was actually pretty close to guessing where things were headed, but not close enough to nail it exactly, and I am glad. The reveals land effectively even when you kind of feel the movie nudging you in the right direction.

Performance-wise, everyone does solid work, but Seyfried is operating several levels above everyone else. She absolutely owns every scene she is in and walks the line between unstable, manipulative, and oddly fascinating. Sklenar conveys a certain devious side quite well. Sydney Sweeney does fine as Millie, and yes, if you are wondering whether the marketing leaned into Sweeney’s sex appeal, the answer is definitely yes LOL.

Directed by Paul Feig, The Housemaid looks good and moves along at a nice pace. The darkly funny little wrap-up scene at the end honestly ended up being one of my favorite moments in the whole movie.

The Housemaid (2025)

I had no idea The Housemaid was based on a book, so I went in with zero comparison baggage. Although, as always, I am sure somewhere out there the book fans are already sharpening their pitchforks and whispering, “the book was better” LOL.

https://jackmeat.com/the-housemaid-2025/

Project Hail Mary (2026) | The fact that an alien rock-spider became one of my favorite movie characters this year was not on my bingo card. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 8.4/10. Project Hail Mary starts with a body bag, and immediately, I am sitting there thinking, "okay, this is my type of flick," LOL. I know, wrong genre entirely. But when a movie opens with a guy waking from a coma, confused, in space, beside a couple of dead bodies, it definitely gets your attention fast. Turns out it's not horror, just one very confused man aboard a spaceship, seemingly all alone and very far from home.

Ryan Gosling plays middle school science teacher Ryland Grace, who wakes up light-years from Earth with no recollection of who he is, why he is there, or what exactly humanity expects him to accomplish. As his memory slowly comes back, Project Hail Mary fills us in through flashbacks and introduces the very big problem at hand. The sun is dying, Earth is in trouble, and somehow this science teacher has been roped into humanity’s last desperate attempt to stop extinction.

Thankfully, the movie does not spend forever playing the “who am I?” card. Grace regains his memories fairly quickly, so the mystery becomes less about what is happening and more about why he specifically ended up on this mission. Watching him piece things together while trying to science his way through impossible problems keeps things moving nicely, and surprisingly, the science itself is actually fun. The movie throws plenty of scientific concepts at you without making it feel like homework. Although honestly, if Ryan Gosling were teaching science back in middle school, attendance rates probably would have been through the roof.

What really surprised me about Project Hail Mary was the humor. It isn't some laugh-out-loud comedy, but the subtle humor works incredibly well. Then Grace makes contact with his alien companion Rocky, and suddenly the movie becomes a fantastic buddy story I didn't see coming. Watching these two awkwardly figure each other out while teaming up to save not just our sun, but all the stars, was quite entertaining. Rocky quickly becomes the heart of the movie, and their friendship ended up hitting way harder emotionally than I expected.

Sandra Hüller is also excellent as Eva, the organizer behind this impossible mission, bringing a bit of seriousness to the Earth-side story. Also, random fun moment, one of the astronauts is Milana Vayntrub from the AT&T commercials LOL. Definitely had one of those “wait, I know her” moments.

Visually, Project Hail Mary looks fantastic, especially the scenes outside the ship. Even more impressive is learning that they avoided green screen and relied heavily on practical sets. Rocky was largely performed practically as well, with puppetry used so Gosling had something physical to react to, while CGI mainly cleaned things up. Considering Gosling spends most of this movie essentially alone acting opposite his little puppet buddy, he absolutely carries this thing.

Project Hail Mary (2026)

Instead of another sci-fi disaster movie, Project Hail Mary caught me off guard by its surprisingly heartfelt story. One about loneliness, friendship, bravery, sacrifice, and change. I went in basically blind, and I am really glad I did. I expect to be hearing more about this one come Oscar time.

https://jackmeat.com/project-hail-mary-2026/

How to Make a Killing (2026) | Turns out murdering your wealthy relatives is harder when you keep casually visiting them right beforehand. Who knew? #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.1/10. Four hours until execution. I know because the giant text on the screen politely informed me. That is where How to Make a Killing kicks things off, with blue-collar Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) sitting on death row getting a visit from a priest. Naturally, this means we are about to hear the story of how things went wrong.

The movie rewinds all the way back to Becket’s beginnings, where his obscenely wealthy family gives his pregnant mother a lovely little ultimatum. Abort the baby and stay rich, or keep him and get kicked out of the family fortune. She chooses motherhood, which leaves Becket growing up on the outside while still trying to mold himself into someone worthy of the elite lifestyle he missed out on.

The twist that fuels the whole movie is a legal loophole stating Becket gets the massive Redfellow inheritance if he outlasts every other family member. And by “outlasts,” well…this movie has a very creative interpretation of patience.

Things start innocent enough, but the darker edges creep in pretty quickly, especially when Becket reconnects with childhood crush Julia (Margaret Qualley), who casually tells him, “Call me when you’ve killed them all.” That line alone feels like the movie quietly telling you exactly where this train is headed.

I will admit, if I were planning to eliminate an entire wealthy family, I might go about it with a little more common sense than Becket demonstrates. Maybe avoid meeting up with each relative shortly before they mysteriously die? Just a thought. Thankfully, How to Make a Killing tries more dark comedy rather than believable crime logic, which makes the sillier moments easier to roll with.

Powell does a solid job carrying the film with his usual charm, even when Becket makes decisions questionable enough to make you yell at the screen. Ed Harris as Whitelaw Redfellow also feels like perfect casting. He brings exactly the kind of intimidating rich-family patriarch energy this movie needs, even if the character itself is not especially deep.

There is not much complexity here, and How to Make a Killing never really pushes beyond its basic premise, making parts of it predictable. The writing can feel cheesy and a bit contrived at times, though thankfully, it never becomes overly annoying. It still succeeds at what it sets out to do. Be a fun, easy piece of entertainment.

The movie appears to be a direct remake of Kind Hearts and Coronets, which I have not seen, except that one had Alec Guinness playing eight lead roles, and I am willing to bet his acting was better. LOL.

How to Make a Killing (2026)

At the end of the day, How to Make a Killing did not blow me away in the slightest, but I had a good time with it, and sometimes that is all a movie really needs to do.

https://jackmeat.com/how-to-make-a-killing-2026/

A Town Full Of Ghosts (2023) | A Town Full Of Ghosts looked promising with its creepy setting, but the acting scared me more than the ghosts. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.6/10. Looks like another found footage gem. HAHA. As always, I watch everything so you don’t have to, and A Town Full Of Ghosts is yet another reminder that just because you can make a found footage movie doesn’t necessarily mean the ghost town should’ve stayed haunted by your screenplay.

To be fair, if nothing else, the setting here immediately caught my attention. An old abandoned ghost town? Sign me up. Writer/director Isaac Rodriguez clearly has no intention of letting the shaky cam genre die peacefully, having just released Last Radio Call the year prior, using the same handi-cam approach. Somewhere out there, found footage is refusing to go into the light, and Rodriguez seems determined to keep dragging it back.

He also must have had The Shining on repeat recently because this movie doesn’t just take inspiration from it. It practically borrows the keys to the Overlook Hotel gift shop. Even the production company name, No Sleep Films, feels suspiciously on the nose.

The biggest issue here is the acting, and unfortunately, that’s not exactly a tiny speed bump when your movie relies heavily on audience investment. If the performances had even reached average territory, A Town Full Of Ghosts could have at least landed in “tolerable late-night horror watch” territory. Instead, nearly every character reaction feels painfully unbelievable. Nobody behaves like an actual person would, which made it impossible for me to care what happened to any of them. When bad things started happening, my emotional response was not “Oh no!” and more “Well…anyway.”

Ironically, the setup and location are actually pretty solid. The creepy little town genuinely works, whether it’s authentic abandoned structures or carefully dressed sets. Filming took place at J. Lorraine Ghost Town, and honestly, a quick search about the location is more entertaining than parts of the movie itself. The crumbling buildings, rusted fences, and bizarre maze in the center of town make for excellent atmosphere. It’s exactly the type of place horror fans want to wander around while making terrible choices.

Unfortunately, the story never really capitalizes on those surroundings. The town’s ancient backstory feels flimsy until a hilariously convenient, weirdly over-produced reel of “old” film suddenly appears to explain everything. This supposed ancient footage looked way too polished and professionally terrifying to be believable. Also, tiny question here. How exactly did they get the projector running in a town with no electricity? Unless ghosts suddenly majored in electrical engineering, I must have missed something.

Things really slide into familiar found footage clichés once Mark (played by Andrew C. Fisher) begins losing his sanity after purchasing the town alongside his partner (Mandy Lee Rubio) to turn it into a tourist attraction. From there, it’s the usual FF starter pack. Running through darkness, frantic screaming, shaky camera pointed behind people, and lots of “Wait, what was that?!” moments that stopped being scary for me about 3 decades ago…honestly, probably longer.

Mark’s descent into madness is also strangely rushed. No clever breadcrumbs, subtle character shifts, or eerie psychological unraveling. Just “Here you go, he’s losing it now.” Enjoy. Or don’t.

A Town Full of Ghosts (2022)

Anyone who reads my reviews knows I typically loathe found footage horror, but I still give every one of them a fair shake. So the fact A Town Full Of Ghosts managed to claw its way to a rounded 4/10 from me is, somehow, progress. I didn’t get much out of this beyond a genuinely creepy setting and the occasional accidental laugh, but if abandoned ghost towns are your thing, you might squeeze a little more entertainment out of it than I did. Just don’t expect the ghosts to be the scariest thing here. The acting already claimed that title.

https://jackmeat.com/a-town-full-of-ghosts-2023/

Faces of Death (2026) | Content moderator finds murder videos online and somehow decides investigation is the safest possible career move. It is not. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.9/10. I knew Faces of Death (2026) would come with built-in baggage. I vaguely remember being a kid and hearing it mentioned like it was cursed media. Something that got banned, whispered about, and supposedly showed “real deaths” that definitely made every playground conversation a little more dramatic. Of course, years later, when I finally tracked down the original, it turned out to be…kind of a slow evening of staged shock theatre and curiosity more than anything truly groundbreaking. Still, that mythos never really dies, and this new version knows it.

In this take, Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works as a website content moderator, which already feels like the most cursed job imaginable in 2026. She stumbles onto a series of disturbing clips that appear to recreate deaths from the original film, and suddenly she’s not just scrolling through internet sludge. She’s potentially watching a modern reinterpretation of a very old urban legend. Her last name being Romero is the kind of wink that makes you groan and nod at the same time. Yes, we get it. Horror lineage. Zombies in spirit. Very cute.

While doomscrolling seems harmless at first, this slowly evolves into an obsession when she discovers a VHS of the original film, Faces of Death, from 1978, suggesting that someone is either faithfully reproducing or resurrecting the legend. Arthur, played by Dacre Montgomery, enters the plot with just the right amount of creepiness to guarantee that every move seems like a terrible idea.

Director Daniel Goldhaber actually pulls off some striking camera work here. There are moments where the framing feels almost clinical, like the film is mimicking the detachment of watching violence through a screen. Very on-theme, very uncomfortable. The problem is Margot herself often makes choices that feel less like investigative journalism and more like “how to accidentally speedrun your own disaster.” Even the antagonist feels the need to ask her, "Like, how dumb are you?", which is never a good sign for your hero credibility.

The middle section works best as a messy but engaging mystery-thriller, bouncing between internet culture commentary and the kind of ethical panic that comes with not knowing whether what you’re watching is real. The police subplot, however, takes a hard turn into “no one in this scene has ever met law enforcement” territory. Suspension of disbelief doesn’t just get stretched, it gets folded into origami.

Where the film does land is in its finale. It goes all-in on practical gore and commits to a brutally staged ending that finally feels like it embraces the franchise’s reputation instead of tiptoeing around it. There’s also a fun visual callback in the credits that mirrors the original glowing red aesthetic, which is a nice “we did our homework” touch.

While the meta commentary on the violent nature of society and its penchant for digital voyeurism is evident and sometimes sharp, it does not quite deliver. It seems to be trying to make some deep observations regarding consumption and spectatorship, yet in the end, it comes off as merely an unformed hypothesis.

Still, as a modern riff on an old urban legend turned internet-era paranoia engine, Faces of Death (2026) is far from dead on arrival. Just don’t expect it to answer all its own questions. Like most viral content, it’s more interested in your attention than closure.

Faces of Death (2026)

https://jackmeat.com/faces-of-death-2026/

The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026) | Jon Bernthal returns as Frank Castle, and Disney somehow approved a level of violence that definitely skipped the HR review. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 8.3/10. I have thoroughly enjoyed both seasons of The Punisher on Netflix (now on Disney+), but I am also a huge fan, going all the way back to the comic books and every cinematic attempt to bring Frank Castle to life. Didn’t matter if it was Dolph Lundgren or Thomas Jane taking a crack at the role, I was there for it. So when The Punisher: One Last Kill rolled around as a one-shot TV special starring Jon Bernthal, this thing was basically custom-made for me. His occasional appearances in Daredevil have been entertaining enough, but eventually, there comes a time to stop politely visiting somebody else’s show and let Frank Castle start breaking furniture in his own house again.

The Punisher: One Last Kill follows Frank Castle, a PTSD-ridden veteran trying to survive after his mission is over, only to be dragged back into chaos when wheelchair-bound crime matriarch Ma Gnucci wants revenge after Frank killed her son. If that setup sounds unhinged, congratulations, you understand Punisher comics. And yes, Ma Gnucci popping up instantly made the comic nerd in me grin because she is exactly the kind of wonderfully over-the-top character that belongs in Frank Castle’s miserable orbit. Judith Light plays her with enough menace and weird charm that you can see Who's the Boss.

The special wastes absolutely no time setting the tone. The second Mother by Danzig kicks in, you know Disney forgot where it parked the family-friendly filter. The opening scene on the streets of New York throws us right into Frank dealing with some thugs who, without getting into specifics, definitely picked the wrong city block to act stupid in. And seriously, Frank Castle handing out consequences feels like comfort food at this point.

But One Last Kill also leans hard into Frank’s fractured mental state. He can be seen spiraling, going to his dead wife’s grave, confronting horrific dreams and flashbacks that drive him towards the abyss. It is quite clear that this film revolves around trauma and mental instability, and it actually lands emotionally instead of just using sadness as wallpaper between gunshots. Even Deborah Ann Woll returns briefly as Karen Page, offering Frank motivation in a way that longtime fans will appreciate.

Then comes the action, and wow, this thing remembers exactly what franchise it belongs to. The violence is brutal, hard-hitting, and hilariously not what you expect from Disney. After the initial barrage of beatings, Hatebreed kicks in, and suddenly Frank goes from “sad man with trauma” to “walking natural disaster.” Somewhere in the middle of all this mayhem, Frank even finds time to save an innocent family caught in the crossfire because, beneath all the rage and tactical skull imagery, there is still humanity buried in there.

More than anything, this 48-minute special felt like a reintroduction to the Punisher. A reminder that Frank Castle works best when he is broken, brutal, but still clinging to some reason to keep moving forward. Bernthal absolutely crushes it here, delivering a raw performance that feels angry and hanging on by a thread.

The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026)

Very enjoyable special that has me seriously pumped to see what Frank Castle might get up to when Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters at the end of July. Because if One Last Kill proves anything, it is that Frank Castle is very, very bad at retirement. My only complaint? I wish it were longer.

https://jackmeat.com/the-punisher-one-last-kill-2026/

Cabin Girl (2023) | An indie thriller that takes a predictable trip into the supernatural with mediocre results. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.3/10. Cabin Girl looked like it had the ingredients for a fun little supernatural mystery. We've got the creepy isolated cabin. Strange small-town vibes. Check. And a lead character poking around where she probably shouldn’t. You know, the kind of setup where common sense packs its bags and has left the building before the opening credits. Unfortunately, while the movie starts with some promise, I ended up guessing the big reveal way too early. Once that happened, a lot of the mystery fizzled out faster than cheap cabin Wi-Fi.

The story follows Ava Robbins (Rose Lane Sanfilippo), a young woman retreating to an isolated cabin under some rather strange circumstances. Naturally, things begin getting weird almost immediately because apparently, horror movie leases come with complimentary supernatural disturbances. The problem is, Cabin Girl rushes headfirst into the strange events without taking much time to build atmosphere or let the tension simmer. Before Ava has really unpacked emotionally, or probably even found where the good coffee mugs are, things are already spiraling into mystery territory.

One of the biggest hurdles is how predictable it becomes. Once Ava’s fascination with the supernatural and the odd local town is introduced, it becomes pretty obvious where this train is heading. And sadly, it’s hard to stay fully invested in a mystery when you feel like you solved the puzzle before the movie has even poured the foundation. There’s also the constant presence of a man watching Ava, which may have been intentional misdirection or atmosphere-building, but it mostly highlighted how underdeveloped everyone else feels. Aside from Ava, most of the supporting characters barely register beyond “person who exists to say suspicious things.”

That said, Rose Lane Sanfilippo does a solid job carrying the film. She gives Ava enough curiosity and unease to make her feel believable, even when the script isn’t doing her many favors. Sanfilippo is clearly putting in the work, and if it weren’t for her, the movie Cabin Girl would definitely not have held my interest. The cinematography also deserves some credit. It works well with the movie’s setting, and it adds to the creepy mood of the film.

Unfortunately, the dialogue doesn’t help matters much. The conversations are quite stiff, the characters always respond in an expected manner, and some of the scenes border on becoming clichés. Rather than having the unusual occurrences seem scary or intriguing, the film seems to be ticking all the boxes of the supernatural thriller genre, like it found a “How To Make A Creepy Cabin Movie” checklist online.

Still, for a Tubi original indie flick, Cabin Girl isn’t completely without merit. There are glimpses of something more intriguing buried underneath the familiar tropes, and it’s made well enough to avoid being a total write-off. It just never fully commits to being surprising. Or memorable. If predictable supernatural stories don’t bother you, there’s enough here for a casual watch, but for me, this cabin came with way too much déjà vu.

Cabin Girl (2023)

https://jackmeat.com/cabin-girl-2023/