Bugonia (2025) | Dark comedy turns dangerous fast in this sharp satire where every scene asks the same question: what if she’s really an alien? #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 7.3/10. Bugonia opens with Teddy (Jesse Plemons) delivering what has to be one of the most committed conspiracy monologues ever inflicted on a family member. His cousin and best friend, Don (Aidan Delbis) sits through it with the patience of someone who’s clearly heard this speech dozens of times before - only this time, Teddy’s taking action. According to him, Michelle (Emma Stone), a snooty, sky-high CEO, isn’t just another corporate overlord. She’s an alien. And depending on who you ask, that might not even be the most outlandish claim ever made about upper management. I’ve worked in enough corporate environments to safely say some of those higher-ups absolutely sound like they’re from another planet, a mostly robotic one.

It doesn’t take long for Teddy and Don to throw on their beekeeper suits like a bargain-bin Mission: Impossible team and nab Michelle in a kidnapping sequence that leans fully into slapstick chaos. The film has a great time making it obvious that these two are not criminal masterminds. Maybe the moment they slather her entire body with antihistamines to “dull her telepathic abilities” is a clue as to the mental horsepower we’re dealing with. But the humor works because the film grounds its delusions in something very real - Teddy’s mother is in an induced coma due to the drugs produced by Michelle’s company. His paranoia didn’t just appear, it was fed.

Yorgos Lanthimos balances this mix of absurdity and bitterness incredibly well. He keeps the silliness of the alien hoax front and center, but the pharmaceutical-industry satire is unmistakable. It never turns preachy, but the target is clear. Michelle’s character rides a sharp line between terrified captive and dangerously intelligent survivor. Stone nails that complexity - never too sympathetic, never too monstrous, always unreadable in a way that feeds our lingering question: what if she actually is an alien?

It also deploys its themes cleverly, never allowing them to get in the way of the entertainment. There's a neat parallel between the bees, who are efficient, emotionless, alien-looking creatures, and the humans, who, from the outside looking in at least, seem bafflingly self-destructive. It resonates all the way to the final scene, which practically invites you to decide for yourself whether humanity is worth saving.

But Bugonia’s real strength isn't in the message; rather, it's in the execution. The dark comedy hits consistently, the tension builds in all the right places, and the dramatic musical cues give the film a pulse that never falters. It’s violent, it’s weird, it’s funny, and it kept me engaged with the simple, nagging “what if?” hanging over every scene. The ending sticks the landing, and it is entirely up to you how to take it.

Bugonia (2025)

I haven’t seen the 2003 Korean original Save the Green Planet! to compare, but Bugonia easily stands on its own. It’s bizarre, stylish, and thoroughly entertaining, one of those films that rewards you for going along with the madness.

https://jackmeat.com/bugonia-2025/

One Battle After Another (2025) | Oscar's incoming? Penn and PTA shine in this bold, bizarre epic led by DiCaprio and rising star Chase Infiniti. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 7.7/10. One Battle After Another throws you straight into the muddled, smoky headspace of Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), a washed-up revolutionary who’s been living off-grid long enough to forget what year it is. His daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) is the one actually keeping their little two-person fortress running, a sharp, resilient counterweight to Bob’s stoned paranoia. Paul Thomas Anderson wastes no time establishing the family dynamic, giving us a quick, efficient rundown of Bob’s turbulent past with Willa’s mother, Perfidia (Teyana Taylor). It’s the kind of opening that feels like a creative necessity. Get the emotional scaffolding in place and then get on with the chaos.

It doesn’t take long before Sean Penn arrives as Colonel Lockjaw, and yes, he shows up with a full, unapologetic boner, because of course he does. Penn chews into this role like it’s been waiting for him his whole life, and he walks away with the film’s best performance. Anderson mentioned it took him about twenty years to write One Battle After Another, a process that he calls both embarrassing and philosophically necessary. Watching the film, you can see why. It’s sprawling, ambitious, and clearly infused with the literary fingerprints of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland. There’s even a major sequence reportedly written in one marathon night with Benicio del Toro, which honestly tracks with the film’s fever-dream logic.

The acting is phenomenal where it counts. Infiniti absolutely holds her own, matching DiCaprio’s tired paranoia with grounded energy. Penn, again, is operating at a level that almost feels unfair. Del Toro does exactly what he’s asked to - it’s just that the role doesn’t ask much of him. And that’s a recurring issue: most of the cast is solid, but they aren’t given the depth or the range to show off anything beyond competence.

Still, this story is written in a way that keeps you hooked through its full 162-minute runtime. It’s better than most of what’s come out this year, even if it’s not the flawless masterpiece some people are desperately labeling it as. Anderson doesn’t miss often, and he doesn’t miss here either, but the film meanders between tones and genres. It dips into comedy and satire, embraces bursts of action at the right moments, and shifts its thematic focus from rebellion and racism to the influence of shadowy organizations convinced they’re preserving “balance.” It’s messy, but in that intentionally layered, meticulously edited PTA style that somehow still feels effortless.

The cinematography is gorgeous - those road shots belong on a wall - and the film’s visual language sells the tug-of-war between power, corruption, and legacy better than any monologue could. Does it deserve a Best Picture nomination? Yes. Should Anderson and Penn be in their respective races? Absolutely. But don’t walk in expecting a 10/10 life-altering masterpiece. This is a great movie, not a perfect one. Temper the hype, sit back, and enjoy a filmmaker who still knows how to swing for the fences.

One Battle After Another (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/one-battle-after-another-2025/

Frenzy Moon (2025) | Come for the werewolves, stay for the unintentional laughs. Frenzy Moon is a #turkey best left off your cinematic plate. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 2.4/10. “Be Warned,” the poster proudly proclaims. And for once, I have to say the movie poster tells the absolute truth. Frenzy Moon opens with a fog-covered forest, the kind of spooky establishing shot that might have worked if it didn’t have 10-cent credits super-glued on top, the kind you could whip up in PowerPoint during a lunch break. Two people wander through the trees looking for bear footage, which immediately tells you they don’t value their lives, their free time, or the audience’s. Naturally, within seconds, they find something to chase them, though what that something is remains unclear, thanks to some wildly nonsensical, “please ignore this” shifts between day and night. One shot looks like morning, the next looks like midnight, and then - why not - a werewolf attacks in broad daylight like it’s late for brunch.

And speaking of werewolves… wow. This movie wastes zero time showing off one of the saddest wolf costumes ever captured on camera. Instead of building suspense, they go full reveal early, as if daring us to keep watching. I guess the filmmakers figured, “Let’s get the laughter out of the way now—because we sure didn’t budget for it later.” To their credit, they do get creative with blood and gore, splashing it everywhere like a kid discovering red food coloring for the first time. Too bad every werewolf shot looks like a Halloween store clearance rack came to life.

Enter six college grads heading to a cabin in the woods for a getaway, which goes about as well as you’d expect. Within minutes, you can practically see the hatred simmering behind their forced smiles. The couple arriving late starts bickering before they even step out of the car, then they hit one of the hunters on the road, because why not stack problems early? Soon enough, the group devolves into arguing, crying, sniping, unloading their “true feelings,” and generally proving that the werewolves aren’t the biggest threat. Being stuck with each other is.

We’re then treated to an outhouse attack scene full of dramatic wood-splintering sound effects, except nothing on screen is actually breaking. It’s like a Foley artist was hired to work entirely from imagination. The acting? Dreadful. The dialogue? Truly awful. The attack scenes? Hilariously bad. I can admire the attempt to avoid CGI, but this costume is not the “practical effects win” they think it is. It looks like someone sewed couch cushions together during a blackout.

By the finale, a character is blasting away with a gun that never gets reloaded - not once. Infinite ammo. Maybe it’s a cheat code. Maybe it’s magic. Or maybe no one cared anymore. I know I didn't.

Writer/director Gregory Lamberson clearly has a sense of humor, you’d need one to release something like this. And that “Be Warned” tagline? Consider this review your confirmation. Stay far, far away from Frenzy Moon. This turkey isn’t even the good kind, the leftovers-from-Thanksgiving kind. This is the kind that leaves you wondering why you pressed play in the first place.

Frenzy Moon (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/frenzy-moon-2025/

Altered (2025) | There’s a good film buried under the noise somewhere, but it stumbles from scene to scene without ever sprouting. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.0/10. Altered drops us into an alternate present where genetically enhanced elites run the show, and regular folks, or anyone not born from a designer gene catalog, are treated like disposable background characters. Right off the bat, we meet Leon (Tom Felton) and Chloe (Elizaveta Bugulova), two outcasts trying to fight back against a system stacked higher than a Marvel movie’s VFX budget. After a quick bit of exposition, we’re shuffled straight into a future-tech heist, which is honestly where the movie is at its strongest… mostly because the pacing doesn’t give you time to question anything yet.

Unfortunately, once you do start questioning things, the cracks show fast. The genetic elitists, supposedly evolved beyond us mere mortals, look less like sophisticated superhumans and more like the rejected creature designs from a Syfy pilot. Their modifications are strange and not in any way intimidating, unless you’re afraid of awkwardly applied prosthetics. Being separated from Chloe for about two minutes sends Leon into a meltdown like he’s been wandering the desert for years. And then there’s Mira (Aggy K. Adams), a famous singer who goes from kidnapped victim to soul-bonded ride-or-die in the span of a single montage. The script bends itself into a pretzel to make these relationships happen, and none of it feels earned. “Script of convenience” is the nicest way I could put it.

Leon’s superhero-ish suit doesn’t help matters. I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be intimidating or a rejected costume from Kick-Ass. And yes, things do take a hard left turn into sudden romance. The whole movie has this “was this written by AI?” vibe. If not, someone was definitely speed-running the screenplay at 3 a.m. Timo Vuorensola has done much better (I have seen Iron Sky), so the laziness here is disappointing.

Predictability is the real villain. You’ll see every plot point coming long before the characters do. The action scenes? Completely laughable. When the anti-genetics group slaughters an entire restaurant, not a single drop of blood hits the floor. It’s shockingly sterile. Audio editing swings wildly from scene to scene, and there are jarring music-video-style cuts that seem like they’re supposed to convey a vibe, but instead land like unfinished placeholders.

The frustrating part is that the core idea isn’t bad at all. Some environments look solid, and a few effects are serviceable enough to communicate what’s happening, even if “strength” and “random flower energy” are as deep as the power system goes. Bugulova deserved more dialogue because she’s genuinely the best thing on screen. Felton gives what he can, but his character is written to be irritating, so there’s only so much he can do.

Altered (2025)

The message is worth hearing; the execution is not. Altered is watchable once, but barely. Not the worst concept - just a painfully weak delivery.

https://jackmeat.com/altered-2025/

Drive-Away Dolls (2024) | A quirky road-trip comedy with great chemistry between Qualley and Viswanathan if you don't mind some clunky themes. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.4/10. Drive-Away Dolls is one of those movies that sneaks up on you, not because it’s profound, but because it has that strange, Coen-adjacent charm. The characters are just odd enough, the timing is just off enough, and the plot is just chaotic enough to keep you watching even when the movie keeps tripping over its own shoelaces.

I ended up watching this because Matt Damon mentioned it during his Colbert interview, and honestly, that was enough of a push. The guy could sell me on a documentary about oatmeal if he tried hard enough. The good news? Damon’s cameo here is actually one of the film’s more amusing surprises, and the movie itself has enough personality to justify the detour.

The heart of the film lies with Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), two women who couldn’t be more different if you cast them from separate cinematic universes. Jamie is a chaotic bisexual hurricane, breezing from breakup to breakdown with “I swear I’m fine” energy. Marian is the kind of soft-spoken, tightly wound introvert who breaks into a mild sweat just watching Jamie exist. Their odd-couple chemistry is legitimately great. Qualley gives Jamie that reckless, flirty spark she does so well, and Viswanathan plays the reluctant partner-in-crime with perfect comedic exasperation.

Whether they're fumbling through roadside disasters, outrunning cartoonishly incompetent crooks, or simply trying to borrow a car without accidentally getting wrapped up in a criminal conspiracy, their dynamic carries most of the humor. The comedic timing between them is sharp, and the movie shines brightest when it's simply letting these two bounce off each other.

But where Drive-Away Dolls stumbles is in its handling of sexuality and intimacy. It’s not that the LGBTQ+ elements shouldn’t be there - they absolutely should - it’s that the film tries a little too hard to make sexuality part of the punchline instead of simply part of the characters’ lives. Instead of feeling organic, some of these moments come off like the script clearing its throat and going, “See? We’re being edgy and modern!” when it really didn’t need to. The movie already has personality. It already has charm. Nothing had to dial itself up to get my attention.

Fortunately, the movie doesn’t derail itself entirely. It stays playful and breezy, delivering a series of amusing detours, mistaken identities, and silly criminal mishaps that feel right at home in a dusty road-trip comedy. The villains are entertainingly dumb, the pacing is brisk, and the film hits enough comedic beats to keep you smiling even when it tries too hard to be “something more.”

Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

In the end, it's a light, quirky romp with a talented cast doing fun character work. It may not fully stick the landing, and it definitely fumbles its attempt at thematic depth, but it still manages to be an enjoyable, low-stakes ride. If you’re in the mood for something colorful and a bit off-kilter, with just enough weirdness to give it flavor, Drive-Away Dolls is worth tossing on for the journey alone.

https://jackmeat.com/drive-away-dolls-2024/

Derelicts (2017) | My #Thankskilling tip: if your family dinner feels unbearable, let Derelicts prove it can always get way, way worse. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating – 4.5/10. Derelicts takes the classic Thanksgiving-gone-wrong setup and throws it into a blender with grindhouse grime, pitch-black humor, and a family so dysfunctional you start wondering whether the homicidal vagrants invading their home might actually be the more stable option. Brett Glassberg kicks things off with a hilariously crass opener that immediately sets the tone - this is a movie that wants you uncomfortable and amused at the same time, and it succeeds right away. The family’s dynamics are established quickly: everyone hates each other, everyone is miserable, and dinner hasn’t even been served yet. Honestly, the invaders crashing their night might be the first interesting thing to happen to them in years.

The villains themselves are surprisingly effective thanks to a cast that leans hard into the menace. Their introduction, kidnapping party guests, and letting GPS do the rest is exactly the kind of chaotic logic this film thrives on. Once the home invasion begins, Derelicts becomes a brutal, sometimes absurd psychological takedown of its suburban targets. The movie has a 70s grindhouse look and feel, complete with a hilariously fake storm filter that I couldn’t stop laughing at. And yes, this film earns the award for Most Creative Use of a Penis Pump in Horror. Didn’t know that category existed? It does now.

The practical gore is handled cleverly, using angles and cuts to stretch the budget without feeling cheap. Among the pack of maniacs, Bo (Kara Mellyn) easily steals the entire movie. She’s unhinged in a way that feels both theatrical and terrifying, and every scene she’s in gets an immediate energy spike. The plot is more of a loose framework than a fully formed narrative since most of the film is simply watching this miserable family get psychologically dismantled room by room.

A mid-invasion discovery on Gregg’s (David Lee Hess) phone reveals he’s juggling a mistress, so naturally, Morgan (Marcela Pineda) is invited to join the festivities. Because if your Thanksgiving isn’t already a nightmare, why not add adultery to the menu? This all nudges his wife Constance (Kelly Dealyn) right over the edge, and truthfully she was already wobbling there long before anyone broke into the house. The tonal influence of Rob Zombie’s Firefly trilogy is unmistakable; this feels like a dollar-store, DIY cousin of The Devil’s Rejects - but Glassberg clearly understands what makes that brand of chaos fun.

The ending, while serviceable, stumbles into one of horror’s oldest sins: characters achieving the upper hand and then… just standing around. When you’re holding the larger weapons and your enemies are basically two seconds from killing each other, maybe don’t admire the scenery. Still, what’s a horror movie without a few idiot moves and some armchair second-guessing?

Derelicts won’t become your annual Thanksgiving horror tradition, but fans of home-invasion flicks and grindhouse-style nastiness might enjoy giving it a spin at least once.

Derelicts (2017)

https://jackmeat.com/derelicts-2017/

The Drowned (2023) | Decent production values can’t save this plodding siren-myth thriller with more noise blasts than story. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating – 3.9/10. The Drowned sets up a promising mix of crime thriller and aquatic folklore, but ultimately drifts too long in shallow waters. After pulling off an art heist, three thieves hole up in a remote coastal safe house, only to find their fourth missing. The setup suggests paranoia, mistrust, and maybe even a lurking myth waking beneath the tide. Instead, what we get is 84 minutes of wondering if anything is ever going to actually happen.

Writer/director Samuel Clemens clearly intended to weave in siren mythology, but the execution is… murky. Rather than hypnotic singing, the victims in this film are blasted with overwhelming soundwaves, and so are we. The movie leans heavily on amped-up audio shocks that are supposed to feel unsettling, but mostly just grow tiring and repetitive. It’s a stylistic swing that might’ve worked once or twice, but the constant barrage becomes the film’s biggest distraction.

Most of the runtime focuses on the three thieves trapped with three conveniently stranded women who show up without explanation and are immediately down for sex. Suspicious? Yes. Believable? Not even slightly. But to be fair, the movie has a consistent theme: men are idiots, and no mythological song is needed to make us that way. The film wants this dynamic to create tension, but with so little dialogue and so much staring into the middle distance, the suspense never quite builds into anything satisfying.

The heist itself is explained only through scattered flashbacks, and even once pieced together, it doesn’t amount to much. The eventual “mysterious” ending feels less like a twist and more like, “Well… we’ve reached the 80-minute mark, time to wrap it up.” It’s not so much ambiguous as it is incomplete - a conclusion that seems required simply so the movie can stop.

To its credit, The Drowned isn’t a total wash. For an indie production, the cinematography is surprisingly good, with some moody coastal shots that echo classic horror atmosphere. The isolated setting is perfect for the story’s intentions, even if the story itself doesn’t fully take advantage of it. The cast, all unfamiliar faces to me, all do solid work with what little dialogue they’re given. Sandrine Salyères stands out as Noe, the so-called “princess” of the group, and Michelangelo Fortuzzi’s Paul feels like the only character with an active brain cell among the thieves.

It’s not the worst low-budget thriller out there, and the production values show real potential, but the near-total lack of momentum or payoff is going to sink it for most viewers. With its 2023 stamp and eventual 2025 release, it clearly took a long time to wash ashore on streaming, and for many, that may be the most intriguing mystery it has to offer.

The Drowned (2023)

https://jackmeat.com/the-drowned-2023/