Nathalie Phan-Clifford

As a film lover, I've been anticipating October with the fervor of a kid awaiting Christmas. We have been gifted a fantastic movie month with releases aplenty. So far, my husband Greg and I have seen Resident Evil, Digger, and Primetime. On Friday, we will be indulging ourselves in Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's You Can See Everything. If the previews are true to be believed and Fielder stays true to himself, it should be quite a titillating, spectacular affair that will warrant a separate discussion on its own.

I strongly advise you to do yourself a great service and see Digger. Alejandro González Iñárritu really outdoes himself. The movie offers an important and compelling thesis, sensational performances——especially by Tom Cruise and Riz Ahmed——and is overall, a satirical and surreal masterpiece. The film's dismal performance at the box office reflects its poor marketing efforts and competition with other movies, not its quality or epic magnitude. 9 out of 10 for me. Why not 10? Even though this is arguably his best role yet, I have severe reservations of giving Tom Cruise a perfect score. That said, his monologue in this movie is Oscar-worthy.

Oppenheim's Primetime was a fun watch, but earns itself a 4 out of 10. Without giving too much away, I expected a little more character development in Robert Pattinson's Chris Hansen. His portrayal of Hansen came off as more of a one-note caricature than an attempt at an honest interpretation. As someone who is neither intimately familiar with To Catch a Predator nor the celebrity of Chris Hansen, I felt it was a bit too "style over substance" and found myself asking if it was necessary to have this film made. Overall, it did not evoke strong feelings. Even so, I highly respect Pattinson as an actor and won't stop expecting great things from him. For what this film lacked in necessary importance, it at least made up for in entertainment value.

Lastly, Zach Cregger's Resident Evil. Very fun and captured the same campy yet frightening ethos of the Resident Evil video games. Not at all like his masterpieces Barbarian (2022) or Weapons (2025), both of which are original screenplays and not adaptations; comparing them feels inappropriate. 7 out of 10.

There's nothing better than going to the movies.