Nadine Whitney – Page 2 – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

VIOLENT ENDS – Review by Nadine Whitney

October 28, 2025November 1, 2025 Nadine Whitney Alexandra Shipp, Billy Magnussen, Bruce McKinnon, John-Michael Powell, Matt Riedy, Ray McKinnon, Violent Ends

Violent Ends, John-Michael Powell’s neo-western cum Southern Gothic cum revenge crime thriller is formulaic. In a small Ozarks town hit hard by financial woes for the farmers of the area, the Frost family dominated the river-based drug smuggling operations in Arkansas in the 1980s. Three brothers: Donny (Bruce McKinnon), Walt (Ray McKinnon), and Ray (Matt Riedy) all vied for complete control of the operation leading to a schism where Walt took the meth market and Donny the cocaine. Ray was taken off the chess board when he ended up serving a long prison sentence. Bad blood is never forgotten nor cleansed, and the next generation continues the crime legacy.

Reviews

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE – Review by Nadine Whitney

October 22, 2025October 23, 2025 Nadine Whitney Curtis Hanson, maika monroe, mary elizabeth winstead, Micah Bloomberg, Michelle Garza Cervera, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle.

Women’s domestic thrillers and horror films have a long history with literature and cinema, and they require a story that is inventive with the tropes and ideas in the genre to make them memorable and distinct from a Lifetime movie. Michelle Garza Cervera’s direction and the two primary performances tip The Hand that Rocked the Cradle towards a sleeker production. However, there’s no complete escape from the low rent tawdriness of the script. The Hand that Rocked the Cradle is eminently forgettable, and that’s for the best.

Reviews

THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 – Review by Nadine Whitney

October 15, 2025October 20, 2025 Nadine Whitney David Morrissey, Guy Pearce, Hannah Waddingham, Keira Knightley, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Simon Stone, The Woman in Cabin 10

Simon Stone’s adaptation of Ruth Ware’s mystery novel The Woman in Cabin 10 is an embarrassment of embarrassments. The plot is unworkable and requires only a modicum of paying attention to be far ahead of the protagonist, investigative journalist Laura “Lo” Blackwood (Keira Knightley). The outrageous nature of the thriller will lead the audience to question how on earth the perpetrators of the crime thought they would get away with it.

Reviews

THE LONG WALK – Review by Nadine Whitney

September 15, 2025September 14, 2025 Nadine Whitney David Jonsson, Francis Lawrence, JT Mollner, Mark Hamill, Ray Garraty, stephen king, the long walk

It isn’t very often that it can be claimed that a film is created with the very best instincts of all the creatives involved merging into a masterpiece. Yet, that is precisely the magic involved in Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk adapted from Stephen King’s first novel (which was published after Carrie) adapted by JT Mollner. Put Stephen King’s aptitude for humanism in horror together with Francis Lawrence’s skill for dystopias (The Hunger Games series), and JT Mollner’s streamlined script and we are given a masterpiece. The Long Walk is bound for immediate status as a classic of the dystopian genre. A rare and unforgettable film.

Festivals Reviews

SUGAR ROT (Fantastic Fest 2025) – Review by Nadine Whitney

July 28, 2025August 5, 2025 Nadine Whitney Becca Kozak, Charles Lysne, Chloë MacLeod, Michaela Ross, Rebekah Scheffelmaire, Sugar Rot

The tagline for Becca Kozak’s debut indie Sugar Rot is “An exploitation film where a girl turns into sweets and everyone wants a taste!” And although I have to give Kozak kudos for working in almost every role in her microbudget film: director, editor, producer, writer, costumes, and incidental art, I do wish she’d worked out what she was trying to achieve with her bad taste DIY dirge.

Reviews

FOREIGNER (Fantastic Fest 2025) – Review by Nadine Whitney

July 28, 2025July 29, 2025 Nadine Whitney Ashkan Nejati, Ava Maria Safai, Chloë MacLeod, Fantastic Fest 2025, Foreigner, Maryam Sadeghi, Rose Dehgan

Set in the already horrific early aughts where low-rise clothing and tiny tees were de rigueur: teenager Yasamin Karini (Rose Dehgan) relocates from Iran to Canada with her loving father Ali (Ashkan Nejati) and warm and wonderful grandmother Zoreh (Maryam Sadeghi). Since she was a child she’s been preparing for the move which was her deceased mother’s dearest wish. She practices her English watching her favourite sitcom and reads teen fashion magazines. Yet, when it comes time for going to high school for the first time, Yasi’s more than a little panicked that she will stand out for her accent and her ethnicity.

Reviews

I LIVE HERE NOW (Fantastic Fest 2025) – Review by Nadine Whitney

July 28, 2025July 29, 2025 Nadine Whitney Fantastic Fest 2025, I Live Here Now, Julie Pacino, Lucy Fry, Matt Ride, Sheryl Lee

Julie Pacino’s debut feature I Live Here Now is a strange and beguiling psychological and visual Fata Morgana. A lost woman, Rose (Lucy Fry), finds herself during a moment of intense personal disruption in an impossible hotel, the Crown Inn in a town called Idlewild. As Rose’s past, present, and future whirl around her the hotel takes hold of her trapping her into confrontations with darkness both inside and out. I Live Here Now is an incredibly assured debut by Julie Pacino that disturbs and intrigues. It is a dark and majestic work of psychological and body horror that refuses to hold back on harm done. A twisted fairytale of courage and claimed selfhood.

Reviews

TOUCH ME (Fantastic Fest 2025) – Review by Nadine Whitney

July 28, 2025July 29, 2025 Nadine Whitney Addison Heimann, Fantastic Fest 2025, Jordan Gavaris, Lou Taylor Pucci, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Touch Me

Addison Heimann’s gloriously gooey horror/science fiction/comedy Touch Me won’t be for everyone but for those who tune in to the freaky, goofy, and sincere frequencies there’s a specific genius running through the work that’s nigh unto irresistible. Touch Me is dark comedy meets tentacle sex meets facing up to the damage of the past by overcoming the absurdity of the present. Touch Me is a comedy first but it isn’t shy about bringing up some serious topics including sexual abuse, and while they might rub uncomfortably against the humour the truth that people who have been through trauma can have such difficulty processing it that they make excuses for their unhealthy coping strategies.

Reviews

THE G – Review by Nadine Whitney

June 24, 2025June 28, 2025 Nadine Whitney Dale Dickey, Fantasia IFF 2024, Karl R. Hearne, revenge thriller, The G

Despite her long career and indelible presence, Dale Dickey rarely gets a starring role. Director Karl R. Hearne’s The G is a near perfect role for Dickey as the tough as nails Ann Hunter whose moral grey areas make her a compelling protagonist for his revenge thriller. After watching The G, you’ll not only crave more meaty roles for Dale Dickey, but you’ll be also want to see more mature women with killer instincts wielding the gun or knife and taking out assholes with no remorse. Clint Eastwood and Liam Neeson step aside – there is a new player on the board and she’s taking no shit.

Interviews

DALE DICKEY on THE G, Aging and Taking the Lead- Nadine Whitney interviews

June 24, 2025June 28, 2025 Nadine Whitney Dale Dickey, Karl R. Hearne, revenge thriller, Romane Denis, The G

Dale Dickey is what people like to call a “consummate character actor.” That is most certainly a compliment, but it can be a backhanded compliment when it comes to getting offered leading roles. But as Dale has shown in both A Love Song and now the action thriller The G, she is more than capable of being the name on the marquee. Nadine Whitney spoke to Dale about her new film The G. in which she stars as the aging and angry titular lead character.