Weekly visions - week 15, 2026

Bodycam, directed by Brandon Christensen, co-written with Ryan Christensen, Canada, 2025 - ⭐⭐½

Two police officers answer a call to a house in a ‘bad’ neighbourhood, then one of them makes a huge mistake with consequences that no one could have imagined.
This is a found-footage horror, and it’s clear from the title where that footage comes from. It’s also one of those films where every supporting character seem to know what’s going on, but they are too scared to explain it, so most of the dialogue is a variation on ‘You have to leave now’ and nothing is ever actually said. The film is all about going from point A to point B to point C, and the feeling (somewhat confirmed by the ending) is that the characters have no agency on what happens, and never did from the beginning.
I lost interest quite early on. I also didn’t like the fact that the story effectively ends, but then ten more minutes go by, with characters you have barely met before, with the sole purpose of extending the running time to 75 minutes.
And let’s not talk about the cheap CG that doesn’t improve the ending at all.
At some point, nothing in particular - perhaps the shouting and the running around - reminded me of Grave Encounters, but I never suspected that one of the leads, Sean Rogerson, was also the main character in that film.
The whole situation made me think it was the director’s first film, but it’s not the case. So I can’t really find many excuses.
So, let me give you my advice: don’t pay five (insert your currency here) to watch this film, like I did.

Oslo, 31. august / Oslo, August 31st, directed by Joachim Trier, co-written with Eskil Vogt, based on Pierre Drieu La Rochelle’s novel Le feu follet, Norway, 2011 - ⭐⭐⭐½

Trier’s second film follows a recovering drug addict on his first day out of rehab, forced to face his current situation and the mistakes of the past, the - real or perceived - hostility of society, and the scars he left in those who loved him and are so close to not giving him another chance.
It’s an increasingly harrowing film (not that it starts in a peaceful way either), and honestly I didn’t enjoy its trajectory, so I looked instead for solace in trying to recognise places in Oslo (Frogner park, of course).
A great performance by Anders Danielsen Lie (whom I finally am able to recognise), and a tiny part for Renate Reinsve (who has also become a familiar face), starting here her collaboration with the director.

Final Destination, directed by James Wong, co-written with Jeffrey Reddick and Glen Morgan, US, 2000 - ⭐⭐⭐

After the unplanned Final Destination countdown in the last couple of weeks, it seemed unfair to leave the original film un(re)watched. So here I am again, eye-rolling at water leaking and then un-leaking, finding the lead character’s constantly semi-open mouth annoying and Seann William Scott’s role too badly written. But, maybe because I knew what to expect, this time I enjoyed the long storm sequence and I didn’t get the urge to throw a shoe at the robotic FBI agent.

Redux Redux, written and directed by Kevin McManus and Matthew McManus, US, 2025 - ⭐⭐⭐½

It rarely happens that I rent two films in the same week, but I heard good reviews about this one (also listed on the iTunes store - or whatever it’s called now - as Find. Kill. Repeat, à la Edge of Tomorrow). And I wouldn’t have rented it, if I had remembered that the McManus brothers (and the McManus sister!, Animaniacs-style) were the writers-directors of the extremely repetitive The Block Island Sound. But repetition here is a feature, not a bug, as Irene (Michaela McManus), probably having watched Doctor Strange 2, travels through the multiverse hoping to find a universe where her daughter is still alive, and, when unsuccessful, proceeds to terminate every instance of her kidnapper/killer.
It has a strong start, then it makes the decision to leave Irene behind for some time, to follow a different character; it‘s a little bit puzzling: although later I understood the reason, every time the point-of-view switches it breaks the narrative flow.
Overall, it‘s an enjoyable watch, but it deserves a trigger warning for violence against women.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, US, 2026 - ⭐⭐⭐½

…as does the second part of Samara Weaving‘s Wedding Nightmare (that‘s the title that francophone distributors decided to give Ready or Not - and, yes, this French title is in English). There’s a quite horrible sequence of beating that marks quite a tonal shift from the violent-but-in-a-funny-way first film and, while justified by plot machinations, it contributes to putting its rewatchability at risk.
The rest of the film has a definite ‘been there, done that’ feeling. Radio Silence did try their best not to make exactly the same story, but when you put poor Grace MacCaulley Le Domas in almost the exact same situation as the previous round, you can‘t escape the déjà vu. I think by now you know my feelings about horror sequels that put a character through the same ordeal over and over. And although I purposely went to the cinema excited to watch Ready or Not 2, as the first minutes extended the ending of the first film (transporting me back to 1990 and the beginning of Back to the Future Part II), I couldn’t help feeling sorry for Samara/Grace. I was happier imagining her enjoying her cigarette and then going on with her life, possibly blessed by a huge inheritance (although probably she wouldn’t have wanted it).
We also get her retconned younger sister, played by Kathryn Newton. She’s likeable as always, but I really didn’t buy the two being from the same family, no matter how estranged, and that‘s an issue because that’s where the film decides to put his focus, both for emotional reasons and plot development.
I sound more negative that I should. I really enjoyed most of the film, and when I looked at my watch to divert my attention from the hard scene described above, I was surprised to find out that well over an hour had passed by.
One thing that I really appreciated is that the script never took the easy way out. Yes, there are some Stormtrooper-level shooting skills involved, but otherwise it brought to my mind the writing game described in Stephen King’s Misery: ‘Can You?’, that is, can you find a narrative way out from an inextricable situation?
And this is especially true for the final part of the story, which I really didn’t anticipate, so much so that I kept asking myself ‘Are they really pushing through with this?’, even fearing an ‘Empire Strikes Back to the Future Part II’ cliffhanger that would require a Part III for resolution. Luckily, that doesn’t happen, and no Ready or Not 3 has been announced. No matter how much I would like to see Grace again, can we maybe have her in a comedy instead?

(I didn’t comment on Sarah Michelle Gellar being in this film. Or David Cronenberg. Or the fact it’s an Abigail reunion for the crew, Kathryn Newton and my birthday twin Kevin Durand; or a Lost reunion for him and Nestor Carbonell; or a The Faculty reunion for Shawn Hatosy and Elijah Wood; or that it exercises enormous restraint in not highlighting Wood’s past experience with jewellery. Maybe next time I watch it)

The Ballad of Wallis Island, directed by James Griffiths, written by Tom Basden and Tim Key, United Kingdom, 2025 - ⭐⭐⭐

Another film reviewed with high praise, this is one of those feel-good-but-hey-not-too-good British films that require a certain attitude and possibly a rainy winter Sunday afternoon to be enjoyed to the fullest, as opposed to my weekday evening ‘wash away a hard day of work’ expectations. An expansion of a 2007 short film featuring the same creative crew (with the writers doubling as lead characters), this is the story of a widower living on a remote island who wants to honour the memory of his late wife by hosting a concert by her favourite artist.
This extended version adds drama by duplicating the artist into a duo act, who split long time ago both professionally and romantically (Carey Mulligan provides the added value). Let’s say things go mostly the way you expect them to go.
The extremely annoying but good-natured superfan is played by comedian Tim Key, who apparently I have seen in minor roles a million times before but I only recognise as a contestant (and ’task consultant’) from my current drug Taskmaster, while the artist is Tom Basden, another face I thought looked familiar but I didn’t know why (it turns out, he was in the recent How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, and in several Ricky Gervais productions incuding After Life). A plus is the always welcome presence of Sian Clifford from Fleabag.

Final Destination Bloodlines, directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, written by Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor and Jon Watts, US, 2025 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (up from ⭐⭐⭐½)

My Amazon-free current lifestyle prevents me from watching Final Destination 5, so I’m ending this series rewatch with the most recent instalment. Coincidentally the second film co-authored by Guy Busick this week, this requel is clearly a different kind of movie from the original run: more modern, more fun, with little time for moping characters.
I’ve softened a bit on the film’s defects (does it really make sense to decide to ram into a closed gate when you’re trying to avoid any incident?), and enjoyed this rewatch more than the first time.