Motorola Edge 70

It often makes sense to compare a new phone down the line with the one it replaces or supersedes in Moto's sequence, but in this case, the Edge 70 looks and feels very different indeed to the Edge 60 which I reviewed here on my blog just short of a year ago now. Released as the X70 Air over in China, this is Moto's shot at the thin-is-in theme, here 5.9mm thin, which a number of OEMs are having a go at. So not so much of an annual evolution of the line as something very different and interesting.

It was released in October 2025 with an RRP in the UK of £699 (though at time of writing, that does come bundled with the fabulous Moto Watch Fit, Moto Buds Loop, a 68W Moto TurboCharger and even a Moto Tag - or £499 without the bundle). When you first take it out of the box it's strikingly thin! Which is the main USP here of course - beautifully sleek. Or as Moto say, "impossibly thin" - and strong too, made with "aircraft-grade aluminium" - light too at 159g, it's remarkably featherlight to hold and carry. Doesn't sound like it's going to break anytime soon and with IP68/IP69 alongside MIL-STD-810H certification, the Gorilla Glass 7i on the front makes for a reassuring package over the previous generation. Even if it is wafer thin!

Being wafer thin is maybe one reason why Moto has switched back to the no-edge Edge! Yes, it's a flat screen. And yes, maybe technically that was unavoidable but I really do think that the (slightly) 'edged' screen of my Signature (and other models, even down to the G86 which I reviewed here too) is classy and the quad-curve makes for lovely swipes from the edges, especially the bottom. Of course, you need a properly cut-out case to be able to make the most of that. But back to flat here, like the dinky Edge 60 Neo and Edge 50 Neo which I also reviewed here - so yes, maybe a size constraint with more room to move on bigger/thicker phones.

The thinnest other phone I have here in stock, I think, is the opened-up Motorola Razr 60 Ultra, though it's still 7.2mm 'fat' compared to the 5.9mm here on the Edge 70. But it's probably the closest I have for a comparison (now that the Motorola Z from 2016 with 5.2mm is long gone)! Anyway, before we get stuck in, let's do the obligatory unboxing! A slim white box with a SIM Tray Tool, USB-C to USB-C cable, papers and the same style hard plastic case with a Qi2 ring-magnet on the back as the Signature had for anyone who has any of those accessories to make use of it. It's a really nice case with cutouts all round rather than horrible button-covering soft plastic, but, like with the Signature's, it's very slippery. Also akin to the Signature's - once you get it on, you need a blowtorch to get it off again! Very firmly in place.

I'm not the first reviewer to have been loaned this Moto, so I'm not sure how many hands it's been through - but I can just about still detect the perfume smell in the box and on the device! This one is the Gadget Grey version and the back of the phone is kind of nylon-ish silicone. It's not 'cloth/fabric' like the Signature. I think I drew the short straw here with what seems to be the most boring, conservative colour as opposed to the other options, Lily Pad (light green), Bronze Green and Cloud Dancer, which sound much more Bohemian! Cloud Dancer seems to be the Special Edition one which has a creamy, textured cushion-like back with 14 inlaid Swarovski crystals and a silver logo! Fashion, eh!

So that's it for the unboxing and now to the device itself. I realise that it is technically 1mm thinner than my Signature, but it somehow doesn't really seem so in the hand (when both cased). I guess that if I didn't have a Signature here but rather another ordinary-sized 6.7" phone, it certainly would feel slim. It's certainly light at 159g and 159.9mm tall, 74mm wide and that 5.99mm thin. On the back, at the point of the camera island, it certainly isn't 5.9mm, so that figure relates to the rest of the device, obviously. The camera island carries the usual Moto design language these days with 4 circles looking symmetrical within that raised platform off to the top-left (in portrait) with shimmering blue classy-looking accents. There's a Moto 'M' logo in the middle of the back as branding and a Pantone badge bottom-centre depicting their colour, thus continuing the partnership.

The back of the phone slopes slightly into the chamfered (on both sides) aluminium frame around the phone, which has antenna cutouts and microphones around it and a kind of 'brushed' look (though not feel) to it. On the left we have the MotoAI button (which I'll come to), quite high up on the side and it matches the lenses on the back with that shimmering blue accent, which is very attractive (to offset this boring grey)! Up the top we have the Dolby Atmos branding, on the right a volume rocker and power button (but not accented in blue) and at the bottom, a SIM Card Tray with pokey-hole, centralised USB-C port and the 'right' speaker of the stereo pair, thus bottom-firing. The front is flat with a centralised Selfie camera up-top, just below the other speaker, the 'left', which is clearly front-firing and shared with the phone earpiece. In terms of ingress and robustness, like the Signature, the phone is rated IP68, IP69 and has the MIL-STD-810H certification. The front glass is also more robust than previous models, now Gorilla Glass 7i.

I think that I'm coming to like the wireless restore rather than cable these days. Good example here, using my Signature for the switch, the battery had been left all-but dead by the last reviewer (thank you team MOTOvator!) - whilst the wireless restore is going on I can be charging the battery as well. Yes, I know, it could be done with a cable and Qi Charging on a pad, but this seems better - and certainly faster - but we'll come to the battery stuff later. Talking of the Signature again, my primary phone and serious Moto flagship, it's going to be impossible not to compare this with that as, unlike the logical Edge 60 'upgrade' route, these two are wielding the same software throughput, coming in the same 'generation' - the Signature being, in all-but name, the Edge 70 Ultra - so big brother of this Edge 70.

The usual plethora of bloatware is present, sadly, on boot-up afresh, but thankfully all of these 'additions' can be uninstalled by those who don't want to use them or use other apps to do those jobs. Adobe Scan AI PDF Scanner - OCR, Opera Browser with VPN, TikTok, Booking dot com, Perplexity (though to be fair this is a part of the Moto suite these days with MotoAI so probably best not to uninstall it), Microsoft Copilot (ditto), Amazon Music (ditto), LinkedIn, Fitbit, Facebook, Instagram and a folder full of Games (which can be disabled so you don't have to see/use them if you don't want to). I guess that some will be interested in having these onboard, especially if they have accounts for them anyway, but I still think users should have the choice - and for a £699 phone, I don't think that the financial bung Moto get for this is justified. A £250 phone, yes, OK, but not in this bracket.

Android 16 is present out of the box and Motorola are promising 4 OS updates (so to Android 20) and Security Updates to October 2031 (so 5 years from release). This unit has 512GB storage and 12GB RAM (with the silly extender on top), which is just great, with UFS 3.1. The baseline model in some markets can be snagged with 256GB storage and 8 or 12GB RAM but I don't see that as an option here in the UK. There's no microSD Card support of course, but with these amounts of storage, I'd argue that 99% of users really won't need it. The international model here has a single nanoSIM slot on the tray and there is support for eSIM.

The 6.7" P-OLED flat screen is as lovely to look at, like most Moto phones these days. This one is 1220 x 2712, 20:9 aspect ratio and returns a ppi of 446, so good and sharp for those counting pixels (at least with human eyes)! It's bright, peaking out at 4,500 nits in auto mode and the right conditions and refreshes at 120Hz, so nice and smooth. We'll come to software later but while we're talking about the screen I must add my disappointment that there's no Always on Display here. Moto can do it - the ones on my Signature, Edge Neo phones, Razr phones are just perfect. (And it's possible to include it, as we know, even with LCD panels.) But they seem to shy away beyond these models. The LTPO is absent as a tick-box for the screen specs, so I can only guess that they are frightened of users complaining about battery drain. Maybe, in this case, with some justification, as it's not a huge one to fit into the slim chassis. But we'll come to battery later.

Not having an Always on Display drives me nuts, personally, and rules a phone out for me - but maybe you're a more balanced human being! For those like me out there, I do usually recommend some AoD Apps in the Play Store that I have tried with varying levels of features and success. AOA by newGen Mobile, AOD Flow by Androxus, XPath by aodlink.com and Peek AOD by Dubiaz are some usually on my shortlist, so check them out. Most have an acceptable hit on battery life and a good-enough feature set for free (or a time-trial) before deciding whether to risk the cost of a supportive coffee for the developers pluggin' away! Go on - support them!

Moto have moved away from MediaTek this year and used a SnapDragon 7 Gen 4 (4nm) over the Edge 60's Dimensity 7300/400 (4 nm) depending on market. Neither reach the heights of the Signature's SnapDragon 8 Gen 5 but this is understandable I guess, given the price difference. The SnapDragon 7 Gen 4 is no slouch and is used in plenty of phones, especially from the likes of Xiaomi and the BBK Group - and even the just-announced Honor 600 range. It feels perfectly fine in terms of horsepower to me but yes, when directly comparing it on a test bench, against the Signature (and higher) one can see the slight difference in speed if you pick the right activities.

Further, I've tested the phone using my favourite Car Racing game (I'm no gamer but other reviewers tend to use Asphalt 9, so I follow suit) and I can see no juddering, buffering or anything of the like during gameplay. Seems perfectly smooth to me in fact. And updating a bunch of apps from the Play Store, copying loads of files with a cable into the USB-C port from my PC - it all works perfectly well, but, as usual, I'm probably not the most demanding of users and those pushing boundaries and limits might find some holes, as they might in pretty much any phone when driving to extremes, I'd guess!

My main concern was probably the battery at 4,800mAh, as I say, slimmed down for this body. Unlike last year's Edge 60 (5,200/5,500) it is a Silicon-Carbon battery, so I was interested to see how it competes, especially against the Signature's 5,200mAh Si-C as well. What it does do, much like last year's model, is charge at 68W with a Moto TurboPower charger and cable. Even with my generic UGreen 100W GaN charger and cable it doesn't do badly. But technically it should charge from flat to full in about 45 minutes (with the right gear). I find that even with a half-hour charge it's almost there, even without - so yes, very good and reliable. There's Qi Charging at 15W which is great for overnight trickling. Slow as it might be, so much better to have than to not! And then, for those who want to dabble with magnets and have some supporting gear, there's that case included with a 'ring' built into it. Unlike big brother Signature there's no reverse charging at all (but to be fair I'm not sure that I've ever used that outside of testing - I probably have the wrong lifestyle)! By the way, the Signature can charge at 90W so does leapfrog the Edge 70.

So now it's down to performance of said battery. It's clear that the standby time, screen-off, SIM Card in, connected to WiFi, is very good - as I reluctantly perhaps accept that the AoD might have taken a hit (though it certainly doesn't with, for example, the Edge 60 Neo)! Stretching the phone to its limits of all-day, average use (for me), I can get to a day and a half. All subjective of course, depending what you're using it for and how much you use it. Which is why I try to report on my 'average daily use'. But against other phones (with AoD on) it does do pretty well in fact, perhaps surprising given the slightly smaller battery, no doubt helped by the Si-C. Turning to my 10% Reading Test, screen-on, reading news, feeds, social media, but no video or music rolling, nor camera-use, it's good for over 2 hours, which is good-enough. Again, against other devices over the years I can form my own yardstick here. I test this between 100% and 90% and 50% and 40%. It's not up there with the 3-hour+ Moto 'Power' dubbed devices, but still much better than many I've tested. So yes, overall, I'm surprised and impressed at how well the battery performs, given the thin size. All of these figures are spookily similar to the Signature's, by the way - with its bigger screen, more power, leveling things out.

In terms of security and connectivity, there is an optical under-screen fingerprint scanner. This works well-enough in testing here and setup is fast and painless. It's not an UltraSonic like the Signature's (and there is a slight difference) but, yes, good-enough. Face Unlock is quick to set up and works flawlessly in my tests here. Coupled-up with lift-to-wake, a fingerprint is barely needed anyway. I've not been able to test 5G here (for various reasons about my situation) but I can report that it works well on 4G, fast and good connections for voice and data over cellular and VoIP also works, remember, over 4G as well! We have WiFi 6e which I have tested with 3 networks and can't fault it for connection, pick-up, hanging on and decent speeds. GPS seems to do the job nicely with various apps which rely on it. Locks on fast enough and holds on well. I've not been able to test NFC for Google Wallet payments but can report that it works fine and well connecting to other pieces of gear similarly capable and the range, connection and consistency seems to work very nicely with Bluetooth v5.4 here, tested with various headphones, earphones and other equipment.

I have written about Smart Connect before (and Ready For before it) and working with a PC this is where Moto leapfrogged Samsung's DeX by continuing to support Windows software. Install Smart Connect on Windows and you have a full Desktop computing environment driven by your phone. Now, one could argue that if you've got Windows in front of you and universal tools like Motorola's Phone Link, Google's Messages for Web and Quick Share, why do you need the Windows software (in terms of productivity and functionality). And this may have been the point that Samsung got to as they claimed few people were using their Windows software. But I like Smart Connect! Long may it live, I say! Inside this, we have a Messages portal, a Screen Share (whether Mirror or separate instance), using the phone as a webcam for webinars or whatever instead of the likely rubbish one in a laptop, creating a complete Mobile Desktop able to hijack the mouse and keyboard, using the phone as a Hotspot for getting connected, file management on the phone with hot-drag-drop, Cross Control to use other devices around the periphery of the PC with free-flowing mouse and keyboard hot-swapping between devices (like Second Screen for Windows), an echo of the photos on the phone, notifications, even app streaming - so run an app on the phone but control it on the PC - and loads more! It's a veritable playground of opportunity and I love it!

The stereo speakers. As I said earlier, the 'right' speaker is bottom-firing and 'left' uses the earpiece, so is front-firing. The software does a smart-enough job working that out and adjusting the output and soundstage to compensate but when comparing with the Signature's truly top-and-bottom-firing setup, there is a difference. The Signature just seems to be able to throw the sound out physically as well, making for a more immersive stereo experience. But I'm nit-picking now as this Edge 70 also sounds great in many ways.

The speakers are certainly loud-enough for most uses, though in terms of quality, bass, richness, they sit happier at about 80% volume. For those who want to push the limits however, there is the built-in Dolby Atmos to tinker with. As usual, when you do so, the payoff is usually a bit of volume loss - so the trick is to use that extra 20% volume at the top-end of the range to make things sound a little better, less trebly and thereby at 100% getting a better quality sound than it was at 80% volume, if you follow! The Signature's speakers' output is better in all these ways, but for most people, for most uses, the Edge 70 will be fine. And let's face it, none of these phones are going to please a real audiophile - and get nowhere near even the cheapest of stand-alone Bluetooth speakers. It's physics! So always a compromise.

As we have come to expect these days, the Bluetooth option with speakers or ear/headphones is the way to go, beyond casual listening - and we're rewarded! The technology seems to go forward in leaps and bounds and works beautifully with most capable equipment. I've tested it, as I say above, for range and quality and, of course, depending on the quality of connected gear, it sounds phenomenal. Far too loud for my ears, so I always have to turn volume down these days! I'm favouring Moto's own Buds Loop these days which I find work brilliantly well for me and my lifestyle, but also various ANC-capable headphones from various manufacturers and I find Bluetooth very hard to fault. Oh, there's no 3.5mm audio-out port here. I'm sure I should stop reporting that now and very few, certainly mid-range and above, now have this as Bluetooth storms on and batteries get better. Kudos to Sony, eh!

Just like the Signature (and now other Motos), the MotoAI button is on the left side, the correct side, not confusing the right side near to the power button. The button can be assigned actions for press-hold and double-press. Press and hold for MotoAI (or nothing), double-press for Update me, Take notes (or nothing). You can assign the power button on the other side for MotoAI if you like, or the usual power menu or (other) digital assistant (whatever your default is). On all of these there's now a slider for press-and-hold duration preference. You can also assign Android's own Quick Launch (so double-tap the back of the phone) to anything, pretty much, including (yet) another way into MotoAI - they want us to use it! I've written about MotoAI before and I think most of it is pretty much the same since I did, so do follow this link for a rundown of the features and how it all works.

In terms of Software, HelloUI, we continue to get all those good gesture functions with Moto of course, face unlock, lift to wake, 3-finger screenshot, chop-chop for torch, twist-twist for camera, sidebar with pop-outs, split-screen, pick up to silence, Attentive Display, fairly deep personalisation of fonts, icons, themes, colours, lock screen clocks, fingerprint animation, wallpaper and more. Long-press the home screen and enter a world of tweaks, personalisation, widgets and choices. It's just great to see someone continuing with the way things were, with only small adjustments for the better, not following the herd.

There is one enhancement over previous with the lock screen clocks, also present on the Signature, which used to give 3 options, but now there's 13 and each can be adjusted for font and colour as well. Moto continue their focus on privacy and security with a plethora of options, scans and adjustments. Secure folder, App lock, SIM lock, PIN pad scramble, scammer stuff, emergency alerts, eye protection stuff, Digital Wellbeing, various modes and so on. Some of this is Android's own with Android 16 but it's also clear that Moto have added their own suite as well and on top of that.

What I particularly like about the UI though, even with Android 16 onboard, is that Moto are not following the pack, like other sheep after Apple-like features. An annoying number of (particularly) Far-Eastern OEMs are including little features like Control Centres and dual drop-panels for Notifications, illegible battery percentage stuck inside a stupid little battery icon and a load more. Moto resist this and keep to their own design language which deserves huge kudos. Well done Moto. I do like some of what Google has done with Material 3 Expressive, particularly on Pixels, but it's clear from Moto's implementation of (especially) Android 16 that OEMs can go/keep going their own way if they want to. Hurrah!

The camera setup goes with 3 x 50MP shooters, the main one (f1.8 with OIS), the wide-angle (f2 with AF) and the Selfie (f2 with AF). The main camera can shoot 4K video at 60fps and the Selfie, at 30. There's no optical telephoto here but Moto do say that the main camera can offer "2 x lossless" zoom. The UI of the Camera app is much like other Moto units, looking suspiciously like an iPhone, with big, round, white shutter button at the foot and a side-scrolling Modes selector. For anyone having used a Moto in recent years, you'll be instantly at home as you jump between various features such as Night Vision (which, as usual seems to do a great job of pulling an image from situations that the human eye sees as pretty-much black!), Panorama, Ultra-Res (to use the full 50MP), Pro Mode for control of pretty much anything manually (except aperture of course), Portrait (which does have an "f" button, but control of aperture in this sense is all done in software of course), slow-mo - and via the main interface we have the 'Macro' button which uses the wide-angle's AF to get some close-ups. I've seen better, but it's good. Then there's a bunch of stuff in Settings for Watermarking, AI audio in video shooting, Palm Capture, Auto-Smile, assistive grid and 'spirit level' visuals, as I say, all good stuff - very Moto.

I've got some very nice shots from the camera in testing, as will, I think, all-but the most demanding of photographers using this phone. Digital photography, however, is not really my thing as you will know by now (give me film again)! So I'll do my usual trick of handing over to our friends at GSMArena for a breakdown, extensive testing and samples. Compromises need to be made to get this phone so thin of course, but given that limitation, they are pretty impressed in both good light and bad. I'll also jump back here in due course to add Joe Hickey's YouTube Video when he's done it, my Phones Show Chat colleague, on his channel. Not only for the camera stuff, but an overall review of the phone too. We'll also be offering more coverage and discussion on this, and other phones, Moto and beyond, in our PSC weekly podcast. Don't miss it!

I'm pleasantly surprised by this phone - and honestly, I didn't expect to be! The cameras are clearly very good, the battery certainly did a better job than I expected, as did the sound output given the amount of space inside to get it out, and decent. As always with Moto, the P-OLED screen is great, sitting on the front of a very-well protected shell in terms of IP-rating and beyond. As usual with Moto, the layer of HelloUI on top of Android is much better than most, conservative where it needs to be but with genuinely useful additions. I'm still not totally convinced by MotoAI, but it's nice to see them trying and moving things forward. These thin phones are always going to present a compromise, because they are thin, but for the right user, it feels like a class act and slips into the pocket very nicely. Oh, did I mention there's no Always on Display?! Come on Moto - if this was present, I could very well have bought one of these for myself!

For those who do want to buy, it's available in those four Pantone colours, Gadget Grey, Lily Pad, Bronze Green and Cloud Dancer with, as I say an RRP of £699. But as I finish this review, I still see it significantly cheaper (even, as above, £499 at MotoUK just now) which, to be totally honest, actually 'feels' like the 'right' price. The reason, clearly, that it's £699, is for Moto's hard work of cramming all this good stuff into a thin body. So if you're into the thin-is-in/Air thing, you'll no doubt be OK with the RRP. If not, I honestly think that you'd do better with a Signature for not too much more. And that's pretty thin too, you know! Whichever way you might jump, all these phones carry Moto's pedigree and style. If you like that, you'll love them!

Breeder (2020)

This is another bonkers film being screened on Shudder and other streaming services now in the UK and beyond. It's a Danish Body Horror and Torture Porn outing from director Jens Dahl and penned by Sissel Dalsgaard Thomsen, who clearly, between them, have a somewhat twisted view of what constitutes entertainment. Having said that, I enjoyed it - so I guess that makes me twisted too!

A ruthless businesswoman and mad scientist, Dr Ruben, is abducting young women as part of a gruesome bio-hacking experiment to reverse the ageing process. It's The Fountain of Youth designed to ensure she lives forever and makes a fortune selling the idea to daft, rich people! Our story starts with Mia (Sara Hjort Ditlevsen) and her husband Thomas (Anders Heinrichsen) as we eavesdrop on their strained marriage. Mia enjoys BDSM and aggressive roleplay, but Thomas doesn't.

Thomas is as similarly ruthless as Dr Ruben - he dabbles in financials, successfully enough to be investing in her madcap scheme. We witness some bitter exchanges between the two as they both feel they have the upper hand and clearly disagree on her methodology. Thomas disappears one day. Mia finds a picture on his laptop of a human arm with a ‘branding’ on it and goes off to investigate, having tracked his whereabouts via Google Maps.

Bad move, Mia. When she gets to the facility and breaks in to find Thomas, Dr Ruben's henchmen (The Dog and The Pig) grab her, strip her naked and brand her too - throwing her into an underground lockup from which there is clearly no escape. She discovers that the Youth Supplement is extracted from the stem cells of human foetuses. In order to ensure a constant supply, Dr Fruitloop forcibly impregnates any women they can grab via artificial insemination and keeps them locked up until they can produce! We discover, in the end, dozens of women in various stages of pregnancy, all locked up in cages.

Dr Ruben tries very hard to convince Thomas that he didn't care much about Mia anyway and that the work is much more important - and would help him too, as he could reduce his age (and hopefully the size of his nose)! In a moment of weakness, he agrees to help her. This is the point at which all hell lets loose in terms of graphic violence, with not much left to the imagination. We witness The Dog and The Pig going to work to quell any dissent from the women, who have no idea what is happening.

What follows is a gore-filled rampage through the facility. Blood, guts and death follow as the girls find a way to break out and get their revenge. Mia confronts Thomas, who has by now, sensibly, realised the error of his ways and priorities as they all join forces to wipe out those responsible for all this madness.

The film includes several highly disturbing sequences - forced insemination showing women strapped down and treated like livestock, the aforementioned branding where a woman is held down as a red-hot iron is used to brand a serial number into her skin and The Dog and The Pig engaging in various acts of sadism, including beatings and psychological degradation. There are various scenes involving needles, surgical tools and the aftermath of ‘extractions’ performed in unsanitary, terrifying conditions. Then comes the eye-for-an-eye revenge violence, including stabbings, blunt force trauma and Mia using the tools of her imprisonment to dispatch her captors in fascinatingly bloody fashion!

So yes, not for the faint-hearted! It certainly questions the line between entertainment and Torture Porn. On the other hand, I'm betting the cast approached it with tongue-in-cheek! Along with the special effects team, they likely had a bit of a laugh doing all this. Signe Egholm Olsen was clearly enjoying her role as the sinister Ruben and was very convincing. The players depicting The Dog and The Pig were clearly having fun too, portraying a couple of not-very-bright paid-muscle types, carefully selected so that the characters enjoy their jobs a little too much!

It's dark and the sets are grimy, dirty, foul and unpleasant - even for cows or dogs to endure, let alone women in this ‘human farmyard’. Anyway, if you fancy some loony escapism and can stomach all this madness and gore, go for it. It's a bit of an education and probably in my top (or bottom) five horror films of all time! It's horrible, but don't look away!

In the Blink of an Eye (2026)

This is an ambitious project by Andrew Stanton, who steps away from his usual animation roles - having penned Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life, Finding Dory and the like. Here, he attempts to tell a story spanning over 45,000 years of history across three distinct timelines - the end of the Neanderthal era 45,000 years ago, the present day (2025, in fact) and a leap 400 years into the future.

The narrative certainly sprawls and we jump between these three eras regularly. We join the prehistoric struggle of a Neanderthal family as it moves from mere survival toward the building blocks of community, tools and settlements. In the present, our anchor is Claire (Rashida Jones), an anthropologist dealing with the death of her mother, whose work provides thematic hooks into that first era. Finally, we meet Coakley (Kate McKinnon) aboard a generation-bridging spacecraft. Accompanied by an AI companion, she's on a 350-year voyage to plant new life on a distant planet in the Kepler system.

There is a clear focus here on loss, grieving, and regrowth - new beginnings and a narrative relating to immortality, whether that be viewed as good or bad, desired or avoided. Refreshingly, there are no dinosaur battles in the past or Star Wars-style shoot-em-ups in the future. Instead, the film focuses on the placid and passive moments of existence - the simple painting of hands on cave walls to mark a death, the shared silence of a modern couple unsure of their relationship or their place in the world and the difficult, clinical decisions required to keep oxygen-providing plants alive in deep space.

Each segment is shot beautifully, portraying characters within their surroundings and highlighting their deep emotional attachment to the world and the process of life. Rashida Jones provides a remarkable footing for the film, acting as the stable centre while the other timescales flow around her. There is a genuine chemistry between her and her boyfriend, Greg (played by Daveed Diggs), as they both search for meaning and intellectually explore the nature of transformation.

Kate McKinnon plays the immortal Coakley with surprising control and substance. She is entirely convincing as a person carrying the weight of mankind’s future on her shoulders, often struggling to make sense of the heavy decisions she must make. I am not entirely sure about the physics or the science involved - I’ll leave that to those more learned and clever to comment on - but as a thoughtful 90-minutes of entertainment, it works incredibly well.

The atmosphere is created beautifully throughout, offering a rolling set of emotional extremes as we sit alongside the characters. The visuals are excellent - even where CGI is used, it feels grounded. This is especially true of the scenery in the prehistoric segments and the subtle nods to technology in the present and future sets. They don’t feel anything like a 1970s BBC Dr Who studio, rather they are well-realised and thought-out environments.

One could argue that the film is perhaps a bit too ambitious in trying to cover such a vast timescale, tackling life, death, evolution and interstellar travel all at once - but I am all for it. I think it succeeds overall. While it might be easy for some to pick holes in the logic, those who do will miss out on an enjoyable, thought-provoking ride. It encourages you to reflect on your own place in the universe and how your life, most likely, will be over In the Blink of an Eye.

Recommended. Now streaming on Disney+ in the UK.

American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally (2021)

This is the based-on-a-true story of Mildred Gillars, a failed American actress who headed to Europe at the age of 29. Unfortunately, her timing was poor, arriving just as the clouds of World War II were gathering. The film follows her journey as she lands a job as an announcer - and alleged Nazi propagandist - with German State Radio in Berlin. It then tracks her eventual capture at the end of the war and the treason trial she faced back in America.

After moving to France in 1929, she again failed to find acting work and took on ordinary jobs until, six years later, she moved to Germany to study music and teach English. Her big break came with an offer from the radio station, where she was required to broadcast pro-Nazi messages to demoralised Allied troops. The film portrays her as an actress living a glamorous life, mixing with high-ranking officials and moving in influential circles - all under the thumb of the head of Nazi propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.

The film depicts a situation where she was physically, psychologically and sexually abused by these high-ranking figures, though there is actually no historical evidence to support this. It also features her telling her lawyer that she was abused by her father and stepfather during her formative years - how much of this was added purely for dramatic impact is unclear.

Much of the past is delivered via long flashbacks from the 'present' during her 1948 trial. We see her apprehended by liberating Allied troops and forced to return home to 'face the music'. Consequently, a portion of the film is a courtroom drama led by Al Pacino as her defence lawyer. As expected, Pacino steals every scene he is in. He takes the case not because he is on her side, but because he believes in the principle of a fair trial for all. He is portrayed as a disorganised, socially incompetent, but brilliant lawyer - reminiscent of Peter Falk’s Columbo! He and the courtroom scenes are the stars of the show, especially in the final act as he closes proceedings with a moving speech.

The film leaps between two timelines and doesn't quite manage to nail either convincingly. It portrays her actions as a result of coercion, manipulation and survival instinct, rather than what may have been the reality - a woman not thinking clearly and an actress desperate for a stage and limelight, whatever the cost. At first, the audience is encouraged to dislike Mildred, but as her plight becomes clearer, her character evolves and our perspective shifts.

Meadow Williams provides a performance that is decent enough as Mildred, if only just. Thomas Kretschmann is chillingly effective as Goebbels, flying into rages when things go off-script. He is depicted as a man who is horribly manipulative but also controlled from above, ensuring there is no room for failure.

The production feels like a film that could have benefited from a larger budget - some sets and peripheral actors are not terribly convincing and the script is occasionally dubious. I believe it would have been better served either as a chronological biography or a pure courtroom drama where the background was left to the viewer's imagination. However, it does provide a fascinating history lesson. I knew nothing of this story here in the UK, and even my 90-year-old dad - who remembers the war well - confirmed he had never heard of her. While significant dramatic licence has been applied, it is worth a watch for the history lesson and for the chance to see the talented Al Pacino in full flight.

Nothing Phone (2a) Plus in 2026

Having just sold my Nothing Phone (3) and being left with the (2a) Plus as my only Nothing/CMF phone in stock, I realised that it could be a relevant place to stop and look back, especially as I never did formally review the latter. The August 2024 released (2a) Plus was the update to the March 2024 (2a) and brought a few upgrades. Commentators at the time questioned why it was done, just six months later, but for those seeking a slightly faster chipset, slightly faster-charging battery and slightly better Selfie camera, it met the needs - though I'm not sure about the others who'd recently shelled out on the (2a)!

So, back to the outgoing (3) which had the newly-worked Glyph Matrix in a small circle and a wildly opinion-dividing unique look/design on the back. It's also bigger, with more squared-off corners and, for me, doesn't sit in the hand anywhere near as comfortably as the (2a) Plus here. They also took away the Glyph Lighting array on the back, which I'll come to, which I do think was a mistake - they could have had both.

The truth is that after tinkering with the (3)'s Matrix and seeing what it could do with the Toys made available at launch and later developed by them and users in Nothing's Playground, I didn't use it hardly at all. Because I felt I should, I'd have the clock showing on it all the time - then tried to force myself to remember to lay it face-down so I could see/make use of it - thus, of course, rendering the (actually pretty good) Always on Display a little redundant! You've got to tip your hat to Nothing for continuing to develop design ideas and trying to make something interesting and different, but it all feels, well, a bit like toys in a playground! Which is OK for those who want to play and enjoy their play.

Glyph Lighting on the (2a) Plus is simpler than Glyph Matrix by design. It flashes/pulses lights which are formed as one straight and two curved LEDs. They are only in white and in the phone's Settings can be assigned to different Notifications, camera-fill, Timers and even to pulse to music playing on the phone (with the 26 available zones inside the 3). The last of which is the one that I used the most! No interaction needed, just pulses (very brightly, if you want) whenever you start to play music/video from any app installed. Now that is my idea of fun!

The other thing that was introduced to device since the (2a) Plus was the Essential Space and Essential Key. That link takes you to my blog post summarising what that's about, so click through as I won't repeat it all here. Bottom line though is that it's far too 'locked-in' to Nothing/one's phone to be of much use when other, similar, generic tools, can be sync'd out and shared wherever you like. They are working on this and trying to push the boundaries, but even the voice recording transcription gives a limited number of monthly items before you have to wait for a refresh-date. Good idea, but just needs expanding/improving. And when it does, it's likely to cost users. Nothing is free these days (or isn't)! Frankly, I prefer using Nothing phones that simply, like this (2a) Plus, don't have all this! The software and hardware button, getting in the way for, in reality, little or no benefit!

The Always on Display is the same as other Nothing/CMF phones, very good, not quite Moto Razr/Neo/Signature good, but pretty bright and certainly with more options to tinker with what's shown as it echoes what's on the Lockscreen Settings. I always have mine set to have the day/date at the top, then a BIG digital clock under that, followed by two blocks - left one giving me weather information and the right-side, the day/date (again - yeah, don't ask)! I think it's because the date 'number' is bigger than the one at the top. Anyway, users can put what they like in these boxes, even make more boxes if they like by removing the 'clock' bit. Underneath that there's a row of icons depicting Notifications that have arrived and down at the bottom, the battery percentage. It's nice. If I'm being picky, I'd like it a bit brighter, but it's better than most.

There does seem to be one issue related to the Always on Display in that with a couple of simple, clear TPU cases I have tried to use with it, the phone often turns it off. Apparently this is a known issue and is to do with the proximity sensor at the top of the screen. However, when I have fallen foul of this I sometimes get a graphic pop up pointing to the left side of the screen where the volume buttons are as the point of the problem. So I remain foxed on this one (and am currently testing the phone with no case on at all)! Update I did thoroughly clean the top of the screen, right across and it does seem to have fixed it. There's also a setting in Gestures to toggle off "Mistouch prevention" designed to prevent screen touches when the phone is in a pocket. So anyway, YMMV on this one!

This phone is the grey one but it can also be snagged in black. I quite like the grey as it shows off more boldly the design that Nothing have etched into the back under the plastic. No, it's not simply a window to see what's inside, but many could be forgiven for thinking so! Even so, it has an industrial, techy, geeky, nerd vibe to it which I quite like! Various screws and metal panels, mostly for decoration/design, the highlight being those Glyph Lights either side of the camera island. The two camera lenses are side-by-side and kind of look like eyes, which some will find fun, others maybe spooky! It's plastic all round and the colour round the edge matches the grey or black.

It feels robust with the solid plastic and even though it only has an IP5/4 rating, one gets the impression that it would survive the elements pretty well, if not perhaps a swimming trip to the beach! On the front there's Gorilla Glass 5, so maybe for some a screen protector would be wise. Actually, thinking back, I think that there was one fitted out of the box when originally supplied. Ripped off by me, no doubt! The phone is 161.7mm tall, 76.3mm wide and 8.5mm fat, weighs in at 190g.

On the left, yes - on the left, we have the volume buttons, about 60% of the way up - which feels about right. I do think that this is the right place for the volume buttons rather than on the right, for this right-handed person! So on the right, there's just the power button (and no Essential Key)! The buttons are also colour-matched and do feel like they might be made of metal - not sure - but certainly very little 'play' and no sign of flimsiness. On the bottom, one of the pair of speakers, USB-C port, SIM Card Tray and microphone - and another up-top.

The 6.7", 1080p, 20:9 AMOLED screen is flat with really not much bezel around it. It can refresh at up to 120Hz, has 2,160Hz PWM Dimming for reducing eyestrain/headaches from flickering, returns 395ppi and can peak out at 1,300 nits of brightness in auto. You can manually switch between always 60Hz, 120Hz or let the system 'Dynamic' work it out for itself based on what you're up to. Up at the top there's a centralised Selfie camera circle, sitting just below the front-firing second speaking pairing up duties in the usual way as an earpiece for phone use. The screen is plenty bright for me, certainly seems colourful enough (though there an no options to tweak this in Settings) and nicely sharp for most uses/people for sure. No complaints.

The speakers produce a perfectly good and loud sound between them. They are more loud than qualitative, not much bass particularly, but with Wavelet in the mix you certainly can retain most of the volume and polish the sound up a bit to make it richer. Audiophiles won't be satisfied but the other 98% will be impressed, overall. Switch over to Bluetooth (v5.3) and as usual these days, even the smarter audiophile won't really be able to complain. Much. Sound from phones over the last few years has just got better generally - there's very few duff ones out there, certainly from the mid-tier and up.

The phone arrived in 2024 on Android 14. It's currently on Android 16 with the promise of Android 17 at some point. That will be it then, but Nothing are quite good at rolling out updates promptly and they will also ensure Google's Security Patches until August 2028, four years on. They work with Google's changes quite well, unlike some, when new releases roll out whilst retaining their own NothingOS 4.0 over the top (up here from v3). Somehow they blend it quite well though, a bit like Motorola. For example, with Android 16 came a lot of those M3E touches like the double-bouncing notification dismissals and Extra Dark Mode. Some of the changes had actually been rolled out by Nothing and Google seem to have adopted them for core Android, such as the way in which Quick Settings can be resized. NothingOS 4.1 is out there with their new 4-series hardware, so no doubt that will be along shortly here too, apparently expected next month.

Under the bonnet, we have the MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro (4nm) pushing things along. This is one of the upgrades and I really can't remember how much more useful this is over the (2a) which has been a long, long time gone. But it feels like it's fast enough to me around the UI and executing more demanding processor tasks. Copying lots of data, updating Play Store, and, though I'm no gamer, I do run a few games when testing phones - usually peaking out with Asphalt the car-racing game - it deals with this admirably with no jerks, overheating or buffers. This one's got 256GB storage and 12GB RAM, though there is an 8GB RAM version too. Again, no complaints - multitasking and jumping back to still-open apps is fluid and no problem at all. Copying over data with the USB-C 2.0 port works just fine and as expected - faster would be better but few people are likely to rely on this these days, I contend.

In terms of connectivity, all seems to work well enough as we'd expect these days. Tested on 2 WiFi networks without issue, good and fast speeds, data and voice with 5G seems to work well, no doubt depending on your location and whether you decide to switch down to 4G. I did this too and it was fine. VoIP, WiFi Calling works as it should too and there's space on the SIM Card Tray for two nanoSIM Cards (though no eSIM support here if that's important to some). GPS locks on and seems to track nicely when I've tested it with various apps, NFC too with other equipment (and in Tesco - I'd forgotten that my banking apps and cards were still registered on this phone)! For Security and biometrics, the optical fingerprint scanner, in my test, works absolutely fine whenever I can get to it before the equally efficient face unlock kicks in!

The battery is a 5,000mAh unit (not Si-C) and it charges, as I said, now at 50W with the right charger/cable instead of the 45W of the (2a). It's charging up from flat in about an hour and halfway in just over half an hour. Perfectly good enough I think, however I miss my (inefficient, overnight) wireless charging! And the performance is impressive enough too, especially if you don't use the AoD when it does take a bit of a hit. But even so, with phone in and out of pockets (so it goes off), general use by Joe Public, it's going to last well into Day 2 I reckon. 

While the triple 50MP camera island looks like a pair of eyes staring back at you, the tech behind them is all about consistency. Having 50MP sensors across the board - Main, Ultrawide and Selfie - means you don’t get a terrible drop in quality when switching modes, which is common with many mid-range phones. The Main sensor uses OIS to keep shots steady, making it decently reliable for everyday photos and 4K video. The Ultrawide has a 114° field of view for landscape shots or fitting the whole group (or room) into a frame without having to back up into a wall.

Because the Selfie is also a high-res 50MP sensor (upgraded from the original 2a’s 32MP), it supports 4K recording at 30fps. The best part though is the software - Nothing’s TrueLens Engine does the work, using AI to balance shadows and highlights, so you can mostly just point, shoot and let the 150 million combined pixels do the work! The camera app is very Apple-like with that familiar side-scrolling menu 25% of the way up with shutter button below. Plenty of options too in Settings with Grid overlays, Motion Photo, Filters, Watermarks, level indicators and so on - the usual stuff, but a nice enough experience.

Tech-spec is 50MP f/1.9, OIS, 50MP f/2.2, wide-angle, 4K@30fps and 50MP f/2.2 Selfie and as usual I'll send you to GSMArena for a deeper dive. Do support them as their data and reviews over the years has been, and is, invaluable - a constant source of information for every reviewer out there! Their bottom line is that the cameras provide a solid performance with good video stabilisation and dedicated Night Modes. But do check out the rest, samples and analysis.

Looking back in 2026, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus feels like a point in time where the mid-device got it right. While the newer Phone (3) chased the ambitious Glyph Matrix and a design that felt a bit too experimental for daily comfort, the (2a) Plus stuck to a shape and a feature set that actually fits the human hand and the average user’s life. It is a nicely balanced device. You get a consistent, high-res camera experience that switches lenses well, a Glyph Lighting system that is genuinely fun (especially when pulsing to music) and a battery that refuses to quit! By avoiding the locked-in feel of the newer Essential Space tools and sticking to the clean, industrial look/feel, this phone remains a solid recommendation even two years on.

If you want a device that looks like a piece of tech-art but behaves like a reliable, no-nonsense tool - and you don't mind missing out on wireless charging - the (2a) Plus is a reminder that the best upgrades aren't always the flashiest ones. With security patches guaranteed until August 2028, it’s not just a stop-gap - it’s a keeper! Surprisingly it's still available for sale, even on Nothing's own website, now reduced from £399 to £299. Great value!

Thrash (2026)

Here we go with a Sony quintessential 'popcorn flick' that thrives on a regular lack of logic and blatant product placement for Xperia phones! Which is highly unlikely in the USA as Sony don't sell them there! Anyway, don't let that spoil things for you - there's plenty more that can ably do that to come! The director was Tommy Wirkola, who also directed a film I enjoyed very much and reviewed here on my blog in the shape of What Happened to Monday (2017).

Hurricane Henry makes landfall on the East Coast of America. The residents of a coastal town are advised to get to higher ground. Most do, but some don’t. Our core group of characters are trapped in various ways, locations and situations. This includes a heavily pregnant woman, a spunky teen who is unwell and still reeling from her parents' death - and a group of foster kids being mistreated by a placement family who are only in it for the money.

There is a scientist kicking about who has been tracking six sharks in the nearby waters - one of which is a huge Great White. He eventually teams up in a boat with an annoying reporter (and cameraman) who is only interested in himself and a headline-grabbing story for his TV channel. As you can see, the film is set up with various tropes intended to create tension in a disaster movie. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work!

The storm hits with surprisingly decent CGI, showing the town being swallowed by the Atlantic. Suddenly, the power cuts, the TV goes blank and the mobile masts fail - leaving everyone with no way to get help. The sharks, pushed inland by the surge, begin their hunt!

Some of the editing in the film is ruthless. One example is when our spunky but ill teen conquers her fear to rescue the pregnant woman from a car where she is trapped by a tree. One second they are just getting out of the car; the next, they are in the house. The film completely ignores the clearly perilous journey between the two - a journey that took the teen ages to navigate alone, let alone with a heavily pregnant woman in tow!

True to the genre, the 'nasty' characters are picked off with clinical precision by the Family Shark! Snatched through windows or pulled under in pools of blood while making a run (or swim) for it, they meet their comeuppance. Others show cowardice, selfishly leaving the 'nice' people in the lurch or using them as human shields. Some of the shark footage appears to be real, and the bits that clearly aren't have been done well enough to be convincing - though much of it is hidden behind thrashing and splashing!

Eventually, the storm breaks and the waters become calm and flat, but they are still populated by hungry sharks. The closest we get to any tension is when one of the heroes dives into a flooded cellar to retrieve something. He holds his breath, gets his jumper snagged on a piece of debris (of course he does) and we see a shark heading down after him. But to be honest, there is very little tension elsewhere, which is a shame.

While the shark footage is decent enough, the town's destruction is the CGI standout. However, the editing remains the film's biggest mystery. The jump-cuts between life-threatening situations and 'safe and sound' domestic settings suggest a significant amount of footage was left on the cutting-room floor. The lead actors executed their parts acceptably, I suppose, but no Oscars will be heading their way - and I didn't recognise any of them. Some of the camerawork was good enough, but the best of it was the CGI. As I said at the outset, it’s a good 90-minute popcorn romp, but it will be easily and readily forgotten.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024), Chapter 2 (2025) and Chapter 3 (2026)

The Strangers: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 are a true trilogy, as all three ‘chapters’ could well have been made into a five-hour film (or perhaps a five-part mini-series) and follow each other perfectly in terms of plot, characters and storyline. Spoiler alerts here for anyone who hasn’t seen the previous chapters. so if you want my opinion, only read about what you’ve already seen!

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)

I launched into this not knowing anything about the background, nor that I should have probably watched the 2008 film first, nor even that this was the first of a trilogy. Must pay more attention! Reviews generally slate this film, but I actually thought it was OK. It was quite suspenseful, getting into the heads of the victims during what appears to be mindless terrorism by three masked intruders.

The story follows two chirpy, happy-go-lucky young adults, very much in love, heading off on holiday. They stop in a rural town for lunch and, while they’re eating, some local loons sabotage their car. They can’t prove it, of course, but are practically forced into taking up another local’s offer of an Airbnb nearby while the car is fixed. It is in the middle of the woods. Isolated. Alone. Dark.

During the night, the three hoods go about their onslaught. There isn't actually a huge amount of violence shown - most of it is perceived - and the tension and suspense are handled well. The two leads, especially the girl, were very convincing - not for one minute did it look like their tongues were in their cheeks! Madelaine Petsch plays Maya and Froy Gutierrez, Ryan.

It’s all very dark and menacing but ultimately quite mindless, with no real motive given for the carnage. It’s worth hanging about for the credits, incidentally, because there’s a fair bit in them - even when you think they've finished! I enjoyed it, but it seems I’m alone in that.

The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)

The story picks up immediately after the events of the first film, with Maya in hospital in the town of Venus, recovering from the attack that killed Ryan. However, she is far from safe. The three masked killers - Dollface, Pin-Up Girl and Scarecrow - discover that she survived and begin a relentless hunt to finish the job!

Most of the film is a high-stakes chase sequence as Maya flees the hospital into the surrounding woods and town. Along the way, she encounters various townspeople (including a hostile man named Gregory and a group of residents who take her in), adventures and challenges!

Maya is consumed by paranoia, unsure who to trust, as the movie implies the entire town of Venus might be in on something, including the two cops. The mystery of the first film is exposed here as we start to learn the background of Pin-Up Girl, revealed to be Shelly, the waitress from the diner in Chapter 1. Via flashbacks to childhood events, we learn why she behaves as she does and how Scarecrow fits in. Eventually, we also find out how the pair roped in Dollface to make up the trio of maniacs.

Shelly was a social outcast who bullied and eventually killed a classmate named Tamara by beating her with a rock. The phrase "Is Tamara home?", used as a precursor to violence when knocking on doors now, is revealed to be part of a game that Shelly and Scarecrow played as children. As expected, Maya fights back when they catch up with her and, in the end, ambushes Pin-Up Girl and kills her. Scarecrow is visibly distraught, confirming a deep, long-standing emotional connection between the two killers.

The film ends on a cliffhanger. Despite killing Pin-Up Girl, Maya is unsuccessful in escaping the town. She remains trapped and hunted by the remaining two killers, but in the teaser for the third film, we see her wearing the Pin-Up Girl mask! Has Maya snapped after the trauma? Or is she infiltrating the group to kill the remaining members from the inside? All will be revealed!

The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026)

In the third instalment, we find out more about the origins of the killers and why they continue this cycle of violence. The film opens with a flashback to 2021, showing a woman named Claire arriving in Venus. She is checking into the local motel when she is targeted and brutally murdered, confirming that the town has been their hunting ground for years.

In the present, Maya is still in Venus, mourning Ryan and her narrow escape in Chapter 2. After killing Pin-Up Girl, Maya is eventually captured by Scarecrow and Dollface. They take her to an underground lair beneath a sawmill, where the film reveals the dark truth about the town’s dodgy background!

As it turns out, Scarecrow (Gregory) is the son of Sheriff Rotter. The Sheriff has been covering up his son's murders for years to protect the family name, on the condition that Gregory only kills outsiders. Dollface was a traveller who had already committed a murder when she met Gregory and Shelly. The three bonded over their shared psychotic tendencies and formed the trio.

While held captive, Gregory tattoos Maya with a "smiley face" - the signature of the Strangers - and forces her to wear the mask, intending for her to take Shelly's place. However, during a struggle at a motel where the killers are stalking new victims, Maya manages to stab Dollface with a machete and viciously wipes her out!

Maya eventually escapes and returns to the lair armed with Ryan’s old shotgun. She finds the Sheriff and Scarecrow there - the latter unmasks himself - not a huge surprise if you’ve been paying attention - and tries to convince Maya that they are now 'one and the same'. He wants her to be his new Pin-Up Girl! I'll leave the final outcome for you to enjoy, but you won't have to work too hard to guess how it ends!

Verdict

The trilogy is less of a horror and more of a 'terror' for me. While there is visible violence, the emphasis is on tension as the trio's victims are, yes, terrified. There's a long scene in the second film where Maya is being stalked through the hospital - the camera follows her in close-up through eerie silence. It might be the longest sequence in the trilogy and reminded me of the museum scene in The Last of Us (2023).

It’s all completely bonkers, of course, but it's a fun survival romp. The audience really gets behind Maya and wants her to come out on top. The main actors do a decent job, particularly Petsch, who is convincing throughout. The 'baddies' provide sinister, psychotic characters to enjoy and the cinematography is nicely executed. The direction is tight and doesn't let the audience sit back from the edge of their seats for a minute!

Again, the films are slated by most reviewers, but I don't really get the hate. I think they are great fun and well worth a watch. It certainly isn't Little House on the Prairie, but if they were after something dark, suspenseful and terrifying, and I think they were, they did a good job!

In the UK you can now get to all three films via various streaming services.

The Bride! (2026)

Maggie Gyllenhaal, who first popped up with her amazingly bold performance in Secretary (2002), has delivered something truly smashing here. As I sit down to write this, I don't quite understand why I find myself surrounded by other reviewers slating the movie and dubbing it to be rubbish. It honestly feels like they saw a different film! Co-written with the spirit of Mary Shelley herself, this is a high-voltage reimagining of the classic monster tale that refuses to play by the rules. I found myself thoroughly entertained by its spark (yeah, OK - no more electricity puns), its biting humour and surprisingly deep warmth.

The story kicks off in a wonderfully atmospheric 1930s Chicago. We follow Frank - that’s Frankenstein to you and me - played by Chris Bale (The Dark Knight) with a brooding, soulful melancholy. He’s a lonely man who has lived far too long with his sadness, wandering the fringes of a world that doesn’t want him. Desperate for a companion, he tracks down the brilliant 'Mad Scientist' Dr Euphronius, played with icy aplomb by Annette Bening (American Beauty).

In a sequence that pays homage to Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Euphronius agrees to build him a partner. In a lab defined by domed glass and a dangerous overdose of electricity, they reanimate Ida, a recently deceased young woman. But what emerges from the slab isn't just a compliant companion. No, Ida is reborn as Penelope and Jessie Buckley (Hamnet, Fingernails) plays her as an anarchic force to be reckoned with. She remembers little of her past life, but she has clearly retained all of her fire.

The film then takes an unexpected turn when Frank and Penelope hit the road. This isn't just a scenic drive, they are on the run after the pair of them kill a couple of blokes who attempted to rape her. It’s a brutal scene, so watch out for that, that shifts the movie’s gear entirely. Their journey quickly evolves into a 1930s road trip fueled by violence, sacrifice and a twisted, genuine love.

At this point, the film becomes very Bonnie & Clyde, but with a feminist edge. Like that famous outlaw duo, Frank and Penny's exploits trigger a massive social movement. Across the country, we see scenes of women painting their faces in Penelope’s punk-rock image, sparking a wave of anarchy that threatens the very foundations of the era's polite society. It’s a bold creative choice that makes the movie feel incredibly modern despite its vintage setting.

Hot on their heels are two detectives, Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz). Ronnie Reed (played by Maggie’s brother, Jake Gyllenhaal) is in the mix too, and the family connections behind the scenes clearly translate to a chemistry that feels real. However, they are often outshone by the luminous Cruz! At 51, she remains absolutely amazing on screen, but it’s her comic timing as Myrna that really steals her scenes. She brings a quirky, sharp-witted energy to the detective hunt that provides a much-needed balance to the darker, more violent themes of the film.

While the main six actors are all performing well, Jessie Buckley is the film’s undisputed talent. Her transition from the tragic, broken Ida to the awakening, rebellious Penelope - and even popping up as Mary Shelley herself - is flawless. She manages to be terrifying, vulnerable and very funny all at once. It’s a physical performance that deserves way more credit than the critics are giving it.

Visually, The Bride! is an absolute feast too. The cinematography captures the grit and the glamour of 1930s America perfectly. From the period-accurate vehicles to the wardrobe, the production design is immersive. Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is the soundtrack. The music features hauntingly beautiful singing and tracks that perfectly underscore the film’s shifts from moving and sad to outright hilarious. A special nod must go to Jake Gyllenhaal, who contributes to the music of the film. I had no idea he was a musician and his input adds a layer to the film’s unique punk-rock-meets-period-piece vibe!

So yes, I simply don't understand why the critical reaction leans toward such harsh detraction. To me, it's a greatly creative, moving work that dares to do something different. It’s funny when it needs to be, heartbreaking when it counts and visually stunning throughout. Gyllenhaal hasn’t just remade a monster movie - I reckon she's smartly offered us a story about the female struggle for position in a male-dominated world and nicely picked apart the 'mess' of being made-by-others! Don’t listen to the naysayers - this is a road trip worth taking and accessible now in the UK without a cinema visit too.