Reviews for October 9th, 2026
In Adam's Fire, 12-year-old Adam (Hudson Barry) grieves the death of his mother, Amy (Alicia Underwood), whose neighbor, Jackie (Jennifer Marshall), shot and killed one year earlier. When Jackie gets out of prison and moves next door, he yearns to avenge her death and for his new friend, Mariam (Zahra Jamal), to teach him Taekwondo to defend himself against his bullied, but his dad, Dan (Chris Alvarez), a former soldier, tries to talk him out of it. Writer/director Bob Ahmed has made a wise, tender and heartfelt emotional journey about grief, forgiveness, compassion and the path toward equanimity. Adam's anger is justified because Jackie, a former Army medic, killed his mother while battling PTSD, so he's indignant. She has been dealing with the consequences of her actions and trying her best to heal by seeing a therapist, Dr. Liz (Eileen Grubba). Will Adam master his rage or will his rage become his master? Fortunately, he has a father who's a great, emotionally mature role model to guide him and help him to become a better gardener of his soul, so-to-speak, because to cultivate the flowers of anger is no easy task for anyone, especially for a child who's emotionally immature. Those kinds of flowers have to be handled with care because they're very thorny like roses.
Kudos to writer/director Bob Ahmed for seeing and treating everyone including Jackie as a complex human being without asking the audience to judge them. In a less sensitive screenplay, Jackie would've been turned into a one-dimensional villain. Hudson Barry's breakthrough performance along with the natural performances by the rest of the ensemble cast further ground the film in authenticity. The screenplay manages to be enlightening without being preachy, heartbreaking without being maudlin, and hopeful without being cheesy. Ahmed provides many kernels of wisdom for the audience to cultivate like flowers in the garden of their own soul which makes this the kind of film that will nourish your heart, mind and soul. Hopefully, Adam will be able to fully embrace the wise poem by Pablo Neruda: "They can cut all of the flowers, but they can't stop the spring from coming." At a running time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, Adam's Fire opens in select theaters via Outsider Pictures.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
In Fjord, Lisbet (Renate Reinsve) and her husband, Mihai (Sebastian Stan), a religious Romanian family, move with their five children, including a newborn baby girl, to a Norwegian village. Soon enough, they get accused of physically abusing their children, have them removed from their home by Child Protection Services, and face a trial as well as criminal charges. CPS has evidence of bruises on their eldest daughter, Elia (Vanessa Ceban), and a signed confession by Mihai that he admits to physically abusing his kids, so he and Lisbet have an uphill battle against CPS. Ellen Dorrit Petersen plays the CPS caseworker who investigates them. The first lawyer who Lisbet and Mihair hire eventually resigns, so they're stuck defending themselves on their own for a while.
Writer/director Cristian Mungiu has made a slow-burning, poetic and provocative legal thriller with some moral ambiguity. Neither Lisbet nor Mihai believe they're physically abusive even though she admits that she pushed her son and he admits that he slapped his daughter on the butt. He even explains in court that his behavior was acceptable back in Romania and during his upbringing, but the court doesn't accept that because laws are different in Norway. Once CPS brings up his religion and starts questioning his religious beliefs, that's when the film somewhat loses its footing and becomes heavy-handed. There's also an underdeveloped subplot involving Elia and Noora (Henrikke Lund-Olsen), the daughter of her neighbor, Mia (Lisa Carlehed). Oh, and Mia just so happens to agree to become Lisbet's new lawyer. So, Fjord's screenplay does become contrived, undercooked and less nuanced by the time the end credits roll.
Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan both give solid performances and look nearly unrecognizable as they disappear into their roles. Ellen Dorrit Petersen also shines as the cold, cunning and bureaucratic CPS caseworker. Moreover, the stunning cinematography and the use of symbolism add both style and substance to the film, e.g. the avalanches that take place around the village which sits along a fjord. The pace moves slowly, at times a bit too slow, so patient audiences will be rewarded the most. Just be prepared for a complex film with no easy answers and that ultimately leaves you with more questions than answers. At a running time of 2 hours and 26 minutes, Fjord opens in select theaters via NEON.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Misty Green (Rosalind Eleazar), an actress whose stardom has faded, struggles with drug addiction, but gets the chance for a comeback as the lead in a remake of Dreamgirls in Misty Green. Adam Driver plays Zach, a friend of Misty and a filmmaker who's also a drug addict, Chris Rock plays Dreamgirls's casting director, and Daniel Kaluuya play's Misty's brother who has schizophrenia. Writer/director Chris Rock has made an overwrought, disjointed and tonally uneven mess that features a great performance by Rosalind Eleazar. It's too bad that the screenplay remains so unfocused, shallow and meandering.
Moreover, Misty barely even has a character arc and continuously makes bad choices while also neglecting the emotional needs of her mentally ill brother who clearly needs help. She's a bad role model, unreliable and doesn't have any signs of introspection--or at least the film doesn't design enough of a window into her heart, mind and soul for the audience to sense that. Ultimately, Misty Green is less than the sum of its parts. At a running time of 1 hour and 43 minutes, Misty Green opens nationwide via A24.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
