August 2025 Movie Reviews: 28 Years Later, Dangerous Animals, Sovereign
Get ready to run from a horde of very fast zombies, swim with some dangerous (and potentially deadly) sharks, and learn all about the teachings of the sovereign citizen movement, as we review three recent 2025 releases.
28 Years Later (2025)
Columbia Pictures, 115 minutes
So, I recently rewatched both 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, the two movies that preceded this one. They’re drastically different films from one another, with the original from 2002 being more of a low-budget, independent and artistic take on a zombie movie, and the sequel, 28 Weeks Later, being way more polished, action-oriented horror. It’s not as creative or different feeling as 28 Days Later, but it’s still a very enjoyable, fun watch.
Well, if those two films are different from one another, here comes 28 Years Later, an extremely bizarre continuation of the franchise that I don’t think will appeal to your average moviegoer. If I had to say which of the earlier two films this new release is more like, it would definitely be the original, as the filmmakers are clearly going for a more out-there take on the genre. Instead of simply being just somewhat artsy feeling like 28 Days Later though, 28 Years Later feels more like an art project.
The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Spike who ventures out of the safety of his community with his father in a sort of coming-of-age undertaking. It’s all fine, but mostly this is a movie in which the director, Danny Boyle, and writer, Alex Garland, have oodles of different ideas they want to try, with things like splicing in old footage at times, and have a bunch of points they’re trying to make about major themes like isolationism and society breaking down and starting over.
28 Years Later isn’t an awful movie. I liked the first half of it (which is less weird) more than the second (which goes really off the rails), but the entire film always still held my interest. However, if you go into the film expecting fast zombies chasing people, you’re going to be majorly disappointed. Even the zombies (or infected as they’re called in this universe) have mutated into what are more like super strong cavemen than how they were in earlier movies. It’s different. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, but it’s always weird.
Grade: 5.5/10
Dangerous Animals (2025)
IFC Films/Shudder, 98 minutes
Dangerous Animals is almost too simple a title for a film that’s as much of a wild ride as this one – it’s a survival horror movie where our villain’s main method of murder is by gruesomely feeding victims to sharks.
Tucker, the serial killer in question, is a boat captain who offers tourists the experience of swimming with sharks by being lowered down in an underwater cage. We quickly learn that his fascination with the beasts is far more sinister in nature though. The protagonist of the film is a surfer named Zephyr who’s abducted by Tucker and must find a way to escape.
Jai Courtney is great as Tucker, one of the more entertaining movie killers in recent memory.
Overall, this movie is a good deal of fun. It’s brutally violent at times, with some genuinely surprising moments thrown in. Dangerous Animals is definitely the sort of edge-of-your-seat horror-thriller where you’ll absolutely never be bored over the course of its runtime.
Is it a fantastic movie? Probably not. But for the vibe and type of movie its going for, Dangerous Animals is certainly a success.
Grade: 7.5/10
Sovereign (2025)
Briarcliff Entertainment, 100 minutes
Sovereign is billed as a crime thriller, but I’d allege that it falls way more into the drama genre. The film, which is based on real events, follows a father and son who identify as sovereign citizens. This basically means they’re extremely anti-government and have a set of nonsensical interpretations of laws and court rulings that they believe allows them to do things like not repay loans or drive without a license.
In addition to watching the father and son sovereign citizens, we’re also introduced to the chief of police and his son, a new officer on the police force. The entire movie is well made and interesting enough – it’s all good, but it doesn’t really elevate itself to that next level of being a truly great film.
If anything, the best part of the movie (by far) is the performance of Nick Offerman as the father sovereign citizen. His character definitely gets the most to work with in the script, especially when compared to his son who’s a more introspective character, but he still really nails the role.
It’s clear from the opening of Sovereign that you’re going to be basically watching a tragedy unfold, and that’s exactly what the movie does depict. I think Offerman performance alone, in what’s ultimately an above avearge film, makes Sovereign worth checking out.
Grade: 7/10