November 2024 Movie Reviews: Alien Romulus, Woman of the Hour, & A Different Man
This November, we’ll be going over three newly streaming movies — one that’s pretty good, one that’s pretty bad, and one that’s pretty average. Read on to discover which film falls into which category, so you know what to watch as we enter into the latter part of 2024!
Alien: Romulus (2024)
20th Century Studios, 119 minutes
To say that Alien: Romulus is boring is an insult to anything that is just an average level of boring. Because, wow, this one is a snoozer. If you’re in need of a good nap, I highly recommend Alien: Romulus.
The original Alien is great science fiction horror. It’s sequel, Aliens, is an outer space action extravaganza. The (many) Alien movies that have followed have been (to varying degrees) unsuccessful attempts to recapture the glory of those first two films. Alien: Romulus is yet another failure.
This dud plays like Alien fanfiction. It largely combines ideas from other Alien movies, but somehow manages to make them feel more boring and amateurish. Our cast of Gen-Z characters are completely without personality, and what little characterization they do get is as cliché as you can get for these sorts of films. There’s the android, the guy who hates androids, the pregnant girl, and the attractive male lead. Our final girl/heroine is the blandest of the bunch.
I don’t think there’s been a duller protagonist than Cailee Spaeny’s Rain in recent memory. She has all the personality of a cardboard box. I wasn’t expecting Alien: Romulus to be great, but I was hoping to be at least mindlessly entertained. I was not.
Grade: 3/10
Woman of the Hour (2023)
Netflix, 94 minutes
There’s a lot of trash on Netflix these days. Lately, I rarely head to the streaming service to watch anything, and I can’t remember the last movie released directly onto the platform that was any good. That’s before Woman of the Hour, however, because this movie, which technically premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2023 but began streaming on October 18th, is an above average film.
Woman of the Hour is a crime drama that focuses on serial killer Rodney Alcala in the 1970s. The story isn’t told linearly, jumping around between different years in the decade, as viewers witness Alcala’s interactions with various women. The movie pays particular attention to Alcala’s appearance on The Dating Game.
The movie is careful to never really show us events from Alcala’s perspective, instead making the different women in each section of the story the one whose eyes we’re really viewing events through. Anna Kendrick stars as Cheryl, the woman on The Dating Game, and her performance is solid. I feel like the entire cast did a good job, though no one was particularly extraordinary.
That’s the case for Woman of the Hour as a whole actually. The film, which is Kendrick’s directorial debut as well, is very good, while at the same time not being fantastic in any way. Still, it’s definitely worth watching if you’re in the mood for a well-paced crime movie.
Grade: 7.5/10
A Different Man (2024)
A24, 112 minutes
A Different Man is an alright movie that doesn’t quite know what sort of film it wants to be. It’s part black comedy, part drama, and even a little bit psychological thriller. It doesn’t wholly buy into any genre though, and I think the movie suffers a bit because of it – it’s just not quite a good enough film to straddle the line between different types of films.
The movie begins interesting enough, and I’d argue that the first act of the film is its strongest part. Our protagonist is a man named Edward who has a severely disfigured face. We follow Edward’s day-to-day life as a struggling actor, and the feel of the film lets us know that something drastic will soon occur.
Edward gets an opportunity to undergo an experimental treatment to drastically improve his looks, and from there, the wheels of our story are really set into motion. This lead character is different and feels worthy of exploring, but the other central characters we focus on aren’t too well-developed or complex. A Different Man is also the type of movie where once we understand what it’s trying to say, there really isn’t much more to it than simply that.
Overall, I don’t think A Different Man is a bad film – it’s well put together and a unique story. I just wish there had been more to it to hold my interest. Additionally, I feel if the movie had leaned into any of the particular genres it draws from more fully, it would be a better movie.
Grade: 5.5/10