September 2025 Movie Reviews: The Life of Chuck, She Rides Shotgun, Together
This month’s movie reviews run the gamut in terms of genres; we’ve got everything from heartfelt drama to action-thriller and horror. Amongst these three summer releases is also my favorite new release of the season so far. Which movie is it? You won’t have to read long to find out!
The Life of Chuck (2025)
Neon, 111 minutes
The Life of Chuck is based off of a similarly titled Stephen King story, yet it doesn’t feel at all like a typical Stephen King-inspired movie. I think when most people hear the name Stephen King, they immediately think of the horror genre. When it comes to films that are inspired by his shorter novellas though, they’re often not horror and are actually some of the better films based off of his work – like The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. The Life of Chuck, which is primarily a drama with some sci-fi/fantasy elements, is no exception to the notion of a King novella resulting in an excellent adapted movie.
The Life of Chuck was adapted by, and directed by, filmmaker Mike Flanagan. Flanagan, like King, is often associated with horror (and helmed movies like Oculus and Ouija: Origin of Evil, which I enjoyed, as well as a bunch of Netflix horror shows). Here, Flanagan shows he’s able to expertly branch out and tell a very different tale than is typical of him.
It’s difficult to write about what The Life of Chuck is truly about without getting into spoiler territory. It’s a genre bending film, that acts as a sort of modern-day fairytale. King’s influence in the story is most evident when it comes to the film’s more supernatural elements, though those definitely don’t dominate the movie at all.
If anything, The Life of Chuck is more of a message movie where a central idea is being portrayed (in a nonlinear fashion) to the viewer. It’s a film that looks at big picture ideas. I don’t think it’s quite in the class of a movie like Arrival (one of my favorite movies of all time), but it does have a few similar concepts/philosophies it’s trying to convey that that movie does.
The Life of Chuck is about, as the title says, the life of Chuck, but it’s also a film about so much more. I really enjoyed it, and don’t want to say much more about it other than I’d highly recommend it to just about anyone. It’s a movie that tugs at the heartstrings while getting across a powerful and important message.
Grade: 9/10
She Rides Shotgun (2025)
Lionsgate, 120 minutes
She Rides Shotgun is a lower budget crime thriller than I found to be pretty disappointing. It’s the sort of movie that has potential but is ultimately a letdown for a variety of reasons.
In terms of tone/the feel of the movie, I was sort of reminded of something like Good Time, directed by the Safdie brothers, or even their other well-known movie, Uncut Gems. I also thought of S. Craig Zahler’s Brawl in Cell Block 99, just with the criminal story/low-budget vibe (though this isn’t quite as grindhouse-feeling as Zahler’s work).
Like all of those films, we’re also mainly following a protagonist who walks the line between being a good/bad guy. She Rides Shotgun centers on Nathan, who’s recently been released from prison, as well as his daughter, Polly, who Nathan abducts (or rescues from danger, we don’t know which early on).
The father/daughter angle of the film has the potential to be interesting, and while Taron Egerton, who plays Nathan, and Ana Sophia Heger, starring as his daughter, do a decent job, I wasn’t blown away by either performance (or particularly drawn to either character). With all of these types of movies, there’s often some suspension of disbelief around what happens to our protagonists. Here though, in the third act, everything goes really off the rails into silly/extremely unbelievable territory. I was totally taken out of the movie.
She Rides Shotgun is still alright I suppose. It’s not boring. Still, I didn’t find it particularly enjoyable or profound/unique in any way, and this is one that most viewers will likely completely forget about a week after watching.
Grade: 5/10
Together (2025)
Neon, 102 minutes
This one is a doozy. I feel mixed as to my feeling on Together, a body horror film starting real-life couple, Dave Franco and Allison Brie.
As far as positives go, the premise of the movie is definitely creative. It would be more enjoyable to go into this one generally without knowing much of the setup. However, if you consider the title of the movie, and if you’ve seen the main poster for the film, you’ll basically get what our conflict is going to be. (I still won’t spell it out here but go look up the poster and you’ll be able to figure it out.)
Unfortunately, much of the movie does miss the mark. While the setup is creative, once you’re past the general idea for the movie, everything else that happens is extremely predictable. If you’ve seen any other horror movies, you can pretty much guess each major plot point before it happens.
Franco and Brie have decent chemistry, which makes sense since they’re actually married, but neither delivers a great performance. The script doesn’t give either anything special to work with either. Both characters feel basic and sort of boring.
Together is still a fine watch if you’re in the mood for some body horror. It would make an awful date movie, but if you want to watch something that’ll make you squirm it delivers.
Grade: 6/10