The Two Best Movies of The Year Are Here
A surreal revenge thriller and supernatural dramedy horror are making this a must-go-to-the-theater weekend.
Happy Thursday, and welcome to the “good movies are back in theaters” portion of the year! *crowd goes wild* After a solid start to the year, the summer movie season is off to a fantastic start with two of the year’s best movies debuting this weekend in theaters. Both movies are the directors' film debuts, so clearly the future of movies is in good hands.
Is God Is is a surreal neo-western revenge thriller about two twin sisters going on an odyssey to get revenge on their estranged father. Obsession, which was my favorite movie out of the Toronto Film Festival last year, is a supernatural horror dramedy that follows a classic “nice guy” who gets more than he bargains for when a wish-gone-wrong makes his crush obsessed with him. Read more below! ♥ Karl
P.S. If you want to stay in, I recommend a couple of similar movies to stream below.
Is God Is
Is God Is is as simple as that. The line, perfectly delivered by the legend Vivica A. Fox, sets our heroines off on a classic western tale of revenge. But the world isn’t as straightforward as it seems. There’s a mythic quality to how writer-director Aleshea Harris presents Ruby (Fox) for the first time. She’s lying on a lush bed surrounded by greenery and lace like an earth goddess, women are braiding her long hair with reverence, and her face is covered with a mask hiding burn scars from a devastating attack that left her twin girls, Racine (Broadway legend-in-the-making Kara Young) and Anaia (newcomer Mallori Johnson), thinking she was long passed. But she’s very much alive, and mad as hell.
Is God Is doesn’t fully fulfill the expectations you have for any one of its genres. Just like the response to trauma—violent or generational—it’s messy, confusing, and sometimes your reactions don’t make any sense. All of those feelings are balled up in a riotous and roaring odyssey that is as funny as it is heartbreaking and incisive as it is thought-provoking. With Young and Johnson’s powerhouse performances keeping you entertained and engrossed, and an assured directorial hand from Harris guiding you like an unseen fate, Is God Is is one of the year’s very best. Read my full review.
Obsession
“Be careful what you wish for” has been a cornerstone of storytelling for ages. From genies to witches to mysterious neon-green serums that birth younger versions of ourselves, we’ve seen countless victims of desire fall prey to wanting more without sacrifice. Often, that premise has paired neatly with body horror—think The Picture of Dorian Gray or, more recently, The Substance. Both turn desire into a weapon against us. Writer-director Curry Barker taps into that tradition for his debut feature Obsession, delivering a film steeped in familiar tropes yet stamped with a singular vision as a lovesick nice guy (Michael Johnston) a “One Wish Willow” to get his crush Nikki (Inde Navarrette) to be obsessed with him.
Obsession feels like part of a new wave of horror. Alongside filmmakers like Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons) and the Philippou brothers (Talk to Me), Barker leaves “prestige horror” behind in favor of something meaner, darker, and more cynical—where the consequences are deserved, brutal, and terrifying in their simplicity: you wanted too much. It’s horror for the post-pandemic age, where nothing is scarier than our own choices. At the same time, it’s devilishly entertaining, laced with dark comedy and kinetic filmmaking that makes it endlessly rewatchable. Remarkably, with every eerie creep and dread-soaked beat, Obsession feels like a classic we’ve been watching for years—less derivative than timeless. It’s unquestionably a horror classic in the making. Guess you could say I’m...
Wanna stay in? Here are movies like Is God Is and Obsession to stream:
Atomic Blonde. It’s 1989. The Berlin Wall is about to come down, but the Cold War is still in full swing. A British spy (Charlize Theron) is tasked with retrieving an important dossier before her KGB counterparts can get their hands on it. This neon-soaked, synth-driven action thriller has all the twists, double crosses, and suspense you want from an espionage movie—plus some of the best action sequences in recent memory. Streaming on HBO Max.
Together. A long-term couple’s (played by Alison Brie and Dave Franco) already strained relationship is put to the test when they move to a rural Upstate New York town where supernatural forces force them apart… and well, together. Part relationship drama, part dark comedy, part body horror, but wholly and devilishly entertaining with a plot that will keep you guessing. Stream on Hulu.