Pasckie Pascua's Nerdy Squirrel Reviews: Movies.

“Desire” (2026, Netflix ) Mexican drama. in July 2026. A lawyer has an affair with her daughter's swim coach, threatening her marriage.         The only lure of this stereotypical drama are the steamy scenes, which aren't so erotic to me, anyway. An unconvincing plot and characters that are difficult to like. And a finale twist that is uhh far-fetched and lame. Too bad the talent of Jose Maria Yazpik is relegated into a sorry supporting cliche. 🎥💻📽 “Swimming Home” (2024, Fawesome) black comedy - drama. The film revolves around Joe and Isabel, whose marriage is dying when Kitti, a naked stranger, is found floating in the pool at their holiday villa.         First-time director Justin Anderson may have gained some admirers in the arthouse joint with this attempt at avant-gardish cinema. Besides the involved performance of Christopher Abbott as the moody writer Joe (writers are moody, right) this movie's da...

“Hazard” (2025, Pluto TV) Appalachian gritty drama. Set in a struggling mining community heavily impacted by the opioid crisis, the film delivers a raw, harrowing portrait of generational poverty and addiction.        Although the premise easily offers a predictable storyline structure, this indie somehow was able to go around usual Hollywood tropes. The focus isn't on the obvious blame on Big Pharma but this feature navigates how addiction shatters families.        Praise as well goes to the involved performances by Alex Roe as small-time dealer Will, and Sosie Bacon as Sara, his estranged partner fighting to stay clean. 🎥💻📽 “Palm Trees and Power Lines” (2022, Amazon Prime) coming-of-age drama . A disconnected teenage girl falls into a relationship with a man twice her age.         A quietly powerful directorial debut by Jamie Dack, based on her 2018 short film of the same ...

“Greenland” (2020, Amazon Prime) disaster film . A family who must fight for survival as a planet-destroying comet races to Earth. Stars Gerard Butler.         Effects-smothered, comet hurtling to earth, people in gargantuan panic, and all that apocalypse cinema obligatories? Chaos, destruction, and torn-up families? Even a Gen Z has seen too much of these already (mostly with zombies) that they can easily lip-sync the dialogues.         But for some reason, with Gerard Butler's perpetually worried but reassuring face as center of this b-movie weekend couch ride, you may forgive the “here we go again!” smirk. Mr Butler makes a disaster movie less disastrous, so there's a sequel. Of course. 🎥💻📽 “Greenland 2: Migration” (2026, Amazon Prime) post-apocalyptic film . Sequel to “ Greenland ” (2020). The Garrity family leaves their failing underground bunker to trek across a ruined Europe chasing rumors of a fl...

“Revoir Paris” (2022, Tubi) French drama . About a woman who is struggling with the lingering mental health effects of having survived a terrorist attack in Paris.         This movie, as in most French work of the same dramatic vein, focuses on mass shooting survivor Mia's torment. Essayed by a restrained but involved Virginie Efira, we can't help but be part of her confusion, guilt and lostness. A very sensitive treatment sans dramatic bombast by writer-director Alice Winocour . 🎥💻📽 “Only the Animals” (2019, Tubi) French crime drama that tracks how the disappearance of a wealthy French housewife connects five desperate people across rural France and the Ivory Coast.         Smart, meticulous direction (by Dominik Moll) that expertly handled the multi-characters into a coordinated balancing act. Based on the novel “Seules les betes” by Colin Niel, the first few sequences can be a bit of a surreal puzzl...

“ The Silence ” (2019, Netflix) post-apocalyptic horror. The world faces a deadly attack from flying, bat-like creatures called "vesps." These monsters are blind and hunt their human prey entirely by sound.         This tired derivative (sic) is an obvious take-off from Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 classic “The Birds” (based on Daphne du Maurier's short story) albeit weird, flying creatures as antagonists (apart from a pursuing cult). Think as well of John Krasinski's “A Quiet Place” franchise, which is a lot better than “The Silence.”        Stanley Tucci and Kiernan Shipka deliver fine performances but their effort failed to placate this pseudo-dread's predictability, cliche scares, and blank pacing. 🎥💻📽 “The Awakening” (2011, Amazon Prime) British historical horror thriller. Set in post-World War I England (1921), it follows an author who exposes hoax ghost sightings, as she travels to a countryside boarding sch...

“Brothers Under Fire” (2026, Hulu) action film . A decorated U.S. Army Captain and his military squadron travel to Mexico for a comrade's wedding. When a ruthless local cartel violently interrupts the celebration and kills a groom, the joyous trip turns into a brutal fight for survival. Stars Kiefer Sutherland.          The action sequences are alright and neatly-executed but not the sort that'd stick in your memory. Yet there's nothing in this by-the-motions cartel cliche that is fresh or new. Mr Sutherland's talent goes through a day-job gig. Get paid, done. That's all. 🎥💻📽 “Normal” (2025, HBO Max) action thriller . The story—set in the fictitious, titular town of Normal, Minnesota —follows a newly-arrived interim sheriff who investigates a town-wide conspiracy after a botched bank robbery.         The premise is ridiculously cartoonish or wildly whacked but no matter. This movie revels on Bob Odenkirk'...