Welcome to another edition of Trust Me, I Watch Everything, a weekly guide to all the new movies released on Friday. I’m Brett Arnold, film critic and host of Roger & Me, a weekly Siskel & Ebert-style movie review show.
This week, the seventh entry in a beloved horror franchise finally hits theaters after a rough journey to the big screen, but it’s an Elvis concert film that steals the show.
At home, you can rent or buy the Jason Statham actioner Shelter or the Oscar-nominated foreign film The Voice of Hind Rajab.
And on streaming services you’re likely already paying for, look out for a new documentary about the Beatles — this one about Paul McCartney’s career specifically — and an indie gem from Jim Jarmusch in Father Mother Sister Brother. There’s also The Bluff, a pirate action flick starring Priyanka Chopra-Jonas and Karl Urban, which is the best movie this week that you probably haven’t heard of.
Read on, as there’s a lot more, and there’s always something for everyone.
🎥 What to watch in theatersMy not-a-recommendation: Scream 7
Why you should skip it: Nearly three years after Scream 6 became the highest-grossing entry in the newly rebooted franchise, Scream 7 hits theaters.
It’s been a rather tumultuous journey from script to screen. Melissa Barrera, the series’s new leading lady, was fired for her social media posts about the war in Gaza. Jenna Ortega, arguably the biggest name in 5 and 6, dropped out shortly thereafter. Those exits led to a last-minute rewrite and very public salary negotiations with Neve Campbell, who ultimately returned after sitting out the last entry and making headlines for turning down what she considered an insulting offer. Obnoxiously, news of other original movie cast members returning also made headlines long in advance, which ruined the element of surprise, but I won’t say who in case you missed them.
Kevin Williamson, the writer of the original film and its first sequel, returns to the fold here, but in the director’s chair as well. It’s his first feature film since directing Teaching Mrs. Tingle back in 1999.
It’s worth mentioning all that baggage because this is a Scream movie, after all. It’s a franchise known for its meta-commentary on horror films and their conventions, and these extratextual elements do wind up factoring into the story in one way or another.
In the film, when a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Campbell’s Sidney has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, she must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all. Essentially, Sidney must face off against the most terrifying adversary yet … her teenage daughter!
After a cold open kill sequence that’s easily the highlight of the movie, we’re introduced to a particularly forgettable new set of teens along with the return of familiar characters — including original cast member Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers and Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown as the Meeks-Martin twins (half of the “Core Four”) — as the typical machinations of the whodunnit kick in.
Without delving into spoiler territory, the biggest problem with Scream 7 is that the series has now fully completed its transition from espousing wisdom on the genre at large to commenting entirely on itself, a phenomenon that’s become truer with each new entry since the 2022 reboot.
By the time Savoy Brown’s Mindy lists new rules that the 2026 version of Ghostface will follow, it’s such a half-hearted attempt at pontificating on nostalgia, including references to Halloween (2018) and Laurie Strode’s trauma, that even the character can’t get away from the topic fast enough. If she kept talking, maybe Mindy would eventually realize the movie she’s in is guilty of the very thing she’s critiquing by bringing back Sidney Prescott to be tormented yet again — or that Kevin Williamson basically already made this movie way back in 1998 with Halloween: H20.
It wants to have its cake and eat it too when it comes to the use of deepfakes and AI. That sounds like fertile ground for a modern Scream movie in theory, considering the film’s iconic use of phone calls, but in practice, it’s inherently uncinematic, low-rent and cheap-feeling.
Scream 7 is constantly talking out of both sides of its mouth, indulging in the very behavior it’s meant to be satirizing, like when Sidney flat-out says that a certain plot element would make for a “better story” than what the movie is actually doing. The ending, i.e., the killer’s big “here’s what motivated me” reveal, is clearly meant to make fun of a certain type of Scream fan and their reaction to the last movie, yet it still winds up feeling like it’s endorsing that view by including it.
There is some stuff worth praising in here, though. The cold open is genuinely fun, scary and playful in a way the rest of the movie is not, and there are a couple of surprisingly gnarly kills that do deliver what fans of the series are looking for. There are a few shots of Ghostface lingering in the background that are striking, menacing and really creepy. I didn’t expect much from Williamson as a director, considering his lack of experience, but the set pieces are actually fine. It’s a shame, though, that the movie has the very modern problem of being way too dark — literally, a problem apparent from the opening shot that is borderline illegible. The Sidney “refusing to discuss her trauma with her daughter” stuff also would’ve hit harder had every legacy sequel not gotten there first.
Scream (2022) lovingly targeted the idea of fandom run amok through a not-so-subtle reference to The Last Jedi by having the killers’ motivations revolve around fans’ reactions to Stab 8, the in-universe movies based on the “real” events of Scream. Scream 7 has, sadly, come full circle in that it’s absolutely the Rise of Skywalker of the series: a bizarre attempted course-correct that feels like an apology for the last movie, which was actually a hit and is more beloved than this one will ever be.
What other critics are saying: It’s the worst-reviewed entry in the franchise since 2000’s Scream 3. IndieWire’s Alison Foreman writes, “Williamson’s greatest failure comes in the film’s relationship to meta-commentary. Once the series’s calling card, self-awareness has here been dulled into self-soothing.” Variety’s Owen Gleiberman declares, “Williamson has gone back to basics, but the result is a Scream sequel that, while it nods in the direction of being seductively convoluted, is really just … basic.”
How to watch: Scream 7 is now playing in theaters nationwide.
My bonus recommendation: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert
Why you should see it: Baz Luhrmann’s cinematic obsession with Elvis Presley continues. Years after his Austin Butler-starring biopic made a bunch of money, the filmmaker has returned with an excellent documentary-concert film hybrid that showcases not only the sheer power of Presley performing live, but also the endearing goofball he appeared to be in candid footage of his rehearsals.
The film, which received a one-week IMAX-exclusive run last week before expanding nationwide this weekend, features never-before-seen footage and recordings of Presley in concert during his Las Vegas residency at the later stage of his career.
The footage of Presley practicing in the months leading up to the shows with his band plays a lot like Peter Jackson’s illuminating The Beatles: Get Back, in which you see the band interact privately in a way that fans rarely get to see. Presley actually covers a number of Beatles tunes in this too! It’s a delight to watch, and it’s impressive as an example of the work that went into making his live show so terrific. He comes off not only as incredibly talented, but as a master capital-E Entertainer — one of the best to ever live — and I particularly loved the exploration of his relationship with his audience, which was rivaled maybe only by … well, the Beatles.
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is a real treat for fans of the man and/or his music, and the film is at its best when it forgoes the documentary stuff to just let the show itself shine.
What other critics are saying: It’s beloved! Amy Nicholson at the Los Angeles Times writes, “I think Luhrmann is praying that in a thousand years, some alien civilization will discover this footage and build a whole religion around the thrall Elvis’s hip thrusts had over a crowd.” The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney says, “It’s as if Luhrmann were conducting a séance, awakening Elvis from the afterlife with a raw vitality and outsize energy that are rare even among the living.”
How to watch: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is now playing in theaters nationwide.
💸 Movies newly available to rent or buyMy recommendation: Shelter
Why you should see it: Not every Jason Statham vehicle is worth the price of a rental — for every fun one à la The Beekeeper, there’s a rough one like A Working Man — but I’m thrilled to report that Shelter absolutely gets the job done and is everything you want out of this sort of thing.
The story is as cliché and formulaic as it gets: A man living in self-imposed exile on a remote island rescues a young girl, setting off a chain of events that forces him out of seclusion to protect her from enemies tied to his past. But none of that matters because all the little details are right, from the characters and performances to the efficient runtime and killer craft from director Ric Roman Waugh, who makes every single action sequence feel alive with clean camerawork and great pacing. There’s an excellent car chase early on that lets you know you’re in good hands.
What other critics are saying: Critics are pretty evenly split here. TheWrap’s William Bibbiani dug it, writing “Jason Statham knows how to Jason Statham, and as usual, he Jason Stathams Jason Stathamly.” Mark Kennedy at the AP, however, was not a fan, writing that it’s “everything you expect a Jason Statham movie to be, no more and no less. Now we just wait until the next one, when the gruff but amiable dog surfing instructor next door turns out to have a secret past.”
How to watch: Shelter is now available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Prime Video and other VOD platforms.
My bonus recommendation: The Voice of Hind Rajab
Why you should see it: The Voice of Hind Rajab, an Oscar nominee for Best International Film, is the most disturbing movie of the past year, but that’s exactly why it feels so important to recommend. It’s a dramatized film depicting volunteers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society staying on the phone with a 6-year-old girl who gets trapped in a car with her dead family in war-torn Gaza. It features actors and actresses, but the phone calls being depicted are real, and the girl we hear on the phone is the real caller. The filmmakers quite brilliantly take the viewer out of the “film” throughout and remind us that this is all real. It’s a hybrid of documentary and fiction that begs to be seen.
What other critics are saying: It’s an Oscar nominee for a reason! Robbie Collin at the Telegraph writes, “Your view of this ardent, sobering chamber piece from Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania will rest, I suspect, on your response to the knotty moral question posed by its very existence.” Adds the Los Angeles Times’ Robert Abele: “What is being presented … is a remembrance and a plea to keep the fires of moral urgency lighted.”
How to watch: The Voice of Hind Rajab is now available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Prime Video and other VOD platforms.
📺 Movies newly available on streaming services you may already haveMy recommendation: Paul McCartney: Man on the Run
Why you should watch it: There seems to be a new Beatles documentary out every quarter, and this one, which focuses on Paul McCartney in the days, months and years after the Beatles broke up, is a particularly enlightening and interesting one about a very strange time in McCartney’s life.
It depicts the chaotic period when the band quietly broke up without making a public stink. McCartney fell off the grid, which led to newspaper articles and news broadcasts speculating that he had secretly died. The movie helps you understand the context for the band’s implosion. It also reminds you just how damned young they all were when the Beatles were on top of the world, and also how short-lived that period was. McCartney was just 27 by the time the band was finished!
The film also showcases the importance of the singer’s wife, Linda, in his life and how his next band, Wings, came to be. The exploration of the deterioration of the relationship between McCartney and John Lennon is sad to watch unfold but fascinating to see from the former’s perspective.
Paul McCartney: Man on the Run is the rare documentary sanctioned by the figure at the center that doesn’t feel like a puff piece. It isn’t afraid to depict the time period as it was, which was weird and full of unknowns.
What other critics are saying: It’s got 100% on Rotten Tomatoes! AP’s Jake Coyle writes, “Like its subject, Man on the Run inevitably pales next to films of the Beatles’ heyday. But it’s a meaningful companion piece about the end of an era and the start of a long and winding road.” Nick Schager at the Daily Beast calls it “an uplifting portrait of the possibility of rebirth — even for the most famous person on Earth.”
How to watch: Paul McCartney: Man on the Run is now streaming on Prime Video.
My bonus recommendation: Father Mother Sister Brother
Why you should watch it: Independent filmmaking icon Jim Jarmusch returns with an anthology film featuring a bunch of famous faces, including Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Vicky Krieps, and Indya Moore.
The film depicts three stories concerning the relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or parents), and one another: a reclusive father visited by his grown children in the U.S., sisters visiting their novelist mother in Dublin, and adult twins called back to their Paris apartment to address a family tragedy.
It’s a movie about different types of families, how they interact with one another and how the most important things are often left unsaid. Why are we dishonest with those closest to us? Why don’t we learn about who our parents really were until after they’re gone? Those are just a couple of the ideas explored here, and I was deeply moved by them.
Father Mother Sister Brother is such a small, intimate movie that it may seem easy to write off as a minor work. But as Jarmusch enters his Late Period as an artist and filmmaker, I do think this film is deceptively major, getting at the things that matter most in life when all is said and done. It hits especially hard as someone who just recently lost a parent.
What other critics are saying: Critics largely love Jarmusch, and this one’s no exception. Adam Nayman, writing for New Republic, calls it “a throwaway that’s also a keepsake.” The Los Angeles Times’ Tim Grierson poignantly writes, “Family can be hell, but the only thing worse is when they’re no longer with us.”
How to watch: Father Mother Sister Brother is now streaming on Mubi.
But that’s not all …
Priyanka Chopra Jonas in The Bluff. (Courtesy of Amazon-MGM/Everett Collection)
(©Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection)
The Bluff: This R-rated swashbuckler is the ultraviolent pirate action flick you didn’t know you needed! Priyanka Chopra-Jonas stars as an ex-pirate captain forced to confront her bloody past and unleash her deadly talents to save her family from a ruthless siege by her onetime pirate partner in crime, played by Karl Urban. The movie is propulsive and exciting throughout, the action sequences are both impressively staged and surprisingly bloody and the performances keep you fully engaged. Now streaming on Prime Video.
Kiss of the Spider Woman: If the title sounds familiar, that’s because it comes from the 1976 Argentinian novel that has already been adapted into both a 1985 feature film and a 1992 stage musical. This new version, which stars Jennifer Lopez, is an adaptation of the musical. In the film, Valentín (Diego Luna), a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina (Tonatiuh), a queer window dresser convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver screen diva, Ingrid Luna (Lopez). It’s a bizarre meshing of tones that shouldn’t work (and often doesn’t) but sort of, kind of pulls it off, thanks mostly to the performances of the two men in prison. Now streaming on Hulu.
That’s all for this week — we’ll see you next week at the movies!
Looking for more recs? Find your next watch on the Yahoo 100, our daily list of the most popular movies of the year.