Pictured: Plenty of sentimental value (CREDIT: Christian Belgaux/NEON)
Starring: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning, Anders Danielsen Lie, Cory Michael Smith, Catherine Cohen, Andreas Stoltenberg Granerud, Øyvind Hesjedal Loven
Director: Joachim Trier
Running Time: 133 Minutes
Rating: R for Language, Brief Nudity, and Suicide References
Release Date: November 7, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Let’s just say, theater actress Nora Borg (Renate Reinsve) doesn’t exactly have the best relationship with her filmmaker father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård). Unfortunately for her, he’s determined to make his way back into her life following the death of her mother. She at least has an ally when it comes to family affairs in the form of her younger sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), though Agnes has plenty on her own plate with her husband and young son. So Nora will just have to make her own decisions when Gustav tries to cast her in the lead role of his new movie that he wants to film in the family house. It’s inspired by the life of his mother, who was tortured by the Nazis during World War II and eventually killed herself. Nora doesn’t really have any interest in collaborating with her dad, so instead he casts the super-famous American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). But he’s still pretty deadset on having his daughters be an integral part of the process as he tries to fix their broken relationships.
What Made an Impression?: Fresh Despite the Familiarity: How many movies have I seen about families repairing their dysfunction, or about people making movies, or about people making movies while repairing their dysfunctions? Well, I see a lot of movies, and those subjects come up a lot in this medium, so the answer is undoubtedly: more than a few. Sentimental Value is certainly operating in deeply familiar territory, but it doesn’t feel like the same-old, same-old. Perhaps we can credit that to the deeply felt performances, the thoroughly plugged-in chemistry (especially between Reinsve and Skarsgård),the sensitive direction from Joachim Trier, or some combination of all of the above. Whatever the formula is, it works. Dangerous, But Ultimately Comforting: In case it wasn’t clear already, there’s a lot of trauma and anxiety in this family. And it hangs heaviest on Nora. So much so that you fear that another terrible tragedy could be looming. Indeed, Trier structures the story in such a way that you sense the tension of potential disaster inviting itself into the house just as things kick into the final gear. But then, we come in for a safe landing. It all adds up to a simultaneously invigorating and calming cinematic reward.
Sentimental Value is Recommended If You Like: Old home movies, Genealogy research, Film screening Q&A’s
A screenshot of people who have been on your TV (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)
Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all
the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.
Welcome to November, readers of my Saturday Night Live reviews! For this edition, we’ve got a couple of mainstays of 2020s SNL for our guest lineup, with Miles Teller making his second hosting appearance since 2022 and Brandi Carlile hitting her fourth time as musical g., just a little over four years since her first.
Since this episode began airing the evening after Halloween, I would imagine that plenty of us were still in a spooky mood. Ergo, I shall be reviewing this episode by declaring what The Scariest Part of each sketch was.
Good Boy, Good Times at the Movies (CREDIT: Ben Leonberg/Independent Film Company and Shudder)
Okay, here we go. It’s time for me to release my thoughts about the new movies that I saw in the month known as October 2025 that I haven’t explicated until now. Trick-or-treat furever!
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies –Bugonia (Theaters) –Eli Roth Presents: Dream Eater (Theaters) – I might check this out at some point. –Shelby Oaks (Theaters) –Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (Theaters)
TV –Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 (October 29 on Disney+) – I’m still stuck on Volume 1. Maybe I’ll get caught up one day.
Music -Lily Allen, West End Girl -Brandi Carlile, Returning to Myself -Demi Lovato, It’s Not That Deep -Mammoth, The End -Miguel, CAOS -Sigrid, There’s Always More That I Could Say -Serj Tankian, Covers, Collaborations & Collages
Sports -World Series (Starts October 24 on FOX) – Jays and Dodgers.
Rating: R for Disturbing Content That’s Often Funny But Also Occasionally Trauma-Inducing
Release Date: October 24, 2025 (Theaters)
Regretting You
Starring: Allison Williams, McKenna Grace, Dave Franco, Mason Thames, Willa Fitzgerald, Scott Eastwood, Clancy Brown, Sam Morelos, Ethan Costanilla
Director: Josh Boone
Running Time: 116 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Mild But Frank Sexuality and Drug Use
Release Date: October 24, 2025 (Theaters)
When you see as many movies as I do, whether out of critical obligation or personal fulfillment or both, you tend to experience a lot of tonal whiplash. And it doesn’t get much more whiplash-inducing than the one-two punch of the semi-lighthearted satirical conspiracy thriller Bugonia and Regretting You, a tragedy-tinged romance based on a Colleen Hoover novel. Both are arriving in theaters on October 24 (Regretting You in wide release, while Bugonia will begin limited and then expand on the 31st). One of them is perfect for Spooky Season in an oddball sort of way, while the other would seem more at home around Valentine’s Day. With all that in mind, I’ll structure this two-for-one review around the question of whether or not they could possibly make for a successful date night double feature.
Rating: R for The Typical Party Vices, Including a Little Bit of Skin
Release Date: October 22, 2025 (Select Theaters)/October 29, 2025 (Amazon Prime Video)
What’s It About?: By all outward appearances, Hedda Gabler (Tessa Thompson) seems to have a pretty charmed life. She’s got a decent husband (Tom Bateman), she lives in a massive house, and she gets to host some wild shindigs. But there’s a powder keg just waiting to be lit. And it all goes kaboom over the course of one of those bacchanals. That’s because on that night, a couple of ladies with their own agendas (Nina Hoss and Imogen Poots) return to force Hedda to reap what she’s been sowing. And so, forbidden romance, professional jealousies, and general pettiness all converge for a deadly disaster that none of the guests will soon forget.
What Made an Impression?: The Scandinavia of It All: 2025’s Hedda is just the latest in a long line of adaptations of the 1891 Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler. Before watching this version, I only knew it by name and was totally unfamiliar with the plot. But I have encountered Ibsen’s most famous work (A Doll’s House), so I had some idea of what he’s all about. Writer-director Nia DaCosta has fully queered up the story, although I wouldn’t have been surprised if that element were already present in the original. Which is to say, it’s a natural fit. We’re All Trapped: If I had to select one word to sum up Hedda, it would be … “claustrophobic.” There’s no escaping this party! Or maybe there is, though it would probably require these characters to totally redefine their perspectives of their current life situations. As the viewer, I felt similarly boxed in. If you find yourself in the same boat as me, you could always walk out of the theater or press stop on your remote. That is, unless you relish anxiety-inducing moviegoing experiences. She’s So Petty: Tessa Thompson is a pretty dang great actor, and Hedda only reinforces that truth. But her version of the titular scamp (and perhaps most versions) is not a very pleasant person to be around. In fact, I would even go so far as to call her a sociopath. Maybe if I had prepared myself a bit more before going to know what I would be getting into, I might have been entertained by all of her manipulative behavior. But only to a point. Ultimately, this is one of those movies that I found kind of middling, even though I got the sense that the people making it probably did exactly what they wanted to do.
Hedda is Recommended If You Like: Hot messes throughout the decade
Jmunney's Blog 