I am the target audience for stupid parody. The stupider the better. Hot Kitchen is that, a reality TV parody of the archetypal cooking competition shows we’ve all thrown on in a hotel room and gotten way too into. It throws you in with a fiery intro and an introduction to this season’s cast. The judges and contestants are perfect heightenings of the stereotypes you seem to find on each and every one of the actual reality shows.

If you throw a stone at a streaming service you will land on 10 rom-coms that tackle the “complications of dating in the modern world”. Something you may not land on, unless you’re on Amazon VOD and have a very good shot, is a rom-thrill, which is what I am dubbing The Lonely Crowd from David St. Clair. In his directorial debut, he bravely tackles the modern dating world while adding in a gun or two.

Holy Irresistible starts off strong, with what I expected to be more dramatic was a funny introduction to Ivy’s (Ian Gregg) life.After losing his parents at a young age, moving in with his Aunt Rad (Lea Delaria). The intro is the only use of narration in the film, which is a nice setup to the story, and does set the tone quite nicely for the rest of the film. It doesn’t always maintain that tone, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worst.

Masters of the Universe (2026) is a wonderful introduction to the franchise, pulling me so deeply into the aesthetic, sounds and oiled up biceps of the world. I was excited to see this film, but expected something a little juvenile from it after seeing some of the story trailers. I am happy to report, it is indeed juvenile and also quite funny, very cool and the music feels like it's going to loosen a tooth.

Backrooms is my biggest disappointment of the year so far, and it’s my fault. I’ve said multiple times in reviews that horror shorts turned into feature length projects is a trend I dislike a lot, but the legitimacy and hype around Backrooms had me fooled. I was wooed by the ever impressive A24 marketing, and the stellar cast. This one felt different to previous short turned feature, like Baghead and Night Swim.

The Messenger of Joy came along as one of these films for me, about Iranian painter Nasser Ovissi. Although, as you will see from the doc, it’s a bit of an understatement to just call him a painter. He is widely celebrated as one of the most influential Iranian artist’s of the last century. His style is distinct, and certainly one you would have come across in your travels. He borrows from traditional Iranian techniques and patterns, with bold and bright colours that evoke su