Our summer vacation may be over, but movies are forever: here are my three favorite movies that I watched in theaters over the summer.

“Cuckoo” is the second film from Tilman Singer (“Luz”). It follows teenager Gretchen (Hunter Schafer, “Euphoria”) who moves to a resort in the German Alps with her father (Marton Csoskas, “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy), becomes plagued by strange encounters with the resort owner (Dan Stevens, “Abigail”) and is then attacked at the hands of a disturbing hooded woman. The film also stars Jessica Henwick (“Glass Onion”), Astrid Berges-Frisbey (“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword”) and Jan Bluthardt.

While I have yet to watch “Luz,” “Cuckoo” was one that I was immediately excited for. And thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. The film’s themes and narrative don’t ultimately come together in the best of ways, with certain plot points just being completely dropped by the end, but Singer’s direction turned what could have been a lackluster horror film into an odd film that I can’t wait to see again.

“Cuckoo” has terrific sound design, editing, makeup, cinematography and performances (specifically Schafer and Stevens), almost entirely thanks to Singer’s unique vision. It’s a unique and strange horror film with excellent directing and performances, and although it stumbles a bit in its writing, I can’t recommend it enough to horror fans.
“Cuckoo” – 8/10

“Alien: Romulus” is the newest film in the “Alien” franchise and the latest film from Fede Álvarez. It follows a group of young space colonists who attempt to scavenge an abandoned space station in the hopes for a better life, ultimately coming face to face with hostile alien creatures. The film stars Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”), David Jonsson (“Industry”), Isabela Merced (“The Last of Us”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”) and Spike Fearn (“Back to Black”).

While the “Alien” franchise has been a mixed bag for decades, “Romulus” is a rousing success due to its back-to-basics approach, tense direction, production design, practical effects and reverence towards the franchise.

Álvarez is an established genre filmmaker thanks to his ultra-violent “Evil Dead” reboot and his tense home-invasion horror, “Don’t Breathe.” While I have previously criticized “Don’t Breathe 2,” which he co-wrote, his track record as a director has been largely successful, with “Romulus” being his best film to date.

“Romulus” benefits from its reliance on practical animatronics and puppetry as well as its clear love of the franchise; the film pays homage to all the previous films as well as the 2014 video game, “Alien: Isolation.” While some of the nods are a bit too on the nose, the film manages to effectively combine the franchise’s very different eras. I also loved the film’s simplicity in comparison to the more convoluted franchise entries. I have seen people criticize “Romulus” for being too derivative and lacking its own personality, but I feel like this was a great jumping off point for this revamp of the “Alien” franchise.

Unfortunately, there is one thing that really bugged me, and that’s the “resurrection” of a certain actor from the original “Alien” film whose identity I will not spoil. The effect was achieved through an animatronic with CGI enhancements and generative AI — and it looks terrible. It would have looked a lot better with only practical effects, but the final product is a distracting failure.

All in all, “Alien: Romulus” was a fun ride and a return to form for the franchise thanks to its tense horror, practical effects, reverence to the series and performances (particularly Jonsson, Merced and Spaeny), and it was entertaining enough to ignore its faults.
“Alien: Romulus” – 8/10

“Kinds of Kindness” is an absurdist anthology film from Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”), and it stars Emma Stone (“Poor Things”), Jesse Plemons (“The Power of the Dog”), Willem Dafoe (“Poor Things”), Hong Chau (“The Whale”) and Margaret Qualley (“The Substance”). The film is described as a “triptych fable,” where the main cast plays a different character in each of its three segments.

Lanthimos is one of the most unique filmmakers working today, thanks to his stunning cinematography, violent content, dark comedy and absurdist style — and “Kinds of Kindness” is yet another resounding success.

The film benefits from its excellent cast, with every actor delivering great performances despite being asked to be emotionally held back. Stone is unsurprisingly excellent in her fourth collaboration with Lanthimos, and Plemons’ excellent performances won him Best Actor at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

“Kindness” also serves as a return to form for Lanthimos in terms of its cynicism, to the point where I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone other than die-hard fans of his. This movie is filled with moments that made me incredibly uncomfortable while also making me laugh, for the most part. Some of these moments are going for a more serious tone, and they manage to be pretty effective.

My biggest criticism would be with the film’s 2 hour 44 minute runtime, leading it to feel slightly bloated. There is also a sequence of sexual assault that could have been done with a bit more restraint. But besides those two issues, “Kindness” is definitely worth a watch if you’re a fan of Lanthimos and his work.
“Kinds of Kindness” – 9/10