Yes, the beach is nice, but so is a movie. Here is a selection of fun summer cinematic offerings coming out during the holiday period. Summer should be fun!
The Housemaid
There has been much hand-wringing throughout the year about Sydney Sweeney’s star status, presumed political affiliations, and choice of jeans. She’s had several films in a row fail to pop with audiences (Eden, Americana and Christy), but if anything has a chance to re-establish her movie star bona fides, it is this splendidly lurid modern riff on some familiar Yuppies In Peril tropes.
She plays the, erm, titular housemaid, who moves into the lush home of a rich couple played by Amanda Seyfried (gloriously unhinged) and rising leading man Brandon Sklenar (Drop). I thought I knew where this was going, and I was wrong. It’s an entertaining slice of effective Avatar: Fire and Ash counter-programming, and will hopefully succeed to the point where more of these types of movies are made for theatres.
Anaconda
Just the mere existence of a studio-backed comedy feels worth celebrating, and this meta exercise gets extra points for being, you know, actually funny. Jack Black and Paul Rudd demonstrate winning comedic chemistry as two childhood friends whose careers haven’t gone the way they might have hoped. Black is an aspiring director stuck making wedding videos, and Rudd is a struggling actor. Along with their old pals Steve Zahn and Thandiwe Newton, they scrounge together some cash, head to the Amazon river and attempt to remake their favourite ’90s creature feature. Guess what they encounter there?
Bouyed by the spirit of the joy of filmmaking, the film generates more than enough laugh-out-loud moments to justify its existence, and is admirably committed to its own silliness. A perfect summer fun movie experience.
Not Only Fred Dagg
Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke
We really didn’t know how lucky we were to have the late John Clarke, who in the late ’60s and early ’70s blazed a comedic trail in New Zealand that stretches all the way up to Flight of the Conchords and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The actor/writer/satirist best known around these parts for his genial farmer character Fred Dagg, he also achieved great success across the ditch as a political satirist. Not a lot of New Zealanders are all that familiar with his Aussie work, and vice versa, so this extremely entertaining documentary (directed by his daughter, Lorin Clarke) serves to bring those two worlds together and explore the enigmatic comedic genius that was Clarke.
It not only works as a relentlessly hilarious collection of his material, but paints a textured portrait of the man who literally taught New Zealanders how to laugh at our own specificities.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants
Look, it’s SpongeBob, no movie character arguably embodies summer holiday frivolity more effectively. His movies almost never disappoint, and this one looks like it’s going further into the CGI realm than previous entries.
Song Sung Blue
Some movies seem like they want to make you cry. And some of those movies you just know are gonna get the job done. This is one of those movies. Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson play a couple who reclaim their happiness by becoming a Neil Diamond tribute act in the 1980s. It’s based on a true story. One of the first fervent fandoms I became aware of at a young age were the Neil Diamond devotees. They always seemed like the American equivalent of Cliff Richard fans. Anyway, it’s definitely gonna pop off in the theatre when they get to Sweet Caroline.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
I know I’m not the only one who was blown away by the unexpectedly moving 28 Years Later. So while “fun” isn’t necessarily the word I would use to describe my primary emotional response, it cannot be denied that the cliffhanger ending suggested something more…colourful… may be going down in the follow-up. Bring it on.
Marty Supreme
The superlatives have been coming through thick and fast for this Josh Safdie-directed, Timothée Chalamet-starring film about an aspiring ping pong champion in 1950s New York who gets mixed up in some criminal shenanigans. And it was apparently inspired by a real dude. It’s Safdie’s first film without his brother Benny on co-directing duties, but their combined ability to cinematically induce heart palpitations is apparently in full force here. Fun!
Primate
The world has been sorely lacking killer monkey movies of late. So I am grateful that Primate has come along to stir my fond memories of Link (1986) and Monkey Shines (1988). This one concerns a family pet chimp who gets rabies and starts killing teenagers. Classic chimp.
Send Help
Drag Me to Hell is probably the most fun I ever had watching a horror movie in a theatre, so I always get excited when director Sam Raimi sets aside his big studio jobs and hones in on a nasty little premise. This survival horror/black comedy sees co-workers Dylan O’Brien (the boss) and Rachel McAdams (the employee) stranded on a desert island where their power dynamic is upended by the life and death stakes. My most anticipated movie of 2025.
