Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Amber Duke, Washington editor Talk to Me John Carpenter made some of the best horror movies of all time because his work did more than just try to scare the audience — it explored what really drives fear. Halloween toyed with the nature of evil. The Thing is a commentary on human isolation and the psychological effects of distrust and suspicion. That’s why Talk To Me, a 2023 horror flick from the much buzzed about studio A24, is so good. Yes, it’s about demonic possession and conjuring spirits, but at its core it’s a story about grief. Namely, the poor choices we can make when we miss someone so terribly and we just need a respite from the pain.

The complaints about the Marvel Cinematic Universe are by now widely known. Their films follow predictable formulas and story beats. Characters become increasingly indistinguishable quip machines. The stakes are never high. The streaming content is overwhelmingly forgettable. Other than the death of Tony Stark onscreen and the sad passing of Chadwick Boseman offscreen, emotional moments are few and far between, as it's hard to care about characters when everything can be reset with a bit of multiverse mumbo jumbo. And then there's the problem of, well, as the Critical Drinker refers to it, THE MESSAGE. Expect a lot of that in the already twice-postponed production of The Marvels, girlbossing into theaters this winter.