Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Primitive War:
65
Despite Adam Driver‘s attempt to deliver cinema’s next best science fiction thriller movie, 65 doesn’t successfully convey much that feels new or enticing. Lackluster pacing and storytelling make up a generally bland film stripped of any exciting elements.
Meg 2: The Trench
With a floundering script and painstakingly uninventive cast, Ben Wheatley falls victim to this behemoth shark franchise. Meg 2: The Trench capitalizes on very few aspects that made the first movie an occasionally enjoyable romp.
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Way of Water absolutely comes through and pulls off a better experience than the first Avatar film could ever dream of. It’s emotionally riveting and absolutely deserves to be seen on a big screen. The best films make you laugh, gasp, and cry. The Way of Water pulls off all three. Simply put, don’t bet against James Cameron.
Arrival
Arrival is a beautifully presented, excellently edited piece of work that stands as a testament to Denis Villeneuve’s directorial ability and taste. Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner costar in one of the 2010s best science fiction movies.
Nope
Nope delivers on its promise of spectacle. Its set-up helps deliver one of the most rewarding third acts of the year, and one I’ll surely return to in years to come. Those don’t come around very often, only a handful of films lend themselves to repeat viewings, and Nope is certainly one of them. A dazzling and hypnotic viewing, and one that doesn’t leave your mind once you leave your theater. The best films make you think, and Jordan Peele‘s Nope gives you plenty to sink your teeth into.
The Gorge
The Gorge, Scott Derrickson’s latest film for Apple TV+, is a frustratingly uneven blend of action, sci-fi, and romance that starts with promise but ultimately succumbs to convention. Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy do their best to elevate the material, and their on-screen chemistry carries the movie’s far more compelling first half, but by the time the action-heavy second half kicks in, The Gorge loses much of what made it intriguing to begin with.
Ash
As a filmmaker, Flying Lotus continues to show potential, particularly in his ability to craft unsettling, otherworldly imagery and pair it with haunting sound design. But Ash feels like a proof of concept more than a fully realized vision—a solid step up in production value, but not in storytelling or emotional impact. Eiza González and Aaron Paul star as two stranded astronauts on a distant planet.
Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049 tries to operate in two separate modes, as a humane and personal drama, and a science fiction epic. While these two styles work in their own separate veins, they cross to make a visually stunning, emotionally hollow movie. Denis Villeneuve directs himself into a corner with this one.
A Quiet Place: Day One
Michael Sarnoski sits in the director’s chair for A Quiet Place: Day One and delivers a movie that often feels like an A Quiet Place movie and a Michael Sarnoski film – just not at the same time. The softer moments between Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn are great, but often feel out of place in this larger world.
Nosferatu
Robert Eggers might already be one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. Sure, it’s silly and hyperbolic to say that so early in his career, but few directors today can craft arthouse movies on the scale of his latest work, Nosferatu, and make it look so effortless. The subject matter feels like a natural progression from his earlier explorations of isolation and dread in The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman. Here, Eggers reimagines the classic vampire tale with precise, stomach-churning detail, delivering a vision that both honors the original and reinvents it as a sadistic, psychosexual nightmare.
