A Quite Place: Day One (out Jun 27) is a prequel to the movies released in 2018 and 2021. It features more great production values (love the use of sound as always) but the script isn't as strong. Falls into the trap of having characters do unrealistic things (rescuing a cat) to create tension. Needed more drama. Grade: B.

The Mountain (out Jun 27) is a New Zealand comedy-drama from actor-turned-director Rachel House and it about an 11-year-old girl battling terminal cancer who sneaks out of hospital and goes on a mountain hiking expedition with two new friends. It's too simplistic but might provide a nice offering for families over the school holidays. Grade: B-.

A Silence (out Jun 27) is a disappointing French family drama that wants to be a silly “mystery” as opposed to an intricate tale exploring the seriousness of certain issues. The material leaves a lot of unanswered questions, and I didn’t know much more about the character’s mindset at the end as I did at the beginning. Grade: C.

Despicable Me 4 (out Jun 20) is decent. The films are feeling more "episodic" in nature (mini adventures with no meaningful character/world development) but I still like these films as family entertainment with fun characters, voices, and action scenes. Grade: B+.

The Convert (out Jun 20) is a New Zealand film centred on a British preacher (Guy Pearce) who emigrates to New Zealand in the early 19th Century and finds himself as mediator in a multi-faceted war. Slow in places but an interesting piece of history. Grade: B-.

Divertimento (out Jun 20) is a French biopic about Zahia Ziouani, a woman who overcame much adversity (and discrimination) in becoming an acclaimed classical music conductor. Over-dramatized in places but the film does a nice job capturing Ziouani’s talent, passion, and ambition. Grade: B.

The Promised Land (out Jun 20) is another interesting project to come from Denmark. Set in the 18th Century, it's the tale of a retired military man who takes on a villainous wealthy landowner in his community. Mads Mikkelsen is terrific as always. Grade: B+.

Inside Out 2 (out Jun 13) is engaging from start to finish – a worthy sequel which, according to my own emotions, deserves a strong recommendation!  The production values are excellent, there’s a bunch of memorable characters, and there’s lots to reflect upon as the credits roll.  Anxiety and Pouchy are the pick of the new players! Grade: A-.

The Exorcism (out Jun 13) is a decent idea on paper, but events play out as expected, there are few surprises, and the casting isn’t quite right.  Drawing loosely from the making of The Exorcist in 1971, it’s centred on an actor (Russell Crowe) struggling to tap into his character while shooting an exorcism movie.  To complicate matters, weird things start happening on set. Grade: C+.

The Watchers (out Jun 6) marks the feature film writing and directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan (daughter of M. Night Shyamalan) and is a supernatural horror film about 4 strangers trapped in remote forestland. Interesting ideas but Shyamalan struggles to weave them together into a smooth flowing story. Grade: B.