While Snow White’s big, PG 2025 movie release is just around the corner, we’re gearing up for two other releases which are bringing something quite different to the table. I’ve seen this week’s release Novocaine and next month’s Warfare in an early preview and I can tell you they were two of the most exciting movies I’ve seen in a long time. They both ratcheted up the tension through their runtimes, and inspired dread in a way that made me feel like I was glued to my seat.
We’ve been talking in recent years about how to create awesome, original movies that don’t necessarily follow the format of big budget tentpoles or superhero flicks, but that are really still must-sees on the big screen. The entire horror genre has been doing a great job of this lately, but the visceral nature of what happens to Jack Quaid (repetitively) and many of the characters in Warfare lends itself to watching on as large of a screen as possible.
Novocaine Is A Really Funny Movie, But You May Have To Look Away Multiple Times
I knew Novocaine was a movie about a man who can’t feel pain and goes after some baddies who have kidnapped a coworker and love interest. The Novocaine trailer showed Quaid getting shot up with an arrow in his leg, but that does not even begin to scratch the surface of the gross stuff that happens to him across the movie’s 109-minute runtime. I couldn’t look away, and trust me, I wanted to watch through my fingers multiple times, as my co-worker Kelly Bambrick did.
The movie is also really funny, which helps to lighten things considerably between each nasty injury and even the occasional self-inflicted one. It’s a movie experience I’ve seen in some ways before with movies like Saw or Hostel, but it’s nature as a comedy and action movie makes the ride a way different experience. It’s been a low box office weekend, but I really hope people give it a watch.
Warfare Is A Horrific-Yet-Realistic Take At How A Day Can Go From Unspectacular To Hellish In The Blink Of An Eye
Which brings us to Warfare, Alex Garland’s latest upcoming A24 movie, a movie he created with Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza. I had no expectations whatsoever for the film before I went in, but it absolutely made my heart palpitate in ways that can’t be healthy when I was watching. I was so in this movie the entire time, I distinctly remember kind of having to pee before I started watching, and then I didn’t even think to move from my seat for the film’s entire hour and 35 minute runtime. You don’t know me, but this is a big sacrifice for me. It sucked me in that hard, and early reactions to Warfare indicate I’m not the only one.
Even more brutal in tragic moments than you might guess, Warfare is a look at what happens when an opp goes wrong. It’s a look at what it’s like to be dropped in a place to do a job where you are unwanted and unwelcome. It’s as close to a play-by-play look at a real-life mission as a movie can get, and it’s unrelenting until it’s over.
At a glance, Novocaine and Warfare don’t have a ton in common. One is a funny popcorn flick with an over-the-top big baddie, and the other is an intense look at what a real-life day at war can look like. Yet both had me sitting up in my seat in the theater in a way I can’t remember doing in a long time, maybe even since 1917 came out in 2019. And both movies are bringing the angsty anticipation in totally unique ways. If this is the future of what the movies is going to bring, I’m so all in.
