Ben Wasserman

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Nov 2, 2026 A- Surpassing the bar set by Coraline and ParaNorman, this adaptation of writer Colin Meloy and illustrator Carson Ellis’s 2011 fantasy novel is unlike anything put to stop-motion animation before in terms of technical wizardry and scale. Go to Full Review Wildwood (2026) 98% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Oct 9, 2026 A Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother manages to put Tariq’s bag of visual tricks and Ali’s swordsmanship training to good use in a thriller whose soulfulness and brutality stem from the moral duality within its hero. Go to Full Review Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (2026) 96% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Oct 9, 2026 C Though Sorkin returns to write this sequel, the absence of director David Fincher is sorely felt here. Go to Full Review The Social Reckoning (2026) 54% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Sep 23, 2026 B- Compared to other Aardman productions or even past "Shaun the Sheep" films, this one seems content to just be serviceable. Go to Full Review Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom (2026) 99% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Aug 26, 2026 B While Buddy might not be a perfect horror film, it stands out as one of the most visually and tonally impressive entries in a year full of strong horror releases. Go to Full Review Buddy (2026) 88% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Aug 26, 2026 A- Coyote vs. Acme is a genuine delight: a hilarious slapstick comedy-turned-legal thriller—inspired by, of all things, a satirical New Yorker article—that features all the mayhem and hijinks you’d expect from these beloved characters. Go to Full Review Coyote vs. Acme (2026) 96% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Aug 20, 2026 B It Ends might not be a time loop movie in the traditional sense, but it succeeds in creating a metatextual angle to the question of what these kinds of traps mean within an existential nightmare. Go to Full Review It Ends (2025) 93% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Jul 30, 2026 B+ As exciting as it is to watch Spider-Man punch, kick, and web up foes straight out of recent video games, Brand New Day is at its best when confronting the internal dilemma between fights. Go to Full Review Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) 90% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Jul 24, 2026 C- Motor City’s central gimmick—conveying its story through little-to-no talking and plenty of needle drops—begins to reveal cracks midway through, often at the expense of characterization or a deeper narrative. Go to Full Review Motor City (2025) 63% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Jul 16, 2026 A- While not as tight as his other three-hour epic, Oppenheimer, The Odyssey remains a stunning achievement of vision and scale that works on both a spectacle and a human level, living up to its hype and then some. Go to Full Review The Odyssey (2026) 94% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Jun 25, 2026 C+ It’s Alcock’s performance that helps stitch Supergirl’s underdeveloped ends into something reasonably engaging. Go to Full Review Supergirl (2026) 52% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Jun 12, 2026 B+ Judged by its action alone, The Furious is a more than worthy spiritual successor to "The Raid" movies—even reuniting several "Raid" actors in its cast—delivering easily the best action movie of 2026 by a mile. Go to Full Review The Furious (2025) 97% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Jun 11, 2026 A- Disclosure Day succeeds as a sci-fi thriller about uniting a world on the edge through the most interstellar of concepts, and it serves as another reminder that no one can make emotionally stimulating popcorn flicks like Steven Spielberg. Go to Full Review Disclosure Day (2026) 79% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Jun 5, 2026 C In this exotically random timeline, Kuro’s enigmatic persona exists within the moment and reacts to how the world perceives him. The manner in which his story is executed, however, feels too random for Jinsei’s own good. Go to Full Review Jinsei (2025) 81% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Jun 5, 2026 B+ Don’t go into the movie expecting a Social Network–style court battle or even a petty prank war. Instead, director John Carney is far more interested in exploring the kind of fulfillment his leads hope to find through songwriting. Go to Full Review Power Ballad (2026) 88% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com May 23, 2026 B+ It is satirical absurdism cranked up to at least 15, introducing more and more genre-bending gimmicks per scene yet never winking once as the ridiculousness piles up. Go to Full Review I Love Boosters (2026) 91% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com May 23, 2026 B+ Though Tuner doesn’t reinvent the wheel (or in this case, the piano), it makes the most of a very tight script with excellent performances, strong pacing, and a fun balance of genre tones that makes this mid-budget crime-thriller drama play a happy tune. Go to Full Review Tuner (2025) 94% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com May 23, 2026 B It’s adept suspense horror that feels like an extension of wellness culture’s disturbing undertones—embracing sketchy treatments that manipulate real fears about one’s body image for a high cost. Go to Full Review Saccharine (2026) 73% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com May 7, 2026 B+ While its humor is more chuckle-worthy than gut-busting, The Sheep Detectives wears its heart on its wool, courtesy of a playful script by Craig Mazin of Chernobyl and The Last of Us fame, adapted from Leonie Swann’s 2005 novel Three Bags Full. Go to Full Review The Sheep Detectives (2026) 95% - -

Ben Wasserman Film-Forward.com Apr 24, 2026 C+ The movie is torn between two worlds, going big when it wants to dazzle the audience with Jackson’s greatest hits but playing it safe otherwise. Go to Full Review Michael (2025) 38% - -